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117-662: In February 2008, a lawsuit filed against RMP and Merced County by the Merced County Farm Bureau and three environmental groups resulted in the cancellation of the park's 2006 construction approval. The suit alleged that the county violated the California Environmental Quality Act when the Board of Supervisors approved plans for RMP in December 2006. The groups claimed the county failed to adequately study how

234-464: A University of California school (Guerrero at Berkeley ), five from private universities in California (Corrigan at Holy Names , Liu, Groban and Evans at Stanford , and Jenkins at Santa Clara ), and one from an out-of-state private university (Kruger at Harvard ). Two justices earned their law degrees from a University of California law school (Corrigan at UC Law SF and Evans at Davis ), two from

351-517: A writ of mandate ( Schwarzenegger v. Court of Appeal (Epstein) ), seven justices of the Courts of Appeal were selected based on the regular rotational basis, not from the same district, with the most senior one serving as the acting chief justice, and that acting supreme court eventually denied the writ petition. In a yet more recent case ( Mallano v. Chiang ) where all members of the Court recused themselves on

468-486: A 2001 survey, however, few agencies have actually developed thresholds of significance. The survey's analysts wondered, "if most agencies are not developing thresholds and publishing them for public review, then what criteria are they using?". In absence of thresholds of significance developed independently by lead agencies, impact assessments apply the significant criteria detailed in Appendix G, Environmental Checklist, of

585-635: A Notice of Determination (NOD) after adopting the document with a 30-day statute of limitations for legal challenge. If the lead agency is presented with a fair argument that shows substantial evidence of the project having a significant environmental impact after mitigation measures are exhausted, the lead agency is required to prepare an Environmental Impact Report. Thus, in essence, an ND/MND may only be used to satisfy CEQA requirements for projects with no significant unmitigated adverse environmental impacts (ND) or for which all potentially significant adverse impacts have been "avoided, reduced or minimized" to below

702-437: A case has varied over time. For a 1992 case, the chief justice requested the presiding justice of a Court of Appeal district (different from the one where the case originated) to select six other Court of Appeal justices from his district, and they formed an acting Supreme Court for the purpose of deciding that one case. However, in a later case where all members of the Court recused themselves when Governor Schwarzenegger sought

819-535: A case is granted review, the Chief Justice assigns the case to a justice, who, after the parties finish briefing, then prepares a draft opinion. Each justice writes a preliminary response to the draft opinion, and if the assigned justice is in the minority, she may ask the Chief Justice to reassign the case to someone in the majority. The Court then hears oral arguments and, immediately afterwards, meet alone to vote. The California Constitution requires suspension of

936-422: A central staff. The advantage to this system is that the reduced turnover of staff attorneys (versus the traditional system of rotating through new law clerks every year) has improved the efficiency of the court in dealing with complex cases, particularly death penalty cases. During its first half-century of operation, the Court struggled to keep up with its soaring caseload and very frequently fell behind, until

1053-482: A constitutional amendment in 1966, the Court currently sits in bank (all seven together) when hearing all appeals. When there is an open seat on the court, or if a justice recuses himself or herself on a given case, justices from the California Courts of Appeal are assigned by the chief justice to join the court for individual cases on a rotational basis. The procedure for when all justices recuse themselves from

1170-477: A departure from NEPA, adopt all feasible measures to mitigate those impacts. CEQA makes environmental protection a mandatory part of every California state and local (public) agency's decision making process. In 1972, the California Supreme Court broadened CEQA by interpreting a "public" project as any development that needed government approval. Since then, CEQA has become the basis for anyone with

1287-478: A departure from other states, in 1972 state courts interpreted a "public" project as any development that needed government approval. As of 2021, this application of the law is unique to California. By 2021, the CEQA guidelines, which explain how CEQA reviews must be handled, had grown from an initial 10 page checklist to over 500 pages, including issues such as aesthetics. NEPA, a United States federal statute passed

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1404-522: A discretionary government permit or other entitlement for use is necessary. If a project is not exempt from CEQA, a lead agency can conduct an initial study to preliminarily assess project impacts. Appendix G of the CEQA Guidelines lists types of environmental impacts to consider in checklist form. This initial study guides the lead agency to prepare either a negative declaration, mitigated negative declaration, or environmental impact report depending on

1521-466: A federal agency would be exempt from NEPA, but would likely be subject to CEQA. The environmental impact statement (EIS) required under NEPA and the EIR required under CEQA are similar documents, yet have some crucial differences. For example, under NEPA, an agency can list all reasonable alternatives and their impacts, then choose their preferred project without regard to the severity of its impacts, even if it

1638-1175: A grievance against a project to file lawsuits to slow projects by years or kill projects by imposing delays and litigation costs that make projects infeasible. CEQA has been criticized for being abused (used for reasons other than environmental ones) to block, downsize, delay, or gain other concessions from new development. CEQA has even been used to block or delay projects that have positive environmental impacts, such as solar plants, wind turbines, bike lanes on pre-existing roads, and denser housing. One study found that 85% of CEQA lawsuits were filed by organizations with no record of environmental advocacy and 80% of CEQA lawsuits targeted infill development. CEQA has also been used by NIMBYs to block homeless shelters , student housing and affordable housing projects, by businesses to try to block competition, and by unions to force developers to use union workers. All governors since 1983 ( George Deukmejian , Pete Wilson , Gray Davis , Arnold Schwarzenegger , and Jerry Brown ), as well as current governor Gavin Newsom , have stated that CEQA needs to be reformed. CEQA

