Legislature Passes Senator Cortese’s Bill to Streamline CEQA and Speed up State Housing Production

The California State Assembly and State Senate have both unanimously passed legislation by Senator Dave Cortese intended to speed up housing across California. The bill cleared the State Senate on concurrence Thursday. SB 406 aims to cut repetitive reviews under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) while keeping California’s main environmental law intact. The bill is headed to the Governor’s desk for consideration.

“SB 406 cuts red tape without compromising on environmental protection. This bill will streamline permitting and speed up affordable housing production for people with the greatest need,” said Senator Cortese (D-San Jose).

To tackle California's unprecedented housing crisis, local governments have taken steps to offer financial aid for developing affordable housing. For example, as a Santa Clara County Supervisor, Senator Cortese, championed Measure A in 2016, a voter-approved $950 million bond to help create about 4,800 affordable units. Public agencies regularly provide low-interest loans that support new affordable housing projects and guarantee their long-term sustainability. Similar actions to Measure A have been taken in Alameda, Los Angeles, and San Francisco counties.

However, when a local agency helps fund an affordable housing project, this financial assistance can trigger an evaluation under CEQA, in addition to the separate, independent CEQA review conducted on the project itself. Implementing CEQA this way is ineffective, repetitive, and ultimately causes delays and increased expenses for urgently needed affordable housing.

SB 406 extends to local governments an existing CEQA exemption for state financing of affordable housing projects, provided that the project will still undergo a CEQA review by another public agency.

Senator Dave Cortese represents Senate District 15, which encompasses much of Santa Clara County in the heart of Silicon Valley. Visit Senator Cortese’s website: https://sd15.senate.ca.gov

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