LOS ANGELES-According to the California NaturalResources Agency, CEQA, or theCalifornia Environmental Quality Act, is a statutethat requires state and local agencies to identify the significantenvironmental impacts of their actions and to avoid or mitigatethose impacts, if feasible. There has been much talk from thebusiness community about reforming the 40-plus-year oldlegislation, which can delay the progression of certainprojects—among them commercial real estate development. But noteveryone is in agreement about just how the law should be reformedor what the purpose of reform should be.

“The law is horribly broken and no longer serves its intendedpurpose very effectively, but in its ineffectiveness, it supportsall kinds of vested interest,” Tim Tosta, land useattorney with McKenna Long & Aldridge here,says to GlobeSt.com. “It really doesn’t help decision-makersunderstand the environmental consequences ofdevelopment projects.”

Tosta explains that CEQA was passed to change a culture ofcommunication on the issue of the environment, to force people tothink about the environment by being required to make certaindisclosures about projects’ environmental impact. He argues thatthe document no longer serves to inform the public about thesematters because the voluminous paperwork it creates has becomeburdensome to create and to read. “It’s become more and morearcane. Decision-makers are helped less and less because no onetakes the time to read the information. CEQA doesn’t serve theenvironment; it serves special interests dealing with theenvironment.”