SEE DISSENTING OPINION

Filed 7/13/17

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA

CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST )

FOUNDATION et al., )

)

Plaintiffs and Appellants, )

) S223603

v. )

) Ct.App. 4/1 D063288

SAN DIEGO ASSOCIATION OF )

GOVERNMENTS et al., )

) San Diego County

Defendants and Appellants; ) Super. Ct. No.

) 37-2011-00101593-

THE PEOPLE, ) CU-TT-CTL

)

Intervener and Appellant. )

____________________________________)

CREED-21 et al., )

)

Plaintiffs and Appellants, )

) Super. Ct. No.

v. ) 37-2011-00101660-

) CU-TT-CTL

SAN DIEGO ASSOCIATION OF )

GOVERNMENTS et al., )

)

Defendants and Appellants; )

)

THE PEOPLE, )

)

Intervener and Appellant. )

____________________________________)

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, 

§ 21000 et seq.) requires that public agencies assess the environmental impacts of 

projects requiring government permits. The law is intended ―  ̳to alert the public 
2

and its responsible officials to environmental changes before they have reached 

ecological points of no return.‘ ‖ (Laurel Heights Improvement Assn. v. Regents of 

University of California (1988) 47 Cal.3d 376, 392 (Laurel Heights).) One of the 

impacts that public agencies must analyze under CEQA is whether a project will 

significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions.

In this case, the project is a regional development plan for the San Diego 

area intended to guide its transportation infrastructure from 2010 to 2050. The 

Attorney General and various environmental groups challenged an environmental 

impact report (EIR) accompanying the plan on several grounds. At issue here is 

their claim that the EIR failed to adequately analyze the plan‘s impacts on 

greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. In particular, the challengers 

contend that the EIR should have evaluated the plan‘s impacts against an 

executive order signed by Governor Schwarzenegger in 2005 declaring a goal of 

reducing greenhouse gas emissions in California to 80 percent below 1990 levels 

by the year 2050. The EIR projects that under the plan, greenhouse gas emissions 

will fall through 2020 but then rise and maintain an upward trajectory through 

2050. The challengers claim that this trend is at odds with the state‘s climate 

change goals, as reflected in the 2005 executive order, and that the EIR should 

have clearly analyzed and informed the public about that inconsistency. The San 

Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG), the regional planning agency that 

issued the EIR, argues that it was not obligated under CEQA or any other law to 

use the executive order in its analysis.

We conclude that SANDAG did not abuse its discretion by declining to 

explicitly engage in an analysis of the consistency of projected 2050 greenhouse 

gas emissions with the goals in the executive order. The EIR sufficiently informed 

the public, based on the information available at the time, about the regional plan‘s 

greenhouse gas impacts and its potential inconsistency with state climate change 
3

goals. Nevertheless, we do not hold that the analysis of greenhouse gas impacts 

employed by SANDAG in this case will necessarily be sufficient going forward. 

CEQA requires public agencies like SANDAG to ensure that such analysis stay in 

step with evolving scientific knowledge and state regulatory schemes.

I.

We begin with an overview of the regulatory scheme by which this state 

seeks to address greenhouse gas emissions as part of a global effort to slow 

climate change.

In June 2005, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Executive Order No. S-3-

05, which set overall greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets for California. 

(Governor‘s Executive Order No. S-3-05 (June 1, 2005) (hereafter Executive 

Order or EO).) The Executive Order established three general benchmarks: 

(1) reduce emissions to 2000 levels by 2010; (2) reduce emissions to 1990 levels 

by 2020; and (3) reduce emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. 

These targets were based on a scientific consensus that climate change was largely 

caused by human activity resulting in elevated levels of carbon dioxide and other 

heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere and that drastic reductions in greenhouse 

gas emissions were required to stabilize the climate.

As the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the agency charged with 

implementing the state‘s climate change policy, has explained: ―The experts tell 

us that an additional increase in global average temperatures of just 2 degrees 

Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is very likely dangerous. With a 2 degree Celsius 

increase, disastrous effects become likely, including more extreme and more 

frequent severe weather, more wildfires, greater frequency of droughts and floods, 

rapid and higher sea level rise, and increased habitat destruction and extinctions.

These environmental effects will undoubtedly lead to serious economic, political, 

and national security disruptions. 
4

―In order to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change, we must stabilize 

atmospheric levels of GHG [greenhouse gas emissions] at approximately 450 parts 

per million (ppm) by mid-century. We are fast approaching this limit. . . . [¶] In 

response to the challenge of climate change, California has taken a leadership role 

by committing to reduce its GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 (about a thirty 

percent reduction in business-as-usual emissions in 2020) and to eighty percent 

below 1990 levels by 2050. The latter target is consistent with the scientific 

consensus of the reductions needed to stabilize atmospheric levels of GHGs at 450 

ppm by mid-century.‖ (CARB, Recommended Approaches for Setting Interim 

Significance Thresholds for Greenhouse Gases under the California 

Environmental Quality Act (Oct. 24, 2008) p. 3, fns. omitted [preliminary draft 

staff proposal].) 

In 2006, shortly after the Executive Order was issued, the Legislature 

enacted the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (Stats. 2006, 

ch. 488, adding Health & Saf. Code, § 38500 et seq.), commonly known as 

Assembly Bill No. 32 (AB 32). AB 32 partially adopted the Executive Order‘s 

goals by directing CARB to ―determine what the statewide greenhouse gas 

emissions level was in 1990, and approve in a public hearing, a statewide 

greenhouse gas emissions limit that is equivalent to that level, to be achieved by 

2020.‖ (Health & Saf. Code, § 38550.) The Legislature also directed CARB to 

prepare a ―scoping plan‖ to identify how to achieve the ―maximum 

technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions 

by . . . 2020.‖ (Id., § 38561, subd. (a).) The scoping plan prepared by CARB 

explained that ―  ̳[r]educing greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels means 

cutting approximately 30 percent from business-as-usual emission levels projected 

for 2020, or about 15 percent from today‘s levels.‘ (Air [Resources] Bd., Climate 

Change Scoping Plan (Dec. 2008) Executive Summary, p. ES–1 (Scoping Plan).) 
5

The Scoping Plan then set out a  ̳comprehensive array of emissions reduction 

approaches and tools‘ to meet the goal, including expanding energy efficiency 

programs, achieving a statewide renewable energy mix of 33 percent, developing 

with our regional partners a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases, 

establishing targets and policies for emissions in transportation and implementing 

existing clean transportation programs, and creating targeted fees on certain 

activities affecting emissions. (Id., pp. ES–3 to ES–4.)‖ (Center for Biological 

Diversity v. California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife (2015) 62 Cal.4th 204, 216 

(Center for Biological Diversity).)

The Legislature has also adopted the Sustainable Communities and Climate 

Protection Act (Stats. 2008, ch. 728, § 1; Stats. 2009, ch. 354, § 5), commonly 

known as SB 375. In enacting this law, the Legislature found that the 

transportation sector contributed 40 percent of the state‘s greenhouse gas 

emissions and that automobiles and light trucks alone are responsible for 30 

percent. (Stats. 2008, ch. 728, § 1, subd. (a).) The Legislature also found the state 

could not meet its emission reduction goals without improved land use and 

transportation policy. (Id., § 1, subd. (c).) SB 375 directs CARB to develop 

region-by-region emission reduction targets for automobiles and light trucks for 

2020 and 2035. (Gov. Code, § 65080, subd. (b)(2)(A).) CARB must update these 

targets every eight years until 2050, and it may update the targets every four years 

based on various factors. (Id., subd. (b)(2)(A).) The targets set by CARB for the 

San Diego region, using a 2005 baseline, require a 7 percent per capita reduction 

in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and a 13 percent per capita reduction by 

2035.

In order to achieve these targets, SB 375 imposes additional requirements 

on regional transportation plans (RTPs) used by federally designated metropolitan 

planning organizations (MPOs), such as SANDAG. Every four to five years, 
6

MPOs are required to adopt a comprehensive RTP that addresses no less than a 

20-year planning horizon. (23 C.F.R. § 450.324(c).) Under SB 375, MPOs are 

required to develop a ―sustainable communities strategy‖ (SCS), consistent with 

the CARB regional targets, as part of their RTPs. (Gov. Code, § 65080, subd. 

(b)(2).) The strategy must be developed through an intensive public consultation 

process. (Gov. Code, § 65080, subd. (b)(2)(E), (F).) The strategy must address, 

among other things, regional distribution of land uses and population, housing 

needs, and protection of resource areas. (Id., § 65080, subd. (b)(2)(B).)

Importantly, for purposes of this case, the strategy must ―set forth a 

forecasted development pattern for the region, which, when integrated with the 

transportation network, and other transportation measures and policies, will reduce 

the greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles and light trucks to achieve, if 

there is a feasible way to do so, the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets 

approved by the state board.‖ (Gov. Code, § 65080, subd. (b)(2)(B).) The 

reductions mandated by SB 375 may be achieved through a variety of means, 

including ―smart growth‖ planning to maximize building densities at locations 

served by public transit and to locate residences near needed services and 

shopping to reduce automobile dependency. Other means include shifting 

investment toward mass transit, changing transportation pricing, and encouraging 

car sharing, walking, and biking. (See Cal. Transportation Com., 2010 Regional 

Transportation Plan Guidelines (2010) pp. 137–138.)

