Center for Biological Diversity v. California Geologic Energy Management Division

A California Superior Court so-ordered a stipulation dismissing with prejudice a lawsuit alleging that the California Department of Conservation Geologic Energy Management Division violated CEQA when it approved 17 oil and gas wells in Los Angeles and Kern Counties. The petitioner had alleged that the agency relied on environmental reviews conducted in the 1990s that failed to account for new information about the impacts of oil drilling. The stipulated request for dismissal said the petition had been rendered moot by the rescission or cancellation of the approvals for the wells. The CEQA determinations for the wells also had been voided.

Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) filed a lawsuit challenging the California Department of Conservation Geologic Energy Management Division’s (CalGEM’s) approval of 17 oil and gas wells in Los Angeles and Kern Counties. CBD contended that CalGEM violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by approving the well permits without adequate environmental review. The petition alleged that CalGEM relied on “antiquated, inapplicable, and inadequate environmental reviews of other agencies” that were conducted in the 1990s. The petition alleged that the CEQA documents were inadequate, including because they did not consider or disclose new information that had emerged since they were prepared about oil drilling’s significant impacts. The petition alleged that the CEQA documents did not mention greenhouse gases.