AquAlliance v. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

The federal district court for the Eastern District of California held that more analysis of the impacts climate change would have on a water transfer program for the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta was required under NEPA. The court ruled, however, that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) did not require additional climate change analysis. The plaintiffs had challenged the CEQA “baseline” for “fail[ing] to account for ongoing increases in global temperatures,” but the court found that the plaintiffs did not develop the argument “in any serious way” and said it would not “manufacture an argument where none is made and where none exists.” With respect to the analysis of impacts associated with climate change, the court noted the general rule under CEQA that an environmental impact report need not evaluate the impacts of the environment on a project and found that the plaintiffs had not met their burden of identifying evidence that the project would “exacerbate” climate change impacts. Under NEPA, however, the court said the parties appeared to be in agreement that climate change’s impact on the project needed to be considered. The court found that the final environmental impact statement/report (FEIS/R) disclosed predicted declines in snowpack and streamflow due to climate change but failed to explain why the declines would not have significant impacts. The decision also addressed a number of non-climate change claims under NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, CEQA, and other state law.