The California Sixth District Court of Appeal recently considered the case of Preservation Action Council of San Jose v. City of San Jose. There, the Preservation Action Council of San Jose (“PACSJ”) filed a petition challenging the City of San Jose’s certification of a final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (“SEIR”) for the City View Plaza […]
On May 20, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law the “Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021,” also known as SB 7, which is chaptered as Sections 21178 to 21189.3 of the Public Resources Code. (https://legiscan.com/CA/text/SB7/id/2401530SB.) SB 7 replaces a previous similar law, the “Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental […]
On May 25, 2021, the Biden Administration announced it has identified two areas along the central and northern coasts of California which the Administration plans to open for commercial scale offshore clean energy projects. This announcement is part of the Biden Administration’s larger and more ambitious goal of producing 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy […]
On May 21, 2021, the California Geologic Energy Management Division (CalGEM) released a pre-rulemaking draft regulation that would prohibit CalGEM from approving applications for permits to conduct well stimulation treatments after January 1, 2024. This rulemaking comes in response to Governor Newsom’s recent decision to unilaterally ban fracking. Comments on the pre-rulemaking draft regulation are […]
In the recent California Third District Court of Appeal decision, Alliance for Responsible Planning v. Taylor, — Cal.Rptr.3d —-, Case No. 085712 (May 4, 2021), the Court determined that an initiative measure requiring new development projects to mitigate both the individual project’s traffic levels of service (“LOS”) impacts, and also the cumulative traffic LOS impacts […]
Despite concern from customer advocacy groups, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) granted PG&E initial approval to securitize costs from a series of 2017 wildfires on Thursday, April 22. If the CPUC approves a similar financing order in May, PG&E will be able to issue $7.5 billion of recovery bonds, resulting in a charge to […]
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced plans to ban hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as ‘fracking,’ by 2024 in an April 23 press release. As part of his personal longer-term goal to end all oil extraction in the state by 2045, the governor directed the California Department of Conservation’s Geologic Energy Management (CalGEM) Division to immediately […]
The First District Court of Appeal published its holding in the case Schmid v. City and County of San Francisco (2021) 60 Cal.App.5th 470 on February 1, 2021. This case involved various claims objecting to the City of San Francisco’s decision to remove a bronze sculpture, including claims pursuant to CEQA. The San Francisco Historic […]
On April 7, 2021, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced the appointment of Mark Chatterton as the Deputy State Director of Energy and Minerals in California. (See https://www.blm.gov/press-release/bureau-land-management-welcomes-two-new-members-leadership-team-california.) In this new role, Chatterton will be responsible for oversight of oil, gas and geothermal development as well as hard rock mining for metallic and industrial […]
The San Francisco Chronicle issued a positive article interviewing Ben Mossman, CEO of Rise Gold Corp., and discussing the Idaho Maryland Mine’s history and local supporters. Mitchell Chadwick is helping permit this historic mine in Nevada County. The mining project will bring over 300 high-paying jobs to the County, and have a very minimal impact […]
