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Tag Archives: California

CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in California, CEQA, Environmental Litigation, Environmental Regulation
2018 Year in Review: Public agencies prevailed in 65% of CEQA cases analyzed. By James L. Arnone, Marc T. Campopiano, Christopher W. Garrett, and Lucinda Starrett Over the course of 2018, Latham & Watkins lawyers reviewed all 57 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) cases, both published and unpublished, that came before California appellate courts. These … Continue Reading

California Appeals Court: Which Conflicting Limitations Period Applies to CEQA Claim

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in California, CEQA, Environmental Litigation
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[i] By Christopher H. Norton, Lucas I. Quass and Megan K. Ampe In a published opinion issued on October 23, 2018, Save Lafayette Trees v. City of Lafayette, Case No. A154168, the California Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s decision to grant a demurrer without leave … Continue Reading

UPDATE: LCFS Standards for Diesel and Diesel Substitutes to Revert to Schedule Specified in LCFS Regulation January 1, 2019

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Energy regulatory
California Air Resources Board lifts freeze on Low Carbon Fuel Standard. By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Kimberly D. Farbota On December 7, 2018, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) issued Regulatory Guidance Document 18-02 which lifts the freeze on Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) diesel and diesel substitute targets previously enacted by CARB in 2017 … Continue Reading

California Appeals Court Determines Threshold and Scope for EIR Requirement

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in California, CEQA, Environmental and approvals, Environmental Regulation, Finance and project development, Permitting
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[i] By Christopher W. Garrett, Daniel P. Brunton, James A. Erselius, and Robert C. Hull In an unpublished opinion issued May 31, 2018, Save Adelaida v. County of San Luis Obispo, Case No. B279285, the California Court of Appeal partially affirmed the trial court’s decision and held … Continue Reading

7 Takeaways From California’s Extension of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Energy regulatory, Finance and project development
By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Kimberly D. Farbota On September 27, 2018, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed Resolution 18-34, extending the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Program to 2030 and making significant changes to the design and implementation of the Program. This blog outlines seven takeaways for market participants and stakeholders. 1. CARB … Continue Reading

California Court of Appeal Overturns Specific Plan EIR for Inadequate Air Quality Impact Mitigation

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in California, CEQA, Environmental Regulation
By Christopher H. Norton, Lucas I. Quass, and Derek Galey CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[I] In an unpublished opinion issued July 10, 2018, Sierra Club v. County of Kern, Case No. F071133, the California Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s decision and remanded for the issuance of a new writ … Continue Reading

California Appeals Court: Petitioner Must Show Prejudice for Brown Act Violation

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in CEQA, Environmental and approvals, Permitting
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[i] By Christopher W. Garrett, Daniel P. Brunton, Robert C. Hull, and Natalie C. Rogers In an unpublished opinion issued January 31, 2018, Citizens for Open & Public Participation v. City of Montebello, Case No. B277060, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s denial of … Continue Reading

California Court of Appeal Ruling Exempts Parking Requirements From CEQA Review

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in California, CEQA, Environmental and approvals
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[i] By Christopher W. Garrett, Daniel P. Brunton, Natalie C. Rogers, and Roopika Subramanian In a published opinion issued February 28, 2018, Covina Residents for Responsible Development v. City of Covina, Case No. B279590, the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s judgment and upheld the City … Continue Reading

California Court of Appeal Determines State Law Preempts Local Ordinance Provisions in Specific Instances

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in California, CEQA, Environmental and approvals
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[i] By Christopher W. Garrett, Daniel P. Brunton, Lauren Glaser, Natalie C. Rogers, and Jennifer K. Roy In a partially published opinion issued April 4, 2018, Small Property Owners of San Francisco Institute v. City and County of San Francisco, Case No. CPF14513453, the California Court of … Continue Reading

California Appeals Court: Statewide Emissions Goals May Inform Mitigation Measures

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in California, CEQA, Environmental Litigation
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[i] By Christopher W. Garrett, Daniel P. Brunton, Diego Enrique Flores, and Samantha K. Seikkula In an unpublished opinion issued May 18, 2018, Responsible Development for Water Tank Hill v. County of San Mateo, Case No. A150883, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s judgment … Continue Reading

California Appeals Court Dismisses As Moot Litigant’s Challenge to Planned Development Approval

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in California, CEQA, Environmental and approvals, Environmental Litigation
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development[i] By Christopher W. Garrett, Daniel P. Brunton, James A. Erselius, John D. Niemeyer, and Samantha K. Seikkula In an unpublished opinion issued February 20, 2018, Advocates for Better Cmty. Dev. v. City of Palm Springs, Case No. E066193, the California Court of Appeal dismissed as moot … Continue Reading

California Legislature Eyes 100% Clean Energy Target

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Energy regulatory
The California Assembly is expected to vote this summer to establish increased renewable energy targets and set a target of 100% clean energy by 2045. By Marc T. Campopiano, Jennifer K. Roy, Diego Enrique Flores SB 100, Senator Kevin De Leon’s renewable energy bill, would increase California’s already ambitious renewable energy standards by 2030 with … Continue Reading

