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77-411: The Dos Cuadras field is one of many underneath the ocean bottom offshore of Southern California, most of which were discovered in the 1960s and 1970s. All of the field is outside of the 3-mile geographic limit , making it subject to U.S. government rather than California regulation. The four platforms are arranged in a line running from east to west, spaced one-half mile apart, with Platform Hillhouse on

154-473: A CatEx prepared by a different agency to support a decision not to prepare an EA or EIS for a planned action; however, it may draw from another agency's experience with a comparable CatEx in seeking to substantiate a CatEx of its own. The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) created Categorical Exclusions to reduce paperwork (40 CFR § 1500.4(p)) and reduce delay (40 CFR § 1500.5(k)) so agencies can better concentrate on actions that do have significant effects on

231-627: A case is moot when the issues presented are no longer "live" or the parties lack a legally cognizable interest in the outcome. See E. Borchard, Declaratory 497*497 Judgments 35-37 (2d ed. 1941). Where one of the several issues presented becomes moot, the remaining live issues supply the constitutional requirement of a case or controversy. See United Public Workers v. Mitchell, 330 U. S. 75, 86-94 (1947); 6A J. Moore, Federal Practice ¶ 57.13 (2d ed. 1966). In early NEPA cases (for example Arlington Coalition on Transportation v. Volpe , 458 F.2d 1323 (4th Cir. 1972) page 1331) courts considered projects were beyond

308-417: A categorical exclusion instead of requiring an Environmental Impact Statement. EAs are concise public documents that include the need for a proposal, a list of alternatives, and a list of agencies and persons consulted in the proposal's drafting. The purpose of an EA is to determine the significance of the proposal's environmental outcomes and to look at alternatives of achieving the agency's objectives. An EA

385-622: A federal action, and in such a case, it requires NEPA-compliant analysis performance. NEPA covers a vast array of federal agency actions, but the act does not apply to state action where there is a complete absence of federal influence or funding. Exemptions and exclusions are also present within NEPA's guidelines, including specific federal projects detailed in legislation and EPA exemptions. Exemptions also apply when compliance with other environmental laws require an impact analysis similar to that mandated by NEPA. Such laws can include but are not limited to

462-404: A federal agency. Court decisions have expanded the requirement for NEPA-related environmental studies to include actions where permits issued by a federal agency are required regardless of whether federal funds are spent to implement the action, to include actions that are entirely funded and managed by private-sector entities where a federal permit is required. This legal interpretation is based on

539-406: A nation. The United States Constitution does not specify whether ownership of these lands rests with the federal government or with individual states. Originally little commercial value was attached to tidelands, so ownership was never firmly established, but the coastal states generally proceeded as if they were the owners. Some states, such as Mississippi , directly administer these lands under

616-402: A new controlled access freeway or a highway project of four or more lanes on a new location significantly affect the environment and therefore require an Environmental Impact Statement. According to 23 C.F.R. § 771.115(b) and § 771.117(c) Class II actions such as construction of bicycle and pedestrian lanes, planning, noise barriers, and landscaping normally do not individually or cumulatively have

693-458: A newspaper publisher, objected enough to the expansion of the Summerland field in the 1890s to organize a late-night derrick-destroying party near the present-day Miramar Hotel – but the spill intensified the local hostility to oil drilling to the point that few new platforms were installed, and none at all within the 3-mile limit. After the disaster and cleanup, Unocal continued drilling wells from

770-522: A significant effect on the human environment and includes the EA or a summary of the EA that supports the FONSI determination. If it is determined that a proposed federal action does not fall within a designated CatEx or does not qualify for a FONSI, then the responsible agency must prepare an EIS. The purpose of an EIS is to help public officials make informed decisions based on the relevant environmental consequences and

847-486: A significant environmental effect and therefore may be categorically exempt unless there are unusual circumstances as provided in 23 C.F.R. § 771.117(b). According to 23 C.F.R. § 771.117(c) all other actions are Class III actions requiring the preparation of an Environmental Assessment to determine the appropriate environmental document required. A Categorical Exclusion (CatEx) is a list of actions an agency has determined do not individually or cumulatively significantly affect

