Opinion Clarifies When CEQA Review is Required for Local Land Use Initiatives -
Local governments may adopt voter-sponsored initiatives without conducing environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental...more
Deadline for Comments is 5 p.m. on October 10 -
As mandated by 2013’s Senate Bill 743, the Office of Planning and Research has released its draft update to the State CEQA Guidelines. SB 743 requires OPR to update the...more
The California Economic Summit announced this week that its leaders, such as the president of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation and the president of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership, have written...more
Eric Jaffe’s recent article for The Atlantic’s CityLab website: “Transit Projects Are About to Get Much, Much Easier in California” explains that “California will soon reform traffic analysis under CEQA by replacing ‘level of...more
Life in the public sector is just that: public. With the California Public Records Act and countless local sunshine ordinances, most public employees are keenly aware that much of what they write — be it in a report, letter,...more
Trial Court Validates Agreements and Plans for Large Public-Private Water Project and Approves CEQA Review -
The Orange County Superior Court last week issued rulings rejecting all six challenges to the environmental...more
In the recently published decision in City of Irvine v. County of Orange the Court of Appeal held that the county’s approval of an application for state funding to expand a jail facility was not a project under the California...more
When I think about the California Environmental Quality Act, I am reminded of a line from the TV show “The West Wing,” in which a character remarked that Social Security was the “third rail” of American politics – never to be...more
After promises of far-reaching reform in 2013, the state Legislature has instead proposed only a few tweaks to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Several CEQA-related bills were passed by the Legislature and...more
California law imposes substantial obligations on cities and counties with regard to enforcement of general plans and compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”)[i]. These dueling obligations can come...more
8/22/2013
The Court of Appeal for the Third District issued its ruling Monday in Friends of Oroville v. City of Oroville. Finding an environmental impact report’s greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) analysis deficient, the court’s ruling...more
Yesterday, the Court of Appeal for the First District issued its ruling in California Building Industry Association v. Bay Area Air Quality Management District. In a win for public agencies, the court held that establishing...more
In a victory for public agencies, the California Supreme Court today issued its much-anticipated ruling in Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority (August 5, 2013). The Court held that, in...more
In Save Panoche Valley v. San Benito County, the Sixth District Court of Appeal upheld the county’s approval of a 420-megawatt photovoltaic solar plant. The court found that the county had substantial evidence to support its...more
It is a truth, universally acknowledged, that a Californian in possession of a car must be in want of a parking space. And, of course, this space should be free, just steps from your intended destination and available 24...more
In a recent case involving the California Environmental Quality Act, a state appellate court upheld a city’s decision to exempt from environmental review a residential development because it was consistent with a broader...more