Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
On-Demand Webinar | Regulatory Uncertainty and Linear Infrastructure Projects: Where Are We and What’s Ahead?
On-Demand Webinar | Linear Infrastructure Redux: Adapting Your Projects to Meet the New Regulatory Climate
On-Demand Webinar | The New NEPA Regulations: A Practical Guide to What You Need to Know
How Trump's Infrastructure Plan Impacts the Energy Industry
On May 8th, 2024, the Little Hoover Commission released its much-anticipated report, “CEQA: Targeted Reform for California’s Core Environmental Law” putting forth recommendations to improve the functioning of the California...more
Welcome to “CEQA News You Can Use,” a quarterly production of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP’s Natural Resources lawyers. This publication provides quick, useful bites of CEQA news, which we hope can be a resource to...more
This past week I had the opportunity to attend the International Right of Way Association’s (IRWA) Region 1 Fall Forum and Symposium in San Diego, California. On Friday, Brad Kuhn and I presented an update on recent federal...more
On July 10, Governor Newsom signed five California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reform bills (SB 145, 146, 147, 149 & 150) as part of an infrastructure streamlining plan that the Governor’s office has called the “the...more
As stated in Holland & Knight's recent alert detailing Gov. Gavin Newsom's package of 11 bills to amend the venerable California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), meaningful reforms to CEQA have eluded all past governors in...more
California has tremendous offshore wind resources and ambitious offshore power goals, but the uncertain rules and regimes for development have delayed implementation of projects. The California Energy Commission (CEC)...more
On May 19, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed a legislative package of 10 bills reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) intended to speed up construction of clean energy projects by streamlining...more
The Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 most notably raised the debt ceiling. But the legislation also made substantive changes to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), with an eye toward simplifying and streamlining...more
Existing safety and environmental oversight and enforcement regulations governing Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) renewable energy activities were moved from the purview of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to that...more
The California coast offers significant potential for offshore wind development that can help the state reach its renewable energy goals. Developers of wind energy projects located off the California coast will face a number...more
After passage in both houses of Congress, the highly-anticipated $1.2 trillion infrastructure legislation package, more commonly referred to as the “Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act” (“Act”), has headed to President...more
The California Legislature on Sept. 9, 2021, approved landmark state legislation to facilitate California's offshore wind energy potential. Assembly Bill (AB) 525 requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to prepare a...more
Nossaman partners hosted a virtual panel discussion on June 3, 2020 covering strategies for successful infrastructure projects in the wake of the global COVID-19 pandemic. ...more
The increasing mandates and incentives for the rapid deployment of energy storage are resulting in a boom in the deployment of utility-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS). In the first installment of our series...more
Please join our interdisciplinary panel of infrastructure, environmental, real estate and eminent domain attorneys for a discussion on planning, procurement and financing strategies that can be implemented now to support...more
Affordable housing and infill developers can benefit from recently enacted housing laws and Brownfields law and policies. These new laws along with national-caliber land use and environmental help can deliver affordable...more
An agency’s failure to maintain a historic building—“demolition by neglect”—is not a “project” subject to CEQA. Lake Norconian Club Foundation v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, No. A154917 (First...more
In a short published opinion filed September 13, 2019, the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 4) affirmed the trial court’s judgment denying a historic preservation group’s mandate petition seeking to compel preparation of...more
This complimentary 60-minute webinar is focused on the State Water Resources Control Board's recently adopted State Wetlands Definition and Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to Waters of the State, with a...more
The final text of the comprehensive CEQA Guidelines update makes limited changes to the version proposed in January 2018. The California Natural Resources Agency has posted the final adopted text of changes to the...more
On June 20, 2018, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) issued an advanced notice of proposed federal rulemaking, soliciting public comments on whether and how CEQ should update its National Environmental...more
The Natural Resources Agency has initiated formal rulemaking for a comprehensive update to the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines. The proposed CEQA Guidelines amendments are the most comprehensive update...more
In the latest round of litigation surrounding the proposed Upper Truckee River Restoration and Golf Course Reconfiguration Project in the South Lake Tahoe area, California's First District Court of Appeal in Washoe Meadows...more
For the second time, a judge has sided with Best Best & Krieger LLP environmental attorneys in a dispute over a freeway infrastructure project in Riverside County. A CEQA challenge to the project was dismissed by a Riverside...more
The California Department of Water Resources (“DWR”) filed a validation action on July 21, 2017, in the Sacramento County Superior Court, seeking to confirm the validity of bonds it has authorized to finance the planning and...more