On-Demand Webinar | Recent Updates to Federal Environmental and Natural Resource Regulations
Stoel Rives Deeply Rooted Podcast Season 3 Episode 2: Forest Management, Endangered Species, and Regulatory Frameworks with Galen Schuler, General Counsel for Green Diamond Resources
The New Cold War: Risk, Sanctions, Compliance Episode 24: “Elephants and the Mafia: Combatting Criminal Wildlife Trafficking”
[VIDEO] The Price of an Aging Infrastructure on the Environment
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Emerson Creek project in Huron and Erie Counties Now Expected to Move to Construction - On July 27, 2023, the Supreme Court of Ohio, in a 7-0 decision, affirmed the Ohio Power Siting Board (“Board”)’s decision to issue a...more
Federal officials on Wednesday announced $52 million in new funding for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to perform two dozen projects around San Francisco Bay to restore wildlife, expand wetlands, and reduce...more
When ranchers violated an emergency order to stop pumping water from the Shasta River in 2022, state officials fined them $4,000, or roughly $50 each. Now California legislators are weighing a bill that would triple fines for...more
A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate seeks to protect composting, recycling, and garbage facilities from cleanup cost liability if they receive and manage solid waste or biosolids containing PFAS compounds....more
The fossil fuel industry is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to resolve a legal battle over hydraulic fracturing off the California coast — a fight companies say carries “enormous practical and legal significance.”...more
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and numerous industry associations on Wednesday filed lawsuits in Texas district court over the new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ definition of...more
Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday unveiled a 2023 state budget proposal that includes significant cuts to climate investments due to an estimated budget gap of $22.5 billion for the 2023-2024 fiscal year....more
On November 17, 2022, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) voted unanimously to issue an Order Modifying and Approving Surrender License and Removal of Project Facilities Order (“Order”) for the Lower Klamath...more
In Save the Hill Group v. City of Livermore et al., the First District Court of Appeal (Div. 5) reversed and remanded the superior court’s decision to uphold the reissued final environmental impact report (RFEIR) for a...more
In July 2021, CalTrout submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) to list a population of the fish Oncorhynchus mykiss, referred to as the Southern California Steelhead or Southern Steelhead,...more
The California Fish and Game Commission deferred the decision on whether to make the western Joshua tree a candidate for listing to a special meeting in September 2020. In a hearing on August 20, 2020, the Commission heard a...more
Over the past decade, proponents of an effort to remove four dams on the lower Klamath River have hit a series of roadblocks. The most recent came on July 16, 2020, when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) voted...more
Paul Weiland recently participated in the 2020 California Water Law Symposium, held at San Francisco's Golden Gate University School of Law. The theme of this year's Symposium was "Federalism & Water: Shifts in State/Federal...more
The Center for Biological Diversity and Mountain Lion Foundation submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (the “Commission”) to list mountain lions (Puma concolor) in southern and central California as...more
On June 12, 2019, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) voted 3-1 that listing four subspecies of bumble bee may be warranted under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA).? ...more
On April 29, 2019, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-10-19 (EO) directing the California Natural Resources Agency, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California Department of Food and Agriculture...more
Land Use and Development Case Summaries (short form) - 1. PLANNING AND ZONING - CENTER FOR COMMUNITY ACTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE V. CITY OF MORENO VALLEY, 26 Cal. App. 5th 689 (2018) - Based on the language and...more
On October 16, 2018, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, Defenders of Wildlife, and the Center for Food Safety submitted a petition to the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) to list the Crotch...more