Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed to roll back a 50-year-old law blamed for blocking development and reducing affordability.

California has made significant changes to a law from the 1970s that was considered landmark legislation in protecting the environment.

California lawmakers on Monday approved one of the most substantial rollbacks of the state’s signature environmental review law in decades, including a controversial exemption that would allow high-tech manufacturing plants to be built in industrial zones with no environmental review.