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924-512: A state could establish the existence of a boundary in judicial proceedings. The Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act gave the United States paramount rights from the point where state ownership leaves off to the point where international waters begin. The 1953 acts did not end all controversy, however. The Submerged Lands Act, in particular, was so badly drawn up that state taxes and leasing fees had to be put in escrow , pending final resolution of

1001-474: Is also folded into anticlinal traps. In the Dos Cuadras field, the oil-bearing strata are at depths ranging from 500 to 4,200 feet below the sea floor, and individual strata are separated by impermeable layers of shaly material. Oil from the field averages API gravity of 25, with a range from 18 to 34, which classifies as medium-grade crude. Reservoir pressure began at 750 psi, sufficient for easy pumping in

1078-459: Is covered under NEPA, there are three levels of analysis that a federal agency must undertake to comply with the law. These three levels include the preparation of a Categorical Exclusion (CatEx); an environmental assessment (EA); and either a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI), or, alternatively, the preparation and drafting of an environmental impact statement (EIS). Executive Order No. 11514 as amended by Executive Order No. 11991 directs

1155-414: Is known as an EIS. NEPA is an action-forcing piece of legislation, meaning the act itself does not carry any criminal or civil sanctions, and therefore, all enforcement of NEPA must occur through the court system. In practice, a project is required to meet NEPA guidelines when a federal agency provides any portion of financing for the project. However, review of a project by a federal employee can be viewed as

1232-428: Is made without the informed environmental consideration that NEPA requires, the harm that NEPA intends to prevent has been suffered. * * * the harm at stake is a harm to the environment, but the harm consists of the added risk to the environment that takes place when governmental decisionmakers make up their minds without having before them an analysis (with prior public comment) of the likely effects of their decision upon

1309-711: Is part of the larger Rincon Anticlinal Trend, which includes the Carpinteria Offshore Oil Field to the east, as well as the Rincon , San Miguelito , and Ventura fields onshore. Oil is found in two formations, the Pliocene -age Pico Formation and the underlying Miocene Santa Margarita Formation . By far the most productive unit is the Repetto Sands portion of the Pico Formation. Only one well has produced from

1386-458: Is supposed to provide sufficient evidence and analysis for determining whether to prepare an EIS, aid an agency's compliance with NEPA when no EIS is necessary, and it facilitates preparing an EIS when one is necessary. Most agency procedures do not require public involvement prior to finalizing an EA document; however, agencies advise that a public comment period is considered at the draft EA stage. EAs need to be of sufficient length to ensure that

1463-463: Is the only request for relief in a NEPA complaint then logically construction cannot be stopped after completion. The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals in stopping construction of a seaport on Sears Island, Maine pointed out that harm in NEPA cases is harm to the environment as stated in Sierra Club v. Marsh , 872 F.2d 497 (1st Cir. 1989) at page 500: Thus, when a decision to which NEPA obligations attach

1540-595: The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) to issue "regulations to Federal agencies for the implementation of the procedural provisions of" NEPA and for Federal agencies to "comply with the regulations issued by the Council". Importantly the Supreme Court of the United States finds "that CEQ regulations are entitled to substantial deference." The Council on Environmental Quality 's NEPA regulation 40 C.F.R. § 1501.4 specifies

1617-613: The Gulf of Mexico began production in 1938 in shallow water one mile (1.6 km) off the Louisiana coast; in 1947, a second well began to operate off the coast of Terrebonne Parish , also in Louisiana. United States v. California was filed by the Federal government against California in 1946. On 23 June 1947, the Supreme Court of the United States decided against California. The decision meant

