San Joaquin Raptor/Wildlife Rescue Center v. County of Stanislaus

In San Joaquin Raptor/Wildlife Rescue Center v. County of Stanislaus (1994) 27 Cal.App.4th 713, the draft EIR for a 633-home plus commercial development plus park project completely omitted acknowledgment that the project was, in fact, adjacent to a sensitive wetland. The draft EIR inaccurately said all surrounding land was agricultural. The adjacency of the wetland surfaced only because of a comment from an objector. (See id. at pp. 724-725.) While the court did not quote the response, the opinion made it clear the response was inadequate because it did not allow a reader to understand the size or location of the wetlands or mention the effects of the project on the wetlands (such as the effect on the wetlands of the widespread mosquito abatement required by a nearly population center). The response, in short, left a big hole on the topic of those wetlands. (See id. at p. 726.) The court concluded the description of a residential development project in an EIR was inadequate because it failed to include expansion of the sewer system, even though the developer recognized sewer expansion would be necessary for the project to proceed. (Id. at pp. 729-731.) Because the construction of additional sewer capacity was a "required" or "crucial element" without which the proposed development project could not go forward, the EIR for the project had to consider the environmental impacts of such construction. (Id. at pp. 731-732.)