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Update: Legislators oppose Delta Tunnel project's inclusion in Governor's legislative package! [1]

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Date: 2023-06-22  

The battle to stop fast-tracking of the environmentally destructive Delta Tunnel heated up on Tuesday, June 20, when a bipartisan group of 10 legislators from the State Assembly and Senate signed on to a letter to Governor Gavin Newsom and leaders of the legislature to block Newsom’s controversial infrastructure bill package from advancing “as long as this project remains a part of the proposal.”

”We have been working diligently to get the proposed Infrastructure Package to a place that works for everybody, including my Delta community,” said Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua in a tweet with the letter attached. “That means protecting the Delta from a dangerous conveyance project that would disrupt its ecosystem and the surrounding regions.”

In addition to opposing the Delta Conveyance Project’s inclusion in the package, the legislators said they also continue to oppose the Fully Protected Species Reclassification language that would “unjustly ease the permitting process to take (kill) species around the Delta.”

The letter was signed by Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua, Assembly District 13; Senator Bill Dodd, Senate District 3; Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson, Assembly District 11; Assemblymember Stephanie Nguyen, Assembly District 10; Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, Assembly District 6; Assemblymember Damon Connolly, Assembly District 12; Assemblymember Timothy S. Grayson, Assembly District 15, Assemblymember Heath Flora, Assembly District 9; Assemblymember Josh Hoover, Assembly District 9; and Senator Brian Dahle, Senate District 1.

According to a broad coalition of environmental and environmental justice groups, the 11-bill package submitted by the governor at the last minute outside of the regular legislative process would eviscerate the landmark California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and other environmental laws to expedite the construction of the Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and other water and infrastructure projects.

The letter was sent at a time when salmon and other fish populations in California are in an unprecedented crisis. Salmon fishing is closed on the ocean and rivers in California this year, due to the collapse of the fall run-Chinook populations on the Sacramento and Klamath River Basins spurred by poor fishery and water flow management during a drought by the state and federal governments.

In addition to the collapse of fall-run Chinook populations, endangered spring run Chinook salmon and winter-run Chinook populations have suffered from major fish kills in recent years, due to the lack of sufficient cold water flows needed to sustain the populations.

Independent scientists and fish advocates point out that the Delta Tunnel, which would divert water from the Sacramento River at Hood before it is able to flow through the Delta, would only make the dire situation with salmon and other fish species even worse.

Delta fish species have collapsed in recent years, with endangered Delta smelt now becoming virtually extinct in the wild, with only the introduction of hatchery raised smelt keeping this key indicator species alive. No Delta smelt, once the most abundant fish species in the Delta, have been caught in the California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s fall midwater trawl survey over the past five years.

In the letter, the legislators wrote:

The Delta Counties Coalition, and over 100 environmental organizations, continue to be deeply concerned about provisions that expedite the controversial Delta Tunnel project. If built, the Tunnel would physically span and leave permanent scars across three Delta counties (Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Contra Costa). Beyond this, the effects of construction and the water diversions would be felt throughout Northern California and the San Francisco Bay. Bear in mind two entire historic towns will be leveled to make way for the intakes alone. This truncated process that is currently being pursued does not allow adequate time to vet how this may impact such a troublesome project and should be reviewed through the proper policy channels.”

As currently proposed, the Delta Tunnel should not be subject to the CEQA Judicial Streamlining portion of the package because:

∙ The Delta Tunnel Project is exponentially larger than any other project that has previously been subject to CEQA judicial streamlining. Rather than taking up a few blocks like a stadium, the Tunnel would span multiple counties and impose water and air quality concerns throughout the region. If the project is litigated under CEQA, the process should not be rushed. Setting an expedited judicial review timeline for this would obstruct potential litigants from presenting their claims and unnecessarily burden our courts which will need more than 270 days to consider the merits of such an unprecedented concept.

