Amanda Monchamp is a partner at Monchamp Meldrum LLP. She practices in the areas of land use, natural resources, and environmental law with an emphasis on project land use entitlement, regulatory permitting, and litigation regarding the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) throughout California.
Amanda advises clients on various aspects of complex residential, industrial, commercial, and life science land use and real estate development projects, as well as linear projects for utilities such as telecommunications, power companies, transportation and transit projects. Her work on these projects includes due diligence review, local entitlement processing, environmental review under CEQA and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), site remediation, state and federal resource agency permitting, and associated land use transactions. Amanda works closely with her clients to help guide them through the complex entitlement process, including reviewing environmental documents and technical reports to ensure accuracy and defensibility. Amanda also advises clients on how to negotiate administrative and political entitlement hurdles at each step of the approval process.
Amanda brings her knowledge of CEQA and NEPA documents to the courtroom and defends challenges to project approvals under CEQA, NEPA, and other land use laws. Amanda is currently defending several major projects.
Prior to forming Monchamp Meldrum LLP, Amanda was a partner at Holland & Knight LLP where she also served as Deputy Section Leader of the Government Section. Earlier she worked at the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA) in Washington, D.C., where she represented the electronics industry in state, federal and international environmental regulatory, legislative, and policy arenas.
Amanda is currently a lecturer in Land Use Controls at the University of California Berkeley College of Environmental Design’s Master of Real Estate Development + Design program. She also is engaged in her community and served on the Oakland Planning Commission.
Published Cases
- Yerba Buena Neighbor Coalition v. Regents of University of California (2023) 95 Cal.App.5th 779
- Tsakopoulos Investments, LLC v. County of Sacramento (2023) 95 Cal.App.5th 280
- Claremont Canyon Conservancy v. Regents of University of California (2023) 92 Cal.App.5th 474
- Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods v. Regents of the University of California (2021) 70 Cal.App.5th 705
- McCorkle Eastside Neighborhood Group v. City of St. Helena, (2019) 31 Cal.App.5th 80
- Covina Residents for Responsible Development v. City of Covina (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 712
- Friends of the College of San Mateo Gardens v. San Mateo County Community College District (2016) 1 Cal.5th 937
- Coalition for a Sustainable Future in Yucaipa v. City of Yucaipa (2015) 238 Cal.App.4th 513
- San Francisco Beautiful v. City and County of San Francisco (2014) 26 Cal.App.4th 1012
- Citizens for a Green San Mateo v. San Mateo City College District (2014) 226 Cal.App.4th 1572
- Citizens for Responsible, Equitable, Environmental Development (C.R.E.E.D) v. City of Chula Vista (2011) 197 Cal.App.4th 327
- Coalition for a Sustainable Future in Yucaipa v. City of Yucaipa (2011) 198 Cal.App.4th 939
- County of Amador v. City of Plymouth (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 1089
- Friends of the Sierra Railroad v. Tuolumne Park & Recreation District (2007) 147 Cal.App.4th 643
Honors and Awards
- The Best Lawyers in America, Environmental Law, Land Use and Zoning Law, Litigation – Environmental, 2018-2024
- Northern California Super Lawyer, 2015-2024
- Bay Area Commercial Real Estate Power Women Award, Bisnow, Real Estate, 2017
Memberships
- City of Oakland Planning Commissioner
- Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics, Policy Advisory Board
- Lambda Alpha International (LAI) Golden Gate Chapter
- SPUR, Oakland Membership Committee, Board Member
- Urban Land Institute
- Environmental Law Institute
- American Bar Association, Section on Energy, Environment and Resources
- California Bar Association, Environment and Natural Resources Section
