California Environmental Quality Act Country/Territory United States of America Territorial subdivision California Document type Legislation Date 1970 (2022) Source FAO, FAOLEX Subject Environment gen., Fisheries, Wild species & ecosystems Keyword Air quality/air pollution Ecofriendly products/ecofriendly processes EIA Subsidy/incentive Noise pollution Pollution control Protection of environment Data collection/reporting Sustainable development Zoning Protection of species Fishery management and conservation Management/conservation Geographical area Americas, Arctic, East Pacific, North America, North Atlantic Abstract This Act provides to develop and maintain a high-quality environment now and in the future, and take all action necessary to protect, rehabilitate, and enhance the environmental quality of the state; take all action necessary to provide the people of this state with clean air and water, enjoyment of aesthetic, natural, scenic, and historic environmental qualities, and freedom from excessive noise; prevent the elimination of fish or wildlife species due to man’s activities, insure that fish and wildlife populations do not drop below self-prepetuating levels, and preserve for future generations representations of all plant and animal communities and examples of the major periods of California history; ensure that the long-term protection of the environment, consistent with the provision of a decent home and suitable living environment for every Californian, shall be the guiding criterion in public decisions; create and maintain conditions under which man and nature can exist in productive harmony to fulfill the social and economic requirements of present and future generations; require governmental agencies at all levels to develop standards and procedures necessary to protect environmental quality; and require governmental agencies at all levels to consider qualitative factors as well as economic and technical factors and long-term benefits and costs, in addition to short-term benefits and costs and to consider alternatives to proposed actions affecting the environment. Full text English Website leginfo.legislature.ca.gov