Environmental Impact Report

Delta Stewardship Council Adopts Delta Plan And Proposed Implementing Regulations

by Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard on 5/20/2013

On Thursday, May 16th, the Delta Stewardship Council adopted the final Delta Plan and the proposed regulations for the implementation of the Delta Plan, and certified the final Programmatic Environmental Impact Report for the...more

Public Agency May Begin Eminent Domain Proceedings Before Completing CEQA Review, But May Not Actually Acquire The Property Until...

by William T. Chisum, Jon E. Goetz, Jeffrey L. Massey, Leslie Z. Walker | Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard on 5/13/2013

A racetrack landowner challenged a regional park district’s plan to condemn part of the property for construction of a bayside trail, asserting that the park district was required under eminent domain law and the California...more

Appeals Court Reinstates EPA “Veto” Over Corps’ Mining-Related Permit - Mingo Logan decision creates uncertainty in Clean Water...

by Denise Pettijohn, Christopher "Kip" B. Power, Robert Stonestreet | Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on 4/29/2013

In a surprising reversal, on April 23, 2013, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned a lower court order issued on March 23, 2012, in the case of Mingo Logan Coal Company v. U.S. Envtl. Prot....more

Earth Matters - April 2013: Recent Decision Highlights Distinction Between Compliance With Multiple Environmental Programs

by Kimberly Barnashuk, Adam Walters | Phillips Lytle LLP on 4/26/2013

A recent New York Court of Appeals decision, Bronx Committee for Toxic Free Schools v. New York City School Construction Authority, 20 N.Y.3d 148 (2012), highlighted the interplay between the compliance process for the State...more

First District Holds CEQA Remedies Provision Allows Park District’s Eminent Domain Action To Proceed Pending Preparation of...

by Arthur F. Coon | Miller Starr Regalia on 4/25/2013

In Golden Gate Land Holdings LLC v. East Bay Regional Park District (4/12/13 1st Dist., Div. 5) _____ Cal.App.4th _____, 2013 WL 1491547, the First District Court of Appeal explored the scope and proper application of CEQA’s...more

No Relief Under CCP Section 473 For Missed Filing Deadline In CEQA Challenge

by Daniel Bane | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 4/23/2013

Alliance for the Protection of the Auburn Community Environment, et al. v. County of Placer, SCV0028200 (3rd Dist., February 18, 2013). In Alliance for the Protection of the Auburn Community Environment v. County of...more

Condemn Now, CEQA-Compliance Later? OK. Maybe....

by Brad Kuhn | Nossaman LLP on 4/19/2013

Acquiring property for public projects typically does not occur until after the project has received environmental approval. While this is the generally accepted rule – and it makes sense for a number of reasons – must a...more

California Environmental Law and Policy Update - April 17, 2013

by David D. Cooke, Emily L. Murray, Sandi L. Nichols | Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis... on 4/18/2013

Environmental and Policy Focus - California needs to bolster regulation of fracking, report says: Los Angeles Times - Apr 12 - California needs to strengthen regulation of hydraulic fracturing, according to a UC...more

BLM Fails to Review Fracking Impacts of Oil & Gas Leases in California

by Allison Davis | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP on 4/16/2013

The U.S. District Court in San Jose recently found that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) failed to adequately review the environmental impacts of fracking on four oil and gas leases it recently auctioned off in the...more

Residential Project Exempt From CEQA Review Under Government Code Section 65457 As Consistent With Specific Plan For Which Program...

by Arthur F. Coon | Miller Starr Regalia on 4/11/2013

In a recently published opinion construing Government Code § 65457’s exemption from environmental review for a residential development consistent with a specific plan for which an EIR was previously certified, the First...more

Late Filing Of Appeal Of Environmental Impact Report And Project Approval Is Not Excused Under Code Of Civil Procedure Section 473

by Jeffrey L. Massey, Leslie Z. Walker | Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard on 4/11/2013

An organization sought to challenge a county’s project approval and certification of an Environmental Impact Report for a 155,000-square-foot building, but filed the case three days late. The trial court dismissed the case. ...more

Certain Residential Developments Exempt from CEQA Review: Greenhouse Gas Emission Issues Do Not Constitute New Information

by William R. Devine | Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis... on 4/9/2013

The recent California appellate court decision in Concerned Dublin Citizens v. City of Dublin, Cal: Court of Appeal, 1st Appellate Dist., 3rd Div. 2013, upheld a City's affirmation that residential developments are exempt...more