Once an MPO has adopted a sustainable communities strategy that CARB 

finds acceptable, some transit priority projects consistent with the strategy are 

exempt from CEQA requirements, whereas other transit priority projects, 

residential projects, and mixed-use projects consistent with the strategy are subject 

to streamlined CEQA requirements. (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21155–21155.4, 

21159.28; Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, § 15183.3 (Guidelines).)
7

II.

CARB‘s 2008 scoping plan (Scoping Plan) ―encourages local jurisdictions 

to develop  ̳ ―climate action plans‖ ‘ or greenhouse gas  ̳ ―emissions reduction 

plans‖ ‘ for their geographic areas, and several jurisdictions have adopted or 

proposed such plans as tools for CEQA streamlining.‖ (Center for Biological 

Diversity, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 230.) Pursuant to this directive, SANDAG in 

2010 issued its ―Climate Action Strategy,‖ (sometimes CAS) that said: 

―Achieving the near-term goal of reducing statewide greenhouse gas emissions to 

the 1990 level by the year 2020 is ambitious but likely achievable with available 

policy measures and technology options. However, the long-term goal of reducing 

statewide greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below the 1990 level by the year 

2050 will require fundamental changes in policy, technology, and behavior.‖ 

(SANDAG, Climate Action Strategy (Mar. 2010) p. 11.) The Climate Action 

Strategy then recommended a number of land-use and transportation measures 

designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. (Id. at pp. 24–55.)

In 2011, SANDAG issued its RTP/SCS plan (Plan) pursuant to 

Government Code section 65080, subdivision (b). The Plan was adopted as a 

―blueprint for a regional transportation system, serving existing and projected 

residents and workers within the San Diego region . . . over the next 40 years, that 

further enhances quality of life and offers more mobility options for people and 

goods. The 2050 RTP/SCS looks 40 years ahead, accommodating another 1.2 

million residents, half a million new jobs, and nearly 400,000 new homes. The 

Plan addressed a 40 year period ending in 2050.‖ In addition, SANDAG prepared 

a draft EIR (occasionally, DEIR) to analyze the Plan‘s environmental effects, 

including its projected impact on the region‘s greenhouse gas emissions.

The draft EIR proposed three different measures — labeled GHG-1, GHG2, and GHG-3 — for determining whether the region‘s greenhouse gas emissions 
8

under the Plan would be significant, and it applied each measure to the years 2020, 

2035, and 2050. GHG-1 compared the projected total regional GHG emissions to 

conditions existing in 2010. The draft EIR concluded that after taking into 

account the transportation and land use changes set forth in the Plan, regional 

greenhouse gas emissions in 2020 are expected to be lower than in 2010. 

Therefore, the draft EIR judged the emission impacts for 2020 to be insignificant.

In 2035, the draft EIR found, ―[r]egional growth/land use change GHG 

emissions‖ are ―expected to be greater than in 2010, while transportation-related 

GHG emissions are expected to be lower than in 2010. The total emissions 

expected in 2035 for both regional growth/land use change and transportation 

network improvements would be 30.18 MMT CO2e [million metric tons of carbon 

dioxide equivalent], accounting for state measures and including constructionrelated emissions. Compared with the estimated 2010 emissions of 28.85 MMT 

CO2e, this represents an increase over baseline conditions. Therefore, 

implementation of the 2050 RTP/SCS would lead to an overall increase in GHG 

emissions in 2035 compared to 2010 levels and constitutes a significant impact 

. . . .‖

The draft EIR further concluded that ―[l]and-use and transportation-related 

GHG emissions in 2050 are expected to be greater than in 2010. The total 

emissions expected in 2050 would be 33.65 MMT CO2e, accounting for state 

measures. Compared with the estimated 2010 emissions of 28.845 MMT CO2e, 

this represents an increase over baseline conditions. Therefore, implementation of 

the 2050 RTP/SCS would lead to an overall increase in GHG emissions compared 

to baseline levels and constitutes a significant impact for which mitigation 

measures are described in Section 4.8.5.‖

The draft EIR‘s second measure of significance, GHG-2, compared 

projected regional emissions with the reduction targets mandated by SB 375. The 
9

draft EIR explained: ―GHG-2 analyzes a narrower range of GHG emissions than 

GHG-1. . . . SB 375 requires [CARB] to develop regional GHG emission 

reduction targets, compared to 2005 emissions, for cars and light trucks for 2020 

and 2035 for each of the state‘s MPOs.‖ The draft EIR concluded that the plan 

would meet CARB‘s mandated targets of reducing per capita emissions 7 percent 

below 2005 levels by 2020 and 13 percent below 2005 levels by 2035 through a 

variety of measures, including denser residential development and increased use of 

mass transit. In applying GHG-2, the draft EIR made no determination of 

significant environmental effects with respect to the year 2050 because CARB has 

not yet established 2050 reduction targets.

The third measure of significance, GHG-3, compared projected regional 

emissions with applicable emission reduction plans, specifically CARB‘s Scoping 

Plan and SANDAG‘s own Climate Action Strategy. The draft EIR states that, 

consistent with the Climate Action Strategy, ―land use changes and transportation 

improvements expected as a result of implementation of the 2050 RTP/SCS focus 

on transit and compact development near transit centers. These are aligned with 

the policies outlined in the CAS and therefore implementation of the 2050 

RTP/SCS would not impede the CAS and would constitute a less than significant 

impact.‖ As for comparison with the Scoping Plan, the draft EIR said: ―The 

Scoping Plan does not have targets established beyond 2020 and therefore the 

impacts to the Scoping Plan are not analyzed for 2050.‖

Several parties filed comments critical of the draft EIR‘s greenhouse gas 

emissions analysis. Typical of these comments, the Attorney General observed 

that the EIR ―finds the impact of the RTP/SCS on GHG emissions to be not 

significant in 2020 . . . , significant in 2035 . . . , and significant in 2050 . . . . 

SANDAG must, however, make a determination whether the project as a whole

has significant climate change impacts. We believe strongly that it does. What 
10

the DEIR shows is that the suite of strategies relied on by SANDAG, which 

include[s] a heavy reliance on roadway expansion projects, does not deliver GHG 

reductions that are sustainable in the long term. In fact, infrastructure and land use 

decisions made in the early years of the RTP/SCS may lock in transportation 

inefficiencies and preclude any realistic possibility of meeting the Executive 

Order‘s goal of an 80% reduction in GHG emissions.‖ The Attorney General 

faulted the draft EIR for rejecting any need to analyze the consistency between the 

Plan‘s long-term projections and the 2050 emission reduction objectives of the 

Executive Order. SANDAG‘s position, the Attorney General argued, failed to 

recognize that the Executive Order ―is designed to meet the environmental 

objective that is relevant under CEQA (climate stabilization).‖

In the final EIR, SANDAG maintained it had no obligation to analyze 

projected emissions against the Executive Order‘s goals: ―The 2050 RTP/SCS 

complies with SANDAG‘s SB 375 emissions reductions targets, which in turn are 

based on AB 32 implementation. SANDAG recognizes the aspirational nature of 

the EO [Executive Order] S-3-05 2050 target, but the 2050 RTP/SCS emissions 

reductions are not legally required to be consistent with this target, and as 

explained below, this target is not an appropriate CEQA threshold of 

significance.‖ The EIR continued: ―SANDAG chose not to use the 2050 EO 

emissions reduction target as a threshold of significance because the EO is not an 

adopted GHG reduction plan within the meaning of CEQA Guidelines [section] 

15064.4(b)(2), and because SANDAG‘s role in achieving this target is uncertain 

and likely small. Although comments note the Attorney General . . . [has] advised 

that the EO 2050 target can inform CEQA analysis, there is no legal requirement 

to use it as a threshold of significance. Under the CEQA Guidelines and case law, 

SANDAG retains the discretion to select certain GHG emissions reduction 

thresholds and not select others. [¶] Furthermore, even if SANDAG had used the 
11

2050 EO emissions reduction target as a threshold of significance, the Impact 

GHG-1 impact conclusions for 2035 and 2050 would not have changed. These 

impacts would be significant and unavoidable using either the net increase 

threshold used in Impact GHG-1, or an EO based threshold.‖ 

After SANDAG certified the EIR, two nonprofit groups, CREED-21 and 

the Affordable Housing Coalition of San Diego County, filed a petition for writ of 

mandate challenging the EIR‘s adequacy under CEQA. The Cleveland National 

Forest Foundation and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a similar petition, 

in which Sierra Club and the Attorney General later joined.

The superior court issued a writ of mandate in plaintiffs‘ favor, finding that 

the EIR failed to fulfill its role as an informational document because it did not 

analyze the consistency between the Plan‘s emission impacts and the Executive 

Order‘s emission reduction goals. The court also found that the EIR did not 

adequately address mitigation measures for significant emission impacts. In light 

of these findings, the court declined to decide any of the other challenges raised in 

the petitions. The writ of mandate directed SANDAG to set aside its certification 

of the EIR and to prepare and certify a revised EIR curing the identified 

deficiencies.

