On June 18, 2014, the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality will hold a public hearing on AB 52, as recently amended by Assembly Member Gatto (D-Burbank). A current version of AB 52 can be found here. Although likely subject to amendment, we high…
Read More
League of Wilderness Defenders / Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. Connaughton — F.3d — (2014) The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) was required when the Fore…
Read More
Moapa Band of Paiutes v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management (9th Cir. 2013) 546 Fed.Appx. 655; Moapa Band of Paiutes v. U.S. Bureau of Land Management (D. Nev., Oct. 6, 2011, 2:10-CV-02021-KJD) 2011 WL 4738120 aff’d sub nom. Moapa Band of Paiutes v…
Read More
Natural Resources Defense Council v. Jewell (2014) ___ F.3d___ The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed that Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) Section 7 consultation requirements are triggered whenever a federal agency retains…
Read More
Senate Bill 1451 (Hill) amends Public Resources Code section 21177 in order to limit the occurrence of “document dumping,” a practice used by some project opponents in California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) proceedings.…
Read More
Center for Biological Diversity v. Department of Fish and Wildlife (2014) ___ Cal.Rptr.3d ___ A California Court of Appeal, in a wide-ranging opinion overturning the trial court’s decision to set aside the EIR for the Newhall Ranch Project, rec…
Read More
Utility Reform Network v. Public Utilities Commission (2014) 223 Cal.App.4th 945 It has long been a practice among certain administrative agencies, such as the California Public Utility Commission (“CPUC”), that hearsay evidence is genera…
Read More
AB 2420, Fracking Local Control Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian On February 21, 2014, Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian introduced Assembly Bill 2420, which proposed a new section of the Public Resources Code regarding well stimulation treatments, includin…
Read More
Foothill Communities Coalition v. County of Orange (2014) 222 Cal.App.4th 1302 The California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, in a case of first impression, recently overturned a trial court by holding that, although creation of a parcel with less…
Read More
The United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, held that allegations of a local injury establish standing to challenge a Final Environmental Impact Report's (FEIS) discussion of global climate change. The Court also held that disc…
Read More
