Mining interests challenged Ventura County's new ordinance. But an appellate court said projects subject to CEQA exemptions 7 and 8 don't have to protect the entire environment, only specific natural resources. 

In an unpublished case, an appellate court strikes down an environmental group's challenge to parking reform in San Diego. The court relied partly on SB 743 to uphold a CEQA exemption for the ordinance.

Governor agrees to SB 4, SB 423, and various CEQA and density bonus reforms without vetoing any bills. He also signed the "CEQA stall" bill.

In a new lawsuit, the developer claims the city stalled the application so long it amounted to a denial. The city claims it is processing the developer's builder's remedy application. 

In latest Fanita Ranch skirmish, appellate court says conservation easements and better land management are sufficient mitigation for lost gnatcatcher habitat.

Some important bills passed this year. But unless the Legislature is willing to take on CEQA directly, there may not be a whole lot more to do on the land use front to encourage more housing production.

Tsakopoulos Challenges Competitor's EIR on Climate Change -- And Loses.

Lots more housing bills, nibbling around the edges on CEQA, and some more parking reforms.

Salinas school districts argued that they'd never be able to build planned schools and so additional environmental analysis needed to be conducted about the impact. They lost.

A dispute from the Livermore area suggests that general plan designations and zoning ordinances have not kept pace with renewable energy advances -- leading to interpretation disputes. In Livermore, the courts have sided with public agency interpretations and against environmentalists opposed to a solar project.