A to Z Law attorney Robert N. Kwong was among the expert speakers at a training workshop held at Ventura City Hall on Nov. 6 titled, “2015 CEQA Essentials: An Introduction & Intermediate Level Training Workshop.”
Thirty-two people attended this event hosted by the Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP), which provided attendees a basic understanding of the fundamentals of CEQA, the state guidelines and case studies. CEQA – the California Environmental Quality Act – requires state and local agencies to identify significant environmental impacts of their actions and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if possible.
Here’s how attendee Mitchel Morrison, an environmental scientist/planner with Envicom Corp. in Westlake Village, summed up Kwong’s presentation, in a written review of the workshop for the AEP Channel Islands Chapter:
Mr. Kwong brought fresh clarity to CEQA, simplifying the essence of the statue with four central concepts: information, mitigation, justification, and litigation. He stressed CEQA not only protects the environment but discloses ongoing environmental protection to the public. Californians would do well to remember that the statute and case law remain a national and international anomaly, serving as an example of public involvement in resource protection that affords an equal opportunity to every member of the public to make their case. How American.”