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?

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.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the transportation planning agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, and the Association of Bay Area Governments have announced that they are going to prepare an Environmental Impact Report to evaluate the agencies' proposed plan to reduce regional greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light duty trucks.  On June　11, the agen

The Ninth Circuit is at center stage again in the debate over the interpretation and enforcement of federal environmental laws.

No, at least according to a recent court of appeal decision in a case brought by the City of Hayward to challenge the EIR for the California State University East Bay campus master development plan.

The California Building Industry Association scored a major victory recently when a San Jose judge threw out the city's requirement that residential developers sell or rent a specified portion of newly-built homes to lower-income households.

In a jurisdictional dispute pitting the City of Malibu against a state conservancy and the California Coastal Commission, the court of appeal ruled the Commission lacked authority to disregard the city's objections to an amendment to its Local Coastal Program.  While the Commission has the power to override a local agency's objections to LCP amendments  requested by public a