ELR Citation: 42 ELR 20218
No(s). B233859 (Cal. Ct. App. 2d Dist. Oct 23, 2012)

A California appellate court held that a local ballot measure requiring a city to seek competitive bidding for future trash service contracts was not a "project" under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) subject to environmental review. A city resident alleged that the city violated CEQA by failing to make any decision as to whether the measure would have a significant impact upon the environment, failing to consider any alternatives or mitigating measures, and failing to conduct the requisite informed decisionmaking under CEQA, prior to placing it on the ballot. But the definition of a "project" within the meaning of CEQA excludes government fiscal activities that do not involve a commitment to a specific project. Here, the ballot measure merely established a competitive bidding process for future waste services contracts, and the new manner of awarding such contracts is a fiscal activity that does not involve a commitment to a specific project. As such, the measure is not a project within the meaning of CEQA.