Developer-Prepared Cost Comparisons Can Show Economic Infeasibility Under CEQA

SPRAWLDEF et al. v. San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission et al., (Waste Connections, Inc.) (1st Dist., Div. 1, 05/28/2014, A137619)

In a precedent-setting decision, the First District Court of Appeal approved the alternatives analysis used to support a massive 35-year landfill expansion in the Suisun Marsh.  Challengers argued that more evidence was required to reject a reduced-size, shorter-term alternative on the ground of economic infeasibility.  The unanimous three-judge panel held that project alternatives can be rejected as infeasible under the California Environmental Quality Act on the basis of cost comparisons submitted by a developer.

The 320-acre Potrero Hills Landfill is located in protected upland areas of the Suisun Marsh near San Francisco Bay.  Beginning in 2003, the landfill operator proposed to expand the landfill by adding 260 acres of adjacent land and increasing the existing 220‑foot fill height.  The proposal required