Professor Frank Comments for New York Times on California Initiative Process Controversy

Professor of Environmental Practice Richard Frank commented for a New York Times report on California developers' use of the state's ballot initiative process to circumvent state environmental laws and expedite projects. 

Under California law, if 15 percent of eligible voters sign a petition, a project qualifies for the ballot, and local elected officials can call a special election or simply accept the project without subjecting it to the environmental review required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Walmart pioneered the strategy as a means of bypassing environmental review of a proposed store expansion, and the California Supreme Court affirmed the approach in a 2014 decision. 

Frank said that the Court's decision provided a "road map" for developers seeking to avoid the environmental review process required under CEQA.  "What is troublesome to me is that some members of the regulated community are using the Supreme Court decision to circumvent the true intent of the law," he said.

Frank, a 1974 graduate of King Hall, is a leader in the field of environmental law and the founding Director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at UC Davis School of Law.