Today saw two significant developments for oil and gas operators utilizing well stimulation treatments in California.

Pursuant to SB 4, the Department of Conservation’s Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources released a statewide programmatic Draft Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) analyzing the potential environmental impacts associated with well stimulation treatments, including hydraulic fracturing (aka “fracking”).

James Andrew, Assistant Chief Counsel for the California High-Speed Rail Authority (“CHSRA”), spoke Tuesday, October 14, at the Sacramento County Bar Association, Environmental Law Section Luncheon.  He stated that High-Speed Rail (“HSR”) is a “transformative project” in that it will be the largest infrastructure project ever built as one single project.  However, the “regulatory scheme has not caught up with the project.”  Andrew compares HSR to the federal highway system construction in the 1950s, with countless opponents and regulatory hurdles.  Similarly, HSR is being constructed in California in the same manner as the federal highway system:  in the center and branching outward.

To show that HSR can be a success, Andrew explained that HSR is comparable to the Northeast Corridor, a high speed rail system that runs from Washington, D.C. to Boston.  The two regions are similar in terms of distance of rail, population, and complexity of issues.  According to reports, over 11 million people rode the Northeast Corridor during 2012.Continue Reading Update on the California High Speed Rail System

Governor Brown has signed two new bills amending the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  AB 52 establishes new consultation procedures with California Native American tribes, and provides that an adverse change to a tribal cultural resource is a significant impact under CEQA.  AB 1104 extends an existing CEQA exemption for certain pipeline projects to biogas

In Tuolumne Jobs & Small Business Alliance v. Superior Court, No. S207173 (Supreme Court, Aug. 7, 2014), the California Supreme Court ruled that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not apply when a lead agency receives a voter initiative petition that qualifies under the Elections Code and the lead agency chooses to adopt the initiative without putting the decision to the voters.  In doing so, the Court reversed the Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District and kick-started speculation as to how wide-reaching the impacts of its decision may be. 

Background

In 2007, Wal-Mart sought to expand an existing Wal-Mart store to a Wal-Mart Supercenter in the City of Sonora and submitted a petition supported by the signatures of more than 20 percent of the city’s 2,489 registered voters.  The City Council then chose not to submit the measure to an election, and instead, adopted the initiative as an ordinance on its own authority under California Elections Code Section 9214(a). Although an EIR was prepared in advance of the adoption of the petition, it was never certified by the City Council.

Under Section 9214[1], when a project applicant submits a voter-sponsored initiative petition to the legislative body of a public agency, signed by at least 15 percent of registered voters, with a request that the ordinance be immediately submitted to a special vote, that body must either: (a) adopt the ordinance, without alteration; (b) immediately order a special election; or (c) order a report pursuant to Elections Code section 9212, which allows for abbreviated environmental review.

In 2004, the Court of Appeal for the Fourth Appellate District concluded that a lead agency’s approval of a voter initiative was exempt from CEQA.  (Native American Sacred Site & Environmental Protection Assn. v. City of San Juan Capistrano (2004) 120 Cal.App.4th 961.)  Notwithstanding that caselaw, the Tuolumne Jobs & Small Business Alliance (Tuolumne Alliance) filed a petition for writ of mandate alleging that the City violated CEQA by adopting the ordinance before conducting a complete CEQA review.  The trial court sustained a demurrer filed by Wal-Mart and the City, and in turn, Tuolumne Alliance sought a writ from the Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District.  The Court of Appeal disagreed with the City of San Juan Capistrano decision, and held that the City’s adoption of the initiative was a discretionary act that required CEQA review.

In light of the conflicting holdings from the two Courts of Appeal, the California Supreme Court granted certiorari on two questions, but its decision focused on this one question:  “(1) Must a city comply with the California Environmental Quality Act [CEQA] (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) before adopting an ordinance enacting a voter initiative pursuant to Elections Code section 9214, subdivision (a)?”

After oral argument before all seven Supreme Court justices (for a summary of the oral argument, see our blog post here), the Court issued its decision, unanimously reversing the lower court’s judgment.Continue Reading Supreme Court Confirms CEQA Exemption for Voter-Sponsored Initiatives

In Citizens for a Sustainable Treasure Island v. City & County of San Francisco, No. A137828 (Cal. Ct. App. 1st Dist., July 7, 2014), the First Appellate District upheld an environmental impact report (“EIR”) for the renovation of Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay.  Citizens for a Sustainable Treasure Island (“CSTI”) argued that the City and County of San Francisco (“City”) and Treasure Island Development Authority (“TIDA”) should have prepared a program EIR for the Treasure Island/Yerba Buena Island Project (the “Project”).

The Project includes up to 8,000 homes, 25 percent of them classified as below-market affordable housing, along with commercial and office buildings, 500 hotel rooms, a ferry terminal, and 300 acres of parks, playgrounds and open space, and is scheduled to take 15 to 20 years to complete.

