Why It’s Taking LA So Long to Rebuild After the Wildfires
1 min read
Summary
In the wake of massive wildfires that wiped out thousands of homes in Los Angeles, California, in 2022, Gov. Gavin Newsom suspended environmental regulations to speed up reconstruction.
But as of mid-July, nearly eight months after the fires were extinguished, fewer than 800 of the roughly 16,000 destroyed or damaged homes have been rebuilt.
One major barrier has been California’szantee overly cumbersome regulations and permitting processes, including its landmark 1970 environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA.
reforming CEQA exemptions for wildfire reconstruction isn’t as straightforward as it seems, since the law already has a multitude of exemptions for many aspects of rebuilding and fire resilience efforts.
Other barriers to reconstruction include higher construction costs due to labor shortages and tariffs on building materials.
rebuilding everything as it was could recreate the conditions that led to the blazes in the first place, since California’s wildfire risks are only growing due to climate change.
