Unlike many federal environmental laws, most environmental statutes in California do not contain private enforcement provisions authorizing environmental organizations to enforce these statutes, on behalf of the public, against other private actors. The Unfair Business Competition Law is the sole remedy in these situations. It has been invoked to:

• Redress flagrant pollution by oil companies in the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Stop false advertising about the safety of raw milk.
• Require cleanup of the massive underground oil spill at Avila Beach.
• Force oil companies to pay for polluting drinking water in communities across the state with the gasoline additive MTBE.
• Remove lead from drinking water fixtures.
• Require a factory to cease poisoning its workforce of Latina and Asian women with a solvent used under improper ventilation.
• Remove contaminants from bottled water.
• Take arsenic out of children's play structures and picnic tables.
• Reduce toxic emissions from industrial facilities.
• Penalize a resort for illegally cutting down trees to make a ski run.

By Charles Laurence (in Las Vegas 23/05/2004)

The bulldozer roars, and bites into a patch of green grass in Las Vegas, the city once hailed for making the desert bloom. It is ripping up five acres of football pitches, formerly the pride of the gambling city's Ed Fountain Park, because a five-year drought has left the grass of parks and gardens parched. A workman removes turf at Las Vegas apartments as the water crisis deepens. Out in the sprawling suburbs of America's fastest-growing city, Jerry Edgerton is one of hundreds of householders who have accepted an unusual offer from the water authority: $1.56 for every square foot of turf they dig up. Instead of a lush front lawn he now looks out on to a brown, manicured version of the desert.

It is the end of what was once the suburban dream. City councils across America's arid western states are being forced to introduce "desert landscaping" around their buildings. Swimming pools are banned from new housing estates, and in Las Vegas only the big, glittery casinos of the "Strip" are still allowed to keep their fountains gushing. The water authority has budgeted $30 million this year to pay people like Mr Edgerton — enough to dig up the equivalent of almost a football pitch each day. The Ed Fountain Park playing fields are now surfaced in a scratchy plastic turf called Progreen Xtreme.

"Grass has got to go. It has to be replaced by desert landscaping, artificial turf, or simply by concrete," said Clair Lewis, the city's
landscape architect. The dream of a green and leafy Las Vegas is the latest casualty of the "water wars" of the American West, which have raged since cowboys pitted themselves against the architects of the Los Angeles boom early in the 20th century.

The recent drought has combined with record growth in the southwestern "sun belt" to produce a crisis for the region's reservoirs. Patricia Mulroy, director of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said: "Time is running out, and conservation — even pulling up all the turf — is just tinkering at the edges."

For several winters running there has been below-average snowfall in the Rocky Mountains, producing only half the water "run off" on which the modern West depends. In Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada and Southern California, 30 million people depend on water from the Colorado River. "There is no more water. The drought that couldn't happen is here." said Ms Mulroy.

Water has always been fought over in the West, from the early pioneers who drove Indians and Mexicans from the river banks to cowboys who feuded over watering holes on the high plains. In the 1930s, Americans built the Hoover Dam, an engineering wonder of the age, to control the Colorado's flow and help the desert bloom. Two vast reservoirs, each more than 100 miles long, were created to supply the region's growing cities: Lake Mead in Nevada, and Lake Powell in Arizona. Where travellers once died of thirst, families now race in speedboats.

This summer, however, Lake Powell is only 40 per cent full, and Lake Mead is down to 60 per cent. A dirty white ring of newly-exposed shoreline is evidence of the 100 foot fall in the water level. Soon the dam's hydro-electricity turbines will be out of commission, and Lake Powell will drain almost dry.

Bob Gripentog, 53, owner of a boat harbour on Lake Mead, said: "When I was born, there were 50,000 people in the Las Vegas valley. Now there are 1.6 million, and we issue 6,000 new driving licences a month. I fear we have forgotten that we are living in a desert."

