California Environmental Quality Act: judicial challenge: litigation transparency: identification of contributors.

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment, or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. CEQA authorizes specified entities to file and maintain with a court an action or proceeding to attack, review, set aside, void, or annul an act of a public agency on grounds of noncompliance with the requirements of CEQA. This bill would require a plaintiff or petitioner, in an action or proceeding brought pursuant to CEQA, to disclose the identity of a person or entity that contributes $1,000 or more, as specified, toward the plaintiff's or petitioner's costs of the action or proceeding. The bill also would require the plaintiff or petitioner to identify any pecuniary or business interest related to the project or issues involved in the action or proceeding of those persons or entities. The bill would authorize a court to, upon request of the plaintiff or petitioner, withhold public disclosure of a contributor if the court finds that the public interest in keeping that information confidential clearly outweighs the public interest in disclosure. The bill would provide that a failure to comply with these requirements may be grounds for dismissal of the action or proceeding by the court. The bill would also authorize a court to use the disclosed information to determine whether the financial burden of private enforcement supports the award of attorney's fees.