City of San Diego, Plaintiffs and Appellants v. Board of Trustees of the California State University…

Summary

The court held that the Board improperly treated off-site environmental mitigation as infeasible unless the Legislature made an appropriation specifically earmarked for that purpose. CEQA requires the Board to consider available discretionary powers and funding sources, including project budgets and non-state funds, and the erroneous legal assumption invalidated both the infeasibility finding and the statement of overriding considerations. The judgment directing the Board to vacate certification of the environmental impact report was affirmed and remanded for further proceedings.