If you are researching California statutes, you should use Lexis or Westlaw if possible.
Although the text of California statutes are freely available online from the government, Lexis and Westlaw provide extras that can help you research how statutes and regulations are implemented:
It is worth checking California regulations on Lexis and Westlaw, because they do provide citators for California regulations and some environmental regulations are heavily cited. However, for most California regulations, Lexis and Westlaw will provide no or only a handful of citator results and neither Lexis or Westlaw provides any annotations for California regulations.
If you are tracking proposed regulations, researching regulatory history, or researching agency materials other than regulations, Lexis and Westlaw may sometimes provide useful materials that are not freely available. However, in most cases, the agencies' own websites will be the most helpful starting points.
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The EPA has helped to create two online tools for locating state environmental agencies, regulations, and other resources:
Lexis, Westlaw, and HeinOnline all provide surveys of environmental laws by topic and state:
For specific information on environmental laws in states other than California, Google state name environmental law research guide to locate research guides created by law librarians in that state.
For specific information on environmental laws in California, see below.
Statutes passed by the California legislature are published in the California codes, which is divided into named subjects. Most environmental statutes are found in the Public Resources Code or Water Code.
You can browse and search the California codes at any of the following links:
If you have a citation to a specific statute, you can retrieve it by typing it in the main Lexis or Westlaw search box in the format Cal Subject Code 1 or using the Select Code menu on the California legislature's website.
Most environmental statutes delegate authority to agencies to pass regulations implementing the statutes. California regulations are published in the California Code of Regulations (CCR), which (like the Code of Federal Regulations) is divided into numbered titles. Most environmental regulations can be found in Title 27. Environmental Protection, Title 14. Natural Resources, and Title 23. Waters.
You can browse and search the CCR at any of the following links:
If you have a citation to a specific statute, you can retrieve it by typing it in the main Lexis or Westlaw search box in the format 1 CCR 1 or by selecting Search on the official website and then inputting the title and section.
In some cases, you may want to track proposed California statutes or research the history of a California statute.
For information on these topics, please see the following guides:
You may also be interested in the California legislative scorecard prepared by the California League of Conservation Voters:
The California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) coordinates environmental protection in California and includes a number of environmental departments and boards.
California water is managed by a state-wide State Water Resources Control Board and by nine Regional Water Boards, all ten of which are collectively known as the water boards.
The water boards' website provides a map of the water board regions, along with background information:
The water boards' website also posts the boards' guidance documents and administrative decisions:
Lexis and Westlaw also provide access to California State Water Resources Control Board decisions:
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