- San Francisco Bar Association
- Association of Environmental Professionals
Education
- Vermont Law School, J.D. and Master of Studies in Environmental Law
- University of California, San Diego, B.A., History and Political Science, with high honors
Bar Admissions
- California
- District of Columbia
Court Admissions
- All State Courts in California
- All Federal Courts in California
Publications
- Design Review of By-Right Development Does Not Trigger CEQA Review, Lexology, January 14, 2019
- Fourth District Rejects City’s Retroactive CEQA Baseline but Holds that Error Did Not Violate Constitutional Rights, Lexology, October 5, 2018
- California Court of Appeal Invalidates EIR for Failure to Identify a Project
Lexology, November 2017 - Court Upholds San Francisco’s CEQA Exemption for Telegraph Hill Project
JDSupra, October 2017 - California Court of Appeal Rejects CEQA Challenge to Proposed Planned Parenthood Clinic
JDSupra, September 2017 - Interlocutory Remand Can Be Used to Supplement Agency Findings Prior to Judgment
JDSupra, August 2017 - Appellate Court Holds That Mandatory Relief is Unavailable Because of Record Error
Lexology, May 2017 - California Public Employees’ Personal Accounts May Be Subject to Public Records Act Requests
Holland & Knight Alert, March 16, 2017 (coauthor) - Reliance on 1998 EIR Under CEQA Upheld Based on Substantial Evidence
Lexology, December 2016 - Appellate Court Rejected EIR That Found Insignificant Traffic Impacts, Despite Consistency With Infill-Promoting General Plan Policy
Holland & Knight Alert, November 18, 2016 (coauthor) - California Supreme Court Invalidates “New Project” Test
JDSupra, September 2016 (coauthor) - California Supreme Court Issues CEQA Ruling Regarding Categorical Exemptions
Pratt’s Energy Law Report, May 2015 (coauthor) - OPR Proposes to Increase CEQA’s Costs, Complexity, and Litigation Risks with SB 743 Implementation
Holland & Knight Alert, August 22, 2014 (coauthor) - Judicial Review of CEQA Categorical Exemptions from 1997-Present
August 2012 (coauthor) - California Supreme Court Grants Review of Berkeley Hillside
Holland & Knight Alert, May 29, 2012 (coauthor)
Select Presentations
- California Lawyers Association, Private Enforcement in California, CEQA and Prop 65
May 4, 2018 - An Interdisciplinary Approach to Land Development and Investment
Berkeley School of Law, February 28, 2018 - CLE International, CEQA A Review of 2017, Policies and Practices for GHG Analysis
December 5, 2017 - An Interdisciplinary Approach to Land Development and Investment
Berkeley School of Law, March 8, 2017 - Advanced CEQA Workshop
Association of Environmental Professionals, February 28, 2017 - CEQA Update: A Perennial Favorite
25th Annual Yosemite Environmental Law Conference, California State Bar Association, Environmental Law Section, October 22, 2016 - Recruit, Retain or Die! Building a Top Team
Moderator, Urban Land Institute, October 6, 2016 - The Continuing Evolution of CEQA
Association of Environmental Professionals, Northern Conference, September 2016 - Update on Pre-AB 52 Tribal Consultation Laws
Tribes and CEQA: New Rules for Tribal Consultation Under AB 52 Law Seminars International Program, June 20, 2016 - CEQA and the California Supreme Court – A Discussion of the Court’s Recent Decisions
California State Bar, Environmental Law Section, April 2016 - Citizen Testimony in CEQA Cases
CLE International, December 2015 - Advanced CEQA Workshop
Association of Environmental Professionals, October 2014 - CEQA Case Law Update
Association of Environmental Professionals, December 2013 - Advanced CEQA Workshop
Association of Environmental Professionals, March 2013 - CEQA: California Environmental Quality Act
Lorman Seminar, March 2013 - Basic CEQA Workshop
Association of Environmental Professionals, October 2012 - CEQA: California Environmental Quality Act
Lorman Seminar, June 2012 - Private Enforcement of Environmental Law
State Bar of California, Environmental Law Section, June 2012 - Is the Fair Argument Fair Seminar
Association of Environmental Professionals, May 2012 - CEQA: California Environmental Quality Act
Lorman Seminar, March 2012