Kronick’s environmental and natural resources attorneys support clients working to comply with environmental laws and regulations while promoting good stewardship of the environment and sensitivity to environmental needs. Our attorneys offer decades of expertise in water, climate change, and energy projects for both public agencies and private clients.
Though our attorneys offer environmental law counsel across the country, we provide expert knowledge of California’s unique combination of abundant natural resources and its extensive slate of environmental laws and regulations to protect and administer these resources. We ensure our clients receive agency approvals and that environmental review documents meet legal requirements, including the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) or the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We also consult on land usage, including wetlands and gravel extraction, industrial land acquisition and remediation, and liability limitation.
We work closely with technical consultants to develop and implement strategies that enable clients to meet environmental laws, as well as to successfully complete projects. Our goal is to develop strategies to guide our clients’ compliance with environmental regulations while supporting their economic activity and growth. When litigation is unavoidable, Kronick attorneys support clients with our experience in environmental litigation in state and federal courts, including defending or challenging regulatory agency decisions, and seeking cost recovery for the cleanup of contaminated property.
People
Publications
Newsroom
- Prop. 59 – The Sunshine Amendment to the California Constitution
- The California Public Records Act (Gov. Code, § 620 et. seq.)
- The Ralph M. Brown Act (Gov. Code, § 54950 et seq.)
- The Political Reform Act (Prop. 9, 1974) & Government Code section 1090
- California Department of Water Resources/State Water Project
- State Water Resources Control Board/Regional Water Quality Control Boards
- Bureau of Reclamation/Central Valley Project
- Fish and Wildlife Resource Agencies
- Delta Stewardship Council
- California Water Commission
- Delta Conservancy
- Regional and Local Water Districts
- CPUC-regulated Water Districts
- Clean Water Act
- Safe Drinking Water Act
- Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act
- Endangered Species Acts – State and Federal
- Environmental Review Laws – State and Federal
- Delta Reform Act
Speaking Engagements
10.22.2023
|Speaking Engagement
|Blockbuster Case Law Update: Recent Tribal Environmental Law Cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, Ninth Circuit, and Southern District of California Relevant to Your Practice
Date
Sunday, October 22nd
Location
Yosemite, CA
Kronick is pleased to again sponsor the California Lawyer Association’s Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite on October 19-22, 2023.
Shareholder Holly Roberson will moderate a panel discussion about three recent cases of great importance to water users in California, Tribal Nations, and anyone interested in water rights, sovereignty, or the complex inter-relationship between environmental law, land use, environmental quality enforcement, natural resources law, and tribal law. They will explore the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court case Arizona v. Navajo Nation, the 2022 Ninth Circuit case Klamath Irrigation District v. United States Bureau of Reclamation (Cert. pending), and the 2022 Southern District of California case Rincon Mushroom Corp. v. Mazzetti.
05.04.2022
|Speaking Engagement
|Water Law Update or Revolution?
DATE
May 4
LOCATION
Sacramento, CA
OVERVIEW
Kronick is pleased to once again sponsor the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) 2022 Spring Conference. Shareholder Eric Robinson will participate in a panel discussion about a water policy reformer group that has proposed “updating” California water laws to address drought and climate change. The proposal recommends 11 water law changes, including Funding the State Water Resources Control Board to “verify” riparian and pre-1914 appropriative water rights; funding underrepresented groups to participate in water rights and water quality proceedings; empowering the SWRCB to initiate comprehensive surface water rights adjudications encompassing interconnected groundwater rights; deploying real-time surface water diversion and use monitoring and reporting; adopting an updated Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan before 2024; adopting a regulation specifying how water users will meet water quality objectives of the Bay-Delta WQCP, and other proposals. The report has received extensive attention from California’s water community and resulted in multiple pieces of legislation. A variety of stakeholders will discuss the report and what the recommendations would mean for water management in California.
For more information and to register, please visit the event website.
04.16.2021
|Speaking Engagement
|CEQA & Underserved Communities
DATE
Friday, April 16
LOCATION
Virtual
OVERVIEW
Kronick Shareholder Holly Roberson is participating in a panel at the April 16th conference, “CEQA at 50: Assessing the History & Charting the Future of the California Environmental Quality Act,” organized by Prof. Rick Frank and hosted by the UC Davis School of Law, California Environmental Law & Policy Center. Ms. Roberson’s panel session will focus on CEQA and its effects on underserved communities, specifically the “Ongoing Evolution of Tribal Cultural Resources and Equity Issues in CEQA.” She will share her insight on what the future holds for tribal consultation and tribal cultural resources issues in CEQA, and what CEQA practitioners should consider when working on projects that involve tribal cultural resources. For more information and to register, please visit the event website.
12.09.2020
|Speaking Engagement
|Sunshine Laws & The Golden State
Date
Wednesday, December 9
Location
Webinar
Overview
Olivia Clark will discuss “Sunshine Laws” which are named as they intend to bring governmental work into the light of the public. California has specific laws mandating public access to governmental records and procedures, except where an enumerated exemption applies. These laws always apply to public employees and officers, usually apply to public contractors, and are permanent tools/rights that public citizens hold.
This presentation will be aimed at providing the historical background, primary framework, and common exemptions to the following, key Sunshine Laws:
To register, please visit the event website.
10.19.2020
|Speaking Engagement
|Tribal Water in California
DATE
October 19 & 20
LOCATION
Virtual
OVERVIEW
At the upcoming Law Seminars International seminar, Kronick Shareholder Holly Roberson will provide an update on the State implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and the impact on Tribes and discuss the basics of Tribal Consultations, such as when federal agencies are involved and the most effective approaches from a best practice standpoint.