1755-476: A judicial term, the justice must stand for retention during the next gubernatorial election. Voters then determine whether to retain the justice for the remainder of the judicial term. At the term's conclusion, justices must again undergo a statewide retention election for a full 12-year term. If a majority votes "no", the seat becomes vacant and may be filled by the Governor. The electorate has occasionally exercised

1872-444: A lead agency discretion to determine which type of analysis approach to utilize for a given project level GHG analysis: "(1) Use a model or methodology to quantify greenhouse gas emissions resulting from a project, and which model or methodology to use. The lead agency has discretion to select the model or methodology it considers most appropriate provided it supports its decision with substantial evidence. The lead agency should explain

1989-468: A major federal project, or project using federal funds is seeking approval in California, its lead agency must prepare both an EIS and an EIR, but both can be combined into one document (since the EIS and EIR have the same elements for the most part). Said document, however, must be processed through both the CEQA and NEPA approval steps. The CEQA statute, California Public Resources Code § 21000 et seq. , codifies

2106-559: A matter of public policy, as disclosed in rule 8.1105(a) of the California Rules of Court. The original California Constitution of 1849 authorized the Court to publish all opinions that it "may deem expedient," and the current California Constitution of 1879 authorizes the Court to publish all opinions that it "deems appropriate." In 1850, a statute was enacted directing the Supreme Court to publish opinions in all cases, but in 1855,

2223-414: A petition for review by retired Court of Appeal justices on a matter involving those justices' salaries (that apparently involved matters up to and including the 2016–2017 fiscal year), the Court ordered that six superior court judges be selected from the pool that took office after July 1, 2017, to serve as the substitute justices for the six sitting justices, with the senior judge among that group serving as

2340-504: A private California university (Guerrero at Stanford and Jenkins at the University of San Francisco ), and three from law schools at out-of-state private universities (Liu and Kruger at Yale , and Groban at Harvard ). The most recent addition to the court is Associate Justice Kelli Evans , who was sworn in on January 2, 2023, to replace then-Associate Justice Patricia Guerrero , who was elevated to chief justice. In 2023, Guerrero became

2457-429: A qualified GHG Reduction Strategy that is consistent with AB 32. This strategy can be incorporated into the lead agency's general plan or programmatic level policy for assessing GHG emissions. The strategy involves assessing "business as usual" current and forecasted emissions to calculate a baseline for reduction. The lead agency then proposes measures to reduce those emissions to meet AB 32 expectations. BAAQMD recommends

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2574-615: A qualified greenhouse gas reduction strategy. The BAAQMD has not established construction related emissions thresholds, deferring this responsibility to the CEQA lead agency. Chapter 8.2 of the BAAQMD Air Quality Guidelines recommends lead agencies quantify construction emissions and assess if they conflict with AB 32 goals. BAAQMD also recommends using URBEMIS air modeling software to calculate GHG emissions on land use changing projects, and RoadMod software for linear projects. BAAQMD recommends analysis of operational emissions in

2691-496: A significant impact on the environment. If the lead agency determines the project could have no significant environmental impacts after completing an initial study, no EIR will be necessary, but the lead agency must still prepare a Negative Declaration (Neg Dec) that discloses the impact analysis. If the project could have significant environmental impacts, but the lead agency has incorporated mitigation measures to lower those impacts to less than significant, no EIR will be necessary, but

2808-697: A statewide policy of environmental protection. According to the act, all state and local agencies must give major consideration to environmental protection in regulating public and private activities, and should not approve projects for which there exist feasible and environmentally superior mitigation measures or alternatives. CEQA mandates actions all state and local agencies must take to advance that policy. Specifically, for any project under CEQA's jurisdiction with potentially significant environmental impacts, agencies must identify mitigation measures and alternatives by preparing an Environmental Impact Report, and must approve projects with feasible mitigation measures and

2925-610: A tiered analysis process for determining the significance of project-related GHG emissions. If a project is not categorically or otherwise exempt, and if it cannot be shown that the GHG emissions from the project are within GHG budgets in approved regional plans, then project applicants are required to show that the project GHG emissions are below, or mitigated to less than, the applicable following significance screening level: Lead agencies can implement several different mitigation measures to offset or reduce GHG emissions. The BAAQMD recommends using

3042-513: A tool to effectuate their interest ... We need to fundamentally rethink how the CEQA process works in this state." CEQA has been used by residents in San Francisco and Los Angeles to attempt to block homeless shelters and affordable housing projects from being located in their neighborhoods. A 2015 study by Jennifer Hernandez and others at the environmental and land-use law firm Holland & Knight, looking at all CEQA lawsuits filed during

3159-571: A vacant position, the Governor must first submit a candidate's name to the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation of the State Bar of California, which prepares and returns a thorough, confidential evaluation of the candidate. Next, the Governor officially nominates the candidate, who must then be evaluated by the Commission on Judicial Appointments, which consists of the Chief Justice of California ,

3276-612: Is a California statute passed in 1970 and signed in to law by then-governor Ronald Reagan , shortly after the United States federal government passed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), to institute a statewide policy of environmental protection. CEQA does not directly regulate land uses, but instead requires state and local agencies within California to follow a protocol of analysis and public disclosure of environmental impacts of proposed projects and, in

