Diane Kindermann Henderson, with Diane Moore of Moore Biological Consultants, will be teaching a class entitled “Clean Water Act Section 404: Nationwide and Other Specialized Permits” for the North State Building Industry Association.

Topics covered will include specialized permits required under Section 404 of the Clean Water Act, the current Nationwide Permit Program, and other general permits and letters of permission. Attendees will also learn strategies for dealing with regulatory agencies in seeking permits.

The class will be held on November 14, 2006 at the Doubletree Hotel in Sacramento. For more information or to register, please contact Tara Hicks at the BIA.

The opinion discussed in this article was modified on November 6, 2006. Please click here to read about the modified opinion. By Janell M. Bogue Recently, the Second Appellate District issued an opinion which may change how the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards (“Boards” or “Regional Boards”) issue National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (“NPDES”) permits and comply with California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”). The case is County of Los Angeles v. California State Water Resources Control Board (2006) 143 Cal.App.4th 985. Continue Reading Second Appellate District Holds that NPDES Permits are Subject to Focused CEQA Review

By Elias E. Guzman

In the recent case Northern California River Watch v. City of Healdsburg (2006) 457 F.3d 1023, the Ninth Circuit offered its first look at “adjacent wetlands” in the post-Rapanos era. The facts of the case take us to the late 1960’s, when the Basalt Rock Company began excavating gravel and sand from land adjacent to the Russian River in northern California. After the mining terminated, the excavated area left a rock quarry pit that measured one half mile in length and one quarter mile in breadth. The pit, which filled with water from the surrounding aquifer, became known as the Basalt Pond (“Pond”), and was located adjacent to the Russian River (“River”). The River was an undisputed navigable water of the United States, and was separated from the Pond by a levee. The distance between the Pond and the River ranged from fifty to several hundred feet. Continue Reading Ninth Circuit Takes a Look at Adjacent Wetlands in its First Post-Rapanos Opinion

By William W. Abbott As noted in our recent article “The Importance of the Mundane: CEQA’s Small Details are Important as Well”, the Sixth Appellate District discussed how the lead agency thoroughly documented the genealogy of a later EIR from a series of prior CEQA documents. In Save our Neighborhood v. Lishman (2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 1288, the Third Appellate District recently made a similar observation when evaluating a legal challenge to an addendum which followed an earlier EIR. The court held that is important at the outset for the environmental document preparer to declare and document the pedigree relationship from earlier CEQA documents. Continue Reading Pedigrees Are Not Just For Dogs: CEQA Documents Deserve Them As Well

By Cori Badgley

The Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) is a complex web of provisions that are not always easily interpreted. A recent case decided by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, Center for Biological Diversity v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (2006) 450 F.3d 930, illustrates the intricacies of the ESA and provides a warning to all those wishing to claim violations of its provisions – do your homework. Continue Reading Recent Case Illustrates Great Deference Given to Fish and Wildlife Service’s Interpretation of Endangered Species Act

By Kate J. Hart and Janell M. Bogue

In Ailanto Properties, Inc. v. City of Half Moon Bay (August 30, 2006) 2006 Cal. App. Lexis 1317, the First District Court of Appeal held that Government Code section 66452.6 (b)(1) limits the length of any moratorium-related tolling of the expiration of a tentative map to five years, regardless of the length of the moratorium itself. The court further held that when a phased final map does not conform to the requirements of the vesting tentative map (“VTM”), then the filing will not extend the life of the VTM pursuant to Government Code section 66452.6(a)(1) and (d). Continue Reading Court of Appeal Sheds Light on Moratoria, Phasing and Final Maps

Please remember to join us for the second annual “A Lot In Common” conference on condos, townhomes, and higher density developments. This year’s event will be held on September 20, 2006 from 9am to 12 noon at the Sacramento Radisson.
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If you have any questions about the event, please call our office at (916) 456-9595. We hope to see you there!

By William W. Abbott & Janell M. Bogue Closely following on the heels of County of San Diego, the California Supreme Court decided City of Marina v. Board of Trustees of the California State University (2006) 39 Cal.4th 341, which also involved issues of the appropriateness of mitigation expenditures, this time by the California State University system. Here, the state university (CSU) assumed the legal position that it was not authorized to mitigate for offsite impacts, and on that basis, the Trustees rejected the feasibility of mitigation measures sought by a local city (Marina) and a base reuse authority (Fort Ord Reuse Authority or “FORA”). Continue Reading California Supreme Court Schools CSU on Mitigation Infeasibility

The court interpreted the reduction in super-majority voting requirements narrowly

By Elias E. Guzman

A court recently held in Peak Investments v. South Peak Homeowners Association, Inc. (2006) 140 Cal.App.4th 1363, that a proposed amendment to CC&Rs which serves to reduce a super-majority voting requirement must be approved by at least 50 percent of all owners. Continue Reading Court Shuts Off Civil Code §1356 Safety Valve…Well, Halfway At Least