Environmental Law

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Sable Offshore Corp. v. California Coastal Commission — Coastal Commission May Issue Cease-and-Desist Order When County Declines Enforcement

automatic / June 17, 2026

The Second District affirmed a preliminary injunction upholding the Coastal Commission's cease-and-desist order against Sable Offshore's Las Flores Pipeline repairs, holding that a county's decision not to require permits qualifies as 'declining to act' under the Coastal Act — triggering the Commission's independent enforcement authority.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Yurok Tribe v. Klamath Water Users Association — Ninth Circuit Holds Endangered Species Act Applies to Bureau of Reclamation’s Klamath Project Operations

automatic / June 17, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirmed that the Endangered Species Act's mandatory consultation requirements apply to the Bureau of Reclamation's operation of the Klamath Project, a major federal water management initiative in Northern California and Southern Oregon, rejecting the Klamath irrigation districts' argument that the ESA cannot limit water releases already required by contract.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Environmental Law, Litigation

Forward, Inc. v. MacOmber — General Supervisory Authority Over State Agencies Is Not Enough to Sue State Officials Under Federal Environmental Law

automatic / June 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that a landfill owner suing California's CDCR Secretary and DGS Director for RCRA hazardous waste violations ran into Eleventh Amendment immunity because general supervisory authority over agencies is not a "fairly direct" connection to the specific violations required to sustain a citizen suit against state officials.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Litigation

Baker v. Bay Area Toll Authority — CEQA Challenge to Bay Bridge’s Bay Lights 360 LED Installation Is Time-Barred and Precluded

automatic / June 5, 2026

The First District affirms that a CEQA challenge to the Bay Bridge's Bay Lights 360 LED installation is time-barred, holding that a subsequent Caltrans encroachment permit does not create a new project or restart the limitations period, and issue preclusion bars relitigating questions resolved in an earlier dismissed suit.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Litigation

Dummer v. City and County of San Francisco — City Has Discretion to Plan Fishing Program Before Opening Reservoir to Public

automatic / May 29, 2026

The First District holds that San Francisco has discretion to develop a fishing program and complete CEQA review before applying for a water supply permit to open the Calaveras Reservoir to public fishing.

1st District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

Chemical Toxin Working Group v. Best Naturals — Court of Appeal Rules Substantial Compliance Applies to Proposition 65 Pre-Suit Notices

automatic / May 22, 2026

California's First District Court of Appeal holds that the doctrine of substantial compliance applies to Proposition 65 pre-suit notice requirements, reversing a trial court that dismissed a toxic-substances lawsuit for failing to identify a responsible individual by name in the notice.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Yurok Tribe v. EPA — Ninth Circuit Orders EPA to Strengthen Regulation of Toxic Flame Retardant DecaBDE

automatic / May 13, 2026

Ninth Circuit orders EPA to strengthen regulation of decaBDE, a toxic flame retardant, holding the agency failed to justify exemptions for recycling, waste disposal, wastewater, and sewage sludge under TSCA's expedited rulemaking mandate.

1st District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

Raptors Are the Solution v. CropLife America — Pesticide Trade Associations That Intervened to Defend Agency Decisions Are Jointly and Severally Liable for Private Attorney General Fees

automatic / April 29, 2026

First District affirms joint and several liability of pesticide trade associations for private attorney general fees following successful CEQA challenge to rodenticide registrations, holding that intervenors who asserted pecuniary interests cannot disclaim those interests to avoid fee liability.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

The Chemical Toxin Working Group v. Kroger — Proposition 65 Pre-Suit Notice Substantially Complies When Outside Counsel Contact Is Provided

automatic / April 29, 2026

Second District reverses judgment on the pleadings in Proposition 65 enforcement action against Kroger and other grocery companies, holding that providing outside counsel contact information in the 60-day notice substantially complies with California Code of Regulations title 27, section 25903.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

People ex rel. Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District v. Defty — Cross-Complaint Challenging Validity of Underlying Agency Policy Does Not Arise From Protected Activity for Anti-SLAPP Purposes

automatic / April 27, 2026

Third District affirms denial of anti-SLAPP motion to strike a cross-complaint challenging the validity of an air quality management district's underlying interpretive policy, holding that the cross-complaint did not arise from the district's protected enforcement activities.

