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California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter

May 2015

Volume 24, Number 8 May 2015

LAND USE NEWS

Reduction of Hydropower Electricity Generation Caused by California’s Drought Has Led to Millions of Tons of Additional Greenhouse Gas Emissions215

L.A. Department of Water and Power Water System Seismic Resilience and Sustainability Program Estimated to Cost Roughly $15 Billion over 20

Years. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216

REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS

Federal Emergency Management Agency Mandates State Grant Recipients to Plan for Climate Change Impacts218

California High Speed Rail Authority Issues Project Update Report to the State Legislature219

California Department of Water Resources Releases Draft Strategic Plan for Sustainable Groundwater Management Act Implementation221

LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING

Mojave Solar Project Lawsuit Heats up with Motion for Preliminary Injunction225

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

Supreme Court:

U.S. Supreme Court Declines Review of Army Corps’ Wetlands Determination226

Kent Recycling Services, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Case No. 14-493 (Mar. 23, 2015).

Circuit Court of Appeals:

Ninth Circuit Widens Circuit Split in Broadening Judges’ Discretion to Allocate Settlement Payments in CERCLA Cases228

AmeriPride Services, Inc. v. Texas Eastern Overseas, ___F.3d___, Case No. 12-17245 (9th Cir. Apr. 2, 2015).

District Court:

District Court Dismisses Tribe’s Claim that the Secretary of the Interior Improperly Terminated Tribal Rancheria230

The Mishewal Wappo Tribe of Alexander Valley v. Jewell, ___F.Supp.3d___, Case No. 5:09-cv-02502-EJD (N.D. Cal. Mar. 23, 2015).

RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS

District Court of Appeal:

Second District Court Gets Right to the Point—Liability for a Polluted Lake Falls Squarely on the Shoulders of Those Landowners Whose Property Includes the Lake and Lakebed232

Conway v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. B252688 (2nd Dist. Mar. 30, 2015).

Third District Court Concludes that Two Agreements Entered into by a Former Redevelopment Agency Are Enforceable234

County of Sonoma v. Cohen, ___Cal.App.4th___, Case No. C075120 (3rd Dist. Mar. 12, 2015).

Fourth District Court Overturns Trial Court Judgment Prohibiting Project within the Foothill/Trabuco

Specific Plan from Moving forward on CEQA

Grounds235

Saddleback Canyons Conservancy v. County of Orange, Unpub., Case No. G049040 (4th Dist. Mar. 11, 2015).

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE238