land-use law.

A summary of BACA

An overview of my analyses of Proposition 45

I’ve written a lot on the Cal Chamber sponsored initiative to dramatically change CEQA, BACA, which is Proposition 45 on this year’s ballot.  Here are some key takeaways from what I’ve written, as well as links to the relevant blog posts. First, BACA will not just apply to CEQA.  It broadly expands vested rights and …

CONTINUE READING

Insurance Law and Wildfire

Providing a federal backstop for wildfire insurance in return for state and local reforms

This blog post was co-authored with Dave Owen, at UC Law SF.  The draft article this blog post series is based is here. This is the sixth in a series of blog posts on our proposal to reform wildfire law in the United States.  The first post is here.  The second post is here. The …

CONTINUE READING

Land-Use Law and Wildfire

Creating incentives for local and state governments to manage development in high-risk areas

This blog post was co-authored with Dave Owen, at UC Law SF.  The draft article this blog post series is based is here. This is the fifth in a series of blog posts on our proposal to reform wildfire law in the United States.  The first post is here.  The second post is here. The …

CONTINUE READING

The Challenges of Wildfire

Why wildfire management is so difficult to reform

This blog post was co-authored with Dave Owen, at UC Law SF.  The draft article this blog post series is based is here. This is the second in a series of blog posts on our proposal to reform wildfire law in the United States.  The first post is here. Why is fire such a hard …

CONTINUE READING

Fixing Wildfire Law

The urgent challenge of reforming how we manage wildfire

This blog post was co-authored with Dave Owen, at UC Law SF.  The draft article this blog post series is based is here. Every year brings another reminder of why fire is at the top of environmental and natural resource issues for the United States, and how our legal system struggles to adjust to fire. …

CONTINUE READING

The Limits of Implementation for BACA

Potential practical limits on the scope of the initiative to rewrite CEQA

I’ve done a lot of analysis of the potential scope of the Cal Chamber initiative on the ballot this fall to fundamentally rework CEQA.  However, I also want to highlight a range of constraints that I think will limit the practical impact of the initiative.  In doing so, I do not want to minimize the …

CONTINUE READING

BACA and planning

Initiative to fundamentally rewrite CEQA will have important implications for planning in California

A key question under the CEQA initiative on the ballot this fall, should it be enacted, is how it will relate to planning in California law.  The question is an important one because planning has long been a key component of California land-use and environmental law.  All local governments are required by state law to …

CONTINUE READING

The Path to Abundance, Part VI

Abundance reforms at the federal level may have the most political success if they are low-salience, and elite driven

This is the sixth post in a series of six posts.  The first post is here.  The second post is here.  The third post is here.  The fourth post is here.  The fifth post is here. As I discussed in my last blog post, the politics of abundance reform are difficult.  Reform often requires short-term …

CONTINUE READING

A State Density Bonus Loophole?

State density bonus law may allow a large mismatch between affordable housing provided and the additional density a proponent gets.

This is the second in two blog posts about state density bonus law and its potentially unintended consequences.  The first post is here. As I noted in my prior post, the basic concept of state density bonus law is that if a project proponent includes a certain amount of affordable housing in their project, they …

CONTINUE READING

Dear 2025 1L:

Avoiding a climate disaster isn’t something today’s students can plan on tackling “over the course of their careers.”  The most critical time will be the next fifteen years, which means you’ll need to get to work quickly.What we do together between now and 2035 will determine what your lives look like in 2050 and 2080, and what your children and grandchildren will see in the next century. So grab your books, get yourselves ready, and be prepared to head for the trenches when you graduate. No time to waste!

CONTINUE READING

Join Our Mailing List

Climate policy is changing rapidly. Stay in the loop with expert analysis via email Monday - Friday.

Join Our Mailing List

The Drain is a roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet delivered to your Inbox once a week.

The Drain

TRENDING