Login

Forgot password?
Sign up today and your first download is free.
REGISTER

Inside Cal/EPA - 12/07/2018

  • Plaintiff In Novel GHG Suit Sues Cal/EPA, Other Agencies For Public Records

    The housing equity plaintiff group fighting key parts of the California air board's greenhouse gas regulatory "scoping plan" is filing a related legal challenge against Cal/EPA and several other state agencies to obtain public records that may play a critical role in the main lawsuit.

    915 words

  • Senators Reintroduce Bill Locking In Obama-Era Environment, Worker Rules

    Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) and two other senators have reintroduced a bill that aims to lock into state law Obama-era federal environmental and worker safety standards, after the bill stalled last year in the Assembly amid charges by industry groups that it is illegal and would trigger a wave of new litigation against the state.

    571 words

  • Experts Offer Newsom Suite Of Fire, Water, Transportation Climate Policies

    Academics and think tank experts are urging Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom (D) to pursue a series of near-term steps to counter climate change impacts by improving wildfire and forest management, providing more clean and affordable water supplies to certain communities, and cutting pollution from transportation systems.

    1183 words

  • ARB Begins Rulemaking To Set GHG Targets For Ride-Hailing Companies

    California air board staff are launching a legislatively required rulemaking to set first-time greenhouse gas targets for transportation network company (TNC) vehicle fleets, one of several major new initiatives to spur the replacement of internal combustion-engine cars with zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs).

    780 words

  • Agencies Oppose OEHHA PHGs For Drinking Water Disinfectant Chemicals

    Water agencies and the chemical industry are objecting to new proposed state drinking water public health goals (PHGs) for four trihalomethanes (THMs) disinfectant chemicals, claiming they are stricter than a current overarching single standard and might threaten public health if agencies are forced to replace them with less effective products.

    803 words

  • Senator Reintroduces Bill To Spur Housing Near Transit, Cut Vehicle GHGs

    Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) is reintroducing a controversial bill for the 2019-20 legislative session that aims to spur new multi-story housing developments near major transit stops to cut vehicle greenhouse gas emissions, after failing to move similar legislation earlier this year.

    952 words

  • Bill Seeks ARB Report On Replacing Sales Tax With Carbon-Intensity Levy

    A newly introduced bill for consideration in the 2019-20 legislative session would require the California air board to study replacing the state's current sales and use tax with a new tax based on products' carbon intensity, as a way to "encourage the use of less carbon-intensive products."

    302 words

  • Governor Appoints Water Engineer To Replace Moore As WRCB Member

    Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Dec. 4 appointed water resources control engineer Sean Maguire as a new state Water Resources Control Board member to fill the slot vacated last month by vice chairman Steven Moore.

    213 words

  • Power Buying Shift From Utilities To State Raises Renewable, Cost Issues

    Legislative proposals to shift electricity purchasing responsibilities from utilities to a new state entity as community choice aggregators (CCAs) continue to replace utilities as regional power buyers are raising questions about the types and costs of renewable power that will be used in the state in the years to come.

    1172 words

  • Bill Requires ARB To Craft Plan For Only ZEVs In New Auto Sales By 2040

    Two Democratic assemblymen have introduced a bill requiring the California air board to develop a strategy to ensure that by 2040 sales of new cars and light-duty trucks in the state consist only of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), scaling back an earlier unsuccessful bill that sought to phase out vehicles containing internal combustion engines.

    579 words

  • Industry Appeals Ruling To Return Climate Nuisance Case To State Court

    Major oil companies and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are urging a federal appeals court to overturn a district court ruling that returned a climate change nuisance case against the companies to state court, where two California counties and one city are seeking to collect damages for the companies' greenhouse gas emissions.

    1157 words

  • NACAA Faults Eased EPA Auto Parts Enforcement, Seeks Strict Air Limits

    The National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) is faulting U.S. EPA's plan to revise and ease its enforcement policy on tampering with aftermarket auto emissions control parts such as catalytic converters by warning that it will not adequately protect air quality, and is calling on the agency to instead pursue strict new emissions rules for the parts.

    547 words

  • Groups Ramp Up Bid To Obtain EPA Vehicle GHG Rule Cost Assumptions

    Environmentalists are joining Capitol Hill Democrats in an effort to obtain more information on U.S. EPA cost assumptions related to the Trump administration's planned rollback of vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards, arguing the agency has improperly ignored its own data in favor of more pessimistic estimates from the Transportation Department.

    990 words