California Environmental Quality Act

A property owner that lost a California Environmental Quality Act suit against the City of San Rafael has been told to pay the city for costs incurred recovering emails related to the property and a proposed development project. » read more | add to cart

The state Supreme Court has accepted a case involving the baseline for an environmental impact report of a Southern California oil refinery project. The decision to accept the case means the state high court now has four California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) cases pending. » read more | add to cart

An environmental impact report is necessary for a 120-unit senior housing facility in the City of Grand Terrace, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled. The unanimous three-judge appellate panel upheld a trial court judge’s ruling that a mitigated negative declaration for the project was inadequate. » read more | add to cart

The City of Fresno cut short its inquiry into the historic significance of two apartment buildings, one of which is proposed for demolition, the Fifth District Court of Appeal has ruled. » read more | add to cart

A key document in the evolving methodology for evaluating development’s impact on climate change has been released by the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association.  

Called “CEQA & Climate Change – Evaluating and Addressing Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Projects Subject to the California Environmental Quality Act,” the white paper is lengthy (more than 140 pages), detailed and highly technical. » read more | add to cart

The Second District Court of Appeal has rejected the environmental review of an oil refinery project in Wilmington and Carson because the South Coast Air Quality Management District used an improper baseline for measuring impacts. Instead of relying on the refinery’s permitted level of nitrogen oxides emissions for the baseline, the air district should have used the actual level of emissions, which was less than half the permitted amount, the court ruled. » read more | add to cart

In a case that the court called “unnecessarily complicated,” the Fifth District Court of Appeal has ruled against residents challenging the environmental review of a 219-house subdivision in the foothills of Porterville. » read more | add to cart

An appellate court has blocked a controversial subdivision at the eastern base of Mt. Whitney because the project’s environmental impact report did not adequately consider a potential land swap between the developer and the Bureau of Land Management. » read more | add to cart

If California is truly going to reduce — in a meaningful way — its emission of the gases that contribute to global climate change, the state must change how it uses land.
That is the inescapable conclusion of virtually everyone who has analyzed the situation. But nearly every detail regarding how, when and who decides remains extremely uncertain at the start of 2008. » read more | add to cart

Has climate change lit a fire under California's professional planners, and if so, how much impact will they have on the climate change debate?

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