In a decades-long dispute, environmental justice and community groups have used CEQA to address life-threatening air pollution from the 142-acre China Shipping Container Terminal at the Port of Los Angeles. In 2019, these groups challenged a supplemental EIR for the continued operation of the project and called for the implementation of a series of air quality mitigation measures, such as requiring ships to lower their emissions while docked at the terminal and limiting the speed of ships approaching the terminal.
As petitioners alleged, the EIR failed to ensure that these measures were legally enforceable; it also omitted other feasible mitigation measures like a pilot program for electric yard tractors. In 2022, the trial court ruled for petitioners on these issues. However, because the court merely ordered the Port to set aside its supplemental EIR and did not require it to take any action to enforce the mitigation, the groups appealed.
In 2023, the Court of Appeal ruled for petitioners, declaring that the trial court “mistakenly limited its options for fashioning a remedy that reinforces CEQA’s environmental purposes.” Subsequently, the trial court issued a landmark order requiring that the lease between the Port and China Shipping include enforceable measures to improve air quality and safeguard public health. The CEQA process thus protects communities from nearby industrial projects.