Communities for a Better Environment v. Bay Area Air Quality Management District

A judge ruled from the bench on September 5, 2014, that the lawsuit was barred by the statute of limitations.

Environmental organizations filed a lawsuit in California Superior Court challenging the granting by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) of a permit to Kinder Morgan to conduct crude-by-rail operations. The organizations allege that the Kinder Morgan operations will bring North Dakotan Bakken crude oil to Bay Area refineries in the same types of rail cars that were involved in the explosive train derailment in Québec in July 2013. They allege that the BAAQMD permit was issued in a “clandestine” manner “without any notice or public process whatsoever.” They claim that BAAQMD “eschewed” its CEQA obligations by designating the project as “ministerial” and thereby failed to consider a number of impacts, including significant increases in greenhouse gas emissions.