State lawmakers have decided, upon review, that the 42-year-old cornerstone of enlightened California environmental regulation ought not to be rewritten in a few days without public input.

Although discussion of amending the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has been going on informally for months in the Legislature—and for about 42 years in Republican circles—it only surfaced as a hot topic for debate in the last few days of the legislative session.

On Thursday, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said that despite introduction of reform language into a pending Senate bill Wednesday night, the issue was dead for now. Steinberg called for a special session next year to address CEQA reform.

CEQA requires that environmental impact reports—which consider a range of environmental factors, including air quality—be prepared for proposed projects. The reports not only identify problems but spell out mitigation measures that might be taken to make projects acceptable.

The law is a crucial underpinning to an array of environmental laws, playing a significant role at the local and state level, in projects large and small. Any overhaul of the law would have a large impact on pending high-speed rail and Delta development projects.

Critics call CEQA a job killer, used indiscriminately by anti-development forces to obstruct worthwhile projects they don’t like by running up costs and extending timetables for completion. Some claim it also used by developers against other developers to gain favor for their own projects.

The reform most talked about involves exempting from the law development projects that meet city and county general plans. Those local plans often fall far short of state guidelines and regulations, and are often out of date.

Governor Jerry Brown weighed in on the debate earlier in the week when he referred to CEQA reform as “God’s work.” But when the sponsor of the Senate bill encapsulating the proposed changes, Senator Michael Rubio, announced its demise, he said, “The Lord's work is not done overnight, nor is it done in two weeks.”

That would be news to some of his more conservative, religious colleagues.

–Ken Broder

To Learn More:

Calif. Environmental Reforms Quashed for the Year (by Hannah Dreier, Associated Press)

Bid to Overhaul California Environmental Law Falls Short (by David Siders, Sacramento Bee)

Don't Rush Changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (Los Angeles Times editorial)

CEQA Overhaul Amended into Senate Bill (by Dan Walters, Sacramento Bee)