On December 17, 2021, Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic Co-Director Sean Hecht submitted an amicus curiae letter in support of petition to review to the Supreme Court of California in Chevron v. Monterey County. The brief was submitted on behalf of clients the League of California Cities and the California Association of Counties. The case centers on a Monterey County voter initiative, Measure Z, that changed the Monterey County General Plan to limit or forbid certain land uses supporting oil and gas drilling. The brief argues a Sixth District Court of Appeal’s opinion in the case adopted a novel analysis that could unduly limit the core police power authority of cities and counties to protect public health and safety through well-established land use controls. The brief urges the California Supreme Court to review the opinion, arguing the Sixth District’s opinion calls into question local governments’ longstanding authority to regulate where oil and gas drilling can take place within their jurisdictions, and would invite other intrusions into core police powers of cities and counties. (Note: On January 26, 2022, the Supreme Court of California granted the petition to review).

Download the brief.