Source: https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=e08b24ed-fad6-4bd6-81a0-fa2598b8c7df
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 08:43:26+00:00

Document:
The supplemental briefing on rehearing called for by the Court was completed on January 11, 2019. That briefing addressed the issue whether Appellants’ CEQA cause of action challenging the City’s land-use approval decision was time-barred (as found by the trial court) because Appellants failed to serve it within 90 days of the date of the challenged decision (as required by the statute of limitations contained in Government Code § 65009(c)(1)(E), part of the Planning and Zoning Law). While the issue on rehearing was under consideration, but prior to any new decision, Real Party PG&E’s much-publicized bankruptcy petition filing occurred on January 29, 2019, thereby effecting an automatic stay of litigation against debtor PG&E under federal bankruptcy law. Thereafter, on February 8, 2019, the First District filed its published opinion after rehearing, reaching the same result as it previously did – that the CEQA claim was not time-barred – but this time with fractured reasoning featuring additional lead opinion text and an approximately two-page concurring opinion.
Neither opinion addresses the effect (if any) of the automatic bankruptcy stay.
What takeaways can be gleaned from the First District’s interesting new published opinion in this matter? As underscored by the concurring opinion, there is no majority holding as to whether CEQA’s 180-day statute of limitations for filing (Pub. Resources Code, § 21167(a)) would prevail over Government Code § 65009(c)(1)’s 90-day statute of limitations (which applies to both filing and service) in the event of a conflict because there was no conflict as to timely filing on the facts here – the petition (including its CEQA claim) was filed on the 90th day, thus complying with both statutes in that regard. Yet the perceived “conflict” between CEQA’s 180-day filing statute and the 90-day Government Code statute plainly drove the reasoning in the lead opinion, as reflected by the grounds it cited to distinguish Royalty and Friends, and by its remark that applying a 90-day service period would cut CEQA’s 180-day filing period in half.
Despite the issue being raised in the supplemental briefing, the lead and concurring opinions did not appear to recognize that CEQA’s “10-days after filing” service provision in § 21167.6 – located in a separate statutory section from its statute of limitations, which is contained in § 21167 – has never previously been construed as a “statute of limitations” for service that could “directly conflict” (and thus compete) with the “absolute” 90-day service limitations period of Government Code § 65009(c)(1) recognized in Royalty and Friends. Apart from the split the decision creates with those published Fourth District precedents, the ramifications of the opinion’s treatment of § 21167.6’s service provision as a “statute of limitations” were not explored; suffice to say that if this published decision stands, such ramifications could be highly unfavorable for future CEQA plaintiffs who timely file but fail to timely effect service of their actions. In essence, the reasoning of the Court in this case cannot be reconciled with the Fourth District’s precedents and appears to create an interesting new statute of limitations hurdle for CEQA plaintiffs in future cases in the First District. As CEQA practitioners will discover upon reading this case, Royalty, Friends, and the decision in Board of Supervisors v. Superior Court (1994) 23 Cal.App.4th 830 cited in those decisions, this is the first published California case holding that CEQA’s 10-day service provision operates as a statute of limitations, which competes with and trumps the 90-day service statute of limitations of Government Code § 65009(c)(1). Unlike CEQA defendants in the Fourth Appellate District, First District defendants should now, logically, have two bites at a statute of limitations defense in CEQA cases, at both the filing and service stages. Stay tuned….
Finally, I’m honored to be co-presenting on a panel with Jonathan Shardlow on March 18, 2019, at this year’s excellent California Land Use Law & Policy Conference, at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles. My panel starts at 3:30 p.m. and is entitled “The California Supreme Court and CEQA: What the Recent Decisions Tell Us About the Future of CEQA Review.” In addition to discussing recent Supreme Court decisions and grants of review, we will discuss ostensible splits and inconsistencies in published case law and what issues may be ripe for future Supreme Court review. Should be an interesting and lively discussion . . . hope to see you there!

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