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Environmentalists Plan Lawsuit Challenging Newsom Over Oil and Gas Drilling Permits

A national environmental organization on Monday threatened to sue Gov. Gavin Newsom to halt all new permits for gas and oil wells in the state, saying the governor has failed to protect Californians and the environment from hazards and pollutants released by the state’s billion-dollar petroleum industry.

Planning Commission Approves East Mission Road Battery Storage Project

The county’s Planning Commission approved a 40-megawatt battery energy storage facility in the 1400 block of East Mission Road.

The official 7-0 Planning Commission vote June 26 was to deny an appeal of the Feb. 5 Zoning Administrator approval and grant the Minor Use Permit for the AES Energy Storage project. The Feb. 5 decision of Zoning Administrator Eric Lardy also adopted an environmental Mitigated Negative Declaration, and the Planning Commission denial of the appeal upholds the MND.

State Water Resources Control Board Has Released The Proposed NPDES Suction Dredge Mining General Permit For Public Comments, Rural County Representatives Of California Reports

The State Water Resources Control Board has recently released the proposed NPDES Suction Dredge Mining General Permit for public comments.  A virtual public workshop was held on May 28, 2020 with a virtual Public Hearing originally scheduled for June 17th.  The public hearing has now been rescheduled to August 5th with comments due by August 24th.  No action will be taken at this public hearing.  The State Water Board will schedule a meeting subsequent to the public hearing to consider adoption of the General Permit.

California Greenlights Massive Klamath River Dam Removal

The largest dam removal project in U.S. history came one step closer to fruition this week, as California issued permits for breaching the four dams on the Klamath River.

California State Water Board Approves Key Permits for KRRC Dam Removal

The State Water Board on Tuesday, April 7 issued key documents that move the Klamath River Renewal Corporation (KRRC) significantly closer to removing four dams and re-opening 360 miles of the Klamath River and its tributaries to imperiled salmon, according to a news release.

Opinion: Welcome to Water Chaos, California

I’d wager most Californians have never heard the term, “Incidental Take Permit.” It sounds innocuous, right. In the most basic water-speak, it is a permit to lawfully operate infrastructure, as defined by Endangered Species Act.