The court of appeal reaffirmed that a court should not second guess or “micro-manage” the development decisions of municipal governments; rather, the courts are simply charged with reviewing whether there is substantial evidence in the record supporting the city’s decision. Kutzke v. City of San Diego, 11 Cal. App. 5th 1034 (2017).
A developer
A Summary Of Published Appellate Opinions Under The California Environmental Quality Act
In 2016, the California appellate courts issued published opinions in 21 CEQA cases. In several of those opinions, including a ground-breaking decision by the California Supreme Court, the courts grappled with limits on the scope of required environmental review for a subsequent project
The monarch butterfly is heading quickly towards extinction for a simple reason: it does not have enough food to eat on its migration path.
Every fourth generation of this remarkable creature undertakes a migration of up to 3,000 miles
A Summary of Published Appellate Opinions Under the California Environmental Quality Act
In 2015, the California appellate courts continued to chart new ground as they grappled with some of CEQA’s most difficult and controversial questions. The Supreme Court of California led the way, issuing four opinions on hotly contested issues. For the first time, the
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a right-of-way for an access road over Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land to connect a wind project to a state highway did not trigger formal consultation under the Endangered Species Act because the proposed access road would not have significant impacts to the environment. Sierra Club v. Bureau of Land Management, 786 F.3d 1219 (9th Cir. 2015).
North Sky River Energy developed a wind project on 12,000 acres of private land in the Tehachapi area. North Sky applied to the BLM for a right-of-way across federal lands for an access road to connect the wind farm with a state highway. North Sky could have accessed the highway through a private road, but preferred the access road over BLM land because the private road required substantial grading and would have greater environmental impacts. If the BLM had denied North Sky’s application, North Sky could have pursued the private road option.
After reviewing North Sky’s application and evaluating the potential environmental impacts, the BLM issued an Environmental Assessment concluding that the proposed road project would not have significant environmental impacts. Therefore, the BLM concluded that it need not prepare an Environmental Impact Statement or formally consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service under the Endangered Species Act. The BLM’s determination depended in large part on its finding that the private-road option was a viable alternative to the BLM access road project and thus the wind project had independent utility from the BLM access road project. The BLM issued a permit for the BLM access road project.
Project opponents — the Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, and the Defenders of Wildlife — alleged that the BLM right-of-way violated the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The primary basis for the project opponents’ arguments was the theory that the environmental impacts of the BLM access road project should have been considered together with those of the wind project. They argued that when the impacts of the wind project and the access road were considered together, there would be significant impacts requiring the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement and formal consultation under the Endangered Species Act.
Continue Reading The Importance of Independence: The Ninth Circuit Provides Helpful Clarification on Connected Actions in the Energy Project Development Context
For the first time since the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was enacted in 1918, the federal government is proposing a permit system to authorize the incidental take of the more than 1,000 species of migratory birds.
A Court of Appeal has upheld the Regional Board’s adoption of the total maximum daily load (TMDL) for concentration of pollutants in the sediment in McGrath Lake, rejecting the claim that TMDLs may not be stated in terms of concentrations of pollutants in lake bed sediments. Conway v. State Water Resources Control Board, No. B252688 (2nd Dist., March 30, 2015).
The Clean Water Act requires states to identify polluted water bodies within their jurisdictions, and to set TMDLs for those water bodies. The TMDL is the maximum amount of pollutants that can be discharged into an impaired water body from point and nonpoint sources. California implements the TMDLs in California through the Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act.
McGrath Lake is a small, black dune lake located at the southern end of McGrath State Beach Park in Ventura County. It is located within the McGrath Lake subwatershed, which consists primarily of agricultural fields, petroleum facilities, park lands, public roads, and a closed landfill. McGrath Lake was placed on the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) list on of impaired waters in 1998, 2002, and 2006 due to levels of organochlorine pesticides and PCBs.
In 2009, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board set TMDLs for the lake through an amendment to the Los Angeles Basin Plan. The Board concluded that exposure of the McGrath Lake ecosystem to the organochlorine pesticides and PCBs in amounts exceeding the objectives and criteria had impaired beneficial uses, including aquatic life and recreational uses. The Basin Plan Amendment set TMDLs for contaminants from two primary sources: (1) agricultural runoff from surrounding fields that entered the lake largely through a Central Ditch; and (2) from lake bed sediment which could enter the lake by, among other ways, through desorption.
The TMDL for sediment was stated in terms of concentrations of pollutants in the sediment, not the concentration of pollutants in the lake’s water column. While setting a goal of 14 years to achieve the TMDL for the lake bed sediment, the Basin Plan Amendment acknowledged that such a goal would not be achieved by natural attenuation, and that capping or dredging would be the possible methods of remediation.
Continue Reading Court of Appeal Sinks Challenge to TMDL for Lake Bed Sediment
Reliance on compliance with FAA regulations as a mitigation measure to reduce impacts to air safety to less than significant levels is appropriate under CEQA, according to the Court of Appeal in Citizens Opposing A Dangerous Environment v. County of Kern, 228 Cal.App.4th 360 (5th Dist. July 25, 2014).
Two wind energy companies applied
The City of San Jose’s use of an addendum for recent modifications to the San Jose Airport’s Master Plan has been upheld by the court of appeal. Citizens Against Airport Pollution v. City of San Jose, H038781 (6th Dist. July 2, 2014).
In 1988, the City of San Jose began to prepare an update