In Friends of Oroville v. City of Oroville (No. C079448) (Aug. 19, 2013), the Third District Court of Appeal reaffirmed the importance of conducting a meaningful review of greenhouse gas emissions as part of the CEQA process. The case arose from the City of Oroville’s approval of the relocation and expansion of a Wal-Mart “Supercenter.” A community group challenged the City’s decision to approve the project, arguing that the City failed to conduct an adequate...

California water regulators recently published a new draft of permitting requirements applicable to many businesses – including many businesses never before subject to water quality regulation. After 16 years of settled practice, businesses will face a significant change to storm water regulation in California if the draft requirements become the law. On July 19, 2013, the California State Water Resources Control Board (“State Board”) issued a draft general NPDES permit that...

Hexavalent chromium (“Cr6”) is an element that is found in drinking water from natural sources and from historical industrial uses. At present, there is no separate drinking water standard for Cr6. There is a federal and state drinking water standard for total chromium (all valences of chromium including Cr6). The federal drinking water standard for total chromium is 100 micrograms per liter of water (“ug/L”) and the California drinking water standard for total chromium is...

On February 10, 2012, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) posted the agency’s final toxicological review of tetrachloroethylene. Tetrachloroethylene – also known as PERC, or PCE – is a solvent widely used in the dry cleaning industry. The review characterizes PERC as a “likely human carcinogen” and provides estimates for both cancer and non-cancer effects of exposure to the chemical. EPA's new calculated cancer risks for PCE are lower than the current values used by EPA,...