Focus
Bayer bid to end Roundup suits draws U.S. Supreme Court inquiry
Bloomberg – December 13
The U.S. Supreme Court signaled interest in Bayer AG’s bid to stop thousands of lawsuits claiming that its top-selling Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, asking the Biden administration for advice on whether to hear the company’s appeal in what is potentially a multibillion-dollar case. Bayer is challenging a $25 million award to Edwin Hardeman, a California man who says decades of exposure to Roundup caused his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Bayer argues that federal approval of Roundup’s label meant Hardeman’s suit -- and others like it -- couldn’t go forward. The litigation is a test case for what ultimately could be tens of thousands of claims. Bayer said a Supreme Court ruling in its favor would “effectively and largely end” U.S. Roundup litigation.
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News
Companies charged with criminal negligence in Orange County oil spill
The San Diego Union-Tribune – December 15
Three companies face federal criminal charges for their roles in connection with an October oil spill off the coast of Orange County, authorities said this Wednesday. A federal grand jury indictment accuses Amplify Energy Corp. and two subsidiaries, Beta Operating Co. and San Pedro Bay Pipeline Co., of illegally discharging oil from a pipeline they operated off of Huntington Beach. Federal prosecutors allege that the companies failed to properly respond to eight alarms from an automated leak detection system over a period of more than twelve hours. According to Wednesday’s indictment, approximately 25,000 gallons of crude oil were discharged from a pipeline near Huntington Beach as a result of this allegedly negligent conduct.
California, Arizona, and Nevada agree to take less water from ailing Colorado River
Los Angeles Times – December 15
Officials in California, Arizona, and Nevada have reached an agreement to significantly reduce the amount of water they take from the Colorado River. The problem took on new urgency this summer, when the federal government declared a first-ever water shortage in the 86-year-old Lake Mead reservoir near Las Vegas. The agreement, which was signed Wednesday after four months of negotiation, should preserve 1 million acre-feet of water in the lake over the next two years.
Amid drought, California advances big new reservoir project
SFGate – December 15
Amid a severe drought, California regulators on Wednesday advanced what could be the state's first major new water storage project in decades despite warnings it would hasten the extinction of an endangered salmon species while disrupting the cultural traditions of some Native American tribes. The plan is to build a new lake in Northern California that, when full, could hold enough water to supply 3 million households for one year. The project is estimated to cost $4 billion to complete and is one of seven water storage projects eligible to receive public money from a 2014 voter-approved bond. Wednesday's vote by the California Water Commission means the lake — named Sites Reservoir — is eligible for about $800 million in taxpayer money, or about 20% of the project's estimated cost.
California adopts tough standards for trucks, lawn equipment
U.S. News & World Report – December 9
State regulators last Thursday voted to crack down on heavy duty trucks weighing more than 14,000 pounds. These heavy duty trucks make up just 3% of all vehicles in California but account for more than 50% of all nitrogen oxides and fine particle diesel pollution from mobile sources in the state. New rules will require these big trucks, including ones from other states passing through California, to be tested at least two times per year to make sure they meet the state's standards for particulate matter and ozone pollution. Also on Thursday, the California Air Resources Board agreed to ban the sale of new products run by small gas-powered engines, including leaf blowers, lawn mowers, and portable generators — a rule recently mandated by the state's Legislature.
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