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1694-652: The Santa Barbara oil spill in early 1969 occurred just as the NEPA legislation was being drafted in Congress. A fire on the Cuyahoga River was publicized in a Time magazine article shortly after the unanimous vote in the Senate. Another major driver for enacting NEPA was the 1960s highway revolts , a series of protests in many American cities that occurred in response to the bulldozing of many communities and ecosystems during

1771-460: The Thirteen Colonies , there was no explicit retention of state sovereignty and the federal government had long asserted its own sovereignty over their tidelands. The value of tidelands increased when it became known that vast oil and natural gas deposits lay within their limits and that modern technology made retrieval of these minerals commercially profitable. The first offshore oil well in

1848-523: The United States Department of Justice settled the last of the tidelands controversies by ruling that the 1953 act gave control to the states of islands near the shore that were created after the states had been admitted to the Union. National Environmental Policy Act The National Environmental Policy Act ( NEPA ) is a United States environmental law designed to promote the enhancement of

1925-583: The public trust doctrine . The question arose for federal nations whether the tidelands for formerly independent coastal states had been ceded to the federal union on admission, or retained. The admission of the former Republic of Texas as a state in the United States in 1845 stipulated that its tidelands remained the territory of Texas . This has been an issue for oil and natural gas leases and federally funded development that affects such tidelands. For other states that were formerly independent, such as

2002-480: The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill as an example why agencies need to periodically review their Categorical Exclusions "in light of evolving or changing conditions that might present new or different environmental impacts or risks." Streamlining the NEPA process with categorical exclusions have been criticized, for example allowing BP's exploration plan that resulted in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to use

2079-515: The CatEx, an EA must be prepared. Actions similar to the proposed one may have been found to be environmentally neutral in previous EAs and their implementation, and so an agency may amend their implementing regulations to include the action as a CatEx. In this case, the drafted agency procedures are published in the Federal Register and a public comment period is required. An agency cannot rely on

2156-525: The Clean Air Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act , Safe Drinking Water Act , and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act . The NEPA process is the evaluation of the relevant environmental effects of a federal project or action mandated by NEPA. This process begins when an agency develops a proposal addressing a need to take action. If it is determined that the proposed action

2233-602: The M-143 pipeline to the Ventura pump station, and then to Los Angeles area refineries by way of a TOSCO pipeline in the Santa Clara River Valley. The ocean bottom is relatively flat in the vicinity of the field, and all platforms are in a water depth of approximately 190 feet. The Dos Cuadras field is a faulted anticlinal structure which plunges at both ends, thereby forming an ideal trap for hydrocarbon accumulation. It

2310-452: The NEPA analysis information before making a decision as follows: "No agency possesses discretion whether to comply with procedural requirements such as NEPA. The relevant information provided by a NEPA analysis needs to be available to the public and the people who play a role in the decision-making process. This process includes the President." "And Congress has not delegated to the President

2387-605: The Nation; and to establish a Council on Environmental Quality. NEPA contains three sections: the first section outlines national environmental policies and goals; the second establishes provisions for federal agencies to enforce such policies and goals; and the third establishes the CEQ in the Executive Office of the President . The purpose of NEPA is to ensure that environmental factors are weighted equally when compared to other factors in

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2464-571: The Santa Margarita; all the others are in the Repetto Sands. The Repetto Sands unit consists of layers of mudstone, siltstone, and shale, and due to its depositional environment the general grain size and porosity increase towards the east. It is the same formation which is richly productive in the oil fields of the Los Angeles Basin, such as the Salt Lake and Beverly Hills fields, where it

2541-414: The action will have a significant impact on the human or natural environment or if the action is considered an environmentally controversial issue. The responsible decision-maker is required to review the final EIS before reaching a final decision regarding the course of action to be taken. The decision-maker must weigh the potential environmental impacts along with other pertinent considerations in reaching

2618-406: The alternatives available. The drafting of an EIS includes public party, outside party, and other federal agency input concerning its preparation. These groups subsequently comment on the draft EIS. An EIS is required to describe the environmental impacts of the proposed action, any adverse environmental impacts that cannot be avoided should the proposal be implemented, the reasonable alternatives to

