Blog

What matters to me today is CEQA on the ballot. For decades, Sacramento has promised meaningful, comprehensive reform of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Yet each legislative session ends the same way: a patchwork of exemptions for politically favored projects, no structural fixes, and growing frustration from communities...

What matters to me today is regulatory déjà vu . . . again. If it feels like we’re reliving the same regulatory battles every administration, it’s because we are. The latest wave of proposed rules from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)...

What matters to me today are climate-related regulatory fits and starts. Climate policy continues to unfold in fits and starts, this week offering a vivid illustration of California’s chaotic regulatory landscape. Just hours after California Air Resources Board (CARB) staff held a workshop outlining implementation plans for SB 261...

What matters to me today are CESA and CEQA. I’m excited for the privilege of presenting this weekend at my favorite legal conference.  Decades-long colleagues, friends, and competitors come together to collaborate, critique, strategize, and encourage.   My topic: the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and...

What matters to me today is another year around the sun, this one like none before. It’s my birthday.  I usually don’t broadcast that, but it has been quite a year.  Among other things, my departure from big law to sole practitioner has been a remarkable transition in both...

What matters to me today is reaction versus innovation and what constitutes true leadership. As a life-long Californian, I like to think of the Golden State, the fourth largest economy in the world, as a source of leadership, innovation, and enterprise.  But it seems of late, our model for...

What matters to me today are more CARB climate disclosure “maybe” ‘s. Tic toc . . . statutory deadlines for the public are running out even as the legislative mandates for the California Air Resources Board (CARB) itself have been missed with impunity.  Nonetheless, those subject to unprecedented climate...

What matters to me today is an incoming infestation of protected species. California shortly will likely be infested with an unprecedented swarm of protected species.  Overriding constitutionally required public notice and hearing provisions and substituting the judgment of staff over appointed and accountable Commission members, AB 1319, signed by...

What matters to me today is Governor Newsom’s Pen. Hundreds of bills passed by the California Legislature await Governor Newsom’s pen – for either signing into law or death by veto.  The Governor has until October 13, 2025, to decide. Topping my radar is AB 1319...

What matters to me today is CEQA and the bee. An alarming number of clients raise concerns about the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (“Department”) now requesting “supplemental CEQA review” for permits under negotiation for months.  While not a new issue, the coincidental timing and Department verbiage signal...

What matters to me today is the benefit of “clarity” rather than “certainty” in the entitlement context. A former NASA manager recently said our efforts to secure “certainty” were misguided, and we should strive instead for “clarity.” Most of my career was securing complex entitlements and...

What matters to me today is disclosure risk. 119 days.  California’s first climate-related disclosures are due in 119 days.  As I’ve noted, if you haven’t started preparing the disclosures, you’re already late. But CARB is signaling a light touch on this initial round of disclosures —...