SANDAG appealed, arguing that the EIR complied with CEQA, and the 

Cleveland National Forest Foundation and other environmental organizations 

(collectively, Cleveland) cross-appealed, arguing that the EIR further violated 

CEQA by failing to analyze a reasonable range of project alternatives, by failing to 

adequately analyze and mitigate the Plan‘s air quality impacts, and by understating 

the transportation plan‘s impacts on agricultural lands. The Attorney General 

separately cross-appealed, contending that the EIR further violated CEQA by 

failing to adequately analyze and mitigate the transportation plan‘s impacts from 

particulate matter pollution. The Court of Appeal, largely agreeing with plaintiffs, 
12

affirmed the trial court‘s judgment setting aside the EIR certification but modified 

the judgment to require that a subsequent EIR fix most of the defects identified in 

the cross-appeals. Justice Benke dissented from the court‘s holding that 

SANDAG was required to analyze the consistency of projected emissions with the 

goals of the Executive Order and concluded that SANDAG‘s analysis was 

supported by substantial evidence. 

We granted review on the following question: ―Must the environmental 

impact report for a regional transportation plan include an analysis of the plan‘s 

consistency with the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals reflected in 

Executive Order No. S-3-05 to comply with the California Environmental Quality 

Act (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.)?‖

III.

We granted the Attorney General‘s request to judicially notice the fact that 

SANDAG updated its RTP/SCS in 2015 in accordance with its statutory mandate 

and, in doing so, included some analysis of the Plan‘s consistency with the 

Executive Order. None of the parties contends, however, that the question of 

whether CEQA requires such consistency analysis should be dismissed as moot. 

The parties recognize that this question may recur. SANDAG makes clear that it 

undertook the consistency analysis in 2015 because it ―prudently reacted‖ to the 

Court of Appeal opinion below and that whether CEQA requires such analysis is 

still in dispute. The issue before us presents an important question of law that is 

likely to recur yet evade review because of the relatively short period between 

adoption of a RTP and adoption of a successor plan. Accordingly, we proceed to 

decide the issue even though SANDAG‘s 2010 regional transportation plan has 

now been superseded. (See California Charter School Assn. v. Los Angeles 

Unified School Dist. (2015) 60 Cal.4th 1221, 1233–1234.) 
13

A.

―The EIR is the primary means of achieving the Legislature‘s considered 

declaration that it is the policy of this state to  ̳take all action necessary to protect, 

rehabilitate, and enhance the environmental quality of the state.‘ ([Pub. Resources 

Code,] § 21001, subd. (a).) The EIR is therefore  ̳the heart of CEQA.‘ [Citations.] 

An EIR is an  ̳environmental ―alarm bell‖ whose purpose it is to alert the public 

and its responsible officials to environmental changes before they have reached 

ecological points of no return.‘ [Citations.] The EIR is also intended  ̳to 

 ̳demonstrate to an apprehensive citizenry that the agency has, in fact, analyzed 

and considered the ecological implications of its action.‘ [Citations.] Because the 

EIR must be certified or rejected by public officials, it is a document of 

accountability. If CEQA is scrupulously followed, the public will know the basis 

on which its responsible officials either approve or reject environmentally 

significant action, and the public, being duly informed, can respond accordingly to 

action with which it disagrees. [Citations.] The EIR process protects not only the 

environment but also informed self-government.‖ (Laurel Heights, supra, 47 

Cal.3d at p. 392.) An EIR ―must include detail sufficient to enable those who did 

not participate in its preparation to understand and to consider meaningfully the 

issues raised by the proposed project.‖ (Id. at p. 405.)

At the same time, courts must proceed with caution when determining the 

adequacy of EIRs. ―In reviewing an agency‘s compliance with CEQA in the 

course of its legislative or quasi-legislative actions, the courts‘ inquiry  ̳shall 

extend only to whether there was a prejudicial abuse of discretion.‘ (Pub. 

Resources Code, § 21168.5.) Such an abuse is established  ̳if the agency has not 

proceeded in a manner required by law or if the determination or decision is not 

supported by substantial evidence.‘ ‖ (Vineyard Area Citizens for Responsible 

Growth, Inc. v. City of Rancho Cordova (2007) 40 Cal.4th 412, 426, fn. omitted 
14

(Vineyard). ―  ̳CEQA gives lead agencies discretion to design an EIR . . .‘ 

(2 Kostka & Zischke, Practice Under the Cal. Environmental Quality Act [Cont. 

Ed. Bar (2011)] § 20.81D, p. 1030 (rev. 3/12)) and the agency is not required to 

conduct every recommended test or perform all requested research or analysis 

(Guidelines, § 15204, subd. (a)). . . . An EIR is required to evaluate a particular 

environmental impact only to the extent it is  ̳reasonably feasible‘ to do so. 

(Guidelines, § 15151; 2 Kostka & Zischke, Practice Under the Cal. Environmental 

Quality Act, supra, § 20.81D, p. 1030 (rev. 3/12).)‖ (Rialto Citizens for 

Responsible Growth v. City of Rialto (2012) 208 Cal.App.4th 899, 937.)

We have also recognized that the analysis of greenhouse gas emissions in 

an EIR poses particular challenges. ―First, because of the global scale of climate 

change, any one project‘s contribution is unlikely to be significant by itself. The 

challenge for CEQA purposes is to determine whether the impact of the project‘s 

emissions of greenhouse gases is cumulatively considerable, in the sense that  ̳the 

incremental effects of [the] individual project are considerable when viewed in 

connection with the effects of past projects, the effects of other current projects, 

and the effects of probable future projects.‘ (§ 21083, subd. (b)(2); see 

Guidelines, § 15064, subd. (h)(1).)  ̳With respect to climate change, an individual 

project‘s emissions will most likely not have any appreciable impact on the global 

problem by themselves, but they will contribute to the significant cumulative 

impact caused by greenhouse gas emissions from other sources around the globe. 

The question therefore becomes whether the project‘s incremental addition of 

greenhouse gases is ―cumulatively considerable‖ in light of the global problem, 

and thus significant.‘ [Citation.]

―Second, the global scope of climate change and the fact that carbon 

dioxide and other greenhouse gases, once released into the atmosphere, are not 

contained in the local area of their emission means that the impacts to be evaluated 
15

are also global rather than local. For many air pollutants, the significance of their 

environmental impact may depend greatly on where they are emitted; for 

greenhouse gases, it does not.‖ (Center for Biological Diversity, supra, 62 Cal.4th 

at pp. 219–220.)

In 2010, the Natural Resources Agency promulgated a guideline for 

assessing the significance of greenhouse gas emissions impacts under CEQA. 

Guidelines section 15064.4, subdivision (a) provides in part that ―[a] lead agency 

should make a good-faith effort, based to the extent possible on scientific and 

factual data, to describe, calculate or estimate the amount of greenhouse gas 

emissions resulting from a project.‖ Subdivision (b) states that ―[a] lead agency 

should consider the following factors, among others, when assessing the 

significance of impacts from greenhouse gas emissions on the environment: [¶] 

(1) The extent to which the project may increase or reduce greenhouse gas 

emissions as compared to the existing environmental setting; [¶] (2) Whether the 

project emissions exceed a threshold of significance that the lead agency 

determines applies to the project; [¶] (3) The extent to which the project complies 

with regulations or requirements adopted to implement a statewide, regional, or 

local plan for the reduction or mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions.‖

B.

In addressing the controversy between the parties, we begin by noting three 

points not in dispute. First, the parties agree that the EIR should consider the 

Plan‘s long-range greenhouse gas emission impacts for the year 2050. As noted, 

SANDAG explained in its Climate Action Strategy that ―[o]nce in place, land use 

patterns and transportation infrastructure typically remain part of the built 

environment and influence travel behavior and greenhouse gas emissions for 

several decades, perhaps longer.‖ (SANDAG, Climate Action Strategy, supra, at 

p. 25.) The EIR must reasonably evaluate these downstream impacts.
16

Second, neither party disputes that the Executive Order lacks the force of a 

legal mandate binding on SANDAG in the preparation of its EIR. What plaintiffs 

and the Attorney General argue here is that the Executive Order‘s significance for 

purposes of CEQA analysis is its scientific basis, i.e., its expression of what 

scientific research has determined to be the level of emissions reductions 

necessary to stabilize the climate by midcentury and thereby avoid catastrophic 

effects of climate change. Nor does any party dispute that the Executive Order‘s 

2050 emissions reduction target is grounded in sound science. In its Climate 

Action Strategy, SANDAG observed that the 2050 target ―is based on the 

scientifically-supported level of emissions reduction needed to avoid significant 

disruption of the climate and is used as the long-term driver for state climate 

change policy development.‖ (SANDAG, Climate Action Strategy, supra, at 

p. 10.)

Third, the parties do not dispute that the projected increase in greenhouse 

gas emissions under the Plan from 2020 through 2050 is a significant 

environmental effect. As noted, SANDAG stated in the EIR that 

implementation of the 2050 RTP/SCS would lead to an overall increase in 

greenhouse gas emissions in 2050 and that this impact is ―significant and 

unavoidable.‖

What the parties dispute is whether CEQA required SANDAG to analyze 

the consistency between the Plan and the Executive Order in assessing the 

significance of the Plan‘s impact on greenhouse gas emissions in 2050. The 

Attorney General and Cleveland argue here, as they did in their comments to the 

draft EIR, that the EIR inadequately describes the Plan‘s emission impacts. The 

Attorney General notes that transportation is responsible for nearly 50 percent of 

greenhouse gas emissions in the San Diego region, and one of the chief objectives 

of an SCS is to reduce the total amount of driving in the region, measured as 
17

vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The Attorney General observes: ―The total 

amount of driving expected under the 2050 Plan . . . will increase by more than 50 

percent over the life of the Plan. The expected increase in driving is not due solely 

to increases in population in the San Diego area; under the 2050 Plan, people will 

drive more on a per capita basis in 2050 than they did in 2010.‖ The Attorney 

General points to the Plan‘s projections that daily per capita VMT for all vehicle 

types would fall in 2020 but would rise by 2035 and would continue to rise 

through 2050. This increase in total and per capita VMT, the Attorney General 

contends, drives the upward trend in projected emissions for the San Diego region 

after 2035.

