Attorney General Bonta and CARB Secure Decision Overturning Flawed Environmental Review for China Shipping Terminal Project

OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) secured a decision from the San Diego County Superior Court overturning the Port of Los Angeles’ approval of the revised China Shipping Terminal project and certification of its Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (EIR).

“Communities around the Port of Los Angeles are already suffering from negative health impacts associated with chronic exposure to air pollution,” said Attorney General Rob Bonta. “This decision invalidating the Port's flawed environmental analysis for the China Shipping Terminal project is an important victory and a critical step toward accountability. The Port must do all it can to lessen the impact of this project on the surrounding communities.”

“This decision is victory for the port-adjacent communities in Los Angeles,” said CARB Chair Liane Randolph. “The Port of Los Angeles must finally require China Shipping to set in place the required measures they have been flouting, and take steps to reduce the air pollution they produce that is harming the residents of multiple AB 617 communities.”

The China Shipping Terminal is located at the Port of Los Angeles, in close proximity to residential communities that are already exposed to disproportionately high amounts of air pollution. Under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Port of Los Angeles was required to implement all feasible mitigation measures to reduce harmful air pollution and other significant environmental impacts of the revised China Shipping Terminal project.  

In September 2020, environmental and community groups and the South Coast Air Quality Management District filed two separate lawsuits challenging the Port’s approval of the revised China Shipping Terminal project and the certification of the Supplemental EIR for failing to meet the requirements of CEQA.  The Attorney General Office and CARB subsequently intervened.

In the decision, the Superior Court found that the Supplemental EIR violated CEQA because it failed to include all feasible mitigation measures to address the China Shipping Terminal's harmful air emissions and to provide a mechanism for enforcement to ensure that the included measures are implemented. The court ordered the Supplemental EIR set aside. 

A copy of the Superior Court’s decision can be found here.