Second District Affirms Order Awarding CEQA Record Preparation Costs to Agency That Took Over Process After Unreasonable Delays, Notwithstanding Petitioner’s Election to Prepare Record

In an opinion filed June 28, and later ordered modified and published on July 27, 2018, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 6) affirmed the trial court’s $21,160.46 cost award in favor of a prevailing party public agency for costs associated with preparing the administrative record in a CEQA case, despite petitioner’s election to prepare the record, where the petitioner had unreasonably delayed and the agency acted reasonably.  LandWatch San Luis Obispo County v. Cambria Community Services District (2018) ___ Cal.App.5th _____. As an intended cost-saving measure, CEQA provides that petitioners may elect at the outset of CEQA litigation to prepare the administrative record, but their statutory right to do so is expressly made “subject to certification of [the record’s] accuracy by the public agency, within the [60-day] time limit specified in this subdivision.”  (Pub. Resources Code, § 21167.6(b)(2).)  Thus,…

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