State officials consider drastic measures in response to 'Big Beautiful Bill': 'There is no sugar-coating this'

California state officials have been considering drastic measures, including the rollback of decades-old environmental protections, to accelerate cleaner-energy projects and help them meet new, tighter deadlines for federal incentives, Politico reported. 

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which President Trump signed into law on July 4, wind and solar projects must either start construction by July 4, 2026, or enter into service by December 31, 2027, in order to qualify for tax incentives originally slated to last into the 2030s, per Politico. 

The rolled-back incentives originally were included in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the nation's largest-ever investment in transitioning to a cleaner-energy economy and reducing heat-trapping pollution. 

"There is no sugar-coating this," said Alex Jackson, executive director of American Clean-Power California, a trade group, according to Politico. "This is a major setback to the affordable clean energy transition." 

In order to speed up California's notoriously slow permitting process and increase the likelihood that projects will qualify for federal incentives, officials have floated the idea of carving out exceptions to the state's landmark environmental law, CEQA, for wind and solar projects. 

One vocal proponent of the move has been Scott Weiner, an influential state senator representing San Francisco and chair of the Senate Budget Committee. 

"Wouldn't it be a tragedy for California if we lost a bunch of these clean energy projects because of a screwed-up permitting system?" asked Weiner, a longtime advocate for developers and opponent of CEQA, according to Politico. 

What Weiner flippantly refers to as "a screwed-up permitting system" was, at the time of its enactment in 1970, a groundbreaking environmental law requiring that state and local decision-makers consider the environmental impacts of a project prior to its approval, according to CEB, a legal education company.

Prior to Gov. Ronald Reagan signing CEQA into law, there was no statewide requirement that environmental considerations be taken into account whatsoever when determining whether or not authorities should approve a project, according to CEB. 

"CEQA's primary purpose is to prevent or minimize environmental damage by requiring state and local agencies to evaluate and disclose the environmental impacts of their actions and projects through a detailed review process," according to CEB.

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For decades, wealthy developers and their political allies, such as Weiner, have waged a war against CEQA, arguing that the environmental review process increases costs and delays projects. 

In particular, developers for years have blamed CEQA for California's notorious shortage of affordable housing options, whereas other analysts have found that market forces and the lack of housing subsidies have been at fault.

Further, a study by the California Association of Environmental Professionals found that only large-scale housing projects of 400 units or more were subject to CEQA's most stringent requirements, whereas the regulatory burden on smaller projects was much less. 

The newest proposal to roll back CEQA requirements for solar and wind projects has put many environmentalists and clean-energy advocates, typically allies in the fight against rising global temperatures, at odds with one another. 

CEQA proponents were particularly wary of further weakening the landmark environmental law just weeks after California lawmakers passed a bill carving out broad new exceptions, including for water-system projects, high-speed rail, and wildfire breaks, Politico previously reported.

The bill also included a highly controversial exemption for high-tech manufacturing plants that build products like EVs and semiconductors, which opponents say can leach toxic chemicals into neighboring communities, as noted by Politico. 

"We would want any streamlining to be restricted to truly clean tech, unlike the advanced manufacturing provisions just put into law," said Bill Magavern, policy director for the Coalition for Clean Air, according to Politico. 

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