3393-407: Is carbon dioxide. Several other primary gases also include methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, perfluorocarbons, and hydrofluorocarbons. Greenhouse gas sources resulting from project construction activities are typically generated from transportation of materials to the project site, emissions from off-road construction vehicles, and petrol or diesel based equipment used during construction of

3510-509: Is delegated to the State Bar Court of California (although suspensions longer than three years must be independently decided upon by the Court). California's bar is the largest in the U.S. with 210,000 members, of whom 160,000 are practicing. In 2018 and in 2023, the Court issued reform directives regarding corrupt practices within the State Bar of California. The court, with the assistance of

3627-424: Is more harmful to the environment. Under CEQA, the lead agency is required to mitigate all "significant" adverse environmental impacts to "the maximum extent feasible" and can approve a project only if the agency adopts a Statement of Overriding Considerations detailing the specific overriding economic, legal, social, technological, or other considerations that outweigh the project's significant, unavoidable impacts. If

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3744-487: The Attorney General of California , and a senior presiding justice of the California Courts of Appeal . The Commission holds a public hearing and if satisfied with the nominee's qualifications, confirms the nomination. The nominee can then immediately fill an existing vacancy, or replace a departing justice at the beginning of the next judicial term. If a nominee is confirmed to fill a vacancy that arose partway through

3861-792: The California Legislative Analyst's Office found that in the state's 10 largest cities, CEQA appeals delayed projects by an average of two and a half years. Supreme Court of California The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California . It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building , but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sacramento . Its decisions are binding on all other California state courts . Since 1850,

3978-687: The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit . The Court is open for business year-round (as opposed to operating only during scheduled "terms" as is commonplace in jurisdictions that observe the legal year ). The Court hears oral argument at least one week per month, 10 months each year (except July and August). It has been headquartered in San Francisco since 1874. Since 1878, it has regularly heard oral argument each year at San Francisco (four months), Los Angeles (four months), and Sacramento (two months). According to Justice Liu, when

4095-1071: The CEQA Statutes and Guidelines, which is produced by the California Office of Planning and Research (OPR). Lead agencies can also defer to authority agencies that publish their recommended guidelines for the resources they regulate. Examples of this include the California Department of Conservation has threshold tests for assessing impacts to agricultural resources using the LESA model, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has published guidelines for air quality impacts. The lead agency must analyze project impacts to 18 different environmental resource factors detailed in Appendix G during their CEQA review. The next section discusses background and setting for each resource factor; and how lead agencies conduct their analysis and

4212-539: The California Courts of Appeal were created in 1904. This resulted in provisions in the 1879 Constitution requiring the Court to decide all cases in writing with reasons given (to get rid of minor cases, it had often given summary dispositions with no reasons given ) and requiring California judges to certify in writing every month that no matter submitted for consideration had been outstanding for more than 90 days, or else they will not be paid. To comply with

4329-760: The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and certified by the Merced County (Calif.) Board of Supervisors in December 2006, was completed by EDAW, Inc. (Sacramento). Architectural engineering (including racetrack design) was being coordinated by Paxton Waters, AIA ( Carmel, Indiana ), with additional racetrack engineering support from Alan Wilson (Monument, Colorado). 37°23′55″N 120°33′28″W  /  37.3987°N 120.5577°W  / 37.3987; -120.5577 California Environmental Quality Act The California Environmental Quality Act ( CEQA / ˈ s iː . k w ə / )

4446-457: The California come from renewable resources by 2020 to curb greenhouse gas emissions. This assembly of legislation and evidence of environmental impact led to California enacting requirements for lead agencies to consider greenhouse gas emissions in their CEQA reviews. California Office of Attorney General sent several comment letters to lead agencies urging them to consider greenhouse gas emissions during their CEQA review. Senate Bill 97 required

4563-430: The Court began to direct that some opinions should not be reported, and this procedure was retroactively approved by the legislature in an 1860 statute. Over 1,800 unreported opinions were filed by the Court over the next 25 years (which includes the 700 unreported opinions filed by the commissioners). The Pacific Reporter started to collect and publish the Court's unreported opinions at its launch in 1883, and then

4680-492: The Court gave in and switched back to publication of all opinions. A small group of lawyers later recovered and compiled all the unreported opinions filed by the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court Commission before that point, which were published in a separate seven-volume reporter called California Unreported Cases starting in 1913. Despite its name, those cases are citable as precedent. The Court supervises

4797-457: The Court has averaged 5,200 petitions for writs of certiorari and 3,400 petitions for habeas corpus , plus 40 additional petitions from inmates already on death row. In an average year the Court will decide to hear 83 cases and will be required to hear appeals from 20 new inmates joining death row. Each week, the Court votes on 150 to 300 petitions, paying special attention to a staff-recommended "A list" as well as to certified questions from

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4914-564: The Court has sponsored a state constitutional amendment to allow it to assign death penalty appeals to the California Courts of Appeal. The Court has discretionary appellate jurisdiction over all cases reviewed by the Courts of Appeal; the latter were created by a 1904 constitutional amendment to relieve the Supreme Court of most of its workload so the Court could then focus on dealing with non-frivolous appeals that involved important issues of law. According to research by Justice Goodwin Liu, each year

5031-414: The Court's jurisdiction. Thus, the Court has decided a number of cases by, between, and against such companies, as well as several cases involving Hollywood celebrities and high-tech executives. The California Supreme Court and all lower California state courts use a different writing style and citation system from the federal courts and many other state courts. California citations have the year between

