1

Filed 1/12/18

CERTIFIED FOR PARTIAL PUBLICATION*

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

CITY OF LONG BEACH et al.,

Plaintiffs and Respondents;

XAVIER BECERRA, as Attorney General, etc.,

Intervener and Respondent,

v.

CITY OF LOS ANGELES et al.,

Defendants and Appellants;

BNSF RAILWAY COMPANY,

Real Party in Interest and Appellant.

A148993

(Contra Costa County

Super. Ct. No. CIVMSN140300)

Defendants City of Los Angeles et al.1and real party in interest BNSF Railway 

Company (BNSF) appeal a judgment granting consolidated petitions by government and 

public interest entities2to set aside certification of the final environmental impact report 

(FEIR) relating to, and approval of, the proposed construction by BNSF of a new railyard 

approximately four miles from the Port of Los Angeles.

3

Environmental analysis of the 

 

*

Pursuant to California Rules of Court, rules 8.1105(b) and 8.1110, this opinion is 

certified for publication with the exception of parts 5, 6, 8, 10, and 11 of the Discussion.

1 Other named defendants include the City Council of the City of Los Angeles, the Port 

of Los Angeles, and the City of Los Angeles Harbor Department (harbor department). 

Defendants are collectively referred to as the City of Los Angeles.

2

Plaintiffs include City of Long Beach, South Coast Air Quality Management District, 

East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, Coalition for Clean Air, Century

Villages at Cabrillo, Natural Resource Defense Council, Inc., Coalition for a safe 

Environment, Apostolic Faith Center, Community Dreams, California Kids IAQ, Long 

Beach Unified School District, Fast Lane Transportation, Inc., California Cartage 

Company, Inc., Three Rivers Trucking, Inc., and San Pedro Forklift, Inc. 

3 Amicus curiae briefs have been filed by California Communities Against Toxics, 

California Safe Schools, Communities for a Better Environment, Del Amo Action 
2

project dates back to at least 2005. The administrative record exceeds 200,000 pages, the 

FEIR exceeds 5,000 pages, and the trial court’s opinions dealing with the multitude of 

issues raised below exceed 200 pages.

Appellants challenge the trial court’s conclusion that the FEIR is deficient because 

it fails to analyze the impact of rendering capacity at BNSF’s existing Hobart yard in the 

City of Commerce, some 24 miles from the port, available to handle additional traffic, 

arguing that the project description in the FEIR is misleading and that the FEIR fails to 

adequately analyze the indirect and growth-inducing impacts of the project. Appellants 

also dispute the trial court’s conclusions that the analysis of the project’s impacts on 

noise, traffic, air quality and greenhouse gas emissions is inadequate. Preliminarily, 

appellants also contend the trial court erred in concluding that the Attorney General, who 

intervened in the petition filed by the City of Long Beach, was entitled to assert 

objections to the sufficiency of the FEIR that were not raised by any party in the 

administrative proceedings.

We conclude that the exhaustion requirement that generally apply to parties 

contesting the adequacy of an environmental impact report do not apply to the Attorney 

General and that the FEIR fails to adequately consider air quality impacts of the project, 

particularly impacts to ambient air pollutant concentrations and cumulative impacts of 

such pollutant concentrations. With respect to all other claimed deficiencies, we conclude 

that the analysis in the FEIR satisfies the requirements of the California Environmental 

Quality Act (CEQA) (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.).

4

 

Committee, Mothers of East Los Angeles, NAACP Wilmington-San Pedro, the Regents 

of the University of California, the Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy and Jobs, and 

the Association of American Railroads in support of appellants.

4 All statutory references are to the Public Resources Code unless otherwise noted. The 

administrative regulations adopted to implement CEQA, codified in title 14, 

section 15000 et seq. of the California Code of Regulations, are referred to as CEQA 

Guidelines. In interpreting CEQA, we accord the CEQA Guidelines great weight except 

where they are clearly unauthorized or erroneous. (Citizens of Goleta Valley v. Board of 

Supervisors (1990) 52 Cal.3d 553, 564, fn. 3.)
3

Factual and Procedural History

Together, the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles (collectively ports) handle up 

to 64 percent of all oceanic shipping on the West Coast and about 35 percent of such

shipping in the United States. As described in the FEIR, “The majority of goods coming 

into the ports arrive in shipping containers transported on container ships. Once the 

containers have been off-loaded from ships onto a marine terminal, they are sorted based 

on destination and transported out of the terminal by truck or train. Containers may be 

placed on trains inside the terminal (on-dock rail), they may be loaded onto truck chassis 

(trailers designed to hold containers) to be hauled to their final destination, or they may 

be loaded onto truck chassis to be drayed to a railyard outside the terminal (near-dock or 

off-dock rail).”

As of 2008, there were nine operating “on-dock railyards” at the ports. “Typically, 

trains built on-dock consist of railcars all bound for the same destination, although 

exceptions do occur. Most cargo that cannot fill a single-destination train on-dock is 

drayed to an off-dock or near-dock railyard to be combined with cargo from other marine 

terminals headed for the same destination because those railyard facilities can provide 

space to hold containers from multiple terminals and assemble them into blocks for 

common destinations.” “Containers handled at the on-dock railyards leave the port area 

via the Alameda Corridor, a 20-mile long, multiple-track rail system with no at-grade (i.e. 

street level) crossings that links the rail facilities of the ports with the transcontinental rail 

network . . . near downtown Los Angeles.”

Union Pacific operates the only “near-dock railyard” presently servicing the ports. 

Union Pacific’s near-dock facility is approximately five miles north of the ports. 

Containers from the ports are transported to the near-dock railyard via trucks on local 

roads. Trains departing the near-dock railyard utilize the “Alameda Corridor” to connect 

with the transcontinental rail network.

Currently, there are two “off-dock railyards” that handle the majority of containers 

from the ports: BNSF’s Hobart yard and Union Pacific’s East Los Angeles yard. Both 

railyards are located near downtown Los Angeles, approximately 24 miles north of the 
4

ports. Containers are transported by truck, generally via the I-710 freeway, from the ports 

to the off-dock railyards.

In September 2005, the harbor department released a notice of preparation and 

initial study for BNSF’s proposal to construct a 153-acre near-dock railyard 

approximately four miles from the ports. The proposed project is referred to as the 

Southern California International Gateway Project or “SCIG.” On October 31, 2005, a 

supplemental notice of preparation was issued.

Nearly six years later, in September 2011, the harbor department released a draft

environmental impact report (DEIR) for the project. Based on comments received during 

the public comment period, the harbor department revised major portions of the DEIR 

and on September 27, 2012, the harbor department released a recirculated DEIR (RDEIR) 

for a 45-day public review period.

On February 22, 2013, the harbor department issued the FEIR. The FEIR

describes the proposed project as consisting of “the construction and operation of a new 

near-dock intermodal rail facility by BNSF that would handle containerized cargo 

transported through the ports.” 5The project would have the capacity to handle an 

estimated 1.5 million intermodal containers per year at full operation and would generate

approximately 2 million truck trips between the facility and port terminals per year.

6

“The 

primary objective and fundamental purpose of the proposed project is to provide an 

additional near-dock intermodal rail facility serving the San Pedro Bay Port marine 

 

5 Cargo that comes through the ports is referred to as either “intermodal” or

“transloaded.” Shipment of intermodal cargo is made under a single ocean carrier bill of 

lading. The cargo is transferred in an intact shipping container directly from the port to 

the railyard. Transloaded cargo has been transferred from 40-foot shipping containers to 

53-foot domestic containers at a warehouse before arriving at the railyard.

6

The FEIR uses different measures to quantify cargo capacity at the railyards. Twentyfoot equivalent units (TEUs) are used to measure container volume handled at individual 

railyards. Capacity is also quantified in terms of projected “lifts,” referring to “the 

movement of a container from a truck to a train or vice versa.” At full operation, the 

project would have the capacity to handle a maximum of 2.8 million TEUs, or 1.5 million 

lifts.
5

terminals that would meet current and anticipated containerized cargo demands, provide 

shippers with comparable intermodal options, incorporate advanced environmental 

controls, and help convert existing and future truck transport into rail transport, thereby 

providing air quality and transportation benefits.” The FEIR explains, “The need for 

additional rail facilities to support current and expected cargo volumes, particularly 

intermodal container cargo was identified in several recent studies. As discussed in those 

studies, even after maximizing the potential on-dock rail yards, the demand for 

intermodal rail service creates a shortfall in railyard capacity. Those studies specifically 

identified a need for additional near-dock intermodal capacity to complement and 

supplement existing, planned, and potential on-dock facilities.” 

At present, BNSF processes intermodal, transloaded and domestic cargo at the 

Hobart yard. The FEIR indicates that upon completion of the new railyard, BNSF intends 

to transfer 95 percent of its intermodal business at Hobart to SCIG. “The proposed 

project would eliminate a portion . . . of existing and future intermodal truck trips 

between the ports and [Hobart] . . . by diverting them to the proposed SCIG facility.” 

Stated differently, the estimated 2 million truck trips between the port and the proposed 

new railyard “would replace truck trips that would otherwise go to the [Hobart] yard in 

East Los Angeles, a journey of 24 miles each way.”

BNSF’s domestic and transloaded cargo business will remain at the Hobart yard. 

The FEIR does not analyze the level of activity that will remain at Hobart upon 

construction of the new railyard or the impact of additional traffic that may then be 

handled at Hobart. The document explains, “Whether or not SCIG is built, domestic 

traffic (i.e., traffic from non-Port sources) and transloaded cargos to Hobart will likely 

continue to grow at a rate related to market demand in the United States economy. . . .

Because that growth is not dependent on SCIG being built, it is not appropriate to 

evaluate that growth as part of SCIG, or any truck trips not going to SCIG.”

The FEIR concludes that the project would have significant unavoidable 

environmental impacts on, among other things, air quality, noise, greenhouse gas 

emissions and traffic.
6

On March 7, 2013, the board of harbor commissioners certified the FEIR, adopted 

a statement of overriding considerations, and approved the project. The resolution was 

appealed to the Los Angeles City Council which, on May 8, 2013, affirmed the 

certification and approval.

In June 2013, seven petitions for writs of mandate were filed in the Los Angeles 

County Superior Court, challenging the certification and approval. The petitions were 

consolidated for all purposes and later transferred to the Contra Costa County Superior 

Court. In May 2014, pursuant to a stipulation, the Attorney General intervened in the

action filed by the City of Long Beach. 

On March 30, 2016, the trial court issued its opinion and order on the consolidated 

petitions. The court found the FEIR’s project description and analysis of indirect impacts 

and growth-inducing impacts to be deficient because they fail to discuss the reasonably 

foreseeable indirect impacts from freeing capacity at the existing Hobart yard. The court 

also held that the FEIR’s analysis of noise, traffic, air quality, greenhouse gases and

cumulative environmental impacts and of mitigation measures are inadequate. Thereafter, 

the court issued a peremptory writ of mandate directing the City of Los Angeles to set 

aside its certification of the FEIR and approval of the project and to comply with CEQA.

