Environmental and Policy Focus
Reuters
- Dec 11 The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide whether property owners can challenge the federal government in court when told they need costly permits under the federal Clean Water Act. The Court will hear an appeal brought by the Obama administration, which is contesting a lower court ruling that Hawkes Co., Inc. could file a lawsuit to challenge regulators’ assertion that it needed a Clean Water Act permit to open a peat mine in Minnesota before the government sought to enforce that requirement. Whether a particular plot of land falls under the jurisdiction of the U.S. government under the Clean Water Act is of major importance to developers and other property owners because a finding that the property is subject to the Act triggers a lengthy and expensive permitting process. Pre-enforcement review has traditionally not been allowed, and federal agencies strongly oppose it. If the high court overturns the lower court ruling and upholds the traditional rule that property owners may not challenge the determination before an enforcement action is filed by the regulatory agency, then landowners will be left with three choices – either to proceed through the permitting process, to proceed with the project without a permit and face possible penalties of $37,500 per day per violation, or to abandon or alter their plan to develop the land.
Los Angeles Times
- Dec 5 The South Coast Air Quality Management District board voted 7-5 in favor of a plan to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions – precursors to the formation of smog – in the Southern California region. In doing so, the District rejected even more stringent reductions advocated by environmental groups and district staff. Industry groups argued that the more modest reductions would allow them to curtail emissions more gradually and with fewer costs. The measure would reduce the cap on smog-forming emissions from the region’s largest facilities, including refineries, power plants, and factories, by about 12 tons of nitrogen oxides a day by 2022. Air district staff had proposed a steeper, faster plan that would have reduced the cap on nitrogen oxides by an additional two tons per day over the same period. To achieve the reductions, regulators are relying on a decades-old cap-and-trade program, known as “RECLAIM,” that establishes limits on emissions and allocates each participating facility pollution credits. Facilities whose emissions are lower than their caps can sell credits to those whose emissions exceed their limits.
KPCC
- Dec 7 Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer has filed a lawsuit against the Southern California Gas Company (SoCal Gas) over a leak at the company's natural gas storage facility in Porter Ranch. The lawsuit seeks a court order that would require SoCal Gas to repair the leak as quickly as possible, determine what caused it, and prevent a similar event in the future. The complaint seeks to impose penalties of $2,500 per day for each violation. Additionally, Feuer wants the utility to make sure that any systemic flaws at the Aliso Canyon storage facility and other facilities are addressed. Residents have filed more than 700 complaints to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, saying the odor is causing severe headaches, nosebleeds, and has prompted burning sensations in some people's lungs and noses. Hundreds of residents have relocated from the area.
KPBS
- Dec 7 Environmental groups are challenging a recent decision by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to approve the Carlsbad Energy Center, a new gas-fired power plant in San Diego County. On Monday, the Sierra Club and Earthjustice filed an appeal with California's First District Court of Appeal, seeking to overturn the CPUC's approval. The 550-megawatt power plant has faced opposition since it was first proposed, but California regulators approved the plant earlier this year, accepting arguments from San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and the company building the plant that the five-generator peaker facility was needed to stabilize the grid and replace power lost due to the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Opponents of the project wanted more consideration of renewable energy options. A decision on the appeal could come early next year.
Sacramento Bee
- Dec 7 Municipal water agencies from Sacramento and elsewhere pleaded for relief from California’s mandatory drought cutbacks Monday, arguing they should be given credit for coping with arid climates and developing their own supplies. Scores of representatives of local agencies urged the State Water Resources Control Board to revise its system of enforcing Governor Jerry Brown’s order to reduce statewide urban water consumption by 25 percent. Last month the governor said the cutbacks, which are due to expire in mid-February, should be extended through the end of October, assuming the drought hasn’t ended, and the water board is considering whether to revise the rules. The current regulations, which took effect in June, have resulted in a 27 percent savings when compared with the baseline year of 2013. But local water officials, reviving arguments they made when the rules were first implemented, complained that the regulations have failed to take into account differences in climate, mushrooming populations, and other factors.
Associated Press
- Dec 8 Uranium, a naturally occurring but unexpected byproduct of irrigation, drought, and the overpumping of natural underground water reserves, is increasingly appearing in drinking water systems in major farming regions of the Western U.S. An Associated Press investigation in California's Central Valley found authorities are doing little to inform the public at large of the growing risk. In this swath of farmland, roughly 250 miles long and encompassing major cities, up to one in 10 public water systems have raw drinking water with uranium levels that exceed federal and state safety standards, the U.S. Geological Survey has found. Additionally, researchers have determined that one out of four families relying on private wells in the Central Valley are unknowingly drinking dangerous amounts of uranium. Government authorities say long-term exposure to uranium can damage kidneys and raise cancer risks, and scientists say it can have other harmful effects.
Los Angeles Times
- Dec 8 California would target certain harmful air emissions under new legislation being introduced by state Senator Ricardo Lara in an effort to improve public health while battling global warming. Known as short-lived climate pollutants, the emissions include diesel exhaust and methane from agriculture. Focusing on these pollutants has been a key topic of conversation at the United Nations summit on climate change because they are considered a way to make quick progress toward reducing greenhouse gases while providing a clear health benefit. The legislation would set 2030 targets for reducing three pollutants to below 2013 levels – methane by 40 percent; hydrofluorocarbon gases, which can be emitted from air conditioning or refrigerators, by 40 percent; and black carbon from human activity by 50 percent.
