This story originally appears on Vox and is part of the collaboration of the climate table.

In the aftermath of the record that was in Los Angeles in Los Angeles in January, some of the most expensive and destructive flames in the history-was one of the first things Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, did to sign an executive order that suspends environmental rules around rebuilding.

The idea was that by renouncing the consent of regulations and judgments under the California Coastal Act and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), homeowners and builders could start cleaning up, picking up walls and getting people into the homes faster.

But it raised a key question for housing lawyers: Can California do something similar to the entire state?

Earlier this month, Newsom took a step in that direction and signed two accounts that would release the most urban housing of environmental assessments and make it easier for cities to increase housing by changing the laws of the zoning. Newsom also signed another executive order that suspends some local consent laws and the construction of codes for fire-retired communities with the aim of further speeding up reconstruction.

Housing reforms cannot come soon enough for the City of Angels. The wildfires that were torn by LA blew Santa Ana through an exceptionally dry, grassy landscape, and more than 16,000 structures, including more than 9,500 one-time houses, 1,200 duplex and 600 apartments in one of the most homes, which were the country of the country.

Los Angeles is a critical case study for housing for the entire state, a test whether the democratically-controlled government coordinates its conflicting political bases, environmental groups, housing lawyers with a desperate need for more homes. Some observers have revised the state’s environmental laws as a sign that the Golden State eventually shows the light.

But despite the relaxed rules, the progress was in the La. According to the Los Angeles Times, more than 800 homeowners in areas affected by wildfires that applied for permits on July 7. However, less than 200 received the green light. The city of Los Angeles takes an average of about 55 days to approve a rebuilding of a wildfire, and the broader Los Angeles County takes even longer. (Los Angeles County has a dashboard to detect approval in uninformed areas.)

“LA’s process is super slow, so it’s not surprising,” says Elisa Paster, a managing partner at Rand Paster Nelson, a Los Angeles firm specializing in land use. “Anecdotes, we have heard that many people have decided that they do not want to go through the process of rebuilding in LA, because it is very darling.”

Now, a half years after the embers have died, it is clear that changing the rules is not enough. Advocates for CEQA say the 55-year-old law is really a scapegoat for bigger, more impenetrable housing problems. Other factors, such as more expensive construction materials and labor shortages, are still increasing the construction costs, regardless of velocity. And some environmental groups are concerned that the rush to rebuild everything as it was, the conditions that led to the flames in the first place could recreate, a dangerous prospect in an area where wildfire risks only grow.

How CEQA Reformed Communities Can and Not Helps that are damaged by wildfires

CEQA is one of California’s tent -pole environmental laws signed by then Governor Ronald Reagan in 1970. This requires state and local governments to look for possible damage to the environment of a building project, such as water pollution, threats for endangered species, and later, greenhouse gas emissions. Developers need to disclose these issues and take steps to avoid them. The law also enables the public to weigh new developments.

In the years after that, CEQA is blamed as a hindrance to new construction. Many critics consider it a cynical tool to prevent new homes construction in wealthy communities, and are even called to challenge highway closures and new parks on environmental grounds. It is one of the villains of the ‘abundance’ movement that advocates cutting red tape to build more homes and clean energy.