SB 1277,
as amended, Hancock. begin deletePorts and harbors: end deletebegin insertCalifornia Environmental Quality Act: supplemental environmental impact report: end insertCity of Oakland: coal shipment.
The California Environmental Quality Act requires a lead agency, as defined, to prepare, or cause to be prepared, and certify the completion of an environmental impact report (EIR) on a project that it proposes to carry out or approve that may have a significant effect on the environment or to adopt a negative declaration if it finds that the project will not have that effect. The act also requires a lead agency to prepare a mitigated negative declaration for a project that may have a significant effect on the environment if revisions in the project would avoid or mitigate that effect and there is no substantial evidence that the project, as revised, would have a significant effect on the environment. The act prohibits a public agency from requiring the preparation of a subsequent EIR unless one or more certain events occur.
end insertbegin insertThis bill would require a public agency, with discretionary approval over a project necessary for, and directly related to, the use of a certain port facility in the City of Oakland for the shipment of coal, to prepare or cause to be prepared a supplemental EIR to consider and mitigate the environmental impacts of coal shipment through the facility.
end insertbegin insertThis bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Oakland.
end insertbegin insertThe California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
end insertbegin insertThis bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.
end insertExisting law regulates the operation of ports and harbors. The Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006 (Proposition 1B) created the Trade Corridors Improvement Fund and provided for allocation by the California Transportation Commission of $2 billion in bond funds for infrastructure improvements on highway and rail corridors that have a high volume of freight movement, and specified categories of projects eligible to receive these funds, including projects to enhance the capacity and efficiency of ports.
end deleteThis bill would prohibit the shipment of coal to, or through, a certain port facility located in the former Oakland Army Base that has been funded in part by the proceeds of Proposition 1B.
end deleteThis bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the City of Oakland.
end deleteVote: majority.
Appropriation: no.
Fiscal committee: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert.
State-mandated local program: begin deleteno end deletebegin insertyesend insert.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
(a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the
2following:
3(1) The City of Oakland has received substantial funding from
4the California Transportation Commission for the development of
5the Bulk and Oversized Terminal at the former Oakland Army
6Base. The funding has been provided from the proceeds of bonds
7sold pursuant to the Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air
8Quality, and Port Security Bond Act of 2006 (Chapter 12.49
9(commencing with Section 8879.20) of Division 1 of Title 2 of
10the Government Code).
11(2) According to the Legislative Analyst’s analysis
of the
12Highway Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security
13Bond Act of 2006, one of the goals of the act was to provide
P3 1funding to projects to “improve air quality by reducing emissions
2related to goods movement.”
3(3) In the agreement between the City of Oakland and a private
4developer for a project that includes the development of the Bulk
5and Oversized Terminal, paragraph D of the Recitals states that
6“the development of the project will provide many benefits to the
7City and the public including but not limited to: (1) mitigate or
8avoid potential significant environmentalbegin delete impacts; ... .”end deletebegin insert impacts;
9...”.end insert In paragraph 3.4.2 of that agreement, the City of
Oakland
10reserves the right to apply regulations adopted after the effective
11date of the agreement if the city finds failure to apply those
12regulations “would place existing or future occupants or users of
13the Project, adjacent neighbors, or any portion thereof, or all of
14them, in a condition substantially dangerous to their health or
15safety.”
16
(4) During the consideration of an environmental impact report
17prepared by the City of Oakland for the Bulk and Oversized
18Terminal in 2012, coal was not considered as a commodity that
19would be shipped through the terminal.
20(4)
end delete
21begin insert(5)end insert There isbegin insert currentlyend insert a proposal to export coal from the Bulk
22and Oversized Terminal.begin insert This constitutes a change in the proposed
23project and is new information that was not known and could not
24have been known at the time the environmental impact report was
25certified as complete.end insert
26(5)
end delete
27begin insert(6)end insert Coal export poses unique and substantial dangers to citizens
28in adjacent neighborhoods, workers at the site, and to the Oakland
29community
as a whole.
30(6)
end delete
31begin insert(7)end insert Assuming that 10.5 million tons of coal is shipped annually,
32as much as 646 tons per year of fugitive coal dust may be generated
33by the movement of coal through the port facility.
34(7)
end delete
35begin insert(8)end insert Coal dust poses serious health concerns for a neighborhood
36already burdened with a
history of environmental injustices and
37ill equipped to cope with additional stresses.
38(8)
end delete
39begin insert(9)end insert The American Lung Association considers coal dust a source
40of particulate matter that is dangerous to breathe.
P4 1(9)
end delete
2begin insert(10)end insert The World Health Organization cites coal dust, along with
3silica
and asbestos, as responsible for most occupational lung
4diseases due to airborne particulate.
