As we enter 2025 amid the devastating Los Angeles fires[1] and with a new presidential administration, we continue our series of yearly reviews of the most significant governmental actions taken by the state of California relevant to climate change in the previous year.[2]Continue Reading 2024 In Review: California Climate Change Legislation, Policy and Regulation
Short-form warnings for products that may expose consumers to chemicals on California’s Prop 65 list must now include at least one chemical name to qualify for Prop 65’s “safe harbor” protections—with one caveat. Businesses may continue to use the previous version of the short-form warning on consumer products through the end of 2027.Continue Reading Name That Chemical: California Adds New Requirement for Prop 65 Short-Form Warnings
A week after a large-scale fire at the Moss Landing Power Plant in Monterey County,[1] California Assemblymember Dawn Addis (D-Morro Bay) introduced Assembly Bill (AB) 303. If passed, AB 303 – also referred to as the Battery Energy Safety & Accountability Act – will impact the development of large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in California. Intended to “improve safety standards and restore local oversight for [BESS] facilities in California,”[2] AB 303 will, among other things, limit approval authority to local governmental agencies, require local engagement in the permitting process, and establish mandatory buffer zones between BESS projects and “sensitive receptors.”Continue Reading Understanding AB 303: Potential Impacts for California BESS Project Development
As businesses and legal professionals strive to keep pace with California’s ever-changing regulatory environment, Proposition 65 (“Prop 65”) remains a key focal point. Known for its stringent requirements on chemical exposure warnings, Prop 65 continues to evolve, driven by new legislation, court rulings, and regulatory updates.Continue Reading Prop 65 Year-End Highlights: 2024’s Key Regulatory Changes, Legal Battles, and Enforcement Trends
In light of the ongoing devastation wrought by the numerous wildfires plaguing Los Angeles County, California Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency[1] and taken immediate action in an attempt to allow Angelenos to rebuild efficiently and effectively. One such action was the issuance of Executive Order (EO) N-4-25 on January 12th to temporarily suspend two time-intensive environmental laws.[2] In response, the City of Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass issued her own executive order (Emergency Executive Order No. 1 [LA EEO1]) just one day later to “clear the way for Los Angeles residents to rapidly rebuild the homes they lost.”[3]Continue Reading State and Local Executive Orders Suspend Time-Consuming Permitting and Review Requirements for Rebuilding Los Angeles
As devastating wildfires displace thousands in Los Angeles County, Governor Newsom has declared a state of emergency. In the wake of this crisis, California’s price-gouging laws impose strict limits on rental price increases to prevent exploitation of displaced individuals.Continue Reading Protecting Against Residential Price Gouging During the Los Angeles Wildfires
Plastic packaging and food ware are some of the first targets of California’s ambitious and far-reaching program to achieve a “Circular Economy” that reduces waste and pollution. The California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) is constructing a complex structure of procedures and requirements to reduce the total amount of plastic used in the state by at least 25 percent, to increase recycling of packaging and food service ware to 65%, and to ensure the use of recyclable or compostable materials in single-use packaging and containers for most products by 2032.Continue Reading California Aims to Revolutionize Packaging and Food Ware: Answers to Key Questions about Recycling, Composting and Source Reduction Requirements
California recently amended its Proposition 65 regulations[1] to add several additional alternative “safe harbor” warning labels for foods containing acrylamide, a naturally-occurring byproduct that can result during high-heat cooking. By adding insights from a recent Ninth Circuit opinion into the legislative mix, California hopes it has crafted the recipe for success in its ongoing First Amendment battle over compulsory Prop 65 warning labels for foods containing disputed carcinogens like acrylamide.Continue Reading California Adds New Options to Growing Menu of Prop 65 Warning Labels for Foods Containing Acrylamide, Citing “Additional Guidance” from the Ninth Circuit
Earlier this year, our article in the Spring 2024 issue of NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development Magazine touched on some of the challenges of and tools for adapting underutilized commercial spaces and property for residential redevelopment, including California state laws such as Senate Bill (SB) 6, the “Middle Class Housing Act of 2022” and Assembly Bill (AB) 2011, the “Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022.”Continue Reading State of Conversion: Update on Adaptive Reuse and Conversion Legislation
Despite strenuous opposition from both the state’s real estate and business communities,1 near the end of the 2024 Legislative cycle, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 98 (“AB 98”) – a bill that, among other things, creates buffer zones and imposes other statewide design and build standards around new warehouse development.2 The bill, which overrides local land use programs, segregates these standards based on warehouse sizes and location within the state. Purportedly, AB 98 is intended to mitigate the negative health impacts associated with warehouse and logistics facility uses have on nearby communities, namely in the Inland Empire region. Prior to the Governor’s signature, the bill passed by fairly narrow margins in both the State Senate and Assembly.Continue Reading A Deep Dive into AB 98’s Restrictions on the Logistics Industry: What the Bill Does and Does Not Do
In Westside Los Angeles Neighbors Network v. City of Los Angeles, the Second District Court of Appeals considered and upheld the City of Los Angeles’s (“City”) actions associated with the approval of the Westside Mobility Plan. Specifically, the court upheld: (i) the Los Angeles City Planning Commission’s (“CPC”) certification of the Westside Mobility Plan Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”); (ii) the determination that the Streetscape Plan was categorically exempt from CEQA; (iii) the finding that Westside Los Angeles Neighbors Network (“Network”) failed to show that the EIR was deficient in its analysis of growth inducing impacts or the imposition of certain traffic-related mitigation measures.Continue Reading Westside Mobility Plan Clears the Road of CEQA Challenges