Alene Taber

Intro

Alene Taber has worked for more than 37 years in the environmental and land use profession. During this time she has been a practicing city planner at the City of Carson and Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), a senior manager at the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), and a lawyer for the last 23 years. Having spent time both in government and private practice, and on the technical and legal side of issues, she provides her clients unique insights and problem solving solutions.

As a city planner, she processed land use entitlements, variances, conditional use permits (CUP) and subdivision maps, drafted California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) documents that addressed complex environmental issues, such as air pollution, groundwater contamination, odor nuisances, and explosive hazards, and wrote several ordinances regulating parking, truck maneuvering, and commercial and logistics facilities. She was certified by the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) in 1990 until 2014. AICP certifies professionals in the United States in the field of urban planning and certifies that the planner has a mastery of the principles, skills, knowledge, and experience determined by the organization as essential for a professional planner.

While at the SCAQMD, she, at various times managed the permitting and enforcement of facilities in the four county region (Orange County and most of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Riverside Counties) that emitted large quantities of volatile organic compounds (“VOCs”) (e.g., aerospace, printing operations, spray painting), as well as public facilities (e.g., ports, airports, electrical generation, natural gas, and sanitation districts). She oversaw the CEQA and socioeconomic analyses and managed the development of air quality rules affecting port facilities, petroleum facilities, aerospace, printing operations, spray painting, asbestos abatement, composting, construction sites, mining operations, concrete manufacturing, dry cleaners. She has experience with trading markets, Title V permitting, public notification under AB 2588 hot spots program, and indirect source regulations.

She also worked on numerous air quality management plans (AQMPs), and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approval of state implementation plans (SIP) and Clean Air Act waiver requests. She worked with colleagues on all types of transportation models, EMFAC updates, air quality prediction models, dispersion modeling, air toxic modeling, model validation, socio- economic modeling, health risk assessments, CALINE, and land use modeling (CalEEMod).

She taught air pollution issues in land use planning for the University of California, Irvine, Extension Program for several years. She was also a co-author of the SCAQMD CEQA Air Quality Handbook that was used as a model for the other air districts in California and is cited in at least eight appellate cases.

Currently, Alene represents clients before planning commissions, city councils, administrative hearing boards, and local agency formation commissions on land development and environmental matters. She has experience litigating in federal and state court both at the trial and appellate levels. She is admitted to practice law before all of the courts of the State of California, the U.S. Supreme Court, the Ninth and the District of Columbia Circuit Courts of Appeal, all federal District Courts in California, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of California.

Alene assists clients with the following types of cases:

• Air quality compliance including assisting with resolving notices of violation and permitting issues, regulatory compliance, obtaining variances from the hearing board, and defending against orders for abatement.  Alene works with all of the air districts in California including SCAQMD, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), San Diego County Air Pollution Control District (SCAPCD), and San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD).
• Compliance with CARB zero-emission vehicle fleet regulations and SCAQMD indirect source rules including warehouses/logistics facilities.
• Permitting for electric vehicle (EV) and truck charging and hydrogen stations.
• CEQA compliance including reviews of draft documents, defense of CEQA documents, and challenges to CEQA documents with particular emphasis on air quality, greenhouse gases (GHGs), sustainability, transportation, and land use impacts.
• Obtaining land use entitlements and other approvals (CUPs and variances) from local governments.
• Challenging and defending development projects.
• Bringing land use-related constitutional and civil rights claims.
• Addressing groundwater/soil contamination issues, and soil vapor issues.
• Resolving disputes involving exactions, special taxes (Proposition 218), and Mitigation Fee Act claims.
• Addressing public and private nuisances, and injunctions.

Alene is a co-chair of the Los Angeles County Business Federal (Bizfed) CARB/SCAQMD Committee, and a member of the Bizfed Institute, the California Construction and Industrial Materials Association (CalCIMA) and the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA).

Areas of Focus

Education

Academic Distinction

Admissions and Courts