California Changes Its Environmental Quality Act

Abstract

Studies indicated that California's Environmental Impact Reports had become outsized and costly; EIR's did not help city councilmen respond to problems, and often the documents were prepared and then ignored. In 1976, the California Legislature amended the law to shorten EIR's, to focus the reports on environmental problems, and to require the agencies to respond to these problems. A summary, table of contents or index, and a list of references are required to help readers find critical information. Public agencies are required to solve environmental problems or to explain why the problems cannot be solved. Improvement in EIR's has been slow, however, because of bureaucratic reluctance to change, and because of fear that a lawsuit may challenge the shortened EIR. (19 references)