Until recently, local policies on homelessness have been guided by two controversial rulings from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals: Martin v. Boise (9th Cir. 2019) 920 F.3d 584 and Johnson v. City of Grants Pass (9th Cir....more
Local ordinances prohibiting camping or sleeping outdoors have created widespread controversy. Affected cities and states contend that the two Ninth Circuit rulings on the issue are confusing and preclude them from...more
As cities across California grapple with an ongoing housing crisis and stubbornly high office vacancy rates, policymakers at the state and local levels are beginning to explore ways to encourage projects that convert vacant...more
The Biden Administration is amending the federal regulations for implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to reverse certain changes made by the Trump Administration. The first set of amendments took effect...more
On Friday, November 12, 2021, the Association of Bay Area Government’s (“ABAG’s) Administrative Committee formally denied 27 out of 28 appeals of draft housing allocations filed by local jurisdictions within the Bay Area...more
11/18/2021
/ Appeals ,
California ,
City Planning Departments ,
Community Development ,
Construction Project ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
New Rules ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Public Hearing ,
State and Local Government ,
State Legislatures
In an earlier post, we covered the local Shelter-in-Place (“SIP”) orders, which severely restricted construction activities throughout the Bay Area. This week the participating jurisdictions (Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin,...more
As of the beginning of April, more than one million Californians have applied for unemployment assistance. While state and local officials are seeking to address this aspect of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic...more
As state and local governments act to address the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, relief for renters impacted by the coronavirus has come from both state and local policymakers. In previous posts, we covered San...more
As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, state and local officials in California are taking increasingly aggressive action to stop the virus’ spread through Shelter-in-Place (“SIP”) orders. In addition to Governor...more
A federal district court has ruled that the Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) failed to adequately consider climate change when approving a set of oil and gas leases on public lands in Wyoming. The ruling should be of broader...more
The Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (“OPR”) has spent five years drafting a comprehensive update to 30 sections of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) Guidelines. The updated text (“Final Text”)...more
1/8/2019
/ Affordable Housing ,
CEQA ,
Climate Change ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Mitigation ,
Motor Vehicles ,
New Guidance ,
New Regulations ,
Office of Administrative Law ,
Office of Planning & Research (OPR) ,
Transportation Industry ,
Water Supplies
Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley (2015) ___ Cal.4th ___, Case No. S201116 -
This week the California Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in the Berkeley Hillside case, which considered...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Pacific Division, has issued its “Final 2015 Regional Compensatory Mitigation and Monitoring Guidelines.” The Guidelines will apply in the Corps’ San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles,...more
In a significant Endangered Species Act case, the Utah District Court has ruled that Congress may not regulate take of the threatened Utah prairie dog, a purely intrastate species, on non-federal land. The court found that...more
Last week the Ninth Circuit held that utility poles are not “point sources” of stormwater discharge nor “associated with industrial activity,” and therefore do not require an NPDES permit to comply with the Clean Water Act....more