In light of this projected trend, the Attorney General argues that the EIR‘s 

analysis of emission impacts is misleading: ―Without placing these emissions into 

any meaningful context, the EIR summarily concludes that the impacts are 

 ̳significant and unavoidable‘ in 2035 and 2050 because gross annual emissions 

will be above 2010 levels in these discrete years.‖ According to the Attorney 

General, this understates and obscures the extent to which the Plan‘s emission 

impacts run counter to the state‘s climate change goals; analyzing the consistency

of the Plan with the Executive Order‘s 2050 emissions reduction target would 

supply the missing context.

In response to this concern, the final EIR said that ―SANDAG chose not to 

use the 2050 EO emissions reduction target as a threshold of significance because 

the EO is not an adopted GHG reduction plan within the meaning of CEQA 

Guidelines 15064.4(b)(2), and because SANDAG‘s role in achieving this target is 

uncertain and likely small. Although the comments note the Attorney General . . . 

[has] advised that the EO 2050 target can inform CEQA analysis, there is no legal 

requirement to use it as a threshold of significance. Under the CEQA Guidelines 
18

and case law, SANDAG retains the discretion to select certain GHG emissions 

reduction thresholds and not select others.‖

In evaluating these arguments, we begin with three points. First, an EIR‘s 

designation of a particular adverse environmental effect as ―significant‖ does not 

excuse the EIR‘s failure to reasonably describe the nature and magnitude of the 

adverse effect. (See Berkeley Keep Jets Over the Bay Committee v. Board of Port 

Comrs. (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 1344, 1371 [―The EIR‘s approach of simply 

labeling the effect  ̳significant‘ without accompanying analysis of the project‘s 

impact on the health of the Airport‘s employees and nearby residents is inadequate 

to meet the environmental assessment requirements of CEQA.‖]; Galante 

Vineyards v. Monterey Peninsula Water Management Dist. (1997) 60 Cal.App.4th 

1109, 1123.) An adequate description of adverse environmental effects is 

necessary to inform the critical discussion of mitigation measures and project 

alternatives at the core of the EIR. (See Guidelines, § 15151 [―An EIR should be 

prepared with a sufficient degree of analysis to provide decisionmakers with 

information which enables them to make a decision which intelligently takes 

account of environmental consequences.‖].)

Second, SANDAG‘s conclusory statement that its role in achieving the 

Executive Order‘s 2050 emission reduction target is ―likely small‖ is not a valid 

reason for rejecting the target as a measure of significance. As noted, ―because of 

the global scale of climate change, any one project‘s contribution is unlikely to be 

significant by itself.‖ (Center for Biological Diversity, supra, 62 Cal.4th at 

p. 219.) The solution to climate change requires the aggregation of many small 

reductions in greenhouse gas emissions by public and private actors at all levels. 

(See United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Paris Agreement 

(Dec. 12, 2015, ___ U.N.T.S. ___ [English text, p. 52; Annex, p. 21] 

[―[recognizing] the importance of the engagement of all levels of government and 
19

various actors, in accordance with respective national legislation of Parties, in 

addressing climate change‖].) The fact that a regional plan‘s contribution to 

reducing greenhouse gas emissions is likely to be small on a statewide level is not 

necessarily a basis for concluding that its impact will be insignificant in the 

context of a statewide goal.

Third, we agree with plaintiffs that SANDAG‘s response in the final EIR 

that the Executive Order ―is not an adopted GHG reduction plan‖ and that ―there is 

no legal requirement to use it as a threshold of significance‖ is not dispositive of 

the issue before us. Although lead agencies have discretion in designing an EIR, 

the exercise of that discretion must be ―based to the extent possible on scientific 

and factual data.‖ (Guidelines, § 15064, subd. (b).) The Executive Order‘s 2050 

goal of reducing California‘s greenhouse gas emissions to 80 percent below 1990 

levels expresses the pace and magnitude of reduction efforts that the scientific 

community believes necessary to stabilize the climate. This scientific information 

has important value to policymakers and citizens in considering the emission 

impacts of a project like SANDAG‘s regional transportation plan.

Nonetheless, contrary to what plaintiffs and our dissenting colleague 

contend, the EIR does not obscure the existence or contextual significance of the 

Executive Order‘s 2050 emissions reduction target. The EIR makes clear that the 

2050 target is part of the regulatory setting in which the Plan will operate. 

Further, the EIR straightforwardly mentions the 2050 target in the course of 

explaining why SANDAG chose not to use the target as a measure of significance. 

This discussion appears just three pages after the EIR declares, with supporting 

analysis, that ―[l]and-use and transportation-related GHG emissions in 2050 are 

expected to be greater than in 2010. The total emissions expected in 2050 would 

be 33.65 MMT CO2e, accounting for state measures. Compared with the 

estimated 2010 emissions of 28.85 MMT CO2e, this represents an increase over 
20

baseline conditions. Therefore, implementation of the 2050 RTP/SCS would lead 

to an overall increase in GHG emissions compared to baseline levels and

constitutes a significant impact for which mitigation measures are described in 

Section 4.8.5.‖ (Italics added.) Similarly, in its responses to comments, the EIR 

repeatedly mentions the 2050 target in the course of restating its conclusion that 

the increase in greenhouse gas emissions compared to existing conditions ―would 

be significant in 2035 and 2050.‖ In sum, the basis of plaintiffs‘ and the dissent‘s 

critique of the EIR — i.e., the divergence between projected 2050 emissions and 

the Executive Order‘s goals — is apparent in the EIR itself. If the long-term rise 

in projected emissions was ―the elephant in the room‖ (dis. opn., post, at pp. 2, 10, 

16), then a fair reading of the EIR confirms that an elephant is hard to hide.

Although there were perhaps clearer or more graphic ways the EIR could 

have facilitated a comparison between 2050 projected emissions and the Executive 

Order‘s 2050 emissions reduction target, we find that the EIR presented the 

information enabling that comparison ―in a manner calculated to adequately 

inform the public and decision makers, who may not be previously familiar with 

the details of the project.‖ (Vineyard, supra, 40 Cal.4th at p. 442; see Citizens for 

a Sustainable Treasure Island v. City and County of San Francisco (2014) 227 

Cal.App.4th 1036, 1046 [―[A]n EIR must be upheld if it  ̳reasonably sets forth 

sufficient information to foster informed public participation and to enable the 

decision makers to consider the environmental factors necessary to make a 

reasoned decision.‘ ‖].) We have made clear, and recently reiterated, that 

―  ̳information ―scattered here and there in EIR appendices‖ or a report ―buried in 

an appendix,‖ is not a substitute for ―a good faith reasoned analysis.‖ ‘ ‖ 

(Vineyard, at p. 442; see Banning Ranch Conservancy v. City of Newport Beach

(2017) 2 Cal.5th 918, 941.) Here, however, it was not difficult for the public,

reading the EIR, to compare the upward trajectory of projected greenhouse gas 
21

emissions under the Plan from 2020 through 2050 with the Executive Order‘s goal

of reducing emissions to 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The fact that part 

of the discussion of greenhouse gas impacts and the Executive Order occurs in the 

―Response to Comments‖ section of the EIR rather than the original draft (see dis. 

opn., post, at p. 8) is not an infirmity. Because a lead agency‘s response to 

comments is an integral part of the EIR (see Rural Landowners Assn. v. City 

Council (1983) 143 Cal.App.3d 1013, 1023 [EIRs must adequately address 

comments of state agencies]), it is reasonable to expect that those interested in the 

contents of an EIR will not neglect this section.

Moreover, SANDAG did not abuse its discretion in declining to adopt the 

2050 goal as a measure of significance in light of the fact that the Executive Order 

does not specify any plan or implementation measures to achieve its goal. In its 

response to comments, the EIR said: ―It is uncertain what role regional land use 

and transportation strategies can or should play in achieving the EO‘s 2050 

emissions reduction target. A recent California Energy Commission report 

concludes, however, that the primary strategies to achieve this target should be 

major  ̳decarbonization‘ of electricity supplies and fuels, and major improvements 

in energy efficiency [citation].‖ We cannot say that SANDAG abused its 

discretion by refusing, on these grounds, to say more in the EIR about whether the 

projected emissions were consistent with the 2050 goal. Neither the Attorney 

General nor the other plaintiffs point to any guidance as to how the 2050 goal 

translates into specific reduction targets broken down by region or sector of 

emission-producing activity. Further, as SANDAG notes, ―there are presently no 

reliable means of forecasting how future technological developments or state 

legislative actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may affect future emissions 

in any one planning jurisdiction. . . . Lead agencies can only guess how future 

technical developments or state (or federal or international) actions may affect 
22

emissions from the myriad of sources beyond their control.‖ (See Marin Mun. 

Water Dist. v. KG Land California Corp (1991) 235 Cal.App.3d 1652, 1663 

[CEQA does not require analysis of potential impacts from possible future 

development that are too speculative to evaluate].) It is not clear what additional 

information SANDAG should have conveyed to the public beyond the general 

point that the upward trajectory of emissions under the Plan may conflict with the 

2050 emissions reduction goal. (Cf. Center for Biological Diversity, supra, 62 

Cal.4th at pp. 225–228 [discussing difficulty of inferring required level of 

emissions reduction for an individual project from a statewide emissions reduction 

goal].) 