2695-586: The basis of the environmental assessment not to prepare a statement. In addition to complying with the Council on Environmental Quality 's NEPA regulations in 40 C.F.R. § 1500 through § 1508, each Federal agency is required by 40 C.F.R. § 1507.3(a) to adopt supplemental procedures for their agency's implementation of NEPA. For example, the Federal Highway Administration 's supplemental NEPA procedures are in 23 C.F.R. §771.101 through § 771.131. According to 23 C.F.R. § 771.115(a) Class I actions such as

2772-422: The beginning of 2008, there were 145 producing oil wells distributed between the four platforms. 34°20′48″N 119°37′06″W  /  34.3466°N 119.6184°W  / 34.3466; -119.6184 Tidelands Tidelands are the territory between the tide line of sea coasts , and lands lying under the sea beyond the low-water limit of the tide, considered within the territorial waters of

2849-646: The case of Texas, the claim to special boundary limits had been recognized by Congress in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848, which ended the Mexican–American War . The ruling for Florida was based on congressional approval of Florida's claims when the state re-entered the Union after the American Civil War . Although the other Gulf states objected to what they considered preferential treatment for Florida and Texas , no new legislation resulted. In 1963,

2926-468: The construction of the Interstate Highway System . In addition, as the contribution of Indiana political scientist Lynton Caldwell shows, concern for the environmental recklessness of international development programs in the 1950s and 1960s also drove the thinking behind NEPA. In 2015 a United States District Court provided a documented concise background of NEPA being created to protect

3003-417: The decision as to the route of any pipeline." The preamble to NEPA reads: To declare national policy which will encourage productive and enjoyable harmony between man and his environment; to promote efforts which will prevent or eliminate damage to the environment and biosphere and stimulate the health and welfare of man; to enrich the understanding of the ecological systems and natural resources important to

3080-589: The decision-making process undertaken by federal agencies and to establish a national environmental policy. The act also promotes the CEQ to advise the President in the preparation of an annual report on the progress of federal agencies in implementing NEPA. It also established the CEQ to advise the president on environmental policy and the state of the environment. NEPA establishes this national environmental policy by requiring federal agencies to prepare an environmental impact statement to accompany reports and recommendations for Congressional funding. This impact statement

3157-661: The early years of field development. Oil has been known in the Santa Barbara Channel since prehistoric times; the native Chumash people used tar from the numerous natural seeps as a sealant, and tar regularly washes up on the beaches from the offshore seeps. The world's first offshore oil drilling took place at the Summerland Oil Field in 1896, only five miles north of the Dos Cuadras field. Those wells were put in from piers in shallow water. Technology for drilling in deeper water from platforms did not come about until

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3234-551: The east, and Platforms "A", "B", and "C" in order to the west. A pair of undersea pipelines, one for oil and one for gas, connect the four platforms to the shore near La Conchita . Oil and gas produced on the Dos Cuadras field are pumped about 12 miles east to the Rincon Oil & Gas Processing Plant on a hilltop adjacent to the Rincon Oil Field , about a mile southeast of La Conchita. From there oil travels down to Ventura along

3311-462: The entire proposed action and not be used for a segment or an interdependent part of a larger proposed action. Examples of Exceptional Circumstances that prevent use of Categorical Exclusions include where there are "potential effects on protected species or habitat, or on historic properties listed or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places." The CEQ specifically cites

3388-535: The environment as trustees for succeeding generations. NEPA's procedural requirements do not apply to the President , Congress , or the Federal courts since they are not a "Federal agency" by definition. However, a Federal agency taking action under authority ordered by the President may be a final agency action subject to NEPA's procedural requirements. NEPA grew out of the increased public appreciation and concern for

3465-440: The environment from actions involving the Federal government as follows: Following nearly a century of rapid economic expansion, population growth, industrialization, and urbanization, it had become clear by the late 1960s that American progress had an environmental cost. A congressional investigation into the matter yielded myriad evidence indicating a gross mismanagement of the country's environment and resources, most notably at

