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The Fourth District Court of Appeal’s recent case Don’t Cell Our Parks v. City of San Diego/Verizon upholds application of the Class 3 categorical exemption under CEQA Guidelines 15303 to a new wireless telecommunications pole in a city-owned park. www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/documents/D071863.PDF This case adds to existing case law that applies Class 3 to other telecommunications equipment (Aptos Residents and Robinson (antennas on poles) and San Francisco Beautiful (cabinets)). The court noted that while none of the examples included in the Guidelines…

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.