ELR Citation: 50 ELR 20086
No(s). B294732 (Cal. Ct. App. Apr 7, 2020)

A California appellate court affirmed dismissal of a challenge to the South Coast Air Quality Management District's determination that an oil refinery project would reduce air pollution. An environmental group first argued the environmental impact report (EIR) was inadequate under the California Environmental Quality Act because it used a near-peak baseline rather than an average baseline. The court found that substantial evidence supported the District's decision to use the near-peak baseline, which followed EPA's practice of using the 98th percentile baseline approach to regulate air pollution at the national level, and thus deferred to the District's decision. The group next argued the District failed to obtain information about the pre-project composition of the crude oil refinery processes by merely finding that the crude oil input would remain within the refinery's "operating envelope." The court found that input crude oil composition was immaterial to assessing the project's environmental impact and thus that there was no need for the EIR to detail such information. Lastly, the group argued the EIR failed to disclose the existing volume of crude oil the refinery processes as a whole and the refinery's unused capacity. The court found these numbers were not material to the EIR's goal of evaluating the project's air pollution impact, and thus that the claim was invalid. It therefore affirmed dismissal.