Key facts
- A bill aimed at fast-tracking a shipyard project in Solano County, California, has been delayed.
- The proposed legislation would have exempted maritime industrial and manufacturing projects from further environmental scrutiny.
- Critics voiced concerns about unstudied environmental impacts on local waters and land.
- The Solano County Board of Supervisors voted to push discussions of the bill to a later date, effectively killing it for the current legislative session.
- California Forever, the developer behind the project, shares investors with a prospective shipbuilder, Saronic Technologies.
A legislative proposal in California that would have significantly eased environmental review for a massive shipyard project proposed by developer California Forever has been delayed, effectively stalling the initiative for at least several years. The Solano County Board of Supervisors voted to push discussions of the bill, which aimed to exempt maritime industrial and manufacturing projects on 1,350 acres of California Forever-owned land from further environmental scrutiny, to 2027.
Critics, including environmental advocacy groups like Greenbelt Alliance and Solano Together, argued that the bill bypassed necessary environmental impact assessments, potentially harming the fragile ecosystem of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the San Francisco Bay. They also raised concerns about the developer's influence and the lack of transparency in the bill's creation. Nate Huntington of Greenbelt Alliance noted that such an exemption from environmental review for a greenfield industrial facility is historically unprecedented in California.
Proponents, including California Forever, argued that the shipyard project would revitalize Solano County's economy by creating jobs and fostering industry. The bill, constructed through private discussions between the developer, county officials, and state representatives, would have limited the review period for state agencies to 90 days and restricted legal challenges. This marks a setback for California Forever, which had previously seen a similar bill fail to advance in the previous legislative session. The prospective shipbuilder for the project, Saronic Technologies, shares investors with California Forever.