On June 21, 2016, the First Appellate District partially published its opinion for Ukiah Citizens for Safety First v. City of Ukiah (Case No. A145581). The case involved a citizen group’s petition for writ of mandate challenging the certification of an environmental impact report (EIR) by the City of Ukiah (City) for the construction of a Costco Wholesale Corporation retail store and gas station (Project).

In the published portion of the opinion, the Court addressed alleged deficiencies in the Project EIR’s energy impacts analysis. Petitioners asserted that the EIR “fails to include adequate information regarding the project’s energy use and does not comply with appendix F of the CEQA Guidelines.” Specifically, Petitioners alleged that the EIR failed to calculate the energy use attributable to vehicle trips generated by the Project and failed to calculate the operational and construction energy use of the project.

In arriving to its decision, the court relied on the standards set forth by the Third Appellate District in California Clean Energy Committee v. City of Woodland (2014) 225 Cal.App.4th 173 (CCEC), a decision that was filed after the EIR was certified and the petition was filed. Consistent with CCEC, the court found that the EIR failed to calculate the energy impacts of trips generated by the Project. The court also found that the EIR improperly relied on compliance with the California Building Code to mitigate operational and construction energy impacts, without further discussion of the CEQA Guidelines Appendix F criteria. Finally, the court found that the City inappropriately relied on mitigation measures designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

While this litigation was pending and recognizing the deficiencies in its EIR based on the principles set forth in the CCEC opinion, the City adopted an addendum to the EIR. The addendum clarified the EIR’s findings on energy impacts, but did not alter the conclusions reached in the EIR. While the trial court considered the addendum over Petitioners’ objections, the appellate court found this to be an inappropriate expansion of the administrative record. The court explained that the administrative record before a reviewing court should generally only consist of evidence that was before the decision-making body when it rendered its decision. Thus, the court did not address whether the language in the addendum cured the EIR’s defects. Moreover, the court found that the City’s subsequent addendum did not cure the prior approval of an inadequate EIR because the preparation of an addendum assumes that the EIR was properly certified. Because the EIR, as certified, inadequately addressed the energy impacts of the project, the court held that recirculation and consideration of public comments concerning the energy analysis will be necessary before the EIR can be recertified.

In the unpublished portion of the opinion, the court rejected Petitioners’ remaining contentions regarding: (1) the EIR’s analysis of transportation and traffic impacts; (3) the EIR’s analysis of noise impacts; and (3) the Project’s consistency with applicable zoning requirements. The court affirmed the trial court’s decision on the remaining contentions because there was sufficient evidence in the record to support the City’s conclusions.

Key Point: Addendums can only be used to clarify, amplify, or make insignificant modifications to an adequate EIR.