CEQA Applies to Public Railroad Projects, Cal Supremes Rule
- William Fulton
- Aug 8, 2017
- 6 min read
In a 77-page opinion, the California Supreme Court has partially overturned a lower court and concluded that the environmental review of a railroad project is not pre-empted by federal law if the state is the project’s owner and the environmental review does not conflict with the scope of federal regulation. The ruling could have significant consequences for the state’s high-speed rail project, in which federal pre-emption of the California Environmental Quality Act has been a significant issue.
