The debate over Prop. 45 is about California’s building future. Here is our endorsement | Opinion

If approved by voters in November, Proposition 45 would significantly change how California reviews and approves construction projects, including affordable housing, under the California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA, California’s most important land use law, has too often been weaponized by not-in-my-backyard interests to stop the construction of needed housing.

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Prop. 45 seeks to bring long-needed reform to CEQA provisions that can add substantial costs to new homes, hospitals, water systems, roads, bridges and clean energy projects.

The initiative targets frivolous lawsuits and bureaucratic red tape that makes construction too slow and too costly. It proposes to streamline the permitting process without weakening the state’s environmental laws.

Projects often make it through CEQA only to be stopped at the back end by litigation. Currently, a project can go through lengthy environmental reviews, be approved by a local government and still be sued under CEQA. In such cases, courts often order additional review, which adds to the cost of a project or, in some cases, spell the project’s end.

McClatchy’s California editorial board, representing The Sacramento Bee, Modesto Bee, Merced Sun-Star, Fresno Bee and San Luis Obispo Tribune, recommends a “Yes” vote on Prop. 45.

“This isn’t about us running away from protecting the environment,” Dan Dunmoyer, president and CEO of the California Building Industry Association, told us. “This is about bringing what I call ‘the sweet spot,’ the balance, to protecting our environment.” Dunmoyer is right. Building more housing in California creates more opportunities for more people to stay and build lives with their families.

Prop. 45 would also limit parts of the CEQA process, including the often interminable length of public-comment periods for projects. It would limit judges from halting entire projects when they find a CEQA violation. Instead, judges would only be empowered to halt the portion of projects found in violation CEQA until corrections are made.

The initiative would also change the state’s tribal consultation requirements, limiting the mandatory consultation to only federally recognized tribes for projects using the new procedures, strengthening government-to-government consultation by ensuring early tribal engagement and enhancing confidentiality protections.

“Every year a project is delayed again means higher financing costs, construction inflation, legal expenses … and those costs don’t disappear,” said campaign consultant, Emma Manoukian Chung. “Prop. 45 (builds) more of what Californians need, and we stop wasting money on unnecessary delay.”

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Those in support of Prop. 45 include the California Building Industry Association, California Business Roundtable, California Chamber of Commerce and California Council for Affordable Housing. Those in opposition include the California Democratic Party, the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California and Sierra Club of California.

By imposing stricter deadlines on government agencies to complete environmental reviews, Proposition 45 would allow housing, transportation, water and health care projects to move forward more quickly and at lower cost without weakening California’s environmental protections.

That’s the goal behind Prop. 45 — and it’s long overdue.