California Court of Appeal Upholds CEQA Exemption for Wireless Communications Facility

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Environmental and approvals
By Daniel P. Brunton, Lucas I. Quass, and Stephanie L. Postal CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development [i] In a published opinion issued March 15, 2018, Don’t Cell Our Parks v. City of San Diego, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s judgment and upheld the City of San Diego’s … Continue Reading

CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Environmental and approvals
By James Arnone, Lucinda Starrett, Marc Campopiano, and Christopher Garrett California higher courts rule in favor of public agencies on small majority of environmental impact report cases. Over the course of 2017, Latham lawyers reviewed all 46 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) cases, both published and unpublished, that came before California appellate courts. These cases … Continue Reading

Dismissal of Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) Case Appealed Amidst Program Extension

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Environmental and approvals, Permitting
Appeal in POET II could complicate California Air Resources Board’s proposed LCFS amendments. Joshua T. Bledsoe, Kimberly D. Farbota In the case commonly referred to as POET II, petitioner POET, LLC, a biofuels manufacturer, challenged the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) and Alternative Diesel Fuels (ADF) regulations which the California Air Resources Board (ARB) adopted … Continue Reading

BLM Begins Scoping Process to Consider Amendments to Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Finance and project development, Permitting
DRECP under review in an effort to alleviate burdens on energy development. By Marc T. Campopiano, Joshua T. Bledsoe, Jennifer K. Roy, and James Erselius The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently issued a notice of intent to review the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DRECP) for potential burdens on domestic energy production in California. … Continue Reading

CEQA Developments: How New Proposed Regulations and Streamlined Legislation Will Impact California Projects

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Environmental and approvals, Finance and project development
Webcast addresses recent developments involving the California Environment Quality Act. By Marc Campopiano, Chris Garrett, and Winston Stromberg The Project Siting & Approvals Practice hosted a 60-minute webcast on February 21, “CEQA Developments: How New Proposed Regulations and Streamlined Legislation Will Impact California Projects.” Speakers provided an overview of the proposed updates to the California … Continue Reading

California Air Resources Board Clarifies 2018 LCFS Targets and POET II Case Approaches Major Milestone

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Environmental and approvals, Permitting
By Joshua Bledsoe and Kimberly Farbota Recent guidance published by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) clarifies the treatment of diesel fuels under the Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) in light of the Court of Appeals’ May 30, 2017 decision in POET I. Meanwhile, in POET II, ARB recently filed a Motion for Judgment on … Continue Reading

California’s Supreme Court Denies ARB Petition To Review LCFS Case

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Finance and project development, Permitting
By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Kimberly Farbota In a previous post, we described how potential delays in the resolution of the case commonly known as POET I could create uncertainty regarding the future of the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). On August 23, 2017, the Supreme Court of California issued an order: (1) denying California … Continue Reading

Uncertainty Looms with Delays to Resolution of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program Challenges

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Environmental and approvals, Finance and project development, Permitting
By Joshua Bledsoe and Kimberly Farbota Two recent developments in the interrelated legal challenges commonly known as POET I and POET II may create additional uncertainty for the future of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program (LCFS). Earlier this year, the California Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District (Court of Appeal) issued two … Continue Reading

Court Reissues LCFS Opinion Per ARB Petition For Reconsideration

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Finance and project development, Permitting
By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Max Friedman As discussed in a previous post, the California Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District (Court of Appeal) ruled on April 10, 2017 that the California Air Resources Board (ARB) had failed to properly follow a writ of peremptory mandate (the Writ) requiring ARB to remedy violations … Continue Reading

Proposed Amendments to Cap-and-Trade Extension Bill Could Undermine Program

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Environmental and approvals, Permitting
By Bob Wyman, JP Brisson, Joshua Bledsoe, Andrew Westgate, and Brittany Dryer On April 18, 2017, California Assembly Members Garcia, Holden, and Garcia proposed amendments to Assembly Bill No. 378 (AB 378) that are intended to extend but significantly reshape California’s Cap-and-Trade Program.[1] This post briefly summarizes the backdrop against which AB 378 has been … Continue Reading

California Court Rules Against Air Resources Board over LCFS but Preserves 2017 Status Quo

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Environmental and approvals, Finance and project development
By Joshua T. Bledsoe and Max Friedman In two recent posts, we discussed how California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) had been thrown into a state of potential upheaval by two interrelated legal challenges commonly known as POET I and POET II, including a recent oral argument before the California Court of Appeal for the … Continue Reading

California Court of Appeals Upholds Cap-and-Trade Auctions

By Latham & Watkins on Posted in Energy regulatory
By Michael Romey, J.P. Brisson, Michael Dreibelbis and Andrew Westgate Yesterday, the Court of Appeals for California’s Third Appellate District issued its decision in California Chamber of Commerce, et al., vs. State Air Resources Board, et al., upholding the district court’s decision and allowing the cap-and-trade system to remain in place. The suit was filed by … Continue Reading
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