FEATURE ARTICLE
Religious Organizations and Real Property Taxes: The First District Court of Appeal Reverses the Trial Court’s Application of the Property Taxation Exemption to a Church with Respect to a ‘Special Tax’ by Boyd Hill, Esq., Jackson Tidus, A Law Corp., Irvine, California185
REGULATORY DEVELOPMENTS
Council on Environmental Quality Rescinds Trump Administration Draft Guidance that Limited the Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions During Environmental Reviews under NEPA189
California State Water Resources Control Board Seeks Stakeholder Recommendations for Proposed Changes to Drought Actions190
LAWSUITS FILED OR PENDING
U.S. District Court Pushes Federal Government for Schedule on Completing Endangered Species Act Review on the Yuba River193
RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS
U.S. Supreme Court:
U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Grant Certiorari for Appeal of Recent Ninth Circuit Decision, Leaving Current Takings Jurisprudence Intact195
Bridge Aina Le’a, LLC v. Hawaii Land Use Commission, 592 U.S.___, 141 S.Ct. 731 (Feb 22, 2021).
U.S. Supreme Court Finds FOIA’s Deliberative Process Exemption Protected Draft Biological Opinions from Public Disclosure197
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club, 592 U.S.___, 141 S.Ct. 777 (Mar. 4, 2021).
Circuit Court of Appeals:
Ninth Circuit Rejects NEPA/ESA Challenges to Roadbuilding and Timber Harvesting Plan in Eastern Idaho 198
Friends of Clearwater v. Higgins, Unpub., Case No. 20-35623 (9th Cir. Feb 22, 2021).
Ninth Circuit Reverses Partial Stay of CEQA Claims in Action Concerning the State Water Board’s Amendments to the Water Quality Control Plan200
United States v. California State Water Resources Control Board, 988 F.3d 1194 (9th Cir. 2021).
RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS
District Court of Appeal:
Sixth District Court Affirms Dismissal of CEQA Challenge for Failure to Timely Name the New Property Owner as an Indispensable Party203
Organizacion Comunidad de Alviso v. City of San Jose, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. H046458 (6th Dist. Feb. 9, 2021).
First District Court Upholds City’s Removal of Statue, Finding Insufficient Notice Did Not Excuse Appellant from Exhausting Administrative Remedies under CEQA205
Schmid v. City and County of San Francisco, 60 Cal.App.5th 470 (1st Dist. 2021).
First District Court Upholds Regional Water Board Orders Regarding Violations at Wetland Marsh Island in the Suisun Marsh208
Sweeney v. California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region, 61 Cal.App.5th 1 (1st Dist. 2021).
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE211
