California Governor Gavin Newsom on Friday pledged to speed up construction projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars across the state, including two major water projects that have stalled for years amid delays and opposition from environmental groups.
For the past decade, California officials have pursued water projects in the drought-prone state. One can build Giant tunnel To transport large volumes of water under the natural channels of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the drier and more densely populated Southern California.
the other would be a Huge new tank Nearby is the small community of sites in Northern California that can store more water during floods—like the chain of atmospheric rivers that hit the state earlier this year—to deliver to farmers.
But neither project was built, despite promises from several governors and legislative leaders. Environmental groups have sued to block the tunnel project, arguing it would wipe out threatened species of fish, including salmon and delta smelt. Sites Tank is still trying to obtain the necessary permits to begin construction.
Newsom is making a slew of changes to make it much faster for these projects to get the required permits and approvals. Other projects that could qualify include solar and wind energy storage and batteries; transit and regional railways; Road maintenance and bridge projects. semiconductor factories; and wildlife crossings along Interstate 15, Newsom’s office said. His efforts to speed up projects will not apply to building more housing.
One major suggestion is to limit the amount of time it takes to resolve environmental lawsuits to around nine months. Newsom said his administration is “not looking to roll anyone,” including what he called “fierce champions” of environmental stewardship.
“I mean, nine months, you can have a baby, okay? I mean, that’s a long time,” Newsom said Friday while visiting a future solar farm site in Stanislaus County.
However, some environmental groups were outraged. Newsom “wants to get rid of the standard environmental protections for delta tunnel construction,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of the advocacy group Restore the Delta.
“We have never been more disappointed in the Governor of California than we are with Governor Newsom,” she said. “How is perpetuating environmental injustice, which is detrimental to public health and the environment, really any different than governors of red states perpetuating social injustice in their states, which Governor Newsom likes to vehemently criticize?”
Newsom says California has hundreds of billions of dollars to spend on infrastructure projects over the next decade, as a result of voter-approved bonds, bumper budget surpluses during the pandemic and an influx of federal money from President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill.
But he said the state is often too slow to approve those projects and that federal money “goes to other states that are moving more aggressively.” Newsom said his proposals could shorten the time it takes to build projects by more than three years.
His office said the legislation would allow various state agencies, including the Department of Transportation, to approve projects more quickly and issue permits. Newsom also signed an executive order on Friday creating what he called an “infrastructure strike team” to identify rapid projects.
Jerry Brown, executive director of the Sites Project Authority that oversees the new reservoir, said he believes Newsom’s proposals could allow construction to begin a year earlier, saving about $100 million.
“This saves a lot of money and gets a lot of jobs in the pipeline,” he said.
Newsom wants the legislation to be part of the state budget, which must be passed before the end of June. That means, if approved, it could go into effect sooner and would only require a majority vote of the Democratic-controlled legislature.
“The climate crisis requires that we move faster to build and strengthen critical infrastructure,” said Tony Atkins, a San Diego Democrat and state Senate leader, adding that lawmakers “will ensure we can do so responsibly, and in line with California’s commitment to highway jobs and environmental protection.” “.
Newsom’s proposal was welcomed by some Republicans, with Republican Senate Leader Brian Jones saying the governor was “taking one last action.” Others were more skeptical, with Republican Assembly Leader James Gallagher saying Democrats in the legislature are the biggest obstacle to Newsom’s proposals.
Gavin Newsom likes to brag about being able to “scramble” Democratic lawmakers. Let’s see it, Gallagher said. “Republicans are ready to work with him for real reforms.”