Stockton Citizens for Sensible Planning v. City of Stockton, No. S159690 (Apr. 1, 2010) available at CourtWebsite
From the Supreme Court of California
The California Supreme Court has found that the 35-day statute of limitations for challenging projects determined to be exempt from environmental review under CEQA applies to any challenge against the underlying project, regardless of the alleged defects or flaws in the approval process. This decision reiterates the importance of complying with CEQA’s short notice-based limitations period intended to foster quick resolution of challenges to environmental review for a project.
In Stockton Citizens for Sensible Planning v. City of Stockton, the city found that its approval of the construction of a Wal-Mart Supercenter on parcels within a previously adopted master development plan for a large urban tract was a ministerial action exempt from CEQA review and filed a Notice of Exemption (NOE). Plaintiffs waited nearly six months to file suit against the project, arguing that the "approval" of the project by the city's Community Development Department director was invalid based on procedural and substantive reasons, and therefore the NOE was void and did not trigger the 35-day statute of limitations for exemptions. Plaintiffs also argued that the form and content of the NOE did not comply with CEQA because it failed to describe the project, omitted material information and included materially false information.
The Supreme Court, in reaching its decision last Thursday, reversed both the trial court and the Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District, finding that the lawsuit was barred under the 35-day limitations period. The Court held that when a properly filed NOE complies in form and content with CEQA’s requirements and declares the agency has taken an action that would constitute final approval of a project under an exemption, the 35-day period for challenging the validity of this asserted approval begins to run. This conclusion is consistent with the language and the intent in Public Resources Code section 21167, subdivision (d), which specifies a 35-day limitations period for lawsuits claiming that a public agency "has improperly determined" a project is exempt from CEQA.
The Court also found that the form and content of the NOE minimally complied with CEQA and therefore triggered the 35-day statute of limitations. The NOE only had to provide a brief description of the approved project, state its location and set forth reasons for the agency’s finding of exemption under State CEQA Guidelines section 15062, subdivision (a). Compliance with these “basic requirements” was sufficient and the NOE did not have to disclose and explain all environmental implications of the project.
Thus, all CEQA challenges to an agency’s determination that a project is exempt, whether or not they have merit, must be brought within 35 days after the agency files a compliant NOE.
