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The California Court of Appeal for the Sixth District issued its decision in Save Panoche Valley v. San Benito County, finding that the public interest in developing the Panoche Valley Solar Farm (Project) outweighs the public interest in maintaining the agricultural use of the land on which the Project will be built.  The decision is the first published case in California to confirm that a Williamson Act contract can be cancelled to accommodate a solar generating plant, and addresses issues that arise from California’s competing policies to promote renewable energy development and to protect agricultural land.

The court also concluded that the environmental impact report prepared for the Project was adequate, in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).Continue Reading Appeals Court Finds in Favor of Solar Project Over Agricultural Use

On Friday, February 22, Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) introduced a bill outlining proposed revisions to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  A substantial CEQA reform bill championed by Senator Michael Rubio (D-Shafter) was highly anticipated in this legislative session.  But, earlier in the day on Friday, Senator Rubio announced his resignation from the California State Senate…

Senator Michael Rubio (D-Shafter) announced today that he is resigning from the California State Senate, effective today.  Senator Rubio made headlines at the end of the 2012 legislative session when he introduced a bill to significantly reform the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  At that time, he agreed to work with Senator Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento)…

California’s Proposition 65 (“Prop 65”) is notable for many reasons, one of which is that the Prop 65 list of chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer or reproductive harm is long (over 800 chemicals) and is ever-growing.  That being said, the vast majority of Prop 65 lawsuits and alleged violations only involve a handful…

In the continuing legal battle between Central Valley agricultural interests and California’s high-speed rail (“HSR”) project, plaintiffs in three separate lawsuits in Sacramento County Superior Court requested a preliminary injunction to stop all work associated with the initial segment of the HSR between Merced and Fresno until a ruling on the lawsuits’ merits.  On November…

My colleague, Barbara Brenner, posted an environmental law alert on the recently published CEQA decision issued by the California Third District Court of Appeal in Mount Shasta Bioregional Ecology Ctr. v. County of Siskiyou, No. C064930, 2012 Cal. App. LEXIS 1088 (Cal. Ct. App. Sept. 26, 2012).  The case is significant because it…

Environmental groups filed a complaint today in Alameda County Superior Court against the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) alleging that DOGGR violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) by issuing permits for oil and gas wells that allowed hydraulic fracturing activities without sufficient environmental review. The complaint alleges that there are several environmental and public health impacts associated with fracking that DOGGR fails to consider in its CEQA analyses for oil and gas well permits. The complaint also alleges that DOGGR improperly excludes new oil and gas well permits from CEQA based on categorical exemptions for minor alternations to land or existing facilities.
Continue Reading Environmental Groups Sue DOGGR Over Fracking Permits

Join Stoel Rives attorney Melissa Jones for a webinar to help you avoid getting caught in the Proposition 65 trap. The webinar will cover significant regulatory and enforcement issues associated with Prop 65, including litigation, product testing, recent trends, and practical advice for compliance.

When: Wednesday, October 10, 2012
9 – 10:30 a.m. Pacific
11

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