CEQA Successes
From preventing polluting warehouses from being built near low-income neighborhoods in Fresno to protecting some our state’s most iconic natural places, there are hundreds of CEQA success stories from over the past 50 years demonstrating how CEQA has helped to protect public health and the environment. Set forth below are several examples, many of which are recent.
Information regarding the cases listed below was obtained from The Housing Workshop (2021), CEQA: California’s Living Environmental Law; BAE Urban Economics (2016), CEQA in the 21st Century; Planning and Conservation League Foundation & California League of Conservation Voters (2005), Everyday Heroes Protect the Air We Breathe, the Water We Drink, and the Natural Areas We Prize; California Attorney General’s website, oag.ca.gov/environment; The California Environmental Justice Alliance’s Green Zones website at calgreenzones.org, and other sources.
CEQA Successes: Environmental Justice
Requiring the State to Analyze Climate Impacts of Oil and Gas Wells in Los Angeles and Kern Counties
In 2022, the Center for Biological Diversity sued the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) for approving two oil drilling projects based on outdated environmental review documents...
Reducing Air and Climate Pollution from Massive West Valley Logistics Center Next to Underserved Community
The Attorney General and environmental groups used CEQA to reduce climate pollution and other harms from the West Valley Logistics Center, a complex of seven industrial warehouses totaling over 3.4...
Reconstructing the Cypress Freeway in West Oakland after Loma Prieta Earthquake
The Cypress Freeway in West Oakland was constructed long before CEQA was adopted. This elevated freeway was built on soil subject to liquefaction, and it bisected a low-income community in West...
Safeguarding a Community from Pollution Stemming from “World Logistics Center” in Moreno Valley
The World Logistics Center is one of the largest warehouse complexes ever proposed in California. It would add over 14,000 truck trips each day, transporting goods from the ports of Los Angeles and...
Protecting School Children and Public Health in South Fresno
The community of South Fresno, predominantly populated by low-income people of color, is the most environmentally burdened neighborhood in all of California. Located just outside the city limits,...
Halting Oil Drilling Near Homes in Low-Income Community of Arvin
The City of Arvin is a small, predominantly Latino community located at the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley that lies directly over an oil field. Given the prevalence of oil and gas...
Protecting Public Health in Riverside County
On February 14, 2013, Attorney General Kamala Harris announced the settlement of a Riverside County CEQA case that alleged failure to adequately analyze and mitigate a project’s impacts on residents...
Reducing Air and Noise Pollution from Ports of LA and Long Beach, While Supporting Economic Growth
In a decades-long dispute, environmental justice and community groups have used CEQA to address life-threatening air pollution from the 142-acre China Shipping Container Terminal at the Port of Los...
Protecting Community Voices, Clean Air, and Agriculture in San Joaquin Valley
When Chemical Waste Management, Inc (Chem Waste) proposed the construction of a toxic waste incinerator 3.5 miles from Kettleman City, a predominantly Latino community in the San Joaquin Valley,...
Requiring Sand and Gravel Quarries to Reduce Impacts on Local Community along Russian River
The town of Forestville, a quaint, rural community in the Russian River area of Sonoma County, is also home to two large sand and gravel quarries. When Sonoma County approved substantial expansions...
CEQA Successes: Public Services
Requiring a Water Supply for a Large Housing Development in Contra Costa County
In 2021, the East Bay Municipal Utility District brought a CEQA challenge against Contra Costa County for approving a large housing development known as the Tassajara Parks Project because it lacked...
Establishing and Improving San Dieguito River Park
The San Dieguito River Park, established in 1989, is a regional greenway and open space that stretches along the San Dieguito River for more than 55 miles. Beginning at the river’s headwaters on...
Designing a Public Transit Corridor in LA Centered Around Public Safety, Alternative Transportation
In 2022, after extensive public input received through the CEQA process, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) approved the North Hollywood to Pasadena Bus Rapid...
Avoiding sewage overflows from Mission Bay Project
"When the Catellus Development Corporation planned the Mission Bay Project, it was to consist of thousands of housing units, a 43-acre UC campus, and millions of square feet of office space. While...
Pairing Growth with Local Benefits at a Major Transportation Hub in Millbrae
Millbrae Station is a multi-modal transit station on the San Francisco Peninsula. The City of Millbrae sets the long-term vision and standards for this station through a Millbrae Station Area...
