The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA (pronounced SEE-QWAH) was created by the California State Legislature in 1970. Subsequent revisions over the decades have occurred mainly due to litigious challenges or amendments by legislators.
PLANNING DEBACLE-Housing has been a hot topic in Sacramento over the last few years.
The California Legislature has produced scores of bills dealing with this issue, and their merits have been hotly debated. Unfortunately, some of these proposals have been reckless efforts to negate local planning by imposing mandatory upzoning. SB 9 is one such bill, and unless something happens to stop its momentum, it could become law by the end of the year.
SB 9 would allow by-right approval of two dwelling units on lots zoned for single-family homes. It would also allow these lots to be split in two, meaning a total of four units could be built where zoning previously allowed only one. According to its authors, the bill “[P]rovides options for homeowners by streamlining the process for a homeowner to create a duplex or subdivide an existing lot. [….] SB 9 strikes an appropriate balance between respecting local control and creating an environment and opportunity for neighborho
Director, Governor’s Office of Planning & Research
In April 2019, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Patty Monahan to be one of the five commissioners on the California Energy Commission. She serves in the Energy Commission’s Science/Engineering position and is the lead commissioner on transportation. She has dedicated her career toward advancing clean energy technologies and cutting harmful pollution, with a focus on equity. Before joining the Energy Commission, she served as the transportation program director at the Energy Foundation, where she guided campaigns across the United States that advanced electric transportation and more efficient vehicles. She worked for the Union of Concerned Scientists, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and several energy-related consulting firms.