Los Angeles Mayor issues executive order to enable quick rebuild for fire victims

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is joining Gov. Gavin Newsom in dismissing “red tape” and regulations in an effort to expedite the rebuild for those who lost their homes and businesses in the city’s wildfires.

In an executive order issued on Monday night, Bass coordinated the clearing of debris and streamlined the process for rebuilding impacted areas across the city.

“This unprecedented natural disaster warrants an unprecedented response that will expedite the rebuilding of homes, businesses and communities,” Bass said. “This order is the first step in clearing away red tape and bureaucracy to organize around urgency, common sense and compassion. We will do everything we can to get Angelenos back home.”

The order mandates the following:

• A streamlining for the debris clearing process at impacted areas, and mitigation of rainy weather risks
• The expedition of typically tedious regulatory processes, like permitting, CEQA discretionary reviews, and other reviews
• The expedition of approvals for 1,400 housing units to be made available across the city
• The requirement for all city departments to provide a list of additional relief needed from the state and federal governments, as well as needed funding, within one week

The order is similar to one issued by Newsom over the weekend. That order also waived CEQA reviews as home and business orders seek to quickly rebuild their structures.

The streamlining of such processes has been a priority for city and state officials since the start of the wildfire crisis last week.