In Jan Dunning et al. v. Kevin K. Johnson, APLC et al., the Fourth District Court of Appeal held that a developer and property owner could pursue its claims against a neighbor and project opponent for malicious prosecution after the developer successfully defended a meritless CEQA lawsuit against its construction of a private secondary
Indulge me for a moment by imagining that you’re preparing for the trip of a lifetime. As you dutifully click through your packing checklist, you also take the time to learn a few key foreign language words and phrases for the countries that you’ll be visiting. Experience has proven that knowing simple greetings and pleasantries
In California Coastkeeper v. State Lands Commission, the Third District Court of Appeal upheld the State Lands Commission’s decision to prepare a supplemental environmental impact report (EIR) for a desalination plant in Huntington Beach, overturning an earlier trial court ruling that invalidated the EIR. Limited changes to a desalination project were proposed in order to
On December 11, 2019, the California Supreme Court granted review of the Third District’s decision in County of Butte v. Department of Water Resources, dismissing a CEQA challenge to DWR’s relicensing application to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for the Oroville Dam on the basis that the claim was preempted by federal law. The
On April 1, 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released an official announcement (Release Number HQ-21-079) and Memorandum for Write Your Own (WYO) Principal Coordinators and the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Direct Serving Agent (W-21003) outlining plans for implementing its new NFIP rating system known as Risk Rating 2.0 described by FEMA as
The State of Hawaii has not shown up on this blog before, but last week’s dam breach and evacuations have earned it a coveted spot.
On March 8, the Kaupakalua Dam in Maui overtopped,
I’m a fan of Steven Wright’s sardonic humor and deadpan delivery (“I bought some powdered water… but I don’t know what to add to it.”). Apparently, the US Army Corps of Engineers is also a fan of Wright-esque word play based on a recently announced series of WRDA implementation guidance listening sessions where they are
In an opinion filed on December 29, 2020, the First Appellate District in Santa Clara Valley Water District v. San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board upheld a Responsible Agency’s imposition of additional mitigation more than a year after it had issued an initial approval for the project. Although the court was careful to
In Save Berkeley’s Neighborhoods v. Regents of the University of California (2020) 51 Cal. App. 5th 226, the First District Court of Appeal overruled a demurrer rejecting community members’ allegations that the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) violated CEQA by failing to analyze enrollment increases beyond the development envelope considered in the campus
With a single tweet, President Trump ended months of speculation as to whether or not Congress would provide another round of COVID relief before the election. As he announced on Twitter, the President has his sights on passing a post-election “major Stimulus Bill.” While the outcome of the election is unforeseeable, the need for