Litigation
The California Supreme Court’s Most Important Environmental Law Decisions of 2017
CEQA, Climate Change, Cannabis & Regulatory Takings Top the Justices’ Environmental Docket
As 2017 comes to a close, let’s take a moment to assess the California Supreme Court’s most significant environmental law decisions of the year. There are a large number of decided cases to choose from: as has been true over the past decade, in 2017 the California Supreme Court devoted a substantial portion of its …
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CONTINUE READINGTen Environmental Lessons of 2017
We’ve learned a lot in the past year, some good, a lot bad.
No one can say it’s been a boring year. In many ways, it’s been a worse year than we expected, because the Trump Administration has gone all in on its anti-environmental vision. But there have also been some heartening positive developments. Here are some of the most important things, good and bad, that we’ve learned …
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CONTINUE READINGComprehensive New State Survey Shows California Environmental Quality Act Rarely Impedes New Projects
Study covered all state-led projects over a 5-year period
A constant complaint from many business leaders and their allies is the high cost of complying with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the state’s signature environmental law which requires environmental review for major new projects. But a new survey from the State of California shows that the law rarely affects most projects where the …
CONTINUE READINGWhat’s in Trump’s Proclamations on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments
An analysis of the new proclamations and the legal issues they raise
On Monday, President Trump signed two proclamations, downsizing the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments in Utah. These two proclamations are the first official acts by Trump to implement the recommendations from Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s national monuments review this summer. (Zinke’s final report and recommendations were just made public yesterday. In a short …
CONTINUE READINGThe Top 10 Things to Be Thankful For (Environmental Version)
It hasn’t been a good year, to say the least. But there are some things to be thankful for.
Overall, it’s been a pretty lousy year since last Thanksgiving. If you care about the environment, there are a lot of things NOT to be thankful for, or rather one big thing in the form of He Who Must Not Be Named. But there are also some things for which we should feel thankful, many of …
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CONTINUE READINGEnvironmental Law Professors File Amicus Brief in Defense of Technology-Forcing in the California Supreme Court
Professors oppose efforts to limit the Legislature’s authority to enact laws protecting the public health and safety of CA residents
My colleague Sean Hecht and I, along with eleven other California environmental law professors, filed an amicus brief in the California Supreme Court this week in support of the California Legislature’s authority to enact technology-forcing statutes. The underlying case, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc., et al. v. State of California, involves a gun control law …
CONTINUE READINGPublic Lands Watch: Resilient Federal Forests Act
Bill to reduce environmental protections for timber management on federal lands passes House
The Resilient Federal Forests Act (RFFA), H.R. 2936—which would curb environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for a variety of forest management activities on National Forest and BLM lands—passed the House November 1. (We previously wrote about a version of this bill in committee here.) NEPA requires agencies to consider whether proposed …
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CONTINUE READINGA Major Defeat for Property Rights Advocates
Hardly anyone noticed a decision last June limiting the rights of property owners against regulators.
Murr v. Wisconsin was a sleeper case decided by the Supreme Court last June. But it deserves a lot more attention than it has gotten. As I discuss in a new paper, Murr was a major defeat for property rights advocates and a big win for land use planners and environmentalists. Murr has escaped much …
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CONTINUE READINGSan Francisco Tests Supreme Court’s “Hole” In Prop 13 & 218 Restrictions On Local Tax Increases
Ambiguity in California Cannabis Coalition vs. City of Upland creates an opening for simple majority approvals
As I blogged in August, the California Supreme Court potentially “ripped a huge hole” in Prop 13 and 218, the two state constitutional initiatives that created a two-thirds majority requirement on local tax measures. In California Cannabis Coalition vs. City of Upland, the court held that “general taxes” initiated by citizens is not bound by …
CONTINUE READINGNews Flash: 10th Cir. Rebukes Government Over Coal Leases
Today’s important ruling on standing, public lands, and climate change
In an important ruling this morning, the Tenth Circuit rejected the government’s assertion that it could ignore carbon emissions tied to renewing coal leases. In WildEarth Guardians v. BLM, the court also rejected the mining company’s attack on the standing of environmental groups to raise this claim.The mines in question are in the Powder River …
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