The City of Los Angeles and BNSF timely filed notices of appeal in the 

consolidated proceedings.

Discussion

1. Standard of Review

“In reviewing compliance with CEQA, we review the agency's action, not the trial 

court's decision. [Citation.] In doing so, our ‘inquiry “shall extend only to whether there 

was a prejudicial abuse of discretion.” [Citation.]’ [Citation.] Abuse of discretion is 

established ‘if the agency has not proceeded in a manner required by law or if the 

determination or decision is not supported by substantial evidence.’ [Citation.]

Substantial evidence in this context means ‘enough relevant information and reasonable 

inferences from this information that a fair argument can be made to support a 
7

conclusion, even though other conclusions might also be reached.’ ” (Communities for a 

Better Environment v. City of Richmond (2010) 184 Cal.App.4th 70, 80.)

2. Exhaustion of Administrative Remedies

“ ‘Exhaustion of administrative remedies is a jurisdictional prerequisite to 

maintenance of a CEQA action.’ [Citation.] Subdivision (a) of CEQA section 21177 sets 

forth the exhaustion requirement here. That requirement is satisfied if ‘the alleged 

grounds for noncompliance with [CEQA] were presented . . . by any person during the 

public comment period provided by [CEQA] or prior to the close of the public hearing on 

the project before the issuance of the notice of determination.’ ” (State Water Resources 

Control Bd. Cases (2006) 136 Cal.App.4th 674, 791-792, fn. & italics omitted.) “ ‘The 

rationale for exhaustion is that the agency “ ‘is entitled to learn the contentions of 

interested parties before litigation is instituted. If [plaintiffs] have previously sought 

administrative relief . . . the [agency] will have had its opportunity to act and to render 

litigation unnecessary, if it had chosen to do so.’ ” [Citation.]’ [Citations.] [¶] To advance 

the exhaustion doctrine’s purpose ‘[t]he “exact issue” must have been presented to the 

administrative agency. . . .’ [Citation.] While ‘ “less specificity is required to preserve an 

issue for appeal in an administrative proceeding than in a judicial proceeding” . . . 

‘generalized environmental comments at public hearings,’ ‘relatively . . . bland and 

general references to environmental matters’ [citation], or ‘isolated and unelaborated 

comment[s]’ [citation] will not suffice. The same is true for ‘ “[g]eneral objections to 

project approval. . . .” [Citations.]’ [Citation.] ‘ “[T]he objections must be sufficiently 

specific so that the agency has the opportunity to evaluate and respond to them.” ’ ” 

(Sierra Club v. City of Orange (2008) 163 Cal.App.4th 523, 535-536.) “An appellate 

court employs a de novo standard of review when determining whether the exhaustion of 

administrative remedies doctrine applies.” (Id. at p. 536.)

Appellants contend the court lacked jurisdiction to consider certain objections to 

the sufficiency of the FEIR asserted by the Attorney General because those objections
8

were not made by any party in the administrative proceedings.7The Attorney General 

argues that he is exempt from the exhaustion requirement under section 21177, 

subdivision (d).8(Maintain Our Desert Environment v. Town of Apple Valley (2004) 124 

Cal.App.4th 430, 433 [Under section 21177, subdivision (d), “the Attorney General of 

California need not comply with the exhaustion of administrative remedies 

requirement.”].) Appellants argue that the exemption in subdivision (d) applies only to 

identity exhaustion under subdivision (b) and not to issue exhaustion under subdivision 

(a); that is, that the Attorney General may assert objections that were raised by someone 

during the administrative proceedings, even if not by the Attorney General, but may not 

assert objections that no party raised during those proceedings. Excusing the Attorney 

General from the issue exhaustion requirement does create the possibility that an 

environmental impact report may be held inadequate for a deficiency that was never 

brought to the agency’s attention and which the agency had no opportunity to correct. 

Nevertheless, we agree with the Attorney General and the court in Maintain Our Desert 

Environment v. Town of Apple Valley, supra, 124 Cal.App.4th 430 that the plain language 

 

7 Appellants assert that the following contentions were not presented in the administrative 

proceedings: (1) The FEIR failed to analyze single-event maximum noise impacts using 

the Lmax noise metric as required by the City of Long Beach’s noise ordinance; (2) The 

FEIR’s density calculations misstate the number of trucks that will utilize San Gabriel 

Avenue; and (3) The FEIR does not explain whether the non-cancer hazard index levels 

refer to the combined hazard indices for the project and other past, present, and 

reasonably foreseeable future projects.

8

Section 21177 provides in relevant part: “(a) An action or proceeding shall not be 

brought pursuant to Section 21167 unless the alleged grounds for noncompliance with 

this division were presented to the public agency orally or in writing by any person 

during the public comment period provided by this division or prior to the close of the 

public hearing on the project before the issuance of the notice of determination. [¶] (b) A 

person shall not maintain an action or proceeding unless that person objected to the 

approval of the project orally or in writing during the public comment period provided by 

this division or prior to the close of the public hearing on the project before the filing of 

notice of determination pursuant to Sections 21108 and 21152. [¶] . . . [¶] (d) This section 

does not apply to the Attorney General.”
9

of section 21177, subdivision (d), exempts the Attorney General from all statutory 

exhaustion requirements. 

Contrary to appellants’ argument, the legislative history does not create any 

ambiguity in the statutory language, let alone establish with certainty that the Legislature 

intended subdivision (d) to exempt the Attorney General only from identity exhaustion 

under subdivision (b).9To the contrary, the unqualified exemption is consistent with 

other statutory provisions that recognize the Attorney General’s unique authority to 

protect the environment of the State of California. (See Gov. Code, § 12600, subd. (b)

[“It is in the public interest to provide the people of the State of California through the 

Attorney General with adequate remedy to protect the natural resources of the State of 

California from pollution, impairment, or destruction.”]; Gov. Code, § 12606 [“The 

Attorney General shall be permitted to intervene in any judicial or administrative 

proceeding in which facts are alleged concerning pollution or adverse environmental 

effects which could affect the public generally.”]; § 21167.7 [requiring every person who 

files an action challenging the decision of a public agency on the grounds of 

noncompliance with CEQA to provide copies of their pleadings to the Attorney General 

and precluding the granting of any relief until such copies have been furnished.].

 

9 Appellants cite two pieces of legislative history: (1) a report prepared for the Assembly 

Committee on Natural Resources by the State Bar Committee on the Environment of the 

State Bar of California [Com. on the Environment of the State Bar of Cal., Rep. to 

Assem. Com. on Nat. Resources, The California Environmental Quality Act: 

Recommendations for Legislative and Administrative Change, Dec. 1983] and (2) an 

Assembly Committee analysis of the legislation that enacted section 21177 [Cal. Natural 

Resources Agency, Bill Analysis of Assem. Bill No. 2583 (1983-1984 Reg. Sess.) as 

amended March 22, 1984]. The Bar committee report at pages 93-95 merely 

acknowledges the common law exception to identity exhaustion and urges that the 

exception be codified. The bill analysis at pages 1 and 9 similarly indicates that a purpose 

of the statutory amendment is to “limit standing to those individual[s] who have 

participated in the public review process” but notes that this identity exhaustion 

requirement would not apply to the Attorney General. Both reports are silent with respect 

to issue exhaustion. Appellants’ request for judicial notice of these documents as well as 

the Senate Committee on Governmental Organization, Staff Analysis of Assembly Bill 

No. 2583 (1983-1984 Reg. Sess.) as amended June 20, 1984, is granted. 
10

3. Project Description

“Under CEQA, a ‘project’ means ‘the whole of an action, which has a potential for 

resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably 

foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment. . . .’ [Citations.] It refers to the 

underlying ‘activity’ for which approval is being sought. [Citation.] The entirety of the 

project must be described, and not some smaller portion of it. [Citation.] The Guidelines 

specify that every EIR must set forth a project description that is sufficient to allow an 

adequate evaluation and review of the environmental impact.” (San Joaquin Raptor 

Rescue Center v. County of Merced (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 645, 654.) 

“[A] project description that gives conflicting signals to decision makers and the 

public about the nature and scope of the project is fundamentally inadequate and 

misleading. [Citation.] ‘Only through an accurate view of the project may affected 

outsiders and public decision-makers balance the proposal's benefit against its 

environmental cost, consider mitigation measures, assess the advantage of terminating the 

proposal (i.e., the ‘no project’ alternative), and weigh other alternatives in the balance.’ ” 

(Citizens for a Sustainable Treasure Island v. City and County of San Francisco (2014) 

227 Cal.App.4th 1036, 1052.)

The trial court found that the project description is deficient because it fails to 

include “a discussion of the reasonably foreseeable indirect changes at Hobart.”

Appellants contend the court’s holding is based on a misunderstanding of what must be 

included in a project description and confuses the project’s description with the analysis 

of the project’s environmental impacts. (See El Dorado County Taxpayers for Quality 

Growth v. County of El Dorado (2004) 122 Cal.App.4th 1591, 1598 [“[A] project 

description describes the project; it does not analyze the project’s environmental 

impacts.”].) As appellants state, “the activity subject to governmental approval is ‘the 

construction and operation of a new near-dock intermodal rail facility by BNSF that 

would handle containerized cargo transported through the ports of Los Angeles and Long 

Beach . . . .’ That activity ‘require[d] discretionary approval from [the harbor department] 

and, therefore, it is subject to the requirements of CEQA.’ ”
11

The project description here accurately describes the pertinent features of the 

construction and operation of SCIG. With respect to the project’s cargo handling 

capacity, the FEIR “takes a conservative approach: it analyzes the capacity the project 

applicant (BNSF) has applied for (a maximum of 2.8 million TEUs, or 1.5 million lifts at 

full operation), and assumes that market factors would determine the actual demand that 

it serves.” Respondents argue that the description of the project is misleading and

inaccurate because it “defines the project as replacing—rather than increasing—existing 

BNSF capacity.” They argue that “[r]ather than accurately characterizing the project as 

increasing BNSF’s cargo-handling capacity by an additional 1.5 million cargo containers 

per year, the EIR states that SCIG will ‘replace’ or ‘eliminate’ operations from BNSF’s 

Hobart yard.” They suggest that by defining the project “not as creating additional

capacity to handle increased cargo volumes, but as ‘eliminating’ existing activities at 

Hobart,” the EIR “profoundly skews the environmental analysis.” 

Respondents improperly characterize the project description. The FEIR accurately 

states that the project will permit BNSF to divert a portion of its operations from Hobart 

to SCIG and also acknowledges that the volume of cargo serviced at Hobart will continue 

to grow. Neither the project description nor any part of the FEIR suggests that BNSF’s

total capacity will remain unchanged as a result of the project. There is nothing 

misleading or inaccurate about the project description. (See El Dorado County Taxpayers 

for Quality Growth v. County of El Dorado, supra, 122 Cal.App.4th at pp. 1597-1598.)

