Land Use and Environmental Planning Certificate Program

Stay up-to-date on recent developments in California law affecting land use, planning and environmental compliance. Experts from the field provide succinct and practical analysis on recent case law and significant legislative and administrative changes that took effect this year.

Topics include:

• General Plans, Specific Plans and Zoning
• The Subdivision Map Act
• CEQA
• Affordable Housing
• Takings, Exactions and Dedications
• Greenhouse Gas Regulation and Environmental Analysis
• School Fees
• Wetlands and Protected Species
• Land Use Litigation

Participate in discussions and get answers to your questions. Take home a legal syllabus of cases discussed and prepared by the law firm of Perkins Coie, LLP.

Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) continues to be a challenge for professionals due to annual legislative, regulatory, and judicial developments. CEQA practice is constantly evolving, raising new issues and revealing emerging trends that impact the environmental review process.

In this annual course, participants will explore the most recent CEQA legislation, regulatory updates, and key court decisions. Through practitioner-led sessions, attendees will gain practical knowledge of how the latest changes may affect their projects. Designed for environmental planners, attorneys, developers, and public agency staff, this course covers recent developments and offers insights into emerging trends. Attendees will leave equipped with the latest tools and strategies to navigate the complexities of CEQA and ensure compliance in their projects.

Topics include:

• Recent CEQA legislation and regulatory changes
• Key judicial decisions
• Emerging trends
• Mitigation strategies 

Clarify and deepen your understanding of CEQA and the implications it has for your organization, plan or project. Discuss the latest changes to the state CEQA guidelines, new case law and legislation.

Topics include:

• CEQA's legislative history
• An overview of CEQA requirements
• Steps in the CEQA process and when projects are exempt
• The threshold decision: Is an EIR required?
• Negative declarations and mitigated NDs
• How to determine the scope and content of an EIR
• Public notice and review requirements
• Agency decision-making under CEQA
• Mitigation monitoring and reporting
• When to prepare supplemental EIRs
• Judicial review of CEQA decisions

There are strong connections between the built environment and public health. Land use and public health professionals are working together to develop a framework for understanding how land use decisions can improve public health and how the public health profession can support healthier community planning. Learn about the historic and present connections between planning and public health and the most recent efforts by public health to inform land use policy and practice. Delve into projects at the grassroots, local and state public health department levels and learn from practitioners at all levels. Examine new tools that local public health departments have devised to work collaboratively with land use and transportation planners including, the General Plan "Health" Element, Health Impact Assessments and health indicators. Apply your experience and knowledge using the public health lens on specific project examples.

This course is designed for land use and transportation planners, city and county staff and planning commissioners interested in improving the public health of their communities and working with their public health systems. Public health and health professionals and students interested in reducing chronic disease through community design and environmental policy will also benefit from learning these innovative approaches.

Local jurisdictions are increasingly recognizing the economic, social and environmental benefits of planning, designing and building Complete Streets, streets that accommodate a wide range of community transportation needs and all users. In-class exercises will be used to define Complete Streets design policies and practices and suggest methods for shifting agency procedures so as to incorporate Complete Streets design strategies into land development, maintenance and capital improvement projects. Participants will learn:

• What are the different types of Complete Streets and what are their benefits
• How performance measures can help implement Complete Streets
• Street designs that support walking and bicycling
• Strategies for finding room on existing streets to make them more complete
• How to change project development processes to support Complete Streets

Learn a step-by-step approach to preparing and writing CEQA documents. Project managers will learn how to set up their projects to improve author efficiency, effectiveness and client satisfaction. CEQA authors will gain skills for writing clear, concise CEQA sections that address client needs. Editors will receive a complete overview of the document preparation process and their role in that process. In this activities-based workshop, you will discuss outlining, write sections, develop techniques for tracking references and critique project start-up packets and other materials.

