{"id":446565,"date":"2026-08-28T22:40:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T22:40:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/446565\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T22:40:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T22:40:19","slug":"proposition-45-puts-a-shot-clock-on-lengthy-environmental-reviews-developers-say-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/446565\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposition 45 puts a \u2018shot clock\u2019 on lengthy environmental reviews, developers say \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proposition 45<\/a> would streamline a broken regulatory review process and create a path forward to directly address housing affordability in Orange County, developers and business advocates said at a recent event.<\/p>\n

With only about a month left until California voters will start to receive their ballots in the mail, dozens of housing stakeholders convened in Laguna Hills on Thursday, Aug. 27, to hear a panel discussion on Proposition 45 \u2014 dubbed the \u201cBuilding an Affordable California Act\u201d \u2014 that will be before voters in this year\u2019s general election. It is one of 14 statewide measures<\/a> voters get to weigh in on this year.<\/p>\n

Related: What is Proposition 45 before California voters in the 2026 election?<\/a><\/p>\n

Put simply: Proposition 45 would amend the California Environmental Quality Act<\/a> to limit the scope of environmental reviews, set deadlines for public agencies to complete the review process and establish deadlines for filing and resolving lawsuits against major projects. It would also limit the evidence courts may consider and the relief available in those challenges.<\/p>\n

\"Attendees<\/p>\n

Attendees clap near the beginning of the Orange County Business Council panel on Proposition 45 at Orange County Realtors in Laguna Hills on August 27, 2026. (Photo by Erin Burk, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Vice<\/p>\n

Vice President of Business Development for Jamboree Housing Corporation Kelsey Brewer speaks on the panel during an Orange County Business Council meeting on Proposition 45 at Orange County Realtors in Laguna Hills on August 27, 2026. (Photo by Erin Burk, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A display lists a portion of the core reforms associated with Proposition 45 during an Orange County Business Council panel on the legislation held at Orange County Realtors in Laguna Hills on August 27, 2026. (Photo by Erin Burk, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Greg<\/p>\n

Greg McWilliams, vice president and chief policy officer of FivePoint Holdings, LLC, gestures while speaking on the panel during an Orange County Business Council meeting on Proposition 45 at Orange County Realtors in Laguna Hills on August 27, 2026. (Photo by Erin Burk, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"CEO<\/p>\n

CEO of the Building Industry Association of Southern California Jeff Montejano shares his stance on Proposition 45 during an Orange County Business Council meeting on the legislation at Orange County Realtors in Laguna Hills on August 27, 2026. (Photo by Erin Burk, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/p>\n

Paul Simonds, senior vice president and chief operating officer of the Orange County Business Council, right, asks CEO of the Building Industry Association of Southern California Jeff Montejano, second from right, to expand on what he means by parties choosing to use \u201csome or all\u201d of Proposition 45 during an Orange County Business Council panel on Proposition 45 at Orange County Realtors in Laguna Hills on August 27, 2026. (Photo by Erin Burk, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

Attendees clap near the beginning of the Orange County Business Council panel on Proposition 45 at Orange County Realtors in Laguna Hills on August 27, 2026. (Photo by Erin Burk, Contributing Photographer)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a><\/p>\n

Opponents say Proposition 45 would allow big developers to fast-track costly projects that pollute natural resources and harm the environment, while silencing community voices and stifling local control to favor these major corporations.<\/p>\n

Advocates, though, who spoke at the event on Thursday, hosted by the Orange County Business Council, said the power of California\u2019s landmark environmental regulations needs to be reined in so that the state\u2019s housing supply can grow. Proposition 45 would do just that while also keeping CEQA a core part of the development process in the future, they argued during the hour-long discussion, peppered with several sports analogies.<\/p>\n

Luis Qui\u00f1onez, president of the California Foundation for Commerce and Education, said the lengthy review process developers have to go through can take up to a decade.<\/p>\n

And those delays can jack up prices, added Kelsey Brewer, vice president of business development for Jamboree Housing Corporation, not only for developers, but also for those trying to enter the housing market.\u00a0For every month a project is delayed, she said, the cost of building one housing unit can increase by up to $1,300.<\/p>\n

Greg McWilliams, vice president and chief policy officer for Irvine-based developer FivePoint Holdings, said Proposition 45 will simply streamline the review process, while still respecting the law set by CEQA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not exempting a bunch of stuff, it\u2019s not cutting corners; it\u2019s making the process fair across the board,\u201d McWilliams said. \u201cEverything (in CEQA) is still in place. All authority is still in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c(Proposition 45) puts a \u2018shot clock\u2019 on government and the bureaucracy. It does not weaken the environment,\u201d said Jeff Montejano, CEO of the Building Industry Association of Southern California.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it does is (put) a definitive timeline of review and input; then it concludes. It does not preclude the city from saying no. It just makes sure that the process isn\u2019t being weaponized, which is being done now,\u201d Montejano said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a world-class economy, we have world-class venues and jobs, but the housing isn\u2019t there. \u2026 Proposition 45 creates that certainty, a timeline, but I think the biggest issue that we have, and that Prop. 45 does, is it brings uniformity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But opponents<\/a> say that the measure would, in fact, do the opposite.<\/p>\n

Instead of streamlining project approvals, passing Proposition 45 would \u201cfundamentally undermine the public health and environmental protections\u201d that the CEQA review process provides, according to a letter<\/a> from more than 200 public health and environmental organizations sent in April to the California Legislature opposing the initiative.<\/p>\n

Among the signees of the letter were the California Environmental Justice Alliance and the Surfrider Foundation<\/a>, a San Clemente-based ocean preserve nonprofit.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s call this measure what it is: a power grab that lets polluters build what they want, where they want, and forces our communities to live with polluted air and water, and hazardous chemicals,\u201d said Howard Penn, executive director of the Planning and Conservation League<\/a>, a Sacramento-based nonprofit that aims to support state legislation and policy that protects California\u2019s environment. (The PCL is part of the One Voice for California campaign committee<\/a>, formed in opposition to Proposition 45.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt rips away the strongest tool our local communities have to keep toxic projects away from our kids, and our coalition of more than 250 environmental justice, civil rights, clean energy, public health, and conservation organizations will not allow it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Proposition 45 would streamline a broken regulatory review process and create a path forward to directly address housing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":446566,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[1400,163,165,164,7,1011,100,611,13],"class_list":["post-446565","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-2026-elections","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-housing","tag-news","tag-orange-county","tag-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446565","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446565"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446565\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/446566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}