Division 22. Petitions Under the California Environmental Quality Act · Chapter 2. California Environmental Quality Act Proceedings Involving Streamlined CEQA Projects · Article 1. General Provisions · Adopted 2014 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceRule 3.2227 sets the streamlined CEQA briefing sequence — petitioner’s opening brief, the respondent’s and real party’s joint response, a joint excerpts appendix, and an optional reply — each on a fixed clock running from the case management conference, and requires the merits hearing within eighty days of that conference.
(a)Briefing schedule Unless otherwise ordered by the court:
(1)Within 5 days after filing its brief, each party must submit an electronic version of the brief that contains hyperlinks to material cited in the brief, including electronically searchable copies of the administrative record, cited decisions, and any other brief in the case filed electronically by the parties. Such briefs must comply with any local requirements of the reviewing court relating to e-briefs.
(2)The petitioner must serve and file its brief within 25 days after the case management conference, unless petitioner served and filed the petition within 10 days of the public agency’s issuance of its Notice of Determination, in which case petitioner must file and serve its brief within 35 days after the case management conference.
(3)Within 25 days after the petitioner’s brief is filed, the respondent public agency must—and any real party in interest may—serve and file a respondent’s brief. Respondents and real parties must file a single joint brief, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
(4)Within 5 days after the respondent’s brief is filed, the parties must jointly file an appendix of excerpts that contain the documents or pertinent excerpts of the documents cited in the parties’ briefs.
(5)Within 10 days after the respondent’s brief is filed, the petitioner may serve and file a reply brief.
(1)The hearing should be held within 80 days of the case management conference, extended by the number of days to which the parties have stipulated to extend the briefing schedule.
(2)If the court has, within 90 days of the filing of the petition or complaint, set a hearing date, the provision in Public Resources Code section 21167.4 that petitioner request a hearing date within 90 days is deemed to have been met, and no further request is required.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 3.2227 lays out the sequence that gives streamlined CEQA review its speed. Petitioner’s opening brief is due twenty-five days after the case management conference — or thirty-five days if the petitioner earned that extra time by filing and serving the petition within ten days of the agency’s Notice of Determination, the incentive built into the rule to reward parties who move quickly at the outset. The respondent agency must then file a brief within twenty-five days, and any real party in interest may join it; the two normally file one brief together rather than two, unless the court says otherwise.
Two housekeeping deadlines round out the schedule. Within five days of any brief being filed, the filer has to submit an electronic version with hyperlinks running to the administrative record, cited cases, and other briefs in the case, so the court can move straight from an argument to its source. Within five days of the respondent’s brief, the parties jointly assemble an appendix of the record excerpts their briefs cite. Petitioner then gets up to ten days after the respondent’s brief to file an optional reply.
All of that is meant to land on a hearing date within eighty days of the case management conference, adjusted only by however many days the parties stipulated to add to the briefing schedule along the way. If the court sets that hearing date within ninety days of the petition being filed, it also satisfies a separate statutory requirement that the petitioner request a hearing date within that window, so no additional request is needed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a petitioner have to file its opening brief after the CEQA case management conference?
Twenty-five days, or thirty-five days if the petitioner filed and served the petition within ten days of the agency’s Notice of Determination, under Rule 3.2227(a)(2).
Do the respondent agency and real party in interest file separate briefs?
Normally no. Rule 3.2227(a)(3) requires a single joint brief unless the court orders otherwise.
When is the hearing on the merits held in a streamlined CEQA case?
Within eighty days of the case management conference, extended by any days the parties stipulated to add to the briefing schedule, under Rule 3.2227(b)(1).
Do the parties need to separately request a hearing date under the CEQA statute?
Not if the court sets the hearing within ninety days of the petition being filed — Rule 3.2227(b)(2) treats that as satisfying the Public Resources Code section 21167.4 request requirement automatically.
Amendment History
Rule 3.2227 adopted effective July 1, 2014.
Source & verification. Rule text is reproduced verbatim from
the Judicial Council of California. Adopted by the Judicial Council of California.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:streamlined CEQA briefing schedulewhen is CEQA merits hearing heldCEQA reply brief deadline California