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
7/18/2023
/ Administrative Procedure ,
California Air Resources Board ,
California Endangered Species Act ,
CEQA ,
CEQA Reform ,
Critical Habitat ,
Endangered Species ,
Energy Projects ,
Governor Newsom ,
Green Banks ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Infrastructure ,
Infrastructure Financing ,
Manufacturers ,
NEPA ,
New Legislation ,
Popular ,
Real Estate Development ,
Renewable Energy ,
Semiconductors ,
State Budgets ,
State Departments of Transportation ,
Surface Water ,
Transportation Industry ,
Utilities Sector ,
Water ,
Water Supplies
In a largely unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the California Third District Court of Appeal granted an appeal on Dec. 6, 2022, pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that threatens to frustrate...more
Holland & Knight Partner Jennifer L. Hernandez, leader of the firm's West Coast Land Use and Environmental Group, recently authored an industry report for the Center for Jobs & The Economy, whose mission is to identify and...more
8/24/2022
/ Affordable Housing ,
CARB ,
CEQA ,
Climate Change ,
Economic Development ,
General Plan ,
Governor Newsom ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Job Creation ,
Multi-Family Development ,
Net Zero ,
Office of Planning & Research (OPR) ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
Transportation Costs ,
Urban Planning & Development
In California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund v. City of San Mateo, now the leading published authority on California's Housing Accountability Act (HAA), California's First District Court of Appeal affirmed that the...more
As previously reported, California Senate Bill (SB) 7, the Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 20, 2021, and became effective...more
Signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 20, 2021, and taking immediate effect as an "urgency statute," Senate Bill (SB) 7 revives and expands the previously enacted Environmental Leadership Development Project...more
6/1/2021
/ CEQA ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Housing Developers ,
HUD ,
LEED Certified ,
LEED Rules ,
Net Zero ,
New Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government
The California Court of Appeal has delivered a victory to Holland & Knight clients Ruegg & Ellsworth and Frank Spenger Company, as well as to housing advocates across the state, in a landmark opinion on the state's new...more
In the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 was – somewhat surprisingly – a banner year for securing entitlement approvals. Holland & Knight's West Coast Land Use and Environmental Group secured approvals for approximately...more
Citing the urgency of climate change, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-79-20 on Sept. 23, 2020, to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and "more quickly move toward our low-carbon, sustainable...more
In a closely watched case, Protecting Our Water & Environmental Resources v. County of Stanislaus (POWER), Case No. S251708 (Aug. 27, 2020), the California Supreme Court has issued its first significant decision about the...more
The California State Judicial Council amended California Rule of Court, Emergency Rule No. 9, on May 29, 2020, lifting its previously adopted indefinite tolling of the limitation period to bring civil lawsuits. The amended...more
Despite a record-breaking 19 housing bills that were signed into law in 2019, California's housing supply and homelessness crisis continues and has been further exacerbated by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
On May...more
In response to COVID-19, on April 23, 2020, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-54-20, which, among other things, suspends for 60 days (starting April 23, and ending June 22, 2020) certain noticing and...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Judicial Council on April 6, 2020, introduced amendments to the California Rules of Court, which are effective immediately and impact a broad suite of criminal and civil...more
In response to COVID-19, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the nation's first statewide shelter-in-place Executive Order on March 19, 2020, which the state summarized as "everyone is required to stay home except to get...more
• Overruling a decades-old precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that property owners no longer need to exhaust state-court procedures before bringing federal takings claims in federal court.
• For California property...more
6/25/2019
/ 42 U.S.C. §1983 ,
Federal v State Law Application ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Inverse Condemnation ,
Just Compensation ,
Knick v Township of Scott Pennsylvania ,
Precedential Opinion ,
Property Owners ,
Reversal ,
SCOTUS ,
State Law Remedies ,
Takings Clause
This Corner Briefing highlights new Environmental Screening Levels (ESLs) established by the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board on Jan. 24, 2019. The new ESLs have the potential for making sites that cleared...more
1/28/2019
/ Brownfield Properties ,
CEQA ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Due Diligence ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Groundwater ,
Infill Development ,
Land Developers ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Screening Procedures ,
Vapor Intrusion ,
Water Quality Control Boards
The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on Nov. 29, 2018, issued its final Guidelines for the implementation of Senate Bill 35 of 2017 (SB 35).
SB 35 requires most local governments to issue...more
• One of the most notable laws in California's package of housing laws passed by the State Legislature and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017 is SB 35, which requires most local governments to issue housing developers...more
2/16/2018
/ Affordable Housing ,
Approval Requirements ,
CEQA ,
Construction Workers ,
Environmental Review ,
Governor Brown ,
Housing Developers ,
Jurisdiction ,
Local Ordinance ,
Multi-Family Development ,
New Guidance ,
Project Labor Agreements ,
Wage and Hour
• California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed into law two bills that significantly reform California's Housing Accountability Act (HAA).
• Effective Jan. 1, 2018, these laws will significantly increase the ability of housing...more
10/2/2017
/ Administrative Fines ,
Affordable Housing ,
Approval Requirements ,
Attorney's Fees ,
Governor Brown ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Low Income Housing ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
New Legislation ,
Objective Standard ,
Real Estate Development ,
Reformation ,
Regulatory Burden ,
Urban Planning & Development
The California Supreme Court, in a 6-1 ruling, in Cleveland National Forest Foundation, et al v. San Diego Association of Governments (2017) ___ Cal. 5th __, Supreme Court Case No. 5223603 held that San Diego Association of...more
POET, LLC v. State Air Resources Board (POET II) is the second chapter in the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) troubled history meeting its California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) compliance obligations while also...more
In The Committee for Re-Evaluation of the T-Line Loop v. San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, et al., California's First District Court of Appeal is the first appellate court to apply the California Supreme Court's...more
Holland & Knight's West Coast Land Use and Environment Practice Group has provided an update to its "In the Name of the Environment" report, detailing California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lawsuits that targeted housing...more
This is the second edition in an ongoing series of "Corner Briefings" highlighting urban infill legal tools and opportunities. These updates identify new legal cases, legislative updates, grant opportunities and other urban...more
4/5/2016
/ Brownfield Properties ,
CEQA ,
Construction Industry ,
Contaminated Properties ,
Environmental Policies ,
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ,
Neighborhood Revitalization ,
Popular ,
Real Estate Development ,
Redevelopment ,
Urban Planning & Development