3542-470: The environment that developed during the 1960s, amid increased industrialization, urban and suburban growth, and pollution across the United States. During this time, environmental interest group efforts and the growing public awareness resulting from Rachel Carson 's 1962 book Silent Spring led to support for the 1964 Wilderness Act and subsequent legislation (including the 1970 Clean Air Act and 1972 Clean Water Act ). The public outrage in reaction to

3619-445: The environment unless the NEPA complaint seeks removal and remediation in the request for relief as a "live" issue, see dissenting opinion in West v. Secretary of Dept. of Transp ., 206 F.3d 920 (9th Cir. 2000) page 931: He did not seek remediation; he wanted the interchange stopped. It was built. Therefore, there is no justiciable controversy pertaining to Phase I. If stopping construction

3696-404: The environment. This court in Sierra Club v. Marsh on page 504 also found since there is an instinct not to tear down projects, it is appropriate to issue preliminary injunctions early in NEPA cases: The way that harm arises may well have to do with the psychology of decisionmakers, and perhaps a more deeply rooted human psychological instinct not to tear down projects once they are built. But

3773-569: The environment. It created new laws requiring U.S. federal government agencies to evaluate the environmental impacts of their actions and decisions, and it established the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in December 1969 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon on January 1, 1970. To date, more than 100 nations around the world have enacted national environmental policies modeled after NEPA. NEPA requires Federal agencies to evaluate

3850-414: The environmental effects of their actions. NEPA's most significant outcome was the requirement that all executive Federal agencies prepare environmental assessments (EAs) and environmental impact statements (EISs). These reports state the potential environmental effects of proposed Federal agency actions. Further, U.S. Congress recognizes that each person has a responsibility to preserve and enhance

3927-401: The fifth well was catastrophic, and resulted in one of the most notorious environmental disasters in United States history. Because the drillers were using an insufficient length of protective casing, when the well hit a high-pressure zone in the field, it blew out, spewing enormous quantities of oil and gas into the water from the sea floor. While crews were able to cap the wellhead and relieve

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4004-462: The final decision. A record of decision (ROD) is issued which records the agency's final decision. A federal study from 2013-2018 found that a full NEPA review took an average of 4.5 years. The Administrative Procedure Act at 5 U.S.C. § 702 provides the right for a person injured by a NEPA issue to carry out a NEPA case in court as: A person suffering legal wrong because of agency action, or adversely affected or aggrieved by agency action within

4081-446: The fullest extent possible: ... (d) Encourage and facilitate public involvement in decisions which affect the quality of the human environment." A U.S. District Court describes the essential requirement for public input on a draft EA as follows: The Ninth Circuit has read these regulations to mean that "the public must be given an opportunity to comment on draft EAs and EISs." Anderson v. Evans , 371 F.3d 475, 487 (9th Cir.2004). Because

4158-553: The hands of the federal government. As a result, lawmakers and the general public alike called for an urgent and sweeping policy of environmental protection. Congress answered these calls by enacting NEPA, which has served as "our basic national charter for protection of the environment" since 1970. With NEPA, Congress mandated that federal agencies take a "hard look" at the environmental consequences of their actions and to engage all practicable measures to prevent environmental harm when engaging in agency action. Furthermore, to remedy

4235-525: The human environment. In 2003 the National Environmental Policy Task Force found agencies "indicated some confusion about the level of analysis and documentation required to use an approved categorical exclusion". In 2010 CEQ issued guidance on the existing regulations for Categorical Exclusions consistent with NEPA and past CEQ guidance. This CEQ 2010 guidance acknowledges, "Since Federal agencies began using categorical exclusions in

4312-453: The late 1970s, the number and scope of categorically excluded activities have expanded significantly. Today, categorical exclusions are the most frequently employed method of complying with NEPA, underscoring the need for this guidance on the promulgation and use of categorical exclusions." This CEQ 2010 guidance goes on to caution, "If used inappropriately, categorical exclusions can thwart NEPA's environmental stewardship goals, by compromising