Nor can we say it was unreasonable for SANDAG to use its threefold 

approach in the EIR: (1) Where statute and regulation provide specific regional 

emissions reduction targets, as for cars and light trucks for 2020 and 2035, the EIR 

analyzes consistency of projected emissions with those targets (GHG-2). (2) For 

longer-term emissions through 2050, for which no statute or regulation provides 

regional or sector targets, the EIR analyzes projected emissions against a baseline 

of current emissions (GHG-1). This is one of the approaches specified in 

Guidelines section 15064.4, subdivision (b), which calls on lead agencies to 

consider ―[t]he extent to which the project may increase or reduce greenhouse gas 

emissions as compared to the existing environmental setting.‖ (3) The EIR 

analyzes whether the Plan incorporates land use changes and transportation 

improvement designed to reduce emissions, as reflected in SANDAG‘s Climate 

Action Strategy and CARB‘s Scoping Plan (GHG-3). (See Center for Biological 

Diversity, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 229 [recognizing the potential value of 

―  ̳performance based standards‘ ‖ as outlined in the Scoping Plan or other 

authoritative body of regulation].) Whether or not any one method, by itself, 

would have provided sufficient analysis, we conclude that these three methods 
23

together adequately informed readers of potential greenhouse gas emission 

impacts.

We emphasize the narrowness of today‘s holding. Our decision is not a 

general endorsement of the adequacy of SANDAG‘s EIR, much less an 

endorsement of the adequacy of the regional plan that the EIR analyzes. 

Specifically, we do not address whether SANDAG‘s responses to the indisputably 

significant greenhouse gas impacts of the 2011 regional plan were adequate. The 

Court of Appeal concluded that the EIR failed to sufficiently consider feasible 

mitigation measures and project alternatives that would reduce vehicle miles 

traveled and curb the rise in greenhouse gas emissions. These issues are not 

before us, and we express no view on them. We hold only that SANDAG, in 

analyzing greenhouse gas impacts at the time of the EIR, did not abuse its 

discretion by declining to adopt the Executive Order as a measure of significance 

or to discuss the Executive Order more than it did.

Moreover, we caution that our conclusion that SANDAG did not abuse its 

discretion in its analysis of greenhouse gas emission impacts in the 2011 EIR does 

not mean that this analysis can serve as a template for future EIRs. Under CEQA, 

―[t]he determination of whether a project may have a significant effect on the 

environment calls for careful judgment on the part of the public agency involved, 

based to the extent possible on scientific and factual data.‖ (Guidelines, § 15064, 

subd. (b).) As more and better data become available, analysis of the impact of 

regional transportation plans on greenhouse gas emissions will likely improve. 

Indeed, SANDAG explains that its EIR, in analyzing its 2015 regional 

transportation plan, ―was able to account for many factors in the GHG inventories 

that were not accounted for in 2011, reflecting  ̳additional certainty regarding the 

regulatory environment, including future projections of renewable energy, 

building energy efficiency, water conservation programs, and solid waste 
24

diversion.‖ A regional planning agency like SANDAG, charged with assisting the 

implementation of the state‘s climate goals, must straightforwardly address in the 

relevant environmental review documents whether its regional transportation plan 

as a whole is in accord with those goals. Its capacity to do so will likely improve 

over time.

Furthermore, after briefing was submitted in this case, the Legislature in 

2016 enacted Senate Bill No. 32 (SB 32) (2015–2016 Reg. Sess.), adding Health 

and Safety Code section 38566, which adopts a goal of reducing greenhouse gas 

emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2030. This 40 percent 

reduction is widely acknowledged as a necessary interim target to ensure that 

California meets its longer-range goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80 

percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050. (See Governor‘s Executive Order 

No. B–30–15 (Apr. 29, 2015) [explaining the significance of the 40 percent 

reduction].) SB 32 thus reaffirms California‘s commitment to being on the 

forefront of the dramatic greenhouse gas emission reductions needed to stabilize 

the global climate. The legislation directs CARB to craft regulations to implement 

its goal. (Health & Saf. Code, § 38566.) These regulations may further clarify the 

way forward for public agencies to meet the state‘s 2050 climate goals. This 

regulatory clarification, together with improved methods of analysis, may well 

change the manner in which CEQA analysis of long-term greenhouse gas emission 

impacts is conducted.

In sum, nothing we say today invites regional planners to ―shirk their 

responsibilities‖ under CEQA or other environmental statutes. (Dis. opn., ante, at 

p. 16.) To the contrary, we affirm that planning agencies like SANDAG must 

ensure that CEQA analysis stays in step with evolving scientific knowledge and 

state regulatory schemes.
25

CONCLUSION

We reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal insofar as it determined 

that the 2011 EIR‘s analysis of greenhouse gas emission impacts rendered the EIR 

inadequate and required revision. As noted, the Court of Appeal also affirmed the 

trial court‘s judgment that the 2011 EIR‘s analysis of greenhouse gas emission 

mitigation measures was inadequate, identified other deficiencies in the EIR, and 

affirmed the issuance of a writ of mandate setting aside the EIR‘s certification on 

these grounds. We did not grant review on these issues and express no view on

how, if at all, today‘s opinion affects their disposition. We remand to the Court of 

Appeal for proceedings consistent with this opinion.

LIU, J.

WE CONCUR:

CANTIL-SAKAUYE, C. J.

WERDEGAR, J.

CHIN, J.

CORRIGAN, J.

KRUGER, J.
1

DISSENTING OPINION BY CUÉLLAR, J.

Through statutes enacted by its elected representatives, the State of 

California recognizes climate change spurred by greenhouse gases to be a

staggering threat to California and the world. The state‘s response to this 

challenge reflects not only the projected harm to California but also the state‘s 

own contribution to the problem. (See Health & Saf. Code, § 38501.) At the core 

of that response is a comprehensive effort updating a long-established body of 

laws designed to protect the environment. Among the most important of those

laws is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, 

§ 21001 et seq.), which requires public officials to disclose the environmental 

harm of proposed construction projects. Enacted nearly a half century ago, CEQA 

mandates that ―the long-term protection of the environment, consistent with the 

provision of a decent home and suitable living environment for every Californian, 

shall be a guiding criterion in public decisions.‖ (Pub. Resources Code, § 21001, 

subd. (d).) For decades CEQA has ensured public deliberation about present 

choices that bear future environmental harm. Now, a new generation of state 

environmental statutes has aligned California law with scientific consensus 

regarding how to confront climate change. Long-term greenhouse gas emissions 

have taken their place among the most important harms that CEQA requires public 

officials to analyze and meaningfully explain. 
2

The question in the case is whether the San Diego Association of 

Governments (SANDAG) violated CEQA when it issued an environmental impact 

report (EIR) for a long-term transportation development plan that failed to explain 

the plan‘s divergence from long-term greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets

first set out in a 2005 executive order. There is no dispute that those targets are 

relevant to this case regardless of the executive order‘s legal force, to the extent 

the targets reflect sound scientific consensus about the steps necessary to stabilize 

the climate. Likewise, no one disputes that SANDAG has flexibility in designing 

its regional transportation plan and framing the plan‘s environmental impact 

report. Instead, the critical issue in the case is whether the EIR is clear enough 

about the environmental harm of SANDAG‘s plan, which reshapes the region‘s 

transportation infrastructure in a manner that will increase per capita greenhouse 

gas emissions and per capita vehicle use in the long term. The answer is no, 

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. This issue matters not only because CEQA aims to facilitate public 

deliberation and limit the risk that policymakers ignore the environmental 

consequences of their choices but also because the precise contours of an EIR‘s 

impact analysis dictate what mitigation measures and alternative options public 

officials must consider. Because I believe SANDAG did not fulfill its CEQA 

obligations, I dissent. 

I.

In June 2005, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger issued Executive Order

No. S-3-05, which announced statewide greenhouse gas reduction targets for 

2010, 2020, and 2050. The 2050 target proposed to reduce statewide emissions to 

80 percent below 1990 levels by that year. This target reflects scientific consensus 
3

about the greenhouse gas emissions reductions necessary to stabilize global 

temperatures and prevent catastrophic climate effects. The Legislature soon began 

to carry out the Governor‘s mandate through a series of statutes. One of the first 

of these laws was the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006. (Stats. 2006, ch. 

488, § 1, p. 3419.) Since recognized as ―landmark legislation,‖ this act

―established as state policy the achievement of a substantial reduction in the 

emissions of gases contributing to global warming.‖ (Center for Biological 

Diversity v. California Department of Fish & Wildlife (2015) 62 Cal.4th 204, 215 

(Center for Biological Diversity).) The statute directed the Air Resources Board 

to announce strategies for achieving the Governor‘s emissions reduction targets. 

This plan was issued in 2008. 

