Focus

Proposed federal legislation would shield recyclers from PFAS cleanup costs

Resource Recycling – May 15

A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate seeks to protect composting, recycling, and garbage facilities from cleanup cost liability if they receive and manage solid waste or biosolids containing PFAS compounds. The legislation, introduced by Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, exempts owners/operators of composting operations and solid waste management facilities from liability under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) of 1980, commonly known as the “Superfund” law. The proposed legislation comes as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering designating some PFAS compounds as “hazardous substances” under CERCLA.

News

California touts $60 million plan to revive Yuba River for salmon

Courthouse News Service – May 16

California’s Yuba River, a vital breeding ground for salmon and other fish, could enjoy a new chapter as an expanded habitat under a new $60 million federal and state replenishment project. The project will use $30 million from the state and $30 million from Yuba Water Agency to fix the dam by building a natural fishway, resembling the footprint of the river before gold mining, to help fish swim up and down stream of their own volition. The project will also screen water on the other side of the river and ensure diversions meet federal and state criteria. It will also include a pilot project to start taking spring-run Chinook salmon back up to the north fork of the river by 2025, for the first time in more than 100 years.

California Coastal Commission seeks immediate protection of Western snowy plover on Balboa Peninsula

The Orange County Register – May 17

For more than a decade, Newport Beach officials have tried to come up with a way to protect the threatened Western snowy plover, a small white-and-brown shorebird. Recently, its efforts have taken on greater urgency as the California Coastal Commission insists a plan be immediately put in place. The sensitive plover population up and down the coast has been declining with the encroachment of development and invasion of non-native plant species limiting its ability to nest. The area on the Balboa Peninsula was designated as critical habitat for the plover by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2012 and, in turn, dedicated as an avian conservation area.

U.S. EPA fines Daiso $600K over wipes sold in El Cerrito

San Francisco Chronicle – May 16

EPA announced a settlement Tuesday with a California-based company that sold antimicrobial wipes that were illegally marketed as a “sterilizing” product. Daiso California LLC will pay a $602,386 fine as part of the settlement. EPA’s announcement cited the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), under which pesticide products may be held out as “sterilizing” only if they provide the highest level of efficacy against microorganisms. Daiso’s claim that its wet wipe products are “sterilizing” meant that the wipes had to be considered a pesticide product that should have been registered with EPA, agency officials said.

Elevated lead levels found in water at one in four California childcare sites tested

CBS News – May 16

New data released by the state reveals levels of lead in drinking water above legal limits at a quarter of the childcare centers tested statewide. State Assemblymember Chris Holden introduced the 2018 legislation that led to preschool testing. So far, only about half of California's 14,000+ childcare sites have returned test results. Assemblymember Holden also introduced a new bill this year that would expand required testing and remediation at K-12 schools.

Chevron scrambles to batten down oil fields amid threat of Kern River flooding

Los Angeles Times – May 17

Preparing for the threat of massive flooding during California’s “Big Melt,” federal engineers have been releasing more Kern River water from Lake Isabella than is flowing into the reservoir from the southern Sierra Nevada. The action is needed, officials say, to prevent water from spilling over the reservoir dam and sending floodwaters rolling into low-lying areas that include the city of Bakersfield, farm towns, Highway 99, and portions of Kern County’s oil patch — an intrusion that would risk significant ecological harm. Now, with temperatures rising and river flows approaching an all-time record of 7,000 cubic feet per second, Chevron Corporation is taking steps to avoid an oil spill at its Kern River Oil Field in the event of catastrophic flooding.