Santa Barbara County staff released their Finding of Denial for ExxonMobil’s proposal to transport and truck offshore oil to refineries along Highway 101 and 166.
The Planning Commission initially rejected Exxon’s proposal at a September 29 meeting, citing concerns that the project could cause health, safety and traffic issues in the area where the trucking would occur.
The Planning Commission then voted to continue the item at an upcoming November 3 hearing, asking staff to return with Findings for Recommended Denial of the project.
The staff findings detail that the project could cause significant and unavoidable impacts to sensitive environmental and cultural resources, even with mitigation measures in place.
The findings also state that the streets and highways that would be used to truck the oil are not designed to carry the type and quantity of traffic generated by the proposed use — up to 78 daily round-trips for tankers.
The County Planning Commission is expected to make a final decision at the November 3 hearing.
——
The California Department of Tax and Fee Administration, or CDTFA, announced Thursday that reservations will be available for the 2021 Main Street Small Business Tax Credit II.
That’s a program which provides COVID-19 financial relief for qualified small businesses, beginning November 1 at 8 a.m. Pacific Time.
The online system will be accepting applications for qualified small business employers to reserve tax credits of up to $150,000.
Tax credits will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis through November 30 or until the $116 million in available credits runs out.
The credit applies to California small businesses that employed 500 or fewer employees as of December 31, 2020 and experienced a decrease of 20 percent or more in income tax gross receipts.
More information is available at cdtfa.ca.gov.
