Proposition 45 puts a ‘shot clock’ on lengthy environmental reviews, developers say

Proposition 45 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.

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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 — dubbed the “Building an Affordable California Act” — that will be before voters in this year’s general election. It is one of 14 statewide measures voters get to weigh in on this year.

Related: What is Proposition 45 before California voters in the 2026 election?

Put simply: Proposition 45 would amend the California Environmental Quality Act 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.

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.

Advocates, though, who spoke at the event on Thursday, hosted by the Orange County Business Council, said the power of California’s landmark environmental regulations needs to be reined in so that the state’s 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.

Luis Quiñonez, 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.

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. For every month a project is delayed, she said, the cost of building one housing unit can increase by up to $1,300.

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.

“It’s not exempting a bunch of stuff, it’s not cutting corners; it’s making the process fair across the board,” McWilliams said. “Everything (in CEQA) is still in place. All authority is still in place.”

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“(Proposition 45) puts a ‘shot clock’ on government and the bureaucracy. It does not weaken the environment,” said Jeff Montejano, CEO of the Building Industry Association of Southern California.

“What 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’t being weaponized, which is being done now,” Montejano said.

“We have a world-class economy, we have world-class venues and jobs, but the housing isn’t there. … 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,” he said.

But opponents say that the measure would, in fact, do the opposite.

Instead of streamlining project approvals, passing Proposition 45 would “fundamentally undermine the public health and environmental protections” that the CEQA review process provides, according to a letter from more than 200 public health and environmental organizations sent in April to the California Legislature opposing the initiative.

Among the signees of the letter were the California Environmental Justice Alliance and the Surfrider Foundation, a San Clemente-based ocean preserve nonprofit.

“Let’s 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,” said Howard Penn, executive director of the Planning and Conservation League, a Sacramento-based nonprofit that aims to support state legislation and policy that protects California’s environment. (The PCL is part of the One Voice for California campaign committee, formed in opposition to Proposition 45.)

“It 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.”

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