Environmental and Policy Focus
Los Angeles Times - Feb 15 The state’s powerful agriculture industry and its political allies are gathering signatures for a November ballot initiative that would take bond money earmarked for California’s high speed rail system and use it instead for new water projects. Supporters believe the measure taps two politically powerful sentiments: opposition to the high speed rail project and growing public concern about the state’s future water supply amid a historic drought. The new proposed initiative has $2 million set aside for a signature-gathering campaign, backers say. The initiative calls for the reallocation of about $8 billion in remaining rail system bonds approved by voters in 2008 and $2.7 billion previously approved for water storage under Proposition 1 in 2014.
KQED - Feb 18 The leaking natural gas storage well near Porter Ranch on the outskirts of Los Angeles has been permanently sealed and shut down, after emitting methane into the atmosphere for months, California officials say. Southern California Gas Company, the utility that owns the leaking well at its Aliso Canyon storage facility, announced Thursday that the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources has confirmed that the well is sealed for good. The well had been leaking since late October, and was brought under control last week, after releasing more than 5 billion cubic feet of natural gas, a major component of which is methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The well will now be taken out of service permanently, as ordered by California regulators. However, other wells at the Aliso Canyon storage facility can continue to be used, angering residents of the nearby Porter Ranch community who had called for the entire facility to be shut down.
Press-Enterprise - Feb 13 Last week, President Obama established three national monuments that cover almost 2 million acres in the Mojave Desert, the White House announced. Obama used his power under the Antiquities Act to sign a proclamation designating the Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow, and Castle Mountains as national monuments. The move bypasses similar legislation, introduced by Senator Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., that has languished for years in Congress. Senator Feinstein asked the President in August to use his executive power to create the monuments. The long-awaited federal protections secure about 1.8 million acres of largely undisturbed lands and create important wildlife connections between Joshua Tree National Park and the Mojave National Preserve to the north. Among other restrictions, the designation eliminates the possibility of industrial-scale renewable energy development in those areas.
Reuters - Feb 12 Valero Energy Corp's proposed oil-by-rail project at its northern California refinery was rejected by the Benecia Planning Commission late Thursday. It was the first such facility on the West Coast to end a years-long wait for permits with a rejection. Valero first made its proposal three years ago to build the rail facility at its 145,000 barrels per day (bpd) Benicia refinery to offload up to 70,000 bpd of inland U.S. and Canadian heavy crude. Several other West Coast rail projects await such decisions by local or state governments, including Tesoro Corp's proposed 360,000 bpd railport in Washington State - the largest in the nation - and Phillips 66's newly-trimmed 25,000 bpd facility at its Santa Maria refinery in Arroyo Grande, California.
Los Angeles Daily News - Feb 16 The National Park Service on Tuesday recommended adding 170,000 acres of wild lands, parks, and historical sites to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area as part of the Rim of the Valley study initiated more than eight years ago. The addition, which would double the size of the recreation area, includes a narrow stretch along the urban shores of the Los Angeles River and its tributary, the Arroyo Seco; the Verdugo Mountains above Glendale; the San Rafael Hills; foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains; and the Simi Hills, Santa Susana, and Conejo mountain areas in Ventura County. The Park Service avoided residential areas. No portions of the Angeles National Forest were included.
OC Register - Feb 18 The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board has filed a lawsuit in federal district court against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, alleging that the Army Corps violated the Clean Water Act by failing to obtain required water quality certifications in advance of two dredge and fill operations. The complaint focuses on the risk of releases of oil, grease, and other pollutants from heavy equipment during brush clearing at the outset of a 2011 project in Glendale and of another a year later at the Sepulveda Basin. In addition, the complaint alleges that Army Corps crews discharged sediment into the Los Angeles River that could affect water quality and aquatic life and wildlife habitat.