San Joaquin Raptor Rescue Center v. County of Merced, supra, 149 Cal.App.4th 

645, cited by respondents, is distinguishable. That case involved an environmental impact 

report in connection with the issuance of a conditional use permit for the proposed 

expansion of an aggregate mining operation. The EIR described the project as an 

expansion that includes the mining of additional acreage “but is not proposed to 

substantially increase daily or annual production.” (Id. at p. 650.) However, the court 

found that “despite assurances to the contrary, the Project includes a substantial increase 

in mine production. [¶] . . . By giving such conflicting signals to decision makers and the 

public about the nature and scope of the activity being proposed, the Project description 
12

was fundamentally inadequate and misleading.” (Id. at pp. 655-656.) The “curtailed and 

inadequate characterizations of the Project were enough to mislead the public and thwart 

the EIR process.” (Id. at p. 656.) “The public hearings reflect similar confusion about the 

level of production allowed under the Project.” (Id. at p. 657.) As explained above, 

neither the project description nor any portion of the FEIR in this case indicates that

BNSF’s overall capacity will not be significantly increased as a result of the construction 

of the new railyard. The FEIR is required to evaluate any indirect environmental impact 

that may be caused by the project arising from increased availability of capacity at 

Hobart, but there is no deficiency in the manner in which the FEIR describes the SCIG 

project. 

4. Indirect Impacts on the Hobart Yard

“In evaluating the significance of the environmental effect of a project, the lead 

agency shall consider . . . reasonably foreseeable indirect physical changes in the 

environment which may be caused by the project.” (CEQA Guidelines, § 15064, 

subd. (d).) “An indirect physical change in the environment is a physical change in the 

environment which is not immediately related to the project, but which is caused 

indirectly by the project. . . .” (CEQA Guidelines, § 15064, subd. (d)(2).) “An indirect 

physical change is to be considered only if that change is a reasonably foreseeable impact 

which may be caused by the project. A change which is speculative or unlikely to occur 

is not reasonably foreseeable.” (CEQA Guidelines, § 15064, subd. (d)(3).) Indirect 

impacts “may include growth-inducing effects and other effects related to induced 

changes in the pattern of land use, population density, or growth rate, and related effects 

on air and water and other natural systems, including ecosystems.” (CEQA Guidelines, 

§ 15358, subd. (a)(2).)

The trial court found that the FEIR’s analysis of indirect impacts is deficient 

because it omits any discussion of the reasonably foreseeable impacts that will be caused

by freeing capacity at the Hobart yard. The court observed that by constructing SCIG, 

BNSF will “nearly double” its capacity and the FEIR fails to analyze how “BNSF is 

going to utilize Hobart once additional capacity is created.” 
13

Master Response 3 of the FEIR was issued in response to the large number of 

comments raising concerns about the project’s indirect impacts at the Hobart yard. The 

response provides in relevant part, “A number of commenters have criticized the RDEIR 

for not evaluating regional changes in goods movement that they posit might occur with 

implementation of SCIG. Their reasoning is that if SCIG absorbs the international cargo 

currently going to Hobart, then domestic and transload cargo will backfill the freed-up 

capacity . . . . Other commenters have criticized the RDEIR for not including future 

operations at Hobart (i.e., truck and train trips) in the analyses. These assertions are 

speculative, and not supported by facts or evidence. [¶] In fact, . . . the suggestion that 

cargo would materialize to backfill the freed-up capacity [is] wholly unsupported by the 

facts.”

The record reflects that at present there is no unmet demand for rail service at the 

Hobart yard that will give rise to additional traffic when intermodal traffic is diverted to 

the new railyard. As BNSF explained in its November 28, 2012 memorandum to the 

harbor department, “BNSF is not aware of any currently unmet demand for cargo 

transportation that would be generated as a result of moving direct intermodal 

international cargo from Hobart to SCIG. All Southern California domestic cargo 

requiring rail transport is already being transported by rail. There is no latent demand for 

rail transport that is not being served.”

Master Response 3 further explained, “there is no reason to believe that cargo 

would somehow materialize to fill the freed-up capacity. Hobart and other intermodal 

facilities already accept all cargo in the region that demands rail transport and are not yet 

operating at capacity, meaning that there is no unserved cargo that would appear to fill 

freed-up capacity. This conclusion is reinforced by the results of analyses showing that 

existing railyards, while busy, are not operating at their maximum practicable capacity 

(MPC); for example, Hobart’s current MPC is approximately 1.7 million lifts, whereas, 

as described above and in Appendix G4, in 2010 it handled only about one million lifts, 

approximately one-half of them direct international containers. BNSF has already 

expanded Hobart, but cargo volumes, rather than suddenly increasing, actually decreased 
14

between 2007, when the expansion was completed, and 2010 (BNSF, 2012a; BNSF, 

2012b). Those volumes were driven by regional and national economic factors (i.e., the 

2008 recession), not by the availability of capacity at Hobart.”

Domestic and transload cargo volumes are anticipated to increase in the future, but 

the freed-up capacity at Hobart will not give rise to indirect environmental impacts for at 

least two reasons. First, as shown by table 2.2 in the FEIR, cited in the master response,

“domestic and transload cargo volumes would increase whether or not SCIG is built, and

. . . the increases would be the same under either scenario. This is true because demand is 

independent of capacity—the region’s economy would grow at a rate unrelated to 

capacity at Hobart. . . . [¶] Hobart will continue to accept transload and domestic cargo 

with or without SCIG.” The Intermodal Rail Analysis, prepared by the harbor 

department, appendix G4 of the FEIR, explains, “The market demand for pure domestic 

cargo and transload cargo is independent of a project’s capacity. In the case of the SCIG 

project, the region’s economy drives the demand for domestic and transload cargo which 

would grow at a rate unrelated to capacity at Hobart. A facility’s capacity does not create 

growth in demand.”

Second, substantial evidence supports the finding that BNSF has capacity at 

Hobart to meet all projected growth until at least 2035.10 Contrary to the finding of the 

trial court, substantial evidence supports the growth predictions used in FEIR. The FEIR 

predicts that by 2030 the ports will be processing 34.6 million TEUs annually. This 

prediction is based on a long-term forecast prepared by the Global Insight and Tioga 

Group in 2009. The “IHS Global Insight/Tioga” forecast is “a demand-based (i.e., 

unconstrained) forecast, that assumed transportation and infrastructure capacity would be 

available to meet the demand.” The trial court acknowledged the “considerable studies 

done by and for the Port about the amount of [intermodal] business that will be generated 

by the world economy over various periods of time.”

 

10 Appellants suggest this date is actually 2046 because the ports are expected to reach 

capacity in 2035 and thus no further growth is projected thereafter.
15

The FEIR assumes that domestic cargo volumes will “continue to grow at a rate of 

2% per year with or without SCIG being built.”11 As the trial court noted, other studies 

also utilize an estimated growth in domestic cargo of 2 to 3 percent annually. The 

2 percent annual growth figure appears to be based on a “IHS Global Insight database”

known as “TRANSEARCH” that “shows projections of cargo tonnage for domestic and 

international goods movement through 2040.” According to this database, the domestic 

cargo sector in the applicable region is projected to grow at rates between 2.1 percent and 

3 percent annually from 2012 to 2035. Contrary to respondents’ arguments, these growth 

rates are not unsupported assumptions. They are reasoned predictions by experts on 

which the city is entitled to rely. (Save Round Valley Alliance v. County of Inyo (2007) 

157 Cal.App.4th 1437, 1467.)

As the FEIR explains, “BNSF has already undertaken physical modifications and 

operational changes that have expanded the capacity of the Hobart Yard. To 

accommodate future increased cargo volumes at Hobart, BNSF would undertake 

additional operational and physical changes. . . . BNSF would implement additional

physical changes to the Hobart and Commerce facilities that would increase their 

capacity; BNSF represents that those changes could be implemented without 

discretionary permits. . . .

[12]

The operational changes and the approved expansions would 

allow Hobart/Commerce to handle approximately 3 million lifts . . . per year by 2035, 

which is approximately 1 million lifts more than its existing capacity. The Port 

 

11 Table 2.2, which contains the predicted growth data shows the domestic cargo business 

growing by 66 percent between 2010 and 2035 (an average rate of 2.64 percent per year).

12 In response to comments, the FEIR elaborates: “Further facility developments, 

technological and operational changes could be made to accommodate the demand projected in 

the 2009 Cargo Forecast. For example, BNSF could construct additional tracks. 250 wheeled 

parking spaces could be constructed on property currently owned by or otherwise available to 

BNSF. With respect to future operational changes, additional switching support, increased 

stacking, additional cargo handling equipment and manpower would enhance the strip track and 

parking turn times, thereby further increasing capacity. All of the foregoing may be implemented 

without discretionary permitting.”
16

independently undertook engineering analyses of the Hobart/Commerce Yard that 

confirmed BNSF’s representations of the potential to expand capacity at these facilities.”

In the with-SCIG (proposed project) scenario, BNSF would not have to make 

changes to its Hobart operations other than to add capacity at some point in the future 

when demand exceeds capacity (projected by independent analysts to occur as soon as 

2023). Since BNSF already has the right to expand its Hobart facilities, the freeing of 

capacity at Hobart by transferring intermodal traffic to the new railyard may at most 

delay the point at which BNSF elects to expand the Hobart facilities. The expansion will 

not be the consequence of constructing the new railyard. 

Because there is a sufficient evidentiary basis for the city’s conclusion that a 

predicted amount of economic growth will occur with or without this project and that the 

project is not necessary to enable BNSF to service the projected growth at Hobart, any 

such growth is not an indirect impact of the SCIG project that the FEIR was required to 

study.

5. Growth Inducing Impacts*

Section 21100, subdivision (b)(5), requires that an EIR analyze any “growthinducing impact[s] of the proposed project” including the ways in which the proposed 

project could foster economic growth, either directly or indirectly, in the surrounding 

environment. (CEQA Guidelines, § 15126.2, subd. (d).) Chapter 8 of the FEIR analyzes 

the growth-inducing impacts of the project.

The trial court found that with the exception of the potential growth-inducing 

impacts at the Hobart yard discussed above, respondents failed to “make clear what 

growth in the surrounding environment is omitted from the EIR.” The court 

acknowledged their argument that “the potential for additional cargo handling capacity” 

could foster economic growth but concluded that the “great majority” of references in the 

FEIR suggest that “an expanded Hobart” could accommodate predicted growth in 

intermodal container cargo. The court added that despite respondents written arguments, 

 

*

Part 5 is not certified for publication. (See fn., ante, p. 1.)
17

“at oral argument, the issue of ‘growth-inducing impacts’ was largely subsumed in the 

argument over Hobart.” Ultimately, the court concluded, “Petitioners make no serious 

argument about any other growth inducing effect. Of course, they bear the burden of 

proving that the EIR has omitted some matter. Thus, the court gives no further 

consideration to any effect other than at Hobart.” 

