Focus
Gavin Newsom reforms oil standards with regulatory changes and appointments
The Bakersfield Californian – October 14
Governor Gavin Newsom last weekend announced that he signed half a dozen bills regulating petroleum activities in California. Among them, Assembly Bill 1057 for the first time tasks the state’s primary oil regulatory agency—the new Geologic Energy Management Division, formerly known as the state Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources—with responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with oil production. It is part of a new legislative mandate that the protection of environmental quality be central to the agency’s work. Other laws signed include Assembly Bill 342, which forbids any state entity from entering into a lease or other agreement aimed at building petroleum infrastructure on federally protected lands. Oil industry trade groups denounced what they saw at the bills' anti-oil tone, and expressed concern that the bills do not address demand for oil and will simply replace domestic energy with foreign imports.
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News
Tests of California water supplies reveal widespread PFAS contamination
San Francisco Chronicle – October 14
New test results released Monday by the State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) found trace amounts of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a class of toxic chemicals used since the 1940s for various consumer and industrial goods and recently linked to cancer, in dozens of the 600 water supplies tested. The tests, which cover a fraction of California's well water supply, represent California’s fledgling effort to get a handle on contaminants that until recently have not been well tracked and regulated. What level of the chemical is safe for drinking is not agreed upon, and neither California nor the federal government maintain PFAS limits in water supplies. California is in the process of developing standards for PFAS, and a new law that takes effect next year will require water agencies to notify customers if any level of PFAS is found in the water supply. As part of these efforts, the Water Board plans to expand its testing of the chemicals to additional wells and continue to publicly post the data on its new PFAS interactive website.
New Chevron crude spills emerge in Kern County oil field
KQED – October 15
Thousands of gallons of crude petroleum were released over the weekend near a part of Chevron's steam injection well network in a Kern County oil field, prompting a new cleanup effort and state response. The two new spills, one of which covered the length of two football fields, are in the same area where a larger uncontrolled release of 234,000 gallons of oil has taken place since August. New regulations went into effect in April, barring the oil releases. State lawmakers plan to hold an oversight hearing on the spills this winter.
Conservationists seek protection of California Joshua trees
Associated Press – October 15
In a petition filed Tuesday with the California Fish and Game Commission, the Center for Biological Diversity seeks to have the western Joshua tree protected as a “threatened” species under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) because of threats from climate change and habitat destruction. According to the petition, researchers have found that Joshua trees are dying off due to hotter and drier conditions and face destruction by fire due to invasive, non-native grasses in those locations, and that they are impacted by urban sprawl in the desert as well as degradation of habitat for energy projects, powerlines, pipelines, and off-road-vehicle use. The petition comes amid rising concern about the future of the trees that have come to symbolize the Mojave Desert and draw throngs to Joshua Tree National Park. Under the CESA, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife has three months to make a recommendation to the Fish and Game Commission, which would then vote on the petition next year.
California Water Board approves 35-year plan to tackle farm pollution
Courthouse News Service – October 16
The State Water Resources Control Board on Wednesday approved new rules requiring Central Valley farmers to enter into management plans to mitigate salt and nitrate discharges into groundwater supplies. High levels of nitrates plague groundwater basins across the state, particularly adjacent to major Central Valley farming operations, and are one of the most common contaminants found in California’s water systems. The state estimates that high salinity, a result of long-term irrigation, could cost farmers up to $1.5 billion by 2030 and require fallowing hundreds of thousands of acres. Under the framework approved Wednesday, dischargers will have 35 years to comply with state nitrate limits and can petition the water board for a 10-year extension. The plan will now go to the state’s office of administrative law and then to federal regulators for approval.
Coastal Commission approves permit to dismantle the San Onofre nuclear plant
The San Diego Union-Tribune – October 17
The California Coastal Commission gave approval this Thursday for Southern California Edison (SCE) to proceed with plans to dismantle the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, known as SONGS, where canisters loaded with nuclear waste are being moved from “wet storage” to a newly constructed “dry storage” facility on site. The permit will allow SCE contractors to begin removing major structures at the facility, located on an 85-acre chunk of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton owned by the Department of the Navy. SONGS is home to 3.55 million pounds of used-up nuclear fuel, between the Pacific and Interstate 5. SCE officials said the complete dismantlement will take eight to 10 years and efforts will likely begin late this year or early next year. Ultimately, the federal government has the final say about where used-up commercial nuclear fuel should go. But since a permanent site has not been found, nuclear waste at plants like SONGS have been piling up for decades.
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