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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLCWLT Comments 020626 Main Office Phone: 310 - 798-2400 Direct Dial: 310-798-2412 Carstens, Black & Minteer LLP 700 North Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 200 Redondo Beach, CA 90277 www.cbcearthlaw.com Michelle N. Black Email Address: mnb@cbcearthlaw.com February 6, 2026 Via Email stemple@sealbeachca.gov Mr. Shaun Temple Planning Manager City of Seal Beach Community Development Department 211 Eighth Street Seal Beach, CA 90740 City Council of City of Seal Beach 211 Eighth Street Seal Beach, CA 90740 Re: Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Agenda Item H, City Council Agenda of February 9, 2026 Supplement to Comments of September 14, 2025 Dear Mr. Temple and Honorable Members of the City Council, The Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust (LCWLT) has advocated for the protection and restoration of Los Cerritos Wetlands for over twenty years. LCWLT continues this advocacy by renewing its concerns with the Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project (Project), last discussed by the Council in December 2025. In short, although LCWLT appreciates that the City may consider reducing the size of the Project, these potential changes will not eliminate or fully mitigate the Project’s potential environmental impacts raised in our comments of September 19, 2025. We hereby incorporate these comments by reference. They are attached as Exhibit 1. Even if reduced, the Project will adversely impact biological resources, especially birds that mistake reflecting solar panels for water, subject recreational users of the area to glint/glare, and affect a known tribal cultural landscape. LCWLT supports the use of renewable solar energy where it is appropriate and environmentally friendly. A project sited within the wetland complex and within a tribal cultural landscape does not meet these criteria. Accordingly, LCWLT respectfully requests that the Council reject this City of Seal Beach Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Supplemental Comments February 6, 2026 Page 2 Project, and any reduced-size alternative, unless harm to the wetlands and its sensitive inhabitants can be eliminated. LCWLT has attempted to review the new Project information posted by the City on February 4 and to respond by the City’s deadline of 5 p.m. on February 6. However, given the sheer volume of pages posted, the short timeline, and the fact that the City’s website was inaccessible on February 6, LCWLT reserves the right to supplement its comments prior to the conclusion of the Project’s public hearing scheduled for February 9, as permitted by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Given this, the City Council should also provide additional time for the public to comment and withhold its decision on the mitigated negative declaration (MND) and Project for at least one week. The proposed reduction to the Project would eliminate one array, reducing the number of solar panels from 3,100 to 2,028. However, the system would still require concrete foundations and hundreds of 18-inch-diameter piers to be drilled 6 feet into the ground. A transformer pad will be required, as will the excavation of hundreds of feet of underground trenches. Construction would require “removal of the vegetative cover” and all organic matter “from the limits of the construction area.” (MND p. 12.) Even if reduced, Project construction will require significant disruption of a sensitive location. Moreover, the purpose of the solar installation is not to provide green power for offsite use, but to “reduce the overall operating cost” of the oil facilities. (Staff Report, p. 2.) The California Legislature enacted CEQA to ensure environmental protection through governmental transparency. (Citizens of Goleta Valley v. Bd. of Supervisors (1990) 52 Cal. 3d 553, 564.) CEQA requires full disclosure of a project’s significant environmental effects so that decision-makers and the public are informed of these consequences before the project is approved, to ensure that government officials are held accountable for these consequences. (Laurel Heights Improvement Ass’n of San Francisco v. Regents of the University of California (1988) 47 Cal.3d 376, 392.) When substantial evidence supports a fair argument that a project may have a significant impact on the environment, an environmental impact report is required. (No Oil, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (1974) 13 Cal.3d 68, 75.) Under the CEQA Guidelines, “‘Substantial evidence’ means enough relevant information and reasonable inferences from this information that a fair argument can be made to support a conclusion, even though other conclusions might also be reached.” (Guidelines § 15384(a), emphasis added; League for Protection of Oakland's etc. Historic Resources v. City of Oakland (1997) 52 Cal.App.4th 896, 905.) LCWLT continues to believe the Project crosses this threshold. The fair argument standard is a “low threshold” test for requiring the preparation of an EIR. (No Oil, supra, 13 Cal.3d 68, 84.) Review is de novo, with a “preference for City of Seal Beach Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Supplemental Comments February 6, 2026 Page 3 resolving doubts in favor of environmental review.” (Architectural Heritage Assn. v. County of Monterey (2004) 122 Cal.App.4th 1095, 1110; Quail Botanical Gardens Foundation, Inc. v. City of Encinitas (1994) 29 Cal.App.4th 1597, 1602-1603.) The MND continues to inadequately disclose and analyze the Project’s potential environmental effects. As there is substantial evidence of a fair argument the Project may have significant impacts on biological resources, glint and