CEQA Appeals Increasingly Target Infill Development, with Housing the Top Target, Holland & Knight Study Finds
SAN FRANCISCO (September 24, 2026) – California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) appeals are increasingly targeting housing and essential infrastructure in existing California communities, according to a new Holland & Knight study of appellate decisions from 2013 to 2023.
The study found that nearly two-thirds of challenged projects were infill development, while residential projects represented the largest category of appeals (25.5 percent) and infrastructure needed to support development was also frequently challenged. The findings reflect a larger appellate caseload than previously recognized and point to a CEQA litigation burden that continues to delay projects for years, complicating California's efforts to expand housing and modernize critical infrastructure.
"Why California Can't Build Reliable and Affordable Essential Projects" is one of the most comprehensive studies of CEQA appellate outcomes to date, covering 498 published and unpublished decisions from 2013 to 2023. California courts issued an average of 45.3 CEQA appellate decisions annually between 2013 and 2023, the analysis found – more than 4.5 times the rate reported in Holland & Knight's 2015 study of published decisions alone, which identified fewer than 10 annually. Drawing on three companion trial court studies conducted over the past decade, the report notes that approximately 200 CEQA lawsuits are filed in superior courts statewide every year, a figure confirmed by California's Little Hoover Commission.
The report highlights a growing disconnect between California's policy goals and its permitting and litigation system and recommends major reforms aimed at preserving CEQA's environmental protections while reducing litigation-driven delays and creating greater certainty for essential projects. Among these recommendations is the passage of California Proposition 45, which is on the ballot in November 2026. Proposition 45 would seek to establish clear, enforceable timelines for environmental review, permitting and litigation for essential projects such as housing, clean energy, water, transportation, healthcare, education, broadband and wildfire prevention – while maintaining California's environmental and worker protections.
"California cannot solve its housing, infrastructure and affordability challenges if CEQA continues to delay the very projects the state urgently needs," said Jennifer Hernandez, head of Holland & Knight’s West Coast Land Use and Environmental Group and lead author of the study. "A law designed to protect the environment should not be used to block housing, reliable water and electricity infrastructure, public services or good-paying jobs. The data presented in our study make an incontrovertible case for Proposition 45."
Among the report's key findings:
Housing and Infill Developments Remain the Top Targets of CEQA Appeals
Housing accounted for roughly a quarter (25.5 percent) of all cases in the 11-year study period, remaining the top target of CEQA appeals and consistent with prior Holland & Knight studies in the series. More than one-third of all challenged residential projects were multifamily or mixed-use developments. A related trial court study found that CEQA lawsuits filed in 2020 alone challenged approximately 48,000 approved housing units statewide, just under half of that year's total housing production.
The study found that among projects categorized by location, nearly two-thirds (64 percent) of challenged projects were "infill" development within existing communities, while only about 11 percent were located on previously undeveloped county land. Nearly 90 percent of challenged housing developments were infill projects. The share of appeals involving greenfield projects fell to 23 percent in the current analysis from 38 percent in Holland & Knight's 2015 study.
Environmental Impact Reports Remain the Primary Litigation Target
Environmental impact reports (EIRs) – the most detailed, time-consuming and costly form of CEQA compliance – were involved in roughly 53 percent of appellate decisions reviewed in the study. The report found that EIRs were challenged far more frequently than any other CEQA compliance pathway and were found deficient in 23 percent of decisions.
Agencies Prevail in Most Appeals, But Projects Can Still Wait Years
Agencies prevailed in an average of 75 percent of appeals in the updated study, up from 56 percent in the 2015 study. Notably, agencies prevailed in 80 percent of unpublished decisions compared with 70 percent of published decisions, meaning agency wins were more likely to appear in decisions that cannot be cited as judicial authority in subsequent CEQA lawsuits.
CEQA lawsuits, inclusive of appeals, typically take four to five years to resolve, stalling most approved projects and often deterring lenders, investors and grant-making agencies from funding them. The study argues that CEQA gives project opponents a relatively low-risk path to delay approved projects: Challengers can sue anonymously for a nominal filing fee, recover attorneys' fees if they prevail, and generally face little comparable financial exposure if they lose.
"In a state that purportedly values equity and opportunity but has achieved the nation's highest poverty rate and homeless population because we can't build the housing, infrastructure and public services we need – let alone approve new manufacturing and other good-paying jobs for those without advanced degrees – we instead preserve a 1970 law that ceased functioning as intended decades ago," Ms. Hernandez said. "California should not have to choose between protecting the environment and building the housing and infrastructure we need."