Matthew Leopold was confirmed as U.S. EPA’s general counsel, and David Ross (formerly Wisconsin Assistant Attorney General) was also confirmed as the EPA’s water office chief. New Release HERE and HERE.
This week environmental groups brought a lawsuit against the Trump administration over its recent support of a company’s plan to pump 16.3 billion gallons of groundwater each year from a Mojave Desert aquifer to developments in South Orange County and other locations. Los Angeles-Based Cadiz Inc. seeks to build a pipeline that pumps the water […]
December 14, 2017 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Land Use,
News | Tags:
California,
california land use,
CEQA,
environmental group,
Housing,
land use,
Land Use LawIn its latest update to the Housing Opportunity Index (“Index”), the National Association of Home Builders identified Los Angeles to be the most expensive housing market in the nation, overtaking San Francisco, who had held the dubious number ranking for nearly five years. According to the NAHB, just 9% of the homes sold in Los […]
This week, President Trump signed two proclamations, which reduced the size of two national monuments in Utah by 2 million acres and is now the largest rollback of federal land protection in U.S. history. Using the Antiquities Act, Trump formally downsized the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument to about half its size (from 1.9 million acres to […]
The U.S. Senate on Thursday confirmed Susan Bodine, a former chief counsel for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and a one-time Barnes & Thornburg partner, to head up the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement arm. Details HERE.
November 10, 2017 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Land Use,
Lawsuit | Tags:
appeal,
california land use,
CEQA,
court case,
land use,
Land Use Law,
lawsuitIn an unpublished decision filed November 6, 2017, the First district Court of Appeal upheld a County decision to approve a design review application for a market and grocery store renovation project. (Case No. A150043) The petitioner appealed from a trial court decision, which found application of the CEQA exemption proper. Marin County first issued […]
The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed Bill Wehrum to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s air and radiation office, on a party-line vote.
Last month (October 2017), the Senate narrowly rejected a proposal from Senator Mike Lee (R-Utah) that would have removed intrastate species from federal jurisdiction under the ESA. Current jurisprudence from the Supreme Court extends federal jurisdiction to intrastate endangered species via a very broad interpretation of the interstate commerce clause. The vote to amend the ESA […]
November 4, 2017 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Endangered Species,
Land Use,
Lawsuit | Tags:
California,
california land use,
court case,
Endangered,
endangered species,
land use,
Land Use Law,
lawsuitThis week a group of property owners and developers filed suit against the U.S. Department of Interior, alleging that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) violated federal procedure rules when it repeatedly found that the coastal California gnatcatcher is protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Filed in a D.C. federal court by the […]
November 1, 2017 | Category:
California,
Land Use,
NEPA,
News,
Oil and Gas | Tags:
BLM,
California,
mitchell chadwick llp,
NEPA,
oil,
oil & gas,
oil and gasLast week, California Representative Alan Lowenthal (D) introduced HR 4103 (2017), also known as the “Having Open Access to Relevant Data Act” or the “HOARD Act.” The legislation specifically targets applicants who have obtained Permits to Drill on federal lands, but had not begun timely drilling. The HOARD Act is in response to the Bureau […]
