The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published on December 20, 2023, its notice of intent (NOI) to prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) of reasonably foreseeable impacts of floating offshore...more
The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has proposed further amendments to its National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing regulations as part of its phased rulemaking initiated in 2021. The proposed Bipartisan...more
On December 6-7, 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) held its third offshore wind lease sale this year—and the first of its kind for floating wind—bringing in $757.1 million from five lease areas off the...more
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order on November 17, 2022, approving the surrender of the FERC license for the Lower Klamath Project. This order authorizes the decommissioning and removal of four...more
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) published its Proposed Sale Notice (PSN) on May 31, 2022, for what would be the first ever offshore wind energy leases on the west coast of the United States. The sale would span...more
The $1.2 trillion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which President Biden signed into law today, and the proposed $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act (H.R. 5376) each set aside historic investments in clean energy. The...more
11/16/2021
/ Clean Energy ,
Energy Projects ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Policies ,
FERC ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
Infrastructure ,
Infrastructure Financing ,
Legislative Agendas ,
NOAA ,
Offshore Wind ,
Renewable Energy ,
Wind Power
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a $15 billion legislative package on September 23, 2021, funding efforts to combat climate change in California over the next three years. It is the largest climate investment package in the...more
9/30/2021
/ California ,
Climate Change ,
Electric Vehicles ,
Governor Newsom ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Legislation ,
Offshore Wind ,
Public Utilities Commission ,
Renewable Energy ,
State and Local Government ,
State Budgets ,
Zero-Emission Vehicles
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently signaled potential wide-reaching reforms to regional electric transmission planning, cost allocation, and generator interconnection processes. Nearing the tenth anniversary of...more
The First Appellate District held that tribal sovereign immunity bars a quiet title action to establish a public easement for coastal access on property owned by an Indian tribe. Self v. Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community, 60...more
The U.S. Senate passed the Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure Act of 2021 by a nearly unanimous vote in its first significant legislative step towards fulfilling the water infrastructure goals of the Biden...more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers published in the Federal Register changes to its Clean Water Act Nationwide Permits (NWPs). The final rule, published on January 13, 2021, reissues 12 existing NWPs and issues four new NWPs....more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that a U.S. Forest Service plan for commercial logging of some 4,700 acres of fire-damaged Mendocino National Forest could not reasonably be interpreted as falling within a NEPA...more
10/1/2020
/ Appeals ,
Appellate Courts ,
Environmental Policies ,
Forest Service ,
Forestry ,
Logging ,
Maintenance ,
NEPA ,
Repairs ,
Roads ,
State and Local Government
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on June 17, 2020, issued its Decision Adopting Short-Term Actions to Accelerate Microgrid Deployment and Related Resiliency Solutions in California. This decision represents a...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeal found multiple defects in a Kern County EIR for a proposed ordinance streamlining the permitting process for new oil and gas wells. King and Gardiner Farms, LLC v. County Kern 45 Cal.App.5th...more
The State of Hawaii Land Use Commission’s reversion of 1,060 acres from a conditional urban land use classification to the prior agricultural use classification was not an unconstitutional taking because the landowner could...more
Taking the next step in its efforts to streamline the environmental review process for projects under federal jurisdiction, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published proposed regulations on January 10...more
1/14/2020
/ CEQ ,
Congressional Review Act ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Review ,
Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (FAST Act) ,
NEPA ,
Notice of Intent ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Rulemaking Process
When imposing a school impact fee on residential development, a district need not separately analyze particular subtypes of projects; the authorizing statutes simply require a reasonable relationship between the need for the...more
The County of San Diego violated the Subdivision Map Act by approving residential development of land restricted to agricultural use under the Williamson Act when the development was neither closely related to nor necessary...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has upheld the approval of a utility-scale wind facility in California, rejecting claims that the Bureau of Indian Affairs violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the...more
A decision by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Georgia issued on August 21, 2019, highlights the continuing confusion over the definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. The...more
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a 163-page proposed rule on August 9, 2019, to clarify the substantive and procedural requirements for water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act....more
8/19/2019
/ Certification Requirements ,
Clean Water Act ,
Comment Period ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Executive Orders ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Scope of Review ,
Section 401 ,
Trump Administration ,
Water Quality ,
Waters of the United States
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service issued a set of three new final rules on August 12, 2019, that substantially revise the regulations implementing the Endangered Species Act. The new...more
The Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule June 26, 2019, revising the agency’s Freedom of Information Act regulations. According to EPA, those regulations, last updated in 2002, required revision to comply with...more
7/22/2019
/ Appeals ,
Confidential Information ,
Congressional Intent ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Exemptions ,
Final Rules ,
FOIA ,
Food Marketing Institute v Argus Leader Media ,
Motion to Compel ,
Private Commercial or Financial Information ,
Protected Disclosures ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
Substantial-Competitive-Harm Test ,
Trade Secrets
The Council on Environmental Quality published draft guidance June 26, 2019, on how to assess greenhouse gas emissions under the National Environmental Policy Act, the law that requires environmental impact assessment for...more
A Summary of Published Appellate Opinions Under the California Environmental Quality Act -
The California Supreme Court issued its only CEQA opinion of 2018 at the end of the year. In Sierra Club v. County of Fresno, the...more
1/14/2019
/ Air Quality Standards ,
Appeals ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Building Permits ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Carbon Emissions ,
CEQA ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Excessive Noise ,
Exemptions ,
Final Judgment ,
General Plan ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Historic Preservation ,
Housing Developers ,
Mitigated Negative Declaration ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Oil & Gas ,
Railroads ,
Railways ,
Real Estate Market ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Res Judicata ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Sierra Club v County of Fresno ,
Standard of Review ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Substantial Evidence Standard ,
Tenants ,
Traffic Impact Assessments ,
Trucking Industry ,
Urban Planning & Development