5148-410: The EIR is considered the heart of CEQA, mitigation and alternatives are considered the heart of the EIR. One alternative that a lead agency must usually consider is the no project alternative, that is, cancellation of the project, with the future instead unfolding according to existing plans (i.e., the status quo). Among all the alternatives, the EIR identifies the environmentally superior alternative; if

5265-498: The EIR, preparing a new EIR, agreeing to mitigation measures, or paying money to local agencies to offset environmental impacts. CEQA lawsuits (and threats of CEQA lawsuits) are frequently used by groups that want to block a proposed project for reasons other than its environmental impacts. Carol Galante, a professor of Affordable Housing and Urban Policy at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at UC Berkeley, who served in

5382-670: The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 that mandated greenhouse gas emissions be reduced to 1990 levels by 2020. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order S-3-05 in June 2005 that declared California is vulnerable to climate change impacts resulting in loss of Sierra snowpack for water supply and rising sea levels threatening coastal real estate and habitat. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger also signed Executive Order S-21-09 in September 2009 requiring 33% of electricity sold in

5499-484: The Governors Office of Planning and Research to develop and recommend new guidelines to analyze greenhouse gas impacts under CEQA. California's Natural Resources Agency adopted new guidelines on December 31, 2009, requiring lead agencies to analyze greenhouse gas emissions under section 15064.4 during their CEQA review through California. The major category of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities

5616-532: The NOC. This notice must include the location of any public meetings intended to solicit comments on the draft EIR. If the draft EIR is circulated through the State Clearinghouse, then the public comment period must be 45 days minimum. The lead agency must prepare a final EIR before approving the project. The contents of a final EIR are specified in §15132 of the CEQA guidelines, but responses to draft EIR comments are

5733-522: The NOD. CEQA's broad scope and lack of clear thresholds often lead to litigation, both by groups that support development, and individuals and agencies opposing such development. CEQA plaintiffs such as community and environmental groups often challenge projects with negative declarations, on the grounds that EIRs should have been carried out. Litigation also occurs on the grounds that EIRs are too brief or overlooked possible impacts, as there are no guidelines for

5850-560: The Obama Administration as the Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), stated that "It (CEQA) has been abused in this state for 30 years by people who use it when it has nothing to do with an environmental reason, ... NIMBY -ism is connected to the fact that for everyone who owns their little piece of the dream, there's no reason to want development next door to them, CEQA gives them

5967-454: The RMP website was exaggerated. The Sun-Star also reported that Condren had a history of bankruptcies and unpaid debts. In April 2007, the 1989 NASCAR Premier Series Champion, Rusty Wallace , joined the project to provide track design enhancement engineering to the eight world-class motorsports venues within the RMP facility. Wallace commented: "Riverside Motorsports Park is definitely one of

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6084-580: The Reporter of Decisions, publishes the California Style Manual for use by the California Courts of Appeal and the superior courts . As The Wall Street Journal stated, in 1972: The state's high court over the past 20 years has won a reputation as perhaps the most innovative of the state judiciaries, setting precedents in areas of criminal justice, civil liberties, racial integration, and consumer protection that heavily influence other states and

6201-479: The acting Chief Justice; that acting Supreme Court eventually denied the petition for review. Six current justices were appointed by Democrats (Liu, Kruger, Groban, Jenkins, Guerrero and Evans) and one by Republicans (Corrigan). There are three African American (Kruger, Jenkins, Evans) justices, one East Asian American justice (Liu), two non-Hispanic white justices (Corrigan, Groban) and one Latina (Guerrero). One justice earned an undergraduate degree from

6318-628: The agencies primarily responsible for regulating stationary sources of air pollution. These air districts traditionally provide guidance to lead agencies, such as counties, cities and public utilities, on the evaluation of air pollutants under CEQA. The lead agency is the public agency which has the principal responsibility for approving a proposed project. The lead agency determines which type of environmental document will be prepared (Mitigated Negative Declaration, Environmental Impact Report, etc.) and has discretion to adopt significance criteria more conservative than those required by CEQA. §15064.4 provides

6435-640: The authority for their significance thresholds for these resources. Resource factors (in alphabetical order): GHG legislative history; rule making; regulated greenhouse gases and their sources; and GHG CEQA responsible agencies are discussed below. The next section describes the analytical approach to determining if a project has significant GHG impacts using guidelines from two Air Quality Management Districts in California. Finally, mitigation measures recommended by air districts and used on various projects are presented for GHG impact analysis. Greenhouse gas emissions were not required to be analyzed as an impact to

6552-416: The cases before them). Many important legal concepts have been pioneered or developed by the Court, including strict liability for defective products , fair procedure , negligent infliction of emotional distress , palimony , insurance bad faith , wrongful life , and market-share liability . The major film studios in and around Hollywood and the high-tech firms of Silicon Valley both fall under

6669-461: The chronic backlog. The Commission was also subject to heavy criticism as an unelected "auxiliary court". Attorneys who enjoyed appellate work but had difficulty holding onto judicial seats in partisan elections repeatedly bounced back and forth between serving as elected justices and unelected commissioners. After two more decades of debate, the state legislature recognized that the state needed to establish intermediate appellate courts and referred

6786-432: The clerk's office at that time. The Court is one of the few U.S. courts apart from the U.S. Supreme Court that enjoys the privilege of having its opinions routinely published in three hardcover reporters . The Court's Reporter of Decisions contracts with a private publisher (currently LexisNexis ) to publish the official reporter, California Reports , now in its fifth series; note that the series number changes whenever

