Communities for a Better Environment v. City of Richmond

A California Superior Court discharged the writ of mandate that barred Chevron Products Company (Chevron) from proceeding with an expansion project at its oil refinery in the City of Richmond in northern California. The writ was granted in 2009, when the court held that the City’s review under the California Environmental Quality Act had been inadequate. Among the shortcomings identified by the court was a failure to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. After an appellate court affirmed the Superior Court’s decision in 2010, the City conducted another review. A final environmental impact report was certified in July 2014.

A state court in California held on June 5, 2009 that the City of Richmond’s environmental impact report pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) concerning a major expansion of an oil refinery in the City violated CEQA’s greenhouse gas requirements. The court held that although the City identified a standard of no net increases in greenhouse gas emissions, it failed to identify any means of achieving that standard.  In addition, the court held that the City improperly deferred its formulation of greenhouse gas mitigation measures until a future date.  The court also found that the environmental impact report (EIR) failed to clearly state whether the expansion project will allow the refinery to process heavier crude oil than itis currently processing.

Three environmental groups sued Richmond, California over its decision to grant a subsidiary of Chevron permission to expand a local oil refinery, which the groups allege will emit at least 898,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases annually and disproportionately affect nearby minority communities. The groups allege that the city certified the environmental impact report without providing a specific plan for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions.