California Supreme Court Rejects "New Project" Test For Modifications To Previously Approved Projects

On September 19, 2016, the California Supreme Court issued its long awaited decision in Friends of the College of San Mateo Gardens v. San Mateo Community College District (Case No. S214061).

The Supreme Court held that when a governmental agency considers proposed changes to a previously approved project, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not authorize courts to invalidate an agency's CEQA determination regarding the modified project based on a court's threshold evaluation of whether proposed changes to the project result in a "new project", rather than a modified version of the old project. Instead, CEQA requires deference be accorded to a lead agency's environmental determinations when it approves project modifications for a project that already underwent full and adequate CEQA review, whether that review resulted in preparation of an Environmental Impact Report or a Negative Declaration. Thus, once a project has been subject to environmental