6903-443: The court has issued many influential decisions in a variety of areas including torts , property , civil and constitutional rights , and criminal law . Under the original 1849 California Constitution , the Court started with a chief justice and two associate justices . The Court was expanded to five justices in 1862. Under the current 1879 constitution, the Court expanded to six associate justices and one chief justice, for

7020-487: The court was divided by the state constitution into two three-justice panels, Department One and Department Two. The chief justice divided cases evenly between the panels and also decided which cases would be heard "in bank" ( en banc ) by the Court sitting as a whole. During the late 1920s, the court gradually transitioned to routinely hearing all appeals in bank, apart from two unusual exceptions in 1941 when it again tried to sit in departments. The 1966 formal abolition of

7137-530: The current total of seven. The justices are appointed by the Governor of California and are subject to retention elections . According to the California Constitution, to be considered for appointment, as with any California judge, a person must be an attorney admitted to practice in California or have served as a judge of a California court for 10 years immediately preceding the appointment. To fill

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7254-438: The department system merely confirmed how the court had been actually operating for quite some time. Oral argument was mandatory only for in bank hearings of appeals, which meant that many appeals were decided by three-justice departments on the briefs alone. However, the state constitution required department decisions to be unanimous to produce a final judgment. Any dissent automatically triggered an in bank hearing. After

7371-461: The editor of the state's official reporters. California has traditionally avoided the use of certain French and Latin phrases like en banc , certiorari , and mandamus , so California judges and attorneys use "in bank," "review," and "mandate" instead (though "in bank" has become quite rare after 1974). Finally, the Court has the power to "depublish" opinions by the Courts of Appeal (as opposed to

7488-418: The environment and fit within the description of the several categories listed under Article 19. A common categorical exemption used by agencies is 15301 for maintenance of existing facilities. Since the project is already built, the project often has no significant new impacts. Agencies do not have to file any CEQA findings for categorically exempt projects. They can be legally challenged by the public on whether

7605-500: The environment when CEQA was originally adopted. Several scientists have since attributed greenhouse gases to climate change and resulting negative impacts to humans and the environment. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report in 2007 stating that human activities are responsible for increased global temperatures. As a result of these assessments, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 32,

7722-459: The environmental laws. " An environmental lawyer said that the slow economy would probably encourage developers to seek more abrogations, as legislators become more eager to stimulate job growth. Several categorical exemptions for projects are listed under Title 14 of the California Code of Regulations, Chapter 3, Article 19. These exemptions cover projects that do pose a significant impact to

7839-582: The environmentally superior alternative is the no project alternative, the EIR identifies the environmentally superior alternative among the other alternatives. The EIR process begins with the circulation of a Notice of Preparation (NOP) which informs the public, responsible agencies, trustee agencies, and the OPR that an EIR will be prepared for a given project. The NOP must include sufficient project description details and likely environmental effects such that agencies and public citizens can provide meaningful comments on

7956-445: The environmentally superior alternative. The California Natural Resources Agency promulgates the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations Title 14 § 15000 et seq., which detail the protocol by which state and local agencies comply with CEQA requirements. Appendix A of the CEQA Guidelines summarizes this protocol in flowchart form. CEQA originally applied to only public projects, but California Supreme Court interpretation of

8073-434: The extraction, production, distribution and use of energy or fuel. If a lead agency had to complete a GHG lifecycle analysis under CEQA, they would have to quantify GHGs produced not only within the spatial boundary of the project site, but GHGs generated from transportation of products to the site and product supply chain production emissions. Several of these energy emissions could be produced overseas leading to difficulty by

8190-418: The facility, and landscape maintenance equipment. Land use conversion can reduce vegetation sequestration of carbon dioxide. The State Air Resources Board or California Air Resources Board is the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of greenhouse gas emissions under AB32. California's 35 local air pollution control districts (APCDs) and air quality management districts (AQMDs) are

8307-491: The federal bench. Statistical analyses conducted by LexisNexis personnel at the Court's request indicate that the decisions of the Supreme Court of California are by far the most followed of any state supreme court in the United States. Between 1940 and 2005, 1,260 decisions of the Court were expressly followed by out-of-state courts (meaning that those courts expressly found the Court's reasoning persuasive and applied it to

8424-467: The federal practice of not publishing certain "unpublished" opinions at all in the federal case reporters). This means that even though the opinion has already been published in the official state reporters, it will be binding only upon the parties. Stare decisis does not apply, and any new rules articulated will not be applied in future cases. Similarly, the California Supreme Court has

8541-494: The female majority by appointing Leondra Kruger to succeed her; while this first female majority later ended with the 2017 retirement of Werdegar and appointment of Groban by Brown to succeed her, a second female majority was later established in 2022, upon the swearing-in of Guerrero to replace Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar . The Constitution of California gives the Court mandatory and exclusive appellate jurisdiction in all cases imposing capital punishment in California , although

8658-569: The first Latina to serve as chief justice. The court first had a female majority from 2011 to 2017. This majority had been achieved in 2011 after Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye to the court, joining Justice Joyce L. Kennard (an appointee of Republican Governor George Deukmejian ), Justice Kathryn Werdegar (appointed by Republican Governor Pete Wilson ), and Justice Carol A. Corrigan (another Schwarzenegger appointee). When Kennard retired in 2014, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown preserved

