Water & Environmental Resources v. Stanislaus Coun
This appeal relates to water well construction in Stanislaus County. The County issues hundreds of permits annually for residential and agricultural uses under an apparently routine permitting process.
The main purpose of environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is to “identify the significant effects on the environment of a project, to identify alternatives to the project, and to indicate the manner in which significant effects can be mitigated or avoided.” (Pub. Res. § 21002.1, subd.(a).) This environmental review is often costly, so statutory and categorical exemptions have been created to ease the burdens of environmental review for certain classes of projects. There is also an exemption “called the “common sense” exemption, which applies “[w]here it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment” (CEQA Guidelines, § 15061, subd.(b)(3).
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