Little Hoover Commission Recommends Significant CEQA Reform

Reforming California's venerable California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a politically charged topic. Over the years, the Legislature has made many incremental changes to CEQA but has not enacted far-reaching reforms in its administrative or litigation process.

Recently, the state's Little Hoover Commission exerted considerable effort thinking about the effect of CEQA compliance and litigation on development projects, particularly housing projects. The Little Hoover Commission is an independent state oversight agency with a bipartisan board composed of five public members appointed by the governor, four public members appointed by the Legislature, two senators and two assemblymembers. The purpose of the Commission is to promote "economy, efficiency and improved services in the transaction of the public business in the various departments, agencies and instrumentalities of the executive branch of the state government."