Dirt Alert

Controversial California legislation threatens a charter city’s ability to avoid the state’s prevailing wage law. Senate Bill 7, which Governor Brown signed into law on October 13, 2013, adds section 1782 to the California Labor Code. The law generally provides that a charter city cannot receive or use state funding […]

On August 15, 2013, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency published a proposed Amendment to Standards and Practices for All Appropriate Inquiries that would approve a new standard by which Phase I Environmental Site Assessments may be conducted. In the process of acquiring real property, prospective buyers (or other potential owners or […]

Despite lack of media attention, a recent decision of the United States Supreme Court poses historic impact on land use permitting across the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court recently handed property owners and developers a significant win, ruling that a Florida government agency violated a landowner’s constitutional rights by […]

A recent alert from the United States Environmental Protection Agency announced a national enforcement initiative targeting animal waste pollution from livestock and poultry operations for criminal prosecution.  Traditionally, the EPA and state agencies have been hesitant to initiate criminal actions in Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (“CAFO”) cases absent strong evidence […]

The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the credit provision of the Nameplate Capacity Tax applicable to wind energy generation facilities against challenges that it is unconstitutional. Banks v. Heineman, 286 Neb. 390 (2013). This ruling means that all privately-developed, utility-scale wind energy generation facilities in the state will be treated […]