8775-424: The five step process: eliminate greenhouse gas analysis if project attributes do not pass screening criteria, quantify emissions using appropriate models, compare unmitigated emissions with thresholds of significance, implement mitigation measures if project is over thresholds of significance, then compare emissions again with thresholds of significance. The South Coast Air Quality Management District has developed

8892-456: The focus of the document. The lead agency then certifies the final EIR and issues its findings. Should significant and unavoidable impacts remain after mitigation, a Statement of Overriding Considerations must be prepared. Finally, the lead agency may decide whether or how to approve or carry out the project at which time a notice of determination (NOD) must be filed within five days of approval. Appeal periods and litigation avenues remain after

9009-495: The following best management practices for construction activities: 15% of project's heavy equipment and transportation fleet run on alternative fuels and/or electricity, recycling or reusing 50% of demolition waste, and using 10% local of building materials. Other measures used to reduce construction emissions include limiting equipment idle time, car pooling, and purchase and retire of offsite carbon credits. BAAQMD recommends lead agencies mitigate operational emissions by adopting

9126-453: The governmental body with no judgement as long as the proponent meets the specifications detailed in the permit or license requirements. CEQA does not apply when only ministerial approval is necessary. The California state legislature has, on occasion, abrogated CEQA such that specific projects or types of projects could proceed without an EIR. One such abrogation occurred in October 2009, with

9243-417: The impact assessment. The initial study completion also gives the project applicant opportunity to change their project scope early in the CEQA process if the initial study indicates significant impact(s) are likely. If the lead agency determines the project clearly has significant impacts, they can skip the initial study phase and immediately conduct an Environmental Impact Report. Under CEQA, every agency in

9360-484: The impact must be eliminated pursuant to CEQA Guidelines 15145. Thresholds of significance can be determined by reference of air quality management district CEQA guidelines, although the ultimate discretion for thresholds remains with the lead agency. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, South Coast Air Quality Management District, and San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District are

9477-534: The issue to the electorate. In November 1904, Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 2 was approved by the state's voters, which abolished the Supreme Court Commission and created the California Courts of Appeal. All five commissioners were promptly appointed in 1905 to serve among the original nine justices of the Courts of Appeal. Except for one decade at its founding, the Court has never been required by constitutional or statutory law to publish all its opinions. The Court currently chooses to publish all opinions as

9594-620: The justices' salaries if the Court fails to then file a decision within 90 days. The Court issues unanimous opinions in 77% of cases, compared to 43% by the Supreme Court of the United States . Throughout the year (including July and August), the justices have a conference every Wednesday the Court is not hearing oral argument, with the exception of the last week, respectively, of November and December (Thanksgiving and New Year's). New opinions are published online on Monday and Thursday mornings at 10 a.m. Paper copies also become available through

9711-418: The late 1980s, the Court has turned away from the traditional use of law clerks , and has switched to permanent staff attorneys. Justices Goodwin Liu and Leondra Kruger, however, have returned to the traditional use of recent law school graduates as one-year clerks for some of their staff positions. The Court has about 85 staff attorneys, some of whom are attached to particular justices; the rest are shared as

9828-404: The latter provision, the Court does not schedule oral argument until the justices and their staff attorneys have already studied the briefs, formulated their respective positions, and circulated draft opinions. Then, after the matter is formally "argued and submitted" before the Court, the justices can polish and file their opinions well before reaching the 90-day deadline. This differs sharply from

9945-506: The lead agency in verification and enforcement of emission thresholds. CEQA guidance currently does not require lifecycle analysis of GHG emissions since the term is not well defined and too speculative, and the Office of Planning and Research (OPR) removed the term "Life Cycle" from CEQA guidelines in 2010. If any portion of the analysis is considered speculative by the lead agency and not supported by defensible and quantifiable scientific evidence,

10062-616: The lead agency must prepare a Mitigated Negative Declaration that demonstrates how all identified significant impacts will be mitigated to below the level of significance. Finally, if the lead agency determines the project may have significant environmental impacts, the lead agency must prepare an EIR. CEQA applies to any action when a project requires discretionary approval by a state or local governmental body. Projects may also require ministerial permits that must comply with general plans and local ordinances such as building permits or marriage licenses. These decisions cannot be denied and provides

10179-624: The length or content of the EIRs. Plaintiffs also sometimes accuse developers of a practice called piece-mealing, by which projects are analyzed incrementally by parts to make the environmental impacts appear smaller to the overseeing agency. CEQA plaintiffs succeeded on one such claim in June 2009, concerning an expansion of the Chevron Richmond Refinery , the largest employer in Richmond, California . The judge ruled that Chevron erred by defining

10296-402: The limitations of the particular model or methodology selected for use; and/or (2) Rely on a qualitative analysis or performance based standards." The lead agency is charged with making a good-faith effort to "describe, calculate, or estimate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from a project". Lifecycle analysis of GHG includes the full aggregate quantity of GHG generated from

10413-582: The lower courts (including the trial-level California superior courts ) through the Judicial Council of California and the California Commission on Judicial Performance, and also supervises California's legal profession through the State Bar of California . All lawyer admissions are done through recommendations of the State Bar, which then must be ratified by the Supreme Court, and attorney discipline

