CEQA changes on horizon?

An effort to loosen the regulations outlined by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was dropped by the State Senate less than a day after its proposal.

That news followed Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg’s (D-Sacramento) announcement he would oppose it, likely dooming the bill’s chances of passing the Senate, according to SFGate.com.

Most of the support for the proposal came from members of the business community, who maintain CEQA’s regulations have become a burden on the state and that some entities have abused it to block development for non-environmental reasons. Though Steinberg agrees a new draft of CEQA is in order, he said it would be hasty to make such sweeping changes in the last days of the current two-year legislative session.