Highlights for this update include the three firsts on the climate change front: (1) adoption of CEQA guidelines for the quantification and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions (“GHG”), (2) the adoption of the first thresholds of significance for GHG, and (3) the first appellate court case finding an Environmental Impact Report’s (“EIR”) analysis of GHG inadequate.
Continue Reading 2010 MID-YEAR CEQA UPDATE
June 2010
Limited Discretion Related to Aesthetics did not Trigger Need for Supplemental EIR on Climate Change Impacts
Posted in CEQA
The City of San Diego was not required to conduct supplemental environmental review on the issue of climate change, where the only discretionary action was limited to the aesthetics of the project.
Continue Reading Limited Discretion Related to Aesthetics did not Trigger Need for Supplemental EIR on Climate Change Impacts
Basin Plan Amendments Addressing Impairments for Salt, Boron and Dissolved Oxygen are Valid
Posted in CEQA, Water Supply
Regional Board TMDLs for Salt/Boron and Dissolved Oxygen Upheld by Third Appellate District.
Continue Reading Basin Plan Amendments Addressing Impairments for Salt, Boron and Dissolved Oxygen are Valid
The Long Life of CEQA Mitigation Measures
Posted in CEQA
By William W. Abbott
The shelf life of mitigation measures may readily outlast the lives of the projects to which they are attached, according to the First Appellate District. While the fact pattern is specific to timber harvesting and later conversion, the holding has application in the broader world of all CEQA practice.Continue Reading The Long Life of CEQA Mitigation Measures
Court Affirms Range of City Impact Fees Based Upon a General Description of Facilities; Puts Out the Flame for Fire Impact Fees
Court affirms range of city impact fees based upon a general description of facilities; puts out the flame for fire impact fees applied to a largely developed portion of the City for improvements previously paid for by the City.
Continue Reading Court Affirms Range of City Impact Fees Based Upon a General Description of Facilities; Puts Out the Flame for Fire Impact Fees
Put a Lid on It: EIR for Open Air Human Waste Composting Facility Held Invalid
Posted in CEQA
The California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) (“CEQA”) provides that the purpose of an environmental impact report (“EIR”) is “to provide public agencies and the public in general with detailed information about the effect which a proposed project is likely to have on the environment.” (Pub. Resources Code, § 21061.) In Center for Biological Diversity v. County of San Bernardino (2010) __ Cal.App.4th __, the court found that an EIR for a proposed open-air composting facility did not satisfy the informational purposes of an EIR in relation to air quality alternatives and water supply…
Continue Reading Put a Lid on It: EIR for Open Air Human Waste Composting Facility Held Invalid