10530-470: The maximum extent feasible". The lead agency then prepares a draft Negative Declaration (ND) or Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) and publishes the document for public review for at least 21 days. After comments are considered, the lead agency can either recirculate the ND/MND if public comments required the project scope to substantially change, or the lead agency can adopt the document. The Lead agency must file

10647-615: The most distinctive design concepts in recent motorsports history, and ... definitely a project with which I am very excited to join forces." The project also had the support of Stone & Youngberg LLC ( San Francisco, California ), the Fluor Corporation ( Aliso Viejo, California ), Granite Construction Company ( Watsonville, California ), Golden Valley Engineering (Merced, California), Rex Moore Electric ( Sacramento, California ), and Wood Rodgers Engineering (Sacramento). The Environmental Impact Report (EIR), completed in compliance with

10764-696: The names of the parties and the reference to the case reporter, as opposed to the national standard (the Bluebook ) of putting the year at the end. For example, the famous case Marvin v. Marvin , which established the standard for non-marital partners' ability to sue for their contributions to the partnership, is rendered Marvin v. Marvin (1976) 18 Cal.3d 660 [134 Cal.Rptr. 815, 557 P.2d 106] in California style, while it would be Marvin v. Marvin , 18 Cal. 3d 660, 557 P.2d 106, 134 Cal. Rptr. 815 (1976), in Bluebook style. The California citation style, however, has always been

10881-464: The needs of professional and club racing sanctioning organizations across the United States. The Park would have been a landscaped environment complete with RV facilities, picnic grounds, family restaurants, video and game arcades, playgrounds, and clean, attended restrooms. In addition to motorsports events, the park would have featured technical motorsports schools, music concerts, car shows, and business center events. The Riverside Motorsports Park, LLC

10998-534: The norm of common law jurisdictions outside the United States, including England, Canada and Australia. While the U.S. Supreme Court justices indicate the author of an opinion and who has "joined" the opinion at the start of the opinion, California justices always sign a majority opinion at the end, followed by "WE CONCUR," and then the names of the joining justices. California judges are traditionally not supposed to use certain ungrammatical terms in their opinions, which has led to embarrassing fights between judges and

11115-873: The only districts to date that have adopted CEQA guidelines. Below are highlights from the BAAQMD and SCAQMD: The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) typically acts as the responsible agency for setting CEQA air emission thresholds within the San Francisco Bay Area Air Basin . The BAAQMD adopted new guidance on June 2, 2010 to address greenhouse gas emission thresholds related to operational related emissions from stationary sources and projects other than stationary sources. Stationary sources are allowed to emit up to 10,000 metric tons (MT) CO 2 e   /   year. Other projects are allowed to emit 1,100 MT of CO 2 e / yr; 4.6 MT CO 2 e / SP / yr; or compliance with

11232-416: The opinions to which they sign their names and staff members are mere ghostwriters , the commissioners openly signed their opinions. Each of the approximately 4,400 appeals (3,700 reported, 700 unreported) handled by the commissioners was resolved by an opinion signed by one commissioner with the concurrence of two others. The opinions always ended in a recommended disposition, such as: "We find no error in

11349-485: The passage of a union-backed law exempting the proposed construction of Los Angeles Stadium from CEQA's requirements. The abrogation mooted an ongoing lawsuit, brought by eight residents of a neighboring city, challenging the validity of the developer's EIR. The developer had originally prepared an EIR for a commercial development on the site, then prepared a supplemental EIR to include a proposed 75,000 seat stadium situated within 3,000 feet of homes in that neighboring city;

11466-436: The plaintiffs argued that a single new EIR studying the entire project was required. State officials said the abrogation ended an abuse of CEQA by individuals seeking to obstruct the project; at the signing ceremony, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would "terminate the frivolous lawsuit. " A plaintiff in the lawsuit said the abrogation "opens up the door for other developers... to hire lobbyists... and get exemptions from

11583-496: The power not to retain justices. Chief Justice Rose Bird and Associate Justices Cruz Reynoso and Joseph Grodin were staunchly opposed to capital punishment and were subsequently removed in the 1986 general election. Newly reelected Governor George Deukmejian was then able to elevate Associate Justice Malcolm M. Lucas to Chief Justice and appoint three new associate justices (one to replace Lucas in his old post and two to replace Reynoso and Grodin). Between 1879 and 1966,

11700-401: The power to "publish" opinions by the California Courts of Appeal which were initially not published. The California Supreme Court has handed down important and influential decisions since 1850. Some of the most significant of these important and influential Court decisions are listed below in date ascending order. Most of the Court decisions that follow were landmark decisions that were among

11817-486: The practice in all other federal and state appellate courts, where judges can schedule oral argument not long after written briefing is finished, but then may take many months (or even a year) after oral argument to file their opinions. In March 1885, the state legislature authorized the creation of the Supreme Court Commission to help with the Court's overwhelming backlog of pending appeals. The justices were initially allowed to hire three commissioners. Since oral argument

11934-480: The project inconsistently, and the city of Richmond erred in allowing Chevron to piece-meal its project, and in allowing Chevron to develop a mitigation plan after the project begins. The judge consequently ruled the EIR to be insufficient to meet CEQA's requirements, ordering the preparation of a new EIR covering the whole, accurately defined project before the refinery's expansion could proceed. Plaintiffs in CEQA lawsuits seek various forms of redress, such as amending

