Carolyn Nelson Rowan is the editor-in-chief of Miller Starr Regalia’s treatise, Miller & Star, in Miller Starr Regalia’s Walnut Creek office. She also advises clients regarding CEQA, environmental law, land use, and administrative law matters.
Carolyn previously served as Chief Counsel for the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and a Deputy Attorney General in the Natural Resources Law Section of the California Attorney General’s Office, where she advised clients and litigated complex cases involving CEQA and other environmental law matters in state and federal court. Prior to her work at the state, Carolyn was an Assistant Professor of Legal Research, Writing, and Analysis at the University of San Francisco School of Law and an associate in Miller Starr Regalia’s litigation department, litigating and advising clients regarding a range of real estate matters, with a focus on environmental and land use issues.
J.D., University of San Francisco, School of Law, summa cum laude (2005)
McAuliffe Honor Society, (2002-2005)
Articles Editor, Law Review (2004-2005)
Member, Law Review (2003-2004)
Environmental Negotiation Competition Team (2003-2004)
Moot Court, Best Oral Argument Award (2003)
CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for highest mark in Environmental Law, Real Property Law, Real Estate Secured Transactions, Local Government Law, Education Policy and the Law, Evidence, Legal Ethics, and Criminal Procedure
B.A., Political Science, University of California, San Diego (2000)
Author, “One year after the LA Fires: Rebuilding, Recovery, and Resilience in the Midst of a Housing Crisis,” Miller & Starr Real Estate Newsalert, March 2026
Author, “AB 130’s Non-CEQA Housing Amendments: Bringing to Life California’s Abundance Agenda,” Miller & Starr Real Estate Newsalert, October 2025
Author, “The Federal Clean Water Act in 2025: A Retracting Construction,” Miller & Starr Real Estate Newsalert, May 2025
Author, “JCCrandall, LLC v. County of Santa Barbara: Will a dispute over the use of an easement send the concept of legal cannabis cultivation up in smoke?” Miller & Starr Real Estate Newsalert, March 2025
Co-author, “Hilltop Group, Inc. v. County of San Diego: Throwing a Judicial Monkey Wrench Into the Spin Cycle of Local Agency CEQA Laundering?” Miller & Starr Real Estate Newsalert, May 2024
Presenter, “California’s Proposition 65, Recent Rulemaking Activity,” Chemical Watch Regulator Summit Americas, Washington, D.C., September 2023
Presenter, “California’s Proposition 65 and PFAS U.S. Regulatory Update,” Source Intelligence Webinar, May 2023
Presenter, “California’s Proposition 65,” Chemicals Management for Electronics (Europe), December 2022
Editor & Monthly Contributor, California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter, 2009-2010
Co-Author, “When Environmental Review Under the California Environmental Quality Act Becomes ‘Groundhog Day’: What’s a Frustrated Developer to Do?" Miller & Starr Newsalert, Vol. 20, No.5, 2010
Author, “Dual Representation and Due Process: Maintaining the line Between Advocate and Advisor in Land Use Proceedings,” California Land Use Law & Policy Reporter, Vol. 19, No.5, February 2010
Author, “Continuous Operation Covenants in California: A Useful Tool for Keeping Retail Tenants Open in a Struggling Marketplace?” California Real Property Journal, Vol.26, No.4,2008
Author, “Catching Up with the Green Movement: How Climate Change is Charging the Law in California,” Miller Starr Regalia Newsletter, Winter 2008
Author, “United States v. Atlantic Research Corp.: Supreme Court Lends a Hand to Those Who Voluntarily Clean Up Contaminated Sites,“ Miller Starr Regalia Newsletter, Fall 2007
Co-Author, “Low-Impact Development: A growing Trend in Stormwater management,” Builder News Magazine, March 2007
Author, “Traversing the Supreme Court’s Latest Wetlands Decision: Rapanos v. United States and Carabell v. United States Army Corps of Engineers,” Miller Starr Regalia Newsletter, Summer 2006
Admitted to practice Law in the State of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeal, and the District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, and Central Districts of California
Member, Environmental Law Section of the California Lawyers Association (Current)
In February of this year, the United States Supreme Court heard oral argument in the case of Pung v. Isabella County, which raises the issue of whether the owner of a home sold at a tax foreclosure sale is entitled to compensation based on the fair market value, rather than the surplus from the sale price.
On January 7, 2025, a series of fires began that ripped through Southern California, leaving significant destruction in their wake.
On June 30, 2025, Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 130 (“AB 130”) into law in service of California’s “Abundance Agenda.”
More than 50 years ago, the Federal Clean Water Act (CWA or Act) was enacted by Congress to protect the quality of the Nation’s waters.