Evaluation of the california environmental quality act |
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Authors: | Robert B Olshansky |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 907 1/2 West Nevada Street, 61801, Urbana, Illinois, USA
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Abstract: | The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has evolved from a mini-NEPA, first enacted in 1970, into a procedural act
that affects the approval process of all large developments in California. In 1990, California local governments produced
over 1600 environmental impact reports and 30,000 initial studies under CEQA. Because of its widespread use, CEQA has periodically
drawn the attention of the state legislature, most recently in 1993, when over 60 CEQA reform bills were introduced. This
paper describes the CEQA process and evaluates its success at meeting its explicit and implicit goals. The research includes
a statewide survey of CEQA practice, sent to the planning departments of all 513 local governments in California in 1991.
Survey respondents agreed that CEQA helps in evaluating environmental impacts, reducing impacts, informing the public, and
coordinating public agency review. It is effective in reducing the environmental impacts of individual projects, but is not
as effective in improving environmental quality on an areawide scale. This research concludes that CEQA has led to positive
outcomes and is not as deeply flawed as many of its critics claim. Still, CEQA as currently designed may not be the optimal
vehicle for ensuring environmental quality. |
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Keywords: | : Environmental planning Environmental impact assessment California Environmental Quality Act Environmental program evaluation |
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