(a) Upon the court’s own motion or the motion of any party to a comprehensive adjudication, a court may stay a comprehensive adjudication for a period of up to one year, subject to renewal in the court’s discretion upon a showing of good cause, in order to facilitate any of the following:
(1) Adoption of a groundwater sustainability plan that provides for a physical solution or otherwise addresses issues in the comprehensive adjudication.
(2) The development of technical studies that may be useful to the parties in the comprehensive adjudication.
(3) Voluntary mediation or participation in a settlement conference on all, or a portion of, the subject matters or legal questions identified in the comprehensive adjudication.
(4) Compromise and settlement of the comprehensive adjudication or issues in the comprehensive adjudication.
(b) Before renewing a stay granted pursuant to subdivision (a), the parties shall report on the progress being made on the issues that were identified as the reasons for the stay.
(c) A stay pursuant to this section shall not stay, or otherwise delay, the parties’ obligations to provide initial disclosures pursuant to Section 842 unless the court determines the initial disclosures will not benefit resolution of the comprehensive adjudication.
(Added by Stats. 2015, Ch. 672, Sec. 1. (AB 1390) Effective January 1, 2016.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018