September 2011

What originated as legislation to expedite anticipated CEQA challenges to the proposed Farmers Field football stadium project in Los Angeles (SB 292) transformed under Senator Darrell Steinberg’s political leadership into more ambitious legislation (SB 900) that will expedite CEQA litigation over “green” mega-development projects certified by Governor Brown as “Environmental Leadership Development Projects”.  Governor Brown signed both bills into law on September 27, 2011.

Premised on the need – in California’s current high unemployment climate – to streamline CEQA litigation delaying large, job-creating projects with “cutting edge environmental benefits,” AB 900 amends CEQA by:
Continue Reading Governor Signs AB 900 to Speed CEQA Litigation Challenging Massive “Green” Projects

Everyone seems to talk about abuses of the CEQA process and meaningful CEQA reform, but nothing ever seems to get done, much to the chagrin of developers who find themselves the target of CEQA litigation.  The California legislature may have taken a small, but important, step toward rectifying this situation with its 2010 enactment of Public Resources Code Section 21169.11.  The statute was enacted as part of an urgency measure, to curb litigation abuses and provide relief from frivolous claims made in CEQA actions.  (SB 1456 (Stats. 2010, Ch. 496.))

In brief, the new statute provides:

  • Where a court determines a claim made in the course of a CEQA action is frivolous, i.e., totally and completely without merit, it “may impose an appropriate sanction, in an amount up to ten thousand dollars ($10,000)”
  • “The sanction may be imposed upon the attorneys, law firms, or parties responsible for the violation.”
  • The sanctions motion may be made “at any time after a petition has been filed pursuant to this division, but at least 30 days before the hearing on the merits.”
    Continue Reading CEQA Sanctions Statute: Effective Deterrent To Abuse?

Vernon Law, famed Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher, once said: “Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterward.”  The same rings true regarding CEQA litigation, where traps for the unwary abound, and mistakes can be painful, costly and even fatal to a client’s claims or action.  Based on nearly 25 years of personal experience litigating CEQA cases in California trial and appellate courts, as well as extensively writing and speaking on the topic, I offer for consideration the following ten mistakes all CEQA litigators should be sure to avoid.

  • Don’t fail to exhaust your administrative remedies and obtain standing.  If you fail to raise an issue you want to litigate during the CEQA public comment period or prior to the close of the lead agency’s public hearing on the project, you will forfeit it, and if you fail to object during that timeframe you will fail to obtain standing to sue at all under CEQA.  (Pub. Resources Code, §21177; Central Delta Water Agency v. State Water Resources Control Bd. (2004) 124 Cal.App.4th 245, 273-274.)
    Continue Reading Ten CEQA Litigation Mistakes To Avoid