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 where CEQA has helped to protect public health and the environment, many 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.
Here are some examples:
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...
Hospital Required to Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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...
Streamlining a Major Solar Electric Project 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...
Expanding Multi-Modal Transportation While Minimizing Impacts to Public Health
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...
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...
Prioritizing Farmland and Public Health Over Oil Companies
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....
Pairing Growth with Local Benefits at a Major Transportation Hub
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...
Reducing Air and Noise Pollution, Creating Community Green Space While Supporting Economic Growth
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...
Safeguarding School Children and Public Health Using CEQA
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,...
Thanks to CEQA, Campus and Innovation Center Provides Local Jobs, Affordable Housing
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...
Hospital Required to Mitigate Greenhouse Gas Emissions
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...
ConocoPhillips: CEQA and Oil Refinery Expansion
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...
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...
CEQA Protects 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...
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...
Limiting America’s Cup Impacts on San Francisco Bay & Air Quality
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,...
Protecting Groundwater 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...
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 Valuable Timberland in the Sierras
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...
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...
Requiring Sand and Gravel Quarries to Reduce Impacts on Local Community
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...
Requiring Scrutiny of Controversial Water Privatization Project
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 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 Open Space and Protecting Communities
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...
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...
Holding Public Agencies Accountable to Minimize Environmental Impacts
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...
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...
Requiring a Climate Action Plan in a Region Suffering from Poor Air Quality
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...
Respecting Sacred Tribal Sites and Honoring Community Concerns
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 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...
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...
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...
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 a Vibrant Agricultural Community in Southern California
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...
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...
Protecting Sensitive Trails on Mt. Tamalpais
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...
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...
Permanently Preserving Critical Habitat for Endangered Species
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...
Stopping an Unnecessary Freeway Through a Forested Canyon
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...
Forging a Thriving Chula Vista Bayfront Development: All things to all people
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...
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...
Protecting Community Voices, Clean Air, and Agriculture
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 Mitigation for Air and Water Quality Impacts of Major Port Expansion
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
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