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News Articles

Arizona Supreme Court Finds State Department of Water Resources Need Not Consider Unquantified Federal Reserved Water Rights in Determination of Land Use Development

One of Arizona’s last free-flowing streams, the San Pedro River, which provides critical habitat to millions of birds and is home to over 80 species…

Read More 2018-10-01

U.S. District Court finds District Engineers Within Army Corps Have Discretion to Approve Reductions In Mitigation Banks Size Established under the Clean Water Act

Interpreting the regulations under which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) may approve mitigation banks for use by permit holders under the federal Clean…

Read More 2018-10-01

D.C. Circuit Blocks EPA’s Use of Rulemaking Authority to Delay Effective Date of Clean Air Act Accidental Release Regulations Beyond Statutory Limitations

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit determined it is improper for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to use its general rulemaking…

Read More 2018-10-01

California Court of Appeal Holds Public Trust Doctrine Applies to Extraction of Groundwater Affecting a Navigable Stream—SGMA Does Not Occupy the Field

The Third District Court of Appeal has ruled that the public trust doctrine imposes a duty on the state and its political subdivisions to consider…

Read More 2018-10-01

Federal Government and Center For Biological Diversity Reach Settlement over ‘Wild And Scenic’ Rivers

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) settled a lawsuit filed by the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) regarding certain…

Read More 2018-10-01

California Court of Appeal Holds Voters May Not Approve Development Agreements By Initiative

The Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed a Superior Court ruling and held that approval of a voter-sponsored development agreement was an invalid exercise of…

Read More 2018-10-01

California Supreme Court Finds Voter Referendum Is Not Automatically Invalid Due to Resulting Inconsistency Between General Plan and Zoning Ordinance

In a case dealing with a petition filed by a city in connection with a referendum challenging a zoning ordinance, the California Supreme Court summed…

Read More 2018-10-01

California Adopts Wildfire Prevention and Emergency Response Legislation

On August 31, 2018, California’s legislature passed Senate Bill 901, which includes a bundle of measures focused primarily on wildfire prevention and emergency response. Its…

Read More 2018-10-01

California Natural Resources Agency Publishes State’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment

On August 27, 2018, the California Natural Resources Agency published a 132-page report entitled “California’s Fourth Climate Change Assessment” (Climate Change Assessment).   The Climate…

Read More 2018-10-01

Seventh Circuit Finds Jurisdictional Determination Unsupported By Record Where Corps of Engineers Failed to Include Wetlands Inventory Map or Site-Specific Data

Deference to agency decisions under the abuse of discretion test has its limits, as illustrated by this Clean Water Act case in which the U.S.…

Read More 2018-09-16