Client Alerts

2015

Environmental Law

• CA Supreme Court Issues Major Ruling on “CEQA-In-Reverse”December 26, 2015A significant outstanding issue under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is whether the analysis of the impact of existing environmental conditions on a proposed project is required. Since the central purpose of CEQA is to analyze a project's adverse impact on the environment, this issue has been called "CEQA-In-Reverse". In California Building Industry Association v. Bay Area ... read more
• CA Supreme Court Issues Major Decision Regarding Mitigation for Impacts on Protected Species Under CEQADecember 11, 2015In Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish and Game (11/30/2015), the California Supreme Court set aside California Department of Fish and Wildlife's ("DFW") approval of an environmental impact report ("EIR") for the proposed Newhall Ranch development, a planned community that would house 58,000 people on nearly 12,000 acres along the Santa Clara River. The ... read more
• Appellate Court Rules on CA Supreme Court’s Seminal CEQA “Unusual Circumstances Exception” CaseOctober 19, 2015In Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley (Oct. 15, 2015), __ Cal.App.4th __, the First District of the California Courts of Appeal applied the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on remand, and found that substantial evidence supported the City of Berkeley’s finding that a project was categorically exempt from further CEQA review.  Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ... read more
• SJVAPCD Adopts Stricter Health Risk Calculation Methods; Strives To Avoid Unnecessary Barriers to DevelopmentJuly 23, 2015The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD, or "District") has adopted changes to the methodology it uses to assess health risks from development projects' air pollution emissions, and the thresholds it uses to determine whether such projects' cancer risk is "significant" under the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. These changes, which increase the likelihood of ... read more

Trial and Litigation

• Ninth Circuit Decision Elaborates on Standard to Find Disruption of a Public MeetingDecember 14, 2015The Ninth Circuit has added a new decision to the growing body of case law regarding rules of decorum at official governmental meetings.  In Reza v. Pearce, the Court reversed in part and affirmed in part the district court's grant of summary judgment based on qualified immunity in favor of Arizona ... read more
• Finally! Guidance on “Significant Public Benefits” for Issuing Bonds Under the Marks-Roos Local Bond Pooling Act of 1985July 30, 2015On July 24, Sacramento Superior Court Judge Tim Frawley issued a proposed Statement of Decision in Gonzalez v. Johnson (Superior Court of California, County of Sacramento, Case No. 34-2014-80001489, July, 24, 2015), which effectively ended the last legal challenge to ... read more
• California Supreme Court Rules on Sex Offender Residency RestrictionsMarch 4, 2015On March 2, the California Supreme Court issued two much-anticipated decisions relating to sex offender residency restrictions: People v. Mosley, a facial challenge, and In re Taylor, an as-applied challenge. The decisions are helpful to jurisdictions navigating the constitutional minefields of regulating sex offenders. In Mosley, after a jury trial in which the ... read more

California Drought – Legal Services & Resources

• State Begins Process to Consider Extension of Emergency Water Conservation RegulationsNovember 15, 2015On Nov. 9, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) issued a public notice that it is soliciting comments and holding a workshop on the potential extension of emergency water conservation regulations imposed on ... read more
• State Water Board Seeks Public Comment On Storm Water Strategic InitiativeJuly 16, 2015While storm water is typically viewed as a source of pollution that impairs water quality, it also represents a potential water source to offset drought-related shortages. As the pressure on water quality and supply in California increases, the utilization of storm water as a water source has become critical to drought mitigation efforts. As a result, the State Water Resources Control Board and ... read more
• Drought Advisory: State Water Board Solicits Comments on “Conservation Water Pricing”June 11, 2015Governor Brown's April 1, 2015 executive order addressing California's historic drought directed the State Water Resources Control Board to take steps to require urban water suppliers to develop pricing ... read more
• California Drought Advisory – Drought Impact on Land Use ProcessJune 4, 2015 The Governor’s declaration of a water emergency, the issuance of water use reduction requirements and the State’s cutbacks in water supply to local water purveyors have brought issues relating to the ongoing drought to a head.  Water has always been a significant issue in the land use entitlement process in California.  The impact of development on water supply is required to be analyzed ... read more
• California Drought Advisory – Water Conservation RegulationsMay 27, 2015After an expedited rulemaking process, the State Water Resources Control Board's ("Water Board") emergency drought regulations ("regulations") became effective when the Office of Administrative Law approved them on May 15. ... read more
• Governor’s Drought Executive Order Will Impact Local Agency Water Suppliers and Water Users (and Lawns)April 7, 2015On April 2, Governor Brown issued the third and most significant in a series of Executive Orders addressing the ongoing drought. They followed his 2014 proclamation of a State of Emergency resulting from drought conditions. The Executive Orders direct various state agencies to implement various actions. They also suspend laws and regulations, using the Governor’s statutory authority to do so ... read more
• Contaminated Sediment: Appellate Court Muddies the Water for TMDLsApril 4, 2015On March 30, a short opinion from California's Second Appellate District raised a long list of unanswered questions in a case concerning a Regional Water Quality Control Board's authority to develop a Total Maximum Daily Load ("TMDL") for contaminated sediment.  (A TMDL is a regulation that calculates the maximum amount of a pollutant an impaired water body can receive and still meet water ... read more
• New State Water Resources Control Board Petition RegulationsJanuary 7, 2015The indefinite wait to challenge a California Regional Water Quality Control Board’s action or failure to act has come to an end.  New regulations became effective on January 1 that, for the first time, place time limits on the State Water Resources Control Board to grant review of or dismiss administrative petitions filed pursuant to Water Code section 13320.  Previously, the State Board had ... read more

