On August 27, 2015, Chief Judge Ralph Erickson of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota granted a preliminary injunction that stops EPA’s and the Army Corps of Engineers’ new rule defining federal...more
On August 11, 2015, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California struck down the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s so-called “30-Year Rule,” which had extended from 5 years to 30 years the duration of...more
8/18/2015
/ Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act ,
Conservation ,
Department of the Interior ,
Endangered Species ,
Endangered Species Act (ESA) ,
Energy Sector ,
Environmental Assessments ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) ,
NEPA ,
Renewable Energy ,
State Department of Fish and Wildlife ,
Wind Power
On July 1, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service jointly published a final policy providing their interpretation of the phrase ‘‘significant portion of its range,’’ which is part...more
On May 12, 2014, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service jointly published two proposed regulations and a draft policy concerning critical habitat designations under the Endangered Species...more
On April 21, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers jointly published a proposed rule to define those waters that fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act as “waters of the United...more
On March 31, 2014, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a memorandum opinion upholding the approval, by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, of the first oil and gas lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico...more
On March 25, 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers jointly released a proposed rule to define those waters that fall under the jurisdiction of the Clean Water Act as “waters of the United...more
On March 13, the Ninth Circuit issued its long-awaited decision in the latest round of the delta smelt litigation, upholding the 2008 Biological Opinion prepared by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for the combined operations...more
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW -
The published court decisions in 2012 reflected a heightened recognition that CEQA does not require perfection, but rather a reasonable effort to provide environmental information that...more
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers have presented a draft of joint regulations under the Clean Water Act to the Office of Management and Budget for an internal governmental review. While the...more
In a case seeking to compel the Washington Department of Ecology and two regional agencies in the state of Washington to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the...more
In a case seeking to compel the Washington State Department of Ecology and two regional agencies in the State of Washington to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the environmental...more
Under the Mitigation Fee Act, when a city imposes a fee, dedication, reservation or other exaction on a development project, the developer has the right to pay under protest, obtain the necessary project approvals and proceed...more
The prolonged controversy over the Clean Water Act’s reach may be coming to a dramatic head. On September 17, 2013, the Environmental Protection Agency announced the release of a draft scientific report finding that all of...more
On August 28, 2013, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service (Services) issued a final rule revising their regulations for analyzing the economic impacts of critical habitat designation...more
Urban storm water runoff has been recognized as one of the most significant sources of water pollution in the country. ...more
The California Supreme Court has unanimously upheld a local ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, holding that the ban was not preempted by state statutes governing medical marijuana. The decision does not come as a...more
In addressing an important legal issue of first impression, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s “veto” authority under Section 404(c) of the...more
According to the author’s April 23, 2013 press release, the amended version of Senate Bill 731 is a “comprehensive reform” of CEQA, “modernizing the law to aid California’s economic growth.” But a close review shows that the...more
An environmental group argued that rain water washing over utility poles and carrying wood preservatives used to treat the poles into Bay Area waterways violated the Clean Water Act (CWA) and the Resource Conservation and...more
In an opinion published on March 28, 2013, a California court of appeal answered three questions under the California Environmental Quality Act that the published decisions have not yet addressed...more
The first published California Environmental Quality Act case of 2013, Save Cuyama Valley v. County of Santa Barbara, strongly endorsed a lead agency’s authority to use its own, project-specific significance thresholds in an...more
In This Issue:
- Project Approvals Triggering CEQA
..Chung v City of Monterey Park (2012) 210 CA4th 394
..Tuolumne Jobs and Small Business Alliance v Superior Court) 210 CA4th 1006 (petition for review pending,...more
1/3/2013
/ Ballot Measures ,
CEQA ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Exemptions ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Groundwater ,
Permits ,
Standing ,
Statute of Limitations ,
Tolling ,
Wal-Mart