Court Delays L.A. River Cleanup

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A state appellate court on Monday put on hold a far-reaching regulatory plan requiring L.A. County cities to step up efforts to keep trash from entering the Los Angeles River, saying more environmental review was needed.


The cleanup plan, passed in 2001 by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, requires 43 cities in L.A. County to reduce trash flows into the Los Angeles River to zero by 2013. At the time, the board estimated that cities would have to spend nearly $1 billion to increase street sweeping, install trash catch basins and take other steps.


In early 2002, 22 cities filed suit against the water board, alleging that the board underestimated the ongoing financial impacts of the regulation and that it could cripple municipal finances in several cities.


At stake are not only the limitations on trash going into the L.A. River but also pending restrictions on metals and other contaminants.


On Monday, the Fourth District Appellate District Court in San Diego upheld the right of the water board to impose the regulations, but criticized the board’s “failure to consider the evidence of the impacts of construction and maintenance of pollution control devices… (The board also) did not study the need for additional street sweeping or related impacts on air quality, traffic and city long-term maintenance costs.”


The court ruling was praised by both sides.


“This is a significant victory for cities and taxpayers,” said Larry Forester, vice mayor of Signal Hill, one of the plaintiff cities. “All cities want to implement cost-effective programs designed to reduce trash in the local rivers and beaches, but we can’t afford the blank checks required by impractical regulations.”


Meanwhile, a board official said he was pleased with the overall court ruling.


“The court affirmed our ability to regulate trash going into the Los Angeles River,” said John Bishop, executive officer for the Regional Water Quality Control Board. “There is an issue on whether we had taken potential adverse impacts into account, but we see that as a technical fix.”


Bishop said it was too soon to tell whether the board would appeal the ruling; he said the board may take up the issue at its March meeting.


Should the board decide not to appeal, Bishop said, the agency would have to reissue its environmental impact report with the additional documentation included, a process that would take several months.

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Howard Fine
Howard Fine is a 23-year veteran of the Los Angeles Business Journal. He covers stories pertaining to healthcare, biomedicine, energy, engineering, construction, and infrastructure. He has won several awards, including Best Body of Work for a single reporter from the Alliance of Area Business Publishers and Distinguished Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists.

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