Urgent Action Alert: Newsom Holds Budget Hostage to CEQA 'Reform' Bill to Fast-Track Delta Tunnel

In the latest development in Governor Gavin Newsom’s campaign to build the Delta Tunnel, the governor on Friday night issued an ultimatum to legislators that he won’t sign the State Budget unless his California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Reform Bill is passed. 

“On Friday night, reporting from Cal Matters and KCRA revealed that he insists that his CEQA Reform Bill (which has not gone through normal public and transparent processes) must be passed by midnight, June 30th, or he will not sign the State Budget,” according to an urgent action alert from Restore the Delta. 

Cal Matters reported:

 After days of confusion in which a deal with Gov. Gavin Newsom threatened to unravel over his demand to include new housing and infrastructure regulations, the California Legislature passed an updated state budget on Friday.

 With the start of a new fiscal year looming on July 1, budget negotiations — already challenged by a $12 billion and growing deficit — dragged on this week as Newsom and legislative leaders struggled to reach an agreement on waiving state environmental reviews for priority projects.” 

At the top of the list of his “priority projects” is the Delta Tunnel. 

Restore the Delta urges you to call your Assemblymembers and State Senators NOW, this weekend, and again on Monday (repeatedly) to tell them the following:

1. In 2023, the California Legislature carved out the Delta Tunnel EXPLICITLY from CEQA Reform.  They need to do it again, and remind the Governor that CEQA was NOT to be tied to the budget, but handled through a robust public process. That is what governance is – process, transparency, public input, and hard-won consensus building.
2. They, the California Legislature, MUST ensure, at a minimum, a carve out for Delta Conveyance in the CEQA Administrative Record Section, or better yet that section should be deleted altogether.
3. You do not like seeing California Budget manipulation that mimics what is happening at the Federal level and that the Governor needs to govern in the ways Californians expect him to: transparency, good public process, and no tunnel.

“While we believe this bill is dangerous for all California environmental concerns and would prefer that it disappear, the above items must happen,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director of Restore the Delta.

“Without a doubt, the Governor wants to destroy litigation around Delta Conveyance because his primary goal as California’s leader is to destroy the Delta and claim infrastructure victory for his Presidential aspirations.  Enough is enough. It is time for him to do the real collaborative work with legislators, Tribes, and communities to solve our ENTIRE State’s water needs,” Barrigan-Parrilla stated.