On an afternoon in Redwood City, California in 2002, Dr. Stu Weiss documented the last Bay Checkerspot butterfly to fly in Edgewood Preserve. The butterfly was extinct from the area. Following its extinction, Dr. Weiss was determined to change the butterfly’s fate and understand what caused its massive collapse from an area where it used
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
Several federal and state entities have enacted or proposed rule revisions in the past year, which may affect your projects. Read on to find out how. Enacted Rule Revisions Rule revisions to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) by the Department of the Interior (DOI) and to the Clean Water Rule by the U.S. Army
On July 25, 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) published three proposed rules in the Federal Register that would substantially revise regulations implementing portions of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The three rules pertain to (1) the level of protection for Threatened species, (2) regulations for
USFWS Reinterprets MBTA Section 2 of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) makes it unlawful to “take” (hunt, pursue, capture, injure, kill, or attempt to do so) a wide variety of migratory birds, except as permitted by regulations (16 U.S.C. § 703). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has consistently interpreted Section 2 as
After a nationwide implementation delay spanning more than 3 years, the 2015 Clean Water Rule became law in late August 2018 in 22 states (including California) as well as the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories. Wetland delineations in all participating states must now follow the 2015 rule. The 2015 rule was published by
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
