Section 404 of the Clean Water Act grants the EPA “veto” power over fill permits issued by the Army Corps of Engineers. On April 23, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit upheld the EPA’s authority to annul a Corps permit even after it has been issued to the project applicant. The court
April 2013
Federal Agencies Cannot Use Consent Decrees To Adopt Stricter Regulatory Requirements, According to Ninth Circuit
Can a district court “approve resolution of litigation involving a federal agency though a consent decree, which substantially and permanently amends regulations that the agency could only otherwise amend by complying with statutory required rulemaking procedures”? The Ninth Circuit’s answer was no. Conservation Northwest v. Sherman (9th Cir. Case No. 11-35729, Apr. 25, 2013).
The…
CEQA Modernization? Not really.
Steve Kostka, Julie Jones and Barbara Schussman
The eagerly-awaited amendments to SB 731, the “CEQA Modernization Bill” have surfaced.
The initial iteration of this bill was a placeholder which outlined topics that would be included in later amendments. As amended on April 23, the bill addresses many of the issues presaged by the initial version,…
Stadium Expansion Project Required EIR Based on Traffic and Parking Impacts
Perhaps reflecting a north-south division over the importance of a parking space, the Fourth District has held that impacts of a stadium project on parking, together with traffic, necessitated preparation of an EIR. Taxpayers for Accountable School Bond Spending v. San Diego Unified School District, No. D060999 (Fourth Dist. April 25, 2013). The court …
Fracking in California? Not so fast, says federal court
Friends and foes of fracking in California have, for the most part, fought their battles in the policy and legislative arenas. But the federal district court in San Jose recently chimed in, striking down four oil and gas leases issued by the Bureau of Land Management for 2,700 acres of federal lands overlying the Monterey…
If J.R. Wants Your Property, He Can Take It, Even if You’re a Public Benefit Corporation.
In California, title to property owned by a public entity cannot be acquired through adverse possession. The same is not true, however, of land owned by a public benefit corporation according to the court in Hagman v. Meher Mount. Corp, No.B239014 (2nd Dist., April 3, 2013).
Larry Hagman (J.R. in Dallas and Major…
Water Pollution From Utility Poles Doesn’t Violate Federal Pollution Control Laws, According to Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Is rain water washing over utility poles and carrying wood preservatives into waterways the kind of pollution that violates the Clean Water Act or the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act?
No, according to a recent decision by the federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals:
There is no Clean Water Act violation because the pollution discharge…
Plan Bay Area: ABAG and MTC Publish Draft EIR
The Association of Bay Area Governments and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission today released the Draft Environmental Impact Report on their “Plan Bay Area,” a long-range regional planning document proposed to better align future land use planning with the Bay Area’s transportation infrastructure.
Plan Bay Area implements SB 375, which was enacted in 2008 and requires…
County Biosolids Ban Halted
In 2006, the voters of Kern County adopted “Measure E,” an initiative which sought to prohibit the use of agricultural fertilizer made from recycled municipal sewage sludge. Land application of this material, referred to in the industry as “biosolids,” is a widespread and comprehensively regulated form of recycling. Many local waste management systems depend on…