California governor signs bill requiring environmental review of large coal projects
- Newsom signs Assembly Bill 40, Earthjustice says
- Developers must disclose impacts and develop mitigation before approval
- Proposed West Oakland facility would reportedly handle 13 million tons a year
Updated Oct 1: An earlier version, based on the group's original statement, said 12 million tons; the statement now says 13 million.
SACRAMENTO — Governor Newsom has signed Assembly Bill 40, the Community First Coal Review Act, which requires developers of large coal facilities to fully disclose their projects' impacts and develop mitigation measures before they are granted approval, Earthjustice said.
The bill was authored by Assemblymember Mia Bonta and co-sponsored by Earthjustice and the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, Earthjustice said in a statement.
Earthjustice said Bonta introduced AB 40 after the Trump administration announced that it was planning to allocate $75 million in taxpayer funding toward a new coal storage and handling facility in Oakland.
The proposed West Oakland facility would reportedly handle 13 million tons of coal a year from Utah, Wyoming, and potentially other western states, according to the statement.
"Our neighbors are extremely alarmed about the prospect of dirty coal dust spreading into their homes, schools, and places of worship: this law gives them a process to voice those concerns and demand mitigations," said Veronica Eady, Executive Director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project.
Earthjustice said the coal would pass through communities across California on hundreds of open train cars, expected to travel over the Sierras and along the rail corridor adjacent to I-80 into West Oakland.
If approved, the project could lead to three coal trains per day, each hauling 100 cars, traveling through California for the next 60 years or more, the group said.
Earthjustice said a recent study found that coal handling facilities and coal trains increase local levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which it said can cause or worsen lung and heart conditions. The group said coal dust also contains arsenic, lead and mercury.