September 5, 2019 | Category:
NewsIn Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, Inc. v. City of San Diego (No. S238563), the California Supreme Court determined that the City of San Diego’s adoption of an ordinance authorizing the establishment of marijuana dispensaries constitutes a “project” for the purposes of CEQA. The City of San Diego adopted the ordinance at issue in 2014 […]
September 4, 2019 | Category:
NewsThe California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) approved the State Wetland Definition and Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to Waters of the State (Procedures) on August 28, 2019. The State Water Board issued a Notice of Decision on August 30, 2019. Pursuant to the Procedures, the effective date is nine months upon […]
August 27, 2019 | Category:
NewsThe California Supreme Court further clarified the fundamental question of what constitutes a “project” under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in its August 19. 2019, decision in Union of Medical Marijuana Patients, Inc. v. City of San Diego, finding that a San Diego ordinance restricting the location of medical marijuana facilities constituted a “project” […]
August 26, 2019 | Category:
NewsThe U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”) released guidance on August 20, 2019 that relaxes some of the stricter guidance from 2016 with how to comply with the Clean Air Act Regional Haze Program. The Clean Air Act Regional Haze Program requires that states work together toward a goal of achieving “natural visibility conditions” at the […]
August 14, 2019 | Category:
NewsNew research shows that several of the region’s salmon populations are bumping into temperature limits. This includes the: Chinook salmon in California’s Central Valley and in the Columbia and Willamette River basins; Coho salmon in parts of Northern California and Oregon; and sockeye salmon that reach the Snake River Basin in Idaho. All of these […]
August 13, 2019 | Category:
NewsAt the end of July, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) reached a compromise with Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen AG, Honda Motor Company LTD., and BMW of North America to voluntarily increase fuel efficiency standards from 35 miles per gallon to approximately 50 miles per gallon by 2026. This represents an average increase of 3.7% […]
August 12, 2019 | Category:
NewsThe trade association Small Retailers Coalition filed a petition with the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on August 6, 2019. The petition challenges the Trump administration’s decision to allow the sale of gasoline blends containing up to 15% ethanol all year, instead of seasonally. The petition highlights tensions between corn interests and oil interests, as […]
July 15, 2019 | Category:
NewsIn the unpublished opinion Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources et al. (2019 WL 2133616), the Third District Court of Appeal upheld a program EIR prepared by the Department of Conservation to consider the environmental effects of well stimulation treatments, such as hydraulic fracturing. The […]
July 11, 2019 | Category:
NewsMitchell Chadwick attorneys G. Braiden Chadwick and John Wheat recently represented a client in a successful request for a determination of vested right to continue surface mining on a property in Merced County. The property, known as the Kelsey Ranch property, has been in the Kelsey family since the late 1800s, passed down from Erastus […]
June 21, 2019 | Category:
NewsUnder the Obama administration, the EPA finalized the Emissions Guidelines and New Source Performance Standards rules to address changes in the landfill industry since prior rulemaking in 1996. The EPA was supposed to approve plans from states related to the implementation of the emissions guidelines and create a federal plan but the Trump administration has […]
