Court Rules for Clean Air, Reverses Bush Administration Rollbacks

Children everywhere will breathe easier, and large pollution sources will be held accountable, thanks to a recent, landmark victory for clean air.  On August 19, 2008, the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations won a major court decision on the requirements for pollution monitoring under Title V of the Clean Air Act. The decision issued by the DC Circuit Court reversed a Bush administration regulation that tried to strip away the power of states and localities to require rigorous pollution monitoring from coal plants, refineries and similar industrial polluters.  The court found that Title V of the Clean Air Act authorizes state and local agencies to supplement EPA permits with more rigorous monitoring requirements than are required by the federal EPA.  (Some federal EPA permits require only one pollution test over the entire 50-year life of a facility!).  The court victory will ensure that polluters comply with the law and that polluters clean up their act and prove it. 

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Federal Judge Decision Saves Prized Michigan Wilderness from Drilling

A prized piece of Michigan’s wilderness has been saved, thanks to the joint efforts of the Sierra Club and the Anglers of Au Sable.  On July 11, these two grassroots organizations won their case against the U.S. Forest Service, overturning a U.S. Forest Service decision to allow Savoy Energy to drill near the Au Sable River in Michigan.  This decision by U.S. District Judge David Lawson will protect the environmentally sensitive area in the Huron-Manistee National Forest which  is  located only three-tenths of a mile from Mason Tract, a popular area for hunting and outdoor recreation.

Judge Lawson, in his opinion, disagreed with the government’s assessment that the drilling would have no significant environmental impact on the area.  He also criticized the agency for only considering Savoy’s suggested drilling sites when making their decision and for never considering the possibility of rejecting the operation completely. “There are other places Savoy could drill with far less impact on the Mason Tract,” says Mackinac Chapter Director Anne Woiwode., “but the Forest Service failed to consider alternate locations. They ignored thousands of comments […] calling for protection of this world-class trout stream.”

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CA Supreme Court Rules to Increase Protection for Endangered Species and Old Growth Forests

After a long, hard-fought battle, Sierra Club and the Environmental Protection Information Center (EPIC) win a landmark California Supreme Court case, which will result in greater protection of CA’s endangered species and industrial forestlands.

On July 17, 2008, California Supreme Court Justice Carlos Moreno ruled that Pacific Lumber – a timber company that owns approximately 200,000 forested acres in the Humboldt area - failed to submit a Sustained Yield Plan (SYP) for its logging activities, as required by the Headwaters Agreement. The company initially entered into the agreement with the state in 1996 to settle matters of litigation and public controversy around logging of old-growth forests. The Court ruled that the state must approve adequate sustained yield plans to ensure timber companies have enough resources to protect wildlife and maintain the local economy.

Significantly, the Court also ruled that the Department of Fish and Games was wrong to agree to the “No surprises” provisions originally outlined in the agreement, as they limited Pacific Lumbar’s obligation to mitigate certain impacts on endangered animal and plant species, including the effects of natural disasters. The Court decision requires that state agencies be vigilant in issuing permits to log on CA forestlands that provide habitat for endangered species – timber companies must take action to mitigate all impacts on endangered species and protect those that may become endangered in the future.