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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 🡢

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Ninth Circuit Emphasizes Deference to Federal Agencies under NEPA

In two recent cases involving challenges to U.S. Forest Service projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, the Ninth Circuit emphasized that courts must accord substantial deference to the environmental analysis conducted by federal agencies. Earth Island Institute v. U.S. Forest Service (9th Cir. Sept. 20, 2012), and Native Ecosystems Council v.

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City Suing School District Can Recover Attorneys’ Fees, But Loses Most CEQA Claims

Decisions by school districts and colleges to build new schools or expand existing ones frequently lead to CEQA challenges from local cities. In the most recent of these conflicts to reach the court of appeal, the City of Maywood won confirmation that it was eligible to recover attorneys' fees from a school district, but saw most of its CEQA claims rejected.

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Annual Operating Plans for Dam Operation Do Not Require Environmental Reviews

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is required by federal law to prepare Annual Operating Plans for the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River in northern Arizona. But, the Ninth Circuit ruled, it is not required to conduct an environmental review each time is prepares such a Plan. Grand Canyon Trust v.

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Court Upholds "Tributary Rule" But Leaves Open the Possibility of a Future Challenge

Background – Basins Plans, Beneficial Uses & the "Tributary Rule" The California Regional Water Quality Control Boards establish water quality standards under the Clean Water Act through the adoption of Basin Plans that identify the "beneficial uses" of the water bodies with their respective jurisdictions. The problem is that it is not possible for the Regional Water Boards to

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Ninth Circuit Upholds Fish & Wildlife Service Regulations Against Environmentalists' Challenge

The Chukchi Sea off the North Slope of Alaska is a promising place for oil and gas development.

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Can a Developer Unilaterally Impose an Arbitration Clause on a Condo Homeowners Association?

The answer is yes, as long as the arbitration clause is not unreasonable, according to the California Supreme Court in Pinnacle Museum Tower Association v.

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Decision on use of Future CEQA Baseline to be Reviewed by the Supreme Court

The California Supreme Court has decided to review the court of appeal decision in the Los Angeles Metro Line EIR case, the widely publicized decision in which the court of appeal upheld an EIR that used projected future conditions as the baseline for g

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No Harm, No Foul—Petitioners Claiming Procedural Errors Must Prove Prejudice

It's not enough that litigants challenging planning and zoning actions prove that the city or county committed a procedural error. They also have to show the error was prejudicial, that it led to substantial injury, and that if the error had not occurred, a different result would have been likely.

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EIR Required for Oak Woodland Management Plan

Public agencies generally prefer not to prepare EIRs – at least for their own plans and projects – unless they have to. And CEQA attempts to avoid redundancy by encouraging reliance, to the extent possible, on a previously certified EIR to support the approval of a subsequent action. So, in 2008, when El Dorado County adopted its long-awaited countywide oak woodland management plan, th

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ACLU Files Brief in Support of Building Industry Association

It's not every day that the American Civil Liberties Union and the Building Industry Association find themselves on the same side of an appellate case. But it can happen, as shown by an amicus curaie brief the ACLU filed today in support of an attorneys fees award to BIA for its successful challenge to a city ordinance. The case, currently pending in the first appel

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Ninth Circuit Upholds Analysis of Narrow Range of Alternatives in EIS

An alternatives analysis under NEPA may be valid even though only two very similar alternatives to the project are considered. In League of Wilderness Defenders-Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v.

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The Ninth Circuit Interprets “Agency Action” under the Endangered Species Act - Again

On July 17, 2012, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Salazar that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's renewal of water delivery contracts with senior priority water rights holders was not "agency action" under section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

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CBIA Heads Off Level III Fees

Level II school fees are intended to fund approximately 50% of the cost of school facilities. The other 50% is funded by the state through the Leroy-Greene School Facilities Act of 1998, commonly known as SB-50.

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Charter Cities Are Exempt from Prevailing Wage Laws

Laws of charter cities trump state law when it comes to "municipal affairs;" but state law is supreme as to matters of "statewide concern." So is payment of prevailing wage for public works a municipal affair or a matter of statewide concern?

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CEQA and EIR Adequacy: The Latest Words on Public Services Impacts and Adaptive Mitigation Programs

Two important, recurring CEQA questions are answered by a recent court of appeal decision in a case involving the EIR for a California State University campus master plan: whether CEQA requires funding of mitigation for a project's effects on public services; and whether an adaptive mitigation program for traffic and parking impacts improperly defers decisions about mitigation.