SB 731 (Steinberg) CEQA Modernization Act of 2013. (Last amended May 24, 2013. Passed to Assembly May 30, 2013) Aesthetic Impacts in Transit Priority Areas Not Significant. Bill would provide that aesthetic impacts of a residential, mixed-use residential, or employment center project, as defined, within a “transit priority area,” shall not be considered significant impacts… Continue Reading
Tag Archives: CEQA
New CEQA Bill – Cure or Band-Aid?
Posted in CEQAIn response to a business community campaign calling for broad CEQA reform, California State Senator Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg released his highly anticipated CEQA “modernization” bill, SB 731. So far, the bill is more remarkable for what it lacks, than for what it contains: A Co-author. 2012’s chief CEQA reform champion, Senator Michael… Continue Reading
An Attorney Petitioner in a CEQA Suit Can Be Awarded Attorneys’ Fees
Posted in CEQAIn a case of first impression, a court of appeal has held that an attorney can be a named petitioner in a CEQA case, litigate the case on behalf of all of the petitioners, and then, if the litigation succeeds, obtain an award of attorneys’ fees from the defendants for her work. Healdsburg Citizens for Sustainable… Continue Reading
Water Supply Uncertainty Sinks Another EIR
Posted in CEQA, Water SupplyAfter wading through a detailed discussion relating to biological impacts (see Perkins Coie Update), the court in Preserve Wild Santee v. City of Santee dove into issues surrounding an EIR’s analysis of water supplies. The court found the EIR invalid in part because it failed to consider the uncertainty of State Water Project water supplies…. Continue Reading
Under CEQA Non-Prejudicial Errors Do Not Invalidate an EIR.
Posted in CEQAThe County of Siskiyou certified an Environmental Impact Report for a project to expand an existing manufacturing facility to accommodate a cogeneration power plant housed on one acre of a 300-acre site. Environmental groups claimed the EIR violated CEQA by failing to include adequate project alternatives and failing to fully disclose, analyze, and mitigate the… Continue Reading
CEQA Review Not Required for Ballot Measure Requiring Competitive Bidding for City’s Solid Waste Contracts
Posted in CEQAMeasures put on the ballot by a city council are not automatically exempt from CEQA even though they must be approved or disapproved by the voters. As shown in a recent appellate court decision, however, CEQA review is not required for a ballot measure that does not commit the city to a “project” as that… Continue Reading
No Exception to the Exemption — Installation of Small Wireless Telecom Equipment on Existing Utility Poles Throughout City is Exempt from CEQA
Posted in Land UseAfter obtaining the necessary permit, T-Mobile installed wireless equipment on an existing utility pole in a residential neighborhood in San Francisco. The installation was part of a larger project to install similar equipment on existing utility poles scattered throughout the city. Residents living nearby sought to have the city’s decision to issue the permit overturned,… Continue Reading
City Suing School District Can Recover Attorneys’ Fees, But Loses Most CEQA Claims
Posted in CEQADecisions by school districts and colleges to build new schools or expand existing ones frequently lead to CEQA challenges from local cities. In the most recent of these conflicts to reach the court of appeal, the City of Maywood won confirmation that it was eligible to recover attorneys’ fees from a school district, but saw… Continue Reading
EIR Required for Oak Woodland Management Plan
Posted in CEQAPublic agencies generally prefer not to prepare EIRs – at least for their own plans and projects – unless they have to. And CEQA attempts to avoid redundancy by encouraging reliance, to the extent possible, on a previously certified EIR to support the approval of a subsequent action. So, in 2008, when El Dorado County… Continue Reading
CEQA and EIR Adequacy: The Latest Words on Public Services Impacts and Adaptive Mitigation Programs
Posted in CEQA, Exactions and AssessmentsTwo important, recurring CEQA questions are answered by a recent court of appeal decision in a case involving the EIR for a California State University campus master plan: whether CEQA requires funding of mitigation for a project’s effects on public services; and whether an adaptive mitigation program for traffic and parking impacts improperly defers decisions about mitigation…. Continue Reading
Plan Bay Area: The Regional Plan for Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions – The EIR is Underway
Posted in CEQA, Climate Change, Planning and ZoningThe Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the transportation planning agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, and the Association of Bay Area Governments have announced that they are going to prepare an Environmental Impact Report to evaluate the agencies’ proposed plan to reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light duty trucks. On June 11, the… Continue Reading
Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace — Issue Exhaustion Applies to CEQA Exemptions.
Posted in CEQAThe California Supreme Court has issued a landmark decision holding that the exhaustion doctrine – which requires parties to raise their claims at the administrative level before litigating them in court – applies to challenges to an agency decision that a project is exempt from CEQA. Overturning a 15-year-old precedent, the court ruled that if the decision-making… Continue Reading
Do Effects on the Adequacy of Public Services Have to be Mitigated Under CEQA?
Posted in CEQANo, at least according to a recent court of appeal decision in a case brought by the City of Hayward to challenge the EIR for the California State University East Bay campus master development plan. The City of Hayward and two community groups claimed, among other things, that the university had violated CEQA because it did not… Continue Reading
The 2012 Edition Curtin’s California Land Use and Planning Law Available Soon!
Posted in CEQAFor over three decades, Curtin’s California Land Use & Planning Law has provided a succinct and definitive summary of the major provisions of California’s land use and planning laws. Curtin’s has been cited by the California Supreme Court and numerous appellate courts as an authoritative source. Co‐authored by Cecily Talbert Barclay, Matthew Gray and other… Continue Reading
Agreements Tolling CEQA Statute of Limitations Upheld
Posted in CEQAAgreements to toll the statute of limitations for filing suit are generally favored under the law because they enable parties to negotiate and resolve issues without the distraction of litigation. But in land use and CEQA cases, there are countervailing public policy reasons favoring prompt filing and disposition of such matters. The tension between those… Continue Reading
California Supreme Court Applies “Common Sense” to Plastic Bag Ban
Posted in CEQAThe California Supreme Court has held that simple common sense — “an important consideration at all levels of CEQA review” — indicated that the City of Manhattan Beach and its retail sector were too small for the City’s ban on plastic bags to cause any significant environmental impact or make any significant cumulative contribution… Continue Reading