Administrative law is the body of law that governs the activities of administrative agencies of government, including local state and federal agencies. Government agency action includes rulemaking, adjudication, and the enforcement of laws and regulations. As a body of law, administrative law deals with the decisionmaking processes of governmental agencies.

Administrative law expanded greatly during the twentieth century, as legislative bodies worldwide created more government agencies to regulate the increasingly complex social, economic, and political spheres of human interaction.

Lawyers at the Law Offices of Stephan C. Volker frequently challenge decisions by local, state and federal administrative agencies, enforcing environmental laws and seeking protection of the natural resources at stake.

Our lawyers have filed suit to overturn local and state agency decisions including approvals of poorly sited or unnecessarily destructive residential or commercial developments, inadequate urban water management plans, unsafe cell antennas, growth inducing highway expansions, polluting industrial facilities, harmful Bay-Delta water allocation plans, unsafe and unsightly high-voltage electricity transmission lines, and obsolete fossil-fuel power plants.

We have also sought review of a variety of federal agency decisions, such as the approvals of a landfill sited next to a national park, a liquid natural gas import facility sited next to a city, a large-scale hotel and conference center sited in a national park, and a bioweaponry development facility sited within a city.

For more information on Administrative Law, please go here.

Notable administrative law cases that our firm or Mr. Volker has handled include:

  • Vineyard Area Citizens for Responsible Growth, Inc. v. City of Rancho Cordova, 40 Cal.4th 412 (2007). (California Environmental Quality Act)
  • Tri-Valley Cares v. Department of Energy, 203 Fed.Appx. 105 (9th Cir. 2006). (National Environmental Policy Act)
  • City of Sausalito v. O’Neill, 386 F.3d 1186 (9th Cir. 2004). (Standing, Marine Mammal Protection Act, Coastal Zone Management Act)
  • Friends of the Santa Clara River v. Castaic Lake Water Agency, 123 Cal.App.4th 1 (2004). (Urban Water Management Planning Act)
  • Friends of the Eel River v. Sonoma County Water Agency, 108 Cal.App.4th 859 (2003). (California Environmental Quality Act)
  • Personal Watercraft Coalition v. Board of Supervisors, 100 Cal.App.4th 129 (2002). (Clean Air Act)
  • County of Amador v. El Dorado County Water Agency, 76 Cal.App.4th 931 (1999). (California Environmental Quality Act)
  • North Cascades Conservation Council v. Chelan County, EWGPHB No. 94-1-0015 (1994). (Washington Growth Management Act)
  • The Wilderness Society v. Tyrrel, 918 F.2d 813 (9th Cir. 1990). (Wild and Scenic Rivers Act)
  • Lake Tahoe Watercraft Recreation Ass’n v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, 24 F.Supp.2d 1062 (E.D. Calif. 1989). (Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Compact)
  • Bob Marshall Alliance v. Hodel, 852 F.2d 1223 (9th Cir. 1988). (National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act)
  • The Wilderness Society v. Tyrrel, 701 F.Supp. 1473 (E.D. Cal. 1988). (Wild and Scenic Rivers Act)