News
EPA settles California smog lawsuit with environmental groups
Courthouse News Service – July 22
Environmental groups struck a deal with the U.S. EPA last Thursday setting deadlines to approve state implementation plans addressing outstanding air quality issues in California and Colorado in a Consent Decree. The Center for Biological Diversity first sued the federal government in 2020, alleging it failed to act on state implementation plans, including those for Kern County and the Northern Sierra Air Quality Management District, designed to curb ozone pollution under the Clean Air Act. In the Consent Decree, the EPA agreed to take action by certain deadlines on wide-ranging policies, helping states meet National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The policies include controlling volatile organic compounds, leaks from oil refinery equipment and gas trucks, regulations for ship building, and rules for the coatings on metal furniture, paper, film, and foil.
Supervisors aim to stop SoCalGas from expanding storage at Alison Canyon facility
Los Angeles Daily News – July 27
Los Angeles County leaders voted unanimously this Tuesday to send a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), which oversees operations at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, to stop SoCalGas from expanding the site’s storage capacity. The facility was the site of a major gas leak in 2015 when 109,000 metric tons of methane were released into the air. The vote comes after a group of oil companies appealed to the CPUC, asking to raise the allowable gas inventory in Aliso Canyon from its current value.
San Diego’s water desalination efforts could get boost in federal funding
The San Diego Union-Tribune – July 27
Desalination projects in the San Diego area could get millions in federal funding under a bill Representative Mike Levin introduced on Tuesday. The Desalination Development Act would provide $260 million over five years for desalination projects across the country, including the City of Oceanside’s Mission Basin Groundwater Purification Facility, which converts brackish flows into potable water, said Levin, who represents a congressional district spanning northern San Diego County and southern Orange County. It also sets environmental standards for projects that get federal funding, with requirements for energy efficiency, wildlife protection, and water conservation.
Nearly 140 Democrats urge EPA to 'promptly' allow California to set its own vehicle pollution standards
The Hill – July 27
A group of 139 Democratic lawmakers is urging the U.S. EPA to “promptly” reinstate California’s ability to set its own vehicle emissions standards — which is expected to increase electric vehicle adoption. In separate letters to EPA Administrator Michael Regan on Tuesday, 26 senators and 113 House members urged the swift reversal of the Trump administration’s move to revoke California’s emissions standards waiver. California’s standards, which have been more stringent than federal standards, have also been adopted by more than a dozen other states.
California sues Fontana to block warehouse project in low-income area
Daily Bulletin – July 26
State Attorney General Rob Bonta filed a lawsuit in San Bernardino Superior Court last Friday against the city of Fontana, challenging its approval of a nearly 206,000-square-foot warehouse project in a low-income neighborhood. The lawsuit claims the city failed to properly review, analyze, and mitigate the project’s environmental impacts, in violation of the California Environmental Quality Act, before the City Council approved the project on June 22. The state maintains that Fontana failed to disclose the existence of the nearly two dozen other warehouses in the area, and also failed to have an environmental impact report prepared for the project.
|