Christopher Guillen at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Tackling California’s Housing Crisis via AB 1633

Bill imposes a clock on CEQA review for certain infill housing projects, weakens project opponents' ability to obtain attorney fee awards...more

12/4/2023 / California , Community Development , Housing Developers , Housing Market , New Legislation , Real Estate Development , State and Local Government , Urban Planning & Development

SB 423 Expands and Extends California’s Landmark Housing Streamlining Bill

Bill extends exemption from CEQA and discretionary entitlements for housing projects while adding the Coastal Zone to the mix - If you are having trouble keeping track of all the housing bills in California this year,...more

10/25/2023 / Affordable Housing , California , CEQA , City Planning Departments , Environmental Policies , Governor Newsom , New Legislation , Real Estate Development , State and Local Government , Urban Planning & Development

Missing Middle: Governor Signs Bill to Bolster Middle-Income Housing

On Oct. 11, 2023, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed this year’s slate of housing bills to “incentivize and reduce barriers to housing and support the development of more affordable homes.” Among the 56 bills signed is AB 1287, the...more

10/20/2023 / Affordable Housing , California , Governor Newsom , Housing Market , Low Income Housing , New Legislation , Real Estate Development , State and Local Government , Urban Planning & Development

What’s Happening at the California Capitol? Another Pass at CEQA and Housing Streamlining

In this alert, Brownstein outlines Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest swing at the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and provides the updates (and potentially what to expect) regarding two new bills introduced by Sen. Scott...more

6/5/2023 / California , CEQA , Environmental Impact Report (EIR) , Environmental Policies , Environmental Review , Proposed Legislation , Real Estate Development , State and Local Government , Urban Planning & Development

Will YIGBYs say ‘Hallelujah!’ in 2023?

Supporters of the Yes In God’s Back Yard (YIGBY) movement made a joyful noise this week when California State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) announced that he was reintroducing legislation to allow by-right development...more

12/12/2022 / Affordable Housing , California , Community Development , Density Bonus , Housing Developers , Housing Market , Proposed Legislation , Real Estate Development , Religious Institutions , Urban Planning & Development

California Energy Commission Finalizes Regs for Renewable and Energy Storage Projects

The highly anticipated emergency regulations describe how the direct permitting process will work under AB 205 - The California Energy Commission (“CEC”) recently finalized its highly anticipated emergency regulations...more

11/4/2022 / California , California Energy Commission , Energy Commissions , Energy Market , Energy Sector , Energy Storage , Governor Newsom , Renewable Energy

Alleviating Barriers to Housing Development in California

Gov. Gavin Newsom Signs Into Law New Efforts to Address the State’s Housing Crisis - On Sept. 28, 2022, California Gov. Gavin Newsom executed this year's housing legislation intended to address the state’s housing crisis....more

10/18/2022 / California , Commercial Leases , Commercial Property Owners , Governor Newsom , Housing Developers , Housing Market , New Legislation , State Legislatures , Warehouses

California Cannabis and CEQA Collide

Assembly Bill (AB) 141 and Senate Bill (SB) 160, which passed in 2021, will bring an end to provisional cannabis licenses and change the requirements for renewing provisional licenses issued by California’s Department of...more

3/7/2022 / California , Cannabis Products , Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) , CEQA , Environmental Impact Report (EIR) , Environmental Policies

CEQA News You Can Use - Volume 6, Issue 4

Welcome to “CEQA News You Can Use,” a quarterly production of Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck's Natural Resources lawyers. This publication provides quick, useful bites of CEQA news, which we hope can be a resource to your...more

12/31/2021 / California , CEQA , CEQA Reform , Construction Industry , Construction Project , Environmental Impact Report (EIR) , Environmental Policies , Public Projects , State and Local Government , Urban Planning & Development

GSAs’ Stats Remain Consistent—DWR Releases Second Round of GSP Assessments

Last week, on Nov. 18, 2021, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) released assessments of eight additional Groundwater Sustainability Plans (GSPs), adding to the four assessments released as reported in our June...more

11/24/2021 / California , Department of Water Resources , Groundwater , Groundwater Management Plan , Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) , Water