California Chaparral Institute v. Board of Forestry & Fire Protection

Reversing a California Superior Court, the California Court of Appeal ruled that the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection violated CEQA when it approved the California Vegetation Treatment Program, which would use controlled burning and other techniques to decrease the types of vegetation that fuel wildfires. The Court of Appeal found that substantial evidence did not support the State Board’s findings that the Program would avoid adverse effects on native chaparral and coastal sage shrub from “type conversion,” which refers to a replacement of native shrub species with non-native plants, and that evaluation and mitigation of any adverse effects could be “tiered” to project proponents’ future reviews. The appellate court said the State Board was “required under CEQA to consider the adverse environmental effects of type conversion—most specifically, the increased wildfire danger.” The Court of Appeals’ decision did not address the climate change-specific arguments made by the challengers in their original petition.