River v. N. Coast R.R. Auth.
| Decision Date | 29 September 2014 |
| Docket Number | A139235,A139222 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | FRIENDS OF the EEL RIVER, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. NORTH COAST RAILROAD AUTHORITY et al., Defendants and Respondents; Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company, Real Party in Interest and Respondent. Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, Plaintiff and Appellant, v. North Coast Railroad Authority et al., Defendants and Respondents; Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company, Real Party in Interest and Respondent. |
Shute Mihaly & Weinberger, Ellison Folk, Amy J. Bricker, Edward T. Schexnayder and Laura D. Beaton, San Francisco, for Plaintiff and Appellant Friends of the Eel River.
Law Offices of Sharon E. Duggan and Sharon E. Duggan, San Francisco, for Plaintiff and Appellant Californians for Alternatives to Toxics.
Klamath Environmental Law Center and William Verick, Eureka, for Plaintiff and Appellant Californians for Alternatives to Toxics.
Helen H. Kang, San Francisco, and Ashley Pellouchoud, Environmental Law and Justice Clinic at Golden Gate University School of Law for Plaintiff and Appellant Californians for Alternatives to Toxics.
Deborah A. Sivas, Environmental Law Clinic, Mills Legal Clinic at Stanford Law School for Plaintiff and Appellant Californians for Alternatives to Toxics.
Sean B. Hecht, Los Angeles, Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic at UCLA School of Law for Natural Resources Defense Council, Planning and Conservation League, and Sierra Club as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Appellant.
Fredric Evenson, Eureka, and Brian Acree, Oakland, for Ecological Rights Foundation as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Appellant.
Neary & O'Brien, Christopher J. Neary, Willits, for Defendants and Respondents North Coast Railroad Authority and Board of Directors of North Coast Railroad Authority.
Cox, Castle & Nicholson, R. Chad Hales and Andrew B. Sabey, San Francisco, for Real Party in Interest and Respondent Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company.
Law Office of Douglas H. Bosco and Douglas H. Bosco, Larkspur, for Real Party in Interest and Respondent Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company.
The North Coast Railroad Authority (NCRA), a public agency established by Government Code section 93000 et seq., entered into a contract with the Northwestern Pacific Railroad Company (NWPRC), allowing the latter to conduct freight rail service on tracks controlled by NCRA. Two environmental groups, Friends of the Eel River (FOER) and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CAT), filed petitions for writ of mandate under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA; Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21050 et seq., 21168.5 ) to challenge NCRA's certification of an environmental impact report (EIR) and approval of NWPRC's freight operations. The trial court denied the petitions, concluding CEQA review was preempted by the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act (ICCTA; 49 U.S.C. § 10101 et seq. ) and rejecting petitioners' claim that NCRA and NWPRC were estopped from arguing otherwise.
FOER and CAT (collectively, petitioners) appeal. They contend (1) the ICCTA preempts only the “regulation” of rail transportation, whereas NCRA agreed to conduct a CEQA review of the rail operations and related repair/maintenance activities as part of a contract allowing it to receive state funds; (2) NCRA and NWPRC are estopped from claiming no EIR was required, due to positions taken in previous proceedings; and (3) the EIR was insufficient because, among other things, it improperly “segmented” the project, given that additional rail operations were contemplated on other sections of the line. We affirm.1
The ICCTA grants the STB jurisdiction over rail operations, whether or not they take place entirely within a single state. This jurisdiction (49 U.S.C. § 10501(b).)
Before a rail carrier can operate, it must obtain a certificate from the STB giving it permission to do so. (49 U.S.C. §§ 10901, 10902.) Depending on the nature of the proposed operation, the applicant may be required to perform an environmental review under federal law, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA). (42 U.S.C. § 4321 et seq. ; 49 C.F.R. §§ 1105.6, 1105.7 ; see Missouri Min., Inc. v. I.C.C. (8th Cir.1994) 33 F.3d 980, 983(Missouri Min. ).) The STB may exempt an applicant from normal certification requirements, including environmental review, under certain conditions. (49 U.S.C. § 10502 ; 49 C.F.R. §§ 1121.1 et seq., 1150.31 et seq. ; Missouri Min., at pp. 983–984.) An STB order is subject to judicial review in the federal court of appeals. (28 U.S.C. § 2321(a).)
