Dec 2015

ARB Not In Touch With Transporation

A collection of TRANSDEF’s comments to the Air Resources Board (ARB) was recently posted:

Testimony to ARB on Regional GHG Emissions Reduction Targets: “These targets will result in increased emissions in this sector, due to population growth. This is going in the wrong direction, and would send the wrong signal to the rest of the world about ARB's view of the need for urgent reductions in GHG emissions.”
ARB’s 2013 Scoping Plan Update: “Staff recognizes the need for "Fundamental transformation of transportation system needed to meet goals" but seems to have little grasp of the institutional barriers to that transformation.” Read More...

Big Flurry of End-of-Year Postings

The combination of intense litigation activity and two personal losses resulted in the TRANSDEF website falling seriously behind in 2015. Taking advantage of a quiet spell after the filing of the STB Opening Brief, the site has been reorganized and updated with large amounts of new information. Look for the yellow NEW icons scattered around.

An entirely new
Government Dysfunction section was created. It now contains a page on the proposed MTC-ABAG merger. Watch for more pages! Many of the previous navigation tabs have been consolidated into new Regional Planning and County-Level Planning sections. Read More...

Opening Brief Filed in STB Appeal

TRANSDEF and its allies Kings County, Kings County Farm Bureau, California Citizens for High-Speed Rail Accountability, Community Coalition on High-Speed Rail, California Rail Foundation, and Dignity Health today filed the Opening Brief in their appeal of the federal Surface Transportation Board’s Declaratory Order. That decision eliminated the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s need to comply with CEQA, due to the STB’s assertion of federal preemption of all federal, state, and local regulations pertaining to interstate railroads. See the Briefs.