FEATURE ARTICLE
California Environmental Quality Act’s Wildfire Impact Analysis Requirements by Tina Wallis, Esq., Wallis Law, Santa Rosa, California125
LAND USE NEWS
New MOU for the Columbia River Basin Salmon Recovery Efforts—Proposes to Stay Long-Term Litigation until 2028130
Argent Communications Group’s Ninth Annual California Land Use Law, Policy, and Planning Conference Slated for February 2024132
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
California Public Utilities Commission Extends Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant Operations until 2030134
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
January 2023 Floods Blamed on Permitting Delays by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife—Lawsuits Filed137
Sacramento County Sues City of Sacramento for Public Nuisance and Water Pollution Associated with Unhoused Encampments138
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
Circuit Court of Appeals:
Ninth Circuit Rejects Clean Water Act’s Direct-Discharge Theory as Applied to Holding Ponds140
Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. Edwards, ___F.4th___, Case No. 22-36015 (9th Cir. Nov. 21, 2023).
Ninth Circuit Affirms Requirement for Dredge Miner to Obtain a Clean Water Act NPDES
Permit141
Idaho Conservation League v. Shannon Poe, ___F.4th___, Case No. 22-35978 (9th Cir. Nov, 20, 2023).
RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS
District Court of Appeal:
Fourth District Court Affirms Denial of Writ Petition for Construction Obstructing Coastal Views143
Beach Sandpit, LLC v. California Coastal Commission, Unpub., Case Nos. G061578 & G061738 (4th Dist. Nov. 21, 2023).
Second District Court Finds Wildlife Mitigation Corridor Ordinance Does Not Violate Surface Mining Reclamation Act or CEQA146
California Construction and Industrial Materials Association v. County of Ventura, 97 Cal.App.5th 1 (2nd Dist. 2023).
Fourth District Court Reverses Grant of Writ Petition Challenging Project Based on an Incorrect Reading of Remand Order148
Friends of Big Bear Valley v. County of San Bernardino, Unpub., Case No. E077602 (4th Dist. Nov. 1, 2023).
Sixth District Court Upholds Decision Rejecting CEQA Challenge to University of California Expansion Project150
Habitat and Watershed Caretakers v. The Regents of the University of California, Unpub., Case No. H050745 (6th Dist. Dec. 11, 2023).