4389-642: The loss of untold millions of dollars in taxes and leasing fees by the states. The states whose tidelands were thought to contain minerals objected strongly to the decision. The issue became important in the 1952 presidential campaign . The Republican candidate, Dwight D. Eisenhower , pledged legislation that would restore the tidelands to the states. Eisenhower won the election, and, in 1953, Congress passed two acts that fulfilled his campaign promise. The Submerged Lands Act extended state ownership to three geographical miles (almost exactly 3 nautical miles or 5.6 kilometres) from their actual coastline, or further if

4466-561: The meaning of a relevant statute, is entitled to judicial review thereof. By 5 U.S.C. § 706 the U.S. Congress provides for courts to make equitable remedies such as an injunction to compel agency action withheld or to set aside agency actions that are arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion, or otherwise not in accordance with law. However, a court case becomes moot when no practical ("live") issues remain as stated in Powell v. McCormack , 395 U. S. 486 (1969) pages 496 – 497: Simply stated,

4543-511: The middle of the 20th century. While the existence of the field was suspected in the 1950s, the field was not discovered until 1968. Unocal and several other oil companies took out leases on the field in February 1968, and put in the first well, and the first platform, that same year. Data regarding the four platforms are as follows: Unocal succeeded in installing the first four wells from its Platform A by January 1969, but their attempt to install

4620-424: The numerous lawsuits that emerged. The Supreme Court finally decided the issue on 31 May 1960, when it ruled that Mississippi, Alabama , and Louisiana owned the rights to the offshore lands for a distance of three geographical miles (3 nautical miles or 5.6 kilometres), and Texas and Florida owned rights to tidelands within three marine leagues (9 nautical miles or 17 kilometres), from their coastline boundaries. In

4697-612: The operations of the four platforms directly, and in 2004 passed them on to Plains Exploration & Production on that firm's acquisition of Nuevo. Plains only ran the platforms for a little more than four months, selling the operation to DCOR in March 2005. As of 2009, DCOR retains operational control of the Dos Cuadras field. According to the Minerals Management Service (MMS), the field retains about 11.4 million barrels of oil in reserves recoverable with current technology. At

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4774-520: The pressure there, the adjacent geologic formations were not strong enough to contain the pressure, and lacking a steel protective casing, the reservoir fluid and gas ripped through the sedimentary sand layers directly on the ocean floor; the result was the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill of 80,000 to 100,000 barrels, which eventually coated over 40 miles of southern California coastline with oil, an ecological disaster which killed upward of 10,000 birds and numerous sea mammals and other creatures. Following

4851-510: The process to determine whether to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) as follows: In determining whether to prepare an environmental impact statement the Federal agency shall: (a) Determine under its procedures supplementing these regulations (described in § 1507.3) whether the proposal is one which: (b) If the proposed action is not covered by paragraph (a) of this section, prepare an environmental assessment (§ 1508.9). The agency shall involve environmental agencies, applicants, and

4928-403: The proposed action, the relationship between local short-term uses of man's environment along with the maintenance and enhancement of long-term productivity, and any irreversible and irretrievable commitments of resources that would be involved in the proposed action. An agency may undertake the drafting of an EIS without the initial drafting of the EA. This may happen if the agency believes that

5005-411: The public, to the extent practicable, in preparing assessments required by § 1508.9(a)(1). (c) Based on the environmental assessment make its determination whether to prepare an environmental impact statement. (d) Commence the scoping process (§ 1501.7), if the agency will prepare an environmental impact statement. (e) Prepare a finding of no significant impact (§ 1508.13), if the agency determines on

5082-403: The quality and transparency of agency environmental review and decisionmaking, as well as compromising the opportunity for meaningful public participation and review." Indeed, the expanded use of Categorical Exclusions undermines NEPA by reducing environmental analysis and public comment, thereby increasing NEPA litigation. The CEQ 2010 guidance emphasizes that Categorical Exclusions must capture

