Business as usual in California politics always includes at least one squabble over the California Environmental Quality Act, a law signed 56 years ago by then-Gov. Ronald Reagan.

As the Legislature grinds toward the end of its biennial session next week and a Nov. 3 election approaches, we have two such political duels over CEQA, one in legislation and the other in a ballot measure.

The underlying issue in both, as always, is how a law, whose original aim was minimizing adverse environmental impacts by public and private projects, will be applied. And, as usual, they pit environmental protection advocates against business interests.

In recent years, the perpetual CEQA debate has centered on its use — or misuse — as local governments were pressed by the state to increase housing development, particularly apartments for low- and medium-income families.

Project opponents, arguing that multi-family projects would change the character of their neighborhoods, often invoked CEQA. Construction unions also did as they pressured developers to use union labor.

Last year, the issue reached a climactic point when Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature enacted two bills to exempt some forms of housing from CEQA by including them in the state budget package,

California’s political battle over key environmental law brews on two fronts – Daily News