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 […]
February 29, 2020 | Category:
NewsOn February 19, 2020, President Trump signed new federal regulations allowing more water from Northern California to flow into the Central Valley. President Trump additionally signed a new biological opinion that found minimal environmental impacts resulting from the water transfer. However, California environmentalists and politicians view the water transfer as weakening environmental protections for populations […]
February 17, 2020 | Category:
NewsPresident Trump announced a proposed rule package of National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) regulatory changes that are designed to speed up approvals for projects ranging from pipelines to roads and dams. According to the president, this rule was prompted by the unfairly long amount of time it takes to approve projects. NEPA is the federal […]
February 5, 2020 | Category:
NewsOn January 9, 2020, President Trump announced his intention to update the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) regulations and further stated that such updates were a top priority. This reform would be the first major change NEPA has experienced in over 40 years. As proposed, the NEPA regulations would expedite NEPA requirements by clarifying, modernizing, […]
January 28, 2020 | Category:
NewsCEQA exemptions provide a streamlined path to entitlement for projects and are almost always preferred if available. On January 16, 2020, the Office of Planning and Research released updated to two technical advisories. One is related to application of CEQA exemptions in disaster recovery efforts, and the other addresses CEQA review of housing projects. The […]
January 27, 2020 | Category:
NewsOn January 23, 2020, the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) published the Final Environmental Impact Statement (“FEIS”) for the proposed Haiwee Geothermal Leasing Area Project in Inyo County, California. The FEIS analyzes the proposed leasing of 22,800 acres of publicly owned land for geothermal exploration, development, and utilization. The FEIS provides a comprehensive analysis of the […]
January 25, 2020 | Category:
NewsYesterday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released the final revised Waters of the United States (“WOTUS”) Rule, also called the “Navigable Waters Protection Rule.” This significant announcement marks the end of a multi-year two-step regulatory process to narrow and streamline the legal definition of federal jurisdictional waters, with the […]
January 7, 2020 | Category:
NewsSenate Bill 330 (Skinner 2020) (the “Bill”) goes in effect at the start of the year. The Bill is designed to mitigate the shortage of housing California is experiencing in several ways. One such way is streamlining the permitting process for proposed housing development projects. The Bill defines a “housing development project” to mean any […]
