Virginia recently passed the Virginia Clean Economy Act, which includes a renewable portfolio standard that will require all of its utility companies to source 100% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2050. As such, the demand for permitting and constructing renewable energy facilities is now stronger than ever. Successful regulatory permitting of renewable energy
As mitigation related to the former operation of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), Southern California Edison (SCE) sought to expand the existing 174-acre Wheeler North Reef, a manmade rocky reef, off the coast of San Clemente, California by an additional 202 acres. Dudek environmental planners, archaeologists, and marine biologists assisted California State Lands
With stay-at-home orders in place, people are increasingly turning to online technology to meet virtually. For projects with a requirement to conduct public outreach or with a need to hold public board meetings or presentations, technologies like Zoom are critical. However, swift, widespread adoption of the technology also revealed vulnerabilities and weaknesses of the Zoom
On January 23, 2020, after nearly three years of intensive public outreach and engagement, including pre-proposal involvement that generated more than 6,000 recommendations and approximately 620,000 comments, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized the “Navigable Waters Protection Rule,” which establishes a new definition of “Waters of the U.S.”
Municipal agencies are increasingly including considerable small business (SB) and disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) participation goals for as-needed and other contract efforts. At the same time, communities and businesses are recognizing the value of SB and DBE partnerships among contractors and small, local service providers for technical services. However, predicting task orders and workload at
With the passage of Senate Bill 743 and official adoption of the measures into the 2018 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, transportation impacts will no longer be determined using level of service (LOS), a measure of traffic congestion. Rather, projects will be required to determine transportation impacts based on vehicle miles traveled (VMT). This
On April 2, 2019, the California State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) approved new Procedures for Discharges of Dredged or Fill Material to Waters of the State (Procedures). The new wetland Procedures address potential gaps in federal regulatory coverage for certain wetlands and waters of the state due to potential federal changes that would
The 2018 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Update has been finalized and are found in the California Code of Regulations Section 15000 et seq. In the Final Statement of Reasons, the Natural Resources Agency organized the changes into three categories: Efficiency Substantive Improvements Technical Improvements Efficiency Using Regulatory Standards in the CEQA Process The
California passed 15 bills designed to address the state’s housing problems, including solutions to streamline housing approvals, enact inclusionary housing requirements for residential rental projects, and generate funds for affordable housing projects. Three bills–-SB 35, SB 540, and AB 73–-have the greatest effect on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process for housing projects. This
In 2017, California passed 15 bills designed to address the state’s housing problems, including solutions to streamline housing approvals, enact inclusionary housing requirements for residential rental projects, and generate funds for affordable housing projects. Three bills–SB 35, SB 540, and AB 73–have the greatest effect on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process for housing