Union uses CEQA to challenge Newsom’s return-to-office order

A state worker union hopes to use a California environmental law notorious for obstructing the construction of new homes to block a very different kind of project: Gov. Gavin Newsom’s impending return-to-office order.

On Wednesday, the union representing state attorneys and administrative law judges sent “exhaustion” letters to over 100 state departments, arguing that the return-to-office order will require more than 90,000 state workers to commute four days a week, which will negatively impact California’s environment.

The California Environmental Quality Act requires agencies to complete a report on the additional carbon dioxide emitted from more drivers on the road before imposing the return-to-office order, the union said.

“Importantly, the CEQA review requires that each agency and department consider feasible alternatives, and we’ve been living in one of those for the last six years,” said Talene Ghazarian, the president of California Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges and Hearing Officers in State Employment.

“Status quo is a feasible alternative,” she said, referring to the current two-day, in-office policy most eligible state employees are following.

The Governor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The environmental lawsuit is the latest attempt to prevent the governor from carrying out his unpopular return-to-office order. Earlier this year, unions sponsored a bill that would give agencies authority to set department-specific telework policies, instead of adhering to the governor’s one-size-fits-all approach.

Before Newsom’s return-to-office order was delayed one year last June due to negotiations between the administration and unions, several labor groups filed lawsuits against the state alleging the governor’s administration violated California labor laws by issuing the mandate.

This isn’t the first time state workers’ commutes have been used to argue against the governor’s mandate. Last year, a group of anonymous government employees paid for several billboards to be erected along Interstate 80, arguing that the return-to-office order would result in more traffic.

Concerns of the public

CEQA has been used to block the construction of new housing. Last year, California lawmakers amended the environmental law to prevent the measure from being abused and continuing to increase building costs in the state notorious for its affordable housing crisis.

The law requires California agencies to evaluate proposed projects’ environmental consequences, and mitigate or eliminate those impacts. In this case, the “project” is the requirement that state employees work from government offices four days a week, which the union estimated would result in more than 15,000 tons of additional carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere each month from vehicle emissions.

Matthew Gauger, CASE’s vice president, said that the union sent “exhaustion” letters to California agencies, which included a scientific analysis of the return-to-office order. These letters are a “very important” step in CEQA cases because they outline the public’s concern with a project.

An analysis included with the letter conducted by Baseline Environmental Consulting, which concluded that return-to-office policy “runs counter to the state’s effort to reduce transportation-sector emissions,” outlined in California’s comprehensive roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality.

The union also pointed to data that the state published shortly after adopting telework during the COVID-19 pandemic, celebrating how remote work decreased Californian’s emissions and saved state employees’ money.

The union expects the agencies to complete reports of the environmental impact of the anticipated increase in carbon emissions from state workers’ commutes. If departments decline to complete those evaluations then that opens the door for the union to file a writ in superior court over the return-to-office order, Gauger said.

‘Status quo’ as mitigation

When asked whether the union expects this novel strategy will be able to stop the governor’s return-to-office order, Gauger said, “We expect to be very successful.”

“Putting 90,000 people on the road and pumping that much carbon into the air has an environmental impact,” he said “It should only be done if there’s a proper environmental impact report, and that hasn’t been done.”

CEQA requires agencies to mitigate or, if possible, eliminate environmental costs of projects, which union leaders said could be achieved if Newsom postpones his return-to-office order.

That outcome appears unlikely as Newsom sent a letter to cabinet secretaries earlier this month, directing them to prepare for state employees to be in offices four days a week.

The union hopes the “exhaustion” letters, and whatever legal process follows, can change the governor’s mind.

“We’re interested in helping the state comply with its own laws. We’re interested in helping the state meet its own environmental goals,” Ghazarian said.