More CA Environmental History

1
More CA Environmental History

• A wonderful bibliography on California
  environmental history can be found at
  http//www.cnr.berkeley.edu/departments/espm/env-h
  ist/ca-hist.html
• Please check out the excellent pictorial guide to
  Californias fragile environment in our librarys
  browsing collection
• Farewell, promised land waking from the
  California Dream. Robert Dawson and Gray Brechin,
  1999. University of California Press
• Photos from this book are on display at the
  Oakland Museum through September
• http//www.museumca.org/exhibit/exhib_awakening_ca
  lifornia_dream.html

2
California - The Paradox

• Studies of US States generally place California
  in first place when it comes to environmental
  policies - we generally have the first and the
  most strict of everything.
• The California legislature often enacts state
  versions of federal laws before the US Congress
  enacts theirs, and frequently sets higher
  standards.
• However, California frequently ranks low on the
  list, sometimes near the bottom and often no
  higher than 15th or 20th for its environmental
  conditions.

3
The Human Population

• California is the nations most populous state -
  some 35 million - and growing by almost 600,000
  every year (SF has 800,000).
• Over the last decade, Alameda County grew 13,
  Contra Costa 18, Orange County 18, Santa Clara
  12, and CA as a whole 14.
• Some cities and counties are growing at between
  10 and 40 per year.
• See the following press release for 1999-2000
  changes http//www.dof.ca.gov/html/Demograp/E-1pr
  ess.htm

4
Playing Catch Me If You Can

• California legislation may get a head start on
  the rest of the country with respect to
  environmental law-making and it may come out of
  the blocks more strongly, but it has a much
  tougher race to run.
• Environmental management in California is about
  playing catch up - e.g. smog laws have made CA
  cars the cleanest, but every year we have more
  and more cars, driving more and more miles.
• Additional pollution sources will frequently
  out-weigh or at least partially off-set per unit
  source reductions in magnitude of emissions.

5
Giant Concerns

• California cities still crowd the top 20 list of
  US worst air quality regions.
• California still uses about 10 of the worlds
  pesticides of all types.
• Every second, over a ton of garbage is still
  generated and sent to landfills.
• California still leads the nation in the number
  of endangered plants and animals at risk of
  extinction.

6
Environmental Laws - an evolutionary process

• US and hence CA environmental and resource
  management laws have gone through a
  metamorphosis.
• Resource exploitation phase (1800s, early 1900s)
  opening up the west to a wave of immigration and
  colonization.
• Resource management and control phase (early to
  mid-1900s) greater public control over the
  commons resources of the west forests,
  deserts, mineral rich lands, the coastline.
• Resource conservation phase (last 1/3 of 1900s to
  present) efforts to bring about more rational
  and cost-effective use of resources along with
  environmental protection and remediation.
• Future phase sustainability or accelarated
  depletion?

7
CA Environment and Resources

• Californias resource management is administered
  by the California Resources Agency with
  responsibilities for managing state land, water,
  wildlife, parks, minerals and historic sites for
  public benefit.
• A key online source of information on
  California's Environmental and Resource Statute's
  maintained by CERES is http//ceres.ca.gov/topic/
  env_law/
• Californias Environmental Protection is
  administered by the California Environmental
  Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) with their mission
  being to restore, protect and enhance the
  environment, to ensure public health,
  environmental quality and economic vitality.
  Associated agencies include
• CA Air Resources Board, CA Department of
  Pesticide Regulation, CA Department of Toxic
  Substances Control, CA Integrated Waste
  Management Board, CA Office of Environmental
  Health Hazard Assessment and CA State Water
  Resources Control Board (see for brief mission
  statements - http//www.calepa.ca.gov/About/missio
  n.htm) 

8
National Environmental Policy Act

• The National Environmental Policy Act (1969)
  established the broad national framework for
  protecting our environment. NEPA's basic policy
  is to assure that all branches of government give
  proper consideration to the environment prior to
  undertaking any major federal action that
  significantly affects the environment.
• NEPA requirements are invoked when airports,
  buildings, military complexes, highways, parkland
  purchases, and other federal activities are
  proposed.
• Environmental Assessments (EA's) and
  Environmental Impact Statements (EIS's), which
  are assessments of the likelihood of impacts from
  alternative courses of action, are required .

9
California Environmental Quality Act

• The specific goals of CEQA (1970) are for
  California's public agencies to
• identify the significant environmental effects of
  their actions and, either
• avoid those significant environmental effects,
  where feasible or
• mitigate those significant environmental effects,
  where feasible.
• Where effects are judged significant, a project
  can be allowed to proceed if it can be shown that
  those effects can be avoided or mitigated by
  proposed changes to the project, and if not an
  Environmental Impact Report must be prepared and
  made available to the public.

10
Endangered Species Act

• The Endangered Species Act (1973) provides a
  program for the conservation of threatened and
  endangered plants and animals and the habitats in
  which they are found. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife
  Service of the Department of the Interior
  maintains the list of 632 endangered species (326
  are plants) and 190 threatened species (78 are
  plants).
• Species include birds, insects, fish, reptiles,
  mammals, crustaceans, flowers, grasses, and
  trees. Anyone can petition FWS to include a
  species on this list. The law prohibits any
  action, administrative or real, that results in a
  "taking" of a listed species, or adversely
  affects habitat.

