Focus

White House moves to exempt large infrastructure projects from environmental review

The New York Times – January 9

The White House this Thursday introduced major changes to the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), a landmark measure that requires review of the environmental impacts of projects, such as bridges, highways, pipelines, and power plants, that are undertaken by federal entities or that require federal government approval. The proposed new rules would narrow the range of projects that require such review and impose strict new deadlines on completing assessments. The changes would also eliminate the need for agencies to consider the “cumulative impacts” of projects, which courts have determined to include the consequences of greenhouse gas emissions associated with the projects. There will be a 60-day period for public comment, and two public hearings, on the proposed changes before a final regulation is issued, most likely in the fall.

News

California sues Vinod Khosla over public access to Martins Beach

The Mercury News – January 6

The California Attorney General’s office on Monday filed suit against Silicon Valley venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, the co-founder of Sun Microsystems, claiming he has been “improperly and illegally” restricting public access to the popular Martins Beach near Half Moon Bay for the past decade. The lawsuit, filed in San Mateo County Superior Court on behalf of the California Coastal Commission and the State Lands Commission, is the latest salvo in a decade-long dispute, involving numerous lawsuits, that commenced after Khosla purchased a large tract of property surrounding the beach in 2008. The agencies contend that use of the beach and the road leading to it by generations of families before Khosla’s ownership created an irrevocable public right of access.

EPA sees progress on California’s clean air backlog after threats to highway funding

The Sacramento Bee – January 6

California is cooperating with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to clear a backlog of reports on its implementation of the Clean Air Act, thereby likely avoiding cuts to highway funding threatened by the federal government late last year. The Clean Air Act requires states to submit implementation plans to the EPA outlining their efforts to cut emissions of six types of pollutants, including the emissions that combine in the atmosphere to form smog. When President Donald Trump entered office, the administration faced a backlog of over 700 reports, roughly 140 of which originated in California, officials said. California’s cooperation with the EPA could mark a turning point in its protracted dispute with the agency.

Sierra Nevada red fox may receive endangered species protections

San Francisco Chronicle – January 8

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed this Tuesday to protect the Sierra Nevada red fox under the Endangered Species Act, according to the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), a national conservation organization. Experts believe that only about 70 of the foxes remain in Lassen and Sonora Pass in the Sierra Nevada mountains, making them one of the rarest mammals in North America. The population has declined dramatically because of poisoning and trapping, habitat destruction from logging and livestock grazing, and disturbance from off-road vehicles and snowmobiles, according to CBD. The species could face further threats, experts say, as warming caused by climate change shrinks their habitat.

Port ships, some to be L.A.’s biggest sources of air pollution, pose regulatory challenge for the state

Los Angeles Times – January 3

The South Coast Air Quality Management District projects that, by 2023, oceangoing ships will surpass heavy-duty diesel trucks to become Southern California’s largest source of smog-forming nitrogen oxide pollution. In one 24-hour period, a single cruise ship, if not powered by dockside electricity while in port, can generate emissions from burning fuel oil to equal the pollution from 10,000 cars. State regulations over the last six years have forced increasing numbers of container ships, refrigerated cargo ships, and cruise ships docked at the largest ports to plug in or to connect to emissions controls. The California Air Resources Board has proposed extending such restrictions to additional ports, ship calls, and vessel types, which would increase the number of ship visits subject to the rules from about 43 percent today to about 71 percent by 2029. CARB staff plan to bring the final regulations to the 16-member panel for a hearing in the spring.

Critics skeptical of EPA plans for tougher truck standards

The Hill – January 6

EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler on Monday announced the agency’s intention to tighten regulations of emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) from truck engines. The so-called Cleaner Trucks Initiative proposal is expected later this year, with Monday’s event kicking off a public comment period on the proposal by which EPA would update truck engine NOx emission regulations for the first time since 2001. Environmental and other public interest groups expressed concern that the agency’s regulations may not be as stringent as they could or should be, while stymying efforts by California to set ambitious NOx emission standards of its own.

Water company pleads guilty to hazardous waste violations

Associated Press – January 10

A California company that produces Crystal Geyser bottled water pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of unlawful storage of hazardous waste and one count of unlawful transportation of hazardous material, agreeing to a $5 million fine. The waste was produced by filtering arsenic out of Sierra Nevada spring water at CG Roxane LLC’s facility in Owens Valley and then discharging it for about 15 years into a manmade pond, said officials from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. State officials instructed the company to remove the pond, which CG Roxane did, but without informing the two companies that disposed of the wastewater that it was hazardous material. This resulted in 23,000 gallons of the tainted wastewater being discharged into a sewer without proper treatment, prosecutors said. The two companies were charged along with CG Roxane in 2018 and await a trial set for April.