Newly Enacted California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Reforms: Legal Insights and Current Litigation Strategies to Defend Housing Projects
Liz is a partner with Nossaman LLP and is a member of Nossaman’s Environment and Land Use Practice Group. She advises public agency and private entity clients on environmental compliance and litigation matters, CEQA, NEPA, the Freedom of Information Act, and the California Public Records Act compliance and litigation.
Daniel R. Golub is a partner in the West Coast Land Use and Environment Group in Holland & Knight's San Francisco office. Mr. Golub brings nearly a decade of policy, planning and political organizing experience to his practice, as well as litigation experience gained during an 18-month clerkship for the Honorable Jon S. Tigar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
1 hour CLE
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Program Summary
Session I - Legal Insights on California’s CEQA Overhaul – Liz Klebaner
This session explores California’s newly enacted CEQA reforms—specifically AB 130 and SB 131—which significantly redefine environmental review for housing, infrastructure, and community-serving projects. Designed for experienced attorneys, the session will dissect how these statutory changes impact practitioner workflows, litigation risk, and compliance strategy. Participants will gain insight into procedural deadlines, single‑issue review pathways, and valuation issues when determining project eligibility. Drawing on legislative intent and operational guidance, the session will also highlight where emerging legal challenges and interpretive disputes are likely to arise. Attendees will leave equipped to advise both public and private sector clients, updating CEQA policies, refining risk assessments, and addressing compliance in the face of evolving case law and agency rule‑making.
Key topics to be discussed:
- Statutory eligibility criteria and procedural timing
- Litigation risks and scope of review
- Tribal cultural resources and consultation practices
- Interplay with other environmental statutes and NEPA
- Compliance strategy and changing agency guidance
Session II - CEQA Litigation: Curbing Abuse, Advancing Housing, and Asserting State Preemption – Daniel R. Golub
California’s housing crisis has brought renewed scrutiny to how CEQA is used—and misused—in the development process. While intended as an environmental safeguard, CEQA has increasingly been weaponized to delay or derail infill and affordable housing projects, even when they meet rigorous environmental and planning standards. This session will explore how courts and advocates are pushing back, using state preemption, constitutional claims, and targeted litigation strategies to defend housing projects and challenge obstructionist use of CEQA. Drawing on recent case law, Daniel R. Golub will provide a practical, litigation-focused framework for attorneys working at the intersection of housing, land use, and CEQA. This session will equip participants to recognize and respond to CEQA abuse, assert legal defenses rooted in state mandates like SB 330 and SB 35, and protect housing entitlements in politically sensitive environments.
Key topics to be discussed:
- CEQA as a delay tactic: Understanding patterns of misuse in housing contexts
- Preemption arguments under state housing laws
- Procedural responses to politically motivated CEQA litigation
- Court trends addressing CEQA’s scope in the face of state housing goals
This course is co-sponsored with myLawCLE.
Date / Time: September 18, 2025
- 1:00 pm – 2:00 pm Eastern
- 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Central
- 11:00 am – 12:00 pm Mountain
- 10:00 am – 11:00 am Pacific
Closed-captioning available
Speakers
Liz Klebaner | Nossaman LLP
Liz is a partner with Nossaman LLP and is a member of Nossaman’s Environment and Land Use Practice Group. She advises public agency and private entity clients on environmental compliance and litigation matters, CEQA, NEPA, the Freedom of Information Act, and the California Public Records Act compliance and litigation. Her work includes counseling clients on the development of an integrated and long-term project development strategy that maximizes CEQA and NEPA streamlining opportunities and coordinates permitting requirements under state and federal law. Liz also advises clients on California’s rapidly changing requirements for CEQA compliance and litigation.
Daniel R. Golub | Holland & Knight
Daniel R. Golub is a partner in the West Coast Land Use and Environment Group in Holland & Knight’s San Francisco office. Mr. Golub brings nearly a decade of policy, planning and political organizing experience to his practice, as well as litigation experience gained during an 18-month clerkship for the Honorable Jon S. Tigar of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
Mr. Golub has a wealth of experience representing plaintiffs, defendants and real parties in interest, and achieving victories on behalf of developers, nonprofit organizations and public agencies in the courts and in the permitting and entitlement process.
Agenda
Session I – Legal Insights on California’s CEQA Overhaul | 1:00pm – 1:30pm
- Statutory eligibility criteria and procedural timing
- Litigation risks and scope of review
- Tribal cultural resources and consultation practices
- Interplay with other environmental statutes and NEPA
- Compliance strategy and changing agency guidance
Session II – CEQA Litigation: Curbing Abuse, Advancing Housing, and Asserting State Preemption | 1:30pm – 2:00pm
- CEQA as a delay tactic: Understanding patterns of misuse in housing contexts
- Preemption arguments under state housing laws
- Procedural responses to politically motivated CEQA litigation
- Court trends addressing CEQA’s scope in the face of state housing goals
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