Meyers Nave Obtains Major CEQA Victory for the Port of Los Angeles

Last week, the Port of Los Angeles was victorious in a CEQA case challenging an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the China Shipping Terminal Project.

Meyers Nave prepared the EIR for the Port which was challenged by the City of Riverside, alleging that the Project would significantly impact at-grade rail crossings 70 miles from the Port. In the ruling issued last week, the superior court rejected Riverside’s CEQA claims and denied the petition in its entirety.

The China Shipping Terminal Project includes a new wharf, lengthened berths, 10 additional shore-side cranes, expansion and development of 142 acres of terminal backlands and other terminal infrastructure to expand port operations. The Project is projected to create over 4,500 permanent jobs, and result in annual tax revenues of $85 million from operations.

The current EIR is the second attempt by the Port of Los Angeles to gain approval for the China Shipping Terminal Project. Prior to Meyers Nave’s representation of the Port, a previous EIR was rejected by the court of appeal and the Port agreed to approximately $35 million in enforced reparations to the environment. Meyers Nave was later engaged to represent the Port in binding arbitration and succeeded in setting aside $20 million in settlement obligations.

For more information about this case, environmental impact reports or CEQA, please contact Amrit Kulkarni at 800.464.3559.