Laurel Heights Improvement Assn. v. Regents of University of California

• Citation: 253 Cal.Rptr. 426,764 P.2d 278,47 Cal.3d 376
• Decision Date: 01 December 1988
• Docket Number: No. S001922,S001922
• Court: California Supreme Court
• Parties: , 764 P.2d 278, 50 Ed. Law Rep. 203, 19 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,427 LAUREL HEIGHTS IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO, INC., Plaintiff and Appellant, v. The REGENTS OF the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Defendant and Respondent.

Page 426

253 Cal.Rptr. 426

47 Cal.3d 376, 764 P.2d 278, 50 Ed. Law Rep. 203,

19 Envtl. L. Rep. 20,427

LAUREL HEIGHTS IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO, INC., Plaintiff and Appellant, v. The REGENTS OF the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Defendant and Respondent.

No. S001922.

Supreme Court of California In Bank.

Dec. 1, 1988.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing Jan. 26, 1989.

Kathryn R. Devincenzi, Moody & Hill and Duane J. Perry, San Francisco, for plaintiff and appellant.

John K. Van de Kamp, Atty. Gen., Andrea Sheridan Ordin, Chief Asst. Atty. Gen., Theodora Berger, Asst. Atty. Gen., Susan Durbin, Timothy R. Patterson and Craig C. Thompson, Deputy Attys. Gen., Mark I. Weinberger, Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger, San Francisco, and Daniel P. Selmi, Los Angeles, as amici curiae on behalf of plaintiff and appellant.

James E. Holst, Karl E. Droese, Jr., Berkeley, Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Robertson & Falk, Jerome Falk, Steven L. Mayer and Ethan P. Schulman, San Francisco, for defendant and respondent.

EAGLESON, Justice.

In this action, we determine the sufficiency of an environmental impact report (EIR) on the proposed relocation within the City of San Francisco of biomedical research facilities of the School of Pharmacy at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

A neighborhood association challenges the EIR on three primary grounds: (1) that it does not discuss anticipated future activities at the new location and the effects of those activities; (2) that it does not ade quately discuss feasible alternatives to the project; and (3) that there is no substantial evidence the project's adverse environmental effects will be mitigated. These challenges are based on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub.Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.). ¹

We find the EIR was inadequate because: (1) it fails to discuss the anticipated future uses of the new facility and the environmental effects of those uses, and (2) the discussion of alternatives is inadequate under CEQA. We find, however, there is substantial evidence the environmental effects identified in the present EIR will be sufficiently mitigated. We also find the Court of Appeal properly determined the neighborhood association is entitled to an award of its attorneys fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5.

Because the EIR is invalid in part, a new EIR must be prepared, submitted for public review and comment, and certified in accord with CEQA procedures. We decline, however, to order UCSF's present activities at the new location stayed pending certification of a new EIR.

FACTS

Many of the relevant facts in this case are of a detailed, technical nature and are best understood in the context of the legal issues presented. We will set forth those facts in our discussion. The following is the background of the dispute we are asked to resolve:

The UCSF Parnassus campus in San Francisco is the site of the University's Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dentistry. In 1982, the University of California (University) prepared a long range development plan for UCSF, which indicated there were serious space constraints at the Parnassus campus and concluded there was a need to develop off-campus locations for academic and support activities.

To alleviate these space constraints, in February 1985 the Regents of the University of California purchased the Presidio Corporate Center, formerly known as the Fireman's Fund Insurance Building, located in the Laurel Heights neighborhood of San Francisco, approximately two miles northeast of the Parnassus campus. The Laurel Heights neighborhood is a mixture of residential and commercial development. The facility purchased by the Regents is a 10-acre site containing a 354,000 square-foot building (exclusive of parking area) and a 13,000 square-foot annex.

The Regents initially claimed the purchase had no significant environmental effects and was exempt from CEQA's requirement for an EIR because the relocation to Laurel Heights would involve only the acquisition and operation of an existing facility and negligible or no expansion of existing use at that facility. The Regents subsequently decided an EIR was necessary. The reason for the change of opinion appears to have been a decision after the purchase to relocate School of Pharmacy biomedical research units to the Laurel Heights facility.

