Consistent with President Trump’s rollback of several Obama-era moratoria on mining on federal lands, the Interior Department is expected to let lapse the two-year moratorium on new mining claims in several Western states. On September 24, 2015, former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell signed a federal administrative order withdrawing from new mining claims 10 million acres […]
This week one of the biggest supporters of California’s water tunnels voted against funding the ambitious California water project (known as “California WaterFix”) proposed Governor Jerry Brown. Westlands Water District voted 7 to 1 against a resolution to help fund the $17 billion set of 40-foot-diameter tunnels underneath the Delta, citing concerns about costs that […]
September 25, 2017 | Category:
California,
CEQA,
Land Use,
Lawsuit | Tags:
appeal,
California,
california land use,
CEQA,
court case,
environmental group,
land use,
Land Use Law,
lawsuit,
mitchell chadwick,
mitchell chadwick llpThe First District Court of Appeal recently upheld the City of South San Francisco’s decision to approve a CUP for converting office buildings to a medical clinic via a CEQA categorical exemption. (Respect Life South San Francisco v. City of South San Francisco (2017) Case No. A145992.) The proposed conversion included only minor physical changes […]
In its annual International Energy Outlook study (available HERE ), the U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) concluded that petroleum and similar liquids would remain the world leader in energy consumption over the next decades, with natural gas and coal following. While renewables are the world’s fastest-growing energy source, the EIA estimates that fossil fuels will still […]
The First District Court of Appeal reversed a lower court decision setting aside the City of Redwood’s decision to certify an EIR and approve a planned development permit for 4.75 acres in the case Save Laurel Way v. City of Redwood City (August 29, 2017, Case No. A147942). Project opponents raised multiple claims, including violation […]
On August 31, a memo from the Interior Deputy Secretary David Bernhard was made public and directed that the Department’s environmental impact statements (“EIS”) to not be more than 150 pages, or 300 pages if the project is unusually complex. The Interior Department imposed this controversial new restriction citing a need to reduce paperwork. Additionally, […]
September 11, 2017 | Category:
NewsHurricane Irma is the second major hurricane to hit the U.S. in two weeks. Irma follows Hurricane Harvey, which shut down a quarter of U.S. refineries and 8 percent of U.S. oil production. Crude prices have slumped, as the outages reduce demand for crude. The trend continued into the weekend as of Friday, 9/8/17. Recovery […]
In response to President Trump’s August 15, 2017 Executive Order directing administrative agencies to review and approve infrastructure approvals in a more expeditious manner, the Department of the Interior issued Order No. 3355 imposing page and time limits on Environmental Impact Statements. On August 15, 2017, Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt issued Order […]
The U.S. District Court for Montana and U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia have both issued decisions suggesting that the “social cost” of greenhouse gas emissions must still be considered under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) – despite President Trump’s desire otherwise. In 2009, President Obama instructed federal agencies to create […]
In response to President Trump’s request for an auditing of national monuments, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke recommended redrawing the boundaries of certain national monuments rather than a wholesale rescission of the monument status. Details on the recommended cuts have not yet been publicized, though in the past few months, Zinke declined to adjust the boundaries […]
