Federal judge halts project in Chico, Calif., cites risk to 3 threatened species
July 18 (UPI) -- A federal judge overturned the approval by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of a mixed-use project in Chico, Calif., after environmentalists claimed it will destroy the natural habitat of threatened species.
At issue was the Stonegate Development Project, a 314-acre development. It was to include 423 single-family residential lots, 13.4 acres of multi-family residential land uses, 36.6 acres of commercial land uses, 5.4 acres of storm water facilities, 3.5 acres of park and a 137-acre, open-space preserve, the ruling said.
U.S. District Judge Daniel Calabretta gave summary judgment requested by the Center for Biological Diversity and AquAlliance and halted implementation of the project until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service prepares a legally adequate biological opinion that the development wouldn't jeopardize protected species.
Calabretta, a President Joe Biden appointee, wrote that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a Biological Opinion for the project in early 2020. That opinion "acknowledged there would be harm to some ESA-listed species, but that the project would not jeopardize the continued survival and recovery of the listed fairy shrimp, tadpole shrimp and meadowfoam." It also did not analyze impacts on the giant garter snake, he added.
"The court finds that federal defendants' failure to consider potential effects on the ESA-listed giant garter snake was based on a faulty assumption that there have been no sightings of the snake within five miles of the project renders its Biological Opinion arbitrary and capricious," Calabretta said.
According to the conservation groups, the project also would permanently destroy 9.14 acres of wetlands. But some meadowfoam habitat may be established through mitigation efforts.
The Butte County meadowfoam is found nowhere in the world but Butte County, Calif., the Center for Biological Diversity said. The species has only 21 distinct populations remaining, and the project would destroy one population and further encroach on two others.
According to the fish and wildlife service, the giant garter snake is one of the largest garter snakes, reaching 63.7 inches long. It has been listed as threatened since 1993 and now only exists in three counties in California. Only about 5% of its historical wetland habitat remains.
Vernal pool fairy shrimp are restricted to vernal pools found in California and southern Oregon. They are found in 32 counties across California's Central Valley, central coast and southern California and in Jackson County in southern Oregon, the service said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
41 minutes ago
- UPI
Paraguay must invest $5 billion by 2030 to avoid energy crisis
Experts warned Paraguay must make a $5 billion investment to double its power generation capacity by 2030 or face a production crisis. File Photo by Nathalia Aguliar/EPA July 23 (UPI) -- Paraguay must double its power generation capacity by 2030 to avoid a supply crisis, as domestic demand rises, infrastructure ages and pressure grows to diversify its energy sources. Experts warn that without at least $5 billion in urgent investment, the country could go from being one of the world's top exporters of clean energy to facing blackouts at home. The country depends almost entirely on three major hydroelectric dams -- including Itaipú, jointly operated with Brazil, and Yacyretá, with Argentina -- which for decades have allowed it to sell surplus electricity to its neighbors. But domestic consumption is rising so fast that those sources can no longer meet internal demand. In emerging economies like Paraguay, each percentage point of GDP growth typically leads to a proportional -- or even greater -- increase in energy consumption, driven by expanding industrial and agricultural activity, a growing number of vehicles and household appliances and the continued rise of commerce, services and urban infrastructure. Paraguay's economy has grown at an average annual rate of 3% over the past decade, with a rebound to 4.7% in 2023 and a projected 4.2% in 2024. In the first quarter of this year, growth reached 5.9%. ANDE, the state-run utility that oversees the country's entire power system, estimates that electricity demand will increase by 6% to 8% annually through 2030. "If we keep growing at the current pace, the system won't be able to handle it," Guillermo Krauch of the Paraguayan Institute of Electrical Sector Professionals warned at a recent meeting of the National Energy Forum. Krauch also said ANDE currently invests about $300 million a year, when it should be double that just to keep the grid operating. Expanding generation would require an additional $1.2 billion annually. Víctor Giménez, a special projects adviser at the Yacyretá dam, said Paraguay spent decades under a false sense of energy security. "That time is over. Today, companies come looking to invest in the country but leave once they realize there's no guaranteed power supply for the next five years," he said. Both experts agreed that one of the main obstacles is regulation. A law allows private companies to generate and sell electricity, but the necessary regulatory framework has yet to be enacted -- a gap that continues to deter investment. As an alternative, panelists proposed diversifying Paraguay's energy sources. Paraguay has already identified 22 locations suitable for small hydroelectric plants, which would require an estimated $1.2 billion to build. These plants could be installed closer to consumption centers, reducing strain on the transmission grid. Nicolás Foissac, a renewable energy consultant, highlighted the potential of solar power -- particularly in the Chaco region, a vast, flat area with low population density. He also pointed to biomass and biogas, which convert agricultural waste into electricity. "True energy sovereignty means using what we already have, with modern technology and clear rules," he said. According to estimates from the National Energy Forum, Paraguay will need a total investment of about $12 billion between 2025 and 2030, and up to $12.7 billion through 2043. Macarena Hermosilla contributed to this report.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Toyota, Honda, Nissan stocks soar on trade pact as Big 3 say it's a 'bad deal'
