Chris Elmendorf Profile picture
Jan 2, 2024 16 tweets 6 min read Read on X
Whoa, the NEPA provisions tucked into the new "Clean Electricity & Transmission Acceleration Act" are like a wish list for greenmailers.

There's lots of good in the bill (⤵️), but the NEPA stuff is stunning. Come take a look.
🧵. 1/14.
1. The bill defines "enviro impact" to include not only enviro impacts, but also "aesthetic, historic, cultural, economic, social, or health" effects.

(Whereas CEQA is still about "physical environment"--even in the infamous Berkeley case.
)

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2. The bill creates utterly open-ended authority for fed. agencies to demand a "community benefit agreement" as price of any permit for which an EIS was prepared.

This converts NEPA from procedural statute into grant of substantive reg / exaction authority.
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In exercising the "community benefit agreement" authority, what is a federal agency supposed to consider?

Consideration #1 is the deepness of the permit-applicant's pocket. Seriously.
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And in case the new, expansive definition of "enviro impact" wasn't clear enough, the bill adds that CBAs may be imposed to offset any *social or economic* (as well as enviro) impacts of the project.
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In fact, the bill says an agency can impose a CBA not just to mitigate adverse effects of the project, but "to address legacy or historical harm" with, e.g., local-hire requirements.
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3. The bill would also destroy the caselaw that limits scope of enviro review to scope of agency's regulatory discretion, not only via the CBA provision but also by expressly requiring analysis of effects "not within control of any federal agency."

/7 supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/…
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4. And the bill would send a torrent of federal dollars into the coffers of groups who'd exploit NEPA for labor or other side hustles.

- there's $3 billion of "community engagement" grants to arm nonprofits & others
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- and there's a new statutory mandate that FERC reimburse NGO intervenors in regulatory proceedings (if intervenor affects the outcome)
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5. And in case NEPA turned up to 11 isn't enough, there's also a new, judicially enforceable mandate for "community impact reports" if a project may affect an "environmental justice community."
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6. There's also a wild provision that seems to prevent federal agencies from considering any project alternatives in an EIS unless (a) the alternative would have no adverse impact on any "overburdened community," or (b) it serves a compelling interest *in that community.*
/11 Image
"Overburdened communities" are defined, in turn, not as communities burdened by the project, or by legacy pollution, but by race, poverty, or language-minority status.

(CJ Roberts & Co. may find the race piece unconstitutional, but the rest would stand.)
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The biggest shocker for me is that this bill has the backing of the old "New Democrats," not just the left wing of the Dem coalition.

I don't pretend to understand the coalitional politics, but, wow.
/13

seec.house.gov/media/press-re…
I should add that I know NEPA less well than CEQA. Maybe I'm misreading or misunderstanding something in the bill.
Let's hope better minds will find my errors.
@nicholas_bagley @dfarber @jadler1969 @AA_Mance @CarolineCecot @EnergyLawProf @AlecStapp @TDuncheon
/end
One more observation: the bill subtly nudges NEPA toward super-statute status by directing conflicts b/t NEPA "and any other provision of law" to be resolved in favor of NEPA. Image
@drvolts, @robinsonmeyer: I'd love to hear your thoughts on the CETAA draft that dropped last month. (Apologies if I missed your coverage.)

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More from @CSElmendorf

Mar 23
Proposition: Abundance and the conservationist mode of environmentalism are (or should be) friends, not enemies.
🧵/15. Image
There's a widespread view that Abundance squares w/ environmentalism only insofar as climate supersedes conservation as the Big Issue for enviros.

Tradeoffs b/t conservation & green energy give rise to a "Greens' Dilemma."
/2 Image
Some people (e.g., @TedNordhaus) go further, asserting that environmental ideology is at war with Abundance. There's no space for compromise or synthesis.
/3


breakthroughjournal.org/p/environmenta…
Read 16 tweets
Mar 11
Even if CA enacts this amazing set of bills ⤵️, there are big challenges ahead.

I see six areas of concern on the horizon. 🧵/16.
Concern #1. Local political incentives.

Ditching public hearings on housing proposals ("ministerial approval") is good, but it doesn't give city council members any affirmative reason to facilitate -- or simply not obstruct -- development.

/2
What would improve their incentives?

- Replace single-member district elections w/ at-large or multi-member district elections. There's strong causal evidence that SMD elections depress housig production.

- Fix Prop. 13, or create new state -> local fiscal...

/3 Image
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Read 17 tweets
Mar 11
It's exciting to see the public-intellectual drumbeat around "Abundance" manifest in this year's crop of California housing bills.

They're far more ambitious--and promising--than anything I've seen previously. 🧵/17 Image
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#1: CEQA reform that's broad, deep, and clean.

@Scott_Wiener's SB 607:
- authorizes admin mapping of good-for-infill areas & greatly simplifies CEQA review of housing in those areas (in line with the recommendations of this...

/2
leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavC…
paper, papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cf…, and this @CALittleHoover report, lhc.ca.gov/report/califor…)
- limits the administrative record in all CEQA cases, which will simplify & speed litigation
- limits scope of enviro study for projects that nearly qualify for an exemption
/3
Read 17 tweets
Mar 4
Correction: My earlier posts (⤵️) about AB 1893's "baby builder's remedy" for projects on housing-element inventory sites missed an important detail.

There was (I think) an accident in the drafting of AB 1893 which may greatly limit its reach. 🧵/13 Image
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AB 1893 is @BuffyWicks's "builder's remedy grows up" bill.

It tried to clarify the development standards that apply to those housing projects which a city may not disapprove (or render infeasible) on grounds of noncompliance w/ zoning.

/2
Under subd. (d) of the HAA, there have long been two such classes of projects:

(1) in cities w/o compliant housing element: any housing project ("builder's remedy")

(2) in cities w/ compliant HE: projects on HE inventory sites at HE-allowed density ("baby builder's remedy")

/3 Image
Read 14 tweets
Feb 1
Had a great chat yesterday w/ Tal Alster about Israel's TAMA 38 program and potential extensions to SFH -> plex projects in the U.S.
🧵/17 Image
TAMA 38 authorizes condo HOAs, by supermajority vote, to contract w/ developer to redevelop their building as a larger building w/ more units.

- owners each get a bigger/nicer/safer condo, and money to pay for temporary housing

- developer profits from the added units

/2
Program is hugely successful:

- more than 50% of new housing in Tel Aviv is built thru redevelopment of existing stock

- condo owners have become political supporters of densification

/3 Image
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Read 18 tweets
Jan 30
An L.A. rebuild problem which @GavinNewsom & Leg ought to fix, post-haste:

- Many people who lost their homes are underinsured & can't afford to rebuild.
- Many others are inexpert at supervising contractors & vulnerable to being scammed.

The best path forward...
1/🧵 Image
for many such folks is probably to sell their burned out property to a developer, for cash or cash + option to purchase a new townhome or condo that the developer will build on the property.

But, L.A. County's plan to 2-track permitting...

/2
(fast-lane for like-for-likes, slow lane for everything else), is going to depress what developers bid for properties and reduce opportunities for homeowners to strike "my lot for $ today + townhome tomorrow" deals w/ developers.

/3


Read 22 tweets

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