From the Ground Up
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Heading Into Muddied Waters
August 28, 2015, was the effective date of a new regulation that many argue expands permitting requirements for project development and other activities near or in waterbodies. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and Army Corps of Engine...
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If Your Company Uses Subcontracted Labor, the NLRB May Find You to Be a "Joint Employer"
A new decision by the National Labor Relations Board defining joint employers for the purposes of collective bargaining is a good reminder to employers and contractors to make certain that policies and contracts precisely define who and who is not an...
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EPA Adopts Clean Power Plan
Earlier this week, the EPA adopted rules under the Clean Air Act intended to ensure that by 2030, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from existing power plants will be 32 percent below 2005 levels. The rule establishes emission performance rate...
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As a Matter of Fact, Raisins Are Protected By the Fifth Amendment
Earlier this year we wrote about the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals case of Horne v. Department of Agriculture (here). In that case, the court of appeals ruled that a Department of Agriculture marketing order that required raisin farmers to divert a...
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Housing Crisis in Central Oregon—What a Difference Five Years Makes
Central Oregon's residential property values rose faster in the mid-2000s' housing bubble and fell harder in the 2008 crash than those in other Oregon areas. Bend, especially, has been a boom-and-bust kind of town since at least the late 1970s. The b...
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Neighbor Loses Right to Use Driveway: Part II
Last year, we wrote about the Gamboa v. Clark case, in which Division III of the Washington State Court of Appeals set a high bar for proving the existence of prescriptive easements. A prescriptive easement arises when one openly and adversely uses t...
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