It is a ruling that has interesting implications. It will clearly block these nuisance suits against folks like the NWP, where there is an existing line, in interstate commerce.

The State could still come back, and I suspect some in the legislature will look at this option, and have the CEQA requirements "follow the money", that is to make it applicable in order to be eligible to use State bond monies, for this CHSRA fiasco.

There is increasing frustration with fringe environmental groups using the legal process to "blackmail" projects that have completed the CEQA process in the CA legislature, however. CEQA is becoming notorious for the way "sore losers" get to sue (often over and over again???) to delay and block projects, if they don't like the CEQA outcome. It is something that is costly, prevents effective compromise, and allows fringe groups with little standing to continuously fight a legal guerrilla war against almost any activity subject to CEQA, if they can keep finding enough money to keep filing cases.

Some fringe environmental groups are using these, often frivolous, CEQA lawsuits to block even critical health and safety related projects, the latest example being the attempts to block flood control debris removal projects, to "save" things like invasive vegetation, or to save wealthy neighborhoods from any inconvenience, such as "noise" or "dust" from such activities.

The fringe and union backed attempted "shake down" of the proposed Palmdale LRT plant is an excellent example of this kind of CEQA abuse.

So many on both sides of the aisle in the legislature aren't too happy about the current and almost perpetual CEQA "sore loser veto" lawsuits, which can result in years of delays in the courts by these fringe groups, costing taxpayers dearly, by folks who were not elected by or accountable to anyone, except themselves and whoever is (all too often secretly these days) paying the bills to fund these suits.