Virtual Program: New CEQA Laws supporting housing development in California

As part of the 2025 state budget bills, the California legislature enacted major changes to CEQA to support housing development and otherwise streamline the CEQA process. Andrew Fogg, land use partner at Cox, Castle & Nicholson, will present a summary of these changes found in AB 130 and SB 131, including the new 20-acre infill exemption, the “near miss” CEQA exemption process, and other changes. He will also provide some recent examples of how these provisions have been used to obtain faster approvals and resolve certain pending CEQA lawsuits to allow the quicker development of infill housing projects. 

Andrew Fogg, Partner, Cox Castle

Andrew Fogg has extensive experience in representing developers in the land use entitlement process and related areas, including all aspects of planning, zoning, and environmental review, in cities and counties throughout California.

Andrew represents developers and public entities in processing administrative land use actions, including the negotiation and approval of numerous entitlement documents, development agreements, owner participation agreements, disposition and development agreements, subdivision approvals, conditional use permits, variances, and zoning and general plan modifications related to various projects.  Andrew has been actively involved in a myriad of projects, including urban infill mixed use projects, hospital and healthcare facilities, hospitality projects, master planned communities, residential and commercial condominium developments, commercial centers, and industrial developments.

As part of his entitlement practice, Andrew has advised clients on all aspects of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), including the use of various CEQA exemptions and ensuring the adequacy of project specific Environmental Impact Reports and Mitigated Negative Declarations.

In addition to representing developers in the entitlement process, Andrew has defended projects that have been challenged under CEQA and other California planning and zoning laws in both state and federal courts.

Prior to joining the firm, Andrew spent several years as an in house counsel at Amgen, Inc., a Fortune 500 global biotechnical company, where he provided legal support on land use and real estate matters for the company’s locations world-wide.

Prior to working in house, Andrew was an attorney in the real estate, land use, and appellate groups at Irell & Manella, LLP, where he represented developers and public entities in land use and related matters.

In law school, Andrew served as Senior Research Editor for the UC Davis Law Review and following graduation, Andrew clerked for the Honorable Dean D. Pregerson in the Federal Court for the Central District of California.