Land Use

• First District Decision May Be the End of State Lands Commission’s Practice of Exempting Land Exchanges Under CEQASeptember 23, 2015In Defend Our Waterfront v. California State Lands Commission (Sept. 17, 2015) __Cal.App.4th __, the First District of the California Court of Appeal rejected the California State Lands Commission's attempt to use a statutory exemption under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for title and boundary disputes to approve a land exchange for the embattled 8 Washington Street ... read more
• Supreme Court Rejects Limitation on State Agency Funding of Off-Site MitigationAugust 5, 2015The California Supreme Court has rejected an argument that, absent a specifically earmarked legislative appropriation, the California State University (CSU) was legally precluded from contributing its fair share of funds to mitigate the “off-site” traffic impacts of a project to expand enrollment at the campus of San Diego State University (SDSU).  In City of San Diego, et al., v. Board ... read more
• State Board Releases Draft Water Conservation Regulations to Achieve Statewide 25% Reduction in Urban Usage; Comments Sought by April 22April 19, 2015Today, the State Water Resources Control Board issued draft emergency regulations to implement the Governor’s April 1, 2015 Drought Emergency Executive Order and requested comments on them by this Wednesday, April 22. The Water Board intends to consider the ... read more
• Attorney’s Fee Award Reduced Based on Limited CEQA VictoryApril 14, 2015In Save Our Uniquely Rural Community Environment v. County of San Bernardino (SOURCE), the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's award of only $19,176 in attorney's fees on petitioner's motion for an award of over $231,000.  The court ruled that a greatly reduced fee award was justified because the plaintiff prevailed on limited grounds on an uncomplicated CEQA ... read more
• CA Supreme Court Requires “Unusual Circumstances” for Otherwise Categorically Exempt Projects to be Subject to CEQAMarch 2, 2015In a highly anticipated decision, Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley (S201116, filed March 2, 2015), the California Supreme Court resolved years of uncertainty by holding that a project’s purported environmental effects must be “due to unusual circumstances” before an environmental impact report can be required under Guidelines section 15300.2(c). The Court also ... read more
• Court of Appeal Dismisses CEQA Challenge to Sacramento Kings ArenaFebruary 18, 2015California's Third District Court of Appeal issued a published decision on February 18 in Saltonstall v. City of Sacramento (Case No. C077772), soundly affirming the trial court's decision to deny the quick, but eventful, challenge to the proposal to build a new home for the Sacramento Kings. The City Did Not "Pre-Commit" to the Arena through Preliminary Term Sheet Nor ... read more

Meyers Nave News

• City of Sacramento Beats All Challenges to New $477 Million Downtown Sports ArenaAugust 21, 2015Cities, counties and private enterprises throughout the U.S., particularly in California, are competing to recruit and retain professional sports teams. The decisive factor in nearly every proposed deal is providing a new multi-million dollar sports arena. As the City of Sacramento experienced during the past four years, the planning, approval, environmental review, financing, construction and ... read more

