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CURRENT LITIGATION CAMPAIGNS:
Beach Access: Montauk Point
Surfrider's Eastern Long Island Chapter is currently helping ticketed surfers fight a legal battle for the right to surf at Montauk Point. Under pressure by the local surfcasting fisherman group, New York State Park Police cited surfers for violating Section 377.1(h) of New York Codes, Rules and Regulations Chapter 9, which prohibits 'swimming' in certain areas of Montauk Park. The defendants are currently arguing that 'surfing' and 'swimming' are not the same activity. In fact, in other sections of New York law, surfing and swimming are specifically separated (see 9 NYCRR 377.1(i)(1); NY Sanit. Code 6-2.16).
Water Quality: 316(b) litigation
Section 316(b) of the Clean Water Act seeks to protect fish, shellfish, and other aquatic organisms from unnecessary harm from cooling intake structures. Surfrider Foundation, with a coalition of other environmental organizations, has been working to encourage the EPA to adopt measures to fully enforce this provision. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit recently interpreted the statute to exclude the use of restoration measures and site-specific cost-benefit analysis as substitutes for the 'best technology available' standards under the Clean Water Act. Riverkeeper, Inc. v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 475 F.3d 83 (2d. Cir. 2006). Surfrider continues to fight for full enforcement of this provision in litigation pending in both the Second and Fifth Circuit Courts of Appeal.
Protection of Special Places: Trestles
On February 6, 2008, Surfrider Foundation, in conjunction with NRDC, California State Parks Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife, Endangered Habitats League, Sierra Club, and others, were successful in convincing the California Coastal Commission to deny consistency certification for the Foothill Transportation Corridor-South (FTC-S) Toll Road Project under the Coastal Zone Management Act, 16 U.S.C. § 1456, because the proposed toll road was not compliant with Coastal Act Chapter 3 protections, including those involving endangered species, environmentally sensitive habitat areas, marine resources, water quality, and protection of recreational resources. The staff report on the consistency certification noted: 'Surfing at Trestles is the epitome of a low-cost coastal recreational resource which is accorded high protection under Sections 30220 and 30213 the Coastal Act.'
Despite this great victory before the Coastal Commission, the legal battle is far from over. The Transportation Corridor Agency ("TCA") immediately appealed the Coastal Commission decision to the United States Secretary of Commerce. The coalition is now assessing legal claims and arguments to be made at this level of the proceedings.
Additionally, Surfrider is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the TCA under the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), which is pending in San Diego Superior Court.
For more information go to the SaveTrestles.org site.
Beach Preservation: Carlsbad Desalination
On January 14, 2008, Surfrider Foundation, through its San Diego Chapter, brought a law suit against the California Coastal Commission for its approval of a Coastal Development Permit allowing for the construction and operation of a 50 million gallon per day seawater desalination facility, despite the plant's inconsistencies with the California Coastal Act's marine life protection provisions. Additionally, the Coastal Commission committed procedural violations by failing to adopt findings to adequately support its determination, and its findings, determinations or decisions are not supported by substantial evidence in light of the entire record.
Surfrider is also utilizing legal resources to fight destructive desalination projects in Huntington Beach and Monterey, California.
Save Lake Worth
Surfrider's Palm Beach County Chapter is currently involved in a campaign against a detrimental dredge and fill project that will disrupt the natural marine environment and destroy the recreational resources (namely, waves for surfing and diving) of the beach. The Town of Palm Beach is currently advocating the major dredge and fill operation to unnecessarily widen the beach that is not deemed "critically" eroded. This project has been split into multiple phases, including "Reach 7," a project which is already underway and manifested obvious deficiencies, and "Reach 8," a continuation of the dredge and fill mission that would attempt to widen the beach from T-125 to R-132. Reach 8 had once been incorporated in to the Reach 7 permit, but was later dropped due to mitigation costs and need for an expedited Reach 7 permit. Visual observations indicate that the Reach 7 project used inferior quality sand which causes turbidity, sedimentation of nearshore coral reefs, and negatively impacts areas south of the project with fine gray silt, including Lake Worth Public Beach.
In filing an administrative challenge to the permitting of this destructive dredge and fill project, Surfrider is working to stop human interruption of natural beach processes, ensure healthy reef ecosystems, protect waves, and attain our vision through chapter-based activism. The local Chapter has also engaged in policy dialogs with the Department of Environmental Protection regarding shortage of beach compatible sand quality, best management practices for buffer zones around sensitive reef areas, as well as minimal impact project design templates.
PAST VICTORIES:
1991 - The Surfrider Foundation won the second largest Clean Water Act lawsuit in United States history against two pulp mills in Humboldt
County, California. As a result of this suit, one of these mills, the Louisiana Pacific mill, became the only mill in North America to begin producing totally chlorine-free (TCF) paper.
1994 - The Surfrider Foundation v. Borough of Deal, New Jersey ensured beach access for surfers in New Jersey.
1995 - The Surfrider Foundation represented by the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, sued the City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii for over 13,000
Clean Water Act violations at Kailua Bay. The suit was settled out of court with the agreement that the City and County would form an advisory council
to monitor the area, research the use of ultraviolet cleansing of wastewater, and upgrade the existing wastewater treatment plant.
1995 The Surfrider Foundation settled a lawsuit against the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC), which stipulated that IBWC research the feasibility of using environmentally sensitive ponding systems rather than chemical wastewater treatment for the Mexico-California border area.
2006 - The Surfrider Foundation won a lawsuit over blocked beach access points in Ponte Vedra, Florida where the number of beach access sites is
adequate, but their use was severely limited by a lack of nearby parking spots.
Here's more info on Surfrider campaign victories
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