Focus
Bill separating new California warehouses from neighborhoods signed into law
SiliconValley – October 1
Governor Gavin Newsom on September 29 signed Assembly Bill (AB) 98 into law. The bill, which faced opposition from business groups, local governments, and environmental justice advocates, forbids cities and counties from approving new warehouses or warehouse expansions unless certain conditions are met. Depending on their size, new warehouses will have to use zero-emission technology, meet energy efficiency standards, and ban trucks from idling their engines. The bill also will impose landscaping and screening requirements to shield warehouses from their neighbors, with landscaping buffers ranging from 50 to 100 feet. Please see our recent alert for a discussion of AB 98 and its impact on developers.
News
Newsom signs law delaying oil industry’s leak detection and repair of wells in residential areas
CalMatters – September 30
Governor Gavin Newsom on September 30 signed AB 218 into law, giving oil and gas companies several extra years before they are required to begin detecting and fixing wells near homes and schools that may leak into the air and water. Under AB 218, state officials will not require companies to monitor their oil and gas operations within 3,200 feet of residential areas for leaks until July 2030 — three and a half years later than the deadline set in law two years ago. The request for the delay did not come from oil companies — instead, state air and water regulators said they needed more time to hire staff, test techniques for detecting leaks, and develop specific policies. More than 2.5 million Californians, including many in Long Beach, Los Angeles, and Kern County, live within 3,200 feet of an oil or gas well.
Martinez refinery fined $5 million for air-quality violations
East Bay Times – October 3
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) has announced a $5 million fine against Marathon Martinez Refinery, operated by Marathon subsidiary Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company, for air quality violations over a four-year period from 2018 to 2022. The BAAQMD said the penalty is the second-largest it has ever assessed. According to the district, the civil penalties relate to flaring that occurred when Marathon idled its refinery in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, among other violations. The BAAQMD said the company has since corrected the violations.
Decision to reduce water flows in California’s delta sparks debate over imperiled fish
Los Angeles Times – October 2
State and federal officials have decided to curtail additional water flows intended to support endangered fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta this fall — a controversial step that is being praised by major California water districts but condemned by environmental groups as a significant weakening of protections for imperiled fish. The debate centers on a measure that calls for prioritizing additional flows for endangered delta smelt. A coalition of environmental and fishing groups said that these flows — called “Fall X2” water releases — are vital for delta smelt, and that the decision by state and federal officials to suspend the measure this year poses an added threat to the fish.
California enacts unprecedented restrictions on rat poisons in bid to protect wildlife
Los Angeles Times – October 1
California has become the first state in the nation to restrict use of all blood-thinning rat poisons due to their unintended impact on mountain lions, birds of prey, and other animals. Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed a bill that expands an existing moratorium to all anticoagulant rodenticides, with only limited exceptions. Wildlife advocates hailed the new law — set to go into effect Jan. 1, 2025 — as an important step toward protecting non-target animals. However, agricultural and pest-control groups derided the measure as a potential public health issue that sidestepped the state’s regulatory process.
Governor Newsom signs textile recycling bill into law; vetoes and signs other recycling bills
WasteDive – September 30
California will become the first state in the country with an Extended Producer Responsibility, or EPR, program for textiles now that Governor Gavin Newsom has signed SB 707 into law. The law, supported by recycling and waste groups as well as several haulers, will require producers of certain apparel and other textile products to establish a producer responsibility organization, which will create a plan for collecting, repairing, and recycling such material. Newsom signed a handful of other related laws last weekend, including measures updating the state’s SB 1383 organics procurement requirements and carpet stewardship program and a bill expanding California’s PaintCare program.
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