CEQA & environmental
CEQA statute of limitations
Pub. Res. Code § 21167's deadlines to sue: 30 days from a notice of determination, 35 from a notice of exemption, 180 days when no notice is filed.
Definition
Section 21167 of the CEQA statute sets the deadlines to challenge an approval by petition for writ of mandate: 30 days from the filing of a notice of determination, 35 days from the filing of a notice of exemption, and 180 days from approval (or commencement) when no notice is filed. These are among the shortest limitation periods in California law — a deliberate finality policy — and the clock runs from the notice's filing and posting, not from when a challenger learns of the project.
Why it matters in an underwrite
The limitations scheme is what converts open-ended CEQA litigation risk into a fixed option period that capital can price: construction lenders and equity typically fund only after the window lapses unchallenged. The whole notice discipline — NOD or NOE filed the day of approval, posting confirmed with the clerk — exists to start this clock, because a notice pulled early or materially defective revives the 180-day period.
Sources & related guides
See also
See the term in the law itself
Read the controlling text in the Code Library, or ask the AI how it applies to your project.
Last reviewed 2026-07-29. General information, not legal advice.