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News Articles

Utah Court Supreme Court Remands Stream Access Case to District Court Due to Error

The Utah Supreme Court has held that its prior decision, recognizing a public stream access easement right “to touch privately owned beds of state waters…

Read More 2019-04-07

Colorado Supreme Court Clarifies Water Court Jurisdiction

The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled that an inverse condemnation claim regarding shares in a mutual ditch company was not an exclusive water matter, and…

Read More 2019-04-07

Triggering the Statute of Limitations: What Counts as the State Water Resources Control Board’s ‘Final Action’?

In Millview County Water District v. State Water Resources Control Board, the Court of Appeal for the First Judicial District held that the final action…

Read More 2019-04-07

U.S. District Court Finds BLM’s Failure to Quantify GHG Emissions Prior to Authorization of Oil and Gas Leases Violated NEPA

On March 19, 2019, District Judge Rudolph Contreras of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that the U.S. Bureau of Land…

Read More 2019-04-07

California Court of Appeal Finds Coastal Commission’s Coastal Act ‘Do Novo’ Review Moots CEQA Challenge to Municipal Approval of Coastal Development Permit

The Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld the trial court’s determination that the California Coastal Commission’s (Commission) acceptance of an appeal of a local agency’s…

Read More 2019-04-07

The Trump Administration Border Wall—9th Circuit Panel Determines Illegal Immigration Act Allows for Waiver of Environmental Laws

In August and September of 2017, the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (Secretary) published a notice of determination in the Federal Register that…

Read More 2019-04-07

Federal ‘Green New Deal’ Legislation Introduced in the House of Representatives

Democratic House Member Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey have introduced a Resolution termed the Green New Deal. The proposal comes in the wake an…

Read More 2019-04-07

Governor Newsom Calls for Single-Tunnel WaterFix Project While Legislative Proposal Seeks to Increase Oversight

The California WaterFix project, also known as the “Twin Tunnels,” is the statewide plan to address water supply and delivery needs by constructing two 30-mile…

Read More 2019-04-07

Ninth Circuit Finds Fish and Wildlife Service Could Not Withhold Some Draft Jeopardy Opinions from Disclosure Under FOIA Exemption

This action deals with materials generated during the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed new regulations under § 316(b) of the federal Clean Water Act…

Read More 2019-02-05

Fourth Circuit Find Army Corps Lacked Statutory Authority to Nullify State-Imposed Special Conditions on CWA Nationwide Permit

A pipeline developer sought to rely on a nationwide permit under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) for various stream crossings. However, the pipeline’s Federal…

Read More 2019-02-05