California Air Resources Board

Principal Investigator/Author: Moira O'Neill

Contractor: University of California, Berkeley

Contract Number: 19STC005

Project Status: Completed

Relevant CARB Programs: Sustainable Communities & Climate Protection, Local Actions

Topic Areas: Environmental Justice, Community Health, Racial Equity, Sustainable Communities, Research & Sustainable Communities, California Climate Investments, Land Use & Transportation Research

Research Abstract:

This report details findings and analysis from the ongoing Comprehensive Assessment of Land Use Entitlements Study (CALES). CALES examines how jurisdictions approve housing development that would produce five or more units if built. CALES also analyzes how enforceable climate policies, such as the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), operate in relationship to the approval of new housing in urban and exurban areas and whether new housing development in both contexts faces opposition through lawsuits. All data points to local authority over land and local regulation as the most significant barrier to increasing the development of dense, infill housing and affordable housing in the study areas. Local governments could eliminate obstacles associated with state-level environmental regulation (and related litigation) by reforming their local law. Though community opposition to housing through litigation varies across cities, less than 3% of all approvals in our data faced litigation—with no meaningful difference between litigation rates for housing in urban or exurban contexts. Both urban multi-family and exurban subdivision development used similar expedited environmental review pathways intended to promote infill development; this is true for exurban development sited in high fire hazard areas.

Keywords: social equity, land use, housing, entitlement, CEQA, housing development, climate policies, local regulation, affordable housing, infill housing

Research Seminar

Final Report: Please email research@arb.ca.gov to request the Final Report generated by this research contract.