∙ Other versions of CEQA judicial streamlining have required projects to meet heightened standards , such as greenhouse gas (GHG) neutrality, meeting LEED building standards, creating highly skilled jobs at prevailing wages, and other “uplift” provisions to ensure that the project is worthy of “Leadership Project” designation benefits. Contrary to this, the Delta Tunnel Project would significantly increase GHG emissions over an estimated 14-year construction period through many disadvantaged communities. The operation of the Tunnel would also require mass amounts of energy in order to pump 6,000 cubic feet of water per second, resulting in more GHG emissions throughout the region.

We also continue to oppose the Fully Protected Species Reclassification language that would unjustly ease the permitting process to take (kill) species around the Delta. Fully Protected Species such as the iconic Greater Sandhill Crane are very sensitive to disturbance and susceptible to dying on new or enlarged power transmission lines that the Delta Tunnel Project would entail. Modifying protections of sensitive and endangered species must occur within the Legislative process with appropriate public and expert input.

Finally, the Delta Reform Act Streamlining provisions would authorize the Delta Stewardship Council to take final action on a proposal by a vote of the majority of councilmembers present at a meeting , rather than a majority of the Council. This effectively removes the guarantee that a vote by the Council reflects the majority opinion of the Council by allowing a final determination to be made by only a majority of the quorum.”

x We have been working diligently to get the proposed Infrastructure Package to a place that works for everybody, including my #Delta community. That means protecting the Delta from a dangerous conveyance project that would disrupt its ecosystem and the surrounding regions. pic.twitter.com/wm2gMyhQO3 — Assemblymember Carlos Villapudua (@AsmVillapudua) June 20, 2023

There is no doubt why Governor Newsom is trying to ram through his last minute legislative package to expedite the construction of the Delta Tunnel, Sites Reservoir and other water and infrastructure projects — to serve the wishes of his corporate agribusiness, building industry, real estate and other Big Money donors.

For example, Stewart and Lynda Resnick, billionaire agribusiness tycoons and major promoters of the Delta Tunnel and increased water pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, have donated a total of over $366,800 to Governor Gavin Newsom since 2018, including $250,000 to the campaign to fight the Governor’s recall.

These latest donations are not the only donations given to Newsom’s campaigns by the Resnicks since 2018. Newsom received a total of $755,198 in donations from agribusiness in the 2018 election cycle, based on the data from www.followthemoney.org. That figure includes a combined $116,800 from Stewart and Lynda Resnick and $58,400 from E.J. Gallo, combined with $579,998 in the agriculture donations category.

As the battle in the Legislature continues over the Delta Tunnel and infrastructure package continues, I will give provide updates here. I urge people to take action by telling the Governor we reject his secretive trailer bill effort, which excludes public input and evades the democratic process. There is a suggested phone/email script below, but I encourage you to use your own words.

TAKE ACTION: You can call the Governor’s office at 916-445-2841 or email through the portal at Contact the Governor. Additionally, please tell your elected representatives in the State Legislature to Keep CEQA Strong. Remind them that a strong CEQA is vital to protecting public health and the environment, advancing California’s urgent climate priorities, and giving disadvantaged communities a voice in local land use decisions. Please find your state legislators and write or call them today.

SUGGESTED SCRIPT

“I'm deeply concerned about Governor Newsom's infrastructure trailer bills, which include provisions that would greatly weaken the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). They would, as a practical matter, take away the ability of small nonprofits, including those that advocate for environmental justice and protecting clean air and water, to bring citizen suits to enforce environmental laws. Communities that are most heavily burdened by environmental injustice, which are often low-income, could find it impossible to enforce CEQA in court because of the increased costs that could be associated with gathering the administrative record. Endangered species, water in the Delta, and pollution-burdened communities would be damaged by many of the proposals in the Governor's infrastructure trailer bill package. Finally, I object to this process: there is no need to rush consideration of the Governor's drastic measures in a budget trailer bill instead of through the normal Legislative process.”

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/6/22/2176382/-Legislators-strongly-oppose-Delta-Tunnel-project-s-inclusion-in-Governor-s-legislative-package

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