San Francisco and Oakland have renewed their fight to try and make Big Oil pay for climate-change related infrastructure damage, asking a federal appeals court earlier this week to reconsider their previously dismissed lawsuits against five oil companies. San Francisco and Oakland argue that a federal judge wrongly kept their cases out of state court […]
Culminating a process that began 11 years ago, the California State Water Resources Control Board last week unanimously adopted a revised policy to protect wetlands in the State. The policy creates a new definition of wetlands peculiar to California, gives a framework to determine a water of the state (nearly everything), and clarifies requirements for […]
In a joint statement released on Thursday, the White House, Department of Transportation, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the Trump administration has ended negotiations with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) over vehicle fuel-efficiency standards. Until Thursday, the EPA, CARB, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had been engaged in talks […]
The Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld application of a Class 1 categorical exemption for a restated facilities lease in the case San Diegans for Open Government v. City of San Diego (2018) 31 Cal.App.5th 349. The case also addressed whether the lease violated city-specific requirements and found that it did not. The lease at […]
The transportation sector in California accounts for 40% of greenhouse gas emissions. To combat this, on December 14, 2018, California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) adopted a regulation that sets a statewide goal for public transit agencies to transition to fully zero-emission bus fleets by 2040. There are currently 150 zero-emission buses operating in California. Under […]
The California Supreme Court released its long-pending opinion in Sierra Club v. County of Fresno (No. S219783) on December 24, 2018. The County of Fresno certified an Environmental Impact Report for the 942-acre, 2,500 unit project known as Friant Ranch. Project opponents challenged the project on numerous grounds. The California Supreme Court granted review from […]
The Natural Resources Agency released a “discussion draft” titled CEQA and Climate Change Advisory, on December 28, 2018. This discussion draft contains “initial thoughts” on updating the June 2008 climate change advisory. The update is intended to provide more guidance to lead agencies for evaluating and mitigating potential project impacts on climate change. Comments addressing […]
The Regulatory Action Amendments to the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Guidelines (the “Amendments”) have been approved by the Office of Administrative Law and filed by the Secretary of State. The Amendments are now effective California regulations. All CEQA documents that were not circulated for the statutory public review and comment period prior to […]
The Departments of Interior and Agriculture announced a $449 million grant for the Sites Reservoir Project in Colusa County, California. The Sites Reservoir is a proposed 13-mile lake that would hold nearly 1.8 million acre-feet of water diverted from the Sacramento River. The $449 million grant will fund a pipeline that will connect the Glenn-Colusa […]
The Sixth District Court of Appeal filed a decision heavy on writ procedure in the case Alliance of Concerned Citizens Organized for Responsible Development on November 26, 2018 (Case No. H044410). The heavy focus on procedure in the Court’s decision doesn’t make for the most exciting reading, but the decision contains an important reminder for […]
