A bipartisan California bill would exempt certain apartment projects from the state’s landmark — and often abused, according to builders — environmental law.

Assembly Bill 609 from Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, exempts infill housing from additional review under the California Environmental Quality Act when they qualify under cities’ environmental rules.

Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer said the bill would help revitalize the city’s inner core, especially downtown Fresno and Chinatown.

“Any bill that helps cities reinvest in and revitalize their older urban neighborhoods, and downtown cores is a step in the right direction,” Dyer said. “This bill appears to do just that. Infill development is a critical component to a city’s success, which is why I’m committed to reimagining and rebuilding our Downtown Fresno and Chinatown urban core.”

Related Story: Will This Bill Be the End of California’s Housing vs. Environment Wars?

CEQA Can Be a Tool to Stop Projects: Builders

To qualify for the CEQA exemption, projects have to build on a previously developed site or be surrounded on “almost” all sides by existing urban uses, according to the nonprofit pro-housing advocacy group California YIMBY.

Projects also have to be consistent with local zoning.

The idea is that infill projects don’t have the same environmental impacts as outward growth, according to the group.

Environmental review processes can be expensive and time consuming.

If Bill Passes, More Developers Might Do Infill

Will Dyck, principal with Summa Development Group, said by making the development process easier, it could get more developers interested in doing infill projects.

He said CEQA started out with a reasonable purpose: to protect the environment and encourage conservation.

“But like many laws that have been around for a while, people start to manipulate them and use them for other things,” Dyck said.

Interests often use the 1970 law to exact concessions on projects. And, competing builders or union groups will sometimes use the law to kill projects or get guarantees.

Of his 25 years doing development in Fresno County, Dyck said none of the CEQA challenges on his projects have been rooted in environmental grounds.

“They were not fighting on the grounds of what the statement of their opposition said, it was something else they wanted done and they were using it as a weapon against the developer,” Dyck said. “That’s the unfortunate misuse of something that could have good intentions.”

Sign the Petition

Anyone wishing to support AB 609 can sign a petition at this link.