Abbott & Kindermann, LLP publishes its list of top events to watch from 2007.
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Coastal Commission Out of Bounds with ESHA Determination
By Rob Hofmann
The California Coastal Commission lacks the statutory authority required to declare a property an ‘environmentally sensitive habitat area’ when it hears an appeal from a local government’s grant of a coastal development permit to develop the property. Such action infringes upon powers that the Legislature expressly allocated to local government. Security National Guaranty v. California Coastal Commission (2008) Cal. App. LEXIS 131, January 25, 2008.
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Trial Court Rules CEQA Did Not Require Global Warming Analysis
By Leslie Z. Walker
On January 29, 2008, Judge Thomas Cahraman of the Riverside Superior Court ruled that CEQA did not require the Banning City Council to consider the Global Warming impacts of a project approved prior to the enactment of AB 32.
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Petitioners Only Run to State Water Resources Control Board Before Exhaustion Kicks In
By Cori M. Badgley
Exhaustion of local remedies is a well-known doctrine among those who have attempted to appeal an administrative decision. The doctrine requires that a petitioner appealing a governmental agency’s determination or order must exhaust all of the remedies available through that agency before appealing to the courts. The Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District has now made it easier for petitioners appealing a determination of a regional water quality control board (“regional board”) to exhaust their local remedies. In Schutte & Koerting v. Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region (2007) Cal.App.LEXIS 2146, the appellate court held that anyone appealing the determination or order of a regional board must only request a hearing before the State Water Resources Control Board (“State Board”) in order to exhaust his or her local remedies.
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For the Record
Diane Kindermann Henderson, a partner with the firm, along with Glen Hansen, a senior associate with Abbott & Kindermann, will be speaking at the Sacramento Legal Secretaries Association regarding CEQA Part II: Litigation, on March 5, 2008. This “lunch lesson” seminar will be held at Downey Brand, 555 Capitol Mall, 10th Floor, in
For the Record
Bill Abbott, a partner at the firm, will be speaking at the 22nd Annual UCLA Extension Land Use Law and Planning Conference at the Millennium Hotel in Los Angeles on January 25, 2008. RSVP by calling (310) 825-7885 or go to www.uclaextension.edu/index.cfm
Bill Abbott will also be speaking at the County Planning Conference "Abbott’s Annual Planning Law
A Dim Light at the End of a Long Tunnel: Municipal Land Use Decisions and Substantive Due Process
By Joel Ellinwood, AICP
A July 1, 2005 article posted on this blog termed the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lingle v. Chevron U.S.A., Inc. (2005) 544 U.S. 528 a “sea change” in 5th Amendment regulatory takings claim analysis by striking the “substantially advances a legitimate state interest” test. Now the fallout from Lingle from the Ninth Circuit makes it clear that the test survives to form the basis for 14th Amendment substantive due process challenges to land use regulations. However, the ultimate viability of such claims remains to be seen.
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Current Issues in Storm Water and Wetland Regulations
January 29, 2008
This seminar addresses integrated issues in storm water, wetlands, and associated water quality regulations. Compliance guidance for both the storm water and wetlands programs will be provided while underscoring the relationship between the two programs.
You will hear the latest trends, case studies and policies related to storm water, wetlands and associated water
Of Granny Flats and Land Swaps: Project Descriptions and Alternatives Analysis Under CEQA
By Janell M. Bogue
A recent opinion from the Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, Division Two discusses two important CEQA topics: certainty in project descriptions and an EIR’s discussion of alternatives. Save Round Valley Alliance v. County of Inyo (December 17, 2007) 2007 Cal.App.LEXIS 2045.
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The Gold Rush is Back on in Alaska: Ninth Circuit Upholds USACE Permit Allowing Mining Involving Significant Filling of Wetlands
By Cori M. Badgley
On January 3, 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Bering Strait Citizens for Responsible Resource Development v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, No. 07-35506 addressed alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that USACE unlawfully granted a Section 404 permit to the Alaska Gold Company allowing AGC to fill or dredge wetlands and that there were legal deficiencies in the accompanying environmental assessment.
Continue Reading The Gold Rush is Back on in Alaska: Ninth Circuit Upholds USACE Permit Allowing Mining Involving Significant Filling of Wetlands