California’s public universities face a student housing crisis. Could this bill help?

California’s’ public colleges and universities, plagued by a shortage of student housing, would be permitted to expedite construction under a bill cleared by an Assembly committee Monday.

SB-886, sponsored by state Sen. Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco), would require the state to grant UC, CSU and Community College campuses an exemption from regulations under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. The bill, which has already passed the Senate, cleared the Assembly’s Natural Resources Committee Monday afternoon.

“SB 886 is designed to address a very real issue in California, and that is the profound lack of available student housing,” Wiener told assembly members on Monday. “We have high rates of student homelessness, students that are living in their cars, living from motel to motel, couch surfing, living in very overcrowded situations — which is not conducive to actually learning.”

The legislation follows a major lawsuit that illustrated just how crowded California schools are becoming. The suit, spearheaded by NIMBY group Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods, alleged that the University of California, Berkeley was admitting too many students for its available space. After the California Supreme Court ruled that the university would have to cut its student enrollment by several thousand — meaning it would need to revoke acceptance letters — the legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom quickly passed legislation effectively reversing the court’s decision through a CEQA exception.

The Berkeley case underscored the vast reach of CEQA. Outraged legislators said that it demonstrated the need for revisions to the law.

CEQA was signed in 1970 by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan. Its goal was to force governments to evaluate the projected environmental impact of developments before they were given the green light. In practice, according to Ryan Joy, a Policy Associate for California YIMBY, CEQA is often used for reasons “that are not truly environmentally motivated,” but instead aimed at blocking the development of student housing.

In a statement to the Bee, Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods President Phil Bokovoy said he doesn’t have “any comment” on the bill.

California YIMBY is a co-sponsor of SB-886. Joy told the Bee that the organization’s involvement began when the UC Student Association, alongside several other student housing advocacy groups, approached them with an idea “around how we can better craft CEQA” so that it isn’t repeatedly used to limit housing.

“[Wiener] recognized this trend,” Joy said. “He was really excited to work with the students to try to craft a solution to ensure that CEQA isn’t being misused to hamper sustainable student housing developments.”

SB-886 has received pushback, especially from those who say that without CEQA involved, new university housing could have harmful environmental impacts. Speaking to the Natural Resources Committee Monday afternoon, Wiener stressed that the legislation would not completely shield university housing plans from environmental scrutiny under CEQA.

The push to expedite new housing is student-driven, representatives of YIMBY and Wiener said. One UCLA student, David Ramirez, told legislators on Monday that during his time as a member of the Pasadena Area Community College District Board of Trustees, students often reached out to him in search of affordable housing.

“I always remember being very frustrated that I didn’t have something better to point them toward other than for-profit options posted on our bulletin boards or shelters in the area,” Ramirez said.

UCLA built additional student housing in preparation for the 2028 Olympics, so Ramirez said he won’t need to worry about finding housing. But “not every four-year university in California can guarantee housing for students,” he stressed. “And that is a concern that we cannot ignore.”

With the bill passed through the Senate and an Assembly committee, it will most likely garner a Newsom signature before the legislature adjourns. But according to the activists who advocated for the measure, it’s just a start.

According to Joy, SB-886 is “a piece in the puzzle.”

“Even if CEQA streamlines student housing developments, that doesn’t mean that these housing developments are going to be built immediately. There’s plenty of other issues that universities face when trying to build housing.”

First and foremost, he noted, is funding. Several bills are under consideration. AB-1602, for example, would create a $5 billion fund to give no-interest loans to California public colleges.

A lingering question, according to YIMBY California’s Matthew Lewis, is whether there will be a follow-up in the budget.

“Will the state be allocating more money for student housing?” Lewis said. “The universities have the ability to come up with a lot of that money, but it’d be great if the state could also make that investment.”

This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 5:00 AM.