Friends of Mammoth v. Board of Supervisors

Opinion

MOSK, J.

This case affords us the first opportunity to construe provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act of 1970 (EQA). (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21000-21151.)1 As the express legislative intent forthrightly declares, the EQA was designed to be a milestone in the campaign for “maintenance of a quality environment for the people of this state now and in the future . . . .” (§ 21000, subd. (a).) The specific question presented here is whether a municipal body is required to submit an environmental impact report (see §21100) pursuant to section 21151 of the code before it…