Sacramento Report: This Law Aimed to Cut Housing Prices. A Hidden Fee Could Raise Them

Last week we looked at the new state laws that update the California Environmental Quality Act, known as CEQA, to see how they could affect San Diego. The new policies exempt urban housing projects under 20 acres from environmental review, to cut red tape on home construction.

Business leaders said the changes to CEQA could spur a modest increase in home-building. But they objected to a part of the law that would add a new fee for vehicle miles traveled.

Leaders of the Building Industry Association of San Diego and San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce say the new fee undermines the purpose of CEQA reforms, which aim to make housing more affordable and accessible to Californians. They’re pushing for additional legislation to fix that.

Vehicle miles traveled, or VMT, is a formula for ca