CLIMATE CHANGE NEWS
UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Reports Humans Are the Dominant Cause of Global Warming159
United Kingdom Establishes Sustainability Criteria on Biomass Power
Plants160
Legislation and Lawsuit Attempt to Delay Higher National Flood Insurance Program Rates161
California County Spearheads First Eagle Conservation Effort for a Wind Energy Project163
LEGISLATIVE DEVELOPMENTS
Governor Brown Signs Senate Bill 4—California’s First Law Sanctioning but Highly Regulating the Oil and Gas Extraction Process of ‘Fracking’165
California Legislature Enacts CEQA Reform—Uncertainty Remains Whether a Project’s Parking Impacts Are an Environmental Impact or a Mere Social Inconvenience167
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
First Compliance Offset Credits in California’s Cap-and-Trade Program Issued by Air Resources Board170
California DWR Awards $91.8 Million in Stormwater Flood Management Grants to Local Public Agencies171
PENALTIES AND SANCTIONS
Recent Investigations, Settlements, Penalties and Sanctions173
CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE
Recent Scientific Studies on Climate Change175
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
Energy and Agriculture Lobbies Petition Ninth Circuit for Rehearing In California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard Case178
Environmental Groups Sue to Protect Delaware River Fish Populations179
JUDICIAL DEVELOPMENTS
Federal:
Ninth Circuit Upholds Constitutionality of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard181
Rocky Mountain Farmers Union v. Corey, ___ F.3d ____, Case No. 12-15131 (9th Cir. Sept. 18, 2013).
District Court Opens the Door for Another Court to Require EPA to Promulgate Rules On the Gulf of Mexico’s ‘Dead Zone’182
Gulf Restoration Network v. Jackson, ___F.Supp.2d___, Case No.12-6772013 (E.D. La. Sept. 20, 2013).
State:
California Court of Appeal Finds Mention of ‘Environmental Concerns’ in Letter to Housing Complex Insufficient to Put Residents on Notice of Health Risks184
Alexander v. Exxon Mobil, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. B242458 (Cal.App. Sept. 24, 2013) .
