The Ninth Circuit ruled 2-1 that the federal Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) does not preempt SCAQMD’s Rule 1146.2, which phases out gas-fired water heaters and boilers across Southern California to achieve compliance with federal ozone standards — dealing a major setback to applianc
The Appellate Division, Second Department affirms the annulment of a planning board’s denial of a mixed-use development application, holding that the board’s conclusory determinations—issued only eight months after it issued a SEQRA negative declaration supporting the project—were arbitrary and capricious because the board offered no factual findings or reasoning to explain the reversal.
The Third District struck down a Tehama County groundwater district’s per-acre annual charge as an unconstitutional tax rather than a valid regulatory fee, ruling that Proposition 26 bars a fee imposed on parcels with no groundwater wells for a well-registration program that provides no direct
The Fourth District upholds the City of San Diego’s 20-year gas and electric franchise agreements with SDG&E, rejecting challenges under CEQA, Proposition 26, and the City Charter’s competitive bidding rules, while striking a supermajority termination clause as inconsistent with the
The California Supreme Court holds that CEQA’s class 1 categorical exemption — covering ‘negligible or no expansion of existing or former use’ — asks whether the change in use is negligible, not whether the project poses negligible environmental risk.
The Second District affirmed a preliminary injunction upholding the Coastal Commission’s cease-and-desist order against Sable Offshore’s Las Flores Pipeline repairs, holding that a county’s decision not to require permits qualifies as ‘declining to act’ under the Coasta
The Ninth Circuit affirmed that the Endangered Species Act’s mandatory consultation requirements apply to the Bureau of Reclamation’s operation of the Klamath Project, a major federal water management initiative in Northern California and Southern Oregon, rejecting the Klamath irrigation
The Ninth Circuit holds that a landfill owner suing California’s CDCR Secretary and DGS Director for RCRA hazardous waste violations ran into Eleventh Amendment immunity because general supervisory authority over agencies is not a “fairly direct” connection to the specific violatio
The First District affirms that a CEQA challenge to the Bay Bridge’s Bay Lights 360 LED installation is time-barred, holding that a subsequent Caltrans encroachment permit does not create a new project or restart the limitations period, and issue preclusion bars relitigating questions resolved
The Oregon Court of Appeals affirmed DSL’s decision to issue a removal/fill permit to Walmart after remand from the Oregon Supreme Court, holding that a general “further proceedings” remand gives an agency broad discretion to reopen the record, and that neither issue preclusion nor the law-of-the-case doctrine barred DSL from revisiting previously inconclusive findings about public benefits.
The Washington Court of Appeals, Division I, reversed a hearing examiner’s dismissal of SEPA appeals challenging the adequacy of the FEIS for Seattle’s “One Seattle Plan,” holding that state housing reform appeal prohibition statutes (RCW 36.70A.600(3) and RCW 36.70A.680(3)) bar challenges to adopted housing-increasing planning actions but do not bar pre-decisional administrative appeals of FEIS adequacy under SEPA before the City Council votes on the underlying plan.
The Court of Appeals of Georgia vacated a permanent injunction against unpermitted septage disposal, finding regulatory gaps in the EPD’s permitting framework and directing the trial court to address nondelegation concerns on remand.
The First District holds that San Francisco has discretion to develop a fishing program and complete CEQA review before applying for a water supply permit to open the Calaveras Reservoir to public fishing.
The Ninth Circuit dismisses Chiquita Canyon landfill’s appeal of a preliminary injunction order, holding that an order finding injunction factors satisfied but directing further meet-and-confer on remedy terms is not an appealable injunction.
California’s First District Court of Appeal holds that the doctrine of substantial compliance applies to Proposition 65 pre-suit notice requirements, reversing a trial court that dismissed a toxic-substances lawsuit for failing to identify a responsible individual by name in the notice.
Ninth Circuit vacates a Northern District of California ruling that found fluoride in drinking water at 0.7 mg/L poses unreasonable health risks, holding the judge violated the party presentation principle by commandeering the evidentiary record over both parties’ objections.
Ninth Circuit orders EPA to strengthen regulation of decaBDE, a toxic flame retardant, holding the agency failed to justify exemptions for recycling, waste disposal, wastewater, and sewage sludge under TSCA’s expedited rulemaking mandate.
First District affirms joint and several liability of pesticide trade associations for private attorney general fees following successful CEQA challenge to rodenticide registrations, holding that intervenors who asserted pecuniary interests cannot disclaim those interests to avoid fee liability.
Second District reverses judgment on the pleadings in Proposition 65 enforcement action against Kroger and other grocery companies, holding that providing outside counsel contact information in the 60-day notice substantially complies with California Code of Regulations title 27, section 25903.
Third District affirms denial of anti-SLAPP motion to strike a cross-complaint challenging the validity of an air quality management district’s underlying interpretive policy, holding that the cross-complaint did not arise from the district’s protected enforcement activities.
First District affirms approval of 44-unit mixed-use infill housing project on former shopping center site in San Ramon, holding that the project was consistent with the City’s general plan and zoning ordinance and that aspirational planning language did not impose mandatory master plan requir
The Ninth Circuit reverses the dismissal of the County of San Bernardino’s coverage suit against ICSOP for cleanup costs at the Chino Airport, holding that the policies’ aggregate limits provision is ambiguous and does not cap property-damage coverage.
The Ninth Circuit denies panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in the tribes’ challenge to a BLM land exchange under FLPMA, leaving in place the panel’s ruling that an 1900 cession statute restricts disposal of certain Fort Hall ceded lands.
First District holds that the discharge of an earlier CEQA writ necessarily decided the adequacy of Caltrans’s revised analysis of impacts on Richardson Grove redwoods, barring petitioners from relitigating those impacts in a third writ proceeding.