A Sacramento Superior Court judge delivered a major rebuke to the California bullet train project Friday, ruling that the state failed to comply with requirements on funding and environmental reviews imposed by voters.
In a closely watched case, Judge Michael P. Kenny stopped short of immediately shutting down the project or ruling that the Legislature made illegal appropriations. But he scheduled a future hearing on how the violations of state law can be remedied.
The ruling threatens to further delay the $68-billion project that has lagged behind schedule before ground has been broken. The decision could ultimately force the state to devise a new plan that conforms to strict financial and environmental protections included in a $9-billion ballot measure approved in 2008.
"It destroys the state's timetable for the project," said former state Sen. Quentin Kopp, an early architect of the system who recently turned against it. "This ruling destroys the representations of the high-speed-rail authority."
Kenny ruled that the state failed to identify where it would get all of the money required to complete an initial $31-billion operating segment between Merced and the San Fernando Valley. The state has also failed to obtain environmental clearances for the entire segment, the judge found.
In addition to $9 billion from state bonds, the rail agency has $3.2 billion in federal funds, leaving it about $19 billion short. It has not completed any of the four massive environmental reviews that would be necessary to build the line along that route, as required by the 2008 ballot measure, Proposition 1A.
The measure "required the Authority to identify sources of funds that were more than merely theoretically possible, but instead were reasonably expected to be actually available when needed," Kenny said in his 15-page ruling. The state's business plan identifies only potential funding, without commitments, agreements or authorizations, he said.
The ruling came in the first phase of the case. Additional alleged state law violations will be litigated in subsequent portions of the lawsuit.
Hanford resident Aaron Fukuda, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said the decision was a vindication for Central Valley farmers, businesses and residents who have waged a battle against the project.
"Our legislators would not listen to us," he said. "The rail authority would not listen to us. But Judge Kenny listened to us and said the state abused its authority."
The California High-Speed Rail Authority vowed to stay on course. "Today's ruling is that the legislative appropriation for high-speed rail … remains valid, and our work on the project continues," said Dan Richard, the agency's chairman. "We take our commitment to Proposition 1A seriously and continue to work towards developing a high-speed rail project that benefits all Californians."
The state had planned to start building a 130-mile segment of the system between Madera and Bakersfield last year. But high-speed trains would not operate along that stretch until much later, assuming money would be available to finish the section.
The plan "demonstrates that the funding plan failed to comply with the statute, because it simply did not identify funds available for the completion of the entire" first operating segment, Kenny ruled.
Kenny said he was not prepared to invalidate state appropriations made for the project, because the lawsuit did not attack that aspect of the project, and it is not clear whether he could legally overrule the state Legislature. If environmental clearances must be obtained for the longer, 290-mile segment to Southern California, that work could take years.
The judge said more hearings would be needed to devise a remedy for the shortcomings of the state plan. The case was filed by Kings County officials, along with Fukuda and John Tos, an almond grower.
Michael Brady, the attorney who bought the case, called the ruling a victory, adding he'd expected the judge to order additional hearings on a remedy.
"The high-speed-rail-authority went way out on a limb, and now that limb has broken off," said Stuart Flashman, Brady's co-counsel in the suit. "They are in a real bind now."
Conservative opponents of the project, who have vowed to stop any additional federal funding, applauded the ruling.
"Today's ruling reaffirms what Californians have known all along about California high-speed rail.... We can't afford this boondoggle that relies on a fundamentally flawed business model," said Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield).
ralph.vartabedian@latimes.com
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