RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS

November 2006

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Third District Finds Purchase and Conversion of Land for Conservation Easement Not Categorically Exempt from CEQA Despite Its Environmentally Beneficial Purpose
California Farm Bureau Federation v. California Wildlife Conservation Board, ___Cal.App.4th___

On September 21, 2006, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court’s grant of a peremptory writ of mandate setting aside the California Wildlife Conservation Board’s (WCB) approval of a project involving the conversion of agricultural land into wildlife habitat as categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Res. Code, § 21000 et seq.). The court held that the project was not categorically exempt from CEQA, nor did it fall within the common sense exemption, despite its intended beneficial environmental purpose.