Focus
Governor Newsom vetoes bill aimed at stopping federal environmental rollbacks
San Francisco Chronicle – September 27
Governor Gavin Newsom last Friday vetoed SB 1, a bill sponsored by state Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) that was intended to counteract the Trump Administration’s efforts to roll back environmental and labor protections. SB 1 would have incorporated into California law the federal Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, Fair Labor Standards Act and other federal laws and their implementing regulations as they existed at the end of the Obama Administration, until Inauguration Day in 2025 of President Trump’s successor (assuming President Trump wins a second term). Newsom was sensitive to concerns that the bill would freeze in place outdated water pumping and fish conservation practices in the Sacramento River Delta and would limit "the state’s ability to rely upon the best available science to protect our environment."
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News
Court pauses L.A. County stormwater pollution limits required under 2012 permit
Daily Breeze – October 2
Orange County Superior Court Judge Glenda Sanders on September 24 struck down certain requirements by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (Board) mandating that Los Angeles County, the Flood Control District, and some 84 cities throughout Los Angeles County adopt costly watershed management programs, such as underground infiltration structures for stormwater runoff. Judge Sanders ruled that the Board failed to adequately consider the overall costs to comply with the new standards, which could amount to billions of dollars. Two cities, Gardena and Duarte, had sued over the stormwater regulations required under the 2012 Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit issued by the Board. The court order gives the Board 90 days to inform the court how it plans to comply with the order.
Pep Boys to pay millions in Bay Area hazardous waste settlement
East Bay Times – September 30
Pep Boys has agreed to pay $3.7 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the company illegally dumped hazardous waste. Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley alleged that the auto parts and service retailer illegally dumped automotive fluids, used motor oil and other waste into company bins destined for a landfill not licensed to receive such wastes. The lawsuit also alleged that Pep Boys did not properly shred customer information containing confidential records before discarding them. Inspectors from the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office Environmental Protection Unit, as well as those from district attorneys’ offices statewide, including San Mateo, Orange, San Diego, and San Joaquin Counties, discovered the alleged violations during undercover inspections of trash bins in 19 different Pep Boys facilities from April 2014 through November 2017.
Future uncertain for Shasta Dam raising after water district stops work on study
Record Searchlight – September 30
Fresno-based Westlands Water District (Westlands) announced Monday that it has backed off its plans to prepare an environmental impact report on raising the height of Shasta Dam. State trial and appellate courts had ruled that Westlands' participation in the project is illegal, and last week the California Supreme Court affirmed those rulings. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (Bureau) had tried to persuade non-federal partners to help pay half the cost of the $1.4 billion project to raise the height of the dam 18½ feet, despite an environmental analysis that showed the increased height would further inundate two-thirds of a mile of the McCloud River. Westlands was the only other agency that had publicly shown an interest in working with the Bureau.
The biggest likely source of microplastics in California coastal waters? Our car tires
Los Angeles Times – October 2
According to a comprehensive report released on Wednesday by the San Francisco Estuary Institute and the non-profit research group 5 Gyres, rainfall washes more than 7 trillion pieces of microplastics (particles smaller than 5 millimeters) into San Francisco Bay alone each year. These tiny particles make their way into the ocean and marine animals, and ultimately become part of the food and water people consume. Much of the microplastics load in the runoff comes from vehicle tires – more than 300 times more than from microfibers washed off polyester clothes, microbeads from beauty products, and the many other sources of tiny plastic particles that wash down sinks and sewers. The study included analysis of hundreds of samples from fish, sediment, surface water, wastewater, and stormwater runoff, with the goal of providing the data to define the problem and inform policy solutions.
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