CEQA Litigation and Settlements

The Attorney General’s Office employs the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and related laws to ensure that local governments take seriously their obligation to consider potential environmental impacts, especially those that may affect the public health and welfare. The Attorney General enforces CEQA by submitting comments letters to lead agencies that are undertaking CEQA review and, where necessary, through litigation and settlement.

The Attorney General’s Office works hard to resolve any CEQA disputes it may have with a local agency before turning to the courts. As a result, CEQA lawsuits by the Attorney General are unusual. Since 2006, there have been only three:

• In August, 2009, the Attorney General sued the City of Pleasanton over its failure to analyze and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions that will result from the City's update to its general plan. Read the complaint, pdf. After some litigation, the parties eventually settled the case, and the City of Pleasanton is now in the process of preparing a city-wide Climate Action Plan.
• In 2007, after sending a comment letter, the Attorney General sued San Bernardino County based on its failure to analyze increased greenhouse gas emissions that would result from the County’s proposed general plan amendment. Read the complaint, pdf. The Attorney General's Office and the County quickly settled the case, with the County agreeing to adopt a County-wide Greenhouse Gas Plan, which is available at their Greenhouse Gas Plan page. The County also launched Green County San Bernardino to spur the use of green technologies and building practices among residents, business owners and developers.
• In September, 2011, the Attorney General intervened in a CEQA lawsuit challenging Riverside County's approval of an industrial project next to Mira Loma Village, a community already disproportionately affected by diesel exhaust and noise pollution. The proposed project consists of a million square feet of warehouses and industrial buildings, resulting in approximately 1,500 additional diesel truck trips a day traveling next to the low-income, primarily Hispanic residential community. The suit alleges that the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) did not sufficiently disclose that the environmental burdens of the project would be borne primarily by the residents of Mira Loma. Read the complaint, pdf. The lawsuit currently is pending.
• In January 2012, the Attorney General intervened in a CEQA case challenging the legal adequacy of the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) certified by the San Diego Association of Governments for its 2050 Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy. The Attorney General alleges that the FEIR for the long-range transportation plan does not adequately disclose and mitigate the adverse impacts of the plan, which provides for extensive highway construction, does not reduce overall driving, and causes increases in particulate pollution that exacerbates asthma and can cause cancer. The plan also fails to achieve sustainable decreases in greenhouse gas emissions. The Attorney General’s petition in intervention emphasizes that the FEIR for the plan fails to adequately analyze and mitigate the effects of the plan on communities already overburdened with pollution. Read the Petition, pdf. The lawsuit currently is pending.