Here we go again with more legislation to stop the Alameda/Tesla Expansion at the Carnegie SVRA. Similar legislation was shot down by both Gov. Brown and Gov. Newsom in the past few years. But they are back again, this time even more aggressively trying to keep the expansion and the SVRA tied up in the Legislature and the courts.
Here is a quick update on both the bills regarding Carnegie SVRA.
AB 2551- Alameda/Tesla Carnegie SVRA Expansion – As of April 30, 2020 the bill had been cancelled at the request of the author.
SB 1147- Carnegie SVRA – The bill has been referred to the Senate Rules Committee on March 5 and no action scheduled.
Here we go again with more legislation to stop the Alameda/Tesla Expansion at the Carnegie SVRA. Similar legislation was shot down by both Gov. Brown and Gov. Newsom in the past few years. But they are back again, this time even more aggressively trying to keep the expansion and the SVRA tied up in the legislature and the courts.
California State Parks held a special Off-highway Motor Vehicle Recreation (OHMVR) Commission meeting in Sacramento to discuss State Parks transformation process. The OHV community has always been very skeptical of the transformation process and many have asked why it was needed. State Parks says they had to fold the OHMVR Division back into State Parks because they felt it was more efficient and it would save money. But the OHV community fears that they just want to tap into our gas tax trust fund (green sticker fund) money. State Parks has always operated in the red and is always looking for more money from the general fund, while the OHMVR Division uses no general fund money and is always in the black.
On November 21, 2019, the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Joaquin, Stockton Branch, rendered a jury verdict in favor of managed OHV recreation at the Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA).
As I sit here in the dark finishing up my November In-Gear article, with the distant hum of generators buzzing throughout the neighborhood, it’s easy to want to blame PG&E.
GOV. NEWSOM VETOES CARNEGIE BILL – Big victory last night for everyone associated with OHV recreation. Congrats to all of the activist men and women who attended hearings, sent letters, made phone calls, or provided insight while all the time remembering that we are stewards of this generation who protect responsible OHV recreation for future generations of California families.
“In short, the status quo at ODSVRA is clearly not sustainable and it is time to more fully understand and evaluate other public access and recreation options that are consistent with coastal resource protections given the current realities that affect and are affected by OHV activities at this shoreline location. Put simply, in staff’s view a Park that is fully consistent with on-the-ground realities, and with coastal resource protection requirements, does not include OHV use. Rather, it is clear to staff that the significant coastal resource issues and constraints attributable to OHV use render long-term OHV use at this location untenable.” Those were the comments made by the California Coastal Commission (CCC) staff recommending the closure of the Oceano Dunes SVRA and the main subject at the July CCC meeting in San Luis Obispo.
I arrived at the meeting hall at 7AM, a good two hours before the hearing was scheduled to start and there were already hundreds of Dune supporter inside the hotel. By 9AM they estimated nearly 1,000 supporters were lined up to sign in to the hearing and give public comment on the CCC’s staff proposed closure of the Oceano Dunes SVRA.
The Comment period has closed on the USFS request for comments on the proposed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) rule change to update the analysis and documentation of Categorical Exclusions. This is a small but important point within NEPA. NEPA requires agencies to disclose and analyze the potential impacts their management decisions will have on the natural environment. This has led to an overly cautious administrative process that subjects most management decisions to an Environmental Assessment or a more complex Environmental Impact Statement.
(As Amended September 6, 2019)
Senate Bill 767 died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee last week.
But now, SB 767 has been resurrected into AB1086, this bill is a "gut and amend" bill that is very similar to SB767. Cal4 was opposed SB767 and opposes the resurrected AB1086. But in addition to the policy objections of the bill, we object to the underhanded process that is being attempted to ram AB1086 through the legislature with only days to go in this session of the State legislature.
If you want to watch yesterday's AB1086 hearing in the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee follow this link to the hearing- https://www.senate.ca.gov/media-archive and select the September 11 hearing of the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee and click “Watch.”
