The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other California laws are notorious for delaying and driving up the cost of building projects. Aside from their uses for neighbors pursuing Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) goals, the environmental laws are also employed for leverage by labor unions who threaten to invoke them “to stop new construction unless they get a cut of the action. One developer is fighting back.” [Scott Shackford, earlier on CEQA]
One Comment
I’ve never understood why nonunion contractors don’t retaliate by filing CEQA lawsuits against every public sector construction project, all of which are built with union labor. I’d think that our ever progressive legislature would rethink the way the law works.