February 2020 In just the last year this firm litigated and successfully defended two Section 105(c) complaints filed under the federal Mine Safety and Health Act (the “Mine Act”). (30 USC § 801, et seq.) This section prohibits mine operators fr… Read More

On January 23, 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finalized the Navigable Waters Protection Rule defining “waters of the United States.” Read More

On July 18, 2019, the California Department of Industrial Relations, Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (“Board,” also known as “Cal/OSHA”), adopted emergency regulations designed to protect outdoor workers from wildfire smoke. Read More

On April 12, 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a guidance memorandum stating that point source discharges to groundwater, which subsequently migrate or are conveyed to surface water, are excluded from the Clean Water Act’s NPDES… Read More

August 2018 A recent unpublished opinion by California’s First Appellate District highlights the risk that CEQA lead agencies face when they approve projects with potential visual or traffic impacts based on a negative declaration. In Protect Niles… Read More

July 2018 Oglala Sioux Tribe v. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 20215 The District of Columbia Circuit recently held that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s practice of leaving licensing decisions in effect while under… Read More

July 2018 The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (“Service”) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (together “Agencies”) have jointly proposed revisions to regulations that implement por… Read More

July 2018 The California Natural Resources Agency has released another round of proposed revisions to the CEQA Guidelines. The draft changes to the guidelines were originally published in January 2018 and followed by public hearings in March 2018. Th… Read More