07.29.2020
|Speaking Engagement
|Water Infrastructure Projects
DATE
July 29
LOCATION
Webinar
OVERVIEW
At the upcoming Law Seminars International seminar, Kronick Shareholder Scott Morris will discuss the interplay among the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), regulatory structure for water utilities, and a review of NEPA/CEQA – the resulting legal, technical, and environmental justice issues.
07.15.2020
|Speaking Engagement
|Legal Career Paths During Covid-19: Private Practice Perspectives
Date
July 15
Location
via webinar
Overview
Shareholder Holly Roberson joins a panel discussion series presented by the Environmental Law Section, California Lawyers Association. In this fifth installment, practitioners from the private sector discuss how law firms are being affected by COVID-19 and what students and practitioners should do to navigate through these times. For more information and to register, please visit the event website.
12.12.2019
|Speaking Engagement
|California Environmental Quality Act: The Year in Review
DATE
December 12
LOCATION
San Francisco, CA
OVERVIEW
2019 has been another amazing year for CEQA law, policy, and practice! For its 15th year, CLE International’s CEQA conference features an outstanding faculty of CEQA attorneys, planners, and experts to provide you with the latest CEQA developments, trends, debates, and practice advice. Kronick Associate Holly Roberson will participate on a panel that discusses AB 52 Tribal Consultation Implementation.
10.18.2019
|Speaking Engagement
|Uncooperative Federalism
DATE
October 18
LOCATION
Yosemite, CA
OVERVIEW
Kronick is pleased to again sponsor the California Lawyer Association’s Environmental Law Conference at Yosemite on October 18 – 20, 2019. Shareholder Daniel O’Hanlon will discuss the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s biological assessment for Central Valley Project operations, stating that the proposal will “maximize water supply delivery and optimize power generation consistent with applicable laws.” Environmental groups call it a “plan for extinction.” The Bureau is also threatening to refuse to comply with some state requirements in the Delta and proposing to enlarge Shasta Dam notwithstanding limiting provisions of the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. This panel will discuss the potential for conflicts in state and federal water policy, requirements for federal compliance with state law and possible responses if the federal government fails to comply.
09.13.2019
|Speaking Engagement
|Emerging Importance of Equity in California Environmental Law and Policy
Date
September 13, 2019
Location
Los Angeles, CA
Overview
Kronick attorney Holly Roberson will moderate in a panel that will introduce the concepts of equity, diversity, and inclusion to give all conference attendees a shared baseline for understanding these principles. It will then consider the emergence of equity as an increasingly important touchstone for California environmental policy making in recent years. By considering the (imperfect) pursuit of equity both in high-level lawmaking and in on-the-ground implementation in California, panelists will further develop ideas about meaningful ways to reflect equity in environmental law.
Registration
Please visit the event website for more information and to register.
07.25.2019
|Speaking Engagement
|Sustainable Groundwater Planning in California
DATE
July 25 & 26, 2019
LOCATION
Sacramento, CA
Overview
Kronick attorneys Eric Robinson, Holly Roberson and Constantine Baranoff will present at the Sustainable Groundwater in California conference in Sacramento. Eric will provide opening remarks as Program Co-Chair as well as participate in a discussion about conjunctive management of groundwater interconnected with surface streams as a practical approach for achieving resilient and sustainable water supplies. Constantine’s presentation will discuss propositions 26 and 218 and other constraints, tips for identifying the optimal funding structures for initial GSP development and GSP implementation activities. Holly will discuss federally reserved water rights; consultation requirements; effective consultation; reasons why Tribes may be reluctant to participate in a GSA or share pumping and aquifer management data; confidentiality; practical tips for addressing those concerns. For more information or to register, please visit the event website.
05.02.2019
|Speaking Engagement
|Tribal Government and Local Government Collaboration for Protection of Tribal Cultural Resources Under CEQA (AB52)
Date
May 2
Location
Sacramento, CA
OVERVIEW
At the Sacramento County Bar Association‘s Public & Environmental Law Section Joint MCLE Luncheon, Holly Roberson will be participating in a panel discussion about the legal requirements for consultation regarding Tribal Cultural Resources during CEQA (AB 52).
02.07.2019
|Speaking Engagement
|Legal and Institutional Management Framework
DATE: Thursday, February 7
ORGANIZED BY:
Water Education Foundation
PROGRAM OVERVIEW:
Kronick attorney Holly Roberson will be presenting on “Legal and Institutional Management Framework ” at Water 101 Workshop on February 7 at McGeorge. The workshop covers the history, geography, legal and political facets of water in California as well as hot topics currently facing the state. Holly will cover include:
Water Management Institutions
Summary of Governing Laws
REGISTRATION:
Please visit the event website for more information.
07.27.2018
|Speaking Engagement
|Sustainable Groundwater Planning in California
DATE:
July 26-27, 2018
LOCATION:
Sacramento, CA
Organized By:
Law Seminars International (LSI)
Program Overview:
Kronick attorneys Scott Morris, Jonathan Christy and Holly Roberson will present at the Sustainable Groundwater Planning conference in Sacramento on July 26-27.
Scott will provide opening remarks as Program Co-Chair and participate in a panel discussion about “Cross-Boundary Flows and Basin Coordination” discussing the legal issues around coordination challenges and issues (a) within a groundwater basin, (b) with adjacent basins, and (c) when an adjacent basin is on the critical list and yours is not; essential terms for coordinating agreements.
Jonathan’s presentation will discuss financing options and strategies for GSA/GSP and what GSP developers and stakeholders need to know about constraints and viable pathways.
Holly’s panel will discuss legal parameters for working with Tribes as sovereigns, including requirements for Tribal consultation.
Registration:
Please visit the event website for more information and to register.