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Can a corporation challenge a business competitor’s or other entity’s project under CEQA when its real interests are commercial rather than environmental?  In its recent decision upholding the City of Manhattan Beach’s “plastic bag ban” ordinance and related negative declaration, the California Supreme Court said “yes,” effectively eliminating a potential standing defense to CEQA actions motivated by economic concerns.  (Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City of Manhattan Beach (2011) 52 Cal.4th 155.)

The standing ruling is significant because such cases never fail to touch a nerve with project proponents who perceive themselves as targets of abusive (or even extortionate) CEQA lawsuits. At least some Courts of Appeal over the past decade have provided some succor, opining that “corporate competitor” plaintiffs lack CEQA standing when they assert purely economic injuries not within the “zone of interests” protected by CEQA. (Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc. v. County of Alameda (2000) 79 Cal.App.4th 1223, 1238; see Burrtec Waste Industries, Inc. v. City of Colton (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 1133, 1139.)  But the “zone of interests” standing test proved difficult to apply in practice, and thus provided an unreliable defense, especially in light of CEQA’s extremely broad grant of standing under Public Resources Code § 21177 to anyone who objects to a project on environmental grounds either during the CEQA public comment period or before the close of the public hearing on the project.
Continue Reading Supreme Court Reaffirms Corporate CEQA Standing

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

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