Next came the Sustainable Communities and Climate Protection Act, 

enacted as SB 375. This act focuses on the role that regional planners will play in 

reversing climate change. In particular, the Legislature observed that the 

transportation sector produces a significant share of the state‘s greenhouse gas 

emissions. (See Stats. 2008, ch. 728 § 1(a), p. 5065 [―The transportation sector 

contributes over 40 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the State of 

California; automobiles and light trucks alone contribute almost 30 percent. The 

transportation sector is the single largest contributor of greenhouse gases of any 

sector.‖].) Though new fuel and vehicle technology would help reduce those 

emissions, the Legislature recognized that those advances would not be enough; 

instead, the state would also need to reshape its transportation infrastructure to 

reduce vehicle use. (See id., § 1(c), p. 5065 [―Greenhouse gas emissions from 

automobiles and light trucks can be substantially reduced by new vehicle 

technology and by the increased use of low carbon fuel. However, even taking 

these measures into account, it will be necessary to achieve significant additional 
4

greenhouse gas reductions from changed land use patterns and improved 

transportation.‖].) 

Apart from any other practical impact they had, these laws also affected

CEQA –– a statute as ubiquitous in disputes about land and infrastructure as it is 

important to California‘s protection of its environment. For 47 years, CEQA has 

required for ―the long-term protection of the environment‖ to serve as ―the guiding 

criterion in public decisions.‖ (Pub. Resources Code, § 21001, subd. (d), as added 

by Stats. 1970, ch. 1433, § 1, p. 2781.) In particular, the statute requires agencies 

that oversee projects like SANDAG‘s regional transportation plan to prepare an

EIR whose ―purpose is to inform the public and its responsible officials of the 

environmental consequences of their decisions before they are made.‖ (Citizens of 

Goleta Valley v. Board of Supervisors (1990) 52 Cal.3d 553, 564.) Given 

CEQA‘s focus on long-term environmental impact, an agency needs to do more 

than simply list a few short-term benefits and claim success. Rather, an EIR must 

look beyond immediate impact and explain clearly whether the project prioritizes 

―short-term environmental goals to the disadvantage of long-term environmental 

goals.‖ (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 14, § 15065, subd. (a)(2).) 

When it comes to climate change, the state‘s long-term environmental goals

are clear. SB 375 and other statutes have codified into California law the 

scientific consensus that the state must reduce greenhouse gas emissions over the 

next few decades. (See, e.g., Center for Biological Diversity, supra, 62 Cal. 4th at 

p. 215; Health & Saf. Code, § 38501.) While the particulars of that goal (exactly 

what quantities of reduction, through what means, at what times) might remain 

subject to some debate, the overall trend — reduction of emissions, not steep 

increases — does not. In October 2011, SANDAG issued one of the plans 

required by SB 375, along with an EIR laying out the plan‘s environmental costs. 

Though this EIR is governed by the same general framework that governs the 
5

validity of an EIR for a typical development project, it was also somewhat distinct 

in that the whole purpose of the project at issue — the entire reason the 

Legislature directed SANDAG to issue a regional transportation plan — was to 

help achieve the state‘s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from 

transportation infrastructure. CEQA and SB 375 together created a duty to explain 

in detail whether SANDAG‘s regional transportation plan will work ―to the 

disadvantage of‖ that long-term goal. (Pub. Resources Code, § 21083, subd. 

(a)(1).) The Court of Appeal was persuaded by the Attorney General and other 

challengers that the EIR failed that requirement. I agree.

II.

Throughout our CEQA jurisprudence, we have recognized how statutes 

enacted after CEQA may train attention on certain environmental impacts in ways 

that limit an agency‘s discretion about whether and how to depict those particular 

impacts. For example, we recently explained that the California Coastal Act of 

1976‘s (Coastal Act) ―enhanced protection‖ for sensitive coastal habitats requires 

heightened CEQA concern for harm to those areas. (Banning Ranch Conservancy 

v. City of Newport Beach (2017) 2 Cal.5th 918, 936 (Banning Ranch).) In this 

way, the Coastal Act answers questions that might otherwise have been left to 

local discretion, and an agency cannot pretend those answers are too speculative 

for it to incorporate into analysis of potential environmental impact. (Banning 

Ranch, at pp. 936-937.) SB 375 is another statute that changed how public 

officials must measure environmental impact. Crucially, this change does not 

have the same effect on every EIR. Instead, SB 375 took aim at the precise type 

of public actor whose EIR is under scrutiny in this case: a large regional planner. 

And it told that actor to do the very thing SANDAG failed to do: take long-term 

steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, rather than expect

these reductions to come from technological advances or other measures. 
6

SB 375‘s particularized focus sets today‘s case apart from a typical 

development project or permit application. In fact, that legislation established that 

the EIR in this case will preclude certain environmental analysis for various future 

projects. Part of the political bargain behind SB 375 was a tradeoff between 

centralized coordination and individual action. Once a regional transportation 

plan is final, SB 375 provides that any future ―mixed-use and transit priority 

projects that are consistent with the limits and policies specified in [the plan] need 

not additionally analyze greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks.‖ 

(Center for Biological Diversity, supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 230.) This is another 

reason why SANDAG was required by both SB 375 and CEQA to elaborate on 

why the plan‘s long-term emissions increases are harmful. When a regional 

planner‘s EIR fails to sufficiently depict long-term impact, the problem trickles 

down into other projects over the years, further compounding the harm to the

Legislature‘s climate stabilization goals. 

Because this case is our court‘s first effort to address the relationship 

between SB 375 and CEQA, it‘s worth emphasizing what is at stake in mapping

the intersection of these two statutes. SB 375 is part of a new generation of 

California law that deals with the complex threat of greenhouse gas emissions. 

And the parts of the statute at issue in this case specifically confront the role that 

actors such as SANDAG — the regional planner for a sprawling metropolitan area 

that millions of Californians call home — play in the generation of greenhouse 

gases. To the extent climate change is the starkest environmental threat of our 

time, SB 375 is one of this era‘s most important environmental statutes. CEQA, 

meanwhile, has long stood as one of the state‘s most important classic 

environmental statutes. Today‘s majority opinion is the first statement from this 

court about how the duties created by each of these statutes relate to one another. 
7

By ruling that the EIR in this case passes CEQA muster, the majority does harm 

not only to CEQA but to SB 375 as well. 

III.

The fundamental problem with SANDAG‘s plan is that it fails the exact 

long-term environmental goal SB 375 was enacted to further. Climate change is 

distinct from certain other types of environmental harm in that individual 

contributions to the overall problem are both small and widespread. But rather 

than simply accepting the widespread responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions

as a structural constraint limiting California‘s capacity to reduce emissions, 

SB 375 calls on regional planners to coordinate a response, in the form of 

centralized plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from a region‘s

transportation infrastructure. (See Gov. Code, § 65080, subd. (b)(2).) The

legislation begins by warning that the ―transportation sector is the single largest 

contributor of greenhouse gases‖ in the state, producing nearly half of overall 

greenhouse gas emissions. (Stats. 2008, ch. 728, § 1(a), p. 5065.) The Legislature 

thus declared that ―greenhouse gas reductions from changed land use patterns and 

improved transportation‖ will be ―necessary‖ to slowing climate change. (See id.,

§ 1(c).) 

Though the EIR carefully occludes this problem, it nonetheless appears 

SANDAG largely ignored SB 375‘s call. As is true statewide, vehicle emissions 

comprise nearly half of the San Diego region‘s output of greenhouse gas. But 

rather than confronting that problem in the manner SB 375 prescribes —

reductions in overall vehicle use — SANDAG proposes to increase vehicle 

emissions in the long run. Crucially, this increase goes well beyond the effect of 

population growth. SANDAG‘s regional transportation plan proposed to increase 

both per capita greenhouse gas emissions and per capita daily vehicle miles 

traveled between 2010 and 2050. Once SANDAG‘s plan is implemented, each 
8

person in the San Diego region will on average be driving more every day and 

generating more greenhouse gas than the region‘s inhabitants today. Needless to 

say, the entire region will be producing far more greenhouse gas from 

transportation in 2050 than today as well. 

Increasing per capita greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled 

over the next 40 years cuts precisely against SB 375‘s mandate to dramatically

reduce greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle use in the long run. But because this 

is a CEQA case, the ultimate question is not whether SANDAG‘s plan will 

achieve some particular measure of environmental preservation. Rather, the 

question is whether SANDAG explained the plan‘s environmental impact in 

enough detail and with enough clarity that the public can make an informed 

decision that the proposed changes are worth the long-term cost to the planet‘s 

health, as well as understand the urgency of mitigating the harm. (See In re Bay–

Delta etc. (2008) 43 Cal.4th 1143, 1162 (Bay–Delta) [―The purpose of an EIR is 

to give the public and government agencies the information needed to make 

informed decisions, thus protecting  ̳ ―not only the environment but also informed 

self-government.‖ ‘ ‖].) SANDAG‘s EIR fails on that score. 

Even as SANDAG‘s plan contemplate, on careful inspection, four decades

of increased emission of greenhouse gases, its EIR obscures this problem in 

several ways. For starters, the crucial fact that the plan will increase per capita 

vehicle miles driven throughout the next 40 years does not appear to have been 

included anywhere in the body of the EIR‘s cumulative impact analysis, which is 

where most people are likely to focus their attention when considering the plan‘s 

costs and benefits. Instead, SANDAG appears to have not mentioned this fact up 

until it issued a response to the objections that the Attorney General filed to the 

draft EIR. That response to objections triggered by the draft is buried in a nearly 

700-page appendix to the EIR. As this court explained just a few months ago, 
9

―  ̳ ―[i]nformation  ̳scattered here and there in EIR appendices,‘ or a report  ̳buried 

in an appendix,‘ is not a substitute for  ̳[the] good faith reasoned analysis‘ ‘‘ ‘ ‖

that CEQA requires. (Banning Ranch, supra, 2 Cal.5th at p. 941.) Instead, the 

statute requires for this information to ―  ̳be presented in a manner calculated to 

adequately inform the public and decision makers, who may not be previously 

familiar with the details of the project.‘ ‖ (Ibid.) 

