California Chaparral Institute v. Board of Forestry & Fire Protection

Two conservation organizations challenged state approvals of the California Vegetation Treatment Program, which is intended to serve as a component of California’s plan to reduce wildlife risk. The causes of action in the petition were for violations of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 4483 of the Public Resources Code, which requires special consideration for protection of chaparral and coastal sage scrub plant communities that are threatened by wildfires. The petition alleged that the CEQA review failed to adequately analyze greenhouse gas emission impacts, including failure to analyze “net loss of carbon sequestration with the removal of vegetation and damage to the ability of soils to sequester carbon as a result of vegetation treatment activities.” The petitioners also alleged a “failure to account for plant community extirpation due to projected climate change impacts and how the cumulative impact of their treatments will accelerate those impacts.”