BB&K In The News

BB&K's Sarah Owsowitz Examines When The Two Obligations Come Into Conflict

California law imposes substantial obligations on cities and counties with regard to enforcement of general plans and compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). These dueling obligations can come into conflict and result in a fundamental problem that often goes overlooked. If a city or county’s CEQA review for a project concludes that the project will result in an environmental imp act that is significant but unavoidable and that impact reflects a conflict with a mandatory policy in the city or county’s general plan, the city or county is, arguably, prohibited from approving the project. This result occurs despite the fact that CEQA permits a city or county to approve projects that have significant and unavoidable impacts. How did two laws focused on different goals come to be intertwined and is there any way out of this conundrum?

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* First published in the California Public Law Journal, a quarterly publication of the Public Law Section of the State Bar of California. Reprinted by permission of the State Bar of California.