Oppose SB 607 & CEQA Gutting SB 607 (Wiener) is a sweeping rollback of our strongest environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), that has protected us for over 50 years. As federal environmental laws come under attack, CEQA is the primary tool Californians have to protect our communities, environment, and public health against climate change impacts. Join EAC and over 130 environmental groups in urging Senator Mike McGuire and Senator Anna Caballero to vote NO on this bill! Why This Matters Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs) are one of the pillars of CEQA and are critical in ensuring a project's significant impacts are vetted by the public and reduced. They ensure government transparency and accountability, promoting the public process in decision-making. Currently, EIRs are required if there is "fair argument" that a project may have significant environmental impacts. However, SB 607 seeks to reverse this long-standing presumption. If SB 607 passes, even if there is solid, credible evidence that a project will cause significant impacts, an agency could refuse to prepare an EIR and instead uphold a negative declaration or mitigated negative declaration, if the agency can point to evidence suggesting otherwise. Why EAC is Concerned While SB 607 is being promoted as a bill that will streamline housing and clean energy projects, it would impact almost every private and government project in California, including freeways, airports, dams, railyards, shopping centers, sports complexes, power plants, prisons, and mining operations. Even presenting substantial evidence that a project would have harmful effects might not be enough to get needed impact analysis, opportunity for input from frontline communities, or consideration of project improvements. Current-day projects with known harms already try to avoid doing critical CEQA review by understating their project impacts. Learn more about them below. Take Action 1. Learn More: 2. Call or submit written comments by Monday, May 19. Though we've provided a template below, customized comments are preferable! Senate President Pro Tempore Mike McGuire Contact: Senator Anna Caballero (Chair of Senate Appropriations Committee) Contact Sample Email: Dear *Senate President Pro Tempore McGuire / Appropriations Chair Caballero (depending on who you are emailing):*
I am writing to express strong opposition to SB 607 (Wiener). This bill would fundamentally erode the California Environmental Quality Act, during a time of unprecedented rollback of environmental protections at the federal level. CEQA has protected Californians for more than 50 years. This extreme bill goes too far at a time when we need state-level environmental and community protections the most. We urge you to oppose this dangerous legislation. Thank you, *X Name*
*City of Residence, if in McGuire’s / Caballero’s district* | 
