LAND USE NEWS
Obama Administration Announces Intent to Fast Track Permitting of California High Speed-Rail35
California Governor Brown Signs Bill into Law to Facilitate Mitigation of Project Impacts on Natural Resources36
New Flood Control Oversight Actions Change the Regulatory and Development Climate in California37
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
U.S. EPA Declines to Review Clean Air Act Permit for Hybrid Natural Gas and Solar Power Plant39
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Proposes Delisting Valley Longhorn
Beetle40
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
U.S. District Court Denies Injunction to Halt Construction On Ocotillo Wind Project—New Lawsuit Is Filed to Challenge Project42
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
Circuit Court of Appeals:
Ninth Circuit Upholds Forest Service’s Environmental Analysis of Fire Restoration Project in the Lake Tahoe Region44
Earth Island Institute v. U.S. Forest Service, ___ F.3d ___, Case No. 11-16718 (9th Cir. Sept. 20, 2012).
Ninth Circuit Holds Forest Service Took the Requisite ‘Hard Look’ at the Environmental Impacts of an Understory Fuels-Reduction Project45
Native Ecosystems Council v. Weldon, ___F.3d ___, Case No. 11-35659 (9th Cir. Sept. 21, 2012).
Ninth Circuit Holds Native Village’s Common Law Nuisance Claim Arising from Greenhouse Gas Emissions Is Displaced by Federal Law48
Native Village of Kivalina v. ExxonMobil Corp., ___F.3d___, Case No. 09-17490 (9th Cir. Sept. 21, 2012).
Ninth Circuit Upholds National Marine Fisheries Service’s Implementation and Environmental Analysis of Changes to Fishery Management Plan50
Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations v. Blank, ___F.3d___, Case No. 11-17108 (9th Cir. Sept. 10, 2012).
District Court:
District Court Addresses How Far an Agency Must Look Pursuant to NEPA for Impacts from Proposed National Forest Transportation System52
Wildlands Center v. Graham, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No. 2:11-CV-00439-MCE-JFM (E.D. Cal. Sept. 28, 2012).
RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS
Fifth District Finds 35-Day Limitation Period Not Triggered where a CEQA Notice of Ministerial Exemption Was Not Properly Filed54
Coalition for Clean Air v. City of Visalia, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. F062983 (5th Dist. Sept. 14, 2012).
Sixth District Rejects Trial Court’s Ruling on Access Issue in Eminent Domain Action56
Council of San Benito County Governments v. Hollister Inn, Inc., ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. H036629 (6th Dist. Sept. 19, 2012).
Fourth District Affirms Enjoining Enforcement of Residency Restriction for Registered Sex Offender Parolees57
In re Taylor, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. D059574 (4th Dist. Sept. 12, 2012).
Third District Finds Project to Extend Water Supply to Tribal Casino Did Not Fall within the CEQA Exemption for Small Construction Projects60
Voices for Rural Living v. El Dorado Irrigation District, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. C064280 (3rd Dist. Oct. 4, 2012).
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE62