Improving Public Transit: The San Francisco Ferry Expansion Plan
Looking for opportunities to relieve congestion on Bay Area bridges and develop a comprehensive plan for managing population – and commuter – growth in the San Francisco Bay Area, the State of...
CEQA Successes: Public Safety
Reducing Wildfire Evacuation Risk for a Large Subdivision Near Big Bear Lake
In 2022, a Superior Court found that San Bernardino County had failed to adequately analyze the impacts on wildfire evacuation of a large subdivision proposed along Highway 38 adjacent to Big Bear...
Reducing Wildfire, Public Safety Risks of Luxury Resort Development in Lake County
Environmental petitioners used CEQA to challenge a development just north of Napa County in an area subject to repeated wildfires. The 16,000-acre project site contains oak woodlands, wildlife...
Providing Wildfire Protection Services for a Rural City in Stanislaus County
In 2019, the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District challenged the City of Riverbank’s approval of a project that would have placed 2,802 new homes and retail development in a remote,...
Providing the Same Public Benefits of a New Federal Building in San Francisco with Fewer Impacts
When a new federal building was planned in San Francisco at the corner of 10th and Market Streets in 2007, analysis under CEQA showed it would have created strong wind tunnels. Thanks to CEQA, the...
Improving Public Safety of a Water District’s Project to Cover a Reservoir with an Aluminum Roof
The Montecito Water District relied on a mitigated negative declaration to approve a project to cover the Ortega Reservoir with an aluminum roof. Petitioners argued that the MND did not address...
CEQA Successes: Climate
Requiring a New Walmart Supercenter to Comply with Renewable Energy Policies
In 2013, Walmart announced its intention to construct a new, 185,000 foot retail “Supercenter” store on an undeveloped tract of land in Victorville. The City of Victorville’s General Plan contained...
Replacing a Controversial State Route 710 Tunnel Project
Since 2011, Caltrans and its local partner, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro), planned to build a five-mile tunnel under the cities of Pasadena and South Pasadena to connect the stub...
Ensuring Effective Implementation of City of San Diego’s Climate Action Plan
In 2022, two environmental groups challenged the City of San Diego’s adoption of a Climate Action Plan with ambitious goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions but no effective implementation plan. The...
Ensuring Massive Development in Placer County Mitigates Its Impacts on Climate Change
In 2019,Placer County approved the controversial Sunset Area Plan development, which would encompass more than 8,500 acres in western Placer County near the cities of Roseville, Rocklin and Lincoln....
Combatting Climate Change Through Challenge to Freeway-Centric Regional Transportation Plan In San Diego County
In 2017, the California Court of Appeal found that the EIR for a regional transportation plan adopted by the San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) violated CEQA. The prevailing parties...
Requiring Massive “Newhall” Development in Los Angeles County to Slash Greenhouse Gas
Newhall Ranch, one of largest residential projects ever proposed in Los Angeles County, would have increased greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 260,000 carbon dioxide-equivalent metric tons...
Streamlining a Major Solar Electric Project in San Bernardino County While Protecting Workers and Habitat
Healthy natural areas play a critical role in absorbing greenhouse gases and stabilizing the climate. A utility-scale solar electric project in the desert of San Bernardino County was fast-tracked...
Promoting Green Energy at New Walmarts in the Inland Empire
Building plans for Walmart Supercenters in Perris and Yucca Valley were suspended after the Center for Biological Diversity and others filed lawsuits against the retailer in 2007 and 2008. Citing a...
Addressing Sprawl Development in the City of Stockton’s General Plan Update
In 2008, an environmental group challenged the adequacy of the EIR prepared in connection with the City of Stockton’s General Plan Update. The petitioner contended that the EIR lacked mitigation to...
CEQA Successes: Air Quality
Pausing Development of an Open-air Human Waste Facility
In the early 2010s, Nursery Products announced plans to operate an open-air human waste composting facility in an unincorporated part of San Bernardino County, eight miles from the city of Hinkley....
Challenging a Large Expansion of Oakland International Airport
In 2001, environmental groups prevailed in their challenge to the adequacy of the Port of Oakland’s EIR for a large expansion of Oakland International Airport. Specifically, the Court of Appeal...
Protecting a West Long Beach Community from Air Pollution Generated by Large SCIG Railyard Project
In 2018, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Port of Los Angeles violated CEQA when it approved a large new railyard known as “SCIG” (Southern California International Gateway). The railyard would be...
