This third edition updated and revised Community Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act is intended to help laypersons use the power of CEQA to influence decisions that will affect their environment. It identifies the key legal obligations of public agencies and provides helpful tips on how to make sure those obligations are met. A glossary of key terms is also included at the end of the Community Guide. This Community Guide also points out how CEQA’s existing environmental review and mitigation requirements can be used to combat global warming.

The Community Guide is not intended to provide an in-depth analysis of CEQA’s procedures or the hundreds of judicial decisions since the passage of CEQA in 1970.

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Community Workshops
Since 1998, the PCL Foundation has offered introductory community workshops focusing on the fundamentals of CEQA. This workshop series is intended to present useful information about CEQA, and is especially intended to empower local residents and local environmental and social justice groups with the ability to affect decisions at the local level that will fundamentally determine the future of their community.

Workshop Information >>

About the Author
J. William Yeates is an attorney specializing in environmental law, and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Planning and Conservation League.

The PCL Foundation wants to thank and acknowledge J. William Yeates for his dedication to environmental protection, for his commitment and skill as both a litigator and negotiator, and above all for his continuing willingness to update and improve this Community Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act, and to help train CEQA activists, throughout California, as part of PCLF's CEQA workshop program.