Legal News

In September 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality enacted new regulations that set forth procedures federal agencies are to utilize when implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Numerous commentaries published on the subject have either adopted a Chicken Little approach (i.e., sky is falling) to describing the changes, or an overly optimistic assessment of their likely implications for proponents of federal actions subjected to environmental review. On December 10, 2020,...

Following a historic 2020 election, with record voter turnout and multiple controversies amid a global pandemic, Nossaman Government Relations & Regulation (GRR) Chair Fred Dombo spoke from Washington, DC with Nossaman GRR Partner Amber Maltbie in Los Angeles about the likely policy consequences of the new Congress and the new Administration. Their conversation covers the potential for introduction of a large infrastructure package, as well as trends that they noted in the election outcome and.....

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires state and local government agencies to identify potentially significant environmental impacts of proposed projects and to reduce those impacts wherever feasible. For large public infrastructure projects, the environmental review process can take years. Such projects can also be held up in the courts, even where the public agency has prepared a full Environmental Impact Report. In this episode of Digging Into Land Use Law, Nossaman...By: No...

Changes in how businesses operate, restrictions on property use and reduced revenues brought on by mandated closures due to COVID-19 have had a major impact on the real estate market and legal proceedings related to it throughout the United States. In this episode of Digging Into Land Use Law, Nossaman’s Eminent Domain & Valuation Group Chair, Brad Kuhn, and Grobstein Teeple LLP Director, Will Thomsen, discuss the current state of the market and approaches to appropriately assess short-term...B...

In September 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality enacted new regulations that set forth procedures federal agencies are to utilize when implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Numerous commentaries published on the subject have either adopted a Chicken Little approach (i.e., sky is falling) to describing the changes, or an overly optimistic assessment of their likely implications for proponents of federal actions subjected to environmental review. In order to...By: Nos...

Universities have utilized public-private partnerships (P3s) in recent years to facilitate various types of campus construction projects, including campus housing, specialized facilities, utility systems and even overall campus expansions. Utilizing P3s for campus improvements has allowed universities to deliver important projects and leverage private industry expertise while shifting capital cost investments to the private sector....By: Nossaman LLP

If you know someone with property that borders, is adjacent to, or abuts a natural lake, pond, bay, sea, or ocean, they may have littoral property rights. What that means is they may have the right to build a pier out to the line of navigability, a right to navigation, a right to accretion, and a right of access....By: Nossaman LLP

On July 23, 2020, the California Transportation Foundation convened a panel of transportation professionals for the webinar “Transportation Outlook: Moving Beyond COVID-19.” The panelists discussed the impacts of the coronavirus and what the future holds for California’s transportation sector in the wake of the pandemic. Below are key takeaways from the panel......By: Nossaman LLP

Please join us on August 4, 2020 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. PT for “Key CEQA Compliance Considerations for Vehicle Miles Traveled Analyses.” This complimentary webinar will examine the California Natural Resources Agency’s new guidelines for traffic and transportation impacts analyses under CEQA through legal, planning and technical perspectives. Our panel will provide practical advice for preparing defensible vehicle miles traveled (VMT) analyses....By: Nossaman LLP

Linear infrastructure projects, including oil and gas pipelines, electric transmission lines and transportation, have faced a number of regulatory challenges in recent months. Some of these challenges stem from changes in regulatory schemes or adverse court holdings, while others stem from uncertainty of pending Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing decisions and other actions....By: Nossaman LLP