Waste Management v. County of Alameda, C024917.
| Decision Date | 17 April 2000 |
| Docket Number | No. C024917.,C024917. |
| Citation | 94 Cal.Rptr.2d 740,79 Cal.App.4th 1223 |
| Court | California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals |
| Parties | WASTE MANAGEMENT OF ALAMEDA COUNTY, INC., Plaintiff and Respondent, v. COUNTY OF ALAMEDA et al., Defendants and Appellants; Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc., Real Party in Interest and Appellant. |
Bruen & Gordon, Scott W. Gordon and David J. Miller, Walnut Creek, for Real Party in Interest and Appellant.
Landels, Ripley & Diamond, Michael H. Zischke, Sanford Svetcov and James H. Colopy, San Francisco, for Plaintiff and Respondent.
Law Office of J. William Yeates, J. William Yeates, Sacramento, and Heather Tattershall, for Planning and Conservation League as Amicus Curiae on behalf of Plaintiff and Respondent.
At the request of plaintiff Waste Management of Alameda County, Inc. (Waste Management), the trial court entered a judgment styled a peremptory writ of mandate. The judgment contained the following directives: (1) defendants California Integrated Waste Management Board (the Waste Board) and County of Alameda (the County) were ordered to set aside their approvals of a solid waste facility permit issued to real party in interest Browning-Ferris Industries of California, Inc. (Browning-Ferris), to the extent the approvals authorized the receipt or disposal of "designated waste" within the meaning of regulations of the State Water Resources Control Board (the State Water Board); (2) the Waste Board and the County were ordered to refrain from approving a solid waste facility permit for the disposal of designated waste at Browning-Ferris's landfill until they review the non-water-quality environmental effects of disposal of such waste pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and until they comply with the procedures for revising a solid waste facility permit under the California Integrated Waste Management Act of 1989; (3) Browning-Ferris was ordered to suspend the receipt or disposal of designated waste at its landfill pending CEQA review and permit revision; and (4) the County was ordered to take action to abate the receipt or disposal of designated waste at Browning-Ferris's landfill until a conditional use permit authorizing the receipt or disposal of designated waste is issued pursuant to county ordinances.1
The Waste Board appeals, as do the County and Browning-Ferris. They raise a number of issues, including the contention that Waste Management lacked standing to pursue the claims which resulted in the trial court's judgment. This court stayed enforcement of the judgment pending resolution of the appeals.
We conclude that Waste Management has failed to establish standing to obtain the relief granted. It is clear from the record that Waste Management's interest in this litigation has been commercial and competitive due to the fact both Waste Management and Browning-Ferris are in the business of solid waste disposal. In essence, Waste Management complains that it was required to go through a permit revision process with CEQA review, while Browning-Ferris was not, thus identifying its injury as the extra cost it incurred and continuing competitive injury due to Browning-Ferris's lower costs. As we shall explain, Waste Management's commercial and competitive interests are not within the zone of interests CEQA was intended to preserve or protect and cannot serve as a beneficial interest for purposes of the standing requirement. We also conclude, among other things, that Waste Management may not maintain this litigation as a citizen's action because it is pursuing its own economic and competitive interests, rather than any demonstrable interest in the environmental concerns which are the essence of CEQA.
Consequently, we shall reverse the judgment and direct the trial court to dismiss the action. Because the issue of standing is dispositive, we do not need to address the other contentions raised on appeal.
Browning-Ferris's landfill is known as the Vasco Road Sanitary Landfill (the Vasco Road facility). It has been in operation since 1962. Originally, it was owned by Ralph Properties and operated by the De-Paoli Equipment Company. Browning-Ferris assumed ownership and operation in 1988, and the facility permit was transferred to Browning-Ferris in 1989. The landfill is classified as a class III landfill for purposes of water quality control regulation.
