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Full-Text Articles in Law
Maintaining The California Environmental Quality Act's Informational Goals Under The Use Of Design-Build, Christopher L. Garcia
Maintaining The California Environmental Quality Act's Informational Goals Under The Use Of Design-Build, Christopher L. Garcia
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
Today’s environmentally conscious world demands that those who undertake construction projects consider their effects on air and water quality, the flora and fauna, and where people will live, among other public concerns. Chief in ensuring that these impacts are considered before construction in the Golden State is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). CEQA is “the cornerstone of California’s environmental laws,” requiring mitigation, public comment, and controls approval of construction projects that may potentially have a significant effect on the environment. At its core, CEQA is a comprehensive environmental protection and informational statute designed to ensure that the developer of …
A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing: The Plastics Industry's "Public Interest" Role In Legislation And Litigation Of Plastic Bag Laws In California, Jennie R. Romer, Shanna Foley
A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing: The Plastics Industry's "Public Interest" Role In Legislation And Litigation Of Plastic Bag Laws In California, Jennie R. Romer, Shanna Foley
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
In recent years, single-use plastic bag reduction ordinances have emerged as a lasting icon for the environmental movement. Despite fierce resistance from the plastics industry, premised primarily on the argument that such ordinances could potentially have harmful effects on the environment, the momentum to pass these ordinances remains strong. The plastics industry has spent millions lobbying against local ordinances and for statewide preemption of local ordinances, engaged in epic public relations campaigns, and sued or threatened to sue virtually every California municipality that has recently taken steps to adopt a plastic bag ordinance. Plastic bag manufacturers also sued a reusable …
Addressing The Significance Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under Ceqa: California’S Search For Regulatory Certainty In An Uncertain World, Alexander G. Crockett
Addressing The Significance Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Under Ceqa: California’S Search For Regulatory Certainty In An Uncertain World, Alexander G. Crockett
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This Article explores the efforts of California’s air agencies in addressing how to determine the significance of a project’s greenhouse gas emissions under CEQA, focusing on the recent guidance adopted by three of California’s largest regional air-quality agencies – the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. It also addresses work done by the California Air Pollution Control Officers Association and the California Air Resources Board (ARB), which laid the foundations for these agencies’ actions. In Section II, the Article provides a brief review of …
Climate Change And The Public Trust Doctrine: Using An Ancient Doctrine To Adapt To Rising Sea Levels In San Francisco Bay, Tim Eichenberg, Sean Bothwell, Darcy Vaughn
Climate Change And The Public Trust Doctrine: Using An Ancient Doctrine To Adapt To Rising Sea Levels In San Francisco Bay, Tim Eichenberg, Sean Bothwell, Darcy Vaughn
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
The predicament faced in San Francisco Bay is confronted in bays and estuaries throughout the nation. Using BCDC as a case study, this Article examines the threats posed by climate change to San Francisco Bay, the relationship between the public trust doctrine and the Takings Clause, and how the public trust doctrine can help public agencies address the impacts of climate change and sea level rise by: enhancing limited permit authority; requiring fees to mitigate the impacts of climate change; addressing the impacts of shoreline armoring; utilizing rolling easements and other legal mechanisms; protecting wetlands, marshes, and salt ponds; implementing …
Sb 115: California's Response To Environmental Justice - Process Over Substance, Caroline Farrell
Sb 115: California's Response To Environmental Justice - Process Over Substance, Caroline Farrell
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
This article discusses California’s development of an institutional framework for addressing environmental justice through the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (“OPR”) and the California Environmental Protection Agency (“Cal/EPA”). It will demonstrate the ways these agencies’ foci have been on coordination as well as formulating guidelines. Further, the article’s purpose is to point out that while these guidelines provide important tools for environmental justice advocates, they do not provide any substantive guarantees that disproportionate impacts will not occur in communities of color and low income populations.
Warren County's Legacy For Federal And State Environmental Impact Assessment Laws, Anhthu Hoang
Warren County's Legacy For Federal And State Environmental Impact Assessment Laws, Anhthu Hoang
Golden Gate University Environmental Law Journal
The first part of this article discusses the modern environmental-quality review process at the federal and state levels, starting with a summary of the National Environmental Policy Act and then California’s and New York’s approaches. This is followed by a brief discussion of how each entity addresses environmental justice. The second part describes one community’s difficulties in meeting the required evidentiary showing to demonstrate environmental injustice.