Hasty efforts are under way to educate newcomers in water use. In Albuquerque, New Mexico, the city council has promised to build a new recreation centre in whichever neighbourhood removes most lawns. In Nevada and Arizona, golf courses are being redesigned with grass limited to the greens. "People are being forced to forget the old sylvan, green ideal of beauty," said Oscar Goodman, the Las Vegas mayor.

"Long term, we have to keep growing, but it is going to be a different growth. To put it bluntly, in this town we are going to drink what we flush." Ms Mulroy warns that even the best conservation plans in the cities will not be enough, and she and Mayor Goodman expect a new round of "water wars" among the competing states which draw on the Colorado River, and between cities and farmers.

Proposed Rule Fails to Protect Migratory Birds from Military

The Bush administration has proposed a rule that would free the Department of Defense (DoD) from federal environmental regulations that protect migratory birds, and allow the military to make its own determination of whether its actions were causing harm to wildlife.

"It's the fox guarding the henhouse," Peter Galvin, conservation director for the Center for Biological Diversity, told BushGreenwatch. "When are they ever going to find on their own that their activities are causing a problem?"

The US Fish and Wildlife Service rule, published in the June 2 Federal Register, allows for the "incidental taking" of migratory birds by the DoD during military readiness training. While it also requires DoD to develop "appropriate conservation measures" if proposed military activities would "have a significant adverse effect on a population of migratory bird species of concern," it allows DoD to determine whether any such adverse effects are occurring.

The DoD has asserted that adhering to environmental protection laws compromises military training and readiness. However, a General Accounting Office report in 2002 found that the Pentagon could not substantiate this claim.

The bigger question, said Galvin, is why the DoD is allowed to operate under different rules in the first place. The Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA), enacted in 1918, covers the United States' commitment to four international treaties — with Canada, Mexico, Japan and Russia — to protect numerous migratory birds and their habitats. But in 2002, Congress granted the DoD a temporary, one-year exemption from the MBTA under the premise that environmental regulations interfered with the military’s ability to ready itself for battle.

During that year, the administration was to come up with a plan to minimize the killing of migratory birds during military training exercises. The newly published rule was due out six months ago -- last December.

Should DoD be exempt at all?" asked Galvin. "We think the answer is no. This rule is merely a euphemism for gutting environmental protections."

Until the new rule takes effect, the DoD will continue to benefit from its previous, blanket exemption.

The military’s push for an exemption stems from a case in which the US military conducted bombing practice on an island in the Pacific that is a key nesting site for migratory birds, including frigatebirds, red-footed boobies and Pacific golden plovers. The public interest law firm Earthjustice successfully argued in federal court that the bombing exercises violated the MBTA.

The case further raised the ire of conservationists when the Pentagon argued in a legal brief that conservationists actually benefit from the military’s killing of birds because it helps make some species more rare -- and "bird watchers get more enjoyment spotting a rare bird than they do spotting a common one."

President Bush has since nominated the attorney who made that argument, William Haynes II, to a seat on a federal appellate court.

Saddlecreek/Crest Hearing Was Postponed Again

The hearing on SaddleCrest/Creek was cancelled on June 7 and continued to June 21, 2004 at 1:30 pm. We expect Judge Bauer to render his decision on the 21st. The court is located at the Complex Civil Center, 751 West Santa Ana Blvd, Department CX103. Map is found at: http://www.occourts.org/locations/annexmap.asp.

SaddleCreek/Crest, as approved by the Board of Supervisors, would permanently change our beautiful rural canyons and make it easier for future developers to skirt the FTSP (Foothill Trabuco Specific Plan). In approving these projects, the Board of Supervisors gave its stamp of approval to 14 pages of amendments to the FTSP, allowing the developer to directly remove hundreds of ancient oak trees, displace millions of cubic yards of earth, destroy habitat and movement corridors for wildlife, replace scenic natural vistas with manufactured slopes, pavement, and buildings, and overload Santiago Canyon and Live Oak Canyon Roads. Please try to attend this important hearing.

