Region: California

What’s new on the Delta?

Quite a bit, and most of the news is bad. American Rivers has declared the Sacramento-San Joaquin the most endangered river in the United States. The longfin smelt has been listed as threatened by the state, but it is not going to be federally listed, at least not yet. Commercial salmon fishing off the California …

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Cleaning Up the Bush EPA’s Dry Cleaning Rule

The Washington Post reported that EPA “is reconsidering whether to compel dry cleaners to phase out a cancer-causing chemical used in tens of thousands of operations nationwide.”  In 2006, the Bush Administration issued an air toxics rule for professional dry cleaners using perchloroethylene in which it tightened technology requirements, but refused to phase out use …

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The Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009–A Macro and Micro View

I’d like to follow up on Sean Hecht’s recent posting concerning Congressional passage and President Obama’s signing into law of the Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009. This massive bill designates two million acres of wilderness in nine states as permanently off-limits to development, and increases the number of river miles protected under the …

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Waxman bill on state cap-and-trade efforts

I’ve been reading the Waxman-Markey energy and climate discussion draft released earlier in the week (and blogged about by Rick here).  One thing I’m puzzling over is the draft’s treatment of state cap and trade regulations.  As many have noted, the question of which state climate efforts are saved and which are preempted is an …

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Getting Serious About Toxicity Testing

Most of the products we use everyday contain chemicals that have never undergone meaningful health and safety testing.  That statement is hardly controversial; most folks on all sides of the continuing debate over chemical policy reform accept it as accurate.  Yet there is controversy over whether such testing should be required as a routine matter …

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HUD and DOT, sitting in a tree…

The two federal agencies that should go together like peas and carrots are finally making moves.  The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced a new joint task force to identify strategies to link affordable housing with transportation and to create sustainable communities. The task force will …

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Action on Nano-regulation Likely in California This Year

On March 19, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) hosted its third symposium on nanotechnology.  The symposium featured speakers from industry, government, the NGO community, and academia and focused upon potential regulatory approaches for dealing with health and environmental effects of nanotechnology.  In his remarks, Assemblyperson Mike Feuer announced his intent to introduce …

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The Dodgers v. Urbanism: NoCal 1, SoCal 0?

I hate to admit this with a bunch of co-bloggers from the Bay Area, but I think that the northerners have one here. Ever since my Grandpa told me stories about dodging trolleys outside Ebbets Field, and then took me to the Dodgers’ 1972 Oldtimers’ Day, when they retired the numbers of Jackie Robinson, Roy …

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DiFi defends the Desert Tortoise

As one example of the growing conflict over use of sensitive lands for renewable energy projects (Ann recently blogged about this tension here), check out Sen. Feinstein’s letter to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar asking that the BLM suspend consideration of proposed leases on federal lands near Joshua Tree National Park being considered for solar energy fields.  “While …

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Two New EPA Nominees

The President announced two new EPA choices:  Cynthia Giles as chief of enforcement, and   Michele DePass as EPA’s assistant administrator for international affairs. Cynthia Giles is a Berkeley Law grad.    She is currently the vice president and director of the Conservation Law Foundation’s Rhode Island Advocacy Center,  focusing on state and regional programs …

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