California Environmental Law & Policy Update - January 2016

Allen Matkins
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Environmental and Policy Focus

Gov. Brown declares state of emergency over natural gas leak

San Diego Union Tribune - Jan 6

California Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency Wednesday over a massive natural-gas leak that has been emitting methane and other gases into the Los Angeles County town of Porter Ranch for months, sickening residents and forcing thousands to evacuate. In a statement, the Governor said he acted based on the requests of people in the community of Porter Ranch and the "prolonged and continuing" nature of the gas blowout at the underground storage facility. The well, owned by Southern California Gas Co., has been emitting up to 1,200 tons of climate-changing methane daily, along with other gases, since it was first reported in October. It will be months before workers can stem the leak, experts say.

U.S. sues Volkswagen A.G. for vehicle emission control device tampering

Reuters - Jan 4

The U.S. Justice Department on Monday filed a civil lawsuit, on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, against Volkswagen AG for allegedly installing illegal devices to impair emission control systems in nearly 600,000 vehicles. The lawsuit accuses Volkswagen of four counts of violating the U.S. Clean Air Act, including tampering with the emissions control system and failing to report violations. "We're alleging that they knew what they were doing, they intentionally violated the law and that the consequences were significant to health," the senior Justice Department official said. The allegations against Volkswagen, along with its Audi and Porsche units, carry penalties that could cost the automaker billions of dollars, a senior Justice Department official said. The Justice Department has also been investigating criminal fraud allegations against Volkswagen for misleading U.S. consumers and regulators.

U.S. government, firms reach $22-million settlement to clean up Superfund site in South Gate

Los Angeles Times - Dec 29 The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Justice have reached a $22-million settlement to clean up a former industrial site in South Gate, about 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The EPA reports 40 former customers of Cooper Drum have agreed to pay $15 million to construct a groundwater treatment system and $7 million to reimburse the agency for past cleanup work at the site. Cooper Drum reconditioned used steel drums from industrial customers from 1974 to 1992 at the 3.8-acre site in South Gate. Residual waste leaked and contaminated the soil and groundwater. The site was placed on the EPA Superfund's National Priorities List in 2001.

Southern California lags as state misses water conservation goal

SFGate - Jan 5 California residents continue to ease back on the taps, but their efforts are slipping a bit, according to data released Tuesday that show cities and towns missed the state’s 25 percent water savings mandate for the second straight month. State water officials cautioned Californians against letting up on conservation even with a wet winter projected. The deficit created by the drought, they say, is unlikely to be repaired by a single wet year. Felicia Marcus, chair of the State Water Resources Control Board, downplayed the slip, noting that cutbacks over past years are much harder to achieve in the fall and winter, when less overall water is used because of the lower demand for outdoor irrigation. Under the water board’s unprecedented conservation rules, California’s roughly 410 biggest urban water suppliers are assigned a mandatory reduction between 4 and 36 percent, depending on how much they’ve saved in the past — with the goal being a 25 percent statewide cut. In November, California used 20 percent less than it did in the same month in 2013, and in October, 22 percent less. In earlier months, the state reached its goal, reducing water use by 26 percent in September, 27 percent in August, 31 percent in July and 27 percent in June.

Spanish team poised to win new high-speed rail contract

The Fresno Bee - Jan 5 The California High-Speed Rail Authority may approve a contract for construction of the third segment of a high-speed rail line through the San Joaquin Valley at a meeting next week. California Rail Builders, a construction consortium headed by a Spanish company, submitted the “apparent best value” bid of about $347.5 million to design and build a 22-mile stretch of the bullet train route from the Tulare-Kern county line to Poplar Avenue northwest of Bakersfield. This will be the third construction contract to be awarded by the rail authority. The first was awarded in 2013 for about 29 miles of the rail route. A second contract was awarded about a year ago for about $1.3 billion, funding a 65-mile stretch.

 

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

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