California AG Intervened in Litigation over Approval of Development in Wildfire-Prone Area Based on Deficient Environmental Review

FEBRUARY 1, 2021

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed a motion to intervene in litigation over the approval of the Guenoc Valley Project, a large proposed “residential and resort development project” in a wildfire-prone area of Lake County, CA. In the motion, AG Becerra noted that in approving the project, Lake County officials “failed to adequately analyze and mitigate wildfire risk, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental impacts” and “failed to provide both decision makers and the public with accurate information” regarding such impacts as required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The motion also noted that the project is “located largely within a very high fire hazard severity zone,” and that county officials failed to adequately address evidence raised during the CEQA review process indicating the project “would exacerbate wildfire risk, would increase the likelihood of wildfire ignition, and lacked adequate opportunities for evacuation in a wildfire.”