Name That CEQA Plaintiff!
The recent environmental justice lawsuit on AB 32 carried with it a typical CEQA characteristic: the plaintiff is a community organization formed for the purpose of a lawsuit whose name is usually a play on the issue. Thus, this case was Association of Irritated Residents v. CARB: “AIR,” get it?
Cute. But not even close to my favorite. That would have to be the group formed to file a lawsuit concerning the “Pocket” district of Sacramento, called — of course — the Pocket Protectors. I don’t think you can beat that one.
Others that come to mind are “Santa Margarita Area Residents Together”, which sued San Luis Obispo, thus leading to SMART v. SLO (actually an important case concerning the validity of development agreements). Another attempt, which was really trying too hard in my view, was the group calling itself “A Local And Regional Monitor” — ALARM.
I once asked the attorney who represented the Pocket Protectors what she thought of the name. “That’s half the reason I took the case!” she responded.
Any other good ones I missed?
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About Jonathan
Jonathan Zasloff teaches Torts, Land Use, Environmental Law, Comparative Urban Planning Law, Legal History, and Public Policy Clinic – Land Use, the Environment and Loc…
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Here’s one of my favorite group names (this isn’t random; I actually know them): http://www.jetairpollution.com/
Well, there’s No Oil v. City of L.A. (No isn’t bad for a group seeking to stop something). And then my favorite, which must be immortalized in a CEQA case somewhere: Get Oil Out.
And Save Tara, of course!
How about Concerned Community Members and Parents of Redwood Elementary School Students (CCoMPRESS)? Not very high value letters, but it’s worthwhile as a triple word score. And the airport one is by far my favorite.
AIR was not formed for the purpose of this lawsuit. They have been around for some time. Even one of the EJAC members (Tom Frantz) lists his affiliation as AIR.
Maybe they were formed only to file lawsuits, but it wasn’t _this_ lawsuit.
Southern California Association for Responsible Environmental Development (SCARED) isn’t bad either…
Barthelemy v. Chino Basin Mun. Water Dist. (1995) 38 Cal.App.4th 1609