Conservation groups are hailing Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg for preventing a last-minute attempt to gut the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) from moving forward. State Senator Michael Rubio tried to sneak drastic changes to CEQA through the legislature using the infamous “gut-and-amend” procedure.

Senator Rubio’s legislation, known as SB 317, would have made comprehensive changes to CEQA without giving the legislature – and the public – an opportunity to explore what these changes would mean to environmental quality in the state.

A coalition of conservation groups, including the Planning and Conservation League, the California League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club California, and the National Resources Defense Council fought to stop the passage of SB 317. Organized labor and community groups from throughout the state also opposed the bill. Click HERE to read more.