California
Reforming CEQA Part 4
Providing greater clarity on the types of impacts covered by CEQA
This is the fourth in a series of blog posts on reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The first post, discussing different paradigms for CEQA, is here. The second post, discussing the conceptual framework for reform, is here. The third post, discussing designating a state agency to set binding, clear standards for CEQA implementation, …
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CONTINUE READINGReforming CEQA Part 3
Adding more binding clear standards for CEQA plus focusing alternatives analysis
This is the third in a series of blog posts on reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The first post, discussing different paradigms for CEQA, is here. The second post, discussing the conceptual framework for reform, is here. In this post, I will discuss two ways to reform CEQA: designating a state agency to …
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CONTINUE READINGReforming CEQA, part 2
Concepts for reforming CEQA as a backstop environmental law
This is the second in a series of six blog posts on reforming the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The first post, discussing different paradigms for CEQA, is here. What reforms might be needed in orienting CEQA around a paradigm as a backstop environmental law? The criticism of environmental review that I believe has the …
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CONTINUE READINGReforming CEQA Part 1
Thinking about CEQA as a backstop statute
The qualification for the November ballot of the California Chamber of Commerce ballot initiative rewriting CEQA does create an opportunity, if the legislature is so inclined, to strike a deal with the proponents and do an overhaul of CEQA. As I noted in the last of my series of blog posts on the initiative, there …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Other Half of Climate: Policy, Capital, and the Race to Scale Superpollutant Solutions
Learn how California is using satellite data to pull the emergency brake on global warming.
Methane and other short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) are responsible for nearly half of today’s net global warming. Because they exit the atmosphere quickly, reducing them can serve as an ‘emergency brake’ on rising temperatures. At the San Francisco Climate Week, UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE) and the Institute for Governance …
CONTINUE READINGIs BACA Constitutional?
Limitations on judicial review in the initiative might violate separation of powers
The California Chamber of Commerce initiative to rewrite the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has strict limits on judicial review for challenges to agency decisions for projects covered by the initiative. Courts may only hear claims “limited to a public agency’s non-compliance with objective existing laws, and the scope of the court’s review shall be …
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CONTINUE READINGBACA makes the ballot
Initiative to drastically change CEQA appears to have enough signatures to make ballot
It looks like the California Chamber of Commerce has enough signatures to put on the November ballot their initiative that would drastically change the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Given that, I’m re-upping the analyses I did earlier this year on the measure: Part 1 (overview), Part 2 (sweeping scope of the initiative in terms …
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CONTINUE READINGDoes Taking Oil Money Disqualify You from Being Governor?
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
The race to be California’s next governor has managed to be both wild and underwhelming, with a wide field of candidates who are competent but not exactly captivating. Exciting or not, voters are starting to tune in. If the environment and climate change rank among your top concerns, who should you vote for? My Legal …
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CONTINUE READINGNew Issue Brief: Community Engagement in Equity-Oriented EV Planning
Examining lessons from the Monterey Bay EV CAR Framework.
As federal support for the EV transition recedes, state and local planning processes are playing an increasingly central role in shaping equitable access to clean mobility infrastructure. Community engagement is a critical component of these efforts, yet relatively few case studies document how equity-oriented engagement processes work in practice. CLEE has released a new issue …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Story of California’s Advanced Clean Trucks Regulation
New CLEE report & webinar tells the story of this first-of-its-kind supply-side regulation for zero-emission trucks
California has been a global pioneer on electric vehicles, and that leadership extends to zero-emission trucks. To address the pollution and disproportionate impacts on disadvantaged communities, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) adopted the first-of-its-kind Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation in 2020. This landmark standard required truckmakers to begin selling zero-emission versions (such as battery …
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