CEQA Successes

Facing a rapid growth trajectory in the region, the City of Anaheim developed plans for a major new multi-modal transportation center. The center would provide non-automobile transit options for...

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...

In passing an ordinance to allow a massive expansion of oil and gas drilling, Kern County leaders ignored the devastating air, water, and noise pollution and farmland loss this drilling would cause....

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...

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach form the largest port complex in the nation. They fuel significant job growth and economic activity in the region, but they also create massive amounts of air...

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,...

The CEQA process gave voice to a community’s concerns about a major campus and innovation center planned for Sacramento. Through the CEQA litigation process, stakeholders significantly improved the...

In 2010, TRANSDEF, along with fellow litigants the Sierra Club and the California Nurses Association, prevailed in challenging Sonoma County’s approval of a new Sutter Hospital on the fringe of...

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...

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...

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...

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...

In preparation for San Francisco’s hosting of the 2013 the America’s Cup, Piers 27 & 29 were slated to be demolished and rehabilitated to make way for a new two-story cruise terminal. However,...

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...

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...

Recognizing the need to ensure the long-term viability of the timber industry, the Legislature established the “Timberland Production Zoning” designation, allowing owners of TPZ lands tax relief...

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...

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...

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...

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...

CEQA was successfully used to prevent the abuse of a project approval for a development project in East Los Angeles. The City of Los Angeles granted approval to Monterey Hills Investors to develop...

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...

In 2007, community members organized under the name of Neighbors Advocating Sustainable Transportation (NAST), along with the Environmental Council of Sacramento, sued Caltrans over an inadequate...

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...

In 2007, the City of Stockton adopted a new General Plan that allowed massive sprawl development in new “villages” at the fringe of the City. Community members were concerned that the Plan would...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

The California State Parks and Recreation Department had long hoped to open single track trails to bicycle usage. In 2003, the Department planned some reconfiguration of narrow, sensitive hiking...

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...

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...

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...

A dedicated community and diverse stakeholder groups used the CEQA environmental review process to create the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan. This Master Plan will serve the southern San Diego...

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...

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,...

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...

Preserving a Key Gateway to Lake Tahoe Continue Reading Preserving a Key Gateway to Lake Tahoe