glare, and tribal cultural resources, an EIR is required. I. The Project, Even if Reduced, May Have Significant Impacts on Biological Resources. The Project site consists of 4.66 acres in the existing Hellman Ranch Oil and Gas Production Facility, east of the San Gabriel River and north of Pacific Coast Highway. The Project site is within and surrounded by Los Cerritos Wetlands. The solar facility would be constructed immediately north of 100 acres owned by the Los Cerritos Wetlands Authority, east of an additional 71 acres of wetlands owned by the Authority, south of 43 acres zoned open space-natural that serve as a County of Orange retention basin, and west of the Hellman Ranch Trail. (MND p. 2.) Both the Project site and surrounding lands contain sensitive habitats hosting special-status species. These species include, but are not limited to, southern tarplant, Least Bell’s Vireo, Belding’s Savannah Sparrow, and the Western Burrowing Owl. As solar panels often resemble water bodies from the air, and as the Project will require clearing the site of vegetation, the Project’s potential impacts on these birds and on rare plant species must be thoroughly evaluated and carefully mitigated. A. The MND’s Biological Resources Surveys are Outdated. The Response to our September 2025 letter asserts that the wetland delineation relied upon by the MND is not outdated because such delineations are valid for five years, “provided the site conditions haven’t changed. There have been no significant changes to the site area since the delineation.” (Response p. 1.) While less than five years has elapsed, site conditions have not remained the same since August 2022 and March 2023. As described in our previous letter, aerial imagery from 2024 indicated substantial ponding and flooding. The Response further claims that botanical and Least Bell’s Vireo surveys did not need to be current because the Project includes mitigation for impacts to Southern Tarplant, Coulter ’s goldfield, and the Least Bell’s Vireo. (Response p. 1.) However, mitigation is different from avoidance. The Project should be designed to avoid City of Seal Beach Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Supplemental Comments February 6, 2026 Page 4 populations of rare plants altogether. Outdated surveys prevent this from occurring. Mitigation through replanting or transplantation is far less effective, often results in extirpation of rare species from a site, and is disfavored by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife when avoidance is possible. The Response fails to explain how reliance on outdated surveys for the Least Bell’s Vireo permits informed decision-making about the Project’s impacts on a listed endangered species. Least Bell’s Vireo populations and nesting locations fluctuate annually. It does not. An EIR should be prepared that includes missing 2025 breeding season surveys. B. The Project Site Contains Wetlands Not Disclosed in the MND. During the record rainy seasons of the winters of 2022-23 and 2023-24, many depressional wetlands across Los Cerritos Wetlands held water for upwards of 6 months, allowing wetland indicators to present themselves. However, the MND’s jurisdictional wetlands assessment includes four photos taken in August 2022. The photos predate these record rains and do not accurately capture current site conditions. On the contrary, aerial imagery from February 2024 indicates substantial ponding and flooding of the Project area, which should be analyzed in the Technical Report and MND. Thus, substantial evidence demonstrates the area has recently been wetland, a fact not disclosed in the MND. Any wetlands designations or potential ramifications of the Project to wetlands or wetland-dependent species must be disclosed, analyzed, and mitigated in an EIR. City of Seal Beach Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Supplemental Comments February 6, 2026 Page 5 Figure 1. Aerial imagery from February 2024 with areas of flooded outlined in red. The Response claims that the plant community onsite does not indicate wetlands, but these statements appear to be based on the 2022 assessment of the site. (Response p. 1.) The Response later claims that the ponding mentioned in our September comments was addressed in the Wetland Delineation Report, but our comments included the above 2024 photo. The Response never claims to have assessed the plant communities present after the 2023-2024 rainy season. Southern California’s wetlands are notoriously ephemeral. The environmental review cannot ignore that the site’s hydrological fluctuations. C. Least Bell’s Vireo Both Forage and Nest Near the Project Site. LCWLT has performed surveys of the Least Bell’s Vireo population in the Heron Pointe Bioswale, nearly adjacent to the Project site, for the last 5 breeding seasons. Individuals of this endangered species have been observed nesting, each year, within 100 feet of the project boundary and have also been observed foraging within the area the MND discloses would be subject to permanent Project impact. The MND acknowledges that 96-decibel noise is expected at the Heron Pointe Bioswale. Foraging habitat for Least Bell’s Vireo is protected by state and federal law. Impacts to this species could be considered a “take,” and warrant a mandatory finding of significant impact under CEQA. City of Seal Beach Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Supplemental Comments February 6, 2026 Page 6 An EIR must be prepared to thoroughly disclose, analyze, and mitigate impacts to Least Bell’s Vireo. The Response asserts that the Project will not affect Least Bell’s Vireo nesting due to limits on construction during the nesting season. However, the Project’s construction may also affect Least Bell’s Vireo behaviors beyond