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Balancing People, Places, and Things
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21945 |
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Section : |
SPECIAL SECTION
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1993 |
2,583 Words |
| Author
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Ronald A. Zumbrun
Ronald A. Zumbrun is president and cofounder of Pacific Legal
Foundation, headquartered in Sacramento, California.
Established in 1973, the foundation is a nonprofit, public-
interest organization dedicated to litigating nationwide in
defense of private property rights, individual and economic
freedoms, and limited government. |
Golden California--the land of hundreds of miles of magnificent coastline, of the majestic Sierra Nevada, of Lake Tahoe, the Mojave Desert, and Big Sur. Indeed, it is a veritable wonderland of natural beauty. But something is very wrong.
California is struggling for economic and environmental survival. It is suffering through its most prolonged and serious recession in over 50 years. Its burgeoning population is expected to top 36 million by the year 2020, putting its finite resources under tremendous pressure.
Resulting from this seemingly unmanageable people/resource conflict is a profound tension between the business and agricultural communities, environmentalists, and government regulators. Consequently, an unintended backlash threatens to destroy the state's global competitive edge while further degrading an already damaged environment. Change is required to restore an appropriate environmental and economic balance in California.
The evidence that demands change is mounting. Confronted with bad air, scarce water, soaring housing prices, and regulatory gridlock, residents and businesses are leaving the state at an alarming rate, eroding an economic base that is desperately needed to keep the state afloat.
A reversal of this perilous trend is possible, but it will require new methods of regulating human activities.
REGULATORY STREAMLINING
Duplicative and cumbersome regulatory-permit processes are one of California's greatest impediments to economic recovery.
Project proponents must navigate a regulatory maze involving multiple environmental agencies at the local, state, and federal levels that have overlapping jurisdictions and duplicative or conflicting requirements for permits and reporting. The resulting review process is costly and very time consuming, often adding years to an otherwise simple project. Many companies simply choose to do business elsewhere.
Because of the regulatory obstacles to getting a manufacturing permit in California, Rohr Industries moved to Arkansas, where permits for its new plant cost only $750. Obtaining a permit for this plant in California would have cost $750,000.
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