Union invokes California's landmark environmental law to challenge Newsom's return-to-office mandate

A union representing California attorneys and legal workers invoked CEQA to challenge Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2025 requirement that employees work in offices four days per week. The union said the mandate would take effect July 1 after thousands of state employees worked from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The union’s letter to more than 104 state agencies and departments claimed the change would cause significant environmental impacts without an environmental impact report. It estimated hundreds of thousands of additional monthly commutes, hundreds of thousands of new car trips, and thousands of tons of added air pollution from tailpipes, and it promised legal action if review is not completed.

"“Clearly, the state's blanket mandate that more than 90,000 workers commute to offices four days a week will impact California's environment,” Richard Drury, an attorney representing CASE, said in a statement. “But no environmental impact report for this project exists. We are asking the state to complete the report its own laws require before moving forward.”"

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