A U.S. District Court in California has dismissed a suit by citizens groups alleging that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the Endangered Species Act (“ESA”) by failing to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the effects of 382 registered pesticides on endangered and threatened species. More

For the second time this year, the U.S. Supreme Court has concluded that not all pipes and channels are regulated by the Clean Water Act, even though the act regulates “point sources” and that term is defined as “any discernible, confined and discrete conveyance including … any pipe, ditch, channel [etc.]”. More

Drakes Bay Oyster Company and its owner, Kevin Lunny, argued in a brief to the Ninth Circuit last week that the federal government’s decision to boot out their oyster farm was an attempt to “impose an artificial wilderness in the middle of a historic farming community”, in violation of several laws. More

Those who divert water from streams in exercise of water rights without otherwise altering the streams need not notify the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (formerly Department of Fish and Game) nor enter into streambed alteration agreements with the Department, ruled the superior court in Siskiyou County. More

The answer, following the logic of a case decided by the California Supreme Court last week, may well be ‘yes’. That case, Pacific Palisades Bowl Mobile Estates, LLC v. City of Los Angeles, concluded that a permit is required for all “changes in density or intensity of use” in the Coastal Zone—regardless of whether any changes actually occur. If the Legislature does not step in, a permit might now be required to do, or contemplate doing, almost anything at all along the California coast. More

A federal district court in California has ruled that a farmer did not “convert” wetlands under the Food Security Act when he releveled rice fields and, accordingly, did not render himself ineligible for farm program benefits. In Koshman v. Vilsack, the court set aside a contrary determination of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (“USDA”), finding that the USDA’s interpretation of its “farmed wetlands” regulations conflicts with the statute. The decision undercuts the validity of the USDA’s regulations prescribing limits on how farmers use “farmed wetlands.”. More

Governor Brown recently signed Senate Bill 1094, prescribing how state and local agencies and private organizations should hold and manage lands and associated endowment funds provided by project proponents to mitigate the impacts of their projects on wildlife habitat and other natural resources. The bill, which the Legislature passed as an urgency measure so it will take effect immediately, promises to break a logjam of mitigation efforts held up in recent years owing to objections and uncertainty over who should handle endowment funds that, properly invested, provide the revenue needed to manage mitigation lands. More

“Private” property does not mean “public” property, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has told the California Coastal Commission in Bay Island Club v. California Coastal Commission. The case arose from the Commission’s decision to permit the Bay Island Club to rebuild its bridge connecting Balboa Peninsula to Bay Island in Lower Newport Bay in the City of Newport Beach, but only on the condition that the new bridge be opened to around-the-clock public access. The Club lost its challenge to the public access condition in the trial court, but prevailed on appeal. More

A project that adds homes and commercial buildings to a community typically increases the need for various municipal services, such as fire and police protection. As the Court of Appeal recently confirmed in City of Hayward v. Board of Trustees, that need, though, is not itself an “environmental impact” of the project that the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) requires the project proponent to mitigate. More

On March 19, 2012, 50 nationwide permits (“NWPs”) issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) for work done in navigable waters or wetlands went into effect. Forty-eight of these NWPs were reissued or revised versions of prior NWPs, and the other two NWPs were brand new. Most notably, these new and reissued NWPs impose new requirements on mining activities, while streamlining the permitting process for alternative energy projects. More

The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously ruled that landowners can sue the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) to challenge its issuance of an administrative “compliance order” claiming their land is a “wetland” subject to its regulatory jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). More

Undeterred by California’s budgetary and economic woes, the State Water Resources Control Board continues its efforts to develop a new wetland regulatory program, and toward that end it recently released a Preliminary Draft Policy for Wetland Area Protection and Dredge and Fill Permitting. More

A U.S. District Court in North Dakota has added its voice to that of several other courts saying that the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”) does not prohibit otherwise lawful activities that result in unintended deaths or injuries of birds. More

On December 9, 2011, the two federal agencies responsible for the Endangered Species Act (ESA) announced a draft policy providing a new interpretation of a key phrase in the ESA’s definition of “endangered species.” More

On October 8, 2011, Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 436 authorizing state and local agencies to transfer funds to a nonprofit organization, special district or land trust that are set aside for long-term management of land acquired as mitigation for a development project. More

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Environmental Protection Agency propose to expand their regulatory jurisdiction by reinterpreting two U.S. Supreme Court decisions. More

The Chagos Archipelago, which dots the heart of the Indian Ocean, is in the middle of a very 21st century international dispute. More

While California’s newly elected Governor Brown aims to cut the state budget and, toward that end, proposes rolling back some environmental programs, such as preservation of agricultural and open space preserves under the Williamson Act, the State Water Resources Control Board appears headed in the opposite direction. More

Is there an environmental impact report in your future? If you are among those planning a development project within the geographic boundaries of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (“BAAQMD”) or even beyond, odds that the answer is “yes” just increased. More

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently resolved two issues fundamental to officially designating “critical habitat” for species protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. More

A new California law requires water rights holders around the state to begin reporting pre-1914 and riparian water diversions to the State Water Resources Control Board (“Water Board”) by July 1, 2010 or face penalties of $1,000 and up to $500 per day. Previously, riparian and pre-1914 water rights holders could abstain from reporting without consequence, and diverters in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (“Delta”) were exempt from reporting their diversions. More

The California Fish and Game Commission voted 3-2 on March 3, 2010, to list the California tiger salamander (CTS) as “threatened” under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA), capping six years of hotly contested administrative proceedings and litigation. More

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) published draft guidance on February 23, 2010, advising federal agencies how to consider climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in their review of the environmental effects of proposed projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). More