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In Citizens for Environmental Responsibility v. State ex rel. 14th District Agricultural Association, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 283, the Court of Appeal, Third District, affirmed the trial court’s determination that a rodeo at the Santa Cruz County Fairground (the Fairground) meets CEQA’s Class 23 categorical exemption for “normal operations of existing facilities for public…

In a partially published opinion, the Second District reversed the ruling of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, and affirmed the adequacy of the EIR certified by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW, formerly the California Deptartment of Fish and Game) in 2010, as well as related permits issued to development company Newhall…

In an unpublished opinion, Salmon Protection and Watershed Network v. County of Marin, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 1578, the Court of Appeal, First District, reversed the trial court and granted an environmental group’s petition for a writ of mandate challenging the sufficiency of the EIR for Marin’s Countywide General Plan (CWP). The Court also…

In Protect Agricultural Land v. Stanislaus Local Agency Formation Commission, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 80, the court affirmed the requirement that challenges to annexation and sphere of influence decisions by Local Agency Formation Commissions (LAFCO) must be brought as reverse validation actions.

The case involved the Stanislaus County LAFCO’s approval of an application by…

The United States District Court for the District of Columbia has protected discussions between California’s High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and the Federal Rail Authority (FRA) from a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Judicial Watch. Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dept. of Trans. (D.D.C. 2013) 950 F. Supp.2d 213. The protected discussions concerned…

In Lotus v. Department of Transportation, 2014 Cal. App. LEXIS 97, the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District, reversed the trial court’s denial of appellants’ petition for writ of mandate challenging the adequacy of the EIR for a highway realignment project.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) sought to realign and widen portions…

Following the overwhelming majority of courts that have upheld local laws regulating plastic bags, California’s First District Court of Appeal unanimously upheld San Francisco’s ban on plastic bags in Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City and County of San Francisco (2013) 222 Cal.App.4th 863.  The court found that the city complied with CEQA in…

On January 28, 2014, the Merced County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a conditional use permit and certified an environmental impact report (EIR) for a project to construct a 20 megawatt solar photovoltaic electrical generation facility on a 178.3 acre site in the Los Banos area of the County.  It is anticipated that the project…

On January 7, 2014, the City of Sacramento unanimously approved a Conditional Use Permit and took related actions authorizing the development of a three-story 28-room residential care facility on a 0.36-acre parcel in the Central City.  In approving the Project, the City found the Project was exempt from CEQA because, among other reasons, it is…