City of San Diego v. Bd. of Trs. of Cal. State Univ.

At dispute in this case was an environmental impact report (EIR) certified by the Board of Trustees (Board) of the California State University (CSU) that concerned the Board’s project to expand the campus of San Diego State University (SDSU) to accommodate more than 10,000 additional students. The SDSU project will contribute significantly to traffic congestion off-campus in the City of San Diego. The Board declined to use any of its budgeted funds, or any of CSU’s financial resources, for off-site environmental mitigation, finding that mitigation was infeasible. The Court of Appeal directed the Board to vacate its certification of the EIR. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the EIR in this case did not comply with the California Environmental Quality Act where the Board erroneously assumed that a state agency may contribute funds for off-site environmental mitigation only through earmarked appropriations, to the exclusion of other available sources of funding. View "City of San Diego v. Bd. of Trs. of Cal. State Univ." on Justia Law