by Sean M. Sherlock The World Logistics Center is a massive project – 41 million square feet of logistics facilities located on 2,300 acres in Moreno Valley, California. The project has undergone environmental review for years, culminating in an Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) that was approved by the Moreno Valley City Council on August 19, […]
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by Mitch Klein The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were recently amended. Amongst the changes, perhaps the most significant are the changes to discovery under Rule 26. Previously, parties were entitled to conduct discovery regarding anything that might be “reasonably calculated” to lead to relevant and admissible evidence. In practice, this led to some parties […]
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by Sean Sherlock The California Supreme Court has resolved a longstanding uncertainty regarding the scope of environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). In 1995, a California Court of Appeal held that CEQA requires a lead agency to evaluate the effect of a project on the environment, but not the effect of the […]
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By Katherine A. McKitterick and Sean M. Sherlock To address the worsening drought, on April 1, 2015, Governor Brown issued Executive Order B-29-15 (“Executive Order”), mandating a 25% reduction in potable urban water consumption. In response, the State Water Resources Control Board has passed emergency regulations that will directly affect water districts and users. And […]
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By: Sean M. Sherlock Ordinarily the threat of a lawsuit under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) passes once the statute of limitation expires – in most cases 30 days after the filing of a Notice of Determination. But a recent Court of Appeal decision illustrates how a project may remain subject to CEQA litigation […]
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By: Katherine A. McKitterick and Sean M. Sherlock On October 29, 2014 the California Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s judgment enforcing a mitigation measure adopted by a county in its program environmental impact report (PEIR). As of the date of this blog post, this case is unpublished. Therefore, this case does not […]
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By: Sean M. Sherlock On October 23, 2014, the California Court of Appeal invalidated a coastal development permit condition requiring a property owner to dedicate an easement for public access across her property. The case relied in part on U.S. Supreme Court decisions in the Nollan and Dolan cases, but was primarily based upon the […]
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By Sean M. Sherlock and Brian Daluiso On September 25, 2014, Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., signed Assembly Bill No. 52 (“AB 52”) into law. The new law expands the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) to provide that any public or private “project with an effect that may cause a substantial adverse change in the […]
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by Sean M. Sherlock and Katherine McKitterick As the California drought continues, the state’s need for a solution intensifies. Last month Governor Brown signed into law a series of bills creating a new regulatory program for groundwater extraction. In November, the electorate will vote on Proposition 1, a $7.5 billion bond issuance for state water […]
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by Sean M. Sherlock Note: The California Supreme Court granted review in this case on December 10, 2014. As such, the case is not citable precedent, and may be reversed in whole or part. In a new case out of San Diego County, the California Court of Appeal has held that, by proceeding with development of […]
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