A California appellate court held that a city council may not skip California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review for a development project by using Election Code §9214(a) to approve the project via a voter petition instead of holding an election under §9214(b). When a development project is a...

A California appellate court upheld a local water board's $250,000 administrative civil liability order issued against a developer for CWA permit violations. The board issued the order after concluding that the developer discharged sediment-laden waters into ephemeral drainages adjacent to a constru...

The Eleventh Circuit held it lacked jurisdiction over several petitions for review of an EPA decision that allows a water district to transfer water from the polluted canals of the Everglades Agricultural Area into Lake Okeechobee without a CWA discharge permit. CWA §509(b)(1)(E) grants original ju...

The U.S. Supreme Court vacates and remands for further proceeding two Sixth Circuit opinions holding that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (the Corps) had jurisdiction over state wetlands adjacent to a tributary of traditional navigable waters but separated by a berm, and wetlands lying near ditches...

A California appellate court held that a city's certification of an environmental impact report (EIR) for a development project covering 2,600 acres of undeveloped land for single-family dwelling units and a village center violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Below, the trial co...

New York's highest court held that the New York City School Construction Authority's EIS for the construction of a campus of four public schools in an area formerly used as a railroad yard violated the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA). Because the site contains significant soil and gro...

A California appellate court held that a local ballot measure requiring a city to seek competitive bidding for future trash service contracts was not a "project" under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) subject to environmental review. A city resident alleged that the city violated CEQA...

A California appellate court upheld a county's approval of a project to expand an existing wood veneer manufacturing facility in order to permit cogeneration of electricity for resale. Environmental and citizens groups filed a petition for review, claiming that the environmental impact report for th...

A California court dismissed all but three claims raised by an environmental group challenging a county's environmental impact report for a fairground expansion project. The group raised concerns about impacts of the proposed development on wetlands, biological resources, traffic, greenhouse gases, ...

A California appellate court reversed in part a lower court decision granting a petition to vacate an irrigation district's approval of an agreement to provide water to a casino on tribal land. In approving the agreement, the irrigation district determined that the agreement was not subject to certa...