Governor Gavin Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 40, the Community First Coal Review Act, into law, adding a new hurdle that developers will have to clear to build a coal terminal in West Oakland.
The law, which was introduced this summer by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, will require anyone who wants to build a large-volume bulk coal facility to first complete an environmental impact report that describes in detail the operations and potential environmental impacts.
Bonta’s law was designed to apply to the proposed marine export terminal that the developer Oakland Bulk Oversized Terminal has been trying to build in West Oakland for over a decade. The developer emerged as the victor in a protracted legal battle with the city after a judge ruled that Oakland breached its agreement with OBOT. The judge granted the company the right to proceed with construction on the former Oakland Army Base.
The developers have received a helping hand from the Trump administration. In June, the president announced he would use the Defense Production Act to provide hundreds of millions of dollars to coal facilities around the country, including $75 million to the Oakland terminal. More recently, several Utah counties have advanced a plan to invest $45 million into the project. Utah and a few other coal-producing states have expressed interest in tapping into Asian markets through ports on the West Coast.
According to a press release, the proposed facility would handle approximately 13 million tons of coal each year, passing through the East Bay on a rail corridor near I-80. Opponents of the project claim that coal dust will blow off the trains and expose residents to fine particulate matter, which is linked to various health issues, including asthma and cancer.
Over the last few months, activists and lawmakers have tried to find alternative ways to stall the project, including throwing up new regulatory barriers.
Activists with the No Coal in Oakland coalition said today that the law will compel the developers to fully disclose all of the environmental impacts their project could have, and to take steps to mitigate these.
“West Oakland will not become a sacrifice zone for the fossil fuel industry,” Veronica Eady, executive director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, said in a press release. “Our neighbors have fought against industrial pollution and corporate greed for decades, so we’re not about to let a major polluter come into our neighborhood without studying their impact, putting mitigations in place, and bringing community members to the table around decisions that affect their lives.”
“Governor Newsom has taken an important step to protect Californians from toxic coal pollution and the Trump administration’s dirty coal project,” Ada Walder, senior state legislative representative for Earthjustice, said in a press statement. Walder’s organization co-sponsored the legislation.
In a press release, Bonta characterized her law as a victory over the Trump administration.
“If Donald Trump wants to send new coal into our communities, we get an honest, current, science-based look at what it will do to our air and our health,” Bonta said. “Today many of the beautiful people of Oakland, Alameda, and Emeryville are breathing a sigh of relief.”
Phil Tagami, the developer who has been pursuing the terminal project, did not immediately respond to an interview request.
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