Welcome to the S&W Environmental, Natural Resources, Oil and Gas Law Blog. This blog is a resource for the regulated community to stay current on new developments impacting the environmental, natural resources and energy sectors. It provides timely updates on a broad range of federal, state and local environmental topics — including proposed legislation and government rulemakings — that impact regulated industries throughout the southwest and the nation as a whole.
Real estate developers, public agencies and private businesses involved in land development or redevelopment may soon have to contend with a new far-reaching interpretation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Rick McNeil, Jon Frank and Connie Bak discuss how the California Supreme Court’s decision in California Building Industry Association v. Bay Area Air Quality […]
by Rick McNeil and Colin Higgins In Center for Biological Diversity, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Army Corps of Engineers (“Department”) certified an EIR assessing the effects of a proposed conservation plan, resource management plan, streambed alteration agreement, and incidental take permits relating to the Newhall Ranch specific plan development. The […]
by Rick McNeil and Colin Higgins In this case involving the interpretation of the Los Angeles Municipal Code and the Subdivision Map Act, Tower Lane Properties sought a grading permit from the City of Los Angeles for the construction of a three-residence family compound totaling approximately 35,000 square on three contiguous hillside lots totaling approximately […]
In a recent rulemaking, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) amended its “All Appropriate Inquiries Rule” (set forth in 40 CFR Part 312) to reference in the rule ASTM Standard E1527-13. ASTM Standard E1527-13 is the recently updated version of the industry standard that is commonly used to conduct Phase I environmental investigations that are undertaken […]
by Rick McNeil and Colin Higgins In Lotus, the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) proposed to adjust and upgrade the roadway alignment of a one-mile stretch of Route 101 that passes through Richardson Grove State Park, home to 300 feet tall and thousands of years old redwood trees. The purpose of the project was to […]
by Rick McNeil and Colin Higgins Protect Agricultural Land involved a CEQA and a “reverse validation” challenge to the approval by the Stanislaus County Local Agency Formation Commission (“LAFCO”) of the proposed annexation by the City of Ceres of approximately 960 acres of land described in the West Landing Specific Plan (and also the modification […]
by Rick McNeil and Colin Higgins The Foothill Communities case involved a “spot zoning” challenge to a senior residential housing project to be developed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange. In this case, the trial court granted Foothill’s petition for a writ of mandate based on the contention that the “spot zoning” was impermissible. […]
Originally published in the Los Angeles Daily Journal In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Alito, the U.S. Supreme Court last week expanded the scope of private property right protections in a takings case which held that a local land use authority must adhere to constitutional takings protections in cases in which a development permit […]
[Originaly published in Developing News, March 19, 2013] In January of this year I offered some thoughts on sensible reform of the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”)—A Sensible Proposal for CEQA Reform (1/16/13). Now that the deadline has passed for the legislators to introduce their bills, we have a clearer picture of what Sacramento views […]
[Originaly published as a Snell & Wilmer Legal Alert, February 15, 2013] The California Air Resources Board (CARB) scored another victory in its ongoing effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the state to 1990 levels under the mandate of AB 32 (the “Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006”). In a decision by San Francisco […]
