November 2009

Residents of the Riverside County city of Temecula, which has been among the state’s fastest growing cities for 20 years, have run into some growth they do not want. City leaders and local residents are opposing a proposed quarry located one mile south of the city limits near the San Diego County line.

Two separate California Environmental Quality Act lawsuits over unrelated measures that raised revenue for transportation purposes have been thrown out by the state Court of Appeal. One case involved a half-cent sales tax in Santa Barbara County. The other concerned a Los Angeles bus fare increase.

A state appellate court has struck down a California Environmental Quality Act exemption for an air district rule permitting new power plants to offset emissions by paving roads. The court found that the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District did not have adequate evidence to support its finding that the rule could not have a negative impact on the environment.

The Regional Targets Advisory Committee reached agreement on basic principles that the California Air Resources Board should adopt in implementing SB 375 and setting land use/transportation targets for greenhouse gas emissions reductions. But if a panel discussion at an SB 375 event in Ontario last week is any indication, the individual RTAC members are still having a big of a hard time getting past their own agendas.