Court Holds Agency May Not Cure Its Failure To Analyze Project's Potential For Increased Wildfire Risk

In a partially published decision in People ex rel. Bonta v. County of Lake (Oct. 13, 2024, A165677) __ Cal. App. __ [2024 Cal.App. LEXIS 667], the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's ruling in favor of the California Attorney General, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and California Native Plant Society (collectively, the "Petitioners") that a lead agency's failure to address the potential for increased wildfire risk in a Draft Environmental Impact Report is a prejudicial error that cannot be cured in the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR). The decision suggests that even where a project may not result in a potentially significant increase in wildfire risk, the CEQA Lead Agency's failure to adequately document this conclusion in the Draft Environmental Impact Report is fatal and requires the lead agency to restart the CEQA process. The court's reasoning can be extended to any environmental resource and impact category that is within