On September 18, the Ninth Circuit handed a major victory to the California’s program to control greenhouse gas emissions from transportation fuels, turning aside constitutional challenges to the program brought by ethanol and petroleum industry interests in Rocky Mountain Farmers Union v. Corey (No. 12-15131). The case arose from rulings in two separate actions in the Eastern District of California involving California’s “Low Carbon Fuel Standard.” The Low Carbon Fuel Standard is...

On Thursday, August 22, 2013, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) published notice of a draft Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 10 ppb (µg/L) for hexavalent chromium. The MCL proposal is higher than the 0.02 ppb public health goal adopted by OEHHA in 2011, but is significantly below the existing California MCL, in existence since the 1970s, of 50 ppb for total chromium and the current federal MCL for total chromium of 100 ppb. CDPH will seek public comment on the...

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...