California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order suspending what he dubbed as “unnecessary permitting and review requirements” by the utilities working to rebuild the areas devastated by January’s wildfires in Los Angeles County. to accelerate the rebuild of Altadena, Malibu, and Pacific Palisades following the devastating January fires.
The executive order suspends compliance requirements related to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the California Coastal Act by utilities rebuilding electric, gas, water, sewer and telecommunication infrastructure in the Palisades and Eaton fire burn zones. The order also speeds the process of “undergrounding” utility equipment that he described as a necessary for creating a “safer and more resilient electric infrastructure.”
“We are determined to rebuild Altadena, Malibu, and Pacific Palisades stronger and more resilient than before,” said Newsom. “Speeding up the pace that we rebuild our utility systems will help get survivors back home faster and prevent future fires.”
Photo by Gage Skidmore / Flickr Creative Commons
Seems like the thing to do these days 🙂
1. If they are unnecessary, why are they requirments in the first place?
2. Interesting this is applied to the utilities specifically (upon whom the government usually tries to blame for the problem in the first place).
3. Wonder how this will go for those that want to rebuild more or less what they had before?