A Summary of Published Appellate Opinions Involving the California Environmental Quality Act
Despite relatively few published opinions this year, there were significant appellate court rulings on a range of topics, including whether projects are properly classified as discretionary or ministerial, the adequacy of mitigation, agencies’ document retention obligations, the remedy for an inadequate EIR, mootness, and statutes of limitations.
The one California Supreme Court CEQA decision addressed the distinction between discretionary projects and exempt ministerial projects. In
Protecting Our Water and Environmental Resources v. County of Stanislaus, the court held that the agency’s issuance of well permits was discretionary in certain circumstances because the permit approval process required the agency to exercise independent judgment and allowed it to modify a project in response to environmental concerns.