To the editor: In his op-ed calling for reform of the California Environmental Quality Act, William Fulton fails to acknowledge the reason the law has not been drastically revised: it empowers a very broad range of the state's population, including the most vulnerable.
CEQA is a bill of rights for a participatory environmental democracy.
In addition to being trusted by environmental groups, unions and community organizations, he has also empowered public agencies, Native American tribes and others seeking to protect California's precious environment and resources.
A blanket deregulatory approach that fails to encompass the nuances needed to protect California's diverse population with its multiplicity of interests is not going to pass the Legislature, nor should it.
Doug Carstens, Hermosa Beach
The author is an environmental lawyer.
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To the editor: Promoters of large projects tout the possibility of receiving money (and not doing the project) to obtain CEQA exemptions. Everyone else has to go through the process, playing whack-a-mole with every objection and paying dearly for it.
The environment rarely benefits.
Suggestion: Sponsors of a high-profile project agree to waivers if they also pursue CEQA on a parallel path, with commitments to expedited reviews. And they should fund an effort to engage stakeholders in redesigning the process as they move forward. This group would come up with recommendations for reviews that benefit everyone.
Douglas Hileman, Glen Valley
