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A pair of lawsuits against the North Coast Railroad Authority have been dismissed by a Marin County judge, who ruled that federal law has precedence over state environmental regulations when it comes to railroad operations.

Friends of the Eel River and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics (CATs) filed separate suits against the NCRA two years ago, challenging an Environmental Impact Report on resumed rail service between Napa and Willits. The nonprofits alleged that the EIR violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Friends of the Eel said the report should have addressed the NCRA's entire line, from Schellville near the north end of San Pablo Bay north to Arcata. (The line is currently active only from Schellville to Windsor, in Sonoma County.)

But with today's ruling, which confirms a tentative ruling made last week, Judge Roy O. Chermus sided with the NCRA, whose lawyers argued that CEQA didn't apply because railroad operations are the jurisdiction of the federal Surface Transportation Board, which had already granted the agency permission to resume service.

For more on these lawsuits and the current state of the NCRA, pick up a copy of this week's Journal, on newsstands today and online tomorrow.

"Ultimately, I believe this case was politically motivated from the start, and I'm confident the court would have recognized that the County has consistently complied with the public records act in good faith every step of the way. Given that, I don't believe the people of Humboldt County should be on the hook for the excessive payout being agreed to here."

Here’s a little more on the settlement, which was filed today and is still waiting for a judge’s approval:

Still in question after the county turned over records in February were redactions that HumCPR attorney Allison Jackson said went too far. The county had removed details on travel, meal and lodging expenses in some cases.

The settlement indicates that two of the nearly 300 documents turned over will be restored in part by the county so that only attorney-client privileged information is removed.

Attorney Bill Bragg, who was hired to defend the county, said HumCPR agreed to limit the changes to two documents in the interest of saving time.

“They agreed to … focus on just the ones they were interested in,” Bragg said.

Per the settlement, the county also turned over some limited information about how much staff time was spent on particular litigation. HumCPR had demanded a full accounting, which the county said doesn’t exist.

Bragg said several county attorneys and planners kept time sheets that indicated the hours spent on lawsuits targeted by HumCPR’s request — but the practice was not standard procedure. After negotiation, those records, along with some accounting paperwork, were enough to satisfy HumCPR and lead to the settlement.

Previously:

A dispute over public access to attorney’s fees appears to have ended this week with the county agreeing to pay the Humboldt Coalition for Property Rights’ lawyer $100,000 for her costs in bringing a lawsuit against the county.

The supes voted in closed session Tuesday to approve a settlement negotiated between HumCPR and county counsel. Supervisor Mark Lovelace was the only dissenting vote.

In addition to paying Hum CPR attorney Allison Jackson, the settlement resolves a dispute over a public records act request filed in 2011. It wasn't immediately clear what the county ultimately agreed to provide, or what records HumCPR may have given up on.

It all started when Lee Ulansey — then the executive director of HumCPR, who stepped down from that position after being appointed to the county planning commission this year — asked the county how much it was spending on outside counsel in several ongoing land use lawsuits.

• Jacquelyn Hulsey's Facebook photo

The years-long, controversial tenure of Humboldt County Airport Manager Jacquelyn Hulsey is over — she handed in her resignation this week just as budget shortfalls were threatening several county aviation jobs.

Hulsey drew fire for her handling of an airplane disappearance in 2009 that left two men presumably dead and a months-long unexplained paid leave. Her leadership was marked by complaints from former employees, business leaders and former members of the county's Aviation Advisory Committee.

Fifth District Supervisor Ryan Sundberg confirmed that Hulsey resigned, but no further details were available. It’s unclear why she made the decision.

The resignation was announced by county staff during the supervisors meeting this morning. On the agenda was a projected $2.9 million budget shortfall, and county staff had recommended layoffs of four employees in the Department of Public Works Aviation Division, including program coordinator Emily Jacobs, who has been active in the county’s push for additional airline service. Jacobs helped managed the airport during Hulsey’s leave.

Following news of the resignation, supervisors voted to not to lay off Jacobs while new management is found, according to the Lost Coast Outpost, and approved the other three layoffs.