California Clean Energy Committee v. City of San Jose

Appellant California Clean Energy Committee (CCEC) appeals from a trial court’s judgment in favor of respondent City of San Jose (City). CCEC filed a petition for writ of mandate challenging City’s certification and approval of an environmental impact report (EIR) analyzing the potential environmental effects of a proposed update to City’s general plan, titled “Envision San Jose 2040 General Plan” (hereafter Envision San Jose), prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.). The trial court granted summary judgment in City’s favor, after finding that CCEC failed to exhaust its administrative remedies, as no administrative appeal was filed from City’s planning commission’s certification of the final EIR.

For the reasons set forth below, we find that the city council improperly delegated CEQA certification duties to the planning commission, and conclude CCEC adequately exhausted its administrative remedies. Accordingly, we reverse the judgment.

Factual and Procedural Background

City’s Approval of the Envision San Jose Plan

City made the EIR for the Envision San Jose plan available for public review on June 17,…