Judge rejects lawsuit over California housing density bill (SB 10) Bullet Courthouse News Service – May 12 Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant held last week that the California Legislature has the...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Community and environmental groups sue South Coast Air District over rules adoption - Los Angeles Times - Mar 9 - Community groups and environmentalists filed suit this week...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Proposed ballot initiative would shift funding from high speed rail to new water projects - Los Angeles Times - Feb 15 - The state’s powerful agriculture industry and its...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - President Obama vetoes Keystone XL pipeline, leaving it in limbo: Reuters - Feb 24: President Barack Obama on Tuesday, as promised, swiftly vetoed a Republican bill approving the...more
Environmental and Policy Focus: State Water Board launches investigation into claims of senior water rights - Allen Matkins - Feb 9: On February 4, 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board issued an order seeking...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Heat, drought worsen smog in California, stalling decades of progress: Los Angeles Times - Nov 10: Heat and extreme drought have worsened smog in California over the last year, stalling...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Governor proposes $6 billion water bond for California: Bloomberg - Aug 6: California Governor Jerry Brown has called on lawmakers to put a $6 billion “no-frills” bond measure on the...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Appellate court upholds environmental work for high-speed rail via Pacheco Pass: Fresno Bee - Jul 24 -- State appeals justices on Thursday upheld a lower court's approval of an...more
Environmental and Policy Focus: Long-term money a big boost for California's high-speed rail - Contra Costa Times - Jun 17: Gov. Jerry Brown scored a win for California's $68 billion high-speed rail project by...more
Environmental and Policy Focus - Kings County lawsuit challenges Fresno-Bakersfield high-speed rail: Fresno Bee - Jun 5: The Kings County Board of Supervisors, the Farm Bureau, and a group of county residents filed...more
The California High Speed Rail Authority’s (the “Authority”) Board of Directors unanimously voted on Wednesday to certify the Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement for the Fresno to Bakersfield...more
Gov. Brown wants to use cap-and-trade fees to fund high speed rail project - Insurance For Less - Jan 8: Gov. Jerry Brown announced plans to provide new funding for California’s high speed rail project from corporate...more
On the heels of Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Michael Kenney’s decision halting an $8 billion bond sale for the construction of the California high-speed rail (“HSR”) project, Governor Jerry Brown has submitted a...more
Environmental and Policy Focus: California's New Hydraulic Fracturing Law Cited In Pending CEQA Lawsuit: EnergyWire - Oct 30 -- Earlier this year, the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, Earthworks and...more
Environmental and Policy Focus -- Lawmakers approve bill to aid Sacramento NBA arena: Modesto Bee - Sep 12 -- On the last day of the legislative session, and only after last-minute negotiations and bill revisions,...more
In a much-anticipated decision filed August 5, 2013, the California Supreme Court held that CEQA requires a lead agency to assess a project’s environmental impacts against an “existing conditions” baseline – and consequently...more
On August 5, 2013, the California Supreme Court issued a split decision in Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, et al. The court held that a lead agency may choose to avoid using an...more
In Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority (filed August 5, 2013) (“Neighbors”), a majority of the California Supreme Court justices announced a new rule regarding the baseline agencies may...more
Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority (August 5, 2013, S202828) __ Cal.4th __(“Neighbors”). What is the baseline against which environmental impacts are measured? There has been...more
A new California Supreme Court decision, Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority, authorizes reliance on anticipated future conditions as the “baseline” for evaluating impacts of long-term...more