Against the backdrop of another severe drought, water supply and impact issues continue to be points of contention for water agencies, water users, conservation groups, and the state. And, of course, litigation over water is not limited to water rights and usage, but extends to related environmental review under CEQA. On September 22, 2021, the Third District Court of Appeal issued a published opinion in Central Delta Water Agency v. Department of Water Resources (2021) 69 Cal.App.5th 170, disposing of several consolidated cases and analyzing operation of the state’s massive State Water Project (SWP) through a CEQA lens. While the case does not break any new legal ground, it applies well-recognized CEQA principles to a lengthy and complex fact pattern involving multiple rounds of lengthy litigation, settlement, and EIR preparation.
The Prop 65 Annual Conference: Notes from the Front 2021
By Joseph Green
(Virtually – once again) Live from San Francisco, Kelley Green Law Blog is reporting today from the Prop 65 Clearinghouse 2021 Conference … the largest annual gathering of stakeholders from the full spectrum of actors involved with California’s “Proposition 65,” including state regulators and legislators, plaintiff enforcers, defense and corporate counsel, tox and risk assessment…
Liens Filed by Unlicensed Contractors are Invalid
The Louisiana Private Works Act (“LPWA”) [1] provides helpful security to unpaid contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers. In particular, it can provide persons that have no contract with the owner a direct claim against the owner for payment and provides both those with and without direct contracts with the owner a privilege or lien on the…
What Will EPA Do with Its New Superfund Money?
By Chris Colyer
The Senate’s bipartisan infrastructure bill, which passed Aug. 10, contains a provision that would bring back an excise tax that expired in 1995 on a lengthy list of raw chemicals. House Democrats also want it to cover crude oil.
In addition to this new tax stream, the House has already approved…
A Decade of CEQA Developments
On September 13, 2011, I began the endeavor of writing Miller Starr Regalia’s CEQA Developments blog. Ten years and 358 blog posts later, it continues to be a challenging and rewarding task. Since my inaugural post (which can be viewed here) was a “top ten” list of CEQA litigation mistakes to avoid, I thought an appropriate tenth anniversary post might be a list of the ten most significant CEQA case law developments over the past decade. My “top ten” list is definitely subjective, is limited to Supreme Court decisions, and (by its very nature) fails to include many important judicial developments. Nonetheless, here it is (with the decisions listed in no particular order):
John Bel Edwards Extends Legal Deadlines and Eases Requirements for Making Unemployment Insurance Claims in Wake of Hurricane Ida
On September 6, 2021, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed and issued Emergency Proclamation 170 JBE 2021 (the “Proclamation”) designed to provide assistance to certain groups affected by Hurricane Ida, including a temporary suspension of certain deadlines and requirements relating to unemployment insurance as well as the temporary suspension of legal deadlines applicable to legal…
Are Pretreatment Standards for PFAS in Landfill Leachate Coming?
By Ryan Rudich
The U.S. EPA recently released the 15th installment of its Preliminary Effluent Guidelines Program Plan[1]. In addition to announcing the initiation of new rulemakings for certain categories of industrial dischargers, the report provides a window into where the agency is focusing its attention for potential future clean water act regulations. This year, landfills…
Proposed Vermont Regulations Threaten to Upend Process for Treatment of Oily Wastewater
The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation (VDEC) is currently in the process of reviewing and reauthorizing its Hazardous Waste Management Regulations. Mixed among the updates is a proposed provision that should be of great concern to generators of used oil wastewater. Section 7-805 of VDEC’s hazardous waste regulations delineates the requirements for wastewater to…
EPA and Army Corp’s Joint Section 401 Guidance Walks Back Regulatory Certainty
By Anna Wildeman & Dave Ross
This blog post was republished by Law360 on September 14, 2021.
On August 19, EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) issued a joint guidance document concerning implementation of EPA’s 2020 Water Quality Certification Rule. The agencies explain that the guidance applies specifically to 41 Clean Water Act Section 404 Nationwide Permits (NWPs) proposed in September 2020 that have already received certification (or for which certification was denied or waived) but have not yet been finalized, and a more detailed enclosure is intended to be applied generally to the Corps’ permit programs. The guidance also cryptically suggests that the agencies may revisit the 16 NWPs that were previously certified and finalized by the Corps in January 2021. In a press release the following day, EPA and the Corps frame the guidance as addressing “implementation challenges” raised by state and tribal certifying authorities.
New Pennsylvania PFOS and PFOA Cleanup Standards Reach Final Major Regulatory Hurdle
The process to revise regulations in Pennsylvania is often long and involved, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s (PADEP) revision to its Act 2 Chapter 250 regulations to incorporate cleanup standards for three per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has proved to be no exception. PADEP first published its regulatory proposal in the Pennsylvania Bulletin…