California’s air is among the dirtiest in the nation. Air pollution contributes to global warming, endangers the public’s health, harms wildlife habitat, and degrades the visual environment in which we live.

While state and federal agencies have begun to address some air quality issues, many significant problems remain unresolved.

Lawyers at the Law Offices of Stephan C. Volker seek to improve air quality through a variety of approaches. We have sought to overturn air quality permits for power plants that are poorly sited or lack the best available technology to reduce air emissions.

We have also challenged projects on CEQA and NEPA grounds (see CEQA/NEPA), where the project’s environmental study failed to properly account for and mitigate all of the emissions.

Notable administrative law cases that our firm has handled include:

  • Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency, 549 U.S. 497 (2007). (Clean Air Act, Amicus Brief)
  • County of El Dorado and Voices for Rural Living v. California Department of Transportation, 133 Cal.App.4th 1376 (2005). (California Environmental Quality Act, depublished)
  • City of Morgan Hill v. Bay Area Air Quality Management Dist., 118 Cal.App.4th 861 (2004). (California Environmental Quality Act)
  • Personal Watercrat Coalition v. Marin County Board of Supervisors, 100 Cal.App.4th 129 (2002). (Due Process and Commerce Clauses of U.S. and California Constitutions, Federal Boat Safety Act, Clean Air Act)