On appeal, respondents argue the FEIR omits meaningful consideration of how the

increase in BNSF’s cargo-handling capacity will induce growth at the ports. Appellants 

contend correctly that this argument in not cognizable because respondents did not file a 

cross-appeal. “As a general matter, ‘ “a respondent who has not appealed from the 

judgment may not urge error on appeal.” ’ [Citation.] ‘To obtain affirmative relief by way 

of appeal, respondents must themselves file a notice of appeal and become crossappellants.’ ” (Preserve Poway v. City of Poway (2016) 245 Cal.App.4th 560, 585 

[Project opponents, who did not cross-appeal, waived contentions that trial court erred in 

not setting aside a mitigated negative declaration on additional grounds.].)

Anderson First Coalition v. City of Anderson (2005) 130 Cal.App.4th 1173, 1181

(Anderson) is instructive. In that case, the trial court agreed with project opponents that 

the EIR for a proposed shopping center and gas station failed to adequately evaluate the 

traffic and air quality impacts of the gas station. The court severed the gas station from 

the rest of the project and allowed the rest of the project to proceed. (Id. at pp. 1177-

1178.) On the appeal by the project opponents of the severance order, the project 

proponents argued the trial court erred in finding the EIR deficient regarding the gas 

station’s traffic and air quality impacts. (Id. at p. 1181.) The Court of Appeal “deem[ed] 

the claim forfeited because [the city] and Wal-Mart have not cross-appealed on this 

point.” (Id. at pp. 1181-1182.) Just as in Anderson, respondents have forfeited any claim 

that the trial court erred in rejecting their challenge to the analysis of growth-inducing 

impacts, other than Hobart.

We note briefly, however, that respondents’ argument is without merit in any 

event. With respect to economic growth-inducing impacts, the FEIR states, “[B]y 

facilitating the movement of containers through the ports of Los Angeles and Long 
18

Beach, the proposed project would directly accommodate future economic growth.” The 

FEIR concludes that “although the proposed project would provide a needed goods 

movement facility, it would not induce more cargo through the San Pedro Bay ports. The 

estimated demand for intermodal cargo capacity in the Los Angeles region can be 

accommodated by existing UP and BNSF intermodal facilities, especially in view of the 

planned capacity improvements . . . .” As discussed above, the city reasonably relied on 

expert predictions of the growth of domestic and international cargo and on expert 

opinions that market not capacity would drive growth. Likewise, as discussed above, 

substantial evidence supports the conclusion in the FEIR that BNSF has sufficient 

capacity at Hobart, with anticipated expansion, to accommodate projected growth.

Accordingly, there was no deficiency in the FEIR’s analysis of growth-inducing 

impacts.13

6. Sheila Commerce Mechanical Repair Facility (Sheila yard)*

The Sheila yard is a locomotive mechanical shop that primarily supports 

operations at the Hobart yard. As with Hobart, the FEIR concludes that no additional 

analysis of indirect impacts at Sheila yard is required because “[t]he locomotives that 

would haul trains to and from the SCIG facility would not be additional locomotives, but 

rather they would be existing and future locomotives that would haul international cargo 

trains with or without the project.” The trial court recognized that “to some extent this 

issue follows directly from the Hobart issue.” The court explained, “The court has found 

the EIR deficient for its failure to evaluate Hobart. If the Port chooses to supplement the 

EIR with an evaluation of Hobart, then it must consider whether its conclusions with 

respect to Hobart lead to the conclusion that additional work will be done at Sheila which 

 

13 Likewise, we summarily reverse the trial court’s related finding that the FEIR is 

deficient because it does not address Hobart yard in the cumulative impacts chapter. In 

light of our conclusion regarding the FEIR’s treatment of the Hobart facility, we need not 

consider BNSF’s alternative argument that the ICC Termination Act (49 U.S.C. 

§ 10501(b)) preempts efforts “to use CEQA’s judicial review process to delay or prevent 

construction.” 

*

Part 6 is not certified for publication. (See fn., ante, p. 1.)
19

may have environmental impacts.” Having found no basis to require further analysis of 

impacts arising from the freed capacity at Hobart, we similarly reject the argument that 

additional analysis of impacts at Sheila yard is required.

7. Air Quality

Impact AQ-3 assesses whether the proposed project will result in significant 

emission of criteria pollutants. In making this analysis, the FEIR measures and models in 

pounds per day (lbs/d) the mass of pollutants to be emitted by operation of the project. 

The FEIR includes data tables that present both the unmitigated average daily criteria 

pollutant emissions from operation of the proposed project in the benchmark years 2016, 

2023, 2035, 2046, and 2066 and estimated peak daily unmitigated emissions for the same 

benchmark years.14 Applying this data to applicable standards of significance, the FEIR 

concludes emissions “are below the significance thresholds for [oxides of nitrogen 

(NOx)

15, particulate matter less than 10 microns in diameter (PM10) and particulate matter 

less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5)] for all analysis years. Therefore the 

unmitigated project would have less than significant impacts.” Similar analysis of the no 

project alternative concludes that emissions under the no project alternative also would 

not be significant.16 Moreover, daily emissions of NOx, PM10 and PM2.5 under the project 

would be consistently lower than under the no project alternative in each of the 

benchmark years.17

 

14 The benchmark years were selected to “correspond[] to the opening year (2016), the 

full facility throughput year (2035), and the lease termination year (2066).”

15 “NOx is a generic term for the total concentration of mono-nitrogen oxides, nitric oxide 

(NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2).” As the trial court noted, “the EIR used a conversion 

rate to translate NOx concentrations to NO2 concentrations.”

16 The no project alternative assumed that “[b]usinesses currently occupying the project 

site would continue to utilize their existing facilities, and the activities of these businesses 

would be expected to grow by 10 percent from baseline levels by 2016, after which no 

further growth is assumed.” 

17 The sole exception appears to be in project year 2035 in which the peak daily 

operations emissions of NOx from the project will exceed emissions under the no project 

alternative by 22 pounds a day.
20

Impact AQ-4 assesses whether project operations will result in significant “offsite 

ambient air pollutant concentrations” in the geographic area surrounding the project site. 

Under this analysis, the FEIR measures and models the concentration of pollutants in 

micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) that would occur at different geographic locations 

within the designated area as a result of operations at SCIG. The FEIR used “[d]ispersion 

modeling of onsite and offsite project operational emissions . . . to assess the impact of 

the project on local offsite air concentrations.” The air dispersion model used was 

“designed for use with emission sources situated in terrain where ground elevations can 

exceed the stack heights of the emission sources. The . . . model requires hourly 

meteorological data consisting of wind direction, wind speed, temperature, stability class, 

and mixing height. The . . . model allows input of multiple sources and source groupings, 

eliminating the need for multiple model runs.” “[R]ather than modeling each analysis 

year to identify the maximum pollutant concentrations, a single composite emissions 

scenario was modeled as a conservative approach. The composite emissions scenario is a 

combination of the peak year (for the annual NO2 and PM10 concentration thresholds), 

peak day (for the 24-hour . . . PM10, and PM2.5 concentration thresholds), or peak hour 

(for the 1-hour NO2 . . .) emissions within the modeling domain by source category. Note 

that the peak year or day emissions for a particular source category may not necessarily 

occur in the same year or day as the other categories.” The FEIR states that this 

methodology, characterized by appellants and the trial court as a “worst case” analysis,

“results in conservative predictions of concentrations from project operational 

emissions.”

Applying this methodology, the FEIR concludes that project operations will have a 

significant impact on air quality because ambient air pollutant concentrations “would 

exceed the SCAQMD [South Coast Air Quality Management District] thresholds for 1-

hour and annual NO2, 24-hour and annual PM10, and 24-hour PM2.5.”The FEIR also 

concludes that the no project alternative will result in similar significant impacts. 

Specifically, “The No Project Alternative would exceed the SCAQMD thresholds for 1-
21

hour and annual NO2 and 24-hour and annual PM10.” Ground-level concentration of 

PM2.5 is not projected to exceed standards of significance under the no project alternative.

Although the FEIR does not contain a table comparing the results of the modeling 

for the project and no project alternative, comparing table 3.2-28 (maximum offsite NO2

concentrations associated with operations of the project) and table 5.7 (maximum offsite 

NO2 concentrations associated with operations of the no project alternative) shows that 

the total ground level concentration of NO2 under the no project alternative will exceed 

that of the project. But the opposite is true for the concentration of particulate matters. A 

comparison of table 3.2-29 (maximum offsite PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations associated 

with operation of the project) with table 5.8 (maximum offsite PM10 and PM2.5 

concentrations associated with operation of the no project alternative) shows that over a 

24-hour period ground level concentration of PM10 for project operations will be more 

than three times greater than the concentration under the no project alternative (9.1 μg/m3 

to 2.9 μg/m3) and that ground level concentration of PM2.5 for project operations will be 

five times greater than the concentration under the no project alternative (4.5 μg/m3 to 

0.9 μg/m3). 

Figures included in section 3.2 and appendix C2 of the FEIR show the geographic 

areas in which the ground-level concentration of various particulates are projected to 

exceed standards of significance. While the geographic area impacted by significant 

concentration of NO2 remains the same, the area impacted by significant annual and 24-

hour concentrations of PM10 varies considerably. The significant concentration of PM10

under the no project alternative occurs just to the east of Interstate 710, while the 

significant concentration of PM10 under the project is centered over and adjacent to the 

project site. Figure 3.2-9 shows that the impact of significant ground-level concentration 

of PM2.5 is restricted to small areas directly over the project site.

The trial court found that the composite emissions scenario is misleading and 

provides insufficient information to permit meaningful comparison of the project and the

no project alternative. The court explained, “Had the screening analysis shown that there 

would never be an exceedance of a concentration standard of significance the analysis 
22

could have ended there. [¶] But that is not what the screening analysis showed. . . . [¶] . . . 

[¶] Having screened—and having found potential exceedances from SCIG—the EIR 

stopped its analysis. It left the public and decision-makers in the dark about whether there 

would be exceedances of NO2, PM2.5 and PM10 standards in any given year at a given 

place. By combining concentrations from different years (for screening purposes) the EIR 

never examined the impact of SCIG in any given year. It showed that there could be an 

impact, but it did not examine what that impact might be, who might be affected, and for 

how long.” The trial court emphasized that this “is not a small point. The SCIG has been 

presented as a project that will improve air quality significantly. . . . Those commenting 

on the EIR, as it was being developed, expressed considerable concern about the impact 

of air pollution on those who live near the proposed project.”

Appellants argue that the composite emissions scenario methodology is a 

“common industry-accepted protocol” that is amply supported by substantial evidence, 

including expert opinion. They argue that contrary to the court’s conclusion, this 

methodology is not misleading nor did it result in the omission of any necessary 

information from the FEIR. 

