Homeowners, Emergency Life Protection Committee v. Lynn

432 F. Supp. 1334, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15339
CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedJune 20, 1977
DocketCiv. No. 74-2917-AAH
StatusPublished

This text of 432 F. Supp. 1334 (Homeowners, Emergency Life Protection Committee v. Lynn) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Homeowners, Emergency Life Protection Committee v. Lynn, 432 F. Supp. 1334, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15339 (C.D. Cal. 1977).

Opinion

FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

HAUK, District Judge.

PRELIMINARY

A consolidated hearing on plaintiff’s Motion for Preliminary and Permanent Injunction was heard on October 29 and 30, 1974, the Court reviewed and considered the proper evidence introduced and on file, and heard and considered arguments of the parties at the hearing and reached its decision and filed findings of fact and conclusions of law and judgment in favor of the Federal defendants and the City defendants. 388 F.Supp. 971 (C.D.Cal. 1974). Thereafter, plaintiff pursued an appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (hereafter Court of Appeals). On August 12, 1976, that Court issued an opinion and ordered the judgment heretofore entered vacated and the cause remanded for proceedings not inconsistent with its opinion. 541 F.2d 814 (9th Cir. 1976). Thereafter, proceedings were had to resolve the issues posed in the opinion of August 12, 1976 by the Court of Appeals. These issues were:

(1) Should the further construction of Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir be en[1335]*1335joined pending a determination of the adequacy of the Federal Environmental Impact Statement (EIS); and
(2) Whether the EIS itself is adequate.

Some of the findings of fact and conclusions of law as set forth below are founded upon the proceedings prior to the appeal and are undisturbed by the opinion and remand of the Court of Appeals. Some of the findings of fact and conclusions of law set forth below are founded upon events and proceedings subsequent to the remand by the opinion of August 12, 1976. The cause having been argued and submitted, the Court makes the following findings of fact and conclusions of law.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. This is an action for declaratory relief and injunction prohibiting both City and Federal defendants from taking any action which would affect the decision of the Federal and City agencies to approve construction of the proposed Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir and from further soliciting or awarding any contracts in connection with the Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir until the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (hereafter NEPA) has been complied with.

2. On February 9, 1971, an earthquake centered approximately two miles east of the Van Norman Dam and Reservoir occurred and as a result thereof, said Dam and Reservoir were severely damaged. Said dam and reservoir are located in the City of Los Angeles and are important facilities of the Water System for the City of Los Angeles and its Department of Water and Power.

3. The Board of Water and Power Commissioners of the City of Los Angeles determined that the Van Norman Dam is to be replaced by a new dam called the Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir. The replacement dam is on the same watershed and performs the same functions as the old dam. These functions include a regulating reservoir, a receiving reservoir for the First and Second Los Angeles Aqueducts bringing water to the City of Los Angeles from distant places, and an emergency storage facility that stores water in the City to provide water in the event of an emergency.

4. The construction of the Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir has the effect of restoring the facilities substantially as they existed prior to the disaster.

5. The construction of the Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir will essentially restore the reservoir function and other conditions that have existed on the site for 60 years.

6. On June 29,1973, the Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Water and Power for the City of Los Angeles requested that the State Office of Emergency Services file an amended application with the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration (hereafter FDAA) seeking Federal funds under the Federal Disaster Relief Act of 1970 (42 U.S.C. § 4482) to reconstruct the damaged Van Norman Dam and Reservoir.

7. In 1974, the Department of Housing and Urban Development determined that the granting of any Federal funds for the above-stated project would constitute a major Federal action and thus directed Thomas P. Dunne, of the F.D.A.A., in Washington, D. C., to prepare a Federal Environmental Impact Statement on the above-stated project.

8. On August 5, 1974, the F.D.A.A., Region 9, informed Robert V. Phillips, General Manager and Chief Engineer of the Department of Water and Power, that Federal action involving compliance with N.E.P.A. was in progress and that the final Environmental Impact Statement would not be completed and published until at least June 15, 1975, at which time a 30-day period for review by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) would follow, and therefore any F.D.A.A. decision on Federal funding of the above-stated project would probably not be rendered until at least July 15,1975.

9. On October 10, 1974, a construction contract in the amount of approximately $30,590,000 was awarded by the Board of Water and Power Commissioners of the City of Los Angeles to the Granite Con[1336]*1336struction Company of Watsonville, California, who is not a party to this action.

10. The Department of Water and Power was obligated on its contract to Granite Construction and the Board of Water and Power Commissioners determined that it would proceed with the construction of Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir regardless of whether Federal funding is available.

11. The only Federal action in the above-stated project concerns its processing of the defendant City’s request for Federal funds and no Federal decision concerning the allocation, disbursement, or commitment of said Federal funds would be determined until the completion of the E.I.S.

12. The Department of Water and Power of the City of Los Angeles has complied with the California Environmental Quality Act (California Public Resources Code Sections 21000 et seq.) and pursuant to that Act has filed a comprehensive environmental impact report and plaintiff did not challenge that report nor the Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir Project in the State courts.

13. The Department of Water and Power has received a permit to construct the Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir from the State Department of Water Resources, Division of Safety of Dams, the California agency designated by law to administer safety of dams in the State.

14. The Court found and determined and entered judgment denying the petition for preliminary injunction and permanent injunction on the letting of the contract for the construction of Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir and for the continued construction of Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir on the .grounds that there was no Federal “partnership” with the City of Los Angeles, nor sufficient Federal involvement in Los Angeles Dam and Reservoir Project to require a Federal Environmental Impact Statement prior to the commencement of the construction of the dam. A Federal E. I.S. was required prior to the decision by the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration (F.D.A.A.) to fund the project. The F. D.A.A. had taken the position there would be no funding of the project prior to the completion of the E.I.S. As of the moment of the hearing on the preliminary and permanent injunction, the project was a City project of the City of Los Angeles and not a Federal one.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Life Of The Land v. Brinegar
485 F.2d 460 (Ninth Circuit, 1973)
Trout Unlimited v. Morton
509 F.2d 1276 (Ninth Circuit, 1974)
Homeowners Emergency Life Protection Committee v. Lynn
388 F. Supp. 971 (C.D. California, 1974)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
432 F. Supp. 1334, 1977 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15339, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/homeowners-emergency-life-protection-committee-v-lynn-cacd-1977.