In an unpublished decision, Citizens Advocating for Roblar Rural Community v. County of Sonoma, 2014 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 3393, the Court of Appeal for the First District reversed the trial court’s decision granting a petition for writ of mandate that challenged County certification of a final environmental impact report (EIR) and issuance of necessary land use permits for an aggregate quarry.
In December 2010, the County of Sonoma certified an EIR for development of a 65-acre quarry pit for mining and processing of approximately 570,000 cubic yards of aggregate material annually. Petitioner filed a petition for a writ of mandate challenging the county’s quarry project approvals in January 2011. The trial court granted the petition in part, finding that failure to study potential water quality contamination from a neighboring landfill resulted in factual conclusions unsupported by substantial evidence. The trial court also found that mitigation measures were inadequate or constituted a prohibited deferral of mitigation, and that the EIR’s analysis of the impact of widening an access road on an adjacent creek was inadequate.
On appeal, the court reversed, finding that the trial court improperly ignored substantial evidence supporting the county’s actions and made improper de novo determinations. First, with respect to petitioner’s argument that the EIR did not adequately study potential groundwater quality impacts, the EIR acknowledged the risk that contaminants from the landfill could seep into the quarry site as a result of mining operations. Petitioner contended that the county should have conducted testing to determine the risk posed to regional water quality. Instead, the county relied on groundwater monitoring well data and subsurface exploration to support its finding that the risk to groundwater quality was less than significant. The court of appeal found substantial evidence supported the county’s conclusion, which must be upheld even if another conclusion could have been reached.
Next, the court addressed allegations that the EIR failed to properly analyze traffic mitigation. The County concluded that roadway improvements on Roblar Road , which were required to mitigate traffic impacts, would have less than significant secondary impacts on the adjacent Americano Creek. The court found that the secondary environmental impacts of offsite mitigation measures, including widening of access roadways, were catalogued and discussed in significant detail in the EIR. Petitioner argued that the road widening was an integral aspect of the project as a whole requiring complete analysis. The court rejected this argument since this would eliminate any distinction between primary and secondary environmental impacts by making all proposed mitigation a “project component.”
Finally, petitioner contended that the EIR was inadequate because mitigation measures to address impacts to protected species did not describe, analyze, or mention the site of a required offsite mitigation preserve, precluding the county from determining if the mitigation was even feasible. The court found that the county did not defer mitigation because it properly identified a specific means of mitigating for the loss of habitat through the creation of habitat or preservation of existing habitat at a ratio consistent with state and federal law. The county could rely on future study to identify the particular details of mitigation measure implementation, including habitat location.
Key Point:
This case highlights the deferential treatment that courts give to lead agencies in reviewing EIR adequacy; despite the potential to arrive to alternate conclusions, the lead agency’s determination will be upheld as long as it is supported by substantial evidence. In addition, this case upholds reliance on later approvals from responsible agencies to mitigate for loss of habitat where the EIR species the impact and requires replacement of lost habitat in a manner consistent with state and federal law.