In 1983, following full CEQA review, the Vasco Road facility was granted a conditional use permit pursuant to county ordinances. The conditional use permit required that operation be in compliance with any terms or conditions imposed by the regional water board. As a class III landfill for water quality control purposes, the Vasco Road facility was precluded from accepting designated wastes without permission from the regional water board. The regional water board's water discharge requirements applicable to the Vasco Road facility precluded, with some exceptions, the acceptance of designated waste.
This dispute arose when Browning-Ferris sought permission from the regional water board to accept designated wastes for disposal in unit 6, phases 1A and 2A, of the Vasco Road facility. The regional water board determined that those areas met the siting criteria and design requirements of a class II facility, that the ambient environmental conditions in those areas would prevent nonhazardous waste from being released in concentrations exceeding applicable water quality objectives, and that it was reasonably expected any releases would not affect beneficial uses of the waters of the state. Hence, the regional water board issued new waste discharge requirements for the Vasco Road facility which authorize acceptance of all nonhazardous solid wastes, thus including designated wastes under the second part of the definition of designated wastes. (Wat.Code, § 13173, subd. (b).) The Vasco Road facility is not permitted to accept hazardous wastes, including hazardous wastes which have been granted a variance from hazardous waste management requirements and which are thus designated wastes. (Wat.Code, § 13173, subd. (a).) That decision of the regional water board has become final and is not subject to judicial review at this time.
Waste Management, a competitor of Browning-Ferris, operates a solid waste disposal facility known as the Altamont landfill, which is located about four miles from the Vasco Road facility. Although located only four miles apart, the facilities are separated by a natural geological divide. The Vasco Road facility is located on a side of the divide that drains west toward the San Francisco Bay, while the Altamont facility is located on a side of the divide that drains east toward the Central Valley. As a result, the Vasco Road facility is under the regulatory auspices of the San Francisco Bay regional water board, while the Altamont facility is under the auspices of the Central Valley regional water board.
In 1993, when Waste Management sought regulatory permission to accept designated wastes at its Altamont facility, the Central Valley regional water board required the facility to undergo a classification upgrade to a class II facility. In addition, the County required CEQA review, including preparation of an EIR, in connection with a revision of Waste Management's solid waste facilities permit and conditional use permit.
Waste Management believes that allowing Browning-Ferris to obtain approval to accept designated wastes without CEQA review would create an unlevel playing field, and it insists Browning-Ferris must undergo CEQA review.2
In April 1995, shortly after Browning-Ferris received approval from the regional water board to accept designated waste at the Vasco Road facility, Waste Management wrote to the County to demand that Browning-Ferris be required to obtain an amendment of its conditional use permit after full CEQA review. Waste Management repeated this demand in September 1995. The county zoning administrator replied by advising that an investigation would commence to determine whether the Vasco Road facility was operating contrary to its conditional use permit and/or beyond the scope of the environmental review conducted in connection with the conditional use permit. He also advised that the five-year review of Browning-Ferris's solid waste facilities permit was long overdue and would be commenced and resolved concurrently with the investigation concerning the conditional use permit.
In fact, the five-year review of the Vasco Road facility's solid waste permit had been ongoing since 1994. As the result of the review, the County determined that the Vasco Road facility's solid waste permit should be modified to reflect the regional water board's decision to allow acceptance of all non-hazardous waste, and that neither a permit revision nor CEQA review would be required.3 The Waste Board concurred in the issuance of a modified permit. Thereafter, the County filed a notice of CEQA exemption, claiming the project was exempt because it involved the operation of an existing facility with minor alterations and no extension of use.
Waste Management commenced this proceeding, with the results we have set forth in the introduction to this opinion.
Standing is a jurisdictional issue that may be raised at any time in the proceedings. (Common Cause v. Board of Supervisors (1989) 49 Cal.3d 432, 438, 261 Cal.Rptr. 574, 777 P.2d 610.) In order to pursue a cause of action, the plaintiffs standing must be established in some appropriate manner. (Parker v. Boivron (1953) 40 Cal.2d 344, 351, 254 P.2d 6; ...
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