Voices of The Wetlands v. State Water Res. Control Bd.

• Decision Date: 15 August 2011
• Docket Number: No. S160211.,S160211.
• Parties: VOICES OF THE WETLANDS, Plaintiff and Appellant,v.STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD, et al., Defendants and Respondents;Duke Energy Moss Landing, LLC, et al., Real Parties in Interest and Appellants.
• Court: California Supreme Court

52 Cal.4th 499

257 P.3d 81

128 Cal.Rptr.3d 658

11 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 10,365

2011 Daily Journal D.A.R. 12,355

VOICES OF THE WETLANDS, Plaintiff and Appellant,

v.STATE WATER RESOURCES CONTROL BOARD, et al., Defendants and Respondents;Duke Energy Moss Landing, LLC, et al., Real Parties in Interest and Appellants.

No. S160211.

Supreme Court of California

Aug. 15, 2011.

OPINION TEXT STARTS HERE Earthjustice, Mills Legal Clinic of Stanford Law School, Deborah A. Sivas, Leah J. Russin and Holly D. Gordon for Plaintiff and Appellant.Kurt R. Wiese, Barbara Baird; Daniel P. Selmi, Los Angeles; John J. Sansone, County Counsel (San Diego), Paula Forbis, Deputy County Counsel; Law Offices of Nancy Diamond, Nancy Diamond; Steven M. Woodside, County Counsel (Sonoma) and Cory W. O'Donnell, Deputy County Counsel, for South Coast Air Quality Management District, San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District and Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District as Amici Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Appellant.Bill Lockyer, Edmund G. Brown, Jr., and Kamala D. Harris, Attorneys General, Gordon Burns and Manuel M. Medeiros, State Solicitors General, J. Matthew Rodriquez, Chief Assistant Attorney General, Mary E. Hackenbracht and Kathleen Kenealy, Assistant Attorneys General, John Davidson, Anita E. Ruud and Michael M. Edson, Deputy Attorneys General, for Defendants and Appellants.Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, San Francisco, Sarah G. Flanagan, John M. Grenfell and Blaine I. Green for Real Parties in Interest and Appellants.Michael J. Levy and William M. Chamberlain, Sacramento, for California Energy Commission as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Real Parties in Interest and Appellants.BAXTER, J.

[257 P.3d 84 , 52 Cal.4th 506]

Voices of the Wetlands, an environmental organization, filed this administrative mandamus action in the Monterey County Superior Court to challenge the issuance, by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Central Coast Region (Regional Water Board), of a federally required permit authorizing the Moss Landing Powerplant (MLPP) to draw cooling water from the adjacent Moss Landing Harbor and Elkhorn Slough.¹ The case, now more than a decade old, presents issues concerning the technological and environmental standards, and the procedures for administrative and judicial review, that apply when a thermal powerplant, while pursuing the issuance or renewal of a cooling water intake permit from a regional water board, also seeks necessary approval from another state agency, the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), of a plan to add additional generating units to the plant, with related modifications to the cooling intake system.

Against a complex procedural backdrop, we will reach the following conclusions:

First, the superior court had jurisdiction to entertain the administrative mandamus petition here under review. We thus reject the contention of defendants and the real party in interest that, because the substantive issues plaintiff seeks to raise on review of the Regional Water Board's decision to renew the plant's cooling water intake permit were also involved in the Energy Commission's approval of the plant expansion, statutes applicable to the latter process placed exclusive review jurisdiction in this court.

Second, the trial court did not err when, after concluding that the original record before the Regional Water Board did not support the board's finding on a single issue crucial to issuance of the cooling water intake permit, the court deferred a final judgment, ordered an interlocutory remand to the board for further “comprehensive” examination of that issue, then denied mandamus after determining that the additional evidence and analysis considered by the board on remand supported the board's reaffirmed finding.

Third, recent United States Supreme Court authority confirms that, when applying federal Clean Water Act (CWA) standards for the issuance of this permit, the Regional Water Board properly utilized cost-benefit analysis, and in particular a “wholly disproportionate” cost-benefit standard, to conclude that the MLPP's existing cooling water intake design, as upgraded to accommodate the plant expansion, “reflect[ed] the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact.” (CWA, § 316(b); 33 U.S.C. § 1326(b) (hereafter CWA section 316(b)), italics added.)

