Development Initiatives Create Major CEQA Backlog

Edward J. Casey is a partner at law firm Alston & Bird.

LOS ANGELES—Anti-development sentiment in Los Angeles is creating a backlog of CEQA environmental reviews in the planning department, according to Edward J. Casey, a partner at law firm Alston & Bird. CEQA has two options for environmental review: the full Environmental Impact Report and the shorter Mitigated Negative Declaration, which can be used for projects that will not produce significant environmental impacts. According to Casey, the MND report should be sufficient for many projects, but an increase in CEQA litigation from the anti-development community has driven developers to opt for the full and lengthier report to protect themselves against potential litigation, which is leading to the backlog of draft EIRs in the planning department. Casey, however, just won a case that may turn things around. Munyan, et al. v. City of Los Angeles, et al. defeated a challenge to the City of Los Angeles’ approval of new film studio project in the Sun Valley area of Los Angeles, affirming that an MND was sufficient for the project. With implications for many other projects in Los Angeles County, the case illustrates that an MND can be sufficient and successfully defended in a legal challenge. To find out more about the differences between an MND and EIR, what is creating the backlog and why this is such an important case for developers, we sat down with Casey for an exclusive interview.

GlobeSt.com: What is creating the backlog of CEQA EIRs?