California Construction News staff writer
At the site of a future solar farm in the Central Valley last week, Governor Gavin Newsom announced permitting and project review reforms that he says will build California’s clean energy future while creating thousands of good jobs.”
The measures will facilitate and streamline project approval and completion to maximize California’s share of federal infrastructure dollars and expedite the implementation of projects that meet the state’s ambitious economic, climate, and social goals.
Examples of projects that could be streamlined include:
- Hundreds of solar, wind, and battery storage projects
- Transit and regional rail construction
- Clean transportation, including maintenance and bridge projects
- Water storage projects funded by Proposition 1
- Delta Conveyance Project
- Semiconductor fabrication plants
- Wildlife crossings along the I-15 corridor
Through two state budgets and funding from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), California will invest up to $180 billion over the next decade in clean infrastructure.
By streamlining permitting, cutting red tape, and allowing state agencies to use new types of contracts, these proposals will maximize taxpayer dollars and accelerate timelines of projects throughout the state, while ensuring appropriate environmental review and community engagement.
Proposals could:
- Cut project timelines by more than three years
- Save businesses and state and local governments hundreds of millions of dollars
- Reduce paperwork by hundreds of thousands pages
Newsom also signed an executive order to create a team to accelerate clean infrastructure projects across the state by implementing an all-of-government strategy for planning and development.
The legislative package and executive order will:
- Speed Up Construction: Current construction procurement processes drive delays and increase project costs. The Governor’s proposals include methods to offer a streamlined process for project delivery to reduce project timeframes and costs.
- Expedite Court Review: Legal challenges often tie up projects even after they’ve successfully gone through environmental review. These proposals would authorize expedited judicial review to avoid long delays on the back end and advance projects without reducing the environmental and government transparency benefits of CEQA.
- Streamline Permitting: Makes various changes to California law to accelerate permitting for certain projects, reducing delays and project costs.
- Address cumbersome CEQA processes across the board: Streamlines procedures around document retention and review.
- Maximize Federal Dollars: Establish a Green Bank Financing Program within the Climate Catalyst Fund so that the state can leverage federal dollars for climate projects that cut pollution, with an emphasis on projects that benefit low-income and disadvantaged communities.
“The only way to achieve California’s world-leading climate goals is to build, build, build – faster. This proposal is the most ambitious effort to cut red tape and streamline regulations in half a century. It’s time to make the most out of taxpayer dollars and deliver results while creating hundreds of thousands of good jobs. Not since the Pat Brown era have we had the opportunity to invest in and rebuild this state to create the clean future Californians deserve.”