As appellants’ argue, the FEIR analysis was conducted in accordance with the 

harbor department’s protocol for criteria pollutant dispersion modeling. The 

“Methodology for Criteria Pollutant Dispersion Modeling in Port of Los Angeles CEQA 

Documents” cited by appellants recommends using “screening-level dispersion modeling 

with conservative emissions” to screen out pollutants followed by modeling of maximum 

pollutant concentrations each project analysis year. The protocol recognizes, however, 

that for “large CEQA projects . . . it is often not practical to perform criteria pollutant 

dispersion modeling separately for each project analysis year because of the sheer 

number of model runs (pollutants × averaging periods × alternatives × mitigated & 

unmitigated × coarse & fine grids). To further complicate matters, the spatial and 

physical diversity of the source types often make it impossible to determine which 

analysis year would yield maximum concentrations. For example, cargo handling 

equipment emissions often peak in the early years of a project, while ocean‐going vessel 
23

(OGV) emissions often peak in the latter years; the concentrations associated with

combined emissions could peak in either year or sometime in between. [¶] As a 

conservative solution, the air quality analyst may choose to limit the number of modeling 

runs by modeling a single composite emissions scenario for each combination of 

pollutant, averaging period, and project alternative. . . . The composite emissions scenario 

would include the highest emissions by source category over the appropriate range of 

analysis years. The highest emissions for a particular source category may not necessarily 

occur in the same year as the other categories. For example, project emissions could be 

grouped into the following source categories: trucks, cargo handling equipment, OGVs, 

harbor craft, locomotives, and construction. The maximum emissions over the range of 

applicable analysis years are determined separately for each source category. These 

maximum emissions are then modeled together to conservatively predict maximum 

ground‐level criteria pollutant concentrations for the pollutant and averaging period of 

interest. This screening method would result in conservative (i.e., over‐predicted) 

concentrations from project emissions.”

“Under CEQA, an agency is not required to conduct all possible tests or exhaust 

all research methodologies to evaluate impacts. Simply because an additional test may be 

helpful does not mean an agency must complete the test to comply with the requirements 

of CEQA. [Citation.] An agency may exercise its discretion and decline to undertake 

additional tests.” (Save Panoche Valley v. San Benito County (2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 

503, 524.) It is the objector’s burden to establish that the methodology used was 

misleading or that “relevant, crucial information” was omitted that rendered the analysis 

legally inadequate. (San Joaquin Raptor/Wildlife Rescue Center v. County of Stanislaus, 

supra, 27 Cal.App.4th at pp. 738-739; North Coast Rivers Alliance v. Marin Municipal

Water Dist. Bd. of Directors (2013) 216 Cal.App.4th 614, 643.) 
24

While we do not agree that the composite emissions, or worst case, methodology 

is misleading,18 we do agree with the trial court that the analysis of air pollution 

concentration impacts is nonetheless incomplete. “When assessing the legal sufficiency 

of an EIR, the reviewing court focuses on adequacy, completeness and a good faith effort 

at full disclosure. [Citation.] ‘The EIR must contain facts and analysis, not just the bare 

conclusions of the agency.’ [Citation.] ‘An EIR must include detail sufficient to enable 

those who did not participate in its preparation to understand and to consider 

meaningfully the issues raised by the proposed project.’ [Citation.] Analysis of 

environmental effects need not be exhaustive, but will be judged in light of what was 

reasonably feasible.” (Association of Irritated Residents v. County of Madera (2003) 107 

Cal.App.4th 1383, 1390-1391.)

 

18 The trial court offered the following hypothetical to demonstrate how the 

methodology could be misleading: “Suppose the following: [¶] • the highest value for the 

No Project alternative occurs in 2016, while the highest value for the Project occurs in 

2035; [¶] • the 2016 No Project value is higher than the 2035 Project value; [¶] • for all 

years after 2016 the highest value for the No Project alternative is lower than the highest 

value for the Project. [¶] The composite analysis would have the reader of the EIR 

believe that the No Project alternative is worse than the Project, because the analysis is 

characterized by the highest value that ever occurs—even if just once in 50 years. This 

shows nothing about how the two alternatives compare in any given year. Indeed, it is 

terribly misleading.”

Respondents suggest that the “undisputed facts” in the record support the factual 

basis for the trial court’s hypothetical and demonstrate that the methodology is 

misleading. However, as set forth above, the air quality modeling shows that the no 

project’s emissions levels would be consistently higher than project emissions in the 

benchmark years. There is no factual basis for the trial court’s hypothetical, which 

assumes that the impacts of the no project alternative would be consistently lower than 

those of the project in later years. Respondent’s defense of the facts underlying the 

hypothetical mistakenly considers emissions from only the project site, disregarding 

projected truck emissions on the I-710 freeway. The trial court’s unsupported 

hypothetical does not show that the analysis of air pollution concentrations is misleading. 

(See Save our Peninsula Committee v. Monterey County Bd. of Supervisors (2001) 87 

Cal.App.4th 99, 121 [“ ‘[A]n EIR must focus on impacts to the existing environment, not 

hypothetical situations.’ ”].)
25

The trial court concluded that the analysis of air pollution concentrations is 

inadequate because a reader cannot compare the ambient air pollutant concentrations 

under the project and no project scenarios at any given point in time. Appellants contend 

that CEQA imposes no such specific requirement. They argue that the FEIR disclosed 

that the project would result in significant air quality concentration impacts and thereby 

adequately informed the public of the project’s impacts. They suggest that “an EIR that 

performs a ‘worst- case-scenario’ analysis of ‘the greatest potential impacts’ of a project 

properly ‘promote[s] informed decision making, and evidences a good faith effort at 

forecasting’ the project’s impacts, consistent with the goals of CEQA.” 

We agree with the trial court that crucial information has been omitted from the 

FEIR. Project neighbors reading the FEIR would learn that for benchmark years, peak 

and average daily emissions of PM10 will be lower under the project than under the no 

project alternative. The composite analysis shows, however, that the concentration of 

PM10 in the area immediately surrounding the project will in the worst case be three times 

greater under the project than under the no project alternative. Moreover, from what can 

be gleaned from data spread throughout the FEIR but never explicitly analyzed or 

discussed, the concentration of PM10 that currently exists over the lengthy stretch of 

highway over a mile away from the project site will, under the project, be concentrated in 

the area immediately surrounding the project, which includes both homes and schools.19

Thus, it is particularly important to understand, and the FEIR does not disclose or 

estimate, how frequently and for what length of time the level of particulate air pollution 

in the area surrounding the proposed rail yard will exceed the standard of significance.

The composite analysis does not disclose the frequency of occasions or the estimated 

length of time during which ambient pollutants will remain at heightened levels—

 

19 The City of Los Angeles states in its brief that “Except for 1-hour NO2, the project’s 

significant concentration impacts would be confined to uninhabited or industrial areas 

close to the project site.” Figures 3-2.7 and 3-2.8 (annual and 24-hour PM10 ground-level 

concentration for mitigated project), figure 1-1 (proposed project site location) and figure 

3.2-1 (locations of sensitive receptors in the vicinity of the proposed project site) appear 

to indicate the contrary.
26

whether the worst case will be the situation for only a day or for as long as the railyard is 

in operation. Will air quality improve over time or remain fairly constant?20 Without such 

an understanding, the public and decision-makers cannot fairly consider alternatives or 

mitigation measures or intelligently balance competing considerations before adopting a 

statement of overriding considerations. (See CEQA Guidelines, § 15093.)

Appellants’ reliance on cases approving “worst-case scenario” analyses in CEQA 

cases is misplaced. For example, in Sierra Club v. Tahoe Regional Planning Agency

(E.D.Cal. 2013) 916 F.Supp.2d 1098, 1147, the EIR examined “the noise impacts of the 

project’s construction activity based on the ‘worst-case scenario’ in which the three 

loudest pieces of equipment would be operating at the same time.” The court concluded 

that the analysis was sufficient because the analysis was “thorough and carefully 

detail[ed] the level of noise that will result from the project” at “all times of day.” (Id. at 

pp. 1148-1149.) While a project neighbor in that case could predict what noise levels 

would be at any given time of day under the worst case scenario, the same cannot be said 

for a project neighbor in the present case. In this case, a neighbor will have no idea how 

bad air quality will be, if the railyard is constructed, at any point or for how long in the

future.

Finally, appellants cite no evidence to support their contention that the inclusion of 

additional information regarding air pollutant concentrations would be impractical. Citing 

the protocol quoted above, they argue, “were CEQA to require an EIR to analyze every 

potential impact for every year of a project’s lifespan, or even for a series of benchmark 

years, agencies would be required to run thousands of complex dispersion models –

effectively grinding the CEQA process to a halt.” The protocol, however, does not excuse 

CEQA compliance. It provides general guidelines and requires the air quality analyst to 

determine whether it is appropriate to “limit the number of modeling runs” and to select 

the “appropriate range of analysis years.” A reasonable selection of benchmark years, as 

 

20 While the comparison of concentrations of NO2 is perhaps more meaningful because 

both emissions and concentrations are worse under the no project alternative, the analysis 

is still inadequate to the extent impacts are identified generally without reference to time.
27

in other analyses, may be acceptable. In this instance, the decision to perform only a 

single modeling run with a 50-year analysis range does not comply with CEQA.

Accordingly, we agree with the trial court that with respect to impact AQ-4, the 

harbor department “failed to proceed in the manner required by CEQA, and the [FEIR] 

fails to set forth sufficient information to foster informed public participation and 

reasoned decision making.” 

8. Mitigation Measure AQ-9: Periodic Review of New Technology and 

Regulations*

The EIR’s ninth mitigation measure for air quality impacts (MM AQ-9) provides

in relevant part as follows: “The Port shall require BNSF to review, in terms of 

feasibility, any Port-identified or other new emissions-reduction technology, and report to 

the Port. Such technology feasibility reviews shall take place at the time of the Port’s 

consideration of any lease amendment or facility modification for the Project site. If the 

technology is determined by the Port to be feasible in terms of cost, technical and 

operational feasibility, BNSF shall work with the Port to implement such technology.” 

The mitigation measure continues, “As partial consideration for the Port agreement to 

issue the permit to BNSF, BNSF shall implement not less frequently than once every five 

(5) years following the effective date of the permit, new air quality technological 

advancements, subject to mutual agreement on operational feasibility and cost sharing, 

which shall not be unreasonably withheld. The effectiveness of this measure depends on 

the advancement of new technologies and the outcome of future feasibility or pilot 

studies.” MM AQ-9 was identified in the FEIR as a mitigation measure designed to 

reduce the impacts of exposure to significant levels of toxic air contaminants (TACs).

21

The FEIR states that construction mitigation measures “would reduce the impacts from 

the proposed Project by reducing emissions from construction equipment operating at the 

Port pursuant to LAHD Construction Guidelines. In addition to the construction 

 

*

Part 8 is not certified for publication. (See fn., ante, p. 1.)

