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California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter

April 2022

Volume 31, Number 7 April 2022

FEATURE ARTICLE

Second District Court of Appeal Rejects Disparate Impact Claim Premised on ‘Gentrification Theory’ In Los Angeles Fair Housing Act Suit. by Bridget McDonald, Esq., Remy Moose Manley, LLP, Sacramento, California195

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Issues Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the Decommissioning of Four Klamath River Dams201

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

Circuit Court of Appeals:

Fourth Circuit Vacates U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s 2020 Biological Opinion for Natural Gas Pipeline204

Appalachian Voices, et. al. v. U.S. Department of the Interior, ___F.4th___, Case No. 20-2159 (4th Cir. Feb. 3, 2022).

RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS

District Court of Appeal:

Second District Court Upholds EIR for Kern Water Bank Authority’s Water Bank Recharge Project207

Buena Vista Water Storage District v. Kern Water Bank, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. B309764 (2nd Dist. Feb. 23, 2022).

Second District Court Affirms that Coastal Act Challenge to Short Term Rental Ordinance Is Barred by Zoning Ordinance Statute of Limita-

tions209

Coastal Act Protectors v. City of Los Angeles, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. B308306 (2nd Dist. Feb. 24, 2022).

Third District Court Finds Placer County’s EIR for a Specific Plan and Rezoning Project Violated

CEQA210

League to Save Lake Tahoe Mountain Area Preservation Foundation v. County of Placer, 75 Cal.App.5th 63 (3rd Dist. 2022).

First District Court Finds City’s Analysis of and Comment Responses to Traffic Impacts in Final EIR Sufficient In Light of Amendments to CEQA Guidelines213

Pleasanton Citizens for Responsible Growth v. City of Pleasanton, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. A161855 (1st Dist. Feb. 28, 2022).

Third District Court Upholds EIR For Irrigation District’s ‘Upper Main Ditch’ Water Transmission Pipeline Project215

Save the El Dorado Canal v. El Dorado Irrigation District, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. C092086 (3rd Dist. Feb. 16, 2022).

First District Court Reverses Demurrer of Action Challenging Affordable Housing Fee—Finds Subdivision Map Act’s Statute of Limitations Did Not Bar Petition Filed Years After Approval218

Schmier v. City of Berkeley, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. A161556 (1st Dist. Feb. 25, 2022). 

Second District Court Finds County’s Modification of Use Permit Did Not Comply with Timing Requirements Set Out in County Code220

Tran v. County of Los Angeles, 74 Cal.App.5th 154 (2nd Dist. 2022).

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE222