Focus
Supreme Court endorses narrow environmental reviews in challenge to Utah railroad project
NBC News – May 29
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday ruled in favor of an alliance of local counties that support a planned 88-mile railroad project in Utah, concluding that the federal environmental review process did not have to consider potential broader, indirect project impacts. The conservative majority of the Court unanimously ruled that consideration of broader downstream impacts of the rail project were not required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Authoring the opinion, Justice Brett Kavanaugh opined that some federal judges have incorrectly applied NEPA and allowed it to be used as a broad weapon to challenge major development projects which result in infrastructure and other projects being stopped or slowed down and costing more. Environmental groups that had challenged the railroad’s approval decried the ruling.
News
CalRecycle drafts revised plastic recycling rules that are more friendly to industry
Los Angeles Times - May 22
CalRecycle recently proposed a new set of draft regulations to implement Senate Bill 54, the 2022 law designed to reduce California’s single-use plastic waste. The draft regulations largely mirror the regulations introduced earlier this year, but with some revisions that clarify producer obligations and reporting timelines, according to organizations representing packaging and plastics companies. Critics say the introduction of broad exemptions for a wide variety of single-use plastics and the opening for polluting recycling technologies will undermine and kneecap the law.
Judge grants preliminary injunction against Sable Oil pipeline work
Noozhawk – May 28
Sable Offshore Corp. this week said it completed hydrotesting and repairing its pipeline, which the company contends are the among the last conditions to restart oil production at its Santa Barbara County facilities. On Wednesday, a day after the company’s announcement, a Santa Barbara Superior Court judge granted the Coastal Commission’s motion for a preliminary injunction to stop Sable from doing work on its onshore pipeline, finding that the agency had provided “credible evidence of violation of the Coastal Act.” There are multiple pending lawsuits related to the pipeline restart plans and permits which Lieutenant Governor Eleni Koulanakis, as Chair of the State Lands Commission, has said should be resolved prior to the full restart of operations.
California turns on water to create new wetlands on the shore of the shrinking Salton Sea
Los Angeles Times – May 24
Water began flowing from a pipe onto hundreds of acres of dry, sunbaked lake bed as California officials filled a complex of shallow ponds near the south shore of the Salton Sea in an effort to create wetlands that will provide habitat for fish and birds, and help to control lung-damaging dust around the shrinking lake. The project represents the state’s largest effort to date to address the environmental problems plaguing the Salton Sea, which has been steadily retreating and leaving growing stretches of dusty lake bottom exposed to the desert winds.
Pebble Beach Co. undertakes leadership role in Carmel Bay clean-up
TurfNet – May 29
One of the country’s most prestigious names in golf is set to embark on a project to help improve and sustain water quality in one of California’s most sensitive bodies of water. The Pebble Beach Co. is teaming with a few environmental groups to enhance the protection of water quality in the Carmel Bay, which is designated as an Area of Special Biological Significance (ABS). As part of the project, the company will get a special Clean Water Act permit for discharges from Pebble Beach Golf Links into the Carmel Bay, increase water-quality monitoring, and develop updated best management practices related to discharges into the bay.
Army Corps asserts fire debris at Simi Valley landfill is safe
Simi Valley Acorn – May 24
In response to growing concern over truck traffic and air quality, officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Waste Management have assured Simi Valley residents that wildfire debris being delivered to the local landfill is safe and closely monitored. Debris is being hauled to three landfills—Simi Valley, Calabasas, and Sunshine Canyon in Sylmar—with the majority going to Simi Valley, which can accept up to 20,000 tons daily. The volume has raised concerns about dust, contaminants, and health risks.
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