Tag: HSR Litigation

CHSRA Tries to Ditch CEQA

CHSRA Tries to Ditch CEQA 09/22/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail After losing part of an appellate decision, the California High-Speed Rail Authority filed a request with the California Supreme Court today, asking it to depublish the 7/31/14 ruling. That would mean no other court could consider the ruling to be precedent, thereby making it easier to argue that CEQA doesn’t apply to railroad projects that are under the jurisdiction of the Federal Surface Transportation Board. All the papers are posted at the bottom of this page. Tags: HSR Litigation, CEQA, Preemption

Continue reading

Wall Street Journal Editorial on HSR Case

Wall Street Journal Editorial on HSR Case 09/13/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail In a stunning editorial entitled California’s Democratic Derailment, the Wall Street Journal calls upon the California Supreme Court to save democracy by overturning the appellate decision that declared the CHSRA’s violation of Proposition 1A unenforceable: The Wall Street Journal/ Opinion, Sept. 13, 2014)   California’s Democratic Derailment Politicians ignore the legal caveats that voters added to the bullet train   In theory at least, courts and ballot referenda are checks on legislative tyranny. A California appellate court has effectively done away with both by ruling that the legal…

Continue reading

HSR Opponents Seek Supreme Court Review

HSR Opponents Seek Supreme Court Review 09/02/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail Attorneys challenging the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s bond funding presented a press conference today to explain the petition they filed  or will be filing with the California Supreme Court. The petitions ask the Supreme Court to review the Third District Court of Appeal decision  overturning two trial rulings that had hamstrung Californiaʼs High-Speed Rail project. The Appellate Court had ruled that “The Legislature appropriated the bond proceeds based on the preliminary funding plan, however deficient, and there is no present duty to redo the plan.” The Court also held that no evidence was needed to show that it was “necessary or desirable” to…

Continue reading

Opponents of HSR Strike Back

Opponents of HSR Strike Back 08/13/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail After the Court of Appeal decision was released, HSR opponents didn’t take the defeat lying down. Instead, they filed two Petitions for Rehearing, asking the Court to reopen the case and allow further briefing and a hearing. Specifically, they claimed that the Court had used legal arguments and case authorities that hadn’t been briefed by the parties. Under these circumstances, they are entitled to a rehearing. See the petitions at the bottom of this page. Tags: HSR Litigation

Continue reading

Court of Appeal Hits HSR Critics Hard

Court of Appeal Hits HSR Critics Hard 07/31/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail The Third District Court of Appeal issued rulings in the Atherton II appeal that addressed federal preemption and the Authority’s Extraordinary Writ petition recently. Both of them were very hard on HSR critics. See the posts at the bottom of the pages for links to the rulings and brief explanations. COURT OF APPEAL ALLOWS HIGH-SPEED RAIL TO VIOLATE BOND MEASURE The Third District Court of Appeal late yesterday overturned two trial rulings that had hamstrung California’s still-embattled High-Speed Rail project.The Court ruled that “The Legislature appropriated the bond proceeds based on the preliminary funding plan, however deficient, and there is no present duty to…

Continue reading

Suit Challenges HSR Funding: Says It Worsens Climate Change

Suit Challenges HSR Funding: Says It Worsens Climate Change 06/23/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail | Climate Change TRANSDEF, the Transportation Solutions Defense and Education Fund, announced that it filed suit  in Fresno County Superior Court today challenging the Governor’s fallback funding scheme for High-Speed Rail (HSR). HSR was included in the list of measures to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions contained in the Update to the Scoping Plan recently adopted by the California Air Resources Board (ARB). The Scoping Plan is California’s master strategy for responding to climate change. TRANSDEF’s attorney, Stuart Flashman, commented: “As a former scientist, I was disappointed that ARB ignored the scientific evidence. The huge spike in cement production needed to build all…

Continue reading

Appeals to be heard in May

Appeals to be heard in May 04/30/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail Oral argument on three cases involving the CA HSR Authority will be heard by the Court of Appeal in Sacramento in May. The Town of Atherton appeal will be heard at 2:00 on Tuesday, May 20. The Extraordinary Writ for both the Tos case  and the Validation case will be heard at 9:30 on Friday, May 23. The Court is located at 914 Capitol Mall, Sacramento. Tags: HSR Litigation

Continue reading

A Flurry of Amicus Briefs Hit Court

A Flurry of Amicus Briefs Hit Court 04/26/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail Transportation agencies, worried that they could lose their funding from the HSR Bond, filed amicus briefs with the Court of Appeal, as did Sen.  Galgiani, the author of AB 3034. The briefs and their replies can be found here. Tags: HSR Litigation

Continue reading

Court of Appeals to CHSRA: No Way

Court of Appeals to CHSRA: No Way 04/15/14 Filed in: High-Speed Rail The Court of Appeal summarily dismissed the CHSRA’s second Petition for Extraordinary Writ of Mandate, saying in effect that there were no legal grounds upon which to grant relief. It is expected that the desperate CHSRA will attempt to get relief from the California Supreme Court, where success is exceedingly unlikely. See all the legal papers. Tags: HSR Litigation

Continue reading