A Yolo County Superior Court judge last Friday (Jan. 6) dismissed a suit brought by Larry Bidinian of the West Davis Community Association charging that the University of California, Davis, neurophysiology facility fails to comply with environmental regulations. Ruling from the bench, Judge Thomas Warriner agreed with the university that Bidinian and the association twice failed to meet the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act's statute of limitations -- first exceeding a 35-day limit for bringing suit after the campus filed a notice for the neurophysiology project with the state, and then exceeding the 180-day limit after UC President Jack Peltason issued his approval of the project. "We're pleased, of course, that the judge has recognized that we've complied with CEQA and correctly implemented this important project," said Sid England, campus environmental planner. Last October, Warriner denied Bidinian's request for an injunction to temporarily halt work at the facility. He found that Bidinian and the association had failed on both procedural grounds (meeting the requirements of the statute of limitations) and substantive grounds (proving a health hazard) to justify a preliminary injunction. At that time, Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Robert Grey noted that the judge was "essentially confirming what we've said all along -- that the project complies with environmental regulations and that its non-disease research poses no significant risk to public health. We've taken great care to ensure that the facility meets the highest standards -- an observation that this ruling apparently recognizes." A leased and remodeled building in a South Davis research park, the neurophysiology facility supports the campus's growing program in cognitive neuroscience and neurobiology. The facility will house a maximum of 12 monkeys and eight cats for researchers in the nearby UC Davis Center for Neuroscience. Currently four monkeys and two cats are assigned to the facility. Within days of receiving Warriner's injunction denial last fall, Bidinian notified the university he had filed another suit -- this one challenging the newly approved Long Range Development Plan. Since 1989, Bidinian, representing the West Davis Community Association, has filed five lawsuits challenging various aspects of building and development at UC Davis.