Review current federal laws, regulations, policies and practices concerning threatened and endangered wildlife and plants. Gain practical advice for resolving endangered species conflicts with proposed projects. Examine key aspects of the federal Endangered Species Act and agency policies and guidelines on:

• Section 4(d) rules
• Section 7 consultation and biological assessments
• Section 10(a) incidental take permits
• Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs)
• Safe Harbor policies
• No Surprise policies

Also examine the most recent case law and policies regarding California's implementation of the Endangered Species Act, including:

• Section 2081 incidental take permits
• The California Native Plant Protection Act
• Endangered species provisions of CEQA
• The Natural Community Conservation Planning Act

Under the Endangered Species Act, Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs) are becoming increasingly common regulatory necessities and planning tools for many, including joint-powers agencies, cities and counties, local districts and state agencies, energy companies and private developers in California. Recent listings of threatened and endangered species have resulted in conflicts with existing and planned land use and water projects.

Gain an overview of state and federal endangered species laws and recommendations for best approaches to conservation planning. Explore case studies of simple single species and complex multispecies HCPs. Topics include:

• Endangered Species Act Section 10 requirements for HCPs and conservation planning guidelines
• California Natural Community Conservation Planning Act process guidelines
• Regional conservation plans and low effect HCPs
• Integrated compliance with Section 404 of the Clean Water Act wetlands and stream regulations
• No surprises, safe harbors and candidate conservation agreements

Examine the techniques and best practices for implementing Habitat Conservation Plans (HCPs), Natural Community Conservation Plans (NCCPs) and other types of regional conservation plans for endangered species. Learn how to address the challenges of implementing a plan. Topics include:

• Key implementation challenges
• Program administration and reporting tools and tips
• Land acquisition and conservation techniques, issues and solutions
• Cost-effective habitat management and restoration planning and execution
• Species and habitat monitoring
• Permit compliance tools and tips
• Compliance monitoring, tracking and reporting
• Plan amendments
• Implementation lessons learned that help prepare a better plan

Note: This course is distinct from the course Habitat Conservation Planning, which covers how to prepare HCPs and NCCPs.

 

This course is essential for professionals working in water resources in California. Effective groundwater management requires a combined understanding of the legal principles and physical characteristics of the resource. Acquire a working knowledge of groundwater law and hydrology, and discover new developments in case law, legislation and practice.

Receive thorough instruction on the physical characteristics of groundwater and the fundamental tenets of California groundwater law, including distinctions between percolating groundwater and surface water, the definition of basin boundaries, interrelated concepts of safe yield and overdraft, and different categories of groundwater rights. Examine alternative problem-solving approaches to address specific groundwater allocation and quality problems, such as management plans, physical solutions and court adjudication. You will also review case studies from groundwater disputes throughout California. Participants are encouraged to relate their own case studies and specific problems during the course.

Understand the complex and contentious process of allocating California’s water resources. Gain a comprehensive overview of the legal and regulatory framework for surface water and groundwater rights, as well as the environmental laws that regulate water use. Topics include:

• Allocation of surface water through appropriative and riparian rights
• California's system of groundwater rights
• Authority of the State Water Resources Control Board
• Protecting Northern California’s area of origin laws
• Environmental protections under the public trust doctrine, the Endangered Species Act, CEQA, Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Fish and Game Code
• California water institutions: the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Water Resources and local water agencies
• Federal Reclamation Law and the Central Valley Project Improvement Act
• Legal constraints on water transfers
• Allocating interstate rivers: Colorado River Basin and Klamath River Basin
• California's water hub: understanding the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta and its regulatory and planning context

Learn the concepts of natural channel form and function in streambanks, and how to determine which restoration methods are most suitable for different types of sites. Case studies and discussions will emphasize the importance of channel cross-section and landform geometry as they influence a stream's connectivity with its floodplain. Students will learn how to evaluate channel conditions and assess restoration potential. Techniques for bank stabilization using natural materials and native vegetation will be discussed, including the use of various types of low rock and log toe structures, redirective techniques (vanes and weirs) versus resistive techniques (riprap and gabions), and biotechnical/bioengineering methods.

CEQA is the state's most comprehensive environmental law. Its requirements influence virtually all prospective land use and public agency projects.

Learn how to clearly understand and comply with CEQA guidelines in this interactive seminar, designed to assist public agency staff, consultants, attorneys, developers, members of environmental organizations and others. 

