Your Neighborhood,
Your Voice, First

Uplifting community voices to protect environmental safeguards and ensure equitable infrastructure development across California.

Defend CEQA, Protect CA

Sacramento legislators are gutting California's most important environmental safeguard: CEQA. Under the guise of speeding up development, legislation will give developers a pass to gut environmental protections, silence community voices, and put our neighborhoods at risk. Weakening CEQA does not guarantee housing development. It simply allows developers to fast-track projects, risking poorly planned buildings that lack affordability and sustainability. This is what happens when developers cut corners: communities pay the price.

Enacted in 1970 by Governor Ronald Reagan, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) represents a cornerstone in the state’s environmental protection efforts. Inspired by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1970, CEQA was created to safeguard California’s natural resources while uplifting community input. CEQA requires government agencies to evaluate and disclose the environmental impacts of proposed projects, ensuring informed decision-making, public involvement, and agency accountability for their decisions.

CEQA

Mission

Newsletter

Neighborhoods First uplifts community voices to advance housing and environmental policies that prioritize equitable development across all neighborhoods in California. We protect and defend the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) as a vital safeguard for community input, environmental justice, and accountable development. Through civic engagement and coalition building, we ensure that communities lead the way in shaping their future.