Toyota (TM), Honda (HMC), and Nissan (NSNHF) stocks surged on Wednesday morning on confirmation that the Trump administration and Japanese government struck a trade deal. 'We just completed a massive Deal with Japan, perhaps the largest Deal ever made,' President Trump announced on Truth Social on Tuesday night. Trump added Japan would pay a 'reciprocal' tariff on imports of 15%, as well as invest $550 billion into the US 'at my direction,' Trump said, without further elaboration. Per Reuters, Japan's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba confirmed that auto tariffs will be lowered to 15% from the current 25% auto sector tariffs as part of the deal. By comparison, prior to Trump's imposition of sector auto tariffs, Japanese car imports were subject to only 2.5% tariffs. Read more: The latest news and updates on Trump's tariffs Despite this, clarity on a trade deal and a 'reduction' in auto tariffs of essentially 10% have Japanese automaker stocks soaring, with US-listed Honda shares hitting a new 52-week high. Spokespersons for Honda and Nissan did not immediately respond when reached for comment. A Toyota spokesperson said the company had no official comment at this time. The deal is a big accomplishment of the Japanese government and Ishiba, as automobile exports to the US make up nearly 30% of Japan's global auto exports, with the auto sector in general a significant part of the Japanese economy. While news of a trade deal with Japan is boosting the auto sector at large on hopes of trade deals with other countries, Detroit's Big Three automakers — General Motors (GM), Ford (F), and Stellantis (STLA) — aren't pleased. 'Any deal that charges a lower tariff for Japanese imports with virtually no US content than the tariff imposed on North American-built vehicles with high US content is a bad deal for US industry and US auto workers,' Matt Blunt of the American Automotive Policy Council (AAPC), a trade group representing the Big Three, said to Automotive News. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet Blunt and the AAPC argue that autos compliant with the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) that are made in Canada and Mexico, where the Big Three have large operations, currently face 25% auto sector tariffs, with certain exclusions given for USMCA-compliant parts. In addition, auto parts made in the two countries face 25% tariffs. In addition, Trump threatened to hike tariffs on Mexico to 30% and Canada to 35% on Aug. 1, though it is unclear if those heightened duties would affect autos. Ford CEO Jim Farley has argued in the past that if Trump strikes a similar deal with Korea, for example, it would again reward those automakers who make only some of their vehicles in the US and North America and punish domestic automakers who build in Mexico and Canada. Ford and Farley will give investors an updated statement on the tariff situation when the company reports second quarter earnings on July 30. On Tuesday GM reported Q2 earnings took a $1.1 billion hit due to Trump's tariffs, and Stellantis revealed on Monday that it lost $2.7 billion in the first half of the year due to a combination of lagging sales and tariffs. Pras Subramanian is the lead auto reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Olympics, Paralympics to follow Trump ban on transgender women athletes
July 23 (UPI) -- The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced Monday that it plans to follow President Donald Trump's executive order banning transgender women from women's sports. The organization announced the change by updating its 27-page Athlete Safety Policy, which doesn't mention the word "transgender" at all. The document is dated June 18 but was published on the USOPC's website on Monday. It says the committee will comply with Trump's February order. "From now on, women's sports will be only for women," he said of the decree called Executive Order 14201 "No Men In Women's Sports Executive Order" during a ceremony Feb. 5 with athletes in the White House. In the Order, Trump said that banning "male competitive participation in women's sports" is a matter of safety, fairness, dignity, and truth." "The USOPC will continue to collaborate with various stakeholders with oversight responsibilities, e.g., IOC, IPC, NGBs, to ensure that women have a fair and safe competition environment consistent with Executive Order 14201 and the Ted Stevens Olympic & Amateur Sports Act," the document on the USOPC website says. USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes said in a letter to the Team USA community that they had engaged in "a series of respectful and constructive conversations with federal officials" before making the change. "As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations," the letter said. "The guidance we've received aligns with the Ted Stevens Act, reinforcing our mandated responsibility to promote athlete safety and competitive fairness." Whether any Olympians will be affected in the 2028 Olympics isn't clear. No athlete has won an Olympic medal while competing as an openly transgender woman. "In our world of elite sport, these elements of fairness demand that we reconcile athlete inclusion and athlete opportunity," the USOPC website said. "The only way to do that for all genders, and specifically for those who are transgender, is to rely on real data and science-based evidence rather than ideology. That means making science-based decisions, sport by sport and discipline by discipline, within both the Olympic and Paralympic movements." About 1.3 million adults and 300,000 youth ages 13 to 17 identify as transgender out of 330 million people, according to a report published by Williams Institute, a think tank at UCLA's Law School in 2022. Fewer than 40 of the NCAA's more than 500,000 athletes are known to be transgender, said Anna Baeth, director of research at Athlete Ally, an organization that advocates for LGBTQ equality in sports. Transgender athletes are allowed to compete in the Olympics if they meet the eligibility criteria set by their sport's International Federation. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