nesting. Foraging habitat does exist on and near the Project site, and disturbance of Vireo foraging through either construction or operation of the Project remains “take” under the Acts. D. An EIR Must Evaluate Fuel Modification and Type Conversion Impacts. Without support, the Response asserts that the fuel modification zones discussed in the IS/MND are required by the Orange County Fire Authority and part of the baseline. However, even if true, the IS/MND does not address whether these fuel modification zones must be expanded if the Project is constructed. Any fuel modification zones overlapping with the locations of special status plant populations require a coastal development permit. In order to ensure fuel modification occurs within a comprehensive plan, and that all fuel modification impacts are considered cumulatively, we renew our request for the incorporation of a mitigation measure requiring preparation of a permitted plan that covers all fuel modification practices throughout the property. “Distichlis spicata – annual grasses” is a vegetation type that overlaps with fuel modification areas. Removal of this vegetation promotes invasion of annual grasses, causing “type conversion,” a significant impact on biological resources that is not disclosed, analyzed, or mitigated in the MND. City of Seal Beach Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Supplemental Comments February 6, 2026 Page 7 Figure 2. Aerial imagery from September 2025 indicating recent mowing of the Distichlis spicata - annual grasses herbaceous alliance. E. The Project’s Mitigation Measures Fail to Ensure Project Impacts Will Be Reduced Below Significance. LCWLT thanks the City for removing “To the extent feasible” from the language of BIO-2. (Response p. 3.) The Project should incorporate a mitigation measure requiring a pre-construction jurisdictional wetland assessment be performed during the wet season most proximal to future construction. The Project should also incorporate a mitigation measure requiring pre- construction surveys for Least Bell’s Vireo and consultations with both the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. While the Staff Report indicates this has occurred, we cannot independently confirm these conditions given the current technical difficulties with the City’s website. LCWLT continues to believe that Project mitigation fails to eliminate the potential for significant impacts to listed plant and wildlife species and that an EIR is required. II. The MND Fails to Disclose, Analyze, and Mitigate Glint and Glare Impacts. A. The Project, Even if Reduced, May Cause Glare to Recreational Trail Users and the Tribal Gathering Area. The LCWA-owned Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Project is located immediately south of the Project site. The restoration project – scheduled to begin construction in October 2025 – will contain a 6-foot earthen perimeter berm on its northern boundary. This berm will separate the Hellman property from the LCWA parcel. As discussed above, the MND assumes implementation of that berm to justify its conclusion that flooding impacts from sea level rise will not occur. (MND p. 51.) Accordingly, implementation of said berm – and all its functions – should be incorporated throughout the analysis, including that of glare. We ap preciate that the City looked into glare in an attempt to respond to our comments. However, we disagree with the conclusion that 18 minutes of sunrise glare from April to August (Response p. 4) is necessarily insignificant. Recreational walkers, cyclists, and other users are especially active at sunrise between April and August when days are longer. The same goes for recreational birders. The Project’s likely significant glare impacts should be analyzed in an EIR. City of Seal Beach Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Supplemental Comments February 6, 2026 Page 8 As the perimeter berm/trail are irregularly shaped, and the selected observation points are located on portions of the future trail where the recreational user is walking east/west (parallel to the panels), we request an EIR with analysis of OP on the north- south portions of the trail where the user is looking directly at the panels along that trail stretch as they otherwise enjoy their walk of the restored wetlands. The Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Project will include two public outlooks and one tribal gathering area on its southern boundary. It is unclear if the Response addresses these locations. An EIR glare analysis should analyze potential glare impacts to the public and to tribes who will use these outlooks and tribal gathering area. The Response also fails to clear up the confusion about MND Table 3-1, which identifies OP1-8 and OP26 as “no glare with existing vegetation screening” whereas the other OPs are described as “no glare with or without existing vegetation screening.” We request the revised analysis include a “without vegetation” scenario for OP1-8 and OP26. B. The MND Fails to Adequately Consider Glint and Glare Impacts on Birds, Which May Mistake the Panels for Water in Los Cerritos Wetlands. The Response to our September letter confirms LCWLT’s concern that birds may mistake solar panels as water, increasing the likelihood of injury and mortality. (Response pp. 5-6.) LCWLT previously noted that solar arrays reflect light that, at certain angles, makes the panels appear to birds as bodies of water. This “lake effect,” can injure or kill birds that try to land in these nonexistent bodies of water. If affected birds include listed species known to inhabit Los Cerritos Wetlands, including state and federally-listed birds, the Project may “take” birds under the Acts. (Attachment 2, pp. 9-10.) Solar facilities may