California Land Use & Development Law Report
California Land Use & Development Law Report
California Land Use & Development Law Report offers insights into legal issues relating to development and use of land and federal, state and local permitting and approval processes. View posts by topic. Subscribe 🡢
Definition of “Agency Action” under the Endangered Species Act to be Reheard by Ninth Circuit
California Supreme Court Agrees to Hear Case Under California Endangered Species Act
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CEQ Issues Handbooks on Coordinating NEPA Review with Review Under CEQA and Review Under the Historic Preservation Act
On March 5, 2013, the Council on Environmental Quality released a handbook intended to help agencies and practitioners coordinate environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act with overlapping review requirements under the California Environmental Quality Act. It also released a separate handbook on coordination of review under NEPA and the&nbs
New Opinion, Same Result - Project Objectives Are Upheld Under CEQA, But Alternatives Analysis Is Invalid
In 2008, the City of Santa Cruz and the University of California settled litigation challenging the University's long-term development plan for expanding the UC Santa Cruz campus. A key provision of the settlement agreement required the city to seek approvals from the Local Agency Formation Commission for providing water and sewer service to the part of the planned campus expans
New CEQA Bill - Cure or Band-Aid?
Use of Project-Specific Significance Thresholds Does Not Violate CEQA
Supreme Court to Decide Whether City Council's Adoption of Voter-Sponsored Initiative is Exempt from CEQA
The California Supreme Court announced on February 13 it has accepted review of Tuolumne Jobs & Small Business Alliance v.
Flow of Polluted Water from Lined to Unlined Section of River Doesn't Constitute "Discharge of a Pollutant"
The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals opinion that the flow of polluted water from a concrete channel to an unlined section of the same river constituted a "discharge of pollutants." Los Angeles County Flood Control Dist. v. Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.
New Forest Service Roadless Rule Upheld
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has rejected environmentalists' challenges to a new "roadless rule" governing federal lands in Idaho. In Jayne v. Sherman, the court found the U.S.
CEQA Year in Review 2012 -- A Summary of Published Appellate Opinions Relating to CEQA
Introduction While CEQA reform became a hot topic for a few days near the end of the 2012 legislative session -- but then foundered -- the appellate courts continued to issue CEQA decisions at a rapid clip. As is common in a challenging economy, the courts were generally less receptive to CEQA claims than they are in boom times.
Fish & Game Commission’s Decision To Deny Petition To Remove Coho Salmon From The State Endangered Species List Upheld
The California Endangered Species Act allows interested parties to file a petition with the California Fish & Game Commission to list or delist a species as threatened or endangered. If the Commission accepts the petition, it then decides whether to take the action requested in the petition, based on a scientific report on the species prepared by the Department of Fish &
CEQA Doesn't Apply to Declaration of Water Emergency Authorized by Judgment Governing Groundwater Basin
EIR’s Project Description For Municipal Park Properly Excluded Proposed Development On Adjacent Property Claimed to Be a Related Project
An Attorney Petitioner in a CEQA Suit Can Be Awarded Attorneys' Fees
In a case of first impression, a court of appeal has held that an attorney can be a named petitioner in a CEQA case, litigate the case on behalf of all of the petitioners, and then, if the litigation succeeds, obtain an award of attorneys' fees from the defendants for her work. Healdsburg Citizens for Sustainable