Focus
EPA approves California rule to slash pollution from warehouse-bound trucks
East Bay Times – September 12
Federal officials announced on Wednesday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved a three-year-old rule — known as the Warehouse Indirect Source Rule (Rule) — targeting air pollution linked to Southern California’s logistics industry. The approval means that EPA can bring an action to enforce compliance with the Rule, and citizens in the impacted community can also sue warehouses for not complying with the Rule’s standards provided that EPA, South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), or the California Air Resources Board are not already pursuing civil actions against the same parties. The Rule applies to warehouses larger than 100,000 square feet. Last year, the SCAQMD reported that 1,400 of the 2,000 warehouses subject to the Rule were not in compliance.
News
California’s first new national marine sanctuary in 32 years to ban offshore oil drilling along 100 miles of coastline
The Mercury News – September 6
A long-running effort by native tribes and environmentalists to establish the first new national marine sanctuary along California’s coastline in 32 years — the aquatic version of a new national park, where offshore oil drilling would be prohibited forever — reached a key milestone last Friday. The Biden administration published the final environmental impact statement for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary, selecting boundaries that will stretch along 116 miles of coast in San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara counties. The administration said it plans to publish final rules in October, with the designation officially finished by the time the president leaves office in January.
California sides with EPA over San Francisco in Supreme Court fight
San Francisco Chronicle – September 6
Environmental groups and California water regulators have told the U.S. Supreme Court that the city of San Francisco’s challenge, which the court will hear next month, to rules on the discharge of pollutants to waters covered under discharge permits, contradicts decades of clean-water rules and could harm the waters and those who use them. The Supreme Court agreed in May to hear the city’s appeal of a ruling that said San Francisco was failing to protect swimmers and bathers from discharges of sewage into San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The ruling, due by next June, will determine whether local governments can be penalized based upon narrative water quality standards, or whether — as San Francisco and its allies contend — the law requires the permits to specifically include numeric effluent limits to establish an exceedance that would constitute a permit violation.
Judge strikes down city of L.A.’s ban on new oil drilling
Los Angeles Times – September 12
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Curtis A. Kin on September 6 struck down a high-profile law intended to phase out oil production within Los Angeles city limits, ruling that the state, not the city, has jurisdiction over many aspects of drilling operations. The law, spearheaded by environmental justice activists and unanimously backed by the Los Angeles City Council in 2022, barred new oil and gas extraction and required that all existing operations stop production within 20 years. However, the ruling could be moot if Governor Gavin Newsom signs Assembly Bill 3233, allowing cities and counties to reduce or eliminate oil and gas operations.
Imperial Beach residents file class-action lawsuit against company co-running treatment plant
The San Diego Union-Tribune – September 11
Veolia Water North America, the private company hired by the federal government to operate and maintain the wastewater treatment plant at the U.S.-Mexico border, was sued on September 6 by Imperial Beach homeowners for failing to fix the malfunctioning facility that has repeatedly allowed raw sewage to pollute the Tijuana River Valley. The federal class action complaint alleges that the company’s failure “to remedy or at least ameliorate polluted waters off the coast of Imperial Beach” has resulted in declining property values and residents’ inability to freely enjoy local shorelines. The lawsuit seeks damages in excess of $300 million.
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