1st District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Real Estate Law

Citizens Against Marketplace Apartment/Condo Development v. City of San Ramon — Approval of Mixed-Use Infill Housing Project Was Consistent With City General Plan and Zoning

automatic / April 24, 2026

First District affirms approval of 44-unit mixed-use infill housing project on former shopping center site in San Ramon, holding that the project was consistent with the City's general plan and zoning ordinance and that aspirational planning language did not impose mandatory master plan requirements.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Environmental Law

County of San Bernardino v. Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania — Ninth Circuit holds policy’s aggregate limit does not apply to property damage, restoring per-occurrence coverage for Chino Airport environmental cleanup

automatic / April 23, 2026

The Ninth Circuit reverses the dismissal of the County of San Bernardino's coverage suit against ICSOP for cleanup costs at the Chino Airport, holding that the policies' aggregate limits provision is ambiguous and does not cap property-damage coverage.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Environmental Law

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes v. U.S. Department of the Interior — Ninth Circuit denies en banc rehearing in dispute over BLM land exchange involving 1900 ceded reservation lands, leaving panel ruling for the tribes intact

automatic / April 21, 2026

The Ninth Circuit denies panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in the tribes' challenge to a BLM land exchange under FLPMA, leaving in place the panel's ruling that an 1900 cession statute restricts disposal of certain Fort Hall ceded lands.

1st District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

Bair v. California Department of Transportation — Discharge of CEQA writ ends Richardson Grove highway dispute under res judicata

automatic / March 26, 2026

First District holds that the discharge of an earlier CEQA writ necessarily decided the adequacy of Caltrans's revised analysis of impacts on Richardson Grove redwoods, barring petitioners from relitigating those impacts in a third writ proceeding.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Real Estate Law

Department of Water Resources Cases — DWR may use precondemnation entry statutes to investigate properties without first authorizing or funding the underlying water project

automatic / March 26, 2026

Third District holds that the California Department of Water Resources may use the precondemnation entry statutes to investigate properties for a potential water conveyance project without first satisfying Water Code requirements for project authorization and funding.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law

Center for Biological Diversity v. Public Utilities Commission — On remand from Supreme Court, Court of Appeal again upholds Net Energy Metering 3.0 successor tariff under Yamaha standard

automatic / March 9, 2026

On remand from the California Supreme Court, the First District again upholds the Public Utilities Commission's NEM 3.0 successor tariff for rooftop solar exports, applying the Yamaha standard of deference.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Real Estate Law

Las Posas Valley Water Rights Coalition v. Ventura County Waterworks — Comprehensive groundwater adjudication and physical solution affirmed against landowner objections

automatic / March 5, 2026

Second District affirms a comprehensive adjudication of the Las Posas Valley Groundwater Basin, upholding the trial court's physical solution allocating water to overlying landowners and appointing Fox Canyon as watermaster.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

Physicians for Social Responsibility v. Department of Toxic Substances Control — Losing CEQA plaintiffs not entitled to private attorney general fees on a catalyst theory

automatic / March 4, 2026

Third District holds plaintiffs who lost their CEQA challenge cannot recover catalyst-theory attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5 when the agency's later action came years after final defeat in court.

4th District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

Environmental Health Advocates v. Pancho Villa’s — Substantial Compliance Governs Proposition 65 Pre-Suit Notice Requirements

automatic / February 20, 2026

Fourth District holds Proposition 65's pre-suit notice regulation is directory rather than mandatory, and that substantial compliance — not strict compliance — governs the validity of the 60-day notice for private-enforcement actions.

1st District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation, Real Estate Law

The Committee for Tiburon LLC v. Town of Tiburon — Program-Level CEQA EIR for General Plan Need Not Analyze Site-Specific Impacts of Listed Housing Sites

automatic / February 2, 2026

First District holds a program-level Environmental Impact Report for a local government's general plan update need not include site-specific environmental analysis of housing-element inventory sites where no actual housing project has been proposed.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Litigation

Department of Water Resources v. Metropolitan Water District — DWR’s Bond Authority for Delta Conveyance Project Fails Validation Because the ‘Delta Program’ Is Too Vaguely Defined

automatic / January 28, 2026

Third District affirms denial of validation for Department of Water Resources bond resolutions tied to the long-running Delta Conveyance Project, holding the 'Delta Program' is so loosely defined that it cannot qualify as a permitted modification of the Feather River Project unit of the State Water Project.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

City of Vallejo v. City of American Canyon — Industrial Project EIR’s Water-Supply Analysis Survives CEQA Challenge

automatic / January 14, 2026

Third District affirms denial of Vallejo's CEQA writ challenge to American Canyon's certification of an EIR for a 2.6-million-square-foot warehouse complex, holding the EIR's water-supply analysis adequately addressed reasonably foreseeable demand under CEQA and the Water Code.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Litigation

In re Fuel Industry Climate Cases — California Has Specific Personal Jurisdiction Over Out-of-State Oil Company in Climate-Damages Suit

automatic / January 5, 2026

First District holds California courts may exercise specific personal jurisdiction over Citgo Petroleum in coordinated climate-damages litigation brought by California cities and counties, based on Citgo's longstanding gasoline supply contracts with California retailers.