21 TACs are “compounds that are known or suspected to cause short-term (acute) and/or 

long-term (chronic non-carcinogenic or carcinogenic) adverse health effects.”
28

mitigation measures, other mitigation measures to reduce Project health risk impacts 

include the use of low-emission drayage trucks and periodic review of new 

technologies.” The harbor department’s findings of fact clarifies that the construction 

mitigation measures and use of low-emission drayage trucks were “quantified and 

included in the mitigated construction emissions” and as a result, the risks of exposure to 

TACs are “below the significance threshold for all categories of receptors.” Mitigation 

measure AQ-9 was not quantified but was expected to “contribute to the advancement of 

[the harbor department’s] environmental goals and objectives.” 

The trial court found MM AQ-9 was not “fully enforceable” as a mitigation 

measure because it did not seem likely to “actually result” in the implementation of such 

future feasible technologies at the project site. Appellants dispute the finding that the 

measure is not enforceable and argue further that “any perceived defect in enforceability 

was not prejudicial” because the FEIR does not rely on the measure to reduce the impact 

to a less than significant level.

“When a project will result in an adverse change to the physical environment, 

CEQA instructs that ‘the agency “shall provide that measures to mitigate or avoid 

significant effects on the environment are fully enforceable through permit conditions, 

agreements, or other measures” [citation] and must adopt a monitoring program to ensure 

that the mitigation measures are implemented [citation]. The purpose of these 

requirements is to ensure that feasible mitigation measures will actually be implemented 

as a condition of development, and not merely adopted and then neglected or 

disregarded.’ ” (California Clean Energy Committee v. City of Woodland (2014) 225 

Cal.App.4th 173, 189.)

The mitigation measure in dispute anticipates future improvements in technology 

that are not presently available and perhaps not even contemplated. In light of what is 

unknown, a more specific measure may be an impossibility. MM A-Q 9 imposes the 

requirement that BNSF not unreasonably withhold its agreement to the adoption of new 

technology. While disagreements in the application of this standard are possible, the 

standard is nonetheless objective and can be enforced. (Peak-Las Positas Partners v. 
29

Bollag (2009) 172 Cal.App.4th 101, 104, 106 [Under contract requiring “mutual consent” 

which “shall not be unreasonably withheld,” reasonableness in withholding consent is 

determined under an objective rather than subjective standard.]; County of Amador v. City 

of Plymouth (2007) 149 Cal.App.4th 1089, 1111 [Provision in a municipal services 

agreement, which is subject to CEQA requirements, that the city “will not unreasonably 

withhold any approvals required to implement the water and sewer provisions” represents 

a commitment by the city to a definite course of action.].) Under the circumstances we 

agree with appellants that the measure is reasonable.

9. Cumulative impacts on Air Quality

CEQA requires that an EIR discuss the significant cumulative impacts to which a 

proposed project would contribute, taking into account past, present, and probable future 

projects causing similar impacts. (CEQA Guidelines, § 15130.) “Cumulative impacts” are 

defined as “two or more individual effects which, when considered together, are 

considerable or which compound or increase other environmental impacts.” (CEQA 

Guidelines, § 15355.) Such impacts are “significant” when a project’s incremental effect 

on other projects’ effects is “cumulatively considerable.” (CEQA Guidelines, § 15130, 

subd. (a).)

The FEIR identifies Union Pacific’s proposal to modernize and expand its existing 

Intermodal Container Transfer Facility (ICTF), located adjacent to SCIG’s northern 

boundary, as one of 170 present or reasonably foreseeable future projects that could 

contribute to cumulative environmental impacts.22 The FEIR concludes, under 

 

22 The DEIR included additional information about the proposed expansion of the ICTF 

that was, as discussed below, omitted from the RDEIR and the FEIR. According to the 

DEIR, the proposed expansion project would increase capacity to handle containers at the 

ICTF from the current annual average of 725,000 containers to an estimated 1.5 million 

containers and would increase truck traffic from 1.1 million one-way trips a year to 2.268 

million trips per year. Section 4.3 of the DEIR contains a combined analysis of the 

impacts from the SCIG and ICTF facilities. The DEIR states, “This section provides an 

analysis of the combined effects of the proposed SCIG Project and the proposed ICTF 

Modernization and Expansion Project for air quality (emissions, health risk), noise, and 

traffic. This analysis is not required under CEQA and is provided as additional 
30

cumulative impact AQ-4, that operation of “past, present, and reasonably foreseeable 

future projects,” including the proposed project and the proposed expansion of ICTF, 

would result in a significant cumulative air quality impact related to exceedances of the 

significance thresholds for NOX, PM10, and PM2.5. The FEIR explains that “Although 

there is no way to be certain if a cumulative exceedance of the thresholds would happen 

for any pollutant without performing dispersion modeling of the other projects, previous 

experience indicates that cumulative air quality impacts would be likely to exceed the 

thresholds for NOX, could exceed the thresholds for PM10 and PM2.5, and would be 

unlikely to exceed the thresholds for CO.” The FEIR adds that because “operation of the 

proposed project would cause exceedances of the SCAQMD thresholds for 1-hour and 

annual NO2, 24-hour and annual PM10, and 24-hour PM2.5 . . . , the project would result in 

a cumulatively considerable contribution to a significant cumulative impact.” The FEIR 

also concludes, under cumulative impact AQ-7, that the “past, present, and reasonably 

foreseeable future projects” and the proposed project do not have a significant cumulative 

impact on non-cancer risk.

The trial court acknowledged that the “ICTF facility and the ICTF expansion 

Project are mentioned throughout” the cumulative impacts chapter and that “[i]n many 

respects, these mentions are brief but sufficient.” The court found, however, that the 

analyses under cumulative impact AQ-4 (ambient air pollutant concentrations) and 

cumulative impact AQ-7 (noncancer health risks) were inadequate. 

 

information only because of the close proximity of the two proposed projects.” The 

combined analysis included data supporting the conclusion that there would be no 

significant cumulative impact from operational emissions of past, present and reasonably 

foreseeable future projects. The combined analysis was omitted from the RDEIR and 

FEIR because the anticipated publication date for the draft EIR for the ICTF project was

delayed significantly. As appellants explained in the trial court, “the SCIG project and the 

ICTF [expansion] project were running essentially neck and neck in their progress for 

approval” when the draft EIR was prepared but “by the time the RDEIR was prepared, 

the ICTF had fallen far behind” so the analysts concluded that “the information 

concerning the [ICTF expansion] project was simply not concrete enough” to merit 

continued inclusion.
31

With respect to the cumulative impacts analysis under AQ-4, the court explained 

that the analysis “disclaims an ability to know ‘if cumulative exceedances of thresholds 

would happen for any pollutant without performing dispersion modeling of the other 

projects’ ” but concludes that “operations of the past, present and reasonably foreseeable 

future projects, including the proposed project, would result in a significant cumulative 

air quality impact.” The court observed that the analysis relies on the “seriously 

deficient” screening methodology discussed above without any discussion of how the 

expansion at ICTF will affect pollutant concentrations. “This is important, since an 

increase in air pollution from the ICTF will be emitted ‘next-door’ to SCIG, and 

presumably have a significant impact on those living in the vicinity of both facilities.”

Appellants contend that CEQA does not require quantification of any air quality 

impacts of the ICTF because quantification in this instance is impractical and 

unreasonable. Appellants are likely correct that conducting dispersion modeling for the 

ICTF expansion project would be unreasonably time consuming and impractical, if not 

already completed for the applicable project EIR, and that it is within the harbor 

department’s discretion to evaluate whether the original emissions data has become 

unreliable with the passage of time. Nonetheless, as the trial court observed, the fact that 

“CEQA does not require quantified analyses[] does not mean that all meaningful 

information on a subject can be omitted from an EIR’s cumulative impacts analysis.” We 

agree with the trial court that the analysis identifies the potential cumulative impacts of 

the ICTF expansion project “in such general terms that the ‘big picture’—two large 

railyard expansions located next to one [another]—is missing from the analysis” and that 

“when the combined analysis was removed from the DEIR, so too was the 

acknowledgment that the ICTF expansion project was not just another land use project in 

the area.” Accordingly, the harbor department must make a “good faith and reasonable 

disclosure” of the cumulative impacts before the FEIR may be approved. 

With respect to cumulative impact AQ-7, the court found that there was no 

substantial evidence to support the conclusion that “the past, present, and reasonably 
32

foreseeable future projects and the proposed project do not have a significant cumulative 

impact on non-cancer risk.” We disagree.

Under cumulative impact AQ-7, the FEIR explains, “Emissions of TACs would 

increase chronic and acute noncancer effects compared to baseline levels . . ., but the 

increases would all be well below the 1.0 hazard index significance criterion at all 

receptors near the project site.” Appellants elaborate further: “Table 3.2-35 of the EIR 

shows various hazard indices for non-cancer health risks, breaking out the portion 

attributable to baseline conditions (‘CEQA 2010 Baseline’) and the portion attributable to 

SCIG (‘CEQA 2010 Increment’) to reach a total hazard index under the project scenario. 

The EIR forecasts that maximum non-cancer risks will occur at occupational and 

recreational receptors, where acute hazard indices under the project scenario measure 0.5 

(comprised of a 0.3 baseline and a 0.2 increase attributable to SCIG). . . . [¶] Even 

assuming the ICTF expansion project were next door to SCIG and had the same 

incremental impact on non-cancer hazard indices as SCIG (0.2), the maximum hazard 

index would still be only 0.7—that is, a 0.3 baseline, a 0.2 increase attributable to SCIG, 

and another 0.2 increase attributable to ICTF expansion. This would still be well below 

the 1.0 significance threshold.” The data in table 3.2-35 amply supports the conclusion 

reached under cumulative impact AQ-7. 23

10.Traffic*

According to the FEIR, all trucks traveling from the port to SCIG will be required 

to take Highway 103 northbound before heading westbound on Highway 1. San Gabriel 

 

23 The trial court’s contrary finding appears to have been based on a double counting of 

the baseline. The court explained only that if the acute hazard index for occupational and 

recreational receptors is 0.5 and “if ICTF has emissions equal to SCIG, it is not unlikely 

that the hazard index could rise to a level of significance.” Moreover, contrary to the trial 

court, we do not assume that the ICTF was not considered in reaching the conclusion that 

“past, present and reasonably foreseeable future projects and the proposed project do not 

have a significant cumulative impact on non-cancer risk.” Although not expressly 

referenced by name, the ICTF is clearly identified as a reasonably foreseeable future 

project for purposes of evaluating cumulative impacts. 

*

Part 10 is not certified for publication. (See fn., ante, p. 1.)
33

Avenue is a short road with one lane in each direction that runs parallel to Highway 103 

for about half a mile. The exchange between Highway 103 and Highway 1 requires 

trucks exiting Highway 103 to merge onto southbound San Gabriel Avenue for a short 

distance (less than a block) before entering the on-ramp to Highway 1. By 2035, 

approximately 2,771 trucks a day would follow this route.

