Kathryn L. Oehlschlager

With more than twenty years of experience in environmental law, public and private clients seek Kathryn Oehlschlager’s guidance on compliance with various aspects of environmental and land use law, including CEQA, NEPA, federal and state endangered species regulations, contaminated site remediation, water quality and supply concerns, and solid and hazardous waste laws. She regularly assists clients throughout the CEQA project review process, preparing, evaluating, and analyzing negative declarations, draft environmental impact reports, and final environmental impact reports. Kathryn also has extensive experience overseeing contaminated site management, from investigation and remediation to entitlement and redevelopment.

Education

University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly University of California, Hastings College of the Law), J.D., 2003, cum laude

University of California at Los Angeles, B.A., 1999

Admissions

California

Languages

• Represented a Norway-based aquaculture corporation in connection with redeveloping a contaminated pulp mill site in Northern California to construct a large state-of-the-art onshore aquaculture facility to raise Atlantic Salmon.
• Represented a leading public research university in connection with various land-use projects and litigation, including development of the Long Range Development Plan for a local campus and litigation challenging that plan under CEQA and the Education Code.
• Represented a large utility in Northern California in connection with entitlements for large-scale vegetation removal and management along high-power utility lines for fire prevention.
• Represented two reclamation districts in litigation against the California Department of Water Resources challenging the Lookout Slough Tidal Habitat Restoration Project.
• Represented a hospital district in obtaining entitlements for a 30-year Specific Plan for campus redevelopment and expansion.
• Represented a research laboratory in connection with various environmental issues, including compliance with NEPA in preparation of its Site-Wide Environmental Impact Study.
• Represented a large municipality in defense of numerous land use litigation matters, including claims under CEQA, the Coastal Act, the Planning and Zoning Law, and local municipal code.
• Represented a joint powers agency in defense of CEQA, Public Trust Doctrine, and real estate claims challenging environmental review and approval of a multimillion-dollar flood control project on the San Joaquin River. The trial court found in favor of the agency on all claims in two separate actions, and the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed in both cases.
• Represented a joint powers agency in defense of the second-ever appeal of a Delta Plan Consistency Certification, appearing in multiple proceedings before the Delta Stewardship Council, which were resolved in the client’s favor.
• Represented an association representing grocers in a successful CEQA challenge to a municipal ordinance that would have had a significant negative impact on the industry.
• Represented a private club seeking entitlements to divert surface water from an on-site stream to reduce the need for municipal water supply.
• Represented a self-storage company in connection with obtaining site approvals for flagship development in Chino Hills.
• Counseled a large municipality and several special districts on legal issues related to Native American cultural resources and tribal consultation requirements under AB 52.
• Represented the largest private property owners’ association in the Tahoe basin concerning permitting and entitlements for managing aquatic invasive weeds.
• Counseled a large aerospace company in connection with post-closure maintenance of deep injection wells at legacy sites.
• Represented a munitions testing facility in connection with CEQA review and negotiation of complex endangered species issues for a remediation project on land designated as critical habitat for various protected species, including negotiation of state and federal incidental take permits.
• Represented a Muslim community group in connection with CEQA compliance and litigation arising out of application to construct a religious and community center in San Martin, California.
• Represented a semiconductor manufacturing company in defense of a toxic tort action alleging in utero exposure to contaminants in early semiconductor “clean rooms” in Silicon Valley.
• Represented a large industrial entity identified by EPA as a CERCLA potentially responsible party for a former uranium mine site in New Mexico.
• Represented a Fortune 500 pharmaceutical company in a complex toxic tort action filed in federal court by more than 2,000 plaintiffs, alleging exposure to hexavalent chromium in groundwater and dust emissions.
• Defended a large landowner in defense of contractual, common law, and statutory claims in dispute over property slated for redevelopment as major technology campus in Mountain View, California.

Insights & Presentations

• “Case Law Update: Part I and Part II,” CLE International 20th Annual CEQA Conference, December 9, 2024
• “BPC Briefing: 2024 CEQA and Regulatory Update,” Bay Planning Coalition's 12^th Annual CEQA Update, November 19, 2024
• “CEQA Update: Issues and Trends in 2024,” UCLA Extension—Webinar, November 4, 2024
• “(NOT) Burning Down the House,” League of California Cities’ 2024 City Attorneys Spring Conference, May 8, 2024
• Speaker, 2022 Advanced CEQA Workshop, Speaker, Association of Environmental Professionals, March 10, 2022
• “Housing and CEQA,” CLE International 17th Annual CEQA Conference—Year in Review, December 9, 2021
• Speaker, 2021 Advanced CEQA Workshop, Association of Environmental Professionals, April 28, 2021 & May 12, 2021
• “CEQA Basics,” SLSA, General Membership Meeting, February 18, 2021
• “BPC Expert Briefing: CEQA Update 2020,” Bay Planning Coalition's 8^th Annual CEQA Update, November 19, 2020
• “CEQA and Environmental Impact Reports: 2020 Cases, Standards, Mitigation Measures, Exemptions and Lead Agencies,” Strafford Webinars, November 11, 2020
• “BPC Expert Briefing: CEQA Update 2019,” Bay Planning Coalition’s 7^th Annual CEQA Update, November 18, 2019
• “Resiliency for a Vibrant Bay Area,” Bay Planning Coalition’s 2019 Spring Summit, May 10, 2019
• “BPC Workshop: CEQA Update and Federal Regulatory Developments 2018,” Bay Planning Coalition's 6^th Annual CEQA Update, October 25, 2018
• “Water May Not Flow So Freely,” The Recorder, January 11, 2018
• “CEQA Update 2017: Climate Change & Hot Topics Review,” Bay Planning Coalition’s 5^th Annual CEQA Update, October 17, 2017
• “CEQA Update 2016,” Bay Planning Coalition, October 5, 2016
• “CEQA Litigation Update” (co-presenter), ACWA 2016 CLE Conference, September 15-16, 2016
• “Will San Francisco's Private Commuter Shuttles be Shut Down?” Daily Journal, May 13, 2016
• “Calif. Drought Prompts Bout Among Regulators And Farmers,” Law360, August 5, 2015
• “Regulating Seawater Desalination in California,” The Water Report, July 15, 2015
• “User’s Guide to California Water Rights,” Daily Journal, June 18, 2015
• “The New Age of Water Regulation – Who Will Float To The Top?” San Francisco Attorney Magazine, Vol. 41, No. 2, Summer 2015
• “AB 1739; SB 1168, 1319: Groundwater Management,” New Laws - Supplement to Daily Journal, January 6, 2015

• Included in The Best Lawyers in America^® (Environmental Law, Land Use and Zoning Law), 2023–present
• Listed in Northern California Super Lawyers^® (Environmental, Environmental Litigation, Land Use & Zoning), 2023–present
• Listed in Sacramento Magazine’s Top Lawyers, 2018–2019

Professional

• Women in Environment, 2018–present; Board of Directors, 2018–2020
• Association of Environmental Professionals
• Environmental Law Institute
• Groundwater Resources Association
• California Women Lawyers
• Bar Association of San Francisco, Environmental Law Section
• California Lawyers Association, Environmental Law Section
• American Bar Association