Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Supreme Court Deals Blow to Environmental Law Relied on by Housing Opponents
dan_walters
By Dan Walters, CalMatters Commentary
Published 6 months ago on
June 14, 2024

Storage containers surround the perimeter of People's Park in Berkeley, Calif. on Thursday, June 6, 2024. A California Supreme Court ruling will allow student housing at University of California to be built at Berkeley's historic People's Park. (AP/Brontë Wittpenn)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A plot of land where Interstate 5 crosses the American River in Sacramento was once occupied by the Rusty Duck and Hungry Hunter restaurants, but they’ve closed and their buildings have long been vacant.

Dan Walters Profile Picture
Dan Walters

CalMatters

Opinion

Recently a developer acquired the property, proposed putting four new high-rise buildings with 826 apartments on it and won city staff approval.

Given its location next to a very busy freeway and the ramshackle condition of the existing structures, a new cluster of apartment high-rises close to downtown Sacramento would seem to be a perfect fit, which is what city staff concluded as they exempted the project from a detailed review under the California Environmental Quality Act.

However, the American River Association wants to block, or at last delay, approval. The group has appealed the city staff’s findings and filed a lawsuit alleging the project would adversely affect wildlife habitat and create light and noise pollution.

It’s a classic example how CEQA, which then-Gov. Ronald Reagan signed five decades ago, is often employed to hold up projects that would appear to have little or no real impact on the environment.

Supreme Ruling May Move the Needle on CEQA Reform

For years housing advocates have complained about CEQA’s misuse, and the state’s political leaders have only paid lip service to reforming it. Former Gov. Jerry Brown once termed an overhaul of CEQA as “the Lord’s work” but declined to take on environmental and union groups that invoke it.

By happenstance, however, a new state Supreme Court ruling on a highly controversial housing project in Berkeley may move the needle on CEQA reform. That decision ended a three-year battle over a 1,200-unit student housing complex that the University of California wants to build on People’s Park, the legendary site of civil rights and antiwar demonstrations in the 1960s.

Opponents of the project won an appellate court ruling that noise from student occupants was an environmental impact that had to be mitigated. There was an immediate media and political uproar because the ruling seemingly created a new weapon for the not-in-my-back-yard folks, or NIMBYs, who oppose almost any project.

Last year the Legislature intervened by passing legislation that “would specify that the effects of noise generated by project occupants and their guests on human beings is not a significant effect on the environment for residential projects for purposes of CEQA.”

The legislation in effect overturned the appellate court ruling, thus making it easy for the Supreme Court to greenlight the project.

Housing Law Expert Provides Analysis

The Supreme Court’s decision could have a much broader impact on the perennial debate over CEQA, according to Chris Elmendorf, a UC Davis law professor and expert on housing law.

Elmendorf posted a lengthy analysis on X contending that it undercuts the long-standing notion that CEQA trumps other regulatory laws.

“Future generations may look back on today’s decision in the UC Berkeley ‘social noise is pollution?!’ case as the turning point between Old CEQA and New CEQA,” Elmendorf wrote. “Old CEQA emerged from CA Supreme Court cases in 1970s holding that CEQA must be broadly construed to give the ‘fullest possible protection’ to environment.

“The Court of Appeal relied on this maxim in holding that the ‘social noise’ of students is an environmental impact that must be studied and mitigated in context of a university housing project or long-range development plan.

“New CEQA is just an everyday statute, to be construed like other statutes. Be faithful to text, be reasonable, and heed the Legislature’s signals.

“When it comes to housing, the era of CEQA as ‘super-statute’ is, I think, over,” Elmendorf concluded.

It’s not the comprehensive overhaul of CEQA that’s been debated for years, but if Elmendorf’s legal analysis is correct, the misuse of CEQA has suffered a major blow.

About the Author 

Dan Walters is one of most decorated and widely syndicated columnists in California history, authoring a column four times a week that offers his view and analysis of the state’s political, economic, social and demographic trends. He began covering California politics in 1975, just as Jerry Brown began his first stint as governor, and began writing his column in 1981, first for the Sacramento Union for three years, then for The Sacramento Bee for 33 years and now for CalMatters since 2017.

