LA Wildfires: Will the Governor’s Efforts to Streamline Environmental Permitting Really Matter?

On January 12, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order (EO N-4-25) to suspend permitting requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Coastal Act, with the goal of facilitating faster rebuilding of homes and businesses affected by the recent wildfires in Southern California.

Specifically, EO N-4-25 seeks to:

• Suspend CEQA review and California Coastal Act permitting for projects to repair, restore, demolish or replace properties or facilities substantially damaged or destroyed in recent Southern California wildfires.
• Direct state agencies to identify additional permitting requirements that may unduly impede efforts to rebuild and should be considered for suspension, including provisions of the Building Standards Code, Title 24 of the California Code of Regulations.
• Direct the Department of Housing and Community Development to coordinate with local governments to identify and recommend procedures to establish rapid permitting and approval processes to expedite rebuilding.
• Collaborate with the state legislature to identify and propose statutory amendments to help expedite rebuilding while enhancing wildfire mitigation and response capacity within rebuilt areas.

The suspension of permitting requirements “applies only to properties and facilities that are in substantially the same location as, and do not exceed 110% of the footprint and height of, properties and facilities that were legally established and existed immediately before this emergency.”

Although EO N-4-25 purports to provide a full waiver of CEQA and the Coastal Act for eligible projects, it is unclear how significantly this order will, in fact, impact rebuilding. The waiver essentially mirrors an existing provision of the Coastal Act, which provides a permitting exemption for properties rebuilding after disasters provided the new buildings are sited in the same location and not more than 10% larger or taller than the destroyed structures. And CEQA, which requires public agencies to consider and mitigate the environmental impacts of proposed projects, already provides exemptions for single-family residences as well as the replacement or reconstruction of existing structures located on the same site and with “substantially the same” purpose and capacity as the prior structure.

Also because the order only applies to CEQA and the Coastal Act, projects must still comply with local zoning and permitting ordinances. As just one example, although the order reiterates existing state law under the Coastal Act, the City of Malibu operates under a Local Coastal Program approved by the California Coastal Commission. EO N-4-25 does not suspend that Local Coastal Program or the Local Coastal Programs of other jurisdictions. The order leaves many other questions unanswered: What structures are considered “facilities” under the order? Can the use of properties and facilities change so long as the footprint and location remain the same?

Fortunately, it appears that local governments are now taking steps to address these outstanding questions. For structures located within the City of Los Angeles, for example, an emergency executive order (EEO1) issued on January 13 is intended to “provide a streamlined path for the rebuilding of the City of Los Angeles’ fire-devastated communities.” EEO1 directs all city departments to complete project reviews within 30 days from when a complete application is submitted. The order also waives local discretionary review processes for eligible projects and directs city departments to process all applications using “the streamlined ministerial review process currently used for projects eligible under Government Code Section 65913.4.” As with the statewide order, however, EEO1 applies only if property owners do not increase the size of their homes and businesses by more than 10%. EEO1 also explicitly prevents a change in use, intensity or density of the original structure or facility—a limitation absent from EO N-4-25.

We will continue to monitor state and local efforts to facilitate rebuilding in the aftermath of the Los Angeles wildfires.