Where a petitioner in a CEQA case has elected to prepare the administrative record but unreasonably delays such preparation, the defendant agency may be awarded costs for preparing the record.  LandWatch San Luis Obispo Co. v. Cambria Comm. Serv. Dist., 25 Cal. App. 5th 638 (2018).

LandWatch, a nonprofit organization, filed a petition for writ of mandate alleging that the Cambria Community Services District failed to comply with CEQA when it approved an emergency water supply project.  LandWatch elected to prepare the administrative record, subject to the District’s certification of its accuracy.

LandWatch presented a draft administrative record index ten months after filing its petition.  There were disagreements over the scope of the index, and the District quickly prepared a revised version of the record.  However, LandWatch further delayed the production of supplemental documents that it had argued were necessary.  With trial nearing, the District prepared the supplemental index for LandWatch. The court noted that these delays in litigation put the District in financial distress because the county would not release $4.3 million in grant funds for the project while litigation was pending.

Ultimately, the District prevailed in the CEQA lawsuit, and the trial court awarded it $21,160.46 in costs for preparation of the administrative record and appendix.  LandWatch appealed the award of costs.

The court held that although LandWatch had elected to prepare the administrative record, the District properly took over preparation of the record and appendix after unreasonable delay on LandWatch’s part.  The court stated that LandWatch had the right to prepare the record, but “within the time limit specified in this subdivision,” which was 60 days from the date of the notice, as provided by Public Resources Code Section 21167.6(b). Because LandWatch did not present the documents to the District for certification until far beyond the time limit, the court found that LandWatch had unreasonably delayed, and thereby forfeited, its right to prepare the record.  Thus, an award of costs to the District for preparing the record was appropriate.

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