April 10, 2020 | Category:
NewsNew legislation (Senate Bill 902) to supposedly solve the State’s massive homelessness problem was introduced in early March 2020 after the State Senate rejected Senator Scott Wiener’s effort to force California communities into adding more housing units in single-family neighborhoods proposals, former Senate Bill 50, in January 2020. Senate Bill 902 would allow construction of […]
April 9, 2020 | Category:
NewsThe Mather South Project final Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) was challenged by Tsakopoulos Investments in late February 2020. The Mather South project would be an 848-acre project on undeveloped land with up to 3,522 residential units, a 28-acre environmental education campus with 200 multifamily units, a 21-acre research and development park, and 21 acres of […]
April 6, 2020 | Category:
NewsOn February 24, 2020, the California Court of Appeal for the Second District (“Court”) upheld a lower court’s finding that the City of Agoura Hills (the “City”) violated CEQA and the City’s Oak Tree Ordinance when the City issued approved a mixed-use development. Save the Agoura Cornell Knoll v. City of Agoura Hills (2020) – […]
April 4, 2020 | Category:
NewsIn this firm’s view, there is no question that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) has been pushed far beyond its statutory scope to the detriment of efficient development in the State. It’s too easy for the law to be abused by project opponents with concerns other than information regarding potential environmental impacts. For example, […]
March 17, 2020 | Category:
NewsThe Third District Court of Appeal upheld an EIR for a master planned community in the case Environmental Council of Sacramento v. County of Sacramento (2020, Case No. C076888). The County of Sacramento prepared an EIR for the master planned community project, located on about 2,669 acres in southeastern Sacramento County. The project proposed 8,000 […]
March 17, 2020 | Category:
NewsOn January 31, 2020, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), together with Senator Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) and Representative Darren Soto (D-Fla.) unveiled a bill (the “Bill”) that, if passed, would prohibit hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) nationwide. Specifically, the Bill would immediately prohibit any federal agency from approving any federal permit for fracking. The […]
March 16, 2020 | Category:
NewsBusinesses in the construction industry are concerned about how the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) will impact planned and future construction projects. Since no one can predict the full impact from the effects, the advice for contractors is to continue like normal. Chinese government containment efforts and quarantines have slowed or shut down factories in dozens […]
March 16, 2020 | Category:
NewsThe Trump administration’s challenge against California’s agreement with Quebec to share cap-and-trade markets to reduce greenhouse gases survived its first federal court test on March 12, 2020. The federal government sued California over its cap-and-trade agreement with Quebec in October 2019, asserting the state has no right to pursue “an independent foreign policy” about the […]
March 2, 2020 | Category:
NewsThe International Energy Agency data released earlier this month showing that U.S. emissions dropped by 2.9% last year, which failed to make an impression with Democrats, environmentalists and climate activists, who either shrugged off the data or argued that Mr. Trump’s climate-denialism was somehow thwarted. Full article from the Washington Times HERE.
February 29, 2020 | Category:
NewsThree oil and gas industry associations proposed an amendment to the Kern County Zoning Ordinances to streamline permitting for oil and gas exploration and production. The amendments would create a ministerial review process for permit applications, with mitigation measures incorporated. The mitigation measures would come from the EIR prepared to consider the potential environmental impacts […]
