CEQA / NEPA

Downey Brand’s natural resources lawyers have particular expertise in analyzing environmental impacts and defending litigation under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and its federal counterpart, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Compliance

Our attorneys with expertise in environmental impact review regularly develop and implement CEQA and NEPA compliance strategies that keep projects on track and legally defensible. These attorneys are often called upon to evaluate the appropriate level of environmental review for a given project – including whether the project may be exempt from review – and to assess alternative compliance strategies. They also evaluate negative declarations, environmental impact reports, and environmental impact statements for legal adequacy, and revise those documents as needed to ensure compliance and minimize litigation risk.  Our CEQA/NEPA attorneys provide this advice to public agencies and private applicants across a wide variety of water supply, oil & gas, renewable energy, mining, commercial, residential, and infrastructure projects throughout California.

The projects on which we advise often require integrated review under CEQA, NEPA, and other state and federal regulatory requirements, such as the Clean Water Act, Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act, Fish and Game Code (Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreements), Endangered Species Act (California and Federal), Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, National Historical Preservation Act, and AB 32, to name a few. Our in-depth experience with these requirements allows us to work closely with the relevant state and federal regulatory agencies, and to deftly weave the required analysis and permitting into the environmental impact review process.

Litigation

When necessary, we litigate CEQA and NEPA challenges in both state and federal courts and in administrative proceedings before state and federal regulatory agencies (e.g., California Public Utilities Commission and United States Bureau of Land Management). Downey Brand has successfully defended many projects against CEQA and NEPA claims at trial and on appeal, including before the California Supreme Court and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.


Selected Experience

Selected Experience

  • Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City of Manhattan Beach, 52 Cal.4th 155 (2011).  Prevailed on review in the California Supreme Court regarding proper application of CEQA’s fair argument standard.
  • San Francisco Baykeeper, Inc. v. California State Lands Commission, 242 Cal.App.4th 202 (2015).  Represented two leaseholders in CEQA/public trust action challenging EIR for sand mining leases in San Francisco and Suisun Bays.  Prevailed at trial and on appeal on all claims brought under CEQA, including with respect to the environmental baseline, cumulative impacts, recirculation, thresholds of significance, and consultation with trustee agencies.
  • Delaware Tetra Technologies, Inc. v. County of San BernardinoCenter for Biological Diversity v. County of San Bernardino.  Assisted in defense of County as responsible agency in six coordinated actions challenging groundwater project under CEQA and the County’s Desert Groundwater Management Ordinance.  Prevailed at trial and on appeal on all claims.  Appeal resulted in two published decisions (— Cal.App.4th — (2016 WL 2742702)  and — Cal.App.4th — (2016 WL 2742824) and four unpublished decisions.
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