On June 3, 2011, the California 1st District Court of Appeal (“Appeals Court”) granted consideration of the California Air Resources Board’s (“CARB”) petition to overturn the decision of Judge Ernest Goldsmith of the San Francisco Superior Court of California (see May 27, 2011 edition of the WER). Judge Goldstein’s May 20th judgment ordered CARB to stop implementing its greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program until alternatives were analyzed as part of the agency’s scoping plan.  Judge Goldstein found that CARB had “committed a prejudicial abuse of discretion” by violating the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) in approving a scoping plan before the agency had responded to comments and completed an environmental review.

On May 23, 2011, State Deputy Attorney General Mark Poole filed a notice of appeal to Judge Goldsmith’s ruling on behalf of CARB.  On June 3, the Appeals Court granted consideration of CARB’s petition to overturn Judge Goldsmith’s decision and issued a temporary stay of Judge Goldsmith’s decision.  The Appeals Court also ordered the state agency and all opposing parties to file their arguments by June 20, 2011 in response to issues raised by CARB’s appeal.

A copy of the Appeals Court’s docket sheet for this proceeding is available here.