Land Use Law

EPA halts landfill standards

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced it would put a stop to two Obama-era rules for new and existing dumps meant to cut methane emissions at landfills. The EPA will reconsider the rules after industry groups protested the Obama Administration’s final rules for both rules: “Standards of Performance for Municipal Solid Waste Landfills” and Emission Guidelines […]

Supreme Court Justices Ask Trump Administration to Weigh In on California Mining Prohibition

The U.S. Supreme Court is requesting that the Trump administration evaluate the extent to which states can prohibit mining activity on federal lands. Earlier this week, the Justices asked the acting solicitor general to weigh in on a case brought by a part-time prospector who hopes to knock down a specific California ban on a […]

Legal Tempest in a Teapot: Rapanos Being Re-fought by Opponents of the Trump CWA Executive Order

Environmental groups are taking issue with President Trump’s executive order instructing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to consider interpreting the term “navigable waters” in a manner consistent with the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s opinion in Rapanos v. United States. In his opinion Justice Scalia concluded that the Clean Water Act only applies to relatively permanent […]

California Supreme Court Strikes Down EIR for Failure to Consider Potential ESHA on the Project Site

In a recent decision, the California Supreme Court added to the complexity of CEQA review for projects in coastal areas. On March 30, 2017, the Supreme Court issued its holding in Banning Ranch Conservancy v. City of Newport Beach (S227473), which struck down an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared by the City of Newport Beach […]

U.S. Supreme Court will hear Waters of the United States Case Over Trump Objection

This week, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it will hear a case related to the Clean Water Rule, also known as the Waters of the United States rule, promulgated under the Obama administration. The Supreme Court denied the Trump administration’s motion to put the ligation on hold in light of President Trump’s February executive […]

California Farmers Upset Over Water Allocations

This week the Bureau of Reclamation announced the 2017 water allocations for California farmers and many groups are upset over the long-awaited announcement. According to the release, farmers south of the state’s main water hub would only receive 65 percent of their allotted water from the Central Valley Project. Meanwhile, other regions are receiving their […]

BREAKING: President Trump Grants Cross-Border Permit For Keystone XL Pipeline

Today the State Department issued the cross-border permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, fulfilling President  Trump’s promise to approve the pipeline after it was rejected by former president Barack Obama after encountering pressure from environmental pressure groups.

BREAKING: President Trump Directs EPA to Roll Back Clean Water Rule

On February 28, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order directing the roll back of Clean Water Act rules promulgated under the Obama administration. The rules, known as the Waters of the United States rule, defines federal permitting jurisdiction under the CWA. During his 2016 campaign, the president spoke frequently of his intentions to roll […]

Environmentalists Use Spotted Owl To Foil Forest Service—Again

Last Thursday California federal judge John A. Mendez found that the U.S. Forest Service didn’t take a hard enough look at the alternatives to a timber project in California’s Mendocino National Forest. Citing the Forest Service’s lack of a “hard look” at the project alternatives to avoid impacts on the northern spotted owl, including one […]

Army Corps Approves Dakota Access Pipeline

Today, the United States Army Corps of Engineers sent a Notification to Congress regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline, announcing the Corps’ intention to grant an easement for the oil pipeline to cross Lake Oahe. (Document HERE.) The easement is located north of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and is the subject of the Standing Rock […]

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