Municipal and Special District Law

• California Supreme Court Resolves District Attorney’s Obligations to Produce Potentially Exculpatory Information vs. State Law Protection for Peace Officer Personnel RecordsJuly 21, 2015Under the United States Supreme Court's decision in Brady v. Maryland (1963) 373 U.S. 83, District Attorneys must give accused persons information that may be favorable to the defense, including records of past misconduct involving police officers in the case. But under the California Supreme Court's decision in Pitchess v. Superior Court (1974) 11 Cal.3d 531, and state law ... read more
• No Peeking! Supreme Court Holds Police Cannot Demand Access to Hotel Registries Without Opportunity for Pre-Compliance ReviewJune 23, 2015In a 5-4 decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled in City of Los Angeles v. Patel, 576 U.S. ____(2015), that Los Angeles Municipal Code § 41.49 requiring hotel operators to turn over guest registries to police upon demand is unconstitutional. A group of hotel operators brought the ... read more
• Clean Water Rule Redefines “Waters of the U.S.”May 29, 2015This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“Agencies”) jointly released the “Clean Water Rule,” which redefines the scope of waters protected under the federal Clean Water Act (“CWA”).  The goal of the Clean ... read more
• Drone Regulation Update: California Legislature Proposes Four Bills; FAA Issues Proposed Rules; White House Issues Presidential MemoMarch 12, 2015The commercial use of unmanned aerial vehicle ("UAVs"), also known as "drones," is not presently allowed under federal law, while public agency and hobbyist use of UAVs is allowed. Congress has tasked the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") with opening up the federal airspace to commercial UAVs. As a result, a flurry of regulatory and state legislative activity has occurred related to UAVs. ... read more
• Proposition 26 Update: Court of Appeal Rules that Unsupported Electric Utility Transfers to General Funds Require Voter ApprovalJanuary 29, 2015California's Constitution makes all local taxes subject to voter approval. Proposition 26 amended the provisions to declare that all levies imposed by a local government are taxes subject to voter approval unless the levies meet one of seven exceptions. In one of the first important appellate decisions under Proposition 26, the Third Appellate District Court of Appeal ruled that the City of ... read more

First Amendment

• Supreme Court Ruling Dictates Rigid Application of Strict Scrutiny to Content-Based Distinctions in Sign OrdinancesJune 22, 2015On June 18, 2015, the United States Supreme Court issued its much awaited opinion in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, 2015 WL 2473374 (June 18, 2015).  The Court unanimously found that the sign ordinance at issue violated the First Amendment.  The Reed Court analyzed the ... read more
• Second District Confirms That Anti-SLAPP Statute Protects Private Support for Major Public Projects And InstitutionsJanuary 16, 2015The Second District published today its December 22, 2014 decision in Save Westwood Village v. Meyer Luskin, applying the anti-SLAPP statute to protect significant charitable donations to public institutions and projects from baseless claims.  The Court of Appeal confirmed that written and financial support from private donors for a new University of California facility is expression ... read more
• Appellate Court Affirms Right Of Privately Owned Shopping Center To Prohibit Solicitation In The Areas Adjacent To Store EntrancesJanuary 15, 2015The recent appellate court decision on January 6, 2015, in Donahue Schriber Realty Group, Inc. v. Nu Creation Outreach, et. al. highlights that in California a free speech analysis does not end with an analysis under the First Amendment.  Rather, the wider protections afforded under the California Constitution must also be considered.  Applying the broader protections under the ... read more

California Public Records Act

• Public Agencies Not Required to Disclose Records of Automatic License Plate ReadersMay 8, 2015The California Court of Appeal recently held that records generated by high speed cameras that automatically scan and compile license plate images to assist law enforcement in identifying vehicles involved with suspected crimes are not required to be disclosed under the California Public Records Act ("CPRA," Government Code §§6250 et seq.).  (American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of ... read more
• Public Agencies Not Required to Disclose Attorney Billing Invoices Under CPRA; Attorney-Client Privilege Applies to Entire InvoiceApril 16, 2015The California Court of Appeal recently held that billing invoices sent by an attorney to a public agency client are protected by the attorney-client privilege and are not required to be disclosed by the  public agency, even in redacted form, under the California Public Records Act ("CPRA," Government Code §§ 6250 et seq.).  (County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors v. Superior ... read more

Public Contracts

• Public Agencies Cannot Withhold Retention Over Contract Price DisputeFebruary 4, 2015In FTR International, Inc. v. Rio School District, case number B238618, the Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, affirmed, in part, a trial judgment against Rio School District (“District”) for improperly withholding retention funds due to a dispute between the contract price resulting from approximately 150 proposed change orders by FTR International, Inc. (“FTR”). The ... read more

Labor and Employment

• US Supreme Court Rejects Presumption that Memoranda of Understanding Create Vested Rights to Retiree Health BenefitsJanuary 28, 2015In California, public employee unions and retirees have brought numerous lawsuits that claim Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) between public employers and unions create vested rights to lifetime health care benefits for retired employees. In a case with great significance for California employers, on January 26, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that clarified the rules to be ... read more