Sen. Blakespear Introduces Legislation to Balance CEQA Reforms with Needed Environmental and Worker Protections

New statewide poll shows Californians overwhelmingly support environmental review for industrial facilities

SACRAMENTO – Sen. Catherine S. Blakespear, D-Encinitas, introduced legislation Wednesday to balance reforms made to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) last year with needed protections for the environment, workers and endangered species.

The bill, SB 954, includes measures called for by a dozen Senators and 20 Assemblymembers in response to SB 131, legislation passed and signed into law that provides a CEQA exemption for nearly all manufacturing facilities, among other changes. A new poll indicates that 64 percent of Californians disapprove of the advanced manufacturing exemption.

"Refining and reforming CEQA is important so that it works the way we want it to for modern California, but we must be thoughtful about it,” Sen. Blakespear said. “SB 954 ensures that when new industrial facilities are built, that the environment, workers and the communities living next door are protected as they should be." 

SB 131 made numerous changes to CEQA, most notably for advanced manufacturing. But the definition for advanced manufacturing encompasses a wide range of heavy industrial uses – such as chemical, plastic and pesticide manufacturing as well as strip mining – that historically have been subject to CEQA given their significant impacts on the environment and public health. 

Sen. Blakespear joined more than 30 legislators who objected to SB 131’s overly broad exemption for industries and last year signed a letter asking for cleanup legislation to correct this overreach. SB 954 makes good on that promise. 

SB 954 adds clear environmental guardrails to the CEQA exemption for advanced manufacturing, strengthens protections for habitat of protected species and fixes the CEQA exemption for residential daycare facilities. This bill specifies the intent of the Legislature to further narrow the definition of advanced manufacturing, allowing room for stakeholders and the Legislature to discuss, and decide on, what is appropriate.

New polling indicates Californians are strongly supportive of SB 954’s approach. The survey, conducted by FM3 Research in March 2026, asked 600 voters on their views of CEQA and the advanced manufacturing exemption. Key findings include:

• 72% of California voters approve of CEQA, including 90% of Democrats, 73% of Independents, and a plurality (41%) of Republicans. Support is 66% or higher in every region of the state.
• 64% oppose exempting advanced manufacturing from CEQA's environmental review and public disclosure requirements, including 79% of Democrats, 64% of Independents, and a plurality of 38% of Republicans. More than half of voters strongly oppose the exemption.
• 85% believe it is extremely or very important to have CEQA review of development projects on a series of impacts on water quality and supply, air quality, risks of exposure to chemicals that cause cancer and birth defects, impacts on public health, and others.

To see all the polling results, go here. 

“Continuing to build out needed infrastructure does not require us to compromise our environmental stewardship priorities, especially when it comes to intensive manufacturing facilities that severely pollute and threaten public health and the environment,” said Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica. “SB 954 re-establishes needed guardrails against this type of development to once again protect our sensitive communities, ecosystems, and species that depend on thoughtful policymaking in this new age. I am proud to join with Senator Blakespear and this broad coalition to uphold these promises made when we significantly reformed CEQA last year.”

“After seven months of collaborative work, I am proud to join Senator Blakespear on SB 954, which delivers meaningful clean up to SB 131,” said Assemblymember Damon Connolly, D-San Rafael, a joint author of the legislation. “Following the unprecedented CEQA exemptions granted to all advanced manufacturing projects through the passage of SB 131, it was critical that subsequent legislation be introduced to ensure our communities are protected from toxic contamination and environmental destruction. SB 954 secures these protections by responsibly tailoring what type of projects receive exemptions, limiting these projects to heavy industrial zones, establishing mandatory setbacks from sensitive receptors, protecting habitats and endangered species, mandating worker protections and tribal consultation, and more. As negotiations continue, I look forward to working with Senator Blakespear to get SB 954 across the finish line.”

"When industrial facilities that handle arsenic, cyanide, and other toxic chemicals can be built near to homes and schools without public notice or environmental review under CEQA, that is not progress — that is a public health crisis waiting to happen," said Asha Sharma, State Policy Manager at the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. "Communities, particularly those that have already borne the heaviest burden of industrial pollution, have a right to know what is being built near them and what it means for their families' health. SB 954 restores that right."

"CEQA is one of California's most powerful tools for protecting the health of our communities, our air, our water, and our natural resources, and it only works if we fight to keep it strong," said Esther Portillo, Director of Western Environmental Health for Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). "SB 954 does exactly that, stepping in where last year's legislation missed the mark on public health and community protection.”

“Policy made without public input won’t make building faster or more affordable for Californians,” said Chloe Hsieh, Legislative Advocate, California Environmental Voters. “That’s why it's so important to quickly restore critical protections, including safeguarding communities from toxic heavy industrial development, ensuring tribal voices are respected, and establishing community setbacks, so we can build the California of the future the right way.”

"As a pediatrician, I see the consequences of toxic chemical exposure in children every day — asthma, developmental delays, lead poisoning, elevated cancer risk,” said Dr. Bonnie Hitchcock. “These are the conditions that follow when industrial facilities emitting arsenic, cyanide, and radioactive materials are sited near homes and schools with little or no review and no disclosure. This poll confirms what families already know. SB 954 is a matter of children's health, plain and simple."

“Unions and community advocates have fought for decades to win labor and environmental standards on major infrastructure and manufacturing projects,” said Lorena Gonzalez, President of the California Federation of Labor Unions, representing 1,300 unions and 2.3 million union members. “Any streamlining of the law that allows companies to benefit from expedited access to building permits must include labor and wage standards that create and protect good union jobs for those building, maintaining, and working in these facilities.”

“Senator Blakespear and her colleagues have crafted a thoughtful proposal that balances growing high quality manufacturing jobs, protecting community and worker health, ensuring California’s environmental leadership, and clarifying planning processes,” said Mike Miller, Director for UAW Region 6, representing 100,000 California members in auto, aerospace, higher education, state service, nonprofit and other sectors. He continued: “We look forward to working with the Senate to narrow the ‘Advanced Manufacturing’ definition in SB 954 while preserving clear standards that deliver public benefits and predictable projects.”

“SB 954 restores a basic principle that was lost in last year’s budget negotiations: streamlining environmental laws to increase housing should not create a loophole for luxury hotels and large entertainment venues to avoid environmental review,” said Mario Yedidia, Western Regional Political Director UNITE HERE International Union. “This clean-up ensures that when communities plan for more housing, those plans can’t be used to push through hotel and event center developments that were never part of the original vision. We appreciate Senator Blakespear and the Senate working group for bringing CEQA back into alignment with its original purpose — protecting communities, preserving the environment, and making sure housing policy results in more housing, not corporate hotelier profits.”

SB 954 will be heard in the Senate Environmental Quality Committee in coming weeks. 

Sen. Blakespear represents Senate District 38, which covers northern San Diego County and southern Orange County. To learn more about the district and Sen. Blakespear, visit her Senate website.