Governor Brown signed into law new legislation (SB 646-Pauley) that ends what has been described as a dual track system for enforcing California’s Lead Containing Jewelry Law (Health and Safety Codes Section 25214.1-25214.4.2). The law, which regulates the levels of lead in jewelry, also contained an exemption for retailers that had joined a
A group of jewelry retailers, manufacturers and suppliers entered into a Proposition 65 settlement agreement with Center for Environmental Health (CEH) several months ago concerning cadmium in jewelry. The settlement was formalized in a consent judgment approved by Alameda Superior Court in CEH v. Aeropostale, Inc.
As in other Prop 65 consent judgments, this
California has two more laws in place to help facilitate development of renewable energy projects after Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 267 and Senate Bill 618 over the weekend.
SB 267 modifies the existing requirements to prepare a water supply assessment for projects that meet certain size thresholds. Under the new law, a photovoltaic or
Falling victim to a Legislature pre-occupied with massive budget deficit issues and last minute wrangling over the Governor’s corporate tax package on out-of-state companies, AB 591, California’s legislative foray into the charged arena of hydraulic fracturing regulation, stalled in the State Senate’s Appropriations Committee. In its current form, the bill embodied a fairly comprehensive
Together with Peter Finie of Vulcan Materials Company, I will be making a very informative presentation on California property taxes at the upcoming California Construction and Industrial Materials Association’s (CalCIMA) 2011 Education Conference in Monterey. Our presentation, “Are Your Taxes Too High?,” will examine a number of property tax issues from an operator’s perspective
It’s a double header at the California Energy Commission (CEC) today. The Renewable Energy Action Team – comprised of the CEC, the California Department of Fish and Game, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) – is holding two public scoping meetings for the combined environment impact statement/environmental
The California Supreme Court’s ruling on Save the Plastic Bag Coalition v. City of Manhattan Beach decided two important issues regarding the interpretation and application of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). First, the Court decided the city of Manhattan Beach was not required to prepare an environmental impact report (EIR) under CEQA before enacting
Yesterday, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a Supplement to its Functional Equivalent Document (FED) for the A.B. 32 Climate Change Scoping Plan – the environmental review document for the Scoping Plan. The Supplement was prepared as a result of a ruling against CARB in Association of Irritated Residents, et al. v. California Air
Sacramento Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley’s recent ruling (PDF) in the case challenging East Bay Municipal Utility District’s (EBMUD) approval of its updated water supply plan is a reminder of the importance of fully disclosing potential impacts of a project under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), even when the CEQA project is a programmatic
Governor Brown is expected to sign SBX1-2, which increases California’s Renewable Portfolio Standard to 33% by 2020. With enactment of the bill, California will have the most aggressive renewable energy policy in the country. Details about the new legislation can be found in the Stoel Rives alert authored by Seth Hilton at: http://www.stoel.com/showalert.aspx?show=7805.
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