But the problem with SANDAG‘s EIR is not simply that the agency failed 

to mention the projected increases to per capita vehicle use until it responded to 

outside comments. Even if this information were part of the impact analysis, the 

EIR would still obscure the plan‘s long-term environmental harm. SANDAG‘s 

EIR uses three significance criteria to depict greenhouse gas emissions under the 

plan. Only two of these three criteria actually measure emissions levels. The 

third, labeled GHG-3, addresses the Air Resources Board‘s statewide ―Scoping 

Plan‖ and SANDAG‘s own ―Climate Action Strategy.‖ Neither of these 

documents establishes specific emissions targets. Instead, they both focus on the 

general strategies and policies that will be needed to reverse climate change. But 

even for these strategies and policies, SANDAG‘s EIR misleads the public. First, 

the statewide Scoping Plan specifically calls on regional planners to ―implement 

sound land use and transportation policies to lower VMT [vehicle miles traveled] 

and shift travel modes.‖ The plan also predicts that over the next few decades 

―[r]egional land use and transportation strategies would grow in importance and 

reverse the trend of per-capita vehicle miles traveled.‖ Nowhere does the Scoping 

Plan support SANDAG‘s implicit assumptions that others will conveniently make 

up for emissions increases from increased driving. To the contrary: the Scoping 

Plan expects regional planners to reduce vehicle traffic. 

SANDAG‘s Climate Action Strategy — issued in the same year as the EIR 

challenged here — similarly lists ―Reduce Total Miles of Vehicle Travel‖ as 
10

―Goal 1‖ in a list of ―land use and transportation-related policy options available 

to help SANDAG‖ ―achieve short-term (2020) and longer-term (2035 and 2050) 

goals for greenhouse emissions.‖ The Climate Action Strategy further observed

that ―[s]tate-level efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions . . . will not succeed 

if the amount of driving — also known as vehicle miles traveled — continues to 

follow past trends and rates of increase‖ and warned that improvements in fuel 

technology alone ―will not achieve the long-term 2050 goal for greenhouse gas 

reduction unless per capita vehicle miles traveled in the state is reduced about five 

percent below the baseline 2005 level.‖ Indeed, the Climate Action Strategy even 

proposed strategies for reducing vehicle use, explaining that ―[l]owering vehicle 

miles traveled means providing high-quality opportunities to make trips by 

alternative means to driving alone . . . and by shortening vehicle trips that are 

made.‖ 

Which brings us to the elephant in the room –– one SANDAG‘s EIR

manages to leave remarkably occluded. Given the relative clarity of statewide 

statutory goals for greenhouse gas emissions and the nature of SANDAG‘s 

responsibilities under CEQA, there is a jarring disconnect between the projected 

impact of SANDAG‘s plan and the reference points that GHG-3 uses to measure 

the plan‘s harm. Whereas the Air Resource Board‘s Scoping Plan and 

SANDAG‘s Climate Action Strategy both recognize that the San Diego region 

needs to reduce vehicle use and shift travel modes in the long run, SANDAG‘s 

plan projects decades of per capita increases. But instead of acknowledging this 

problem –– the elephant in the room –– the EIR states the ―[t]he Scoping Plan

does not have targets established beyond 2020‖ and claims that the regional 

transportation plan ―would be aligned with‖ and ―help to implement the goals and 

policies‖ of the Climate Action Strategy. SANDAG‘s attempt to ignore what it 

recognized just months earlier in its Climate Action Strategy is troubling, since it 
11

lets SANDAG make reassuring promises in an aspirational strategy document 

while at the same time investing billions in contrary policies whose impact the 

EIR in this case obscured. An EIR that ignores the authoring agency‘s own 

promises to the public does not contribute to ―informed self-government‖ in the 

way CEQA contemplates. (Bay–Delta, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 1162.) 

Just as misleading is SANDAG‘s presentation of the two significance 

criteria in the EIR that quantify emissions increases. GHG-2 is the only one of 

those two criteria that analyzes greenhouse gas impact for the plan‘s entire 

lifetime, rather than just a short-term window before the real harm sets in. This is 

a problem because SANDAG‘s plan deviates from the state‘s long-term goals

even as the plan technically meets short-term emissions targets. According to the 

Attorney General and other challengers, even this short-term good news is not due 

to anything SANDAG is doing or building. Rather, it comes from the success of 

the state‘s new vehicle efficiency regulations as well as the lingering effects of the 

economic recession. And sure enough, as construction under SANDAG‘s plan 

sets in, emissions will increase. Because GHG-2 ends real analysis at 2035 

though, it does not depict the harm of the plan‘s later phases. Instead, SANDAG 

presents a rosy picture of limited immediate harm, even while it marches the 

region toward a much worse future. SANDAG needed to communicate this 

problem better. A future in which the San Diego region‘s transportation sector 

emits more greenhouse gas than today — both per capita and cumulatively — is at 

odds with the state‘s aim to reduce vehicle use and cut greenhouse gas emissions

in the long run, no matter if the plan meets short-term reduction targets. 

As for GHG-1, the sole criteria that measures long-term impact in more 

detail, it too fails to depict the extent of the plan‘s harm. GHG-1 compares 2010 

emissions levels with projections for 2020, 2035, and 2050. The plan first notes 

that 2020 emissions will be lower than 2010 levels and thus notes that the plan 
12

will not be harmful in that timeframe. Again, this may have more to do with 

statewide vehicle regulations than any of SANDAG‘s choices. And more to the 

point, the state‘s climate plan is not to reduce transportation emissions for a few 

years and then give up and begin to increase them again. But that is exactly what

SANDAG is proposing. By 2035, as the infrastructure changes take hold, the 

region‘s transportation emissions will begin to surpass 2010 levels. That increase 

becomes more dramatic by 2050, once, in the EIR‘s words, ―most of the highway, 

transit, and . . . other infrastructure projects, [will] be in place and operational in 

accordance with the [plan].‖ The EIR thus notes that the plan will have ―a 

significant impact‖ by that year.

While SANDAG is correct to note that 2050 greenhouse gas output will be 

―significant,‖ the EIR never explains the extent and impact of the plan‘s steep 

emissions increase. After all, SANDAG‘s plan does more than simply fall short of 

statewide emissions reduction goals. Rather, the plan trends in the opposite 

direction and thus makes those goals difficult to achieve, with no analysis in the 

EIR of just how difficult. The majority observes that ―the basis of the plaintiffs‘ 

. . . critique of the EIR . . . is apparent in the EIR itself.‖ (Maj. opn., supra, at p. 

20.) Yet CEQA‘s provisions and purpose are designed to facilitate deliberation by 

empowering the public to understand environmental consequences, and not simply 

to ensure that an expert reading an EIR could conceivably connect the dots. (See 

California Building Industry Assn. v. Bay Area Air Quality Management Dist.

(2015) 62 Cal.4th 369, 388.) In the absence of additional explanation and context, 

the public simply has no way to understand what it means for a raw emissions 

quantity (in this case, 33.65 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent for 

2050 compared to 28.85 for 2010) to be ―significant.‖ The EIR never compares 

the plan‘s increased greenhouse gas output with the emissions reductions that both 

scientific consensus and state policy have deemed necessary to stabilize the 
13

climate. And it never explains whether or to what extent long-term emissions 

reduction goals will remain feasible if SANDAG builds what it has proposed. The 

EIR‘s cursory treatment of 2050 impact — with no meaningful effort to explain 

how the emissions increase is significant — fails to depict the plan‘s 

incompatibility with the goals recognized in SB 375 and in SANDAG‘s own 

Climate Action Strategy. 

SANDAG was not required to reduce emissions at precisely the same rate 

that the entire state aims to do the same. (Cf. Center for Biological Diversity, 

supra, 62 Cal.4th at p. 226 [noting that ―nothing . . . cited in the administrative 

record indicates the required percentage reduction from business as usual is the 

same for an individual project as for the entire state population and economy‖].) 

But it needed to explain better the danger of increasing vehicle miles traveled and 

greenhouse gas emissions (both total and per capita), in defiance of the statutory 

call to dramatically reduce those contributors to climate change. Long-term plans 

require long-term impact analysis. (See Vineyard Area Citizens for Responsible 

Growth, Inc. v. City of Rancho Cordova (2007) 40 Cal.4th 412, 441.) Instead, this 

one highlights the plan‘s limited short-term damage and then fails to contextualize 

or explain the cause and extent of long-term damage. Difficult though it may be to 

hide the elephant in the room, the EIR manages time and again to obscure the 

problems SANDAG‘s plan would beget. 

IV.

California law makes greenhouse gas emission reduction a priority and 

embraces an understanding of metropolitan governance that places regional 

planners in a pivotal position to support that long-term goal. Now that SB 375 and 

other statutes clearly establish both the statewide goal of reducing greenhouse gas

emissions and place regional planners in such a crucial role, SANDAG and other 

regional planning agencies have a duty under CEQA to explain where and how the 
14

regional transportation plans they issue pursuant to SB 375 disadvantage that goal. 

