United States: California Environmental Law & Policy Update

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Pipeline operator agrees to $50M California spill settlement

U.S. News & World Report – October 18

Under a proposed settlement agreement filed in federal court in Santa Ana on October 17, pipeline operator Amplify Energy Corp. has agreed to pay $50 million to thousands of Southern California commercial fishermen, tourism companies, and coastal property owners who sued after an offshore oil spill released 25,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean last year near Huntington Beach. In addition, the company will install leak detection systems and provide spill training to its employees. A federal judge still needs to approve the settlement for it to take effect. A hearing is scheduled for November 16.

DOI to hold California offshore wind energy lease sale in December

Courthouse News Service – October 18

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) on October 18 announced an offshore wind energy lease sale in December for five outer continental shelf areas — three on the Central Coast and two in Northern California — totaling 373,000 acres, with the potential to produce over 4.5 gigawatts of offshore wind energy, power more than 1.5 million homes, and support thousands of jobs. The sale, the first of its kind, also marks the first U.S. sale to support potential commercial-scale floating offshore wind energy development. The sale is critical to the Biden administration's goals of achieving 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030 and 15 gigawatts of floating offshore wind energy by 2035.

Coastal Commission approves plan to bury contaminated sediment in Newport Harbor

The Orange County Register – October 14

The California Coastal Commission last Friday approved plans to bury 112,500 cubic yards of sediment contaminated with mercury and industrial chemicals such as DDT in an underwater pit, known as a "confined aquatic disposal" or "CAD" site, the size of six football fields at the bottom of Newport Harbor. The vote moves the city of Newport Beach and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) closer to starting work on the $12 million project by the end of the year. The project, which drew vocal opposition from some environmentalists and residents, still requires final approval from the Corps before work can begin.

Removing nutrients from wastewater that goes into the San Francisco Bay could cost San Francisco up to $1.5 billion

San Francisco Chronicle – October 17

In a report delivered to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors at an October 17 hearing, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) advised that it could cost up to $1.5 billion to remove nutrients from the wastewater that flows from San Francisco sewage treatment plants into the San Francisco Bay. According to scientists, the nutrients, and in particular nitrogen and phosphorous, likely encouraged the growth of a massive algae bloom, or "red tide," in August that killed tens of thousands of fish in the bay. The main source of these nutrients is treated wastewater coming out of 37 sewage treatment facilities. The SFPUC reported its findings to discuss how the city and county can address the impacts of wastewater in red tides that are expected to be more frequent with climate change.

California fires in 2020 estimated to have erased 16 years of efforts to reduce greenhouse gases

The Mercury News – October 17

According to researchers with the University of California, Los Angeles, Fielding School of Public Health, California's wildfires in 2020 wiped out nearly two decades of efforts by the state to curb greenhouse gas emissions. The amount of pollutants from the state's most disastrous wildfire year on record was equal to twice the total amount of carbon emissions cut between 2003 and 2019. Emissions from the wildfires could be the second biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in California – more than both heavy industry and electrical power generation, the researchers said.