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Gov. Newsom wants to make it easier to build roads, dams and more – What’s in his plan?

The governor’s building plan would adjust an environmental law known for stalling housing, dams and other projects. One environmental group said, “we have never been more disappointed in a California governor than we are with Gov. Newsom.”

by Ben Christopher, Alastair Bland, Julie Cart and Alejandro Lazo | CalMatters May 24, 2023May 23, 2023

Water flows from the Harvey O. Banks Delta Pumping Plant into the California Aqueduct near Byron on Jan. 20, 2023. Environmental groups are largely opposed to plans for a controversial tunnel that would reroute water from the Delta to Southern California. (State Department of Water Resources)

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to make it easier for California to build big things. Friday, he unveiled a plan to make it happen.

At an 1,100 acre solar farm near Patterson in Stanislaus County, Newsom announced a package of legislative proposals and signed an executive order aimed at speeding big infrastructure projects. He aims to limit the time opponents can jam projects up in court with challenges under the California Environmental Quality Act, the law known as CEQA (and pronounced see-kwa).

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