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Bay-Delta Conservation Plan Invalidated: Delta Management in Flux

Bay-Delta Conservation Plan Invalidated: Delta Management in Flux On June 24, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Michael P. Kenny invalidated the entirety of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan because several central provisions were too vague. The decision has wide-reaching effects on the management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which is both a sensitive ecosystem and an important […]

‘Water windfall’ beneath California’s Central Valley

‘Water windfall’ beneath California’s Central Valley A study led by Stanford scientists Robert Jackson and Mary Kang found that California’s Central Valley has three times more groundwater than previously estimated.  Previous estimates of California’s groundwater supply were based on decades-old data and only extended to a maximum depth of 1,000 feet.   Due to technological restraints, […]

Alert: New Regulations and Permit Requirements for Wetlands and Waters of the State

State Water Resources Control Board: New Regulations and Permit Requirements for Wetlands and Waters of the State On June 17, 2016, the State Water Resources Control Board (“State Water Board”) proposed a regulatory and permitting framework for wetlands not otherwise covered by the federal Clean Water Act. The State Water Board had previously recognized that […]

Wyoming Judge To BLM: Hands Off Oil and Gas Development

      Wyoming Judge To BLM: Hands Off Oil and Gas Development A federal judge in Wyoming struck down the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s fracking rule for federal and Indian lands, finding that BLM lacked congressional authority to issue the regulations. The Obama fracking rule added a permit requirement for hydraulic fracturing on BLM lands, […]

Feds Issue First-Ever Technical Guidance For Environmental Justice

Feds Issue First-Ever Technical Guidance For Environmental Justice On June 7th, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) issued a technical guidance document Tuesday covering how to incorporate environmental justice principles when evaluating development projects. (Press Release HERE.) According to the EPA, the Technical Guidance for Assessing Environmental Justice in Regulatory Actions outlines approaches and methods to […]

Mitchell Chadwick Helps Win Approval of Largest Mitigation Bank in California

Mitchell Chadwick Helps Win Approval of Largest Mitigation Bank in California Mitchell Chadwick LLP, working with Land Veritas, owner of the Petersen Ranch Mitigation Bank and WRA, Inc. are pleased to announce that the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the California Department of […]

Environmental Groups Sue EPA To Force Stricter Rules For Oil and Gas “Hazardous Waste”

Environmental Groups Sue EPA To Force Stricter Rules For “Hazardous Waste” …but EPA has already found that oil and gas waste doesn’t meet the standards of hazardous waste… A myriad of environmental groups sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to update its rules for oil and gas drilling waste disposal, stating that the […]

Federal Government Hopes to End Idaho’s Challenge to Sage Grouse Plan

Federal Government Hopes to End Idaho’s Challenge to Sage Grouse Plan The U.S. government recently asked a federal judge to toss Idaho’s challenge to the Department of Interior’s (“DOI”) measures designed to protect the habitat and support the population of the greater sage grouse. Idaho has filed suit challenging the DOI’s land-use plan amendments, final […]

Kennedy Skeptical Of Waters Of U.S. Rule Constitutionality

Kennedy Skeptical Of Waters Of U.S. Rule Constitutionality Earlier this week, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy called the Clean Water Act “arguably unconstitutionally vague.” This was a welcome hint on the future of the rule for landowners, project proponents and other critics of U.S. EPA’s new Waters of the U.S. Rule, which defines the […]

The Army Corps of Engineers Argues Jurisdictional Determinations Not Subject to Judicial Review

The Army Corps of Engineers Argues Jurisdictional Determinations Not Subject to Judicial Review In the days before oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the ability of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“ACOE”) to claim jurisdiction over bodies of water, the ACOE emphasized the inability for its jurisdictional determinations to be challenged. The […]

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