Court Upholds CEQA Exemption for Residential Development - Minor Project Tweaks and New Greenhouse Gas Thresholds Don’t Trigger...

by Sarah E. Owsowitz, Charity B. Schiller | Best Best & Krieger LLP on 4/4/2013

In a recent case involving the California Environmental Quality Act, a state appellate court upheld a city’s decision to exempt from environmental review a residential development because it was consistent with a broader...more

New Significance Standard For Greenhouse Gas Emissions Is Not New Information Triggering Supplemental CEQA Review

by Marc Bruner, Stephen Kostka | Perkins Coie on 4/3/2013

In an opinion published on March 28, 2013, a California court of appeal answered three questions under the California Environmental Quality Act that the published decisions have not yet addressed...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

Court Of Appeal Finds County Approval Of EIR For Sand And Gravel Mining Project Does Not Violate CEQA

by Jeffrey L. Massey, Daniel J. O'Hanlon, Leslie Z. Walker | Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard on 4/1/2013

An organization challenged a county’s approval of a final revised environmental impact report for a project that would allow sand and gravel mining in the bed of the Cuyama River. The court of appeal affirmed the trial...more

UPDATE: Court Of Appeal Changes Its Mind On The Issue Of Whether A City Misdescribed A Project’s Objectives

by Jeffrey L. Massey, Eric Robinson, Leslie Z. Walker | Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard on 4/1/2013

On November 27, 2012, a court of appeal ordered a city to correct the defects in a project description and alternatives discussion in a final environmental impact report (“EIR”) because the court concluded the city had...more

Ready for Comment: Transportation Agencies Propose New National Environmental Policy Act Categorical Exclusions

by Gregory Braker, Kathryn Floyd, Allison Foley, Jay Johnson, Megan Roberts-Satinsky | Venable LLP on 3/22/2013

On February 28, 2013, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to provide interested parties with the opportunity to comment on two...more

New York State Assembly Votes to Extend Hydraulic Fracturing Moratorium

by Scott Bent | BakerHostetler on 3/15/2013

The New York State Assembly voted on March 6 to suspend the issuance of drilling permits for high-volume hydraulic fracturing in the Marcellus and Utica formations until May 15, 2015. The vote came as the state’s de facto...more

State Department: Proposed Keystone XL Pipeline Would Have Little Environmental Impact

by Dena E. Wiggins | Ballard Spahr LLP on 3/14/2013

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would have no significant environmental impact on most resources along its planned route, according to a draft supplementary environmental impact statement (SEIS) released earlier this month...more

Second District Rejects CEQA Challenge To EIR for Riverbed Sand And Gravel Mining Project, Upholds Santa Barbara County’s...

by Arthur F. Coon | Miller Starr Regalia on 3/12/2013

The Second District Court of Appeal upheld the County of Santa Barbara’s Final Revised Environmental Impact Report for a 30-year conditional use permit (CUP) for the Diamond Rock mine project. Save Cuyama Valley v. County of...more

Environmental Groups Claim Further Environmental Review Needed to Address Fracking Impacts

by Earl L. Hagström | Sedgwick LLP on 3/5/2013

In a case pending in the Northern District of California, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club recently urged a federal judge to rule that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National...more

“Bare-Bones” CEQA Reform Bill (SB 731) Introduced By Senator Steinberg; Senator Evans Proposes Legislation to Further Expand CEQA

by Arthur F. Coon | Miller Starr Regalia on 2/27/2013

On February 22, 2013, Senator President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg introduced SB 731, a bill the Senator’s website press release described as “outlining the detailed intent that strengthens [CEQA’s] protection of the...more

New CEQA Bill - Cure Or Band-Aid?

by Barbara Schussman | Perkins Coie on 2/26/2013

In response to a business community campaign calling for broad CEQA reform, Senate President Pro, California State Senator Tempore Darrell Steinberg, released his highly anticipated CEQA “modernization” bill (SB 731). So...more

California Environmental Law and Policy Update - February 21, 2013

by David D. Cooke, Emily L. Murray, Sandi L. Nichols | Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis... on 2/22/2013

In This Issue: Environmental and Policy Focus - California holds second auction of carbon credits; Doubts voiced on fracking oversight at California hearing; BLM sued over Solar Energy Zones; Plan to remove bike...more

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