5(10)
end delete
6begin insert(11)end insert The United States Environmental Protection Agency cites
7numerous scientific studies that link particulate matter with a series
8of significant health problems, including premature death in people
9with lung or heart disease, nonfatal heart attacks, irregular
10heartbeat, aggravated asthma, decreased lung function, and
11increased respiratory symptoms, such as irritation of the airways,
12coughing, or difficulty in breathing.
13(11)
end delete
14begin insert(12)end insert There are no proven topping agents that have demonstrated
15effectiveness at reducing coal dust over long trips.
16(12)
end delete
17begin insert(13)end insert Confined or covered coal transportation and terminal
18operations would shift the burden of toxic pollution to workers at
19the site while also exacerbating risks of fire during transport,
20storage, and loading.
21(13)
end delete
22begin insert(14)end insert “Covered” and “clean” coal operations raise significant
23safety concerns for workers related to the increased likelihood of
24coal combustion when it is confined. Trains often have open-top
25cars as a technique to mitigate the chances of fires by allowing
26heat to escape. If these train cars and warehouse spaces are covered
27then risk of fire is likely to be higher.
28(14)
end delete
29begin insert(15)end insert Coal transport, warehousing, and loading operations will
30increase worker
exposure to coal dust due to inherent jostling of
31the commodity. Covering and confining the coal export terminal
32and its operations will only exacerbate these problems because
33dust will be more concentrated within the workspace.
34(15)
end delete
35begin insert(16)end insert Coal presents transportation concerns because the weight
36of the trains increases stress on tracks and slows traffic, and
37because the dust damages rail tracks.
38(16)
end delete
39begin insert(17)end insert Coal dust and leachates can pollute waterways, often with
40long-lasting impacts.
P5 1(17)
end delete
2begin insert(18)end insert The community of West Oakland, which is near the Bulk
3and Oversized Terminal, is already heavily and adversely impacted
4by goods movements through the community.
5(18)
end delete
6begin insert(19)end insert The
California Environmental Protection Agency, using
7the California Communities Environmental Health Screening Tool
8(CalEnviroScreen), a tool that assesses all census tracts in
9California, has identified the community of West Oakland as a
10disadvantaged community disproportionately burdened by, and
11vulnerable to, multiple sources of pollution.
12(19)
end delete
13begin insert(20)end insert The residents of West Oakland breathe air containing three
14times the amount of diesel particulate matter than in other parts of
15the San Francisco Bay area, which translates to a 2.5 times greater
16risk of cancer. Children in West Oakland suffer from ailments
like
17asthma at higher rates than children in other neighborhoods.
18(20)
end delete
19begin insert(21)end insert The residents of West Oakland are two times more likely
20to go to a hospital emergency room with asthma as compared to
21residents in other parts of the County of Alameda. According to
22the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, in
232009, for every 10,000 visits, 183 visits in West Oakland were due
24to asthma, whereas the statewide average is 48 visits. Those
25residents are also more likely to die of illnesses linked to air
26pollution like cancers, heart diseases, and other ailments.
27(21)
end delete
28begin insert(22)end insert The residents of West Oakland are already impacted by
29goods movements, and do not deserve to bear the brunt of the
30health impacts of coal moving through their community.
31(22)
end delete
32begin insert(23)end insert The transportation of coal through the Bulk and Oversized
33Terminal would present a substantially dangerous condition to the
34health and safety of the residents of Oakland along with the
35workers at the Port of Oakland and is contrary to the goals of the
36Highway
Safety, Traffic Reduction, Air Quality, and Port Security
37Bond Act of 2006.
38(b) Because of the substantial dangers to the City of Oakland
39and its residents associated with coal shipment and because this
40activity is contrary to the intent of the Highway Safety, Traffic
P6 1Reduction, Air Quality, and
Port Security Bond Act of 2006, to
2the extent consistent with federal law, coal shall not be transported
3to, or through, the Bulk and Oversized Terminal located in the
4former Oakland Army Base.
5
(b) Pursuant to Section 21166 of the Public Resources Code,
6before approving a project that is necessary for, and directly
7related to, the use of the Bulk and Oversized Terminal in the City
8of Oakland for the shipment of coal, a public agency with
9discretionary authority over the project shall prepare or cause to
10be prepared a supplemental environmental impact report to
11consider and mitigate the environmental impacts of coal shipment
12through the terminal pursuant to the California Environmental
13Quality Act (Division 13 (commencing with Section 21000) of the
14Public Resources Code).
The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
16is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
17within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
18Constitution because of the unique nature of the proposed coal
19shipment through the Bulk and Oversized Terminal located in the
20former Oakland Army Base in the City of Oakland.
No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to
22Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because
23a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service
24charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or
25level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section
2617556 of the Government Code.
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