News
Associated Press – May 10
California’s state pollution-reduction plan, released Tuesday by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), states that new homes in California must be powered by all-electric stoves and furnaces if the state is to meet its ambitious climate-change goals over the next 20 years. The state is now on a path towards carbon neutrality by 2045, according to the roadmap. The CARB staff created the plan, which was criticized by both industry and environmental groups. They recommend that the state reduce oil and gas consumption by 91% by 2045. They also recommend using technology to capture and store carbon from any remaining sources. The staff’s plan is not final; CARB members will ultimately decide whether to adopt or modify it following a public comment process.
Press Democrat – May 13
Thursday’s unanimous vote by the California Coastal Commission denied Poseidon Water a permit to build a desalination facility to produce 50,000,000 gallons of water per day in Huntington Beach. Poseidon’s long-running proposal was supported by Governor Gavin Newsom but faced ardent opposition from environmentalists who said drawing in large amounts of ocean water and releasing salty discharge back into the ocean would kill billions of tiny marine organisms that make up the base of the food chain along a large swath of the coast. Other critics said the water would be too expensive and wasn’t urgently needed in the area where it would be built, which is less dependent on state and federal water due to an ample aquifer and water recycling program.
Los Angeles Daily News – May 11
The state Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which oversees cleanup of the polluted Santa Susana Field Lab near Simi Valley, on Monday announced a new agreement with The Boeing Company to clean up its portion of the former “Rocketdyne” site. An agreement DTSC had with Boeing in 2007 required the restoration of contaminated water and soil at the site. This was where significant contamination was caused by rocket testing and nuclear reactor accidents. However, that agreement was never enforced or honored. Critics claim that this agreement contains significantly weaker cleanup levels than the cleanup Boeing agreed on in 2007, but DTSC refutes that claim.
The Hill – May 12
Thursday, the Biden administration Announcement$254.5 million will be released to communities across the nation to assess and clean up contaminated areas and place them for reuse. The funds will go to 265 communities through the EPA’s Brownfields program, including Nine projects in California. Additional 56 awards for cleanup or redevelopment will also be made through the Revolving Loan Fund. 50% of those funds are returned to government.
The Desert Sun – May 9
The federal funding for major dam and irrigation canal improvements in the Coachella Valley and Imperial counties of California was hugely generous Monday. It came from a large federal grant. The $240 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Fund funds from the U.S. Department of the Interior was used to fund the projects.
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