On January 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Transportation (“DOT”) announced that the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District (“District”) will receive $426.7 million to construct a deepwater port and...more
The California Energy Commission (CEC), on January 19, 2023, released the long-awaited Draft AB 525 Offshore Wind Strategic Plan. Offshore wind energy development in federal ocean waters off California’s coast is poised to...more
In an important step toward meeting California’s goal of producing up to 5,000 MW of offshore wind energy by 2030, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 286 into law on October 7, 2023. Authored by California Senate...more
Governor Newsom, on October 7, 2023, signed AB 1373 into law. The bill authorizes the Department of Water Resources (DWR) to serve as a central procurement entity to procure diverse clean energy resources in order to help the...more
On August 31, 2023, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) issued a final rule listing four distinct population segments (DPSs) of foothill yellow-legged frog (Rana boylii) under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA)....more
The California Energy Commission (“CEC”), on April 28, 2023, released an Offshore Wind Energy Permitting Roadmap that builds on the Draft Conceptual Permitting Roadmap the CEC published in December 2022... AB 525 requires the...more
In Save Livermore Downtown v. City of Livermore (Dec. 28, 2022, Case No. A164987) __ Cal.App.1st __, the First District Court of Appeal held that the City of Livermore (City) did not violate planning and zoning laws when it...more
2/2/2023
/ Administrative Record ,
Affordable Housing ,
Bonds ,
Cal Code of Civil Procedure ,
CEQA ,
Delays ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Housing Developers ,
Real Estate Development ,
Standard of Review ,
Zoning Laws
In a partially published opinion in Save Lafayette v. City of Lafayette (2022) 85 Cal.App.5th 842, the First District Court of Appeal upheld approval of an affordable housing project in the face of the third in a series of...more
The California Energy Commission (CEC) recently released drafts of two key work products required by AB 525: a Conceptual Permitting Roadmap and a Report on the Preliminary Assessment of Economic Benefits of Offshore Wind...more
Today the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) announced the results of the first offshore wind lease sale on the West Coast. The provisional winners of the lease sale are: RWE Offshore Wind Holdings; California North...more
On April 20, 2022, the Third District Court of Appeal filed its opinion in We Advocate Through Environmental Review v. County of Siskiyou (2022) 78 Cal.App.5th 683, reversing the trial court’s judgment upholding the County’s...more
On May 11, 2022, the Third District Court of Appeal published its opinion in We Advocate Through Environmental Review v. City of Mount Shasta (2022) 78 Cal.App.5th 629, reversing the decision below and ordering the trial...more
On March 30, 2022, the First District Court of Appeal published its opinion in Save the Hill Group v. City of Livermore (2022) 76 Cal.App.5th 1092, invalidating an Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) for the Garaventa Hills...more
On March 22, 2022, the Second District Court of Appeal published its Opinion in Buena Vista Water Storage District v. Kern Water Bank Authority, upholding the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Kern Water Bank...more
In early April there were two major leaps forward in offshore wind development in California. On April 6, 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), a bureau within the U.S. Interior Department, released a Draft...more
In September 2021, the Third District Court of Appeal in Sierra Watch v. Placer County reversed a judgement upholding Placer County’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a resort development project in the Olympic (formerly...more
On August 19, 2021, in Save Our Access – San Gabriel Mountains vs. Watershed Conservation Authority, the Second District Court of Appeal, in reversing the lower court’s judgement, upheld an Environmental Impact Report’s...more
On June 11, 2021, Governor Newsom signed Executive Order N-08-21 (the “Order”) that establishes September 30, 2021, as the end date for COVID-19 pandemic-related suspensions for (1) deadlines for filing, noticing, and posting...more
6/17/2021
/ CEQA ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Executive Orders ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Filing Requirements ,
Governor Newsom ,
Mitigated Negative Declaration ,
Notice Requirements ,
Posting Requirements ,
Public Meetings
In an opinion filed on April 19, and certified for publication on May 4, 2021, the Third Appellate District in Alliance for Responsible Planning v. Taylor (County of El Dorado) held that a citizen-sponsored ballot measure...more
6/10/2021
/ Appeals ,
Ballot Measures ,
CEQA ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Construction Project ,
Essential Nexus ,
General Plan ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
Proportionality ,
Takings Clause ,
Traffic Impact Assessments
In Jan Dunning et al. v. Kevin K. Johnson, APLC et al., the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that a developer and property owner could pursue its claims against a neighbor and project opponent for malicious prosecution...more
5/24/2021
/ Anti-SLAPP ,
CEQA ,
Construction Project ,
Counterclaims ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Evidence ,
Frivolous Lawsuits ,
Land Developers ,
Malicious Prosecution ,
Mitigated Negative Declaration ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Petition for Writ of Mandate ,
Probable Cause ,
Property Owners
In California Coastkeeper v. State Lands Commission, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld the State Lands Commission’s decision to prepare a supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) for a desalination plant in...more
In an opinion published on August 17, 2020, the Third Appellate District in Martis Camp Community Association v. County of Placer ruled that Placer County had violated CEQA by adopting an addendum to support abandonment of a...more
On August 27, 2020, in Protecting Our Water and Environmental Resources v. County of Stanislaus, Case No. S251709 (“Protecting Our Water”), the California Supreme Court held that the County in that instance could not...more
9/3/2020
/ CA Supreme Court ,
CEQA ,
Construction Permits ,
Department of Water Resources ,
Environmental Review ,
Groundwater ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Local Ordinance ,
Ministerial Exception ,
Water ,
Well Drilling
In a ruling that should send shivers up the spine of any public agency in California needing to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”), the Fourth District Court of Appeal on July 30 held that any email...more
The Sixth Appellate District, in Willow Glen Trestle Conservancy v. San Jose (2020) 49 Cal.App.5th 127, held that seeking a new Streambed Alteration Agreement (“SAA”) from the California Department of Fish & Wildlife (“CDFW”)...more