We decline to address several other issues discussed by the parties. For instance, plaintiff insists the Regional Water Board violated CWA section 316(b) by approving compensatory mitigation measures—a habitat restoration program funded by the MLPP's owner—as a means of satisfying the requirement to use the best technology available (BTA). The legal issue whether section 316(b) allows such an approach is certainly significant (see Riverkeeper, Inc. v. U.S. E.P.A. (2d Cir.2007) 475 F.3d 83, 110 ( Riverkeeper II ); Riverkeeper, Inc. v. U.S. E.P.A. (2d Cir.2004) 358 F.3d 174, 189–191 ( Riverkeeper I )), and it has not been finally resolved.

However, the trial court found, as a matter of fact, that the Regional Water Board had not directly linked the habitat restoration program to its BTA determination. The Court of Appeal concluded that the trial court's no-linkage finding had substantial evidentiary support. Here, as in the Court of Appeal, defendants and real party decline to pursue the legal issue, urging only that the trial court's factual finding should not be disturbed. As so framed, the issue presented is case and fact specific, and involves no significant question of national or statewide importance. Accordingly, we exercise our discretion not to consider it. (See Cal. Rules of Court, rule 8.516(b)(3).) By so proceeding, we expressly do not decide whether compensatory mitigation and habitat restoration measures can be a component of BTA, and we leave that issue for another day.

Finally, in its briefs on the merits, plaintiff advances issues it did not raise in its petition for review. Plaintiff now insists the evidence in the administrative record does not support the Regional Water Board's finding that the costs of alternative cooling technologies would be “wholly disproportionate” to their environmental benefits. Plaintiff also urges that even if the board properly considered compensatory restoration measures as a means of satisfying BTA, the record does not support its determination that the habitat restoration project it approved was sufficient to offset the environmental damage caused by the MLPP's cooling system.

These issues are case and fact specific, did not factor into our decision to grant review, and do not currently appear to be matters of significant national or statewide interest. Again, therefore, we decline to address them.

Accordingly, we will affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeal.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The MLPP, in operation under various owners for nearly 60 years, sits at the mouth of Elkhorn Slough, an ecologically rich tidal estuary that drains into Monterey Bay between the cities of Santa Cruz and Monterey. As a thermal powerplant, the MLPP uses superheated steam to generate electricity. The plant's cooling system appropriates water from Moss Landing Harbor, and water from the adjacent slough is also drawn into the system. The MLPP has traditionally employed a once-through cooling system, in which water continuously passes from the source through the plant, then back into the source at a warmer temperature. The thermal effects of the cooling system aside, the intake current kills some aquatic and marine life by trapping larger organisms against the intake screens (impingement) and by sucking smaller organisms through the screens into the plant (entrainment). ²

Under the CWA, the MLPP must have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit in order to draw cooling water from the harbor and slough. The discharge of a “pollutant” from a “point source” into navigable waters may only occur under the terms and conditions of such a permit, which must be renewed at least every five years. (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311, 1342(a), (b).) In California, NPDES permits, which must comply with all minimum federal clean water requirements, are issued under an EPA-approved state water quality control program administered, pursuant to the Porter–Cologne Water Quality Control Act (Porter–Cologne Act; Wat.Code, § 13000 et seq.), by the State Water Board and the nine regional water boards. ( Id., §§ 13372, 13377; see 33 U.S.C., § 1342(b); 40 C.F.R. §§ 123.21–123.25 (2011); 39 Fed.Reg. 26061 (Jul. 16, 1974); 54 Fed.Reg. 40664–40665 (Oct. 31, 1989).)

In 1999, Duke applied to the Energy Commission for approval of Duke's plan to modernize the MLPP by adding two new 530– megawatt gas-fired generators. These new units would supplement the two 750–megawatt generators, units 6 and 7, already in operation, and would replace units 1 through 5, older generators that were no longer being used. Pursuant to the Warren–Alquist State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Act (Warren–Alquist Act; Pub. Resources Code, § 25000 et seq.), the siting, construction, or modification of a thermal powerplant with a generating capacity in excess of 50 megawatts must be certified by the Energy Commission. ( Id., §§ 25110, 25120, 25500.) As set forth in greater detail below, the commission's certification must be consistent with all applicable federal laws ( id., §§ 25514, subd. (a)(2), 25525), and is “in lieu of any permit, certificate, or similar document required by any state, local or regional agency, or federal agency to the extent permitted by federal law” ( id., § 25500).

Concurrently with its Energy Commission application, Duke applied to the Regional Water Board for renewal of its NPDES permit—which was due to expire in any event—and to include therein terms and conditions consistent with...