2022 Land Use, Environmental,
& Natural Resources Update
Three New California Laws to Facilitate Housing Production
The Still Murky Permitting Requirements Under the Clean Water Act after County of Maui Spawn Highly Fact-Intensive Inquiries
The laws regarding environmental regulation continue to evolve dynamically. We address the current state of federal case law as to whether federal permits are needed for discharges to groundwater. We also provide updates on the regulation of PFAS compounds, which are emerging contaminants, and on asbestos, a long-standing contaminant, enforcement cases that may increase in 2022 in California.
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New State and Federal PFAS Regulation
Offshore Wind Development Blows Closer to Reality in California
New Standard
for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
San Diego Developers and Owners Should be Aware of Changes in Asbestos Enforcement Behavior
California’s Density Bonus Law Prevails with Recent Win
in San Diego
Recent California Court Ruling Signals Victory for Advocates
of Mixed-Use Neighborhoods and Greater Housing Density
Explore Authors & Articles
Three New California Laws to Facilitate Housing Production
Matthew R. Fogt
Caroline Guibert Chase
Margaret R. Akerblom
Amarveer Brar
Extensions Granted for Housing Entitlements Set to Expire During 2020-2021
Benjamin Brown
Recent California Court Ruling Signals Victory for Advocates of Mixed-Use Neighborhoods and Greater Housing Density
Sean L. Becker
California's Density Bonus Law Prevails with Recent Win in San Diego
Heather S. Riley
Shawn T. Cobb
Molly A. Coyne
Dana P. Palmer
Drought Continues and Groundwater Regulations Heat Up in California
David L. Osias
Tara E. Paul
The Still Murky Permitting Requirements Under the Clean Water Act after County of Maui Spawn Highly Fact-Intensive Inquiries
Sandi L. Nichols
Rebecca Williams
Jeffrey A. Chine
Extensions Granted for Housing Entitlements Set
to Expire During 2020-2021
The California Legislature and Governor approved three key housing bills in 2021 to facilitate housing production in California. SB 8 (Senator Skinner) extends and expands the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB 330). SB 9 (Senator Atkins) allows for the approval of duplexes and two-lot subdivisions on qualifying properties without environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
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AB 1561, which was effective as of September 28, 2020, granted an 18-month extension to many housing entitlements in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Legislature passed this bill to alleviate the statewide cost that would result from government officials addressing entitlement extensions on a case-by-case basis.
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On December 17, 2021, the Los Angeles Superior Court issued a victory to the City of Los Angeles (the City) when it struck down a challenge to the City’s Exposition Corridor Transit Neighborhood Plan (Expo Plan) brought by Fix the City, a Los Angeles-based advocacy group.
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San Diego Developers and Owners Should be Aware of Changes in Asbestos Enforcement Behavior
New State and Federal PFAS Regulation
As one of 17 air districts in California, the San Diego Air Pollution Control District (SDAPCD) is responsible for the implementation and enforcement of a wide range of laws and regulations concerning air pollution within its jurisdiction.
In 2021, new federal and California regulations were established to protect public health and environments from the impacts of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). Clients in industries that utilize PFAS, owners of PFAS-contaminated properties, and clients selling products containing PFAS in California, should be aware of the changing regulatory environment.
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New Standard for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
Phase I Environmental Site Assessments have become a ubiquitous component of environmental due diligence supporting most commercial and industrial real estate transactions in the United States. Users of such Phase I assessments rely on these reports to provide a relatively inexpensive and standardized environmental snapshot of the real property under evaluation.
This article summarizes some of the court rulings since the Supreme Court’s County of Maui decision, including two rulings issued this year.
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A January 7, 2022 decision from California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal in Bankers Hill 150 v. City of San Diego (Case No. D077963) confirms local agencies' limited discretion to deny – or require a redesign – of qualifying projects under California's Density Bonus Law (DBL).
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2021 was the driest year California has experienced in a century. At the end of the water year, spanning October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, the State received only 11.87 inches of precipitation, approximately half of average. This came on the heels of the second driest year on record in 2020. Lake Mead, a bellwether for predicting critical deliveries of Colorado River water to the State, has been declining since 2000 and reached its lowest level ever.
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Allen Matkins Land Use, Environmental, and Natural Resources Group
Allen Matkins land use, environmental, and natural resources practice group consists of a firm-wide team of attorneys whose mission is to assist our clients in navigating the myriad of federal, state, and local legal requirements affecting the environment in order to develop and maximize the use of real property.
Whether the required service entails procurement of favorable land use entitlements (or defending them), preparation of environmental impact compliance documents, litigation defense of regulatory enforcement actions or citizen suits, negotiation and documentation of important rights and obligations, or essential resource rights, such as water, members of the land use, environmental, and natural resources group are prepared to meet our clients' goals.
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Three New California Laws to Facilitate Housing Production
Matthew R. Fogt
Read article here
Caroline Guibert Chase
Margaret R. Akerblom
Amarveer Brar
Read article here
Benjamin Brown
Read article here
Sean L. Becker
Heather S. Riley
Jeffrey A. Chine
Rebecca Williams
Shawn T. Cobb
Molly A. Coyne
Dana P. Palmer
Sandi L. Nichols
Dana P. Palmer
Dana P. Palmer
David L. Osias
Tara E. Paul
Extensions Granted for Housing Entitlements Set
to Expire During 2020-2021
Read article here
Read article here
Read article here
Read article here
Read article here
Read article here
Recent California Court Ruling Signals Victory for Advocates
of Mixed-Use Neighborhoods and Greater Housing Density
California’s Density Bonus Law Prevails with Recent Win
in San Diego
San Diego Developers and Owners Should be Aware of Changes in Asbestos Enforcement Behavior
New State and Federal PFAS Regulation
New Standard
for Phase I Environmental Site Assessments
The Still Murky Permitting Requirements Under the Clean Water Act after County of Maui Spawn Highly Fact-Intensive Inquiries
Offshore Wind Development Blows Closer to Reality in California
David H. Blackwell
David H. Blackwell
Spencer B. Kallick
Spencer B. Kallick
David D. Cooke
David D. Cooke
David D. Cooke
David D. Cooke
Offshore Wind Development Blows Closer to Reality in California
Offshore wind development in federal waters off the California coast is rapidly moving closer to reality. Although construction and operation remain several years away, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior tasked with regulating off-shore energy development, has taken several major steps over the past year toward opening up California’s federal waters to renewable energy development.
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Owen D. "Eoin" McCarron
Owen D. "Eoin" McCarron
Barry H. Epstein
Barry H. Epstein
Dana P. Palmer
Dana P. Palmer
Drought Continues and Groundwater Regulations Heat Up in California
2021 was the driest year California has experienced in a century. At the end of the water year, spanning October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, the State received only 11.87 inches of precipitation, approximately half of average. This came on the heels of the second driest year on record in 2020. Lake Mead, a bellwether for predicting critical deliveries of Colorado River water to the State, has been declining since 2000 and reached its lowest level ever.
Read article here
Read article here
David L. Osias
David L. Osias
Tara E. Paul
Tara E. Paul
Drought Continues and Groundwater Regulations Heat Up in California
Drought Continues and Groundwater Regulations Heat Up in California
Offshore Wind Development Blows Closer to Reality in California
Offshore Wind Development Blows Closer to Reality in California