Communities for a Better Environment and Center for Biological Diversity filed two lawsuits in California Superior Court alleging that Contra Costa County failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in connection with the repurposing of refineries in the City of Rodeo and the City of Martinez as biofuel refineries. The organizations contended that the County’s environmental impact report improperly used prior oil and gas refinery operations as the baseline for its CEQA reviews and failed to disclose the types of feedstocks would be used. The organizations alleged that without information about types of feedstocks, where the feedstocks would come from, and how much would be processed, the analysis of environmental harms such as climate change was “speculative guesswork.” The petition also alleged that the CEQA review failed to analyze the combined impacts of the two projects, which were located 10 miles from each other. In addition, the petition alleged that the review obscured impacts—including climate change-related impacts—from biofuel crop production.

Challenge to environmental review in connection with repurposing of refinery in City of Martinez as a biofuel refinery.

Communities for a Better Environment v. County of Contra Costa

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CEQA Lawsuits Challenged Biofuel Refineries in California

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CEQA Lawsuits Challenged Biofuel Refineries in California

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Renewable energy

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Finance