Calif. Justices Reverse Toss Of $200B San Diego Transit Plan

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Publish Date:
July 13, 2017
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Law360
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The California Supreme Court on Thursday reversed an appeals court decision to throw out a $200 billion proposed transportation plan developed by the San Diego Association of Governments, disagreeing with the lower court’s finding that the plan doesn’t adequately consider future impact on air quality as required by the California Environmental Quality Act.

In its 6-1 unpublished decision, penned by California Supreme Court Justice Goodwin Liu, the high court agreed with SANDAG’s argument that it was acceptable to complete its environmental impact report, or EIR, without taking into account a 2005 executive order aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in California to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

California Supreme Court Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar was the lone signatory of his dissenting opinion, which agreed with the lower court and the environmental groups, like the Sierra Club, who challenged the transit plan. Cuellar took issue with the fact that the draft EIR shows that greenhouse gas emissions will increase by 2050, despite the executive order’s statewide goal of a substantial reduction.

Justice Cuellar wrote that case hinges on the question of whether the EIR is clear enough about the environmental harm of SANDAG‘s plan.

“The answer is no,” he said, “because among other things, the EIR manages to occlude the elephant in the room — that the plan was associated with a major projected increase in greenhouse gas emissions, diverging sharply from emission reduction targets reflecting scientific consensus.”

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