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A recently published CEQA case - Rodeo Citizens Association v. County of Contra Costa addresses issues related to project description, greenhouse gas analysis, and accident release analysis. The First District Court of Appeal upheld an EIR's GHG analysis for an existing Phillips 66 refinery. The court found it acceptable under CEQA for the EIR to not quantify greenhouse gas emissions from downstream uses of recovered propane and butane because 1) The lead agency has discretion to design the EIR; 2)…

The California Supreme Court’s recent denial of petitioner’s request for review of Creed-21 v. City of Wildomar (2017) 18 Cal.App.5th 690 affirms that discovery can be sought to challenge standing in CEQA cases. Since publication in Dec 17 we have successfully obtained discovery orders to determine the true nature of petitioners’ members and others are doing the same. While there have been legislative efforts to require disclosure of petitioners’ interest, it is the courts that are defining and interpreting CEQA.…

Joey Meldrum was honored to be a judge for the UC Hastings Spring Moot Court oral arguments on March 29, 2018.  A very impressive group of students argued a complicated Endangered Species Act (ESA) case - huge kudos to Professor David Takacs for championing the Hastings Environmental Law Concentration and making it better everyday.