The first problem with SANDAG failing that duty in this case is that the public 

was left with little sense of how harmful the region‘s continual emissions increases 

will be in the long run. A second, related problem is that this shortsighted 

discussion of environmental impact limited the EIR‘s analysis of potential 

alternatives and mitigation. The majority and I seem to agree that SANDAG and 

other regional planning authorities have a responsibility to ―ensure that CEQA 

analysis stays in step with evolving scientific knowledge and state regulatory 

schemes.‖ (Maj. opn., supra, at p. 24.) The crux of my concern here is that it is 

precisely this responsibility SANDAG failed to fulfill. This failure distorts both 

the public‘s deliberation about the plan and the agency‘s proposed efforts to 

mitigate the harm of the projected emissions increases. 

CEQA‘s environmental protection comes not only from requiring public 

officials to disclose environmental impact but also from analysis of how harmful 

impact can be mitigated or avoided. This ―mitigation and alternatives discussion 

forms the core of an EIR.‖ (Bay–Delta, supra, 43 Cal.4th at p. 1162.) While the 

validity of SANDAG‘s mitigation and alternatives analysis was not the question 

we granted review on, that issue is not fully separable from the question of 

whether SANDAG did enough to depict the environmental impact of its plan. An 

EIR‘s failure to explain the precise nature and extent of that harm can affect —

and in this case, limit — the alternative measures that the agency offers to the 

public. (See, e.g., Lotus v. Department of Transportation (2014) 223 Cal.App.4th 

645, 658 [―The failure of [an] EIR to separately identify and analyze the 

significance of the impacts . . . precludes both identification of potential 

environmental consequences arising from the project and also thoughtful analysis 

of the sufficiency of measures to mitigate those consequences.‖].) 
15

SANDAG was required under CEQA to explain feasible measures for 

mitigating or avoiding the steep emissions increases (both per capita and 

cumulative) that its plan proposed. (See Pub. Resources Code, § 21601.) 

Sometimes it proves difficult for a reviewing court to identify what alternative 

measures an EIR could in theory have compared to the proposed plan. But the 

amicus curiae briefing in this case explains that the EIR considered no plans to 

prioritize mass transit over highway lane construction. This includes two 

alternative plans — both proposed during the CEQA process by members of the 

public — that would have led to much lower vehicle miles traveled and overall 

greenhouse gas emissions while accommodating the region‘s projected population 

growth. The EIR never analyzed an alternative plan of that kind. Instead, five of 

the six alternatives analyzed in the EIR produce either the same or more 

greenhouse gas emissions as SANDAG‘s plan. And the one alternative plan that 

compares favorably to SANDAG‘s plan would still produce more greenhouse gas 

emissions in 2050 than the region emitted in 2010. Put simply, despite the

mandate in SB 375 that regional planners reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 

SANDAG refused to consider any future scenario where the region‘s 

transportation infrastructure emits less greenhouse gas than today. Part of why the 

agency could get away with this halfhearted — if not highly misleading —

mitigation analysis is that it downplayed the impact of increasing greenhouse gas 

emissions into 2050. As the Court of Appeal found, SANDAG‘s failure to convey 

the extent of its long-term harm made it easy for the agency to ignore alternatives 

to the plan‘s steep emissions increases. 

V.

Together, CEQA and the state‘s greenhouse gas emission statutes establish 

the legal structure for how the state is to contend with climate change, and how it 

may balance the considerable benefits of development with the costs to the 
16

planet‘s health. In providing that framework, the statutes leave regional planners 

an important measure of discretion. But there are limits on that discretion. Where 

statutes establish environmental goals as clearly as SB 375 and the rest of the 

state‘s climate change legislation, CEQA requires analysis of whether a project 

will work ―to the disadvantage of‖ those imperatives. (Pub. Resources Code,

§ 21083, subd. (b)(1).) At a minimum, SANDAG had to explain how its regional 

transportation plan affects the state‘s long-term goal of reducing greenhouse gas 

emissions from transportation infrastructure. 

No one is asking SANDAG to singlehandedly prevent California from 

blowing through its greenhouse gas emissions limits. But the agency was given a 

specific role in the state‘s coordinated climate change agenda: to reduce 

transportation emissions from the San Diego region. Under SANDAG‘s plan and 

according to its projections, the opposite will occur. While the agency is for the 

most part entitled to make that choice, it does not have discretion to downplay the 

consequence — one requiring blunter acknowledgement as the elephant in the 

room that it is. If SANDAG plans to permit hundreds of billions of dollars to be 

spent in pursuit of a plan that departs so starkly from scientific and political 

consensus about the emissions decreases needed to avert climate catastrophe, it 

must explain this divergence in sufficient detail for the public to recognize the 

long-term harm that will unfold in its name. SANDAG‘s EIR is too vague and 

shortsighted to fulfill that duty. In excusing this failure, the majority heightens the 

risk that other regional planners will shirk their responsibilities, too. 

CUÉLLAR, J.
See last page for addresses and telephone numbers for counsel who argued in Supreme Court.

Name of Opinion Cleveland National Forest Foundation v. San Diego Association of Governments

__________________________________________________________________________________

Unpublished Opinion

Original Appeal

Original Proceeding

Review Granted XXX 231 Cal.App.4th 1056

Rehearing Granted

__________________________________________________________________________________

Opinion No. S223603

Date Filed: July 13, 2017

__________________________________________________________________________________

Court: Superior

County: San Diego

Judge: Timothy B. Taylor

__________________________________________________________________________________

Counsel:

Kevin P. Bundy; Cory J. Briggs Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, Rachel B. Hooper, Amy J. Bricker, Erin B. 

Chalmers; Daniel P. Selmi; Coast Law Group and Marco Gonzalez for Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic UCLA School of Law, Cara Horowitz and Jesse Lueders for 

Climate Scientists Dennis D. Baldocchi, Robert A. Eagle, Marc Fischer, John Harte, Mark Z. Jacobson, 

James C. McWilliams, Aradhna K. Tripati and Anthony L. Westerling as Amici Curiae on behalf of 

Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Michelle W. Anderson, Deborah A. Sivas and Luke W. Cole for League of Women Voters of California, 

Audubon California, Bike San Diego, California Native Plant Society, California Wildlife Foundation, 

Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, Climate Action Campaign, Coalition for Clean Air, 

Committee for Green Foothills, Communities for a Better Environment, Defenders of Wildlife, 

Environmental Defense Center, Environment Now, Environmental Protection Information Center, Food & 

Water Watch, Friends of Harbors, Beaches and Parks, Greenbelt Alliance, High Sierra Rural Alliance, Hills 

for Everyone, Landwatch Monterey County, League to Save Lake Tahoe, Marin Conservation League, 

Mono Lake Committee, Mountain Area Preservation, Napa County Farm Bureau, SanDiego350, Save 

Mount Diablo, Save the Bay, Sierra Nevada Alliance, Sierra Watch and Solano County Orderly Growth 

Committee as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Law Offices of Stephan C. Volker, Stephan C. Volker, Alexis E. Krieg and Daniel P. Garrett-Steinman for 

Backcountry Against the Dump, Inc., as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiffs and Appellants.

Julie D. Wiley; Cox, Castle & Nicholson, Michael H. Zischke, Andrew B. Sabey, Linda C. Klein; The 

Sohagi Law Group, Margaret M. Sohagi and Philip A. Seymour for Defendants and Appellants.

M. Reed Hopper and Jonathan Wood for Pacific Legal Foundation as Amicus Curiae on behalf of 

Defendants and Appellants.
Pages 2 – S223603 – counsel continued

Counsel:

Thomas Law Group and Tina Thomas for California Infill Builders Federation and San Diego Housing 

Commission as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants.

Richard M. Frank, Jayni Foley Hein and Ethan N. Elkind for The Council of Infill Builders and The 

Planning and Conservation League as Amici Curiae on behalf of Defendants and Appellants.

Miller & Owen, Nancy C. Miller and Jennifer V. Gore for Building Industry Legal Defense Foundation, 

American Council of Engineering Companies, Associated General Contractors of California, Associated 

General Contractors of America, San Diego Chapter, California Building Industry Association, California 

Chamber of Commerce, California Construction and Industrial Materials Association, Construction 

Industry Air Quality Coalition, Golden State Gateway Coalition, Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, San 

Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership and Southern California Contractors Association as Amici Curiae on 

behalf of Defendants and Appellants.

Remy Moose Manley, Whitman F. Manley, Laura M. Harris and Christopher L. Stiles for California 

Association of Councils of Governments, Southern California Association of Governments, Metropolitan 

Transportation Commission, League of California Cities, California State Association of Counties, SelfHelp Counties Coalition, American Planning Association-California Chapter, Association of 

Environmental Professionals and Riverside County Transportation Commission as Amici Curiae on behalf 

of Defendants and Appellants.

Kamala D. Harris and Xavier Becerra, Attorneys General, Edward C. DuMont, State Solicitor General, 

Mark J. Breckler, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Sally Magnani, Assistant Attorney General, Janill L. 

Richards, Principal Deputy State Solicitor General, and Timothy R. Patterson, Deputy Attorney General, 

for Intervener and Appellant.
Counsel who argued in Supreme Court (not intended for publication with opinion):

Kevin P. Bundy

Center for Biological Diversity

1212 Broadway, Suite 800

Oakland, CA 94612

(510) 844-7100

Michael H. Zischke

Cox, Castle & Nicholson

50 California Street, Suite 3200

San Francisco, CA 94111

(415) 262-5100

Janill L. Richards

Principal Deputy State Solicitor General

1515 Clay Street, 20th Floor

Oakland, CA 94612-0550

(510) 622-2130