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California Endangered Species

Allen Matkins

Commission Approves Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan

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The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) took final action to approve the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan (Conservation Plan) at its August 13, 2025, meeting. As detailed in our previous alert, the...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

California’s AB 550: A Blueprint for Balancing Development and Species Conservation

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California’s drive toward a net-zero carbon economy by 2045 is sparking innovative solutions to harmonize environmental conservation with infrastructure development. Assembly Bill (AB) 550, sponsored by Assembly Member...more

Allen Matkins

Proposed Revisions to Draft Joshua Tree Conservation Plan

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The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) held its second meeting on the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan (Draft Conservation Plan) on April 16, 2025. Though no formal action was taken, the Commission received...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

California Water Statute Cannot Overcome Constitutional Balancing—Even for Fish

California Fish and Game Code Section 5937 has long been a subject of scholarly debate with uncertainty in its application. In a published opinion filed on April 2, 2025, California’s Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate...more

Hanson Bridgett

Court Reaffirms Constitution’s Role in Water Use Disputes

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On April 2, 2025, California’s Fifth Appellate District issued a decision in Bring Back the Kern v. City of Bakersfield (April 2, 2025, F087487) (2025 WL 98443). The Court held the “self-executing” reasonableness requirement...more

Allen Matkins

Joshua Tree Conservation Plan Remains Under Review

Allen Matkins on

The California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) accepted public comment on the draft Western Joshua Tree Conservation Plan (Draft Conservation Plan) at its February 12, 2025 meeting, but no formal action was taken. As...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 1.17.25

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On Monday, January 13, 2025, California withdrew requests for Clean Air Act waivers from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needed to support four recently adopted vehicle emissions regulations: 1) the Advanced...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 12.6.24

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday issued a new regulation preventing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly known as PFAS, from being approved through low volume exemptions — abridged reviews...more

Allen Matkins

Renewable Energy Update 11.18.24

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Public Service Co. of New Mexico (PNM) announced on November 11 that it plans to join the California Independent System Operator’s (CAISO) extended day-ahead market, or EDAM, beginning in 2027. The market is slated to launch...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

New CESA Candidate Species Impacts Project Permitting Requirements Throughout California

At its Oct. 9-–10, 2024, meeting in Sacramento, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) unanimously voted to make the western burrowing owl a “candidate” species under the California Endangered Species Act...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

California Open to Input on Endangered Species Listing for Burrowing Owl

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The western burrowing owl was just recently elevated to a “candidate species” under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). As a candidate species, the owl now...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 10.4.24

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Governor Gavin Newsom on September 29 signed Assembly Bill (AB) 98 into law. The bill, which faced opposition from business groups, local governments, and environmental justice advocates, forbids cities and counties from...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 8.02.24

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Climate change threatens to dramatically shrink the amount of water California can deliver over the next 20 years and could significantly reduce supplies available from the State Water Project according to new projections...more

Allen Matkins

California Considers Endangered Species Protection for Burrowing Owls - 2024 Land Use, Environmental & Natural Resources Update

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On March 5, 2024, six conservation groups filed a petition with the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) to request the implementation of legal protections for five populations of the western burrowing owl...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 4.26.24

Allen Matkins on

The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a goal to protect and restore 8 million acres of wetlands over the next six years in an effort to counter development pressures and recently weakened federal regulations. The new...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 3.08.24

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A coalition of conservation groups filed a petition on Tuesday asking the California Fish and Game Commission to protect burrowing owl populations in five parts of the state including parts of the Bay Area and the Central...more

Nossaman LLP

Groups Petition California Fish and Game Commission to List Western Burrowing Owl

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On March 5, 2024, the Center for Biological Diversity and several other groups submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) to list the western burrowing owl (Athene cunicularia hypugaea)...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 1.05.24

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A San Jerardo cooperative in the Salinas area, together with environmental organizations, have sued the state, demanding stricter rules to govern the amount of fertilizer farmers can use. They allege that nitrate...more

Nossaman LLP

Resource Optimization and Endangered Species Management

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On December 21, 2023, I published a post on the Center for California Water Resources Policy and Management’s DeltaCurrents blog discussing integration of resource optimization into endangered species policy to improve...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 11.10.23

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Federal environmental regulators are taking action that eventually could transform the way motor vehicle tires are manufactured to reduce toxic runoff from 6PPD, a substance used in tire production that kills or harms some...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 10.27.23

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday proposed banning the cancer-causing chemical trichloroethylene (TCE), which can be found in consumer products including automobile brake cleaners, furniture care, and...more

Allen Matkins

California Environmental Law & Policy Update 10.20.23

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The California 2023 Legislative Session ended on September 14, 2023 and presented Governor Gavin Newsom with several important changes to California’s water-related statutes. Newsom had until October 14, 2023 to sign all...more

Meyers Nave

State Adopts Expansive CEQA Infrastructure Streamlining Plan

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On July 10, Governor Newsom signed five California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reform bills (SB 145, 146, 147, 149 & 150) as part of an infrastructure streamlining plan that the Governor’s office has called the “the...more

Nossaman LLP

California Amends Fully Protected Species Statutes: Streamlining or More Red Tape?

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On July 10, 2023, Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 147 (SB147) into law, amending California’s “fully protected species” statutes. These laws were enacted in 1970 and currently protect 37 species native to California,...more

Downey Brand LLP

California Infrastructure Plan Passes; Governor’s CEQA and Species Reforms are Narrowed, but Signed into Law

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In June we reported that California Governor Gavin Newsom’s infrastructure permitting and CEQA reform legislation package was mostly dead, with the Legislature finding it too complex for last-minute consideration. But there’s...more

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