Your authoritative, multi-channel network for natural resources and environmental information since 1989 – by practioners for practitioners.

California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter

August/September 2025

Volume 34, Number 11 August/September 2025

LAND USE NEWS

Unlocking Infill Development: How California’s SB 131 and AB 130 Recalibrate CEQA for a New Era of Urban Housing273

RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

U.S. District Court:

U.S. District Court Finds Certain CVP Water Contracts with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Do Not Require New Environmental Review under the

Federal ESA and NEPA275

Center for Biological Diversity, et al., v U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, ___F.Supp.4th___, Case No. 1:20-cv-00706 (E.D. Cal. June 30, 2025).

RECENT CALIFORNIA DECISIONS

District Court of Appeal:

Toxicity by Redefinition? California’s State Water Board Clashes with CEQA and Federal Standards in a Decision by the Fifth District Court277

Camarillo Sanitary District et al. v. State Water Resources Control Board, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. F087362 (5th Dist. Aug. 5, 2025).

Second District Court Upholds Ruling that the County’s Environmental Impact Report for Greenhouse Gases and Offsite Wildfire Analyses Was Misleading279

Center for Biological Diversity v. County of Los Angeles, 112 Cal.App.5th 317 (2nd Dist. 2025).

First District Court Upholds Dismissal of CEQA Suit for Failure to Timely Join Developer as Indispensable Party282

Citizens for a Better Eureka v. City of Eureka, 111 Cal.App.5th 1114 (1st Dist. May 14, 2025).

Third District Court Upholds Decision Finding a City Can Vote on Behalf of City-Owned Parcels Subject to a Stormwater Assessment Increase under Proposition 218284

Dessins LLC v. City of Sacramento, 112 Cal.App.5th 996 (3rd Dist. 2025).

Fourth District Court Limits Local Authority on Solid Waste Fee Surcharges285

Rogers v. City of Redlands, 112 Cal.App.5th 667 (4th Dist. 2025).

Third District Court Invalidates Taxpayer Settlement Agreement with County Because the Board of Supervisors Lacked Authority to Direct the Assessor in Setting Property Values287

Sceper v. County of Trinity, ___Cal.App.5th___, Case No. C100037 (3rd Dist. Aug. 8, 2025).

On Remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Third District Court of Appeal Upholds Development Impact Fees under Nollan/Dolan Scrutiny288

Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, 113 Cal.App.5th 113 (3rd Dist. 2025).

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE291