Newsom eases building restrictions as theories grow of how fires were ignited
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Governor calls for a version of Marshall Plan as investigators speculate power lines may have sparked dry vegetation. Gavin Newsom is scheduled to ease building restrictions for victims of the Los Angeles wildfires – part of a reconstruction effort that he said on Sunday would need a California version of the Marshall Plan, the US-led effort to rebuild western Europe after the second world war.
The California governor ordered the state’s tough environmental laws and permitting requirements to be suspended to help wildfire victims rebuild their homes and businesses, with costs so far placed at $135bn to $150bn over 10 years, according to AccuWeather.
“I find that strict compliance with various statutes and regulations specified in this Order would prevent, hinder, or delay the mitigation of the effects of these fires and windstorm conditions,” Newsom wrote in the executive order. “California leads the nation in environmental stewardship. I’m not going to give that up,” he later told NBC’s Meet the Press. “But one thing I won’t give into is delay. Delay is denial for people: lives, traditions, places torn apart, torn asunder.”.
The building code suspensions apply only to properties and facilities in “substantially the same location” as before the fires, and whose height and footprint do not exceed 110% of their original size, the order says. Newsom also called for a California version of the Marshall Plan. “We already have a team looking at reimagining LA 2.0,” he said, “and we are making sure everyone’s included, not just the folks on the coast, people here that were ravaged by this disaster.”.
