Services

: Natural Resources :

natural-resourcesAdvising public agency and private clients on compliance with CEQA and NEPA

  • Developing CEQA and NEPA compliance strategies
  • Preparing environmental impact reports and related technical reports including water supply assessments
  • Preparing findings, statements of overriding considerations, mitigation monitoring and reporting programs, resolutions and staff reports
  • Delivering staff reports to elected officials
  • Commenting on EIRs
  • Challenging CEQA compliance documents

Obtaining entitlements and negotiating permits

  • State water rights permits
  • State and federal permits under Sections 401 and 404 of the Clean Water Act
  • California Streambed Alteration Permits under Section 1600 of the California Fish and Game Code
  • Waste discharge requirements
  • Encroachment permits
  • Underground storage tank permits and approvals at the local and state levels
  • Water quality permits
  • Land use permits
  • Air quality permits
  • Consultations, listings, and habitat conservation plans under the California and Federal Endangered Species Acts

Helping public and private clients appear before and comply with the requirements of governmental bodies

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  • Bureau of Reclamation
  • Bureau of Land Management
  • Bureau of Indian Affairs
  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
  • National Marine Fisheries Service
  • California Public Utilities Commission
  • State Water Resources Control Board
  • Regional Water Quality Control Boards
  • California Department of Fish and Game
  • County Departments of Health
  • Department of Toxic Substances Control
  • The Office of Environmental Health Hazardous Assessment
  • Local Agency Formation Commissions

Representative Natural Resources Matters

  • Assisted a water bank authority in obtaining the necessary permits for operation from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and California Department of Fish and Game under the federal and state endangered species acts. The representation included the development of a process for creating and selling surplus credits in a conservation bank.
  • Assisted the owners of a 400-acre defunct gravel mining site obtain all development permits for residential development, including CEQA proceedings, lifting a stop work order imposed due to failure to have the correct permits, and obtaining permits from the California Department of Fish and Game and the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board.
  • Acted as special counsel to a coalition of Orange County water districts in proceedings before the State Water Resources Control Board regarding the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta) proceedings.
  • Assisted the owner of a large ranch to respond to a criminal complaint filed by the California Department of Fish and Game for the alleged "taking" of a protected species and habitat destruction.