Sierra Club v. City of Oxnard

The court set aside the City’s certification of the final environmental impact report (EIR) and required the City to prepare a “focused” EIR that addressed a list of issues identified by the court, most of which concerned the impacts of future sea level rise and related wetlands migration. In particular, the court said that the EIR’s description of the environmental setting had to be augmented “to analyze scientifically expected sea level rise during the life of the … project” and to consider the effects of the sea level rise on wetlands migration. The court also required revision of the EIR to consider impacts related to sea level rise and wetlands migration on wildlife and on the development plans. In addition, the analysis was required to estimate and quantify “additional risk potential” due to polar ice cap melt over the life of the project.