Environmental Law

Read Election & Politics Law updates, alerts, news, and legal analysis from leading lawyers and law firms:

News & Analysis as of May 18, 2013

California Governor Proposes Reforms to Proposition 65, Seeks To Prevent Abuse of Statute by "Unscrupulous Lawyers"

by Nancy Sher Cohen, Shawn Ledingham, Jr, Gail Port | Proskauer Rose LLP on 5/14/2013

California Governor Edmund Brown has added his voice to a number of California legislators calling for an overhaul of the state's Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 – better known as Proposition 65 (the...more

CEQA Reform Update

by Douglas Aikins | Hopkins & Carley on 4/2/2013

This year has seen more momentum for CEQA reform than in many previous years. California’s economy has placed a spotlight on the burdens that environmental regulations and litigation, particularly CEQA litigation, impose on...more

Supreme Court Will Review CEQA Decision From Fifth District In Wal-Mart Citizen Initiative Case

by Arthur F. Coon | Miller Starr Regalia on 2/18/2013

After receiving three separate petitions for review, including petitions from real parties Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. and the City of Sonora, the California Supreme Court voted unanimously on February 13, 2013 to grant review of...more

Memo to EPA: Courts Really Don't Like It When You Appear High-Handed

by Foley Hoag LLP - Environmental Law on 3/30/2012

The decision last week by Judge Amy Berman Jackson – an Obama appointee – to reject EPA’s authority to withdraw its “specification” which authorized the Army Corps of Engineers to issue a § 404 permit to the Mingo Logan...more

Ninth Circuit Ruling that Rainwater Runoff from Logging Roads Is a Point Source Discharge Requiring NPDES Permitting Is Under...

by Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP on 1/23/2012

In August, 2010, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion in NEDC v. Brown, in which the court overturned more than 35 years of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations governing storm...more

Big Week for Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton

by Winthrop & Weinstine, P.A. on 2/15/2011

On Thursday, the Senate passed HF 130, authored by Senator Claire Robling (R-Jordan), as amended by conference committee, in a 37 – 28 vote. This is the Phase One budget bill which was passed earlier by the House. The bill...more

Climate Litigation: New Approaches to Climate Control Mean New Issues to Litigate By Michael J. Steel, Morrison & Foerster LLP

by Morrison & Foerster LLP on 10/29/2009

‘‘Whether Congress acts or EPA proceeds under the Clean Air Act, greenhouse gas regulation is coming,’’ attorney Michael J. Steel says in this Analysis & Perspective article. The author discusses administrative developments...more

Federal Judge Denies Obama Administration's Motion to Vacate the Stream Buffer Zone Rule

by Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on 9/2/2009

The Obama Administration's efforts to rescind the revised Stream Buffer Zone Rule, enacted at the end of the Bush era, suffered a setback earlier this month. On August 12, 2009, United States District Court Judge Henry...more