11
California Endangered Species Act

• The California Endangered Species Act (CESA)
  (Fish Game Code 2050, et seq.) generally
  parallels the main provisions of the Federal
  Endangered Species Act and is administered by the
  California Department of Fish and Game (DFG).
•  Under CESA the term "endangered species" is
  defined as a species of plant, fish, or wildlife
  which is "in serious danger of becoming extinct
  throughout all, or a significant portion of its
  range" and is limited to species or subspecies
  native to California.

12
Clean Water Act

• The Clean Water Act is a 1977 amendment to the
  Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1972,
  which set the basic structure for regulating
  discharges of pollutants to waters of the United
  States.
• The law gave EPA the authority to set effluent
  standards on an industry basis (technology-based)
  and continued the requirements to set water
  quality standards for all contaminants in surface
  waters.
• The CWA makes it unlawful for any person to
  discharge any pollutant from a point source into
  navigable waters unless a permit (NPDES) is
  obtained under the Act.
• The act now uses a watershed framework for
  setting standards and controlling non-point
  source pollution.

13
Porter-Cologne Act

• This Act (1969), California Water Code 13000 et
  seq., provides for aesthetic values, fish and
  wildlife preservation, water reclamation, and
  comprehensive planning and regulation to attain
  the highest "reasonable" water quality in
  consideration of conflicting demands.
• The Act requires the Regional Water Quality
  Control Board to establish water quality
  objectives and adopt water quality control plans
  (commonly referred to as Basin Plans).
• It is the CA equivalent of the Clean Water Act.

14
Coastal Zone Management Act

• This Act (1972) establishes an extensive federal
  grant program within the Department of Commerce
  to encourage coastal states to develop and
  implement coastal zone management programs.
  Activities that affect coastal zones must be
  consistent with approved state programs. The Act
  also establishes a national estuarine reserve
  system.
• Among other things, programs should provide for
  protection of natural resources, including
  wetlands, flood plains, estuaries, beaches,
  dunes, barrier islands, coral reefs, and fish and
  wildlife and their habitat

15
California Coastal Act

• The basic goals of the California Coastal Act
  (1976), Pub. Res. Code 3000 et seq., are to
  protect, maintain, and where feasible, enhance
  and restore the coastal environment including
  coastal estuaries, watersheds, wildlife habitats
  and recreational areas ensure orderly and
  balanced utilization and conservation of coastal
  zone resources maximize public recreational
  opportunities consistent with sound resources
  conservation principals and ensure priority for
  coastal-dependent development over other
  development on the coast.
• The California Coastal Act established the
  California Coastal Commission which is vested
  with both planning and regulatory authority.

16
Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act

• This Act (1960) declares that the purposes of the
  national forest include outdoor recreation,
  range, timber, watershed and fish and wildlife.
  The Act directs the Secretary of Agriculture to
  administer national forest renewable surface
  resources for multiple use and sustained yield.
• Multiple use management of all the renewable
  surface resources of the national forests to meet
  the needs of the American people.
• Sustained yield achievement and maintenance of
  a high-level regular output of the renewable
  resources of the national forest without
  impairment of the land's productivity.

17
California Forest Practices Act

• The State Department of Forestry is mandated by
  the Z'Berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act (FPA) of
  1973 to ensure that timber harvesting on the 7.4
  million acres of California's non-federal
  commercial forestlands will achieve maximum
  sustained timber productivity,
  protect soil resources
  and water quality, and safeguard recreation,
  wildlife, rangelands, fisheries, and aesthetic
  enjoyment.
• The FPA requires submission and approval of a
  Timber Harvesting Plan (THP) prior to starting
  most timber operations.

18
Safe Drinking Water Act

• The Safe Drinking Water Act (1974) was
  established to protect the quality of drinking
  water in the U.S. This law focuses on all waters
  actually or potentially designed for drinking
  use, whether from above ground or underground
  sources.
• The Act authorized the EPA to establish safe
  standards of purity and required all owners or
  operators of public water systems to comply with
  primary (health-related) standards. State
  governments, which assume this power from EPA,
  also encourage attainment of secondary standards
  (nuisance-related).

19
California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic
Enforcement Act

• This 1986 law (Prop 65) had two major provisions
• That no person in the course of doing business
  shall knowingly discharge or release a chemical
  known to the state to cause cancer or
  reproductive toxicity into water or onto or into
  land where such chemical passes or probably will
  pass into any source of drinking water,
  notwithstanding any other provision.
• No person in the course of doing business shall
  knowingly and intentionally expose any individual
  to a chemical known to the state to cause cancer
  or reproductive toxicity without first giving
  clear and reasonable warning.
• It strengthened both the Federal CWA and SDWA.

20
Federal Agencies

• Almost half of California is public property,
  with 45 or so belonging to the nation as a whole
  i.e. federal lands (Palmer, 1993).
• Thus Federal land management policy is extremely
  important making the Department of Interior a key
  player in California environmental quality.
• Key agencies and their regulations thus include
  the National Forest Service, Bureau of Land
  Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, National
  Parks Service, and so forth.