Author Archives: Max Rollens

Max Rollens
Max’s past experience as an environmental consultant provides a solid background for his clients’ land use and environmental needs. From due diligence and compliance to enforcement defense, Max can handle any development obstacle his clients may face.  Read More →

Is That Regulation Affordable? If It’s Under the Safe Drinking Water Act, It Better Be

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You open your mailbox. There’s your monthly water bill. Inside, you notice it’s gone up nearly $500—but your use hasn’t changed. How could this be? And maybe more important, can you afford it? This is an essential question, concludes the Sacramento Superior Court. So essential that it must be considered when enacting standards under California’s Safe Drinking Water Act. The regulation in question, a primary drinking water standard for hexavalent chromium, was enacted in 2014 and set the maximum contaminant level—or MCL—at 10 parts per billion. The rulemaking was controversial, [...]Read more

Cannabis Industry Jammed With Extensive Environmental Regulations

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The surge of new cannabis-related regulations continues in California this month, this time courtesy of the State Water Resources Control Board.  In response to Senate Bill 837, the agency recently released a draft Cannabis Policy and General Order aimed at regulating the water-quality impacts of cannabis cultivation. The proposed Order lists well over 100 requirements and prohibitions, which range from the expected, such as riparian setbacks, in-stream flow limits, and water-use recording mandates, to the burdensome:  under the Order, legacy impacts from poorly-designed logging road would [...]Read more