Today, the City Council (by a vote of 31 to 20) approved the modified City of Yes for Housing Opportunity text amendment (COYHO), which aims to combat the housing crisis by making it possible to build a little more housing in every neighborhood. COYHO is the final piece of Mayor Eric Adams’s City of Yes vision, a trio of legislative packages that seek to modernize and update the City’s zoning regulations. The first was the City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality, passed in December 2023, which promotes environmental sustainability, and the second was the City of Yes for Economic Opportunity
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City of Yes for Housing Opportunity Update
Yesterday, the Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee (by a vote of 4-3) and Land Use Committee (by a vote of 8-2 and one abstention) approved the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity text amendment (COYHO), with modifications. COYHO is the final piece of Mayor Eric Adams’s City of Yes vision, a trio of legislative packages that seek to modernize and update the city’s zoning regulations (the first being the City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality to promote sustainability, which passed in December 2023, and the second being the City of Yes for Economic Opportunity to support economic growth and resiliency, which passed…
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DC Circuit Rejection of CEQ Authority Leaves NEPA Review in Limbo
Last week’s unexpected opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (“DC Circuit”) holding that the Council for Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) lacks authority to promulgate regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (“NEPA”) leaves federal agencies and private projects facing tremendous uncertainty and likely delays in completing environmental reviews. In Marin Audubon Society v. Federal Aviation Administration, No. 23-1067 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 12, 2024), a divided panel ruled, nearly five decades after CEQ first adopted regulations directing federal agencies’ compliance with NEPA, that the CEQ’s rules are ultra vires because Congress has never given CEQ such rulemaking authority. With…
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EPA Designation of PFAS as Chemicals of Special Concern Expands TRI Reporting Requirements for Nearly 200 PFAS
Long-term changes to Toxics Release Inventory (“TRI”) reporting requirements under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (“EPCRA”) will require thousands of facilities to submit reports on per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”) for the first time in 2025. More than 196 PFAS chemicals are listed on the TRI list for the 2024 reporting year, and exemptions for PFAS contained at low concentrations in mixtures and articles no longer apply.
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California Aims to Revolutionize Packaging and Food Ware: Answers to Key Questions about Recycling, Composting and Source Reduction Requirements
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.
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PFAS Questions Every Company Needs to Ask Now: Have any of our products contained PFAS? Do we use PFAS at any of our facilities?
2025 will be a landmark year in the regulation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (“PFAS”), which have been nicknamed “forever chemicals” because of their persistence in the environment. For decades, PFAS have been used in all kinds of products (see table below). Addressing problems related to PFAS has been a federal priority since 2021, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) published its “PFAS Roadmap” outlining a program of research, control, and cleanup. Most recently, the EPA adopted new reporting requirements covering all PFAS used in products since 2011, which are expected to affect 130,000 businesses. In 2025, EPA data-gathering…
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California Adds New Options to Growing Menu of Prop 65 Warning Labels for Foods Containing Acrylamide, Citing “Additional Guidance” from the Ninth Circuit
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.
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Sustainability Reporting Obligations for EU and Non-EU Companies: The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive
The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, Directive (EU) 2022/2464 (CSRD) is part of the European Union’s efforts to enhance the scope and quality of sustainability reporting among companies. It imposes sustainability reporting obligations on an increased number of EU and non-EU companies. While some companies will have to file their reports as early 2025, most companies will have until 2026 to report on the financial year of 2025.
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A New Hope for the Future of Mitigated Negative Declarations: The Logistics of Warehouse Storage Greenhouse Gas Analysis
In its decision in Upland Community First v. City of Upland, the Fourth District Court of Appeal upheld a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) for the development of a warehouse and parcel delivery service building against a challenge primarily to its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions thresholds. In doing so, the Court provided a rare victory for a challenged MND while reaffirming local agency discretion in selecting appropriate quantitative thresholds of significance for GHG emissions under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
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State of Conversion: Update on Adaptive Reuse and Conversion Legislation
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.”…
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A Deep Dive into AB 98’s Restrictions on the Logistics Industry: What the Bill Does and Does Not Do
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…
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Westside Mobility Plan Clears the Road of CEQA Challenges
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…
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Realizing the Potential of Brownfields
Louise Dyble’s article “Realizing the Potential of Brownfields” was recently featured in the in the Fall 2024 issue of NAIOP Commercial Real Estate Development magazine. The article explores the emergence of brownfields in the mid-20th century and government legislation since enacted to address their contamination. The article also examines two current federal programs that support redevelopment of brownfield sites: Environmental Protection Agency-administered competitive brownfields grants and tax incentives and credits. The article also discusses challenges that lie ahead for these properties.
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Assessing The Practicality of Harris’ Affordable Housing Plan
This article was first published by Law360 on August 28, 2024.
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Big Streamlining for Small Subdivision Developers
To address the housing crisis in California, Senate Bill 684 (SB 684), passed in 2023 but effective as of July 1, 2024, aims to simplify the approval process for small-scale for-sale housing projects, facilitate a quicker development process, and help to alleviate the state’s housing shortage. Specifically, SB 684 mandates local agencies to ministerially approve proposed subdivisions for housing projects that result in 10 or fewer parcels, provided they meet specific criteria.[1] Applications for up to 10 units as part of a housing development on lots subdivided using this process and for building permits for construction of the units…
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Supreme Court Holds That the Eighth Amendment Does Not Prevent Enforcement of Local Camping Bans, Authorizing a Significant Shift in Local Policies on Homelessness
Until recently, local policies on homelessness have been guided by two controversial rulings from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals: Martin v. Boise (9th Cir. 2019) 920 F.3d 584 and Johnson v. City of Grants Pass (9th Cir. 2022) 50 F.4th 787.[1] However, the Supreme Court’s decision in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson (2024) 603 U.S. ____, is likely to transform local jurisdictions’ policy approaches to managing homelessness. In a 6-3 decision, the Supreme Court upheld the city’s ban on camping and parking overnight on public property.
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