ConocoPhillips: CEQA and Oil Refinery Expansion in Rodeo
In 2003, the ConocoPhillips Company proposed an expansion of its Rodeo oil refinery in order to produce cleaner burning low-sulfur diesel fuel. While this goal would benefit California in the long...
Securing Mitigation from Dow Chemical in Pittsburg
The City of Pittsburg’s Planning Commission approved a plan by Dow Chemical to rebuild a pesticide plant without requiring the company to prepare an EIR. The plant was intended to expand an existing...
Preventing Contamination in the Keller Canyon Landfill
After rapid expansion in the mid-1980s, Contra Costa County recognized the need for a new landfill and decided to take action. The County Community Development Department conducted a program EIR and...
Converting a Coal-Fired Power Plant to Cleaner Energy in the Central Valley
The southern end of California’s Central Valley is one of the nation’s most productive agricultural regions and as such requires clean air and clean water for its long-term economic vitality. In...
CEQA Successes: Water Quality
Protecting Lake Tahoe’s Water Quality from Discharges of Dangerous Herbicides
In 2024, two environmental groups prevailed in CEQA litigation challenging dangerous herbicide discharges into the Tahoe Keys lagoons, bodies of water connected to Lake Tahoe. While the EIR...
Forcing a Large Industrial Park to Confront an Inadequate Water Supply
The proposed Gate-King Industrial Park was planned to develop 584 untouched natural acres (containing more than 10,000 oak trees) in the southern reaches of Santa Clarita and replace them with 4.45...
Ensuring Protection of Water Quality in the Eel River from Large Infrastructure Projects
In 2003, the Court of Appeal held, under CEQA, that a water agency must analyze and mitigate the effects of a large project that would increase diversions from the Eel River. In a separate case in...
Protecting the San Francisco Bay from Sewage Overflows
When the Catellus Development Corporation planned the Mission Bay Project, it was to consist of thousands of housing units, a 43-acre UC campus, and millions of square feet of office space. The...
Requiring Mitigation for Water Quality Impacts of Major Expansion of Port of Stockton
In 2004, the Port of Stockton approved a major expansion to triple its size. The Port acknowledged that the project would have a host of significant impacts on the surrounding San Francisco...
Requiring Scrutiny of Controversial Water Privatization Project in Stockton
In 2003, the City of Stockton approved a $600 million contract privatizing the City’s water utilities for a twenty year period. The contract ceded virtually all operational and managerial control of...
Protecting the Pristine McCloud River Near Mount Shasta
At the base of Mount Shasta, the McCloud River is one of the most famous and pristine trout streams in the world. In 2003, the Nestlé company submitted a proposal to bottle 520 million gallons of...
Protecting San Gabriel Groundwater Basin from Landfill Pollution
In 1994 the San Gabriel Groundwater Basin was in danger of pollution from an unlined landfill proposed by the Azusa Land Reclamation Company. Despite evidence that the landfill would pollute the...
CEQA Successes: Plants, Wildlife and Open Space
Reversing Approval of Insecticide Use in California That Could Cause Bee Colonies to Collapse
Pollinator Stewardship Council and the American Beekeeper Federation challenged the California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s decision to approve the insecticide sulfoxaflor for use in...
Rare Wildlife Habitat, Old Growth, Headwaters Protected from Church of the Woods Development Above Lake Arrowhead
In 2022, environmental and community groups prevailed in an important CEQA case protecting rare and valuable wildlife habitat near the community of Rimforest in the San Bernardino Mountains. Astride...
Mitigating Wildlife and Climate Impacts of Large Mixed-Use Development in Remote, Fire-Prone Area of San Diego County
In 2019, five environmental organizations and a community group challenged the San Diego County Board of Supervisors’ approval of Otay Ranch Village 14, a sprawling development in a remote,...
Ensuring Protection of Coho Salmon in Lagunitas Creek
In 2019, two conservation groups filed CEQA litigation against Marin County to protect endangered coho salmon in Marin County’s San Geronimo Valley, part of the Lagunitas Creek watershed. This...
Averting Destructing of Habitat, Cultural Sites by Geotechnical Investigations for Pacheco Dam Project
Environmental groups and a tribe successfully challenged the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s refusal to conduct an environmental review for its extensive “investigatory” work in connection with...
