Navigating Environmental Restrictions on Alternative Project Delivery for Complex Infrastructure Projects
On-Demand Webinar | The New NEPA Regulations: A Practical Guide to What You Need to Know
Hot Topics for Waste-to-Energy Investors and Developers
Buoyed by robust demand for large parcels of undeveloped land, the rise of artificial intelligence workloads, and the game-changing role that hyperscalers are playing, the real estate market for data centers is in a strong...more
A California court of appeal has held that a lead agency conducting environmental review, under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), of “vehicle miles traveled” (VMT) impacts may not unquestioningly use thresholds...more
While the Trump Administration has rolled back federal environmental justice initiatives and taken efforts toward expediting federal environmental review processes, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation...more
In a surprise decision likely to add further fuel to the fires calling for permitting reform and uncertainty to the environmental review process for federal funding and approval, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of...more
The California Legislature has continued to refine the Density Bonus Law over the years, making important updates to housing laws that impact developers across the state. Recent legislative changes include key updates on...more
As part of Mayor Eric Adams' "Get Stuff Built" initiative to increase housing supply and reduce regulatory constraints on new development, the New York City Planning Commission approved the Green Fast Track for Housing Rule...more
OVERVIEW - The Shawangunk Ridge is a cluster of bedrock in upstate New York popular for its scenery and outdoor recreation. The Town of Gardiner’s (“Gardiner”) Shawangunk Ridge Protection District (“SRPD”) protects the...more
New York City recently amended the City Environmental Quality Review (CEQR) regulations to exempt small residential developments from environmental review. The regulations, called "Green Fast Track for Housing," seek to...more
Several modest amendments to CEQA took effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Our CEQA News You Can Use team summarized a few of changes to keep in mind in the new year....more
In a published opinion filed on January 17, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 5) reversed a trial court judgment overturning a mitigated negative declaration (MND) and requiring an EIR for a 42-single family...more
2023 served up roughly the same number of published appellate CEQA cases as 2022 with a defense win percentage of over 80 percent, which has been the case in many, if not all, of the past ten years. A prominent theme of...more
In Guerrero et al v. City of Los Angeles (January 17, 2024, No. B326033 c/w B327032) ___Cal.App.5th___, the Second District Court of Appeal held that the project opponents did not timely file their CEQA lawsuit. The...more
Recently in BMG Monroe I, LLC v. Village of Monroe Zoning Board of Appeals, the Second Department reinforced strict compliance with all State Environmental Quality Review Act (“SEQRA”) visual impact findings and mitigation...more
The Sixth District Court of Appeal, in Santa Rita Union School District v. City of Salinas (2023), 94 Cal.App.5th 298, reversed the lower court, finding that the City of Salinas’ (“City”) final programmatic environmental...more
The month of September was a bad month for the City of Minneapolis’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan (2040 Comp Plan). On September 5, 2023, Minnesota’s Fourth Judicial District (Hennepin County) released a decision temporarily...more
The 2023 California Legislative Session, which closed on September 14, was dominated yet again by efforts to address the state’s continued housing crisis. For the last several years, we have written about many bills enacted...more
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
Noisy college students, the new CEQA impact? Would you be surprised to learn that college students can throw noisy parties? Uh, no, but it may be a surprise that they constitute a potentially significant environmental impact...more
In Citizens’ Committee to Complete the Refuge v. City of Newark (2021) 74 Cal.App.5th 460, the First District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s ruling that a residential project in a specific plan area in the city of...more
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development - Public agencies prevailed in 71% of CEQA cases analyzed. Latham & Watkins is pleased to present its fifth annual CEQA Case Report. Throughout...more
California legislators propose helping people buy homes in exchange for partial ownership Bullet KQED – June 16 State legislators are proposing to create a billion-dollar fund in this year’s state budget that would provide...more
Senator Wiener revives plan for by-right affordable housing on certain sites owned by religious institutions or private non-profit higher educational institutions CBS Bay Area – June 10 Last week, State Senator Scott Wiener...more
The California Legislature and Governor approved three key housing bills in 2021, to facilitate housing production in California. SB 8 (Senator Skinner) extends and expands the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB 330). SB 9...more
In an opinion filed on December 16, 2021, and belatedly ordered published on January 13, 2022, the Fourth District Court of Appeal rejected a CEQA challenge to a small multifamily project in the City of Santa Cruz. Ocean...more
Court clears new housing near Expo Line in Los Angeles - The Real Deal – December 30 - Los Angeles may finally get the 6,000 new residential units it wanted around the Metro Expo Line light-rail route. A Los Angeles...more