Articles

Zoning: U.S. Violated Species Law in Renewing CVP Contracts
Zoning: U.S. Violated Species Law in Renewing CVP Contracts

Jul 1, 1998

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 13 No. 07 Jul 1998

The federal Bureau of Reclamation violated the Endangered Species Act by renewing Friant Dam water contracts prior to completing required consultations with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The court has also overturned District Court Judge Lawrence Karlton's decision that environmentalists' challenges to the renewal of the water contracts under the California Fish & Game Code were moot. The case involve...
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Public Utilities: City Can't Impose Regs on Gas Co. Sand Removals
Public Utilities: City Can't Impose Regs on Gas Co. Sand Removals

Jul 1, 1998

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 13 No. 07 Jul 1998

Reiterating earlier court decisions stating that "neither the public nor a public service corporation could tolerate as many standards and policies as there were towns, cities, or boroughs through which they operated," the Fourth District Court of Appeal has ruled that the City of Carlsbad may not require San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to remove dredged sand from its beach. San Diego Gas & Electric has dredged the Agua Hedionda Lagoon in Carlsbad ever since the early '50s, when it first constructed the ...
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No Taking in Seattle Relocation Ordinance
No Taking in Seattle Relocation Ordinance

Jun 1, 1998

Larry Sokoloff, Legal Digest, Vol. 13 No. 06 Jun 1998

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Seattle's tenant relocation ordinance does not constitute a taking even though it requires landlords to pay a portion of moving expenses for low-income residents. The court noted that the plaintiffs had stipulated that ordinance neither "physically invades their property, nor denies them all economically viable use of their property." The three-judge panel criticized the plaintiffs, a group of landlords, for failing to produce necessary ec...
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NEPA: Court Says EIR Required for Federal Timber Site
NEPA: Court Says EIR Required for Federal Timber Site

Jun 1, 1998

CP&DR Staff, Legal Digest, Vol. 13 No. 06 Jun 1998

Overturning a trial judge in Idaho, the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that the U.S. Forest Service erred in not preparing an environmental impact statement for a proposed timber sale in Idaho. U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill had ruled that the Forest Service's environmental assessment and subsequent findings of no significant impact were adequate. But a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit disagreed, saying that the Forest Service had not adequately examined the impact ...
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No Taking, Says State High Court: Justices Overrule Appeal Court In Malibu Coast Case
No Taking, Says State High Court: Justices Overrule Appeal Court In Malibu Coast Case

Jun 1, 1998

Coastal development, Larry Sokoloff, Legal Digest, Los Angeles County, Vol. 13 No. 06 Jun 1998

In an important decision on taking law, a divided California Supreme Court has ruled that a temporary taking did not occur when an erroneous decision by the California Coastal Commission delayed a property owner's plans to build a house in Malibu. The case is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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