Cemex Inc. v. Los Angeles County

MEMORANDUM *

We assume without deciding that Santa Clarita has standing to appeal the consent decree. Review of a consent decree is limited to ensuring that “the agreement is not the product of fraud or overreaching by, or collusion between, the negotiating parties, and that the settlement, taken as a whole, is fair, reasonable and adequate to all concerned.” Officers for Justice v. Civil Serv. Comm’n, 688 F.2d 615 , 625 (9th Cir.1982).

CEMEX’s suit against the county is based on a plausible legal claim — that further county environmental review of the project was preempted. See Cal. Coastal Comm’n v. Granite Rock Co., 480 U.S. 572, 593 , 107 S.Ct. 1419 , 94 L.Ed.2d 577 (1987); Ventura County v. Gulf Oil Corp., 601 F.2d 1080 , 1084—86 (9th Cir.1979). The county, acting as the lead agency under California law, see Cal. Pub. Res.Code §§ 2728, 21067; Cemex, Inc. v. County of Los Angeles, 92 Fed.Appx. 457 ,-, slip op. at 5 (9th Cir.2004), had sole authority to settle the case. When the parties settled, the project had undergone more than a decade of state environmental review. Rather than prolong the litigation, the parties negotiated the consent decree in good faith and at arm’s…