Renewable Energy Update - October 2015 #4

Allen Matkins
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Environmental and Policy Focus

Governor Brown authorizes streamlined groundwater

Allen Matkins - Oct 13

On Friday, October 9, 2015, Governor Brown signed a suite of bills that has the potential to significantly increase litigation over groundwater rights. Together, Assembly Bill 1390 and Senate Bill 226 authorize streamlined procedures for comprehensive groundwater adjudications in California superior courts, and ensure that these procedures will not conflict with groundwater management under the recently-enacted Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). The Governor also signed Assembly Bill 617, giving private parties the opportunity to participate in implementation of the SGMA and help shape management strategy for the basins over which their land is situated.

'Ridiculously Resilient Ridge' retires, making room for rain in California

KPCC - Oct 12

The high pressure system that has shunted storms away from California for much of the past four years has dissipated, possibly for a long time. The Ridiculously Resilient Ridge, as meteorologists and forecasters have dubbed the system because of its unusual persistence, has been absent for more than a month, according to a forecaster with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The NOAA research scientist told KPCC that the disappearance of the ridge and the forecast presence of a strong El Niño this winter is likely to produce a lot of rain.

Governor Brown signs bills to boost transit and protect rivers

Capital Public Radio - Oct 9

Governor Brown has signed two pieces of new legislation intended to promote transit and protect the state’s rivers. SB 9, a measure sponsored by Senator Jim Beall (D-San Jose), is designed to speed up construction of regional mass transit projects, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To provide regional transit agencies with enhanced financial certainty for long term projects, eligible projects would be funded under the state's Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program. The other bill signed by Governor Brown is SB 637, authored by Senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), which is intended to prohibit environmentally-hazardous suction dredge mining in rivers and streams. The bill requires small-scale miners using motorized suction pumps to obtain a permit from the State Water Resources Control Board before mining in California waterways.

Environmental groups sue Forest Service to stop Nestlé bottling operation

The Hill - Oct 13

Environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service for allegedly allowing Nestlé to bottle water from California's San Bernardino National Forest with a permit that expired 27 years ago. The lawsuit by various environmental groups, including the Center for Biological Diversity, challenges Nestlé’s four-mile pipeline that siphons water from San Bernardino National Forest’s Strawberry Creek to bottling operations in Ontario, California. According to documents filed with the federal district court on Tuesday, the water line supplies Nestlé’s "Arrowhead" brand of bottled water. In the complaint, the plaintiffs seek an order requiring the immediate shutdown of the pipeline and requiring the Forest Service to conduct a full permitting process that includes environmental reviews.

Port of Los Angeles concedes failure to meet agreed pollution-cutting measures

Los Angeles Times - Oct 14

The Port of Los Angeles has failed to carry out vital pollution-reduction measures it agreed to make after a legal settlement made more than a decade ago, according to a document released by the port. In an environmental notice, the port revealed it has not completed 11 of 52 measures it agreed to impose to reduce air pollution, noise, and traffic when it allowed the expansion of the China Shipping terminal. Among the steps not taken are requirements that all ships slow as they approach the port and shut down their diesel engines and plug in to onshore electricity when docked to reduce harmful emissions. Also not met were mandates that trucks and yard tractors be fueled by less-polluting natural gas and other alternative fuels. China Shipping North America operates the 130-acre terminal near the Vincent Thomas Bridge under a lease agreement that expires in 2030.

2016 VW diesels have new software affecting emissions tests

New York Times - Oct 14

Volkswagen has disclosed to U.S. regulators that there is additional suspect software in its 2016 diesel models that would potentially enable their exhaust systems to run cleaner during government tests. Volkswagen confirmed to the Associated Press that the "auxiliary emissions control device" at issue operates differently from the "defeat" device software included in the company's 2009 to 2015 models disclosed last month. That disclosure triggered the worldwide cheating scandal engulfing the world's largest automaker. Regulators have not yet determined whether the software is a defeat device installed specifically to cheat on emissions tests, said Janet McCabe, acting assistant EPA administrator for air quality.

Senator Feinstein pushes for three new national monuments in the California desert

KPCC - Oct 13

Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has called on President Obama to designate three large sites in the Mojave desert - the Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow, and Castle Mountains areas - as national monuments under the Antiquities Act, on the ground that the desert is a key part of the region’s identity. The call for national monument designations is a fallback position intended to ensure some form of habitat protection for a number of species, some endangered, including golden eagles, desert tortoises, and bighorn sheep. Senator Feinstein's preferred approach is the passage of a bill introduced earlier this year, known as the California Desert Conservation and Recreation Act of 2015, which was discussed in a Senate committee last week. Feinstein prefers the legislation because more land would be set aside for protection under the legislation than under the monument designations.

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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