In response to President Trump’s request for an auditing of national monuments, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended redrawing the boundaries of certain national monuments rather than a wholesale rescission of the monument status. Details on the recommended cuts have not yet been publicized, though in the past few months, Zinke declined to adjust the boundaries […]
On August 10, 2017, Public Citizen, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and the Communications Workers of America, and Earthjustice appeared before Judge Randolph Moss of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, seeking to overturn President Trump’s mandate that each new regulation must be counteracted by repeal of two similar regulations. President […]
August 15, 2017 | Category:
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Waters Of The U.S.Just before the penalty phase of trial was set to begin on Tuesday, Northern California farmer John Duarte reached a settlement with the federal government, after being fined for plowing over disputed wetlands on his property. With the government seeking a $2.8 million fine and tens of millions of dollars in mitigation expenses, Duarte agreed […]
August 14, 2017 | Category:
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mitchell chadwick llpThis week, a California court created an important precedent for public right-of-way access cases, when it ordered a billionaire to reopen access to a formerly public beach in San Mateo County. The First District Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled 3-0 that Vinod Khosla violated state law when he closed access to Martins Beach […]
August 10, 2017 | Category:
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mitchell chadwick llpThe Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court judgment dismissing a CEQA challenge filed by environmental groups against the California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR), in Association for Irritated Residents v. Dept. of Conservation (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 1202. The environmental groups challenged DOGGR’s issuance of 214 permits […]
August 9, 2017 | Category:
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mitchell chadwick llpThe California Supreme Court denied a request for depublication in Sierra Club v. County of Sonoma (2017) 11 Cal.App.5th 11, on July 26, 2017. As a result, the First District Court of Appeal’s decision finding against Sierra Club and Center for Biological Diversity is citable precedent. The case involved a challenge to Sonoma County’s decision […]
In response to ongoing concerns over the nation’s ability to safeguard its energy grid from cyberattacks, the natural gas industry has released a comprehensive whitepaper discussing the natural gas system’s unique reliability and resilience against external threats. The Natural Gas Council’s study (available HERE) cites to the decentralized and redundant nature of the nation’s natural […]
August 4, 2017 | Category:
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Waters Of The U.S.Lobbyist, and former Republican Representative, Richard Pombo, has been retained by a California nursery owner facing a potential multi-million dollar fine for violating the Clean Water Act. Nursery owner, John Duarte of Duarte Nursery has retained the Washington, D.C. lobby to help fight his lengthy dispute with federal officials. Simultaneously, Mr. Duarte is facing a […]
In support of its efforts to repeal the 2015 Clean Water Rule (“Rule”), the Trump Administration is attacking the Obama Administration’s studies touting the supposed economic benefits of implementing the Rule. The Obama Administration had previously calculated that the annual benefits of implementing the Rule would range from $338 million – $554 million, with the […]
This week, two California water agencies filed petitions appealing to the Supreme Court to review a landmark decision that gives Native American tribes groundwater rights. The Coachella Valley Water District and Desert Water Agency are challenging a March decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which held that the AguaCaliente Band of Cahuilla Indian […]
