Author Archive

Efforts to Modernize CEQA Advance with Proposed Amendments to Senate Bill 731 By Andrea A. Matarazzo Senate President Pro Tem, Darrell Steinberg, recently proposed amendments to SB 731, keeping alive hope that efforts to reform CEQA will make some meaningful progress in the Legislature this year.  One important highlight is that the bill would strike existing CEQA provisions that give opponents the ability to delay certain projects over aesthetic impacts – typically a highly subjective and sometimes ...

CEQA Streamlining for Urban Infill – OPR’s New CEQA Guidelines Take Effect By Andrea A. Matarazzo The Governor’s Office of Planning & Research (“OPR”) has finalized its “Infill Streamlining” updates to the CEQA Guidelines, which OPR developed pursuant to SB 226 (Simitian, 2011) and are now in effect. The goal of SB 226 was to reduce duplicative review and add certainty to the development process.  According to OPR, these additions to the CEQA Guidelines in section 15183.3 ...

By Jeffrey L. Anderson California’s laws regarding mechanics’ liens, stop notices and payment bonds have been substantially modified and revised pursuant to Senate Bill No. 189 (“SB 189”).  Although some provisions of SB 189 went into effect earlier this year, the majority of the changes and the most significant changes became effective on July 1, 201 As of July 1st, all of the mechanics’ lien laws and related laws were deleted from Civil Code Sections 3081.1 through ...

Grand Canyon Trust v. United States Bureau of Reclamation ___ F.3d ___ (2012) [United States Court of Appeals, Ninth District District Court of Appeal No. 11-16326, filed Aug. 13, 2012] By Jeffrey K. Dorso, Esq. The Grand Canyon Trust (“Trust”) filed suit in federal court in the District of Arizona alleging that the United States Bureau of Reclamation (“Reclamation”) and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (“FWS”) violated the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) and the National ...

At the August Sacramento City Council meeting, Fran Halbakken, City Railyard Development Manager, presented highlights from the final report, "Redeveloping the Railyards to Strengthen the Urban Core," published by the Urban Land Institute's Daniel Rose Fellowship Program. Sacramento was selected as one of four cities in the country to take part in this year-long program with a specific land use challenge of the Railyards as the focus.  City of Sacramento received technical assistance and expertise over ...

City of Maywood v. Los Angeles Unified School District [Second District Court of Appeal Nos. B233739, B236408, filed 7/18/12] By Andrea A. Matarazzo The City of Maywood filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking to overturn a decision by the Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”) to certify a final environmental impact report (“FEIR”) analyzing the environmental consequences of constructing a high school.  The City argued that the FEIR did not satisfy CEQA because it failed ...

League of Wilderness Defenders – Blue Mountains Biodiversity Project v. United States Forest Service [Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals No. 11-35451, filed 7/30/12] By Andrea A. Matarazzo The U.S. Forest Service adopted an “Experimental Forest Thinning, Fuels Reduction, and Research Project” in the Deschutes National Forest in the eastern Cascades of central Oregon.  The project allows logging and controlled burning on roughly 2,500 acres of the Pringle Falls Experimental Forest.  The purposes of the project are to ...

Legislature Cannot Require Charter Cities to Pay Prevailing Wages to Contractors on Public Works Projects State Building and Construction Trades Council of California AFL-CIO v. City of Vista [California Supreme Court No. S173586, filed 7/2/12] By Andrea A. Matarazzo The City of Vista – a charter city – entered contracts for construction of public buildings, which were challenged by way of a petition for writ of mandate brought by a federation of labor unions.  The unions asserted that ...

County’s Comprehensive Ban on Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Is Preempted by State Law County of Los Angeles v. Alternative Medicinal Cannabis Collective [Second District Court of Appeal No. B233419, filed 7/2/12] By Andrea A. Matarazzo The Alternative Medicinal Cannabis Collective (“Collective”) appealed a trial court order granting an injunction prohibiting them from operating a medical marijuana “dispensary” in any unincorporated area of the County of Los Angeles.  The Collective argued that the injunction was improper because the County’s blanket ...

Increased Demand for Fire Protection and Other Public Services Is an Economic Effect Rather than an Environmental Impact Under CEQA. City of Hayward et al. v. California State University [First District Court of Appeal Nos. A131412 and A132424, filed 5/30/12; part pub. order 6/28/12] By Andrea A. Matarazzo The City of Hayward and two local community groups (“Petitioners”) challenged the Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) for the California State University East Bay campus master development plan, arguing that the EIR ...