• Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Contact
  • About
  • Search
    • Search US
    • Search Global
  • Global Litigation
  • U.S. Litigation

Citizens Against Airport Pollution v. City of San Jose

Filing Date: 2010
Case Categories:
  • State Law Claims
    • State Impact Assessment Laws
Principal Laws:
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
Description: Challenge to amendment to airport master plan.
  • Citizens Against Airport Pollution v. City of San Jose
    Docket number(s): H038781
    Court/Admin Entity: Cal. Ct. App.
    Case Documents:
    Filing Date Type File Action Taken Summary
    07/02/2014 Opinion Download Denial of petition for writ of mandate affirmed. Petitioner challenged an addendum to the 1997 environmental impact report (EIR) for the City of San Jose’s International Airport Master Plan. The addendum assessed the impacts of amendments to the Plan, including changes to the size and location of future air cargo facilities, the replacement of air cargo facilities with 44 acres of general aviation facilities, and the modification of two taxiways to provide better access for corporate jets. The California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s rejection of the challenge. The appellate court was not persuaded that the changes to the Plan constituted a new project requiring a new EIR under CEQA. The court found that substantial evidence in the record showed that the changes to the Plan would not result in new significant impacts to noise levels, air quality, or burrowing owl habitat. The appellate court held that the City did not violate the 2010 CEQA guidelines for greenhouse gas emissions by failing to analyze greenhouse gas emissions in the addendum. The court concluded that the potential impact of greenhouse gas emissions did not constitute new information because information about greenhouse gas impacts was known or could have been known when the 1997 EIR and a 2003 supplemental EIR were prepared.

© 2023 · Sabin Center for Climate Change Law · U.S. Litigation Chart made in collaboration with Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP

The materials on this website are intended to provide a general summary of the law and do not constitute legal advice. You should consult with counsel to determine applicable legal requirements in a specific fact situation.