Publication Items

Will CA Gov. Brown Veto Budget Bill with Rider Gutting FOI Law? [1]

[SEE UPDATE: Cal Assembly Walks Back CPRA Attack.] The last-minute sneak attack on open government was crafted and pushed through by Brown's own party. Local governments would be legally able to ignore the major requirements of the Public Records Law which force them to respond to freedom-of-information requests and justify any denial of requests.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Government [3]
Region:
California [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Will CA Gov. Brown Veto Budget Bill with Rider Gutting FOI Law? [1]
"The Golden Shore: California’s Love Affair with the Sea" [6]

SEJ Publication Types:
BookShelf [7]
Topics on the Beat:
Journalism & Media [8]
Water & Oceans [9]
Region:
California [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about "The Golden Shore: California’s Love Affair with the Sea" [6]
Supreme Court Deals Blow to Out-of-State FOIA Requesters [10]

The unanimous decision turned down a FOIA request by a California resident for records in Virginia. According to the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, only a "handful" of states have similar residents-only restrictions to their FOI laws. But the doctrinal impact of the decision is likely to be large, since the court held, among other things, that the First Amendment conveys no right of access to government information.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [11]
Government [3]
Region:
California [4]
National (U.S.) [12]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [13]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Supreme Court Deals Blow to Out-of-State FOIA Requesters [10]
Group Sues California over Enforcement of Fracking Disclosure [14]

The Arizona-based Center for Biological Diversity filed suit in Alameda County Superior Court charging that the California Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources was not following the state's own law.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Energy & Fuel [15]
Chemicals [16]
Laws & Regulations [11]
Region:
California [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Group Sues California over Enforcement of Fracking Disclosure [14]
NRC Board Orders Calif. Nuclear Plant To Turn Over Withheld Records [17]

Is the public entitled to see documents that may bear on the safety of a for-profit utility's plan to restart the flaw-stricken San Onofre nuclear plant in California? Maybe not. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled the utility must turn the documents over to the board — but currently plans to keep them secret from the public.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Nuclear Power & Radiation [18]
Energy & Fuel [15]
Region:
California [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about NRC Board Orders Calif. Nuclear Plant To Turn Over Withheld Records [17]
Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry [19]

The American Bird Conservancy has gone to court after the Interior Department stonewalled its Freedom-of-Information-Act requests for correspondence between feds and the wind industry on how potential wind projects in 10 states might affect birds and bats.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Wildlife [20]
Environmental Politics [21]
Energy & Fuel [15]
Biodiversity [22]
Region:
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [23]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [24]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [25]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [26]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [27]
California [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Group Sues Interior for Failure to Disclose Correspondence with Wind Industry [19]
SacBee Wins Access to Forest-Fire Documents [28]

A federal judge ruled that once the documents — depositions of US Forest Service employees about a 2007 forest fire in California that burned tens of thousands of acres — had been entered into court records as part of the evidence discovery process, they were presumptively public records and had to remain that way.

SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Forests [29]
Disasters [30]
Region:
California [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about SacBee Wins Access to Forest-Fire Documents [28]
Calif. Law Keeps Public from Knowing About Dangerous Pipelines [31]

The San Francisco Chronicle revealed almost all records of the state's Public Utilities Commission, which regulates pipelines, are secret — and the PUC typically asks permission from the utility companies before releasing any information. In most other states, such information is freely available to the public.
SEJ Publication Types:
WatchDog TipSheet [2]
Topics on the Beat:
Laws & Regulations [11]
Energy & Fuel [15]
Region:
California [4]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about Calif. Law Keeps Public from Knowing About Dangerous Pipelines [31]
BLM Says 9 Western States Have Worthy Wilderness Areas [32]

Designating lands as wilderness or some other highly protected status always is contentious, but the BLM has identified 24 areas in 9 western states the agency says have significant local support for this idea: CA (9 areas), CO (3), ID (1), MT (1), NM (2), NV (2), OR (2), UT (3), and WA (1).
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Natural Resources [34]
Region:
California [4]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [25]
Northwest (OR WA) [35]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [23]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about BLM Says 9 Western States Have Worthy Wilderness Areas [32]
BLM Releases Supplement to Draft PEIS for Large-Scale Solar [36]

The agency says the remaining 17 sites covering ~285,000 acres in six states have the best solar gain and energy transmission traits, the fewest conflicts with environmental, cultural, and historic resources, and the best compatibility with each state's efforts. Public meetings commence Nov 30 and a 90-day public comment period ends Jan. 27, 2012. A variance process could be used to approve additional solar development elsewhere.
SEJ Publication Types:
TipSheet [33]
Topics on the Beat:
Planning & Growth [37]
Energy & Fuel [15]
Region:
California [4]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [25]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [23]
Visibility:
Public [5]
- Read more about BLM Releases Supplement to Draft PEIS for Large-Scale Solar [36]

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