Calif. Light Rail Ruling Makes For Thornier Enviro Reviews

Nossaman Partner Robert Thornton was mentioned in the Law360 article "Calif. Light Rail Ruling Makes For Thornier Enviro Reviews" regarding the decision by the California Supreme court to allow continued construction on Expo Phase 2, the extension of a light rail line from Culver City to Santa Monica.

The case centered around whether the Exposition Construction Authority properly relied on future projections of traffic and air quality as its "baseline" to measure the environmental impacts of the rail line.  The high court confirmed that an existing conditions baseline was the norm for an environmental impact analysis, but determined that an agency could use future conditions as the only baseline for reviewing a project's impacts in limited circumstances.  

Mr. Thornton was named as representing Expo Authority in the case.