In an unpublished decision, Outfitter Properties v. State Water Resources Control Board (2012) 2012 Cal.App.Unpub.LEXIS 1986, the Third Appellate District Court (Court) upheld a trial court’s rejection of petitioner’s consolidated petition for writ of mandate, which sought to put a stop to the “Battle Creek Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Project” (Project). Several agencies, including the
Court holds the Integrated Waste Management Act Does Not Vest a County with Any Authority Over Issuance of a Solid Waste Facilities Permit and, Therefore, the County is Not the Decisionmaking Body for the Purposes of CEQA
In No Wetlands Landfill Expansion v. County of Marin (2012) 2012 Cal.App.LEXIS 330, the First Appellate District reversed the trial court’s determination that CEQA required the Marin County Board of Supervisors to hear an administrative appeal from the Marin County Environmental Health Services’s (Marin EHS) approval of a solid waste facilities permit for the expansion
Court Upholds Lower Court Ruling Barring Petitioner from Prevailing on CEQA Merits For Failure to Request a Hearing Within Statutory 90-day Period
In an unpublished decision, North County Watch v. County of San Luis Obispo (2012) 2012 Cal.App. Unpub. LEXIS 2312, the Second Appellate District upheld the trial court’s determination that a petitioner was barred as a matter of law from prevailing on its CEQA challenges because petitioner failed to request a hearing within 90 days of
Court Rules Forest Service’s Categorical Exclusion Memos are Arbitrary and Capricious Regarding Livestock Grazing
In Western Watersheds v. United States Forest Service, (2012) 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 45573, petitioners challenged the Forest Service’s alleged practice of reauthorizing livestock grazing on federal land without conducting the proper environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”). The court concluded that the actions by the Forest Service in connection with
Unpublished Decision Holds that a Comparative Analysis is Required to Support the Conclusion that an Alternative is Economically Infeasible
In an unpublished decision, Quartz Hill Cares v. City of Lancaster (2012) 2012 Cal.App.Unpub. LEXIS 2026, petitioner sought a writ of administrative mandate to overturn the City of Lancaster’s (City) approval of a 395,000-square-foot commercial project on land previously zoned for residential use under the Planning and Zoning Law and the California Environmental Quality Act
Tina Thomas is Cottage Housing’s Beacon of Hope Honoree
May 3, 2012, Sacramento. Our very own Tina Thomas was honored by Cottage Housing at its 3rd Annual Beacon of Hope celebration. For more than 30 years, Tina has served as a tenacious pro bono advocate for a wide array of homeless services programs including Cottage Housing, Loaves & Fishes, Sacramento Food Bank & Family
Third Appellate District Grants Partial Publication of CEQA Decision Relating to Agricultural Mitigation, Urban Decay, Res Judicata, and the Deliberative Process Privilege
In Citizens for Open Government v. City of Lodi (2012) ___ Cal.App.4th ___ (Opinion), the Court rejected Citizens for Open Government’s and Lodi First’s (Petitioners) challenges to the reapproval by defendant City of Lodi (City) of a conditional use permit for a proposed shopping center to be anchored by a Wal-Mart Supercenter (Project)
9th Circuit Court of Appeals Lifts Stay to allow CARB to Continue Implementing LCFS
In Rocky Mountain Farmers Union v. Goldstene (Case no. CV-F-09-2234), the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District granted summary judgment in favor of a group of farming and oil-industry plaintiffs, finding that the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (“LCFS”) regulations promulgated by the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”) to implement provisions of California Assembly Bill
SACOG Adopts Joint Metropolitan Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communites Strategy
On April 19, 2012, the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG), the Metropolitan Planning Organization responsible for developing the state and federally required Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) for the 22 cities and six counties in the greater Sacramento region, adopted its first joint MTP / Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) as required by Senate Bill 375.
Court Disagrees with Sunnyvale and Madera Decisions and Holds that use of Projected Future Conditions as a Baseline for Analyzing Environmental Impacts is Proper where Supported by Substantial Evidence
In Neighbors for Smart Rail v. Exposition Metro Line Construction Authority (2012 Cal.App. LEXIS 434), the Second Appellate District upheld the lead agency’s determination that a future 2030 baseline was proper for determining the significance of traffic and air quality impacts caused by a proposed light rail project in Los Angeles. The EIR at issue