President Bush signed an amended military bill last week which negated an exemption sought by Orange County toll road planners in an attempt to avoid state environmental laws. The estimated $875-million project would build a toll way, which would complete Orange County’s network of turnpikes and would cut across San Onofre State Beach, which is a popular camping and surfing spot. Toll road officials claim that the project would be extremely effective in relieving traffic. Opponents, however, argue that it would affect campgrounds, wild lands, Native American burial sites and famous surf spots. Orange County toll road planners had obtained a federal exemption which had enabled federal law to have jurisdiction over lawsuits involving the agency and the Foothill South as opposed to state law which is much more inflexible. Members from the board that governs the Foothill-Eastern toll way explained that they sought the exemption not because they sought after special legislation but because they needed to determine which authority, state or federal, it was to follow for the proposed route.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tollroad30jan30,1,5217670.story
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment