May 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 31

	

with recycled rubber in a proposed
turf field project. Despite the identified presence of carcinogenic materials in recycled rubber, following
the required environmental review,
the reviewing state court found the
city could reasonably conclude
that environmental risks were not
sufficiently significant to delay or
require any modifications in the
proposed project.

imately 4,738 hours of annual
play. Installation of synthetic turf
would allow for use of the fields
in wet weather conditions and
eliminate the need for rest and
regrowth periods. Installation of
lighting would allow for longer
evening use of the fields. The
proposed project would add ap-

Recycled Scrap Tires
In the case of Sierra Club v. City
and County of San Francisco, 2015
Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 6985
(9/30/2015), the Sierra Club challenged the adequacy of a state environmental review for a sports field
renovation project in Golden Gate
Park, " the Beach Chalet Athletic
Fields Renovation Project. " The
Sierra Club claimed the EIR (environmental impact review) was inadequate under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The trial court dismissed the case.
Sierra appealed.
On appeal, Sierra argued " the
EIR violated CEQA by failing to
disclose and mitigate significant
health risks associated with the styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) crumb
infill component of the proposed
synthetic turf. "
The San Francisco Recreation
and Parks Department (SFRPD),
the project sponsor, had proposed
to renovate the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields facility, an approximately 9.4-acre public sports field
that was built 75 years ago along
the western edge of Golden Gate
Park. The proposed project would
replace the four natural grass fields
with synthetic turf.
In their current condition, the
fields accommodated approx-

the court opinion

As illustrated by
described herein,
environmental review
under state or federal
law is generally more
procedural than
substantive.
proximately 9,582 hours per year
of play time, for a total of 14,320
hours of annual play, an increase
of more than 200 percent over existing conditions.
The city's planning department
issued a Notice of Preparation/
Initial Study for the Beach Chalet
project in February 2011, and re-

leased the draft EIR for the project on October 26, 2011. This 368page draft EIR disclosed that the
Beach Chalet project would have
unavoidable significant impacts
on historic resources, incorporated mitigation measures to reduce
impacts on biological resources
and exposure to hazardous materials, and examined in detail
four potential alternatives to the
project (including a " no project "
alternative).
Following the public comment
period and a public hearing, the
planning department prepared
comments and responses for the
draft EIR, also known as the final
EIR, which addressed environmental issues raised by the public, contained additional analysis
and reports, revised the text of the
EIR in response to comments or
based on additional information
that became available during the
public review period, and corrected errors in the EIR. The final
EIR is more than 1,750 pages.
On May 24, 2012, the planning
commission adopted findings under CEQA, including findings rejecting alternatives as infeasible,
adopting mitigation measures,
and adopting a statement of over-

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