On May 8, 2012, the California Attorney General’s office released a report entitled “Environmental Justice at the Local and Regional Level – Legal Background” (Report) which interprets existing law to impose environmental justice obligations that local governments must consider when approving specific projects and planning for future development.
“Environmental justice” is defined in the Government
Governor Brown’s office has proposed new legislation that would modify the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to limit the circumstances under which a court could issue an injunction or other stop work order on the California High Speed Rail (HSR) project pending the outcome of CEQA litigation. The proposed legislation aims to protect the HSR
Upon reaching a large milestone in improving air quality, the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District (District) prepared and recently released the 2011 Snapshot Report. The Report announces the District’s recent achievement of attaining the Federal 1-hour Ozone Standard, but also acknowledges that there is still much to be done. The District, which includes all
On May 23, 2012, the California Supreme Court unanimously agreed to grant review of Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley (2012) 203 Cal.App.4th 656. The issue before the court will be whether the City of Berkeley must prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) before approving the construction of a 10,000-square-foot single-family home. The trial
On April 23, 2012, the Planning and Conservation League (PCL) filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Assembly Bill No. 900 (2011-2012 Reg. Sess.) (see Conservation League v. State of California, RG12626904 (Alameda Sup. Ct.) available at http://www.cnsenvironmentallaw.com/2012/04/26/Conservation.pdf.) AB 900 requires CEQA litigation challenging eligible projects to skip over the superior court and
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
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
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.
In Tomlinson v. County of Alameda (2010) 188 Cal.App.4th 1406, the petitioners challenged the County’s determination that the infill exemption set forth in the CEQA Guidelines (Section 15332) applied to a development project located within the County and not within a city. The County argued the petitioners failed to exhaust their administrative remedies on this
On March 6, 2012, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article entitled “Costly, lengthy appeals part of S.F.’s culture.” (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/06/MNB21N1TA9.DTL.) The article highlights how San Francisco’s environmental appeal process and environmental litigation are often used to stall and kill projects within San Francisco. The article noted that in 2011, eleven CEQA lawsuits were