The trial court faulted the FEIR for failing to analyze traffic on San Gabriel 

Avenue, particularly with respect to impacts on residents at the Century Villages at 

Cabrillo (Villages), a 27-acre supportive housing community located on San Gabriel 

Avenue just north of the off-ramp from highway 103 and the entrance to Highway 1. 

Appellants dispute this finding. They argue that although the FIER does not expressly 

reference San Gabriel Avenue, impacts to the affected segment of San Gabriel Avenue 

were subsumed within the analysis of the freeway exchange between northbound 

Highway 103 and westbound Highway 1.

Specifically, table 3.10-9 shows the baseline conditions for the “weaving section”

at the junction of northbound Highway 103 and westbound Highway 1. The table 

indicates the level of service for this section at peak a.m. hours and at peak p.m. hours.

Table 3.10-30 shows the “baseline plus proposed project conditions” for the same 

segment. The level of service remains the same. Appellants explained that the FEIR uses 

a “weaving” analysis to evaluate this connection because it is a “free-flow (no 

impediment such as stop sign or yield sign) movement with a merge.” As noted by the 

trial court, the highway capacity model cited by appellants provides substantial evidence 

for the selection of this methodology in these circumstances. 

Initially, respondents contend that there is no substantial evidence in the record to 

support the density numbers contained in table 3.10-30 that were used to calculate the 

level of service. Table 3.10-9 shows that the density24 for the a.m. peak hours is now 9.3 

 

24 The SCIG Transportation Appendix (Appendix G) indicates that density is measured in 

passenger cars per mile per lane (pc/mi/ln). These tables indicate, however, that density is 

measured in passenger cars per hour per lane (pc/hr/ln). Appellants suggest the label used 

in the tables is a harmless typographical error that could easily have been fixed if raised 
34

cars per mile per lane (pc/mi/ln) and the density for p.m. peak hours is 15.7 pc/mi/ln.

Table 3.10-30 shows that under the project the density for the a.m. peak hours would 

drop to 9.2 and the density for p.m. peak hours would rise to 16.8. In the trial court, 

appellants cited the “weave analysis sheets” in Appendix G and explained that the harbor 

department’s “traffic experts found that the volume added due to the project is 200 

[passenger car equivalents or pce] in the p.m. peak hour at that location, which was added 

to the 175 pce of non-project trips, for a total of 375 pce trips weaving into Pacific Coast 

Highway [Highway 1] from the northbound Terminal Island Freeway [Highway 103] off 

ramp. This 375 pce trips with other analysis factors translates into 16.8 density value 

under a detailed calculation shown in the Highway Capacity Manual 2000.” The trial 

court acknowledged that “there may well be an explanation [for the density numbers] of 

the sort offered in respondents’ brief” but based on its review of Appendix G, the court 

was unable to “discern any evidence to support” the density numbers found in table 

3.10.30. In their reply brief on appeal, appellants concede that the “data, which had been 

collected and used to calculate the numbers in table 3.10.30, . . . was inadvertently 

omitted from the EIR’s appendices.” 

As noted above with respect to the exhaustion issue, appellants argue that the 

omission could have been corrected had a timely objection been made during the 

administrative proceedings. Assuming appellants are correct that the data exists and 

supports the numbers reflected in the table, the omission can easily be corrected in the 

continued administrative proceedings that will otherwise be required.

More fundamentally, respondents contend the FEIR fails to consider how the 

influx of trucks will impact residents at the Villages. In its comment to the RDEIR, 

Villages expressed concern that the mixing of heavy truck traffic from the project with 

traffic to and from the Villages “will cause confusion and dangerous conditions” and will 

cause “traffic to slow significantly.” The city’s response states correctly, “While the 

 

during the administrative process. We agree and assume that the correction will be made 

during the continued administrative proceedings. 
35

comment suggests that the proposed project would cause ‘confusion and dangerous 

conditions . . . [and] . . . the mixing of traffic will also cause the truck traffic to slow 

significantly . . . ,’ the comment provides no evidence to support this conclusion.” 

Contrary to the Villages’ comment, the traffic modeling reflected in table 3.10-30 

suggests that there will be little traffic congestion on San Gabriel Avenue as a result of 

the project. Moreover, because the project requires trucks to follow the specific route to 

SCIG from the port, it is possible for residents of the Villages to avoid project trucks

entirely. The only time trucks and residents must share the road is when they are both 

entering the on-ramp to westbound Highway 1. The FEIR reasonably concludes that 

“there are not many trips anticipated to be on San Gabriel Avenue south that would 

merge with the SR-103 off-ramp traffic” because San Gabriel Avenue serves only “a 

small residential area to the north.” Although respondents challenge the characterization 

of the Villages as a “small” residential community, the description is supported by the 

record. In November 2012, there were 1,830 residents at the Villages, 30 percent of 

whom were children. Presumably not all of them will be heading onto westbound 

Highway 1 at the same time. Accordingly, contrary to the trial court’s finding, the FEIR 

sufficiently analyzes traffic on San Gabriel Avenue.

11.Noise Impacts on the City of Long Beach*

The FEIR analyzed noise impacts from project construction and operation noise

on sensitive receptors in the City of Long Beach including single-family residences, 

educational and religious establishments, industrial properties with potential residential 

uses, parks and open space and three fire stations. Impact NOI-6 evaluated impacts from 

construction and operational noise on “noise levels.” Under the standard of significance 

adopted in the FEIR, an impact would be significant “if ambient noise levels would be 

increased by three dBA [A-weighted decibels] or more; or maximum noise levels allowed 

 

*

Part 11 is not certified for publication. (See fn., ante, p. 1.)
36

by the Long Beach Municipal Code would be exceeded.”

25 Impact NOI-8 analyzed 

impacts from construction and operational noise on sleep disturbance. Under the standard 

selected in the FEIR, “A significant impact for sleep disturbance would occur when 

residences within the immediate vicinity of the Project Site and Project Site components 

within the City of Long Beach are exposed, at an average frequency of once in 10 days, 

to interior nighttime SEL [sound exposure level] sufficient to awaken at least 10 percent 

of their residents assuming windows remain open. The threshold of significance for 

interior nighttime noise is 80 dBA SEL.” Impact NOI-9 analyzed impacts from 

construction and operational noise on classroom speech interference. Under the standard 

of significance adopted in the FEIR, “A significant impact for classroom speech 

interference would occur when schools within the immediate vicinity of the Project Site 

and Project Site components within the City of Long Beach are exposed to exterior noise 

levels during school hours sufficient to result in interior noise level of 52 dBA, sufficient 

for momentary disruption of speech intelligibility in classroom teaching situations 

(assumed to be at 20 feet).”

The FEIR concludes that “[p]redicted daytime operational noise levels from the 

proposed Project site would exceed existing measured ambient noise levels by 3 dBA or 

greater at the residence at 2789 Webster (R1) and at Cabrillo High School (R5). Predicted 

 

25 According to the FEIR, “Chapter 8.80 of the Long Beach Municipal Code controls 

unnecessary and excessive noise and vibration in the City of Long Beach. Section 

8.80.150 of the Long Beach Municipal Code outlines acceptable exterior noise levels by 

land use that apply to operations noise. As listed in table 3.9-11, daytime noise levels at 

residential areas are not to exceed 50 dBA. In addition, it is unlawful for any person to 

create any noise which causes the noise level when measured on residential property to 

exceed: [¶] [1.] The noise standard for that land use district as shown in Table 3.9-11 for 

a cumulative period of more than thirty minutes in any hour; [¶] [2.] The noise standard 

plus five dBA for more than 15 minutes in any hour; [¶] [3.] The noise standard plus ten 

dBA for a cumulative period of more than five minutes in any hour; [¶] [4.] The noise 

standard plus 15 dBA for a cumulative period of more than one minute in any hour; or 

[¶] [5.] The noise standard plus 20 dBA or the maximum measured ambient, for any 

period of time. [¶] If the measured ambient level exceeds that permissible, the allowable 

noise exposure standard shall be increased in 5 dBA increments in each category as 

appropriate to encompass or reflect the ambient noise level.”
37

nighttime operational noise levels would exceed existing ambient noise levels by greater 

than 3 dB at the residence at 2789 Webster (R1), at the Buddhist Temple (R2), and at the 

Century Villages at Cabrillo (R7A). These increases represent a significant impact. 

[¶] Interior noise levels from Project operations would not be expected to exceed 

municipal code standards for classroom interior spaces. Further, interior operational noise 

levels would not be expected to approach or exceed existing ambient interior noise levels 

within active classrooms. Interior construction noise levels would exceed [Long Beach 

Municipal Code] standards at the Cabrillo Child Development Center (R6) and future 

noise levels would exceed existing ambient noise levels by greater than 3 dB at the 

Bethune School (R7); therefore, classroom noise impacts would be significant.” With 

proposed mitigation most of the impacts would be reduced to less than significant but 

nighttime operational noise levels would remain significant and unavoidable. The FEIR 

also concludes that the impact of the predicted SCIG train horns on sleep at nearby 

residences and the impact of on-site and rail corridor operational noise on speech 

intelligibility in classrooms would both be less than significant.

The trial court concluded that the FEIR is inadequate because it fails to analyze

under impact NOI-6 whether “single-event noise” would exceed “maximum noise levels” 

allowed under the City of Long Beach noise ordinance. The court found no inadequacy in 

the FEIR’s discussion of single-event noise impacts on sleep or speech intelligibility

under impacts NOI-8 or NOI-9. Nor did the court find inadequate the analysis of project 

construction and operations on ambient noise levels under impact NOI-6. Rather, the 

court concluded that because the Long Beach noise ordinance sets maximum noise levels 

for both ambient and single-event noise and the FEIR expressly adopted the “maximum 

noise levels allowed by the Long Beach Municipal Code” as a standard of significance 

for impact NOI-6, the FEIR was required to analyze single-event noise as well as ambient 

noise under impact NOI-6. 

Appellants contend that NOI-6 was intended to analyze increases in ambient noise

levels only, not single-event noise. According to appellants, the harbor department 

selected different standards of significance, based on SEL levels and maximum noise 
38

levels, to evaluate single event noise impacts on sleep (NOI-8) and speech intelligibility 

(NOI-9). They argue that the trial court disregarded the harbor department’s “discretion 

to select, develop, interpret, and apply its own thresholds of significance based on 

substantial evidence.”

Although the language used in the FEIR is perhaps imprecise, a fair reading 

supports appellants’ argument that impact NOI-6 was intended to evaluate only increases 

in ambient noise levels. 26 Because the trial court’s conclusion was based solely on the 

premise that NOI-6 was intended to, but did not, analyze single-event noise, we cannot 

accept its conclusion. Respondents assert no other deficiency in the analysis of noise 

impacts, so that we conclude this portion of the FEIR complies with CEQA.

12.Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Chapter 3.6 contains the FEIR’s discussion of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. 

