Sierra Club v. County of San Diego CA4/1

This action arises out of the County of San Diego’s (County) 2011 general plan update, wherein the County issued a program environmental impact report (PEIR), and adopted various related mitigation measures. In this action the Sierra Club sought, in a petition for writ of mandate, to enforce one mitigation measure adopted by the County: climate change mitigation measure CC-1.2 (Mitigation Measure CC-1.2). With Mitigation Measure CC-1.2, the County had committed to preparing a climate change action plan with “more detailed greenhouse gas [(GHG)] emissions reduction targets and deadlines” and “comprehensive and enforceable GHG emissions reductions measures that will achieve” specified quantities of GHG reductions by the year 2020.

However, the Sierra Club alleged that instead of preparing a climate change action plan that included comprehensive and enforceable greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction measures that would achieve GHG reductions by 2020, the County prepared a climate action plan (CAP) as a “plan level” document that expressly “does not ensure reductions.” The County also developed associated guidelines for determining significance (Thresholds). According to…