Richmond Shoreline Alliance v. City of Richmond

The California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s judgment denying a challenge to the City of Richmond’s 2020 approval of a mixed-use development project on a shoreline property formerly used as a chemical manufacturing and research facility. The arguments rejected by the appellate court included contentions that the trial court erred when it rejected the petitioners’ argument that the City should have prepared a supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act to address allegedly new information regarding an increased rate of sea level rise. The appellate court found that this argument failed for multiple reasons, including because sea level rise was not an impact caused by the project, because the City’s responses to potential environmental conditions decades in the future could not be considered part of the project, and because the range of sea level rise projections would warrant different responses that the City did not have to analyze as part of this project. The appellate court further concluded that “to the extent plaintiffs contend that the City was required to consider sea level rise as a factor that may exacerbate the project’s impacts or to consider how to manage or mitigate the effects of sea level rise, the administrative record amply demonstrates that the City did so in the EIR.” The appellate court also rejected the argument that supplemental review was required because the original EIR did not consider vulnerability to sea level rise affecting exposure to hazardous substances.