FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 26, 2025

Proposed Initiative Enters Circulation: Modifies Environmental Review For Certain Projects. Initiative Statute.

Sacramento, Calif. – California Secretary of State Shirley N. Weber Ph.D. announced that the proponent of a new initiative was cleared to begin collecting petition signatures on December 26, 2025.

The Attorney General prepares the legal title and summary that is required to appear on initiative petitions. When the official language is complete, the Attorney General forwards it to the proponent(s) and to the Secretary of State, and the initiative may be circulated for signatures. The Secretary of State then provides a calendar of deadlines to the proponent(s) and to county elections officials. The Attorney General’s official title and summary for the measure is as follows:

MODIFIES ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW FOR CERTAIN PROJECTS. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Amends California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to expedite environmental review of specified project categories (including most housing, transportation, water, health, and clean energy projects). For these types of projects, this measure:

- sets deadlines for public agencies to complete environmental review and take required actions for project;

- allows expedited review of project’s environmental impacts, limiting public agencies’ current obligation to consider a range of feasible project alternatives to reduce environmental impacts; and

- limits court review of project approvals by establishing deadlines for filing and resolving lawsuits and limiting evidence court may consider and relief it can order.

Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local governments: State and local government implementation costs in the tens of millions of dollars annually for the first several years. Over the long term, the annual net fiscal effects are uncertain, but state and local governments likely would experience net savings due to reduced administrative and legal workload. Net fiscal effects on state trial courts ranging from annual savings of up to the tens of millions of dollars to annual costs of up to the low tens of millions of dollars. (25-0023A1.)

The Secretary of State’s tracking number for this measure is 2000 and the Attorney General's tracking number is 25-0023A1.

The proponent of the measure, Kurt R. Oneto, must collect signatures of 546,651 registered voters (five percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2022 general election) in order for the measure to become eligible for the ballot. The proponent has 180 days to circulate petitions for the measure, meaning the signatures must be submitted to county elections officials no later than June 24, 2026. The proponent may be contacted at Nielsen Merksamer LLP, 1415 L Street, Suite 1200, Sacramento, CA 95814. The proponent may also be contacted at (916) 446-6752 and koneto@nmgovlaw.com.

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