How Sackett Will Hurt Endangered Species In California
And what the state can do about it
Others have already posted about the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision that significantly cuts back on the geographic scope of Clean Water Act Section 404 regulation protecting wetlands. Understandably, there has been a lot of attention to the direct effects of that change, which means that federal permitting will no longer apply to many wetlands in the United States. In California, the state government has argued that because of California state law protecting wetl...
CONTINUE READINGMapping City Priorities for an Equitable EV Infrastructure Rollout
How can cities identify high-priority, high-feasibility, high-utility sites?
As state regulators and auto manufacturers begin the drive toward 100 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2035, leaders across California face a daunting challenge. How can they ensure that all Californians–not just those who can afford a new EV and a charger in their garage–have access to affordable, reliable, and convenient vehicle charging that meets their travel needs and improves quality of life and mobility (or, at a minimum, does not diminish them)? It’s ...
CONTINUE READINGUCLA Clinic Submits Amicus Brief in Water Rate Design Case
A trial court decision invalidated the City of San Diego’s tiered water rates. This amicus brief by the Environmental Law Clinic on behalf of California Coastkeeper Alliance and Los Angeles Waterkeeper argues a reversal is needed to pursue conservation and equity.
Court challenges to the use of tiered water rates in California are threatening the state’s own water conservation and affordability goals. That’s what’s at stake in a case called Patz v. City of San Diego. Climate change is intensifying California’s hydrologic variability and exacerbating the state’s water supply challenges. Dwindling water supplies have led to a substantial increase in the retail cost of water over the last decade. Drought-induced water...
CONTINUE READINGCentralizing Environmental Reviews under NEPA’s New Section 107
Sec. 107 is the key permitting reform applying to major projects. Will it work?
The 2023 Amendments to NEPA tweak current regulations in various ways in the name of permitting reform. Those changes make it easier to exempt smaller projects or cover them with programmatic impacts statements. The key issue, however, is going to be the effectiveness of new section 107, the main provision aimed at large-scale projects like transmission lines. That makes it crucial to understand how section 107 changes current requirements. With that in mind, I sat ...
CONTINUE READINGThe Riddle of the Maldives
The Maldives is one of the nations most vulnerable to rising sea levels. So, why is climate change not a topic of discussion here?
It was the site for one of the most iconic climate policy photos. In the run-up to the Copenhagen climate negotiations in 2009, President Mohamed Nasheed held a cabinet meeting in scuba gear 20 feet underwater to show what awaited the low-lying island nation of the Maldives if serious action were not taken to reduce greenhouse gases. Nasheed followed up with a pledge that the Maldives would be the first carbon neutral country by 2020. The photo went viral and made ...
CONTINUE READINGCommunity Benefits Agreements (CBAs) and Offshore Wind
Community Benefit Agreements (CBAs) can provide tools for California communities negotiating offshore wind development impacts
Offshore wind is one of many renewable industries taking off in California as the state accelerates infrastructure investment and development to meet its climate targets. The California Energy Commission has adopted planning goals of 2-5 GW of offshore wind (OSW) by 2030 and 25 GW by 2045. Other state goals include reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and to 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2045, along with statewide carbon neutrality ...
CONTINUE READINGMeasuring Tropical Forests and Deforestation from Space
Remote sensing is one important tool in the toolbox of forest governance for monitoring, measuring, and reducing deforestation
In a world where a swipe on a smart phone enables navigation from one part of the globe to another, many technology companies, investors, environmental organizations, community groups, and policymakers are looking to remote sensing data and platforms to increase transparency, accuracy, speed of decision-making, and reduce costs of monitoring land-based activities at scale. Advancements in these platforms are aiding in improved detection of changes deforestation rates ...
CONTINUE READINGMaking Building Decarbonization Work for LA Renters
A new UCLA report recommends policies to green existing buildings in a way that protects and supports residential tenants.
Los Angeles’ ambitious “Green New Deal” calls for, among other things, eliminating or offsetting building emissions and reducing building energy use by 44%, both by 2050. This is an impressive and ambitious target, and while the city has begun restricting some emissions from new buildings, it is still figuring out how to tackle the far more difficult task of reducing the emissions and energy use of existing buildings. The latest policy brief from the Emmett ...
CONTINUE READINGCEQ and Permitting Reform
The enactment of NEPA 2.0 presents a golden opportunity for the agency.
In the recent debt ceiling law, Congress extensively revamped NEPA, the law governing environmental impact statements. An obscure White House agency, the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), will have the first opportunity to shape the interpretation of the new language. Much of the language in the new law is poorly drafted or vague, making CEQ’s role all the more important. This gives CEQ the opportunity to reform permitting for infrastructure projects while reta...
CONTINUE READINGThe Drafting Puzzles of NEPA 2.0
In an effort to streamline NEPA, Congress may only have made parts of it incomprehensible.
Shortly after Biden signed the new NEPA rewrite as part of the debt ceiling law, I wrote a blog post about a major drafting glitch at the heart of the new provisions. Today, I’d like to follow up with more examples. This poor drafting could really hobble implementation of the new provisions. We live in the era of textualism, meaning that courts focus intensely on the details of statutory language, rather than trying to implement congressional intent. As a result...
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