Make Your Voice Heard

GV Wire encourages vigorous debate from people and organizations on local, state, and national issues. Submit your op-ed to bmcewen@gvwire.com for consideration.

 

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

‘It’s Living Hell’: Nurses Say CA Addiction Recovery Program Ended Their Careers

DON'T MISS

Santa Who? Bizarre Christmas Traditions Stealing the Holiday Spotlight

DON'T MISS

New Decisions Boost California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate, but Major Hurdles Remain

DON'T MISS

Only $20K More to Bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Fresno

DON'T MISS

Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Looming US War With Iran

DON'T MISS

Cat House on the Kings Urgently Needs You to Donate Dollars and Adopt Your New Best Friend

DON'T MISS

The Surprising Sexual Politics of Nicole Kidman’s Kinky ‘Babygirl’

DON'T MISS

Why It’s Hard to Control What Gets Taught in Public Schools

DON'T MISS

FDA Approves Weight-Loss Drug to Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea

DON'T MISS

In a Calendar Rarity, Hanukkah Starts This Year on Christmas Day

UP NEXT

Santa Who? Bizarre Christmas Traditions Stealing the Holiday Spotlight

UP NEXT

New Decisions Boost California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate, but Major Hurdles Remain

UP NEXT

Only $20K More to Bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Fresno

UP NEXT

Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Looming US War With Iran

UP NEXT

Cat House on the Kings Urgently Needs You to Donate Dollars and Adopt Your New Best Friend

UP NEXT

The Surprising Sexual Politics of Nicole Kidman’s Kinky ‘Babygirl’

UP NEXT

Why It’s Hard to Control What Gets Taught in Public Schools

UP NEXT

FDA Approves Weight-Loss Drug to Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea

UP NEXT

In a Calendar Rarity, Hanukkah Starts This Year on Christmas Day

UP NEXT

A Look at the $100 Billion in Disaster Relief in the Government Spending Bill

Only $20K More to Bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Fresno

21 hours ago

Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Looming US War With Iran

2 days ago

Cat House on the Kings Urgently Needs You to Donate Dollars and Adopt Your New Best Friend

2 days ago

The Surprising Sexual Politics of Nicole Kidman’s Kinky ‘Babygirl’

2 days ago

Why It’s Hard to Control What Gets Taught in Public Schools

2 days ago

FDA Approves Weight-Loss Drug to Treat Obstructive Sleep Apnea

2 days ago

In a Calendar Rarity, Hanukkah Starts This Year on Christmas Day

2 days ago

A Look at the $100 Billion in Disaster Relief in the Government Spending Bill

2 days ago

It’s Eggnog Season. The Boozy Beverage Dates Back to Medieval England but Remains a Holiday Hit

2 days ago

9-Year-Old Among 5 Killed in Christmas Market Attack in Germany

2 days ago

‘It’s Living Hell’: Nurses Say CA Addiction Recovery Program Ended Their Careers

Bobbie Sage thought nursing would be her salvation. She was trapped in an abusive relationship with four kids and looking for a steady incom...

21 hours ago

21 hours ago

‘It’s Living Hell’: Nurses Say CA Addiction Recovery Program Ended Their Careers

21 hours ago

Santa Who? Bizarre Christmas Traditions Stealing the Holiday Spotlight

21 hours ago

New Decisions Boost California’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Mandate, but Major Hurdles Remain

21 hours ago

Only $20K More to Bring Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library to Fresno

2 days ago

Jeffrey Sachs Warns of Looming US War With Iran

2 days ago

Cat House on the Kings Urgently Needs You to Donate Dollars and Adopt Your New Best Friend

2 days ago

The Surprising Sexual Politics of Nicole Kidman’s Kinky ‘Babygirl’

2 days ago

Why It’s Hard to Control What Gets Taught in Public Schools

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend