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Environmental, Energy and Climate Change Law & Regulation Reporter

November 2013

Volume 6, Number 6 November 2013

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) .