NEPA/CEQA

We serve as counsel to the Central Coast Water Authority, a joint powers authority comprised of eight public agencies, that delivers imported State Water Project water to water providers and end users serving more than 80% of Santa Barbara County and also contracting parties in San Luis Obispo County. The Authority also owns and operates the delivery and treatment facilities that make State Water Project water available to California’s central coast. Brownstein advises the board and staff on public agency matters, including compliance with open meeting, state and federal laws, the Public Records Act, CEQA and conflicts. We represent the Authority in public agency meetings, transactions with the California Department of Water Resources and the county regarding the implementation of a long-term water supply contract, as a member of the State Water Contractors, and in litigation.

A complex challenge with a tight timeline didn’t stop us. In fact, that’s when we’re at our best. Brownstein’s mining team steered the development of one of the newest potash mining projects in the country. Despite numerous obstacles, we skillfully navigated a multi-year NEPA and the Endangered Species Act permitting process and helped to obtain all necessary federal, state and local permits. We also aided in acquiring an adequate water supply by securing a deep, non-potable water easement from the New Mexico State Land Office allowing for the operation of a water-intensive milling process. This water easement became even more valuable when the state land commissioner ordered that no fresh water could be used for oil and gas operations in the future.

Emerging industries with never seen before issues allow us to flex our problem solving capabilities. As one of the largest operational, fully-permitted cannabis farms in California, our client became the first Santa Barbara County cannabis cultivation case to end up in trial and the first outdoor cannabis cultivation CEQA case in California. Our team was trusted with this case of first impression and guided our client through five administrative appeals in front of the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors and the following trial court litigation. Ultimately, the project secured unanimous approval thanks to a comprehensive litigation defense strategy that demonstrated cannabis farms are agricultural uses and can co-exist with traditional farms, along with a public education campaign highlighting the economic benefits of sustainable, sun grown cannabis farming.

We signed on to help Mustang Renewable Power Ventures and MSB Investors add a renewable gas facility to the state of the art Tajiguas Landfill. Our real estate team advised on CEQA, the Coastal Act and other land use issues involving the modification of entitlement approvals. We also settled litigation challenging the approvals. The result is a successful public private partnership with the county of Santa Barbara that modernizes the landfill, adding a materials recovery facility to retrieve recyclables from the garbage and an anaerobic digester. Organic waste is directed to the anaerobic digester, where the trash is treated to produce biomethane—reducing landfill gas that otherwise would be a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. The biomethane is then used as a renewable fuel for compressed natural gas trucks and to improve grid resiliency on California’s Central Coast.

American Indian Health & Services (AIHS) recently became the first Urban Indian Health Program in the country to purchase excess land from the federal government. For over six years, Brownstein’s team supported AIHS, a non-profit community clinic that has operated in Santa Barbara for the last 30 years, to acquire the land and get the local entitlements to rehabilitate a historic armory building into a modern clinic. Drawing on our deep knowledge of CEQA, NEPA, land use and real estate, the Brownstein team negotiated the real estate transaction with two federal agencies—General Services Administration and Indian Health Services. Our team attained a critical rezone of the site, which was unanimously approved by the Santa Barbara City Council in December 2023.