Focus

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reverses changes to Endangered Species Act’s habitat rule

Associated Press - July 20

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on Wednesday canceled a Trump administration policy weakening the agency’s authority to identify lands and waters where declining animals and plants could receive government protection. One measure in the prior policy prevented USFWS from designating areas as critical habitat if there would be greater economic benefit from developing them. In a 48-page document explaining withdrawal of the rule, the agency said the cancelled rule gave outside parties an “outsized role” in determining which areas were needed for preserving imperiled species while undermining USFWS authority.

News

Marin adopts building regulations along San Geronimo Creek

Marin Independent Journal – July 21

Marin County’s 15-year old battle over whether to limit development along San Geronimo Creek to protect endangered fish could be at an end. The County Board of Supervisors gave its final approval on Tuesday to a suite of regulations, including the creation of a stream conservation area, that will prohibit new building within 35 feet of the creek and its tributaries, including ephemeral streams. The decision was hailed by the Salmon Protection and Watershed Network (SPAWN), which sued the county over the issue in 2007 and has filed several subsequent related court actions. The Marin County Community Development Agency worked with SPAWN to create the regulations, and SPAWN pledged to drop its legal actions once they were in place.

$17 million penalty proposed over Carson warehouse fire that caused noxious odors in the Dominguez Channel

CBS News – July 15

The State Water Resources Control Board has proposed a $17 million penalty against the owners and operators of a warehouse where a massive industrial fire was found to have caused hydrogen sulfide odors to emanate from the Dominguez Channel Estuary last year. The penalty, if approved, could be the largest the Board has ever imposed. The South Coast Air Quality Management District determined that the odors, which caused debilitating health problems in certain South Bay residents, were caused by pollutants, including alcohols, that were discharged from the warehouse facility. The warehouse’s owners and operators were deemed responsible for violating the Clean Water Act and Porter-Cologne Water Quality Control Act in connection with the fire-related discharge of more than 6 million gallons of polluted water, including hazardous substances, into the Dominguez Channel Estuary.

New rules proposed for well permits in Sonoma County

Sonoma Index-Tribune – July 20

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors will consider new standards for well permits at its August 9 meeting in response to a 2018 California appellate court ruling requiring the protection of rivers and other “public trust resources.” That decision requires the permitting agencies to mitigate the impact of wells on public trust resources in navigable waterways, such as the Russian River, including impacts to habitat and wildlife. The proposed amendment to the county’s well ordinance would create new guidelines for the county’s evaluation of environmental impacts of drilling new wells or replacing older ones. The ordinance may affect approximately one-third of well permit applications submitted to the county, and new wells may be subject to additional fees and new equipment requirements based on the proposal.

EBMUD to pay $816,000 penalty for releasing 16 million gallons of partially treated sewage into San Francisco Bay

The Mercury News – July 19

The Regional Water Quality Control Board for the San Francisco Bay Region announced a settlement with the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), which operates a wastewater treatment plant at Point Isabel in Richmond, California. The settlement, which includes an $816,000 civil penalty, is the result of EBMUD’s discharge of 16.5 million gallons of partially treated sewage into San Francisco Bay during the “atmospheric river” storm event last October. During that storm, workers at one of EBMUD’s three overflow plants ran out of a key chemical, sodium bisulfite, which is used to remove chlorine from wastewater before it is released into the Bay. High levels of chlorine can be toxic to fish and other aquatic life.

San Diego Unified School District threatens legal action over landfill underneath Bell Middle School

CBS8 – July 15

San Diego Unified School District wants the cities of La Mesa and National City to help pay to monitor an old landfill located beneath Bell Middle School. La Mesa, National City, and San Diego County reportedly disposed of waste at the landfill from 1962 through 1967. Vents are located throughout the school’s athletic field to release methane gas from the decomposition of the waste buried underneath, with a flare station on site to burn off gas. In 2004, San Diego Unified filed a lawsuit to recover the costs of cleaning and monitoring the landfill. After years of litigation, San Diego County agreed to pay $950,000 to dismiss the lawsuit and release it from any past or future claims.