Yes, Attorney, Paralegal, And Engineering Time Can Be Available As Allowable Costs And Fees To A Prevailing City In A CEQA Case.
Public Resources Code section 21167.6(b)(1) authorizes an award of allowable fees or costs in a CEQA case to a prevailing party, which may include reasonable attorney, paralegal, and engineering fees in completing an administrative record which is required in a CEQA case.
In Russian Riverkeeper v. City of Ukiah, Case Nos. A168090/A169390 (1st Dist., Div. 3 Dec. 20, 2024) (unpublished), City closed a landfill with a cover system, certified an environmental report, and approved the landfill closure, decisions challenged unsuccessfully by plaintiffs in a CEQA case. The merits determination was affirmed on appeal. However, the lower court also awarded more than $73,000 to City for its attorney’s help in preparing the administrative record essential in CEQA cases. That ruling also was affirmed because when private litigants cede the record preparation to the City, attorney’s fees can be awarded in the lower court’s discretion under the right circumstances. (See The Otay Ranch, L.P. v. County of San Diego, 230 Cal.App.4th 60, 70-71 (2014); No Toxic Air, Inc. v. Lehigh Southwest Cement Co., 1 Cal.App.5th 1136, 1142 (2016).)