From Permits to Penalties: A Deep Dive Into Coastal Development Law
Navigating Environmental Restrictions on Alternative Project Delivery for Complex Infrastructure Projects
On-Demand Webinar | Charting a Course for Offshore Wind Energy in California
[WEBINAR] Update on the California Environmental Quality Act: What’s New for 2018
[WEBINAR] Building a Solar Energy Project in 2018
How Trump's Infrastructure Plan Impacts the Energy Industry
BB&K's Charity Schiller Discusses CEQA Baseline
The County of San Diego’s thresholds for exempting certain projects from vehicle miles traveled (VMT) analysis were not supported by substantial evidence showing they were appropriate specifically for the County. Cleveland...more
On January 12, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an Executive Order in furtherance of his January 7 State of Emergency declaration to expedite recovery efforts following the devastating fires in Los Angeles and...more
The Court of Appeal upheld the City’s determination that compensatory mitigation for the loss of a historic building in the form of funding of other historic preservation was not feasible because there were no other buildings...more
Noisy college students, the new CEQA impact? Would you be surprised to learn that college students can throw noisy parties? Uh, no, but it may be a surprise that they constitute a potentially significant environmental impact...more
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development - Public agencies prevailed in 71% of CEQA cases analyzed. Latham & Watkins is pleased to present its fifth annual CEQA Case Report. Throughout...more
As previously reported, California Senate Bill (SB) 7, the Jobs and Economic Improvement Through Environmental Leadership Act of 2021, was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 20, 2021, and became effective...more
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development - Public agencies prevailed in 68% of CEQA cases analyzed. Latham & Watkins is pleased to present its fourth annual CEQA Case Report. Throughout...more
Please join our interdisciplinary panel of infrastructure, environmental, real estate and eminent domain attorneys for a discussion on planning, procurement and financing strategies that can be implemented now to support...more
California Department of Fish and Wildlife Annual Adjustments - The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced an increase in filing fees for all California Environmental Quality Act Notices of Determination...more
During the week of August 19, 2019, both the Appellate and Supreme Courts of California issued decisive opinions clarifying the parameters of agency action subject to environmental review under the California Environmental...more
In Berkeley Hills Watershed Coalition v. City of Berkeley (2019) 31 Cal.App.5th 880 [certified for partial publication], the Court of the Appeal for the First District affirmed that the construction of three new single-family...more
Businesses seeking discretionary approvals or development permits are often subject to the California Environmental Quality Act. CEQA, the state’s environmental protection law, requires California public agencies to analyze...more
In February, the San Francisco Planning Department issued the first quarterly performance report for implementation of its Process Improvements Plan, a program intended to overhaul the project review process. ...more
CEQA Case Report: Understanding the Judicial Landscape for Development - In a published opinion issued December 24, 2018, Sierra Club v. County of Fresno, Case No. S219783, the California Supreme Court determined that an...more
In September 2017, the California legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown enacted Senate Bill 35 (SB 35) to streamline housing development in cities that are not meeting their housing needs. SB 35 is aimed at easing California’s...more
State lawmakers passed over 1,200 bills this year, the most in more than a decade according to sources. Governor Brown signed 1,016 into law as of September 30th. Below is a summary of the bills signed into law regulating the...more
In a decision that allows progress on development of new housing in a time of great need in California, a California appellate court upheld a trial court ruling that had rejected several legal challenges to a residential...more
A package of 15 new housing bills will have far-reaching implications for every city in California. Collectively, these new laws are meant to significantly boost affordable housing production by removing local land use...more
In Friends of the College of San Mateo Gardens v. San Mateo County Community College District (Supreme Court No. S214061, filed Sept. 19, 2016), the California Supreme Court resolved the vexing question of whether a change to...more
Law Will Expedite Schedules for Qualified Projects - On Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill extending special California Environmental Quality Act litigation streamlining provisions for large,...more
California Governor Proposes "Build By Right" Approval Process for Affordable Housing - Recognizing the extreme need throughout California for construction of new affordable housing units, on May 13, 2016, Gov. Jerry...more
This is the second edition in an ongoing series of "Corner Briefings" highlighting urban infill legal tools and opportunities. These updates identify new legal cases, legislative updates, grant opportunities and other urban...more
In a March 4, 2016 published opinion, the Fourth District Court of Appeal reversed the trial court’s judgment requiring an EIR for a small 12-home rural subdivision project based on the “psychological and social” impacts of...more
In a unanimous 24-page opinion authored by newly seated Justice Cuellar and filed December 17, 2015, the California Supreme Court resolved a fundamental issue regarding CEQA’s scope, holding that – with certain specific...more
Recently, the court in Rominger v. County of Colusa found that a lead agency which approved a mitigated negative declaration for a project, can take the seemingly inconsistent position that the proposed project was not a...more