In an unpublished decision, Communities for Better Environment v. South Coast Air Quality Management District, California’s Second Appellate District upheld the decision of an air district to issue a negative declaration for a project that expanded…
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Joe and Yvette Hardesty and the Jay Schneider family were awarded more than $100 million in damages against Sacramento County in federal court on Tuesday, March 21. The litigation was one in a long line of lawsuits and administrative actions concerni…
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President Trump has directed the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (“Army Corps”) to review the 2015 Clean Water Act Rule (“Rule”) defining “Waters of th…
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In People v. Rinehart, the California Supreme Court recently upheld a moratorium on the use of suction dredge methods to extract gold from federal mining claims. Since 1961, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has issued permits for suctio…
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As specialists in permitting medical marijuana in cities and counties under California’s Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act (MMRSA) and local land use ordinances, we are frequently asked whether a local permit provides a defense to federal…
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The Legislature recently passed the most significant reforms to SMARA in more than 20 years, as we detailed in a prior post here. These reform measures touch every key process in SMARA, including the reclamation plan review and approval process, the…
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On Tuesday, June 28, the California Secretary of State announced that proponents of the “Adult Use of Marijuana Act” (“AUMA”) submitted enough valid petition signatures to qualify the measure for the November ballot. The AUMA, if approved by…
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The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, otherwise known as Assembly Bill 32 (AB 32), is the California State Law that establishes statewide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets through 2020. This bill requires the California Air Resourc…
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SMARA REFORMS SIGNED INTO LAW Governor Brown just signed into law the most significant reforms to SMARA in more than 20 years. Join mining attorney Brad Johnson and lead agencies, consultants, and mine operators for a half-day seminar on the New SMAR…
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Two companion bills that together would enact the most significant reforms in more than twenty years to California’s mining law, the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (“SMARA”), are headed to the Senate and Assembly floors for a final vote. As…
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