Court holds that where an environmental assessment determines there are no significant impacts, the EA functions as a mitigated negative declaration and thus no mitigation or alternatives analysis is required. In W.M. Barr & Company, INC. v. South Coast Air Quality Management District, (2012) 2012 Cal.App.Lexis 759, the California Court of Appeal, Second District, addressed…

In Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Alliance v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, (2012) ___ F.3d ___, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) verification that certain nationwide permits (NWPs), which authorize activities predetermined to have minimal adverse environmental impacts, applied to the reconstruction of a dam used to generate hydroelectric power in…

In January 2001, the United States Forest Service (Forest Service) issued an environmental impact statement (EIS) recommending amendments to the Forest Plans in the Sierras Madre Mountains (2001 EIS) to conserve and repair the riparian and amphibian habitat. By November 2001, the Forest Service reviewed the 2001 EIS and its proposed alternatives, and made several…

In Associated of Irritated Residents v. California Air Resources Board, (2012) ___ Cal.App.4th ___, the California Court of Appeal, First District, held that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) complied with the requirements of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, when it adopted its Climate Change Scoping Plan (Plan).

AB 32 requires, among…

In Tomlinson v. County of Alameda (Case No. S188161), the Supreme Court of California held that the exhaustion of administrative remedies provision as set forth in Public Resources Code section 21177, subdivision (e), applies to a public agency’s decision that a project is categorically exempt from CEQA. The Court’s eleven page decision put to rest…

In Karuk Tribe of California v. United States Forest Service, 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 11145, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the Forest Service (Service) violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to consult with the appropriate wildlife agencies before approving four notices of intent (NOI). The NOIs gave miners permission to…

In an unpublished decision, City of Hayward v. Board of Trustees of the California State University, 2012 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 4097, the Board of Trustees of the California State University (Trustees) wished to expand its Hayward campus in order to meet its assigned enrollment ceiling.  In 2009, the Trustees approved a master plan…

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…

In an unpublished opinion, California Oak Foundation v. County of Tehama (2012) 2012 Cal. App. Unpub. Lexis 3970, the California Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a decision denying petitioner’s request for attorney’s fees on the basis that their successful challenge to a golf course community project, which Tehama County approved in 2006, did not…