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California Land Use & Development Law Report

California Land Use & Development Law Report offers insights into legal issues relating to development and use of land and federal, state and local permitting and approval processes.

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April 30, 2013

D.C. Circuit Upholds Broad EPA Veto Power Over Wetlands Permits

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.

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April 29, 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"?

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April 26, 2013

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, as well as various non-CEQA issues.&n

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April 25, 2013

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.

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April 18, 2013

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 Shale Formation. The court found that the Bureau violated the Na

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April 10, 2013

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.

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April 8, 2013

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:

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April 2, 2013

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.

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April 1, 2013

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.

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March 28, 2013

New Significance Standard for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Is Not New Information Triggering Supplemental CEQA Review

The court of appeal opinion issued today in Concerned Dublin Citizens clearly answers three CEQA questions which haven't been directly addressed in other published opinions: the proper interpretation of the statutory exemption for housing projects that are consistent with a specific plan; how the CEQA guideline on further review following a program EIR should be applied; and whether new a

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March 22, 2013

NPDES Permit Not Required for Stormwater Discharges from Logging Roads, Supreme Court Rules

Do the Clean Water Act and its implementing regulations require permits before stormwater runoff from logging roads can be discharged into the navigable waters of the United States?

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March 21, 2013

Supreme Court Agrees To Review Ninth Circuit NEPA Decision

On March 18, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to hear the case of United States Forest Service v.

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March 14, 2013

Use it or Lose it? Not in the Case of an Easement Acquired by Deed.

A trial court did not have authority to extinguish portions of a road and utility easement notwithstanding its determination that the easement holder did not need the entire easement and that a smaller easement would constitute the least burden on the property subject to the easement.

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March 13, 2013

Federal Agency May Adopt Project that Combines Elements from Several Alternatives Studied in an Environmental Impact Statement

In approving a project to repair a flood-damaged road in a national forest in Nevada, the U.S.

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March 12, 2013

Definition of “Agency Action” under the Endangered Species Act to be Reheard by Ninth Circuit

In July 2012, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit ruled in Natural Resources Defense Council v. Salazar, 686 F.3d 1092 (9th Cir. 2012), that the decision by the U.S.