CEQA is a comprehensive scheme under California state law designed to provide long-term protection to the environment. (Mountain Lion Foundation v. Fish & Game Com. (1997) 16 Cal.4th 105, 112, 65 Cal.Rptr.2d 580, 939 P.2d 1280.) It requires public agencies such as NCRA to analyze, disclose and mitigate the significant environmental effects of projects they carry out or approve and to prepare an EIR for any project that may have a significant effect on the environment. (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21151, 21100, 21080, 21082.2 ; Muzzy Ranch Co. v. Solano County Airport Land Use Com. (2007) 41 Cal.4th 372, 379–381, 60 Cal.Rptr.3d 247, 160 P.3d 116.)
In determining what action is appropriate under CEQA, an agency must engage in a three-step process. (Tomlinson v. County of Alameda (2012) 54 Cal.4th 281, 286, 142 Cal.Rptr.3d 539, 278 P.3d 803 (Tomlinson ).) First, it determines whether an action undertaken, supported or approved by a public agency amounts to a “project,” defined as “an activity which may cause either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.” (Pub. Resources Code, § 21065 ; Tomlinson, at p. 286, 142 Cal.Rptr.3d 539, 278 P.3d 803.) Second, the agency decides whether it is exempt from compliance with CEQA under a statutory exemption or a categorical exemption set forth in the applicable regulations. (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21080, 21084, subd. (a) ; Cal.Code Regs., tit. 14, § 15300 ; Tomlinson, at p. 286, 142 Cal.Rptr.3d 539, 278 P.3d 803.)
If the project is not exempt, the agency must engage in the third step and determine whether it may have a significant effect on the environment. If the answer is no, it must adopt a negative declaration or mitigated negative declaration to that effect; if the answer is yes, an EIR must be prepared before approval of the project. (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21100, subd. (a), 21151, subd. (a) ; Tomlinson, supra, 54 Cal.4th at p. 286, 142 Cal.Rptr.3d 539, 278 P.3d 803.) When economic, social, or other conditions make alternatives or mitigation measures infeasible, a project may be approved in spite of significant environmental damage if the agency adopts a statement of overriding considerations and finds the benefits of the project outweigh the potential environmental damage. (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21002, 21002.1, subd. (c) ; Cal.Code Regs., tit. 14, § 15093.)
The decision to certify an EIR and approve a project may be judicially challenged by a petition for writ of mandate. (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 21168, 21168.5.) A petitioner with no direct beneficial interest in the proceeding has standing to proceed “ ‘where the question is one of public right and the object of the action is to enforce a public duty—in which case it is sufficient that the plaintiff be interested as a citizen in having the laws executed and the public duty enforced.’ ” (Rialto Citizens for Responsible Growth v. City of Rialto (2012) 208 Cal.App.4th 899, 913–914, 146 Cal.Rptr.3d 12.)
The Northwest Pacific Railroad line (the line) is located on California's north coast and is viewed as a single railroad extending from its northernmost point in the city of Arcata in Humboldt County to Lombard in Napa County in the south. Willits is the geographical center of the line, and the dividing point between the Northern or Eel River Division and the Southern or Russian River Division. An interchange in Lombard connects the line to the national railroad system.
In 1989, the California Legislature created NCRA to maintain rail service on the line. (Gov.Code, § 93000 et seq. ) A government agency with a board composed in part of representatives from the counties and cities it serves (Gov.Code, § 93011 ), NCRA has the statutory authority to operate railroads, acquire the rights to property necessary to operate and maintain railroads, issue bonds, accept loans and grants from other agencies, and select a private operator to run the railroad system within its area of jurisdiction. (Gov.Code, § 93020.) Over the course of several years, NCRA acquired title or easement rights over the entire line, and it operated freight service on the line between 1992 and 1998. A portion of the track in the Russian River Division is owned by the Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit District (SMART), whose predecessor granted NCRA...
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