The Trump administration’s plan to repeal a rule prohibiting logging and road construction in undeveloped parts of national forests would remove protection from more than 4 million acres of forestland within California’s…
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/ Agriculture, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
California stands at a pivotal juncture in 2025, confronting an array of environmental and housing challenges. As usual, the California State Legislature is considering numerous strategies to address these issues. This year’s…
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/ Construction Law, Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Real Estate - Residential, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
Senator Mike Crapo released draft text of the Senate Finance Committee’s version of the budget reconciliation bill on June 16. The Senate draft budget includes positives for the large-scale solar market, such as amending…
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/ Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Taxation
California’s regulatory authority over “waters of the state” continues to grow even as the federal definition of “Waters of the United States” (WOTUS) narrows under shifting legal and regulatory frameworks. In Sackett v. EPA…
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/ Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
Several high-profile species — including the burrowing owl, Crotch’s bumble bee, western Joshua tree, western spadefoot toad, and the monarch butterfly — have recently been elevated to candidate status under either the…
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/ Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
Owners and operators of facilities damaged or destroyed by the recent Los Angeles-area wildfires should be aware of the risks posed by toxic contaminant releases during cleanup and, in particular, the regulatory requirements…
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/ Construction Law, Environmental Law, Health, Labor & Employment Law, Toxic Torts
California has set ambitious clean energy standards, mandating that 100% of the state's electricity be supplied by renewable and zero-carbon resources by 2045, with interim targets of 60% by 2030 and 90% by 2035. In order to…
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/ Administrative Law, Energy & Utilities, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
The first quarter of 2025 has been marked by a turbulent transition between presidential administrations as indicated by regulatory course reversals, and clean energy regulations have been no exception. On January 20, 2025,…
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/ Administrative Law, Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law
California is often the vanguard of climate-related policies and programs. From legislation requiring the state to reduce overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and procure electricity from renewable and carbon-free sources to…
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/ Environmental Law, Finance & Banking, Zoning, Planning & Land Use, Family Law
The City of Santa Ana (City) has recently undertaken an ambitious — and highly controversial — effort to reshape the landscape of its historically industrial-centric Transit Zoning Code (TZC) district. Through the adoption of a…
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/ Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
Each year, many California businesses receive letters from private entities, typically environmental nongovernmental organizations (Citizen Groups), alleging that those businesses’ facilities are in violation of applicable…
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/ Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
California’s housing crisis has necessitated innovative legislative solutions at the state and local level to increase the supply of affordable housing across the state. Cities are required by state law to plan for a specified…
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/ Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Real Estate - Residential, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
As climate variability and drought continue to challenge California’s water supply, the state is renewing its focus on seawater desalination as part of a diversified water portfolio. While only a handful of large-scale…
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/ Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
Beginning January 1, 2025, the “Making Conservation a California Way of Life” regulatory framework requires urban retail water suppliers — not individual households or businesses — to adopt a series of “urban water use…
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/ Energy & Utilities, Environmental Law, Zoning, Planning & Land Use
Various state housing bills are currently making their way through the California State Legislature that are expected to benefit mixed-income multifamily housing developers. The following summaries reflect the status of the…
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/ Environmental Law, Real Estate - Residential, Transportation, Zoning, Planning & Land Use