UCSF prepared a draft EIR, which stated that "The UCSF proposal is to move the School of Pharmacy basic science research units from the UCSF Parnassus campus to Laurel Heights." The draft EIR also indicated that a secondary objective was to consolidate scattered School of Pharmacy facilities into a single building. The draft EIR disclosed that the basic science research units to be relocated included a number of facilities that handled possibly toxic chemicals, possible carcinogens, and radioactive substances; that various substances would be vented from the building into the outside air; that hazardous wastes would be generated; and that harmful exposure to hazardous substances could occur through worker negligence, accidents, or unidentified risks. Potential environmental effects identified in the draft EIR included direct and cumulative effects on air quality caused by laboratory emissions vented into the outside air and effects on human health from exposure to hazardous chemicals. The draft EIR also identified other effects, including noise, traffic congestion, and parking.

The proposed relocation has provoked an intense and continuing controversy in the Laurel Heights neighborhood. The primary dispute is whether scientific research using toxic chemicals, carcinogens, and radioactive materials is too high-risk to be conducted in a residential neighborhood. After a 45-day period for public review of the EIR and comment, the Regents held a public meeting to respond to comments received during the review period. UCSF proposed measures to mitigate the identified environmental effects and prepared a final EIR, concluding that the environmental effects had been "reduced to a level of insignificance." The Regents certified the final EIR.

The Laurel Heights Neighborhood Improvement Association, Inc. (Association) then petitioned for a writ of mandate setting aside the EIR approval. The superior court denied the petition and in a written statement of decision concluded the Regents had certified the EIR in the manner required by law and that their action was supported by substantial evidence. The Association appealed.

The Court of Appeal reversed on three primary grounds. First, it found the EIR did not adequately describe the "project" within the meaning of CEQA because the EIR did not discuss the future cumulative effects of the relocation of additional UCSF operations to the Laurel Heights site. Second, the Court of Appeal found inadequate the EIR's discussion of project alternatives. Third, the court found no substantial evidence to support the Regents' conclusion that all significant environmental effects will be mitigated.

The Court of Appeal denied the Regents' petition for a rehearing and, at the same time, granted the Association's request for attorneys' fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 and issued a stay enjoining the Regents from conducting any research at the Laurel Heights facility for 90 days. We then stayed the Court of Appeal's order in its entirety, but subsequently modified our order to prohibit the Regents from introducing radioactive materials to the facility pending further order of this court. We then granted the Regents' petition for review of the Court of Appeal's decision on the merits.

DISCUSSION

With the exception of the Court of Appeal's award of attorneys fees to the Association, all the substantive issues before us relate to the sufficiency of the final EIR certified by the Regents and the finding that potential environmental effects will be mitigated to a level of insignificance. An understanding of the purposes of EIR's and their role in the protection of California's environmental resources is therefore a necessary foundation for our decision.

The foremost principle under CEQA is that the Legislature intended the act "to be interpreted in such manner as to afford the fullest possible protection to the environment within the reasonable scope of the statutory language." (Friends of Mammoth v. Board of Supervisors (1972) 8 Cal.3d 247, 259, 104 Cal.Rptr. 761, 502 P.2d 1049.) More than a decade ago, we observed that, "It is, of course, too late to argue for a grudging, miserly reading of CEQA." (Bozung v. Local Agency Formation Com. (1975) 13 Cal.3d 263, 274, 118 Cal.Rptr. 249, 529 P.2d 1017 [hereafter Bozung].) The Legislature has emphasized that "It is the intent of the Legislature that all agencies of the state government which regulate activities ... which are found to affect the quality of the environment, shall regulate such activities so that major consideration is given to preventing environmental damage...." ( § 21000, subd. (g).)

With narrow exceptions, CEQA requires an EIR whenever a public agency proposes to approve or to carry out a project that may have a significant effect on the environment. ( § 21100 [state agencies], § 21151 [local agencies], Guidelines, § 15002, subd. (f)(1).) ² "Project" means, among other things, "[a]ctivities directly undertaken by any public agency." ( § 21065, subd. (a).) " 'Significant effect on the environment' means a substantial, or potentially substantial, adverse change in the environment." ( § 21068; see also Guidelines, § 15002, subd. (g).) The Legislature has made clear that an EIR is "an informational document" and that "[t]he purpose of an environmental impact report is to provide public agencies and the public in general with detailed information about the effect which a proposed project is likely to have on the environment; to list ways in which the significant effects of such a...