Second District Court of Appeal Upholds EIR Addendum for Oil and Gas Wells

The Second District Court of Appeal issued an unpublished decision in the case Los Padres Forestwatch et al., v. County of Ventura on May 1, 2019, addressing the preparation of an EIR addendum for a 2015 CUP allowing the continued operation of existing oil and gas wells and the addition of new wells. The case ...Read More

U.S. Supreme Court Deals Oregon Small Miners A Blow

The U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) has declined to review the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Bohmker v. Oregon, holding that Oregon’s five-year moratorium on the use of motorized mining equipment in rivers and streams that contain essential salmon habitat is not preempted by federal law. The Oregon law was passed following California’s revisions to California Fish ...Read More

California Court Places a Limit on the Expansion of Legal Nonconforming Mining Operations

On March 6, 2019, the California First District Court of Appeal, in Point San Pedro Road Coalition v. County of Marin (2019) 245 Cal.Rptr.3d 580, considered whether import of asphalt grindings was within a mine’s legal nonconforming use or whether it was an impermissible expansion or enlargement. The court found that the import improperly expanding ...Read More

Third District Court of Appeal Finds CEQA Challenges to Recirculated EIR Barred by Res Judicata

The case Ione Valley Land, Air, and Water Defense Alliance, LLC v. County of Amador (33 Cal.App.5th 165) was certified for partial publication by the Third District Court of Appeal, and addresses res judicata in the CEQA context.

The controversy originated with the County of Amador certification of an EIR for an aggregate quarry project in ...Read More