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
Governor Gavin Newsom signed two budget trailer bills on June 30, 2025, enacting the most substantial reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in over five decades....more
This is our third update on the important changes in the two budget trailer bills, AB 130 and SB 131, after previous posts addressing the new CEQA exemption for infill housing and the “near miss” CEQA streamlining process....more
Much is discussed every year in the Legislature about how the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) needs reform. But the calls for change nearly always fail, aside from a few tinkering changes. This year is...more
On June 30, 2025, Governor Newsom signed AB 130 and SB 131 into immediately effective law as budget trailer bills, marking a historic effort to accelerate housing production and to reform the CEQA review process that has been...more
On June 30, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) and Senate Bill 131 (SB 131), legislation that contains significant changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) that...more
Acquiring property for public projects typically does not occur until after the project has received environmental approval. In California, complying with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) can sometimes take...more
On June 30, 2025, two budget trailer bills — Assembly Bill 130 (AB 130) and Senate Bill 131 (SB 131) — were signed by Governor Newsom and went into effect immediately. In addition to significant modifications to the...more
Originally enacted in 1970, the objective of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was to review projects to assess potential impacts on the environment, disclose those impacts to the public, and mitigate those...more
The City of Santa Ana (City) has recently undertaken an ambitious — and highly controversial — effort to reshape the landscape of its historically industrial-centric Transit Zoning Code (TZC) district. Through the adoption of...more
Like a gift to land use lawyers that never stops giving, the strange and wondrous interrelationship between CEQA and the Permit Streamlining Act (“PSA”; Gov. Code, § 65920 et seq) continues to inspire litigation and require...more
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
City of Los Angeles - Expedited and Streamlined Review Process for Community Rebuilding - On March 18, 2025, Mayor Karen Bass issued Revised Emergency Executive Order No. 1 (EO 1) directing the Department of City Planning,...more
In Cleveland National Forest Foundation v. County of San Diego (2025) 109 Cal. App.5th 1257, the Fourth District Court of Appeal invalidated two thresholds of significance adopted by the County of San Diego (“County”) that in...more
On March 14, 2025, the California Court of Appeal for the First District issued the first published opinion interpreting Assembly Bill 52 (AB 52), the law governing tribal consultation procedures under the California...more
A California court of appeal has held that a lead agency conducting environmental review, under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), of “vehicle miles traveled” (VMT) impacts may not unquestioningly use thresholds...more
In a show of bipartisan and bicameral unity, California lawmakers on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping 20-bill legislative package aimed at overhauling the state’s housing development process. Branded as the “Fast Track Housing”...more
In a published opinion filed March 27, 2025, the Fourth District Court of Appeal (Div. 1) reversed the trial court’s judgment denying a writ petition, and held that two screening thresholds of significance for vehicle miles...more
In a published opinion filed March 14, 2025, the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 2) reversed the trial court’s judgment upholding a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for a four-story, 75-room hotel/meeting...more
On February 20, 2025, Senator Scott Wiener introduced Senate Bill No. 607 (SB 607), a proposed law that is relatively short in text length, but which would engender major CEQA reforms if enacted as currently drafted. The...more
Governor Gavin Newsom stepped up his intervention on the California Coastal Commission last Monday, chiding the agency for providing “legally erroneous guidance” that threatens to create confusion and delay the rebuilding...more
The California Court of Appeal’s recent decision in V Lions Farming, LLC v. County of Kern provides important clarity on the use of agricultural conservation easements (ACEs) for mitigating the conversion of agricultural land...more
Executive Orders N-4-25 and N-14-25 attempt to alleviate procedural and regulatory approvals for rebuilding property damages by the Palisades and Eaton wildfires. Executive Order N-4-25 suspends CEQA and CCA to allow...more
Following the devastating fires in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-4-25 to expedite recovery and rebuilding efforts. Released on January 12, 2025, the Order suspends...more
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Jan. 12 issued an executive order in response to the devastating wildfires, suspending environmental reviews required under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and permitting...more
In the wake of the tragic disaster still unfolding in multiple communities of Southern California, Governor Newsom has issued an executive order (Executive Order N-4-25) intended to “expedite recovery” from the disaster by...more