Opposition to Hunting of Wildlife and Discharge of Firearms in the Angeles National Forest

The Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club recommends that the California Regional Conservation Committee recommend to the Club Board of Directors that the Sierra Club ask the Supervisor of the Angeles National Forest to place a notice in the Federal Register that the Angeles National Forest is closed to the hunting of wildlife and the discharge of firearms.

This Electronic Conservation Committee Newsletter is sent free, automatically, on email to all activists who hold any of the following positions in the Angeles Chapter or its entities: Executive Committee Member; Entity Chair or Conservation Chair, Political, and Newsletter Editor, Conservation Subcommittee or Task Force Chair. In addition, many activists throughout the Chapter and state receive it free by email, either by request or by position.  Distribution is approximately 350 by email, and 45 by postal hard copy. If you no longer hold the Club office with the automatic pull and wish to continue to receive it, email ivesico@earthlink.net. If we do not have your email address - please let us know. If you wish (and tell us), it will be tagged "private" and not printed or given out.
     The Newsletter (without upcoming resolutions) is available on the Chapter website at http://angeles.sierraclub.org/home.html

     Paper postal copy is available ($20/year payable Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club) for those who are technically challenged or simply don't want to be bothered. To receive The Newsletter by first class mail, send a donation of $20 to (almost) cover printing/mailing costs to Conservation Newsletter, 112 Harvard Ave PMB 297, Claremont CA 91711.

National's GoldBook provides information to chapters and groups on the differences between 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) funds; how to utilize and access charitable 501(c)(3) funds; how to get a project approved; fundraising plus much, much, more material on the Sierra Club. It is now available at the Clubhouse website. Go to  http://www.clubhouse.sierraclub.org/; follow the instructions for obtaining the password. The GoldBook can be found by clicking on A - Z List of Materials box, then on "G" under A-Z List of Documents, then on GoldBook, Educational Project Guidelines.

The California/Nevada Directory (RedBook) is now available online. It also includes the Handbook of Sierra Club California Bylaws and Standing Rules (GreenBook). Contact Lori Ives for the online address and password. Send your membership number, your position in the Club, and your reason for needing the information. The paper edition ($20) will soon be available on special order.

E-Mail Lists: There are four important discussion lists for Angeles environmental activists:
Angeles Chapter Cons Listserve mailto:<angeles-conservation@lists.sierraclub.org>and

Angeles-Alerts Listserve angeles-alerts@lists.sierraclub.org

California/Nevada Listserve calif-activists@lists.sierraclub.org (moderated list for announcements)

California/Nevada Listserve calif-activists-forum@lists.sierraclub.org (unmoderated discussion list)

Gordon LaBedz/Chair 562-494-6368
Bonnie Sharpe/Vice Chair/Grants Chair, Jay Matchett/Treasurer, Jeff Yann/Secretary, Robin Ives/Newsletter
Judy Anderson, John Ulloth, Roy van de Hoek, Rudy Vietmeier
Lori Ives, Publisher/Webmaster/Circulation (non-voting)
Johanna Zetterberg and Rachel Myers/Conservation Coordinators (non-voting)

Motions should be submitted in advance, together with objective background material and supporting and opposing arguments, both to the Committee Chair and Newsletter Editor, for distribution with the agenda. Other motions will be postponed for action at a later meeting unless the motion is submitted in writing and unless the Committee votes an exception to ordinary procedure. Motions needing further action by the Angeles Chapter ExComm or some higher level of the Sierra Club should start out: "The Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee recommends that the Sierra Club... To find out more about voting requirements and representatives, consult the Angeles Chapter website Conservation Committee

 

Angeles Chapter Conservation Committee

 

AGENDA — Wednesday, June 16, 2004

7:30 Introductions

7:35 Review of Agenda
7:40 Staff Reports
7:50 The Proposed Tejon Ranch Development
8:15 Air Pollution — Bringing our Committees Together (Harbor, Air, Transportation)
8:40 Resolution: Opposition to Use of Firearms in the Angeles Forest
9:00 Adjourn

Next Meeting is Wednesday, July 21