Focus

EPA proposes tighter limits on lead dust in homes and child care facilities

The New York Times – July 12

The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed strengthening requirements for the removal of lead-based paint dust in homes and child care facilities built before 1978. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that the regulation, if finalized, would reduce exposure to lead, a neurotoxin, for as many as 500,000 young children per year. The proposed regulation would not require property owners or child care facilities to proactively test for lead dust, but if a young child showed symptoms of lead exposure, it could trigger state and local requirements for testing. Results that confirm the presence of any level of lead dust would require property owners to pay for clean up, EPA officials said.

News

Deal that will speed up California infrastructure projects signed into law

CalMatters – July 10

Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday signed into law a package of bills aiming to speed up lawsuits challenging large projects, such as solar farms and reservoirs, and relax protection of about three dozen wildlife species. Much of the debate in the Senate centered on a bill that grants the state Department of Fish and Wildlife new authority to issue permits which will allow species that are designated “fully protected,” such as the greater sandhill crane and golden eagle, to be harmed by certain projects, including repairs to water aqueducts and wind and solar installations. Another new law sets a time limit for legal challenges for select water, transportation, and energy projects under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which can entangle projects in court for years.

New law to protect Joshua trees from climate change imposes fees on desert developers

Los Angeles Times – July 11

California has enacted the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act, the first law aimed at helping to ensure the survival of millions of the climate-threatened trees while accommodating booming renewable energy and housing projects across their ancient Mojave Desert domain. The new law, which took effect July 1, prohibits unpermitted killing or removal of the trees, tasks state wildlife authorities with developing and implementing a conservation plan for the species by 2024, and creates a fund to acquire and manage suitable habitat.

EPA: Cleaning product chemical poses cancer threats

E&E News – July 7

EPA announced last Friday that it has broadened the scope of its health risk evaluation of 1,4-dioxane, a likely carcinogen that can be found in shampoos and cleaning products, to include air and water exposures on the general population — an addition to the risk evaluation completed in 2020 that centered on work-related exposures. According to a draft supplement, 1,4-dioxane is estimated to pose a cancer risk “higher than 1 in 1 million for a range of general population exposure scenarios, including to fenceline communities, associated with drinking water sourced downstream of release sites and for air within 1 km of releasing facilities.” While 1,4-dioxane has not drawn as much national attention as contaminants like PFAS, the compound is among notorious “emerging chemical” water pollutants that have drawn concern from regulators.

California takes big step to boost use of purified sewage water to combat drought

LAist – July 12

The California State Water Resources Control Board on Tuesday proposed draft regulations to expand water recycling by introducing new purification standards and processes. California law currently does not allow cities to discharge recycled wastewater directly into municipal water distribution systems. The new regulations would allow cities to discharge recycled water directly into the local water system, allowing more cities, such as those that don’t have an underground basin to store water or don’t have enough space in groundwater basins because of past pollution, to recycle water.

Martinez oil refinery at odds with city over safety releases ‘coke dust’ that settles on neighborhoods

East Bay Times – July 11

An oil refinery sent potentially hazardous “coke dust” billowing into neighborhoods in Martinez on Tuesday, just weeks after the soil was declared safe following a previous discharge. Health officials said coke dust is a mostly carbonate material and that lab results were needed in order to compare its level of danger to a spent catalyst released last November. Regulatory procedures require the refinery to notify the Contra Costa County health department within 15 minutes of learning about a release. Residents said they did not receive emails or phone calls from the city, but rather heard about the latest discharge on the news or social media. The previous release in November 2022 raised similar concerns about transparency and reporting procedures from the refinery.

DOI announces $650 million in funding to plug orphaned gas and oil wells

The Hill – July 10

The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced Monday more than $650 million in bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding to plug abandoned oil and gas wells. The funding, available to 27 states including California, will go toward the plugging of so-called “orphan” wells, that is, extraction wells abandoned by their owners or operators. Orphan wells are linked with major safety and health hazards, many of which are associated with methane leaks.

It will cost $110 billion to protect San Francisco Bay from rising sea levels, new study shows

The Mercury News – July 13

Protecting the homes and businesses, highways and airports, sewage treatment plants, and other key parts of society along San Francisco Bay’s shoreline from sea level rise will cost $110 billion by 2050, according to a new report from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Association of Bay Area Governments, and Bay Conservation and Development Commission. The projects needed include expanding thousands of acres of wetlands, building dozens if not hundreds of miles of higher levees, constructing new tidal gates, strengthening sea walls, and raising roads in some areas around the nine-county Bay Area’s roughly 400-mile-long waterfront.