Restore the Delta (RTD), opponents of Governor Jerry Brown's Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels, announced today they will hold a teleconference on Thursday, May 29, calling on State and Federal officials to restart and extend the public comment period for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and its EIR/S and to do adequate public outreach to limited English speakers.
The environmental justice representatives will charge that the BDCP process violates the civil rights of limited-English speaking Californians.
“20% of Californians don’t speak English, and are being shut out of the public comment process on this massive project that would affect them deeply,” said Esperanza Vielma, executive director of CAFÉ COOP. “The Brown Administration is violating the civil rights of limited English speaking Californians in its rush to build tunnels to serve the top 1% of industrial agriculture.”
The teleconference will take place at 10:30 am on Thursday, May 29, 2014. Speakers will include Esperanza Vielma, CAFÉ COOP; Luis Magaña, Braceros del Delta; Colin Bailey, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water; Elizabeth Peang, APSARA; and Javier Padilla Reyes, Restore the Delta.
Media Teleconference: Dial 1-800-434-1335, Code 227179#
Restore the Delta is a 15,000-member grassroots organization committed to making the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta fishable, swimmable, drinkable, and farmable to benefit all of California. Restore the Delta works to improve water quality so that fisheries and farming can thrive together again in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. www.restorethedelta.org
The public review period for the over 40,000 pages of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and its EIR/S will end on June 13, 2014 (baydeltaconservationplan.com/PublicReview.aspx)
However, the Environmental Water Caucus, a coalition of environmental groups, fishing organizations, Indian Tribes and environmental justice advocates, has requested an extension of the public comment period for a minimum of 60 days.
On May 16, Nick Di Croce, Co-Facilitator of the EWC, said in a letter:
"We are writing on behalf of the member organizations which are shown
with this letter to request an extension for responding to the draft BDCP and draft
EIR/EIS for BDCP. We request a minimum extension of 60 days which would
extend the deadline into August, 2014. We are requesting this extension primarily
so that the Implementation Agreement (IA) can be analyzed and commented on as
an integral part of the plan, and coterminous with the EIR/EIS."
For more information, go to: www.ewccalifornia.org