Environmental and Policy Focus
The Hill - Jun 13 The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider a third request from a group of states to overturn the the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 2012 mercury and air toxics standards rule for coal-fired power plants. The states, led by Michigan and joined by numerous business and energy interests, argued that the rule is illegal, and that a lower court erred when it refused to overturn the regulation. The Supreme Court decided nearly a year ago that the EPA did not properly consider costs before writing the regulation, but declined at that time to overturn the rule, instead remanding it to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which decided in December to let the EPA keep enforcing the measure. It was this decision that the Supreme Court upheld this week.
Reuters - Jun 15 California in 2012 became the first U.S. state with a comprehensive cap and trade program for carbon emissions, and observers are commenting that the program is encountering difficulties. The problems include an excess of emissions allowances, a lawsuit that could invalidate the premise of the program, and political differences over whether it should continue after 2020 when it is due to expire unless extended by the state legislature. The latest round of bad news came last Tuesday when the state announced that it had raised just $10 million from the May carbon allowance auction, more than $500 million less than it brought in during the February sale. It also marked the first time that California failed to sell any of the allowances it offered for auction sale to cover 2016 emissions. Earlier this month, Governor Jerry Brown acknowledged uncertainty about the program's future and said he has yet to work out a deal with the Legislature to extend it beyond 2020.
Sacramento Bee - Jun 11 Despite a winter of increased levels of rain and snow in Northern California, federal fisheries regulators are considering a set of plans that would put Sacramento Valley reservoirs on a tight leash again this summer. The first proposal involves holding back substantial volumes of water at Shasta Lake into the summer to protect juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon. The second plan would protect the Delta smelt, which are also on the brink of extinction; under this plan, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates dams in the federal government’s Central Valley Project, would allow more water flow to the Pacific Ocean through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta this summer. Both plans would reduce water supplies otherwise available for agricultural and household use.
San Jose Mercury News - Jun 15 San Jose city officials on Tuesday agreed to spend more than $100 million over the next decade and beyond to reduce tons of trash that flows into creeks and San Francisco Bay, repair miles of leaking underground sewage pipes, and clean stormwater contaminated with harmful bacteria. The agreement resolves a lawsuit by the conservation group Baykeeper under the federal Clean Water Act, and focuses on pollution of Coyote Creek and the Guadalupe River. Roughly 90 percent of San Jose’s sewage pipes are made of clay that often crack over time, creating spills or allowing water to rush in during rainstorms, causing sewage to overflow through manhole covers. San Jose officials said that they signed the consent decree to avoid the costs of a lengthy court battle, and admitted to no wrongdoing.
Los Angeles Times - Jun 9 A two-acre oil field, operated by Allenco Energy Inc., on land near USC leased from Los Angeles’ Catholic Archdiocese, cannot reopen unless the company installs a health and safety monitoring system designed to improve protection of public health and responsiveness to complaints from local residents, which have included claims of nosebleeds and respiratory illness. The decision is the result of a lawsuit filed by the City of Los Angeles in 2014 to stop Allenco from reopening after an investigation found that the company willfully disregarded violation notices issued by oversight agencies and that regulators did not move forcefully to enforce their numerous and repeated citations. Allenco also has agreed to pay $1.25 million in civil penalties, at least half of which will be used to fund investigations of polluting oil fields elsewhere. The company voluntarily halted operation at the site in 2013, pending completion of investigations by several state and federal agencies including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