The chapter analyzes two potential impacts. First, under impact GHG-1, the FEIR 

considers whether the project “would result in an increase in construction-related and 

operation-related GHG emissions.” The FEIR quantifies GHG emissions and concludes 

that significant impacts would occur under the proposed project because the new railyard

“would produce GHG operational emissions that would exceed the CEQA baseline levels 

when the project reaches its full capacity in 2035 and beyond.”

Under impact GHG-2, the FEIR considers whether the proposed project would 

“conflict with state and local plans and policies adopted for the purpose of reducing GHG 

emissions.” The FEIR concludes that the proposed project “is consistent with state and 

local policies and plans for GHG emissions and climate change. Accordingly, there are 

no significant impacts resulting from inconsistencies with existing plans and policies.”

The FEIR explains, “The proposed project would result in more efficient use of fossil 

fuels to move goods as a result of increased use of rail versus trucking between the Ports 

and the SCIG facility. The project is consistent with key legislation, regulations, plans 

 

26 Appellants may well be correct that this ambiguity could have been resolved had a 

proper objection been raised in the course of the administrative proceedings.
39

and policies described in section 3.6.3, applicable regulations. [¶] The ratio of locomotive 

fuel efficiency to truck fuel efficiency on a per-ton-mile basis ranges from 1.9 to 5.5 

(Federal Railroad Administration, 2009). Increased fuel efficiency reduces GHG 

emissions on a per-ton-mile basis. The project, by shifting the drayage truck trips from 

Hobart yard to the SCIG facility, would increase the fuel efficiency of regional cargo 

movement and decrease GHG emissions. This fundamental feature of the Project is 

consistent with the California Air Resources Board’s [CARB] scoping plan[27]for 

reducing GHG emissions from the Goods Movement sector which calls for efficiencybased GHG reductions in activities such as port-related trucks, cargo handling equipment, 

and freight transport.”

In contrast, the FEIR concludes that the no project alternative would conflict with 

state and local plans and policies adopted for the purpose of reducing the emissions of 

GHGs. The FEIR explains, “The no project alternative would not increase use of more 

efficient modes of goods movement by continuing to move cargo by truck to the Hobart 

yard. Therefore no additional efficiency in cargo movement is realized in the no project 

alternative, which is inconsistent with the goals of the AB32 scoping plan, the Western 

 

27 In 2006, the Legislature enacted Assembly Bill No. 32 (2005-2006 Reg. Sess.) which

directed “CARB to ‘determine what the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level was in 

1990, and approve in a public hearing, a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit that is 

equivalent to that level, to be achieved by 2020.’ [Citation.] The Legislature also directed 

CARB to prepare a ‘scoping plan’ to identify how to achieve the “maximum 

technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions . . . by 

2020.’ [Citation.] The scoping plan prepared by CARB explained that ‘ “[r]educing 

greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels means cutting approximately 30 percent from 

business-as-usual emission levels projected for 2020, or about 15 percent from today’s 

levels.” [Citation.] The scoping plan then set out a “comprehensive array of emissions

reduction approaches and tools” to meet the goal, including expanding energy efficiency 

programs, achieving a statewide renewable energy mix of 33 percent, developing with 

our regional partners a cap-and-trade program for greenhouse gases, establishing targets 

and policies for emissions in transportation and implementing existing clean 

transportation programs, and creating targeted fees on certain activities affecting 

emissions.’ ” (Cleveland Natl. Forest Foundation v. San Diego Assn. of Governments

(2017) 3 Cal.5th 497, 505.)
40

Regional Climate Action Initiative, the Mayor of Los Angeles’ Executive Directive 

No. 10, and the Port of Los Angeles Climate Action Plan.”

The trial court found that the discussion of impacts under GHG-2 is inadequate 

because it “does not inform the public or decision makers of the reasons it believes the 

project is consistent with . . . ‘key legislation, regulations, plans and policies.’ ” 28 The 

court also observed that the analysis is “misleading” because “[a] project that will 

increase GHG emissions cannot be in harmony with state and local plans and policies that 

require a decrease in GHG emissions.” We disagree.

In Center for Biological Diversity v. Department of Fish and Wildlife (2015) 62 

Cal.4th 204, the court acknowledged that a comparison of the project’s expected 

emissions to a hypothetical business-as-usual scenario is an appropriate “tool for 

evaluating efficiency and conservation efforts” and may be used “to show the project 

incorporates efficiency and conservation measures sufficient to make it consistent with 

achievement of A.B. 32’s reduction goal, not to show the project will not increase 

greenhouse gas emissions over those in the existing environment.” (Id. at p. 225.) GHG-2 

properly uses such a comparative tool to show that shifting the drayage truck trips from 

the Hobart yard to the SCIG facility will increase the fuel efficiency of regional cargo 

movement and decrease GHG emissions, consistent with the goals of the scoping plan.

In Center for Biological Diversity v. California Department of Fish and Wildlife, 

supra, 62 Cal.4th at page 225 the court ultimately concluded that there was no substantial 

evidence for the finding that the project’s emissions would not conflict with statewide 

emission reduction goals. Unlike in the present case, the lead agency in that case 

attempted to establish “consistency” with state plans and policies by showing that the 

“project-level reduction of 31 percent in comparison to business as usual is consistent 

 

28 The trial court also concluded that the analysis of GHG emissions under GHG-1 is 

deficient because it fails to consider the impacts of continued operations at the Hobart

yard. As discussed above, we have rejected the argument that the effects of continued 

operations at Hobart are an indirect impact of the project that require analysis in the 

FEIR. For the same reason, we disagree that emissions at Hobart are required to be 

included in the analysis of the project’s GHG emissions. 
41

with achieving Assembly Bill 32’s statewide goal of a 29 percent reduction from business 

as usual.” (Ibid.) The court explained why this was inadequate as follows: “At bottom, 

the EIR’s deficiency stems from taking a quantitative comparison method developed by 

the Scoping Plan as a measure of the greenhouse gas emissions reduction effort required 

by the state as a whole, and attempting to use that method, without consideration of any 

changes or adjustments, for a purpose very different from its original design: to measure 

the efficiency and conservation measures incorporated in a specific land use development 

proposed for a specific location. The EIR simply assumes that the level of effort required 

in one context, a 29 percent reduction from business as usual statewide, will suffice in the 

other, a specific land use development. From the information in the administrative record, 

we cannot say that conclusion is wrong, but neither can we discern the contours of a

logical argument that it is right. The analytical gap left by the EIR’s failure to establish, 

through substantial evidence and reasoned explanation, a quantitative equivalence 

between the Scoping Plan's statewide comparison and the EIR’s own project-level

comparison deprived the EIR of its ‘ “sufficiency as an informative document.” ’ ” (Id. at 

p. 227.) In the present case, the harbor department did not purport to measure 

“consistency” with a specific quantitative reduction goal. The harbor department 

separated its quantitative analysis (GHG-1) from its qualitative analysis (GHG-2),

informing the reader that emissions will exceed baseline levels, resulting in a significant 

impact, but that the project is consistent with state and local plans and policies that 

encourage adoption of more efficient use of fossil fuels to move goods. This analysis is

particularly apt in this instance where the no project alternative also results in significant 

impacts and is not consistent with conservation goals. Accordingly, there is no 

inadequacy in the FEIR’s analysis of GHG emissions. 

Disposition

The judgment granting respondents’ petition for writ of mandate is affirmed in 

part and reversed in part. The judgment is affirmed insofar as it grants the consolidated 

petitions for a peremptory writ of mandate directing respondents to set aside certification 

of the FEIR and specified actions and approvals predicated on the certification, and to 
42

suspend project activities until respondents have taken the necessary actions to comply 

with CEQA. Insofar as the judgment implies that compliance with CEQA requires 

correction of inadequacies in the FEIR’s analysis of air quality impacts, particularly 

impacts to ambient air pollutant concentrations and cumulative impacts of such pollutant 

concentrations, the judgment is affirmed. Insofar as the judgment implies that compliance 

with CEQA requires correction of deficiencies in the FEIR’s analysis of impacts related 

to the Hobart railyard, GHG emissions, noise, transportation and the cumulative impact 

of ICTF on noncancer health risks, and specification of mitigation measures AQ-9, NOI1 and NOI-3, the judgment is reversed. On remand, the trial court may reconsider its

award of costs. The parties shall bear their respective costs on appeal.

Pollak, Acting P.J.

We concur:

Siggins, J.

Jenkins, J.
43

Counsel for defendants and appellants: Office of the City Attorney of Los Angeles

Michael N. Feuer, Janna B. Sidley, Joy M. Crose

The Sohagi Law Group, Margaret M. Sohagi

Counsel for real party in interest and 

appellant:

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher

Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., Kahn A. Scolnick, and 

Daniel M. Kolkey

Munger, Tolles & Olson

Benjamin J. Horwich and Usha C. Vance

Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson

Amrit S. Kulkarni, Julia L. Bond, and Peter S. 

Hayes

Counsel for amicus curiae on behalf of 

appellants:

Klapach & Klapach and Joseph S. Klapach for The 

Los Angeles Coalition for the Economy & Jobs 

Reed Smith LLP

Dennis Peter Maio for Regents of the University of 

California 

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

Mark E. Elliott and Kevin M. Fong for Association 

of American Railroads

UCLA School of Law

Sean B. Hecht and Julia Forgie for California 

Communities Against Toxics; California Safe 

Schools; Communities for a Better Environment; 

Del Amo Action Committee; and Mothers of 

East Los Angeles; NAACP Wilmington-San 

Pedro

Counsel for plaintiffs and respondents: Shute, Mihaly & Weinber

Rachel B. Hooper, Winter King, and Susannah T. 

French

Daniel P. Selmi

Charles Parkin, City Attorney and Michael J. Mais, 

Assistant City Attorney for City of Long Beach
44

Kurt R. Wiese, General Counsel, Barbara Baird, 

Chief Deputy Counsel, Veera Tyagi, Principal 

Deputy District Counsel, and Mary J. Reichert, 

Senior Deputy District Counsel for South Coast Air 

Quality Management District

David R. Pettit, Melissa Lin Perrella, Morgan 

Wyenn, and Ramya Sivasubramanian for East Yard 

Communities for Environmental Justice; Coalition 

for Clean Air; Century Villages at Cabrillo; and 

Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.

Johnson, Smith & Foy

Abigail A. Smith and Kimberly A. Foy for 

Coalition for a Safe Environment; Apostolic Faith 

Center; and Community Dreams; California Kids 

IAQ

Chatten-Brown & Carstens

Douglas P. Carstens and Michelle Black for Long 

Beach Unified School District

Peterson Law Group

John S. Peterson and Stacy W. Thomsen for Fast 

Lane Transportation, Inc.; California Cartage 

Company, Inc.; Three Rivers Trucking, Inc.; and 

San Pedro Forklift, Inc.

Counsel for intervener and respondent: Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, Sally Magnani, 

Senior Assistant Attorney General, Sarah E. 

Morrison, Supervising Deputy Attorney General, 

Catherine M. Wieman and Brian J. Bilford, Deputy 

Attorneys General
45

A148993