Communities for a Better Environment v. City of Richmond
Court of Appeal of California
184 Cal. App. 4th 70 (2010)
Chevron (defendant) sought permits from the City of Richmond (defendant) to expand refinery operations; after initially declining to find any significant greenhouse-gas impact, Richmond's final environmental impact report (EIR) eventually acknowledged the project would likely have a significant greenhouse-gas impact but merely required Chevron to submit a mitigation plan within a year of approval, without specifying any required measures, performance criteria, or feasibility analysis. Communities for a Better Environment (plaintiff) sued for a writ of mandate challenging the EIR's adequacy; the trial court granted the writ, and the defendants appealed.
Whether, under the California Environmental Quality Act, the formulation of mitigation measures may be deferred until after project approval if the lead agency failed to compile an adequate environmental-impact report.