News & Analysis as of

Environmental Review California Environmental Quality Act California

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Cutting Through California's Housing Crisis: Are New CEQA Exemptions Enough?

As discussed in our earlier post, California's CEQA landscape has rapidly, and potentially seismically, evolved with the passage of AB 130 and SB 131. This post focuses on the immediate creation of a new statutory exemption,...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

Risks Remain For Housing Developers After Recent CEQA Reforms

On June 30, 2025, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law significant reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), seeking to promote housing projects in a state that desperately needs them. Much of...more

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass

“Near-Miss” CEQA Streamlining: New Option to Reduce Scope of Review for Housing Development Projects

Following up on our earlier coverage of the new California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) exemption passed as part of budget trailer bill AB 130, another significant CEQA pathway was created through its companion...more

Farella Braun + Martel LLP

[Hybrid Event] Environmental Permitting and Litigation Fundamentals for Clean Energy Projects - July 16th, San Francisco, CA

Dive into the fundamentals of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in our engaging session tailored for professionals in the clean energy sector. By the end of our...more

Meyers Nave

Court of Appeal Invalidates County's Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Screening Thresholds for CEQA Review

Meyers Nave on

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

Meyers Nave

Court of Appeal Publishes First Opinion Addressing Assembly Bill 52, Concluding City Failed to Meaningfully Consult with Tribe

Meyers Nave on

Assembly Bill 52 (AB 52) requires public agencies to consult with tribes during the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process. On March 14, 2025, in Koi Nation of Northern California v. City of Clearlake, the First...more

Perkins Coie

Amendment of Specific Plan to Include Ban on New Vineyards Did Not Destabilize Project Description Under CEQA

Perkins Coie on

A change from heavy regulation of vineyards to a complete ban on new vineyards did not so destabilize the original project description as to amount to a prejudicial abuse of discretion and require a new EIR. Gooden v. County...more

Perkins Coie

California Court Upholds CalGEM’s Use of CEQA Categorical Exemption for Approval of Oil Well Conversion Project

Perkins Coie on

A California Court of Appeal upheld the California Department of Conservation Geologic Energy Management Division’s determination that a project to convert a plugged oil well into a wastewater disposal well fit within the...more

Meyers Nave

2024 California Developers’ Toolkit: Density Bonus Law, Housing Laws, & Strategies for Success

Meyers Nave on

The California Legislature has continued to refine the Density Bonus Law over the years, making important updates to housing laws that impact developers across the state. Recent legislative changes include key updates on...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

2023 CEQA Legislative Recap: Insignificant Effects, Housing Exemptions, and Streamlining

Several modest amendments to CEQA took effect on Jan. 1, 2024. Our CEQA News You Can Use team summarized a few of changes to keep in mind in the new year....more

Miller Starr Regalia

Reversal of Misfortune: Second District Holds CEQA Action Challenging Los Angeles Housing Development Project Barred By Statute of...

Miller Starr Regalia on

In a published opinion filed on January 17, 2024, the Second District Court of Appeal (Div. 5) reversed a trial court judgment overturning a mitigated negative declaration (MND) and requiring an EIR for a 42-single family...more

Downey Brand LLP

Downey Brand Compilation of Published CEQA Cases in 2023

Downey Brand LLP on

2023 served up roughly the same number of published appellate CEQA cases as 2022 with a defense win percentage of over 80 percent, which has been the case in many, if not all, of the past ten years. A prominent theme of...more

Nossaman LLP

CEQA Reform: Making Sense of California’s Budget Trailer Bill

Nossaman LLP on

On June 12, 2023, each house of the California State Legislature released the proposed language of the Budget Act of 2023. The Legislature’s proposal excludes the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and permit...more

Downey Brand LLP

“It just so happens that [Governor Newsom’s Sweeping New Plan to Accelerate Infrastructure Projects] is only mostly dead.” –...

Downey Brand LLP on

Governor Gavin Newsom announced proposed major new infrastructure permitting reforms on May 19, 2023 in an effort to create thousands of jobs and build California’s clean energy future. The eleven-bill package seeks to...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

What’s Happening at the California Capitol? Another Pass at CEQA and Housing Streamlining

In this alert, Brownstein outlines Gov. Gavin Newsom’s latest swing at the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and provides the updates (and potentially what to expect) regarding two new bills introduced by Sen. Scott...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

CEQA News You Can Use - Vol. 8, Issue 1

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

Perkins Coie

33rd Annual Land Use & Development Law Briefing - 2023

Perkins Coie on

Land Use and Development Case Summaries 2023 Land Use and Development Law Briefing (Short Form) 1. Planning And Zoning - OLD EAST DAVIS NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOCIATION V. CITY OF DAVIS 73 Cal. App. 5th 895 (2022) The court...more

Perkins Coie

Athletic Field Lighting Project Not Categorically Exempt from CEQA

Perkins Coie on

The First District Court of Appeal overturned the City of San Francisco’s decision that Saint Ignatius High School’s project to install four permanent 90-foot-tall athletic field lights was exempt from CEQA.  Saint Ignatius...more

Perkins Coie

Responsible Agency Under CEQA Must Make Express Findings as to Each Potentially Significant Impact Identified in Lead Agency’s EIR

Perkins Coie on

The Court of Appeal held that the City of Mount Shasta violated CEQA by approving a wastewater permit for a water bottling plant without making specific findings as to each potentially significant impact identified as...more

Perkins Coie

EIR’s Statement of Project Objectives Was Unduly Narrow

Perkins Coie on

The EIR for a bottling plant in Siskiyou County withstood challenges to the project description and impacts analysis, but the EIR’s stated project objectives were unreasonably narrow and the County should have recirculated...more

20 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 1

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide