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Oceano Dunes off-road vehicle enthusiasts win two more lawsuits

November 1, 2021

By KAREN VELIE

Friends of the Oceano Dunes has won two more legal battles against government agencies involved in the contentious fight over the future of the off-road vehicle park.

The first ruling invalidates the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District’s (APCD) agreement to implement its dust rule. Formally called Rule 1001, the dust rule requires state parks to reduce the particulate matter blowing from the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area or face fines of $1,000 per day.

The court found the APCD’s agreement violates public policy because the agency adopted the agreement out of view of the public and without public input. The court also ruled that APCD staff didn’t have the authority to change Rule 1001 requirements, without direction from the agency’s full board of directors.

The ruling appears to allow State Parks the ability to seek reimbursement from the APCD for monies expended under the void agreement.

Friends of the Oceano Dunes is a not-for-profit corporation expressly created to preserve camping and off-highway vehicle recreation at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. Friends represents approximately 28,000 members and users of the Oceano Dunes.

During the past five years, Friends has successfully sued the California Coastal Commission, the California Air Resources Board and the APCD approximately 10 times over the agencies’ regulatory actions related to the Oceano Dunes State Recreational Area.

In 2018, State Parks entered into a stipulated order of abatement with the APCD. The order requires the state to reduce wind-blown dust, specifically dust particles that are 10 microns or less in diameter, on the Nipomo Mesa by 50 percent. Despite agreeing to the various terms in the order, State Parks still denied that off-roading causes the dust on the mesa.

The California Coastal Commission voted in March to ban off-highway vehicle use at the Oceano Dunes in three years, prompting Friends of the Oceano Dunes to file four additional lawsuits, one of which accuses the California Coastal Commission of violating environmental laws while claiming to be a lead agency when it is not.

Following the lawsuits, State Parks appeared to ignore a mandate from the Coastal Commission to permanently fence off an area for an endangered bird that nests in the sand. State Parks took down the fencing in early October, but quickly put the fencing back up following negative publicity.

State Parks has argued that the Coastal Commission failed to produce scientific evidence that off-road vehicles impact birds after they have migrated from their seasonal-nesting area.

Even though the Coastal Commission and State Parks both operate under the umbrella of the California Natural Resources Agency, they have battled for control over the Oceano Dunes for more than four years, with taxpayers ultimately paying for court costs, legal fees and dust mitigation which currently exceeds $20 million.

In the second ruling, on Oct. 5, a Sacramento County Superior Court judge ordered State Parks to pay Friends of the Oceano Dunes $23,500 for attorneys’ fees after finding the state agency violated the California Public Records Act.


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Has any geologic study been carried out at multiple locations on the Nipomo Mesa to determine the historical natural rate of wind-blown sand dust (10 microns or less) deposited over the long term (e.g., 100, 200, 500, or 1000 years ago)?


7

As a environmental consultant (private sector) in the 1980s, I worked with the agencies mentioned and they were all takers that really don’t care about the environment… just power and $$. Lots of nepotism then. Kinda like teacher unions caring about students.


40

Beware, it appears these wins are only temporary because the rulings were based on errors that can be remedied on the next taxpayer funded lawsuits, interagency law suits justify steady employment. The dunes are a result of the geographic location and that will not change thus the sand blown down wind. What will change is the money from one hand to another.


27

Fantastic! SLO APCD has always operated unlawfully and through lies, fake rigged science, and corrupt inside deals.


69

The one thing the APCD is good at is creating $250,000 plus pensioners.


36

I remember the days, when 19 square miles of the Nipomo Mesa was covered in large, majestic Eucalyptus trees. Thousands of rows of carefully planted and nurtured trees, blocking the winds from the ocean, and fully trapping any dust carried by those winds. To live on the Mesa, you carefully cut out just enough forest to build a house, and just as carefully carved a simple dirt road to access the property.


Oh, but lets build giant golf courses, surrounded by thousands of houses. But first, let’s cut down all these tall trees that block our view of the…..forest. Naturally, we’ll use millions more gallons of water to feed these golf courses and lawns and road dividers. Then well pave over the Mesa, so people can drive any sort of car, truck, or massive RV to their golf course house. Then, we’ll chop down more forest, so as to build a complete town, in order to provide services to the golf course people.


Of course, absolutely nobody, except the APCD, wonders why the particulate matter count is high on the Mesa.


102