Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Transportation

A California trial court dismissed environmental organizations’ California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuits challenging the California Department of Transportation’s environmental review of the Yolo 80 Corridor Improvements Project. The project adds a lane of traffic to segments of Interstate 80 and U.S. Route 50. The court rejected all of the petitioners’ arguments, including that the CEQA review was improperly “piecemealed,” that the project was inconsistent with the regional transportation plan, and that the CEQA review overestimated the project’s benefits such as congestion relief and underestimated impacts such as greenhouse gas emissions.