Leveraging CEQA to Extend a Park, Restore Habitat and Preserve Local History
Petaluma’s historic Scott Ranch property is home to open meadows, iconic red barns, bucolic Kelly Creek, and habitat for federally threatened California red-legged frogs. And it’s right next door to...
Protecting Mountain Lions in the Santa Ana Mountains
A coalition of conservation groups used CEQA to protect a dwindling mountain lion population in the Santa Ana Mountains. In 2018, they challenged the City of Temecula’s approval of a development...
Protecting Bay Marshland after Tumultuous History
The Breuner property, located in Richmond on the southeastern end of the San Pablo Bay, includes 238 acres of marshes and coastal prairie land. The property is the only possible path for the San...
Ensuring Public Engagement and Protecting Wildlife
For three years in a row (2008-2011), the California Department of Fish and Game proposed that the Fish and Game Commission increase the quota for the hunting of black bears. The Department also...
Preserving Old-Growth Redwoods in Humboldt County
Headwaters Grove in Humboldt County spans 3,000 acres and contains redwood trees that are over 2,000 years old. This area was the largest unprotected old-growth redwood forest in the world and was...
Preserving California’s Threatened Walnut Woodlands
Chino Hills State Park, located in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains in Orange County, is a 14,000 acre-park encompassing rolling, grassy hills and large stands of oaks, sycamores, and walnut...
Preserving Critical Habitat for Endangered Species in Coachella Valley
The Palmwood Estates project would have created a huge resort and golf complex in the Coachella Valley near the popular Joshua Tree State Park. The Coachella Valley provides critical habitat for...
Preserving a Key Gateway to Lake Tahoe
Thanks to a lawsuit brought under the California Environmental Quality Act, major landowners agreed to preserve most of the near-pristine Martis Valley while allowing appropriate development...
Protecting Rich Biological Resources in San Diego’s Backcountry
San Diego County has more biodiversity than any other county in North America and is among the top 10 biodiversity regions on earth. Given these extraordinary resources, a local environmental...
Preserving Key Sections of the Santa Monica Mountains
The California State Legislature established the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy in 1980. CEQA has played a key role in protecting about 20,000 of the 69,000 acres that have been preserved to...
Stopping an Unnecessary Freeway Through a Forested Canyon in Monterey County
The Hatton Canyon Freeway, a 3-mile bypass east of the City of Carmel, was one of the most controversial projects ever proposed in Monterey County. The Caltrans plan was to construct the new freeway...
CEQA Successes: Farmland
Keeping Agriculture Local in the San Francisco Bay Area
The loss of farmland to residential development is one of the critical challenges facing agriculture in California. In 2006, Greenbelt Alliance challenged the City of Oakley’s approval of the...
Protecting the Central Valley’s Fertile Agricultural Lands
California’s Central Valley contains some of the richest agricultural lands in the world. In 2004, the San Joaquin County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) approved the City of Stockton’s...
Preserving a Vibrant Agricultural Community in Ventura County
The tiny town of Somis lies in the heart of Las Posas Valley, one of Ventura County’s richest agricultural regions. For many years, Caltrans had plans on its books to widen two-lane Highway 118...
CEQA Successes: Cultural Resources
Saving Puvungna, a Sacred Tribal Site in Long Beach
In 2019, the Juaneño Band of Mission Indians brought a CEQA suit to challenge the California State University at Long Beach’s actions in dumping massive amounts of construction soil and debris on...
Protecting the Largest Remaining Private Open Space on the Southern California Coast from Intensive Development
A landmark CEQA suit challenged the City of Newport Beach’s approval of intensive urban development of Banning Ranch, the largest private open space remaining on the coast of Southern California....
Permanently Protecting San Onofre State Beach, Open Space, Sacred Native Village from Six-Lane Toll Road
CEQA lawsuits by environmental groups and the Attorney General challenging the proposed 16-mile Foothill-South Toll Road led to a landmark agreement in 2017, permanently protecting San Onofre State...
Respecting Sacred Tribal Sites and Honoring Community Concerns in San Diego
In 2004, the Chancellor of University of California, San Diego determined that his home, University House, was unfit to live in and had the building closed. In addition to being much loved...
Preserving An Historic Apartment Complex in Venice
Lincoln Place is a 33-acre, 1951 garden apartment complex off of Lincoln Boulevard in Venice. It was built by architect Heth Wharton and African-American designer Ralph Vaughn. When demolition...