Japanese Village v. Los Angeles County MTA CA2/5

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff, Japanese Village LLC, is the owner of the Japanese Village Plaza in the Little Tokyo neighborhood of Downtown Los Angeles. Defendant, The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority, is constructing three subway stations and an underground subway through Downtown Los Angeles. The project is entitled the Regional Connector Transit Connector Project. The subway will directly link the 7th Street/Metro Center Station located at 7th and Figueroa Streets to the Metro Gold Line light-rail system in Little Tokyo. Because of partial federal funding for the project, the Federal Transit Administration was required to conduct environmental review pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act. (42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq.) Under these circumstances, an environmental impact report/environmental impact study must be jointly prepared by federal and local authorities. (Environmental Protection Information Center v. California Dept. of Forestry and Fire Protection (2008) 44 Cal.4th 459, 472; Cal. Code of Regs., tit. 14, § 15220 et seq,) For clarity’s purpose, the final environmental impact report/environmental impact study will be referred to as the environmental…