LADWP Will Continue to Protect Sensitive Tribal Areas and Work with Local Tribal Representatives at Owens Lake

On September 27, 2022, the Sacramento Superior Court issued a ruling that rejected Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District’s (Great Basin) argument that it had unlimited regulatory control over LADWP.  The Court also refused to uphold more than $1 million in fines assessed by Great Basin that would have been paid by LADWP customers.

The court ruling is a result of a legal action brought by LADWP after Great Basin issued an order requiring LADWP to construct non-EPA-approved dust control projects within an Eligible Cultural Resource site, which is an area containing significant cultural resources or artifacts.  Consistent with the 2014 Stipulated Judgment, which was developed in concurrence with Great Basin, LADWP has avoided disturbing these sites. The Order issued by Great Basin remains draft, by its own terms, until consensus by the five sovereign Tribal nations of the Owens Valley. One of those tribes, the Fort Independence Tribe, has refused to provide concurrence because of the potential disturbance to environmentally sensitive cultural resources and stated it felt disenfranchised by Great Basin Air Pollution Control District’s actions.