Focus
Commission grants burrowing owls “candidate” species protections under the California Endangered Species Act
Allen Matkins – October 10
At its October 10 meeting, the California Fish and Game Commission (the Commission) unanimously found that a petition to list the western burrowing owl as an endangered or threatened species in California provides sufficient scientific information to indicate that the petitioned action may be warranted, thereby officially granting the burrowing owl “candidate” species status under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The candidacy designation temporarily affords the burrowing owl broad CESA protections (including prohibitions against “take” without permit authorization) throughout California over the next 12-18 months while the California Department of Fish and Wildlife conducts a species status review to confirm whether (and where) listing is warranted and to recommend management and recovery actions. Please see our latest alert for more information on this decision and its impact on future projects.
News
Biden sets 10-year deadline for U.S. cities to replace lead pipes nationwide
Associated Press – October 8
A decade after the Flint, Michigan water crisis raised alarms about the continuing dangers of lead in tap water, President Joe Biden this Tuesday set a 10-year deadline for cities across the nation to replace lead pipes. The new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule supplants a looser standard set by former President Donald Trump’s administration that did not include a universal requirement to replace lead pipes. EPA officials are using money from the federal infrastructure law signed in 2021 to accelerate lead-pipe replacement work and meet a goal to remove all lead pipes within 10 years, down from an initial 60-year timeframe.
Supreme Court declines to block Biden rules on methane and toxic mercury emissions
NBC News – October 4
The Supreme Court last Friday left in place Biden administration regulations aimed at curbing oil and gas facility emissions of methane, a major contributor to climate change. In a separate action, the court also rejected a bid to block a regulation aimed at curbing emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants. In both cases, the court rejected emergency applications without comment, with no noted dissents. A separate emergency application seeking to block Biden regulations concerning carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants remains pending.
Valero, oil shipper Amports to pay $3.3 million after unusual S.F. Bay pollution case is settled
San Francisco Chronicle – October 8
The Valero oil company and Amports have agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle a lawsuit by an environmental group, which said the companies had discharged petroleum coke pollutants into bay waters outside Valero’s refinery in Benicia. The settlement, approved this Monday by a federal judge, includes $2.38 million to be paid to a nonprofit group, which will distribute it to local groups for projects related to water quality. While denying any wrongful acts, the companies agreed to take steps to improve shipping and loading of the petroleum product, sweep residue from ship decks, regularly test the waters, and pay additional sums for any further pollution.
California tribes seek to stop plans for state’s largest reservoir in decades
San Francisco Chronicle – October 6
Several Native American tribes in recent weeks stepped up their efforts to prevent construction of the $4.5 billion Sites Reservoir located 70 miles northwest of Sacramento, even as supporters laud it as one of the state’s best answers to drought. The tribes’ concerns include the destruction of physical remnants of their past, such as relics of settlements, burial sites, and sacred stones, some of which are still used in cultural practices today. Officials at the Sites Project Authority, the agency set up to pursue the giant water facility, say that they are committed to doing all they can to protect what is important to the tribes, but they do not intend to halt their plans and are doing all that is legally required to address the area’s past.
SF supervisors tussle with city attorney in Supreme Court case over water permits
Local News Matters – October 9
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to approve a non-binding resolution urging the city attorney and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission to stop the city’s Clean Water Act lawsuit against the U.S. EPA or to seek to mediate a settlement with the agency ahead of oral arguments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court next week. The lawsuit stems from a “generic” standard in the Clean Water Act discharge permit issued for one of the city’s wastewater treatment facilities that the city contends prohibits it from contributing to excess pollution in the Bay or Pacific Ocean, without defining what constitutes “excess” or which pollutants the city needs to control, leaving the city vulnerable to “surprise violations” even if millions of dollars or more are spent on system upgrades.
San Diego County leaders delayed a Superfund decision about Tijuana River Valley pollution. One supervisor said she’d go her own way
The San Diego Union-Tribune – October 9
A majority of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors have delayed a decision on whether to ask the U.S. EPA to consider declaring the Tijuana River Valley a Superfund site. Shortly after the vote, Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer announced that she would essentially sidestep her colleagues and join other elected officials in formally asking the EPA to launch an investigation into longstanding pollution and sewage problems in South County. Her petition will be joined by Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre and National City Mayor Ron Morrison, among others.
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