Friends of Oceano Dunes, Inc. v. San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District

Consistent with the laudable goal of safeguarding the public health, the trial court “stretched” to find a dictionary definition of the word “contrivance” to describe a state park. As Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes said: “ ‘A word is not a crystal, transparent and unchanged; It is the skin of a living thought and may vary greatly in color and content according to the circumstances and the time in which it is used.’ ” (Almar Limited v County of Ventura (1997) 56 Cal.App.4th 105, 106 [ 65 Cal.Rptr.2d 70 ] [quoting].) This appeal “turns” on the meaning of the word “contrivance.” (Id., at p. 107.) Neither the trial court nor an appellate court is at liberty to pick a dictionary definition to reach a desired result. (See People v. Arno (1979) 90 Cal.App.3d 505, 514, fn. 2 [ 153 Cal.Rptr. 624 ].) As we shall explain, the time-honored rule of ejusdem generis requires that in the context of construing Health and Safety Code section 42300, subdivision (a) a state park is not a “contrivance.” Thus, the trial court erroneously ruled that a local air pollution control district has the power to regulate air emissions emanating from a state park by a permit requirement.

Friends of…