CSTI asserted the EIR should have been a program EIR, not a project-level EIR, because there is insufficient detail about various aspects of the Project, including remediation of hazardous materials, building and street layout, historical resources and tidal trust resources, for “project-level” review.Continue Reading Treasure Island Update: San Francisco EIR Specific Enough

In Citizens Against Airport Pollution v. City of San Jose, No. H038781 (Cal. Ct. App. 6th Dist., June 6, 2014), Citizens Against Airport Pollution (“CAAP”) appealed the trial court’s ruling that the City of San Jose’s (“City”) approval of the eighth addendum to the 1997 Environmental Impact Report (“EIR”) for the Airport Master Plan did not require a supplemental EIR (“SEIR”) under the California Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”).  The Sixth District Court of Appeal  affirmed the trial court’s decision and determined that the eighth addendum’s conclusion that changes to the Airport Master Plan would not cause any new significant environmental impacts was supported by substantial evidence.  

The City began updates to the 1980 Airport Master Plan for the San Jose International Airport in 1988.  The EIR for the updated Airport Master Plan was certified in 1997, a SEIR was certified in 2003, and eight successive addenda to the EIRs analyzed the environmental impacts of amendments to the Airport Master Plan.  The eighth (and most recent) amendment was approved in 2010, and was due largely to a decrease in projections for air travel and air cargo.  The three major changes analyzed in the eighth addendum were adjustment in size and location of planned air cargo facilities, addition of general aviation facilities, and modifications to the taxiways.

CAAP claimed that the City was required to prepare a SEIR instead of an addendum for the eighth amendment to the Airport Master Plan because the amendments were so significant as to constitute a new project as a matter of law, for which a SEIR, not an addendum, was required.  CAAP further claimed that the City should have prepared a SEIR because the changes to the Airport Master Plan would cause significant, unstudied impacts on “noise, greenhouse gas emissions, toxic air contaminants, and the burrowing owl habitat.”  (Slip Op. at p. 4.)  Finally, CAAP argued that the addendum did not comply with regulations adopted in 2010 that address how to analyze greenhouse gas and climate change impacts under CEQA.Continue Reading Ground Control to Major Tom: Appeals Court Shuts Down CEQA Challenge to San Jose Airport Master Plan

In Sierra Club v. County of Fresno (Cal. Ct. App. 5th Dist. May 27, 2014), the Fifth Appellate District found fault with the County of Fresno’s (County)  review of the Friant Ranch Project (Project) under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The appellate court concluded that the County’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) did not sufficiently correlate the Project’s air quality impacts with impacts on human health, and did not sufficiently define mitigation measures designed to address air quality impacts. With respect to correlating air emissions to human health impacts, it is worth noting that the court did not address the extent to which this is possible. Initial reactions from air consultants who have reviewed this decision is that it is not technically possible to calculate this correlation with such specificity, leaving open the question of how lead agencies will respond to this decision in future CEQA documents.
Continue Reading What’s a ROG and Can It Hurt Me? EIR Overturned For Failure to Explain Air Quality Impacts to Human Health

On June 13, 2014, the Department of Conservation (“Department”)  issued a public notice and posted the latest version of the proposed regulations for the use of well stimulation in oil and gas production (“Revised Proposed Regulations”).  These are revisions to the permanent regulations that will go into effect on January 1, 2015.  The Revised Proposed Regulations include the following, significant changes:Continue Reading Department of Conservation Issues Revised, Proposed Well Stimulation Treatment Regulations

In San Francisco Beautiful v. City and County of San Francisco, No. CPF11511535, (Cal. Ct. App. 1st Dist. May 30, 2014), the First Appellate District upheld San Francisco’s application of a categorical exemption to exempt from CEQA review the installation by AT&T of 726 utility cabinets on public sidewalks.

AT&T applied for a categorical exemption for its “Lightspeed” project (the Project), which is intended to upgrade broad band Internet speed and capabilities. The majority of the utility cabinets would be approximately 48 inches high, 51.7 inches wide, and 26 inches deep. (Slip Op. at p. 2.) Although AT&T had not determined precisely where the new utility cabinets would be located, the new cabinets would be “paired” with or placed within 300 feet of existing AT&T utility cabinets. (Ibid.) In response to community concerns, AT&T also promised to affix a 24-hour-a-day contact number for reporting graffiti directly to AT&T and a system in which AT&T personnel would remove the graffiti. (Ibid. at p. 3.) In 2010, AT&T submitted a revised application for a categorical exemption pursuant to section 15303(d) of the CEQA Guidelines (Guidelines), and the San Francisco Planning Department (SFPD) determined that the Project was categorically exempt from CEQA, leading to the present litigation. The trial court denied plaintiffs’ challenge, and they appealed.
Continue Reading Court Finds No CEQA Necessary For Utility Cabinets on San Francisco Sidewalks