The first portion focuses on:

• The background and implementation of CEQA
• The preliminary review process
• Determination of an environmental document
• The negative declaration process and document content
• The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process

The second portion focuses on development of exceptional impact analysis and mitigation measures and the integration of other environmental programs. Specific topics include:

• Impacts and mitigation
• Integration with NEPA, water quality, wetlands and endangered species regulations, and historic preservation programs
• Judicial review
• EIR management issues

Land use and transportation planning fields have been rapidly evolving due to new legislation on sustainable communities and climate change and an increased emphasis on complete streets and multi-modal analysis. Explore the inextricable link between transportation and land use in the development of general plans, community plans, site plans and environmental impact analyses. Learn best practices, examine case studies and gain practical knowledge and skills to put to use in your community.

This two-day interactive course focuses on new policies, technical approaches, models and tools for managing challenging land use and transportation issues. Key topics include:

• Level of Service (LOS) policies and thresholds: Why vehicle LOS may be obsolete for your community and the consequences and choices to consider when selecting new performance measures and thresholds.
• The new transportation planning paradigm: Why public agencies should shift their paradigms and the financial, transportation and land use consequences if they don’t.
• Financial constraints and priorities: Why we pay more annually for TV, mobile phone service and mochas than gas tax, and what it means for your general plan.
• Travel forecasting models and their blind spots: What planners need to know about travel forecasting models especially when using them to evaluate VMT, GHG emissions or smart growth plans.
• Legal defensibility versus level of confidence: The difference between these two terms and why it makes a difference in your land use and transportation plans.
• Completing the streets: Essential factors for creating livable streets, making modal trade-offs and examples of what to avoid.
• Big data: How the proliferation of new data sources, such as cell phone origin-destination data, GPS speed data and satellite photos are changing land use and transportation planning.
• CEQA and the General Plan: How to get the most out of General Plan updates and accompanying EIRs.

This course is for those interested in the consequences of SB 743, the world of GHG forecasting, the connection between general plans and CEQA, determining SCS consistency, knowing more about layered networks and the 15 new multi-modal LOS methods in practice, obtaining greater value from those expensive EIRs or just improving planning outcomes in the community.

Enjoy two intensive, interactive days with other professionals and obtain 14 hours of AICP or MCLE credit toward your professional development. 

Determining the significance of environmental impacts under CEQA is one of the most difficult and important decisions agencies must make, yet many agencies have not developed a consistent approach to judging significance and agonize over this issue on a project-by-project basis. Thresholds of significance are a proven method of streamlining the CEQA process. Learn about significance thresholds, the process for developing them and success stories.

Topics include:

• The concept of "significance" under CEQA
• The definition of environmental thresholds
• Advantages and disadvantages of developing thresholds
• Criteria for determining significance
• Reliance on other agencies' regulatory standards
• Adopted thresholds
• Legal problems
• Discussing thresholds for greenhouse gases
• Developing thresholds for any impact discipline
• The relationship between thresholds, planning policies and standards

Review California water quality regulations, relevant provisions of California state law and regulations and the federal Clean Water Act. During this interactive workshop, instructors will provide case studies, strategies and recommendations for effectively meeting agency requirements. Topics include:

• A regulatory overview of the federal Clean Water Act
• The California Porter-Cologne Water Quality Act
• Basin planning and waste discharge requirements
• National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits
• The jurisdictions of key agencies such as the California Environmental Protection Agency and state and regional water boards

This course will also cover recent updates and changes in California water quality regulations.

Learn about the regulation of activities affecting wetlands, permitting for activities in wetlands and wetlands mitigation planning. Gain an overview of federal and state laws and regulations protecting wetlands and other bodies of water, with a special emphasis on Section 404 of the Clean Water Act. Topics include:

• Biological and legal definitions of wetlands
• Consistencies and differences among various federal and state agencies
• Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act
• Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and recent legal interpretations
• Section 1600 of the California Fish and Game Code
• Wetlands under the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act
• EPA and USACE Mitigation Rule

Engineers, planners and other professionals require a high degree of technical writing skill to prepare a variety of documents including reports, proposals, formal letters and emails. However, they often lack training in the craft of effective writing. Gain the necessary skills for communicating through clear and concise language in effective documents. Discover how to increase clarity in technical documents by learning skills related to audience needs, document organization, paragraph development and using powerful sentences. Acquire practical skills that you can use immediately to prepare high-quality documents. Strengthen your skills through a series of short writing exercises, and analyze examples of good and bad writing and the effect that both can have on the success of a project.

Note: Please bring a sample of your writing to class so you can practice your new skills.