Focus
Bonta announces lawsuit against 3M and DuPont over PFAS contamination
The Hill – November 10
California Attorney General Rob Bonta on Thursday announced a lawsuit against 3M and DuPont, manufacturers of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), alleging that the two companies concealed health hazards associated with PFAS from the public and continued producing them for public use. Although PFAS is a blanket term for thousands of compounds, the lawsuit specifically applies to seven compounds detected in California waters. According to data from California’s State Water Resources Control Board, the compounds, which are resistant to degradation in the environment, are detectable in 146 water systems that provide water to about 16 million residents of the state.
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News
CARB considers rule to ban diesel big rigs
The Washington Post – November 2
As the expansion of the goods movement industry brings more warehouses and heavy-duty trucks to cities in the Inland Empire, local organizers and state regulators have worked to address pollutant emissions by the sector, which they say are poisoning vulnerable communities, many of them populated largely with people of color. In what may be one of the most consequential developments yet, the California Air Resources Board appears likely to adopt a rule that would ban most diesel big rigs and other large vehicles that run on fossil fuels within the next two decades. For some, the transition would begin as soon as 2024. The move, which the Board considered at an October 27 meeting, would drastically reshape the trucking industry and set a standard for the nation, just months after the state banned the sale of new gasoline-powered cars after 2035.
CDC to conduct health study at former Fort Ord
Associated Press – November 9
Federal health officials are conducting a new study to determine whether veterans once stationed at the former Ford Ord military base in Monterey were exposed to dangerously high levels of cancer-causing toxins, including trichloroethylene, or TCE. The decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention comes nine months after an Associated Press investigation found that drinking water at Fort Ord contained toxic chemicals and that hundreds of veterans who lived at the base in the 1980s and 1990s later developed rare and terminal blood cancers.
Chevron agrees to pay $200,000 for 2021 San Francisco Bay fuel spill at Richmond refinery
KQED – November 4
Chevron will pay $200,000 in a settlement with regulators related to a pipeline rupture at its Richmond refinery that led to the release of hundreds of gallons of diesel fuel into the San Francisco Bay in February 2021. The decision comes months after California Department of Fish and Wildlife investigators forwarded findings on the spill to the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office. In October 2021, the Contra Costa Hazardous Materials Programs department posted a three-page report by the oil company which said its inspections failed to detect the corrosion on the pipeline that led to the release.
Bosch agrees to pay $25M to settle California diesel emissions probe
Reuters – November 7
German auto supplier Bosch has agreed to pay $25 million to resolve California's probe into the company's role in the diesel emissions scandals at Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler, the company and state said on Monday. The settlement, which is subject to court approval, resolves allegations that Bosch participated in misconduct by providing hardware, software, and software programming or calibration services to Volkswagen and Fiat Chrysler, now known as Stellantis, “when it knew or should have known that these auto manufacturers were violating environmental and consumer protection laws," California Attorney General Rob Bonta said.
EPA will consider new locomotive pollution regulations
U.S. News & World Report – November 9
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Wednesday said it is considering adopting new regulations to address locomotive air pollution. EPA is not endorsing the California Air Resources Board's 2017 request to set more stringent emission standards for new locomotives and new locomotive engines, but said it plans to propose revisions to existing locomotive preemption regulations "to ensure they don’t inappropriately limit California’s and other states’ authorities under the Clean Air Act to address their air quality issues." Under CARB’s proposal, starting in 2030 only locomotives less than 23 years old could be operated in California, and, starting in 2024, to reduce emissions from prolonged engine idling, all locomotives with automatic shutoff devices would not be permitted to idle longer than 30 minutes, unless for an exempt reason.
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