also interfere with songbird migrations for species relying on polarized light for orientation. (Attachment 2, p. 10.) A review of studies of solar facilities reported: By the time a bird may realise the panels are not water, it may be too late for the bird to stop its dive from the sky and fly away. Birds that collide with the panels are also likely to be disoriented or injured and more vulnerable to predation. As well as increasing the direct risk of collision and injuries, diversion off flight paths will increase depletion of energy reserves, potentially stranding animals and leading to mortality from starvation. Obstruction from panels and fencing can also hinder birds from taking-off. For example, water-obligate birds that require water for take-off (ensu) – including loons (Gaviiformes), grebes (Podici-pediformes), cormorants (Suliformes), coots (Gruiformes) and some ducks (Anseriformes; e.g., Ruddy duck Oxyura City of Seal Beach Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Supplemental Comments February 6, 2026 Page 9 jamaicensis) – and those that use water for some aspect of their life history (e.g., family Chara- driidae) are amongst the mortalities at solar facilities. Stranding of these birds would contribute to the disproportionate number of waterbirds represented amongst the cases where starvation has been identified as cause of death. (September 19, 2025 letter, Attachment 2, p. 10.) Given the presence of a large wetland complex surrounding the Project, and the higher prevalence of birds in the area, the Project’s location near water may exacerbate the Project’s potential harm to avian species. The potential Project size reduction will not mitigate these impacts. In August, the City’s Environmental Quality Committee recommended that the Project be required to track, report, and mitigate adverse impacts to birds. It further recommended that the Project be required to terminate when oil operations end onsite. We renew the Committee’s reasonable requests here. The Staff Report indicates these conditions have been incorporated into the Project. LCWLT is unable to confirm this incorporation at this time and asserts that these conditions must be concrete and enforceable. We further request that the one-year term for bird monitoring be extended beyond one year. An EIR must be prepared to disclose, analyze, and fully mitigate these potentially significant undisclosed impacts on biological resources. Any mitigation must include conditions requiring the tracking and reporting of harm to birds at the Project. III. The MND Fails to Adequately Disclose, Analyze, and Mitigate the Project’s Potentially Significant Impacts on Tribal Cultural Landscapes. The Project’s Cultural Resources assessment fails to recognize the Traditional Cultural Landscape that has been identified for this area in previously-approved environmental documents. The Los Cerritos Wetland Authority’s 2021 Program EIR and the 2024 Mitigated Negative Declaration for the Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Project both indicate that consultations with local tribal groups identified a Traditional Cultural Landscape throughout the current extent of the Los Cerritos Wetlands complex. The potential for this Traditional Cultural Landscape was first described by consultations performed by Coastal Commission staff regarding the Los Cerritos Wetlands Oil Consolidation and Restoration Project. The LCWA’s 2023 Cultural Resources Assessment for the Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Project (Cogstone, 2023) includes an evaluation of what is called the Puvungna Traditional Cultural Landscape (PTCL). This evaluation determined that “The PTCL meets the criteria of eligibility for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places and has City of Seal Beach Hellman Solar PV Electrical System Project Supplemental Comments February 6, 2026 Page 10 sufficient integrity to justify being regarded as eligible for the Register. The area is recommended eligible for the National Register as a Traditional Cultural Property. Since it is recommended for the National Register, it is automatically recommended as eligible for the CRHR.” (Attachment 2.) The proposed project’s assessment of Tribal Cultural Resources makes no mention of the PTCL and therefore does not consider potential impacts or offer mitigation measures to avoid or minimize any such impacts. Impacts generated by the proposed Project to this Traditional Cultural Landscape would be considered significant and unavoidable based on the LCWA’s previous CEQA determinations in the area. We n ote that the Response states the Project completed AB 52 consultation and proposed a modification to the Project to satisfy tribal representatives. (Response p. 7.) Given that tribal representatives objected to the Project in December 2025, we await confirmation that affected tribal interests are satisfied with the potentially-reduced Project. Conclusion LCWLT again thanks the City for its consideration this solar project, sited within the Los Cerritos Wetlands complex in an area inhabited by endangered species. If action must be taken on February 9, we urge you to please reject this Project, even at the reduced size proposed just this week, until it has been fully vetted through preparation of an environmental impact report, or unless conditioned to ensure the protection of wetland species and habitats. Sincerely, Michelle Black Enclosures 1. September 19, 2025 Comment Letter of Los Cerritos Wetlands Land Trust, with attachments a. Cultural Resources Assessment for the Southern Los Cerritos Wetlands Restoration Project, Cogstone (2023). b. P.A. Fleming, All that Glitters: Review of solar energy impacts on fauna, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews (2025).