12051-518: The project itself. Stationary sources emit greenhouse gases from a single point source such as a smoke stack. Stationary source examples include coal- or gas-fired power plants, incinerators, refineries, bakeries, or chemical plants. Projects that are not stationary sources such as residential and commercial developments, schools, and related infrastructure can also contribute to increases in greenhouse gases. These projects emit greenhouse gases from sources such as vehicle mileage trips to site, energy to run

12168-447: The project mitigate to the maximum extent feasible before considering offsite mitigation options, and offsite mitigation should be measurable, enforceable, and occur within the nine-county Bay Area. Projects may be exempt from CEQA if they are ministerial in nature, have been exempted by the California Legislature through a statutory exemption, or fall within any of the classes of exemption by category that CEQA recognizes that do not have

12285-462: The project must undergo CEQA. The lead agency can file a Notice of Exemption (NOE) to trigger a 35-day statute of limitations period for legal challenge or, if no NOE is filed, a 180-day statute of limitations applies. After the initial study is completed, the lead agency can then determine if the project could have a significant impact on the environment. The lead agency must propose mitigation measures to reduce any impacts to less than significant "to

12402-484: The project would affect the environment. On July 15, 2009, track officials told investors that RMP had "ceased operations", citing that the property was in foreclosure and that the company owed more money on the property than what it was worth at the time. The park would have featured multiple racetracks for every form of automobile, truck, motorcycle and kart racing. With multiple venues, the facility would have offered simultaneous, weekend-long motorsports events, meeting

12519-413: The proposed project for analysis in the EIR. The NOP comment period is no shorter than 30 days. After preparation of the draft EIR, a Notice of Completion (NOC) must be submitted to the Office of Planning and Research which includes project location, location of review copies, and public comment review period information. The lead agency must provide public notice of the draft EIR at the same time it issues

12636-529: The publisher changes, although the most recent changeover to the fifth series did not involve a change in reporter. West publishes California decisions in both the California Reporter (in its second series) and the Pacific Reporter (in its third series). (The New York Court of Appeals opinions are similarly published in three reporters.) Each justice has five assigned chambers attorneys. Since

12753-437: The record and the judgment should be affirmed." Originally, this was followed by a one-line unsigned per curiam statement in the name of "The Court," such as: "For the reasons given in the foregoing opinion the judgment is affirmed." Starting in 1892, the three justices who reviewed and summarily adopted each commissioners' opinion began to also sign their names. The commissioners were only partially successful in reducing

12870-430: The state "is encouraged to develop and publish thresholds of significance" against which to compare the environmental impacts of projects. Such thresholds are to be published for public review and supported by substantial evidence before their adoption. A lead agency will normally consider the environmental impacts of a project to be significant if and only if they exceed established thresholds of significance. According to

12987-422: The statute, as well as later revisions to the wording, have expanded the CEQA's jurisdiction to nearly all projects within California, including those accomplished by private businesses and individuals. § 21002.1: "Each public agency shall mitigate or avoid the significant effects on the environment of projects that it carries out or approves whenever it is feasible to do so." For private projects, CEQA applies when

13104-561: The three-year period 2010-2012, found that less than 15% were filed by groups with prior records of environmental advocacy. (such as the Sierra Club ) While environmental groups largely agree that building dense housing in urban areas ( infill development ) is better for the environment than converting open space to new homes, 4 out of 5 CEQA lawsuits target infill development projects; only 20% of CEQA lawsuits target greenfield projects that would convert open space to housing. A report by

13221-487: The threshold of significance (MND). If significant impacts remain, an EIR must be prepared and a Statement of Overriding Considerations are necessary. According to case law, the environmental impact report (EIR) is at "the heart of CEQA". An EIR serves to inform governmental agencies and the public of a project's environmental impacts. Further, an EIR is required to propose mitigations and alternatives which may reduce or avoid any significant adverse environmental impacts; as

13338-580: The year before CEQA, is similar to CEQA in that both statutes set forth a policy of environmental protection, and a protocol by which all agencies in their respective jurisdictions make environmental protection part of their decision making process. NEPA is narrower in scope than CEQA. NEPA applies only to projects receiving federal funding or approval by federal agencies, while CEQA applies to projects receiving any form of state or local approval, permit, or oversight. Thus, development projects in California funded only by private sources and not requiring approval by

13455-663: Was founded in 2000 by John Condren, an entrepreneur and businessman whose background also includes more than 30 years in amateur and professional motorsports racing. The Riverside Motorsports Park development proposal was submitted to Merced County in August 2003, approved for development in December 2006, and cancelled in February 2008. Condren was the subject of a feature article in the Merced Sun-Star 's January 27, 2007 issue. The Sun-Star reported that Condren's biographical information on

13572-476: Was not mandatory except for in bank hearings of appeals, the justices began to assign cases to the commissioners which could likely be resolved on the briefs alone. The number of commissioners was expanded in five in 1889. In retrospect, the commissioners can be seen as an important precursor of the law clerks and staff attorneys which the Court began to hire in the 1930s. In contrast to modern practice, where appellate justices are expected to take ownership of

13689-621: Was signed into law in 1970 by governor Ronald Reagan , in a time of increasing public concern for the environment, caused by events such as the 1969 Cuyahoga River Fire . The statute required that for any "public" project, the government must conduct an environmental study to examine what impacts the project might have on things like air/water quality, noise, or nature, and then generate an EIR (Environmental Impact Report) documenting all these impacts as well as potential and planned mitigations. Fifteen other states followed California, generally modelling their laws after California's law. However, in

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