News
EPA issues notice of violations for unpermitted air emissions at Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic
 Los Angeles Daily News – June 10
EPA has issued a violation notice for unpermitted air emissions against the troubled Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic. The violations notice, sent on June 4 to Chiquita Canyon LLC and its parent company, Waste Connections, says the landfill operators are violating the federal Clean Air Act and their operating permit by emitting high levels of gases such as benzene and smog-precursors known as volatile organic compounds that contribute to the formation of ozone. The municipal waste landfill has been the subject of 7,000 odor complaints by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, as well as violations issued by other state and local environmental agencies.
Solano Land Trust opposes California Forever’s proposed city due to fears of environmental harm, claims of ‘misleading’ marketing
CBS News – June 7
The Solano Land Trust publicly announced on June 6 that after carefully weighing for months how it would respond to California Forever and its billionaire-backed push to build a new city on Solano County farmland it has decided to oppose the project. The trust protects over 25,000 acres of natural and agricultural lands. California Forever’s ballot measure, the East Solano Plan, needs local voter support this November to rezone the 17,500 acres of Solano County farmland where they want to build a new city. The trust believes the environmental impact on the surrounding area would be detrimental.
California escalates legal battle against certain oil companies over climate change
Courthouse News Service – June 10
California Attorney General Rob Bonta intensified his legal fight against five of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies on Monday, filing an amended complaint that accuses Exxon Mobil, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP, and the American Petroleum Institute of engaging in a prolonged campaign of deception about the realities of climate change and the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels. In the amended complaint, filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, Bonta introduced new evidence of alleged false advertising and greenwashing by the companies and seeks the disgorgement remedy provided by Assembly Bill 1366, which was enacted earlier this year. Ryan Meyers, the American Petroleum Institute’s senior vice president and general counsel, referred to the lawsuit as “meritless” and said Congress should debate and decide how to address climate policy rather than defer such decisions to a “patchwork” of courts.
New air-quality rule requires electric water heaters
Los Angeles Times/Yahoo! News – June 7
In one of the biggest moves to reduce air pollution in the past decade, Southern California air regulators last Friday adopted a rule that will require pool and hot tub owners to go electric. The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s governing board voted 9-1 to effectively phase out certain kinds of natural-gas-fired water-heating equipment in homes and businesses across its four-county jurisdiction: Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and part of San Bernardino. The rule will lead to the replacement over three decades of more than 1 million gas-burning appliances — including an estimated 700,000 pool heaters and 300,000 tankless water heaters — with zero-emissions technology. It will also apply to 70,000 commercial water heaters at businesses such as dry cleaners, restaurants, hotels, and hospitals. By the time it’s fully implemented in 2058, the regulation is expected to prevent the release of 5.6 tons of smog-forming nitrogen oxides a day.
California pollinators to receive increased protections from certain insecticide
The Hill – June 11
The California Fish and Game Commission has finalized a regulation, which will take effect on July 1, prohibiting the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife from using certain insecticides on lands under its jurisdiction. Specifically, the action will forbid the application of neonicotinoid pesticides — often called “neonics” — which pose a threat to birds, bees, and other critical pollinators. The ban will pertain to “Department lands,” some of which include state wildlife refuges. The new regulation will impact more than 1 million acres of fish and wildlife habitat, ecological reserves and other lands, according to Earthjustice, which filed a petition in 2017 on behalf of the American Bird Conservancy that triggered the new rule.
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