Law360, New York (December 5, 2014, 10:15 AM EST) -- On a gray and rainy Los Angeles morning — the final day of oral arguments in retiring Justice Marvin Baxter's long and distinguished career — the California Supreme Court presided over a spirited oral argument session in what promises to be a landmark California Environmental Quality Act case. The high court's decision in Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley is expected within 90 days of the Dec. 2 argument, and is anticipated to determine the fundamental legal nature and practical utility of CEQA's regulatory exemptions — commonly known as categorical exemptions — as well as the exceptions to those exemptions. The case's outcome will have far-reaching consequences for the state and local lead agencies, project developers and courts throughout the state that must routinely interpret, apply and defend CEQA challenges to approvals based on categorical exemptions....