The Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District of California held this month that the Environmental Impact Report for the Tesoro Viejo mixed use development project in southeastern Madera County failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act. The court's opinion articulates a new standard for analysis and mitigation of impacts to archeological sites that are historical resources. It also adopts the Sixth Appellate District's recent holding that agencies do not have discretion to use predicted future conditions as the baseline for analysis of project impacts. Finally, the opinion reiterates that an EIR must contain a full disclosure of uncertainties affecting a project's water supply.

Two nonprofit organizations and the Dumna Tribe challenged the County's December 2008 certification of the Tesoro Viejo EIR, alleging a number of inadequacies under CEQA. The trial court granted the petition for a writ of mandamus on the ground that the project's water supply assessment ("WSA") was inadequate, but denied the other claims. The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's finding as to the WSA but reversed the trial court's findings that the EIR's treatment of historical resources and traffic satisfied CEQA. Madera Oversight Coalition, Inc., v. County of Madera, No. MCV045353 (5th Dist. 2011).