FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 23, 2025
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Severn Williams, Public Good PR
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510-336-9623
Calif. Environmental Groups and Labor Unions Applaud Senators McGuire and Caballero for Amendments to SB 607
SB 607 threatened to weaken environmental review for almost all private and government development projects in California, including freeways, railyards, power plants, and mining operations
Sacramento, Calif. – A broad range of environmental justice organizations, conservation groups and labor unions today expressed appreciation for Senate Pro Tem McGuire and Chair Caballero for their positive amendments to SB 607 (Wiener), a bill that would have weakened environmental review for a long list of hazardous and polluting projects as originally drafted.
The bill was passed out of the Senate Appropriations Committee today with significant changes, deleting the content of the bill and replacing it with language signaling the Legislature’s intent to continue negotiating changes to environmental review for development projects.
“Thank you to Pro Tem McGuire and Chair Caballero for recognizing that the language of SB 607 would have created significant unintended consequences on communities and new legal uncertainties,” said Raquel Mason, California Environmental Justice Alliance (CEJA) Action. “We look forward to working with the Legislature and the Governor to inform a bill that reflects California’s values like protecting communities and our air, land and water.”
Environmental, community-based and labor organizations have strongly opposed SB 607, arguing that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is essential to protecting the public health of Californians, especially in low-income communities and communities of color, which historically have been disproportionately burdened by polluting projects. The law is also intended to protect California’s natural resources, agricultural lands, and tribal cultural resources. SB 607 would have rolled back environmental and community protections for all but a small handful of development projects.
“Environmental justice communities have long been disproportionately burdened by development that prioritizes profit over community health,” said Aleja Maria Cretcher, Communities for a Better Environment. “Under the previous version of SB 607, we would face even more pollution. We know developers can reduce the harmful impacts of their projects-and CEQA is the only mechanism that ensures frontline communities have a meaningful voice when advocating for those protections.”
“SB 607, as originally drafted, would have taken a wrecking ball to decades of hard work to combat environmental injustice, and what’s worse, it was promoted as an affordable housing solution,” said Asha Sharma, Leadership Counsel for Justice & Accountability, adding, “But SB 607 was never a housing bill; it was a broad rollback of the primary public process that frontline communities rely on to protect their public health. Fortunately, Pro Tem McGuire and Senator Caballero are rightly concerned about the negative impacts this bill would have had on California communities and needs further discussion in the Legislature.”
CEQA has been criticized for inhibiting growth in California by developers. However, opponents of SB 607 have argued that CEQA has been in place for more than 50 years, while California has grown to become the fourth largest economy in the world.
“CEQA is critical to ensuring sustainable development and preventing construction moratoriums,” said Chris Hannan, President, State Building and Construction Trades Council of California, AFL-CIO. “Degradation of the environment and public health can, and has, caused construction moratoriums and other restrictions on growth that, in turn, reduce future employment opportunities for construction workers and other Californians.”
Opponents of the bill also argued that the bill would have significantly increased compliance and litigation costs given the confusing language of the bill, which introduced radical change to how CEQA operates.
“Even for those that support CEQA reform, SB 607 was not the solution,” said Matthew Baker, Policy Director for Planning and Conservation League. “The changes to review standards that 607 would impose will cause tremendous legal confusion, more litigation, and further uncertainty for developers. As originally drafted, SB 607 would not have sped things up, it would only slow things down.”
Groups were also concerned about the weakening of CEQA at a time when the federal government continues to repeal and scale back national environmental and climate laws.
“Federal environmental laws are already under attack by the Trump Administration,” said Frances Tinney, Center for Biological Diversity. “Our state’s robust environmental laws protect all Californians. This is the wrong time to roll back environmental and public health protections that we all depend upon. We are pleased to see that Senators McGuire and Caballero agree.”
“The state Senate has shown thoughtful leadership in addressing our concerns,” said Esther Portillo, Natural Resources Defense Council. “We are living in unprecedented times where our environment and public health are under threat from the federal government. Our state leaders must ensure that California continues to economically thrive without irreparably harming environmental protections.”
The bill’s next stop will be the Senate Floor, though Chair Caballero noted in today’s Appropriations Committee hearing that negotiations on the bill will continue through the budget process between the Assembly, Senate and Governor.
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