legislation

Making Polluters Pay for Climate Consequences

A protest sign

A pair of new bills introduced in the California State Legislature would create a climate superfund. Here’s how it would work. 

The dramatic increase in extreme weather events has been wreaking havoc on states across the country, from devastating fires, floods, and droughts to rising sea levels. As a member of the Board for the American Red Cross Pacific Coast Region, I have seen firsthand how the organization is responding to twice as many climate-related disasters …

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New State Bill Targets Pollution from Aggregate Facilities

Guest contributors Mayahuel Hernandez and Ian Bertrando explain the air-quality benefits of SB 526, a bill they worked on with California State Sen. Caroline Menjivar.

The California Senate just took a critical step toward confronting unhealthy air quality in environmental justice communities through the introduction of a new Senate Bill 526. This proposed legislation aims to curb dangerous dust emissions from aggregate facilities in the South Coast Air Basin, where industrial pollution has long threatened public health and the environment. …

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Government by Reconciliation  

The reconciliation process avoids the risk of a Senate filibuster. But it comes wth procedural and political complications.

The GOP’s efforts to accomplish a big agenda through the reconciliation process will face serious complications. The Byrd rule limits the use of reconciliation to achieve non-budgetary purposes. A razor-thin House majority and factional warfare will make it hard to reach deals, as will Trump’s (& Musk;s) distaste for compromise.

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Yes, Virginia, There ARE Federal Climate Laws.

An image of the U.S. Capitol Building in the evening.

Contrary to myth, Congress has actually passed laws relating directly to climate change.

It’s a common misconception that Congress has never passed any climate change legislation. But Congresshas passed at least laws regulating two powerful greenhouse gases, as well as a series of other laws stretching back almost forty years. The story begins under President Nixon and extends into the Biden years with the multi-billion dollar Inflation Reduction Act.

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No More ‘House of Horrors’ Thanks to These New Laws

Several California laws prohibiting dangerous chemicals from household products go into effect on or after January 1, 2025.

Halloween is the one time when we welcome ghouls, ghosts, and goblins coming to our homes (and, if your neighborhood is anything like mine, a variety of tiny superheroes). This season, however, the Legislature is dealing with a different kind of house of horrors: dangerous chemicals in everyday products that affect millions of Californians’ health. …

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Halftime Report: Environmental Bills Moving Forward 

The UCLA Emmett Institute is tracking California environmental bills. In a year of tough budget choices, here are the notable bills that cleared Sacramento’s first big legislative deadline.

Legislators reached the first deadline of the 2023-2024 legislative season last week—passage of bills out of their house of origin. As the name implies, this refers to Assembly bills working their way through the Assembly, and Senate bills moving through the Senate, culminating with floor votes which concluded last Friday, May 24th. This period is …

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More Unforced Errors in the 2023 NEPA Amendments

Bluntly speaking, the statute is a mess.

When the 2023 amendments to NEPA passed as part of the debt ceiling bill, I wrote a series of blog posts about the drafting errors. It turns out that I missed some, as I discovered when working on the new edition of my environmental law casebook.  They really aren’t all that subtle, and it’s hard …

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The Year Ahead in California Climate Laws

Facing a $37.9 billion deficit, California’s 2024 legislative session is likely to be about minor fixes, cleanup bills, and the ballot box. Plus: Will 2023’s disclosure bills get funded?

  Though I do not have a crystal ball — wish I did! — there are some clear markers we can evaluate to foresee environmental priorities, and possibilities, as we start another exciting year in the California Legislature.   The California Legislature kicked off the 2024 session on January 3 with notable changes in leadership. Robert Rivas, who …

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An Important Groundwater Bill Lands on the Governor’s Desk

Guest Contributors Gabi Rosenfeld, Owen McAleer, and Adrianne Davies say AB 779, a bill they worked on with State Assemblymember Lori Wilson, will address inequities in groundwater adjudications.

Earlier this month, California’s Legislature passed a slate of bills that cover a range of environmental and climate issues. Among those was Assemblymember Lori Wilson’s AB 779, a bill we helped create to improve the groundwater adjudication process for all water users. Adjudications legally determine groundwater rights but can take years and cost millions of …

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California Passes Landmark Corporate Climate Transparency Bills

SB 253 and SB 261 would be first-in-the-nation laws meant to pull back the curtain on emissions and climate risks.

After a hard-fought battle, the California Legislature passed the second of two nation-leading corporate climate accountability bills yesterday afternoon. The bills, SB 253 and SB 261, are important transparency measures that would, for the first time, allow Californians to meaningfully assess the carbon footprint of thousands of companies—and what those companies plan to do about …

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