Fixing the CEQA fix

CEQA was reborn under a bad moon rising.

Last year, Gov. Gavin Newsom gave legislators an ultimatum to either pass sweeping reforms of the state’s environmental review law — CEQA — or he would withhold approval of the state’s $321 billion spending plan. Legislators scrambled to pass it, so fast that now, it’s unclear which projects are exempt from the environmental review.

“CEQA now carries an exemption of potentially very broad scope, vaguely defined, that appears to allow almost any industrial activity to be approved without environmental review in an industrial zone,” wrote law professor Eric Biber last November, asking somewhat plaintively, “Is this what the legislature intended to do?”

Our partners at CalMatters have a new story outlining the legislative attempts to fix the hole they blew in CEQA. State Sen. Catherine Blackspear, who represents San Diego’s northern coastal area, is leading the charge to understand and clarify what CEQA reformers intended. Whatever happens, more discussion of environmental laws appears to be in the stars.

(I haven’t gotten all the space puns out of my system yet.)

• Rep. Eric Swalwell dropped out of California’s gubernatorial race Sunday evening, after a slew of severe sexual misconduct allegations against him became public starting Friday.

• Did you know the X-Games is launching a new league built around a team-based competition? Well, they are, and unsurprisingly, three skateboarders taken in the league’s inaugural draft hail from the skateboarding ‘mecca’ of San Diego, as our Noah Perkins reports.

• We’ve also got a new episode of the San Diego Politics Show, featuring an interview with CA-48 Democratic candidate Brandon Riker. Last week, we interviewed San Diego Councilwoman Marni von Wilpert, another candidate in the race.

Thoughts? Opinions? Let us know what you think by emailing news@timesofsandiego.com.