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California Leads Suit Against Trump Administration Over Weakened Environmental Laws

/in , , /by /Times of San Diegoby Chris Jennewein

California and 20 other states sued the Trump administration over its plan to curtail environmental regulations in permitting infrastructure projects that can take years to complete and have long-lasting consequences on land and communities. Led by California and Washington, the lawsuit seeks to block changes the administration has proposed to how the 50-year-old National Environmental Policy Act is implemented. It was filed in federal court in San Francisco against the White House Council on Environmental Quality and its chairman, Mary Neumayr.

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Opinion: California Must Ensure Water Access During COVID-19 Pandemic

/in , , /by /CalMattersby Tracy Quinn

Safe drinking water is a human right and essential during the COVID-19 crisis. And California must do more to ensure water service during concurrent health and economic emergencies.

In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order placing a moratorium on water shutoffs and requiring reconnections for households disconnected after March 4. But months into a crisis, the state lacks data on the impact of the moratorium.

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21 States Sue White House Over Rollback of Bedrock Environmental Law

/in , , /by /The Hillby Rebecca Beitsch

A coalition of 21 states [including California] sued the Trump administration Friday for rolling back what they say is a “rule that is, at its heart, the gutting” of America’s bedrock environmental law.

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Opinion: Blackouts Expose Need for Expanding Energy Storage

/in , /by /The Orange County Registerby Jim Madaffer Mentioned: San Diego County Water Authority

The sad reality is that the blackouts rolling across California this week were both predictable and avoidable. The silver lining is that future blackouts across California are avoidable – if we invest in large-scale energy storage projects to provide on-demand power.

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Nevada Residents Blast Utah’s Lake Powell Pipeline Plan

/in , , /by /AP News

A group of residents in a southern Nevada town that sits along the Colorado River are organizing a campaign to oppose a proposed pipeline that would divert billions of gallons of river water to southwest Utah, reflecting intensifying struggles over water in the U.S. West.

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California Lawmakers Vote to Phase Out Toxic Firefighting Foam

/in , , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Anna M. Phillips

California lawmakers voted Sunday to phase out the sale and use of firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals that have been linked to cancer and have contaminated drinking water throughout the state. The measure, put forward by state Sen. Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica), requires municipal fire departments, chemical plants and oil refineries to gradually stop using the foam, replacing it with alternatives that don’t contain perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, a class of chemicals commonly known as PFAS.

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CA Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot on the Governor’s Water Resilience Portfolio

/in , , /by /The Planning Reportby Wade Crowfoot

Water is central to nearly everything we value in California. Healthy communities, economies, farms, ecosystems and cultural traditions depend on steady supplies of safe water. Those values are increasingly at risk as California confronts more extreme droughts and floods, rising temperatures, overdrafted groundwater basins, aging infrastructure and other challenges magnified by climate change.

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Looking to Reopen, Colleges Become Labs for Coronavirus Tests and Tracking Apps

/in , , /by /The New York Timesby Matt Richtel

Thousands of students returning to the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York this month are being asked to wear masks in public, register their health status online each day and electronically log classroom visits for contact tracing if a coronavirus outbreak occurs. But the most novel effort at the school to measure and limit virus spread will require little effort and come quite naturally.

Students need only use the bathroom.

At more than 15 dormitories and on-campus apartment buildings, sewage is being tested twice weekly for genetic evidence of virus shed in feces. This provides a kind of early-warning system of an outbreak, limiting the need to test every student for Covid-19. If the disease is found in sewage, individual tests can be administered to identify the source.

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Nearly 35 Million Households Will Lose Their Utility Shutoff Protections Over the Next Month

/in , , /by /CNBCby Megan Leonhardt

Throughout the coronavirus pandemic, millions of Americans have relied on emergency orders put in place by state and local governments that bar utility companies from shutting off services such as gas, electricity and water. However, many of these orders will expire by the end of September, leaving 34.5 million households without shutoff protections, according to a new report from energy efficiency startup Carbon Switch.

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California Bill Would Require Reports on Solid Chlorpyrifos Use

/in , , /by /Bloomberg Lawby Emily C. Dooley

State regulators would have to tell the California legislature about a limited use of chlorpyrifos, a powerful insecticide linked to brain damage in children, under a bill heading to the governor. The measure, SB 86, was approved by the Assembly and Senate Sunday. It would require the state Department of Pesticide Regulation to detail the granular, or non-liquid, use of chlorpyrifos, which accounts for roughly 1% of its total use. The state banned all uses of chlorpyrifos as of 2021 over health concerns.

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