California AG Intervened in Litigation over Environmental Impacts of Port of Los Angeles Terminal

NOVEMBER 4, 2020

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra intervened in litigation against the City of Los Angeles and related local government entities over their failure to implement measures to mitigate the environmental impacts of the Port of Los Angeles China Shipping Terminal, as required by the project’s California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) supplemental environmental impact report (EIR). The litigation was initiated by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and alleged that the EIR violated CEQA by “relying on an inadequate and misleading project description; failing to adequately evaluate the Project’s significant adverse environmental impacts; adopting unenforceable mitigation measures; relying on an inadequate mitigation monitoring and reporting program; failing to adopt all feasible mitigation measures,” among other issues. The litigation also alleged that the City of Los Angeles and related entities “failed to enforce the implementation of mitigation measures adopted under the environmental impact report.” Many of the mitigation measures at issue were related to air pollution emitted at the terminal, which disproportionately harms nearby environmental justice communities.