5159-412: The quality of the human environment (40 C.F.R. §1508.4). If a proposed action is included in an agency's CatEx, the agency must make sure that no extraordinary circumstances might cause the proposed action to affect the environment. Extraordinary circumstances include effects on endangered species, protected cultural sites, and wetlands. If the proposed action is not included in the description provided in

5236-419: The rationale that obtaining a permit from a federal agency requires one or more federal employees (or contractors in some instances) to process and approve a permit application, inherently resulting in federal funds being expended to support the proposed action, even if no federal funds are directly allocated to finance the particular action. A U.S. District Court describes the need for even the President to have

5313-656: The reach of the courts (moot) if that project had progressed to where the costs of altering the project would outweigh benefits. Nevertheless, by 1981 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recognized some projects might proceed with construction in an attempt to evade the requirements of NEPA. Therefore, the court cautioned that even completed projects could be ordered to be removed as stated in Columbia Basin Land Protection Assoc. v. Schlesinger , 643 F.2d 585 (9th Cir.1981) page 591 note 1: The building of

5390-523: The regulations "must mean something," the Circuit has held that an agency's failure to obtain any public input on a draft EA "violates these regulations." Citizens for Better Forestry v. U.S. Dept. of Agriculture , 341 F.3d 961, 970 (9th Cir.2003). If no substantial effects on the environment are found after investigation and the drafting of an EA, the agency must produce a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). This document explains why an action will not have

5467-421: The requirements of NEPA, build its structures before a case gets to court, and then hide behind the mootness doctrine. Such a result is not acceptable. Thus, courts have the equitable power to prevent those who use bad faith construction to evade U.S. Congress policies such as NEPA. Despite a court recognizing the use of this mootness tactic, a court still might not order removal of construction and remediation of

5544-523: The reservoir pressure declines, and in the absence of secondary recovery technologies (such as water or gas injection). In 1985, Unocal tried waterflooding, and then polymer flooding, to improve production rates, and then in 1990 they began a horizontal drilling program to reach reservoirs impractical to exploit any other way. Unocal continued to produce from the field until they sold all of their California production assets in 1996 to Nuevo Energy, as operated by Torch Energy Advisors. In 1997 Nuevo took over

5621-781: The spill, the Secretary of the Interior ended all offshore oil drilling in the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) until measures for better oversight were put in place, which happened in 1970 with the passage of the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and in California, with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Opposition to oil drilling was nothing new in Santa Barbara – local residents, led by

5698-540: The towers has not made the case hypothetical or abstract — the towers still cross the fields of the Landowners, continually obstructing their irrigation systems — and this Court has the power to decide if they may stay or if they may have to be removed. * * * If the fact that the towers are built and operating were enough to make the case nonjusticiable, as the dissent states, then the BPA (and all similar entities) could merely ignore

5775-423: The two platforms that were already in place ("A" and "B", began producing from them in March 1969, and installed two more platforms ("C" and "Hillhouse"). Production from the field peaked quickly, reaching a maximum in 1971, during which year almost 28 million barrels of oil were extracted. The field experienced a gradual decline in production afterwards, approximately 8 percent per year, as is typical of fields when

5852-425: The underlying decision to prepare an EIS is legitimate, but they should not attempt to substitute an EIS. However, the Council on Environmental Quality regulation 40 C.F.R. § 1500.1(b) states: "NEPA procedures must insure that environmental information is available to public officials and citizens before decisions are made and before actions are taken." Likewise, 40 C.F.R. § 1500.2 states: "Federal agencies shall to

5929-413: The widespread mistrust of the federal agencies, Congress incorporated within NEPA "action-forcing" provisions which require agencies to follow specific procedures in order to accomplish any federal project. Since its passage, NEPA has been applied to any major project, whether on a federal, state, or local level, that involves federal funding, work performed by the federal government, or permits issued by

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