Air Quality | Baseline Environmental Consulting

Perkins Renewable Energy Project

The project proposes a 1,150-MW solar photovoltaic and battery energy storage facility in Imperial County. Baseline prepared an Air Quality Technical Report and BESS Thermal Runaway Event HRA for CEC review.

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Environmental Litigation Support

Baseline has considerable experience conducting third-party peer reviews of CEQA documents and providing expert comments for a variety of high-profile cases. Projects reviewed include mines, quarries, master plans, and warehouses. Our specific areas of expertise include:

Air Quality
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Hazardous Materials
Noise and Vibration
Energy

Examples of Recent Environmental Litigation Projects

Village at Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan

On behalf of the Sierra Watch, Baseline reviewed the Partially Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report (RDEIR) for the Village of Palisades Tahoe Specific Plan to determine whether potential environmental impacts related to air quality were properly evaluated, mitigated, and disclosed to the public. Based on our review, we identified substantial evidence of significant air quality impacts to the Lake Tahoe Air Basin that would result from implementation of the project.

In July 2025, Sierra Watch and Keep Tahoe Blue reached a settlement with Alterra Mountain Company to significantly scale back the "Village at Palisades Tahoe" redevelopment in Olympic Valley as follows:

• A 40% reduction in total hotel and condominium bedrooms
• A 20% reduction in new commercial space in the main Village area
• A reduction in the Mountain Adventure Camp size from 90 KSF to 72 KSF
• Establishment of a 25-year development timeline

UC Berkeley Long Range Development Plan

On behalf of the City of Berkeley, Baseline reviewed the UC Berkeley 2021 Long Range Development Plan (LRDP) Update Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) to determine whether potential environmental impacts related to air quality, greenhouse gas emissions, energy, and noise were appropriately evaluated, mitigated, and disclosed to the public. Based on our review, one of our overarching concerns was that the DEIR did not discuss how implementation of the proposed LRDP Update would control the rate of future increases in UC Berkeley population to ensure the population can be adequately accommodated by on-campus housing development, which is necessary to avoid or minimize environmental impacts associated with increases in off-campus commuter trips. We also identified numerous flaws in the DEIR analyses used to support the significance determinations, such as unsubstantiated emission and health risk calculations, technically infeasible and/or inadequate performance standards for mitigation, and significant data gaps.

In July 2021, the City of Berkeley and UC Berkeley reached an $82.6 million settlement to resolve litigation over the university's Long Range Development Plan. The agreement, running for 16 years, provides funding for city services (police, fire) and allows major housing projects to move forward, while establishing a collaborative planning process.

Fresno South Central Specific Plan

On behalf of the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, Baseline reviewed the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the South Central Specific Plan to determine whether potential environmental impacts related to air quality were properly evaluated, mitigated, and disclosed to the public. Overall, the plan failed to consider the existing poor air quality in the AB 617 community, evaluate health risks from future diesel truck trips, and establish adequate buffers between industrial facilities and sensitive receptors (e.g., residences and schools). Essentially, the City was not doing enough to protect their communities from intensifying industrial development. Ultimately, the City council voted 6-0 against that draft of the specific plan.