John R. Lawson Rock & Oil, Inc. v. State Air Res. Bd.

OVERVIEW

*85 This case involves modifications to a set of regulations first adopted in 2008, known as the "Truck and Bus Regulation" (the regulations). In 2014, the State Air Resources Board (the Board) adopted proposed modifications to the Truck and Bus Regulation, extending certain deadlines for small fleet operators to comply with the regulations. John R. Lawson Rock & Oil, Inc. (Lawson), a fleet operator that had already incurred financial liability complying with the regulations, along with a related interest group, the California Trucking Association (collectively respondents), filed a writ petition against the Board and Richard Corey in his official capacity as Executive Officer of the Board *86 (defendants and appellants) alleging the 2014 modifications were improper under both the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and California's Administrative Procedures Act (APA).

The trial court ultimately ruled in respondents' favor on both claims. With respect to CEQA, the court concluded the Board made several errors, including approving *8 a project prior to the completion of an environmental study, adopting the wrong baseline for its analysis, incorrectly concluding…