On January 25, 2012, the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) released draft CEQA Guidelines to implement Senate Bill (SB) 226, which the Governor signed last October. SB 226 creates a streamlining mechanism under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for qualified infill development projects. Whether SB 226 is a useful tool will depend in large part on the criteria in these performance standards and whether they ultimately bring sufficient certainty and efficiency to the CEQA process.

On January 9, 2012, Alameda County Superior Court issued a ruling that will affect CEQA air quality and greenhouse gas (GHG) analyses for all pending projects in the Bay Area. Please read the Real Estate alert for further information.

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Time is running out for corporate employers to provide employees and the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) certain statements regarding the exercise of incentive stock options (“ISOs”) and the transfer of shares at a discount under employee stock purchase plans (“ESPPs”). Please read the Tax Alert for further information.

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In a prior CPDB Update we described the unprecedented opportunities that are available through 2012 for estate and gift tax planning. The $5 million exemptions for estate tax, gift tax, and GST tax are at their highest levels ever. The tax rate for transfers in excess of these exemptions is 35% – the lowest rate in 80 years!

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Owners of most nonresidential buildings of 50,000 square feet or more must comply by October 1, 2011, with the new energy-efficiency reporting requirements imposed by San Francisco’s Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance.

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IP Update: “Protect Your Brand From New Adult Entertainment Domain.” Trademark and brand owners may wish to take quick action to protect their brand names from being snatched up under a new “.xxx” top-level domain designed for the adult entertainment industry.

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This is the best opportunity in at least 25 years for affluent families to transfer wealth to junior generations.  A combination of factors has created this favorable environment, including:  (i) generous gift, estate and generation skipping transfer tax (“GST”) exemptions, (ii) unrestricted techniques (GRATs, QPRTs, loans and sales to family members and to grantor trusts f/b/o family members), (iii) low interest rates, (iv) valuation adjustments for inter-family transfers, and (v) still recovering values in closely held businesses and real estate.

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On December 17, 2010, the President signed into law the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, which extends the “Bush-era tax cuts” on earned income and certain investment income, and makes substantial changes in the estate, gift, and generation skipping transfer (“GST”) taxes for transfers in 2010 – 2012.

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On December 14, 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors amended its Inclusionary Housing Ordinance to exempt “Qualified Student Housing Projects” from inclusionary housing requirements.  Qualified Student Housing is housing that is owned or leased for a period of 20 or more years by an accredited post-secondary educational institution in which at least 30% of the beds are occupied by students who receive or are eligible to receive certain types of need-based financial aid.  To qualify for the exemption, the project must also meet the following requirements: (1) the project will not result in the loss or conversion of existing housing, including rental housing and dwelling units; (2) an Institutional Master Plan (IMP) is on file for the educational institution which contains the required additional information related to student housing; and (3) a Notice of Special Restrictions is recorded against the property.

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On December 14, 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors amended its Inclusionary Housing Ordinance in response to a California appellate court’s decision in Palmer/Sixth Street Properties, L.P. v. City of Los Angeles.  The Palmer case held that an affordable housing program that restricted the rental rates an apartment owner could charge at the beginning of a tenancy was in violation of the state’s rent control laws (Costa-Hawkins Act).  Because of similar rent restriction features in San Francisco’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance, the Board of Supervisors adopted interim controls in February, 2010, to address the Palmer decision.  The newly adopted Ordinance (now renamed the “Inclusionary Affordable Housing Ordinance”) makes most of the interim controls permanent.

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