(2004) 122 Cal.App.4th 1289

The Court of Appeal held the so-called “90-day rule” applicable to petitions filed under the California Environmental Quality Act does not require the petitioner to schedule a specific hearing date on the merits within the 90-day period after filing the petition. Rather, simply filing a “request for hearing” is enough. An earlier case – McCormick v. Board of Supervisors (1988) 198 Cal.App.3d 352 – had held the petitioner had to “take affirmative steps sufficient to place the matter on the court’s docket for a hearing.” (198 Cal.App.3d at p. 358.) In ASDAN, the Court ruled the McCormick decision was no longer good law in light of 1994 amendments to Public Resources Code section 21167.4, the section that establishes the 90-day rule. [RMM Counsel of record: Whitman F. Manley]