Governor Newsom Declares Preemptive State Of Emergency Over Wildfire Prevention Projects

Governor Gavin Newsom declared a new state of emergency over the weekend, with the proclamation set to fast-track critical projects protecting communities from wildfire ahead of peak fire season.

According to the state of emergency,  several environmental regulations, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Coastal Act, are to be suspended,  as they needed to expedite fuels reduction projects. Projects include vegetation and tree removal, adding fuel breaks, prescribed fire, and more. Non-state entities will also be allowed to conduct approved fuels reduction work with expedited and streamlined approval.

In addition, state agencies will be directed to submit recommendations for increasing the pace and scale of prescribed fire. Finally, the proclamation will increase the California Vegetation Treatment Program’s (CalVTP) efficiency and utilization, in order to continue promoting rapid environmental review for large wildfire risk reduction treatments. In total, the state of emergency aims at severely cutting red tape to move faster on forest management projects.

“This year has already seen some of the most destructive wildfires in California history, and we’re only in March,” said Newsom in a statement. “Building on unprecedented work cutting red tape and making historic investments – we’re taking action with a state of emergency to fast-track critical wildfire projects even more. These are the forest management projects we need to protect our communities most vulnerable to wildfire, and we’re going to get them done.”

On X, Newsom also added in a post saying “That’s why I’m proclaiming a state of emergency to fast-track critical forest management projects needed to protect our communities most vulnerable to wildfire.”

In the aftermath of the Palisades and Eaton wildfires which struck Southern California in January, Newsom has signed off on several measures designed to help protect California from future fires. This has included an executive order in January designed to help capture more water during winter months and an executive order in February aimed at hardening homes located in areas with high wildfire risk by implementing extreme new regulations.

Despite these efforts, Newsom has been heavily criticized for not doing enough before the January fires and not enough in the aftermath. His mishandling of the fires has caused him to not only fall in the polls, but moved up the recall effort against him. At the federal level, President Donald Trump has been cordial at times with Newsom, while also frequently going after Newsom’s wildfire policies and management of the fires. The Governor has come out on the defensive of Trump’s criticisms, often acting on them in the weeks that followed.

In recent weeks, Trump and allies have sounded off on Newsom’s slowness in combatting government regulations blocking faster recovery efforts. While they have targeted both CEQA and the Coastal Act, they have likewise sounded off on the California Coastal Commission for being a major detriment towards recovery.

“They are considered the most difficult in the entire country, and we cannot have them play their games and wait 10 years to give somebody a permit,” said Trump of the CCC in January. “I’m not going to let them get away with their antics.”

In recent weeks, presidential advisor Elon Musk and Special Envoy Ric Grenell have gone after the CCC as well. With criticism mounting, Newsom acted over the weekend, putting into place measures going around several of the laws, while also avoiding going against the CCC. In his state of emergency announcement, the California Coastal Commission isn’t mentioned once. Despite this, Newsom’s proclamation has been widely seen as an effort to appease Trump and other critics, especially with tens of billions of wildfire relief funding still on the line in Washington.

“It’s a start, but Newsom really has to do something about the Coastal Commission. They are still the biggest detriment to us having our homes back,” said Sidney Greene, a resident of Pacific Palisades who lost his home in January, to the Globe on Monday. “That’s the general consensus here. And look, the past ten years, a lot of people here voted for Clinton, Biden, and Newsom. And we’re siding with Trump on this. Some hate to admit it, but they are.

“That’s probably why Newsom did that state of emergency. But he missed the mark in not going further and blocking the commission from having any say on recovery here. Unless they’re out, it will still take awhile. I’m lucky enough to be staying at my sister’s place here in Santa Monica. Richer people are renting houses and things. But others still don’t know what they are doing if the recovery time is long.

“This state of emergency helps. But he missed on what was needed most.”