An amendment to a prior commercial center approval which permits construction of a supercenter does not, by itself, mandate the preparation of a subsequent or supplemental EIR.
Continue Reading Subsequent EIRs: It is Still a Matter of the Evidence in the Record
Articles
Baseline Depends Upon Whether You Have a New or Modified Project or Existing Project Without Significant Expansion of Use
CEQA Air impacts are to be measured against existing physical conditions not existing permitted level of operations for emitter.
Continue Reading Baseline Depends Upon Whether You Have a New or Modified Project or Existing Project Without Significant Expansion of Use
CEQA Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Become Law Today
By Leslie Z. Walker
Almost three years after Attorney General Edmund G. Brown, Jr. filed suit against the County of San Bernardino for failing to consider the impacts of the County’s General Plan on Global Warming, the Amendments to the CEQA Guidelines Addressing Greenhouse Gas Emissions mandated by Senate Bill 97 (Chapter 185, Statues 2007; Pub. Resources Code, § 21083.05), take effect today.
Continue Reading CEQA Guidelines for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Become Law Today
Yes, Local Appeal Fees Apply to CEQA Appeals
Posted in CEQA, Local Government
By: Katherine J. Hart
As determined by the California Supreme Court 27 years ago, local agencies may impose a fee for the filing of an appeal of a CEQA decision so long as that fee is reasonable.
Continue Reading Yes, Local Appeal Fees Apply to CEQA Appeals
City Gambles and Wins on Agreement with Tribe Over Casino: CEQA Does Not Apply
Posted in CEQA
By: Cori Badgley
In yet another CEQA case involving whether an agreement between a tribe and a city constitutes a project, the court held that CEQA did not apply to an agreement requiring the city’s formal support of a proposed casino and the tribe to pay for future, as of yet undefined, city services and improvements.
Continue Reading City Gambles and Wins on Agreement with Tribe Over Casino: CEQA Does Not Apply
NODs Provide Bullet-Proof Protection 30 Days After Posting
Posted in CEQA
In a decision filed on February 11, 2009, Committee for Green Foothills v. Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, et al. (2010) __ Cal.2d ___, the California Supreme Court reversed the Sixth Appellate District Court of Appeal holding that the filing of a notice of determination (NOD) triggers a 30-day statute of limitations for all California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) challenges to the decision announced in the notice regardless of the nature of the CEQA violation.
Continue Reading NODs Provide Bullet-Proof Protection 30 Days After Posting
30 Days Left: CEQA Guideline Amendments for Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Become Law on March 18, 2010
By Leslie Z. Walker
Today, February 16, 2010, the Office of Administrative Law filed the Amendments to the CEQA Guidelines addressing greenhouse gas emissions (“Amendments”) with the Secretary of State. The Amendments require the quantification and mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions. (For more information about the Amendments, see OPR Finalizes Proposed CEQA Guidelines and Transmits Them to Resources Agency and CEQA Guidelines on Greenhouse Gases One Step Closer to Law.) The Amendments will become effective on March 18, 2010. Lead agencies should consult Guidelines section 15007 to determine when the Amendments apply to the agency’s actions.
Continue Reading 30 Days Left: CEQA Guideline Amendments for Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Become Law on March 18, 2010
Application Processing: The Sun Has Set on Sunset
Posted in CEQA
By Katherine J. Hart
In the last quarter of 2009, three new California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) cases were issued – two by the First Appellate District and one by the Second Appellate District – wherein developers claimed relief from agency inaction pursuant to Sunset Drive Corp. v. City of Redlands (1999) 73 Cal.App.4th 215 (“Sunset”). In sum, both the First and Second Appellate District Courts noted that Sunset does not stand for the proposition that an agency has a mandatory duty to complete and consider an EIR: 1) at all, and 2) not necessarily within the one year time frame provided by CEQA. A brief synopsis of each of the cases follows.
Continue Reading Application Processing: The Sun Has Set on Sunset
Bay Area Air Quality Management District Defers Adoption of Greenhouse Gas Thresholds
By Leslie Z. Walker
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (“BAAQMD”) was scheduled to be the first air district in the state to adopt quantitative as well as qualitative thresholds of significance for greenhouse gas emissions in January of 2010, but instead has delayed the decision until April of 2010. According to BAAQMD, the delay is to “provide more time for staff to meet with local governments, further develop analysis tools, and conduct trainings on applying the CEQA Guidelines.”…
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Paper or Plastic? Public Right Exception Allows Plastic Bag Producers to Challenge Negative Declaration for Environmental Ordinance
Posted in CEQA
By Leslie Z. Walker
A coalition of plastic bag producers avoided, at least for the moment, a major blow to business by using the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) to delay implementation of an environmental law banning the use of plastic bags in the city of Manhattan Beach.
Continue Reading Paper or Plastic? Public Right Exception Allows Plastic Bag Producers to Challenge Negative Declaration for Environmental Ordinance