On December 16, 2016, President Obama signed the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act into law, evidencing the Administration’s clear intent to help augment funding for various state and local water projects across the country, and – of particular note to California environmental attorneys and relevant water stakeholders – to push long-term solutions to California’s continuing drought. Goals of the WIIN Act Though the WIIN Act is intended […]

Read More

In early 2016, Congress and the Obama Administration created a Federal Interagency Task Force on Natural Gas Storage Safety to investigate the SoCalGas natural gas leak at their Aliso Canyon storage facility – the largest natural gas storage leak in the history of the United States.  Investigation of the Aliso Canyon gas leak accident by the Task Force was meant to inform their various recommendations on how to minimize the […]

Read More

On September 24, 2016, California Governor Brown approved Senate Bill (SB) 1425, which creates a voluntary registry to track greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from water use.  Registrants include those organizations regulating and enforcing water use, various large-scale consumers of water (both private and public), and any entities conducting business in the state of California.  The registry established by SB 1425 is intended to help the government develop a more […]

Read More

On August 24, 2016, Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 32 and Assembly Bill (AB) 197, setting up stricter emissions reduction targets for greenhouse gases (GHG).  Together, the two bills introduce several new reporting and emissions initiatives that many believe will help California GHG emitters meet their targets.  Of course, our environmental litigation attorneys are well aware of the fact that approval of such legislation has seen its […]

Read More