Speakers

Keynote Address:

The Status of SB 97 Development of CEQA Guidelines for the
Mitigation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Implementation of AB 32 at the local level is marked by inconsistency and confusion. Although the Attorney General’s Yuba County letters and his settlement with San Bernardino County, and the Association of Environmental Professionals’ White Paper on Climate Change pose alternative schemes for local implementation, most local agencies are flying by the seat of their pants. Senate Bill 97 is our best hope for a uniform and feasible approach to implement greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation analysis under CEQA as part of the local planning process.

SB 97 acknowledged that climate change analysis has a place in the CEQA process and requires the Governor’s Office of Planning & Research to develop CEQA guidelines for the mitigation of GHG emissions or their effects by July 1, 2009. Complex and significant questions must be answered before a consistent, effective and workable implementation can be created. Ms. Bryant will cover the issues the OPR is grappling with while taking on this groundbreaking work: What constitutes new GHG emissions? What makes a project’s GHG emissions significant? Does every project that may have potential GHGs require an EIR? How much mitigation is enough? Ms. Bryant will discuss what lead agencies are already doing to address climate change, examples of findings of significance and mitigation measures, and lawsuits that have been filed requiring projects to analyze climate change, and will update us on OPR’s progress to date and what local agencies can expect and plan for.

Keynote Speaker:

Cynthia Bryant, Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Planning and Research for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Cynthia Bryant serves as Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of the Office of Planning and Research for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She advises the Governor on the state budget, redistricting, political reform and gambling. As Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR), she oversees the State Clearinghouse, the OPR Legislative and Policy and Research units and the Office of the Small Business Advocate; and the Advisor for Military Affairs (AMA). OPR is the state agency responsible for developing state land use policies, coordinating planning of all state agencies, and assisting and monitoring local and regional planning. Pursuant to SB 97, OPR has been tasked with developing CEQA guidelines for the mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions or the effects of greenhouse gas emissions.

Ms. Bryant is a member of the Commission on State Mandates, which determines reimbursements and adjudicates claims regarding state-mandated programs for local entities. In addition, Ms. Bryant sits on the Governor’s Prevention Advisory Council and the Environmental Justice Inter-Agency Working Group. Ms. Bryant received her juris doctor from University of California Hastings College of the Law and her B.A. from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon.

Conference Faculty Includes:

Cecily T. Talbert is a partner and co-chair of Bingham McCutchen LLP’s Land Use and Development Practice Group. Ms. Talbert focuses her practice on land use, real estate and local government law. She regularly assists landowners, developers and public agencies throughout California in all aspects of land use processing, including compliance with CEQA, drafting, negotiating and obtaining the approval of development agreements, general plan amendments, specific plans, planned development zoning, and tentative and final subdivision maps. Ms. Talbert is the co-author of Curtin’s California Land Use and Planning Law, a well known publication which definitively summarizes the major provisions of California’s land use and planning laws. She regularly speaks and writes on topics involving land use and local government law, including programs and articles for the American Bar Association, American Planning Association, California Continuing Education of the Bar, League of California Cities, University of California Extension programs, Urban Land Institute, and other state and national associations and conferences. Ms. Talbert is also the president of two nonprofit affordable housing corporations in Oakland, California. She earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

Matthew Gray is a partner in Bingham McCutchen’s Land Use and Development Practice Group. His practice focuses on land use entitlement processing and litigation. Mr. Gray represents a range of local agencies, real estate developers, and landowners in all stages of the land use entitlement process. Mr. Gray also litigates land use matters in the state and federal courts, having defended clients in challenges under the California Environmental Quality Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Subdivision Map Act, as well as local zoning ordinances and general plans. Mr. Gray has lectured on Planning Law and Legal Process through University of California at Berkeley Extension Program and on the Subdivision Map Act through Continuing Education of the Bar. Mr. Gray is a member of the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) and previously served as a board member and chair of the Amicus Committee of Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center.

Barbara Schussman is a partner in Bingham McCutchen’s Environmental, Global Climate Change and Land Use & Development Practice Groups. She litigates land use and environmental cases on behalf of public agencies and private entities. She also advises and represents private developers and local agencies processing environmental impact reports and studies, negative declarations, environmental assessments, requests for annexation, general plan amendments, specific plans, rezoning applications, use permits, development agreements, subdivisions, initiatives, referenda and other approvals. Barbara has appeared before numerous boards, city councils and other public agencies and practices in both the trial courts and courts of appeal. She is the author of the CEQA chapter of Curtin’s California Land Use and Planning Law. She also teaches and lectures on CEQA and NEPA compliance and litigation issues for a variety of organizations. Barbara served as a member of the legal and technical support group for the CEQA Improvement Advisory Group. Barbara earned her J.D. from the University of California Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).

Marc R. Bruner is a partner in Bingham McCutchen’s Land Use & Development Practice Group. He represents governmental entities and private companies in a wide variety of environmental and land use matters, focusing on litigation and counseling under the California Environmental Quality Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the federal Clean Water Act, the Federal Endangered Species Act and California laws and regulations regarding water quality and endangered species. Marc litigates in the state and federal courts, at both the trial and appellate level. He also advises clients in preparing environmental studies and processing environmental and land use permits and approvals for a broad range of public and private projects, including residential subdivisions, large commercial and mixed-use developments, airport and maritime expansion projects, industrial facilities, and major university campus projects. He speaks regularly on CEQA, NEPA, water supply issues, wetlands and other environmental and land use topics. Marc earned his J.D. from Yale Law School.

Co-Chairpersons:

MICHAEL R. JENCKS, principal, Jencks & Company Law Offices, San Luis Obispo, and adjunct faculty, California Polytechnic State University’s City & Regional Planning and Natural Resource Management Departments; J.D. University of California Berkeley (Boalt Hall)

CECILY T. TALBERT, partner and Co-Chair of Bingham McCutchen’s Land Use and Development Practice Group, Bingham McCutchen, and Co-author of Curtin’s California Land Use and Planning Law; J.D. Harvard University

Registration and Breakfast Commence at 8:00 a.m.
Program Starts Promptly at 8:30 a.m.