The House yesterday cleared a sweeping public lands package to be signed into law — a historic achievement that could have long-standing political repercussions in both parties and chambers.
The House’s 310-107 passage of the “Great American Outdoors Act” came nearly a month after the Senate advanced its version, 73-25.
The White House’s Council on Environmental Quality today published its final rule to update the National Environmental Policy Act. The effective date is Sep. 14; however, it is subject to congressional review, which could delay or even prevent its implementation.
A California environmental advocacy group urged the state’s air pollution regulator and agriculture department to do more for minority communities in an annual report card it published last week.
That report card, compiled by the California Environmental Justice Alliance, issued environmental justice grades to eight agencies, with a statewide C average.
The Democratic-led House Appropriations Committee on Monday proposed a funding bump for the Interior Department and Environmental Protection Agency, soundly rejecting cuts proposed by President Trump.
The U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure has approved H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act. The legislative package would provide $1.5 trillion for the nation’s infrastructure needs. Included in the bill is funding for Central Valley water needs and Friant-Kern Canal repairs.
The package is expected to be passed by the U.S. House of Representatives next week. The package would then need to be passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Trump.
The Trump administration has decided a chemical with a notorious legacy in Nevada will not be regulated in drinking water, but state officials say the reversal of the Obama-era policy shouldn’t result in any decline in drinking water standards across the state.
Opponents of the Trump administration’s new definition of which waterways and wetlands are protected under the Clean Water Act have lined up in court to make their grievances known.
Don’t expect clarity on the rules anytime soon.
The Trump administration’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule is already on hold in one state — Colorado — and could still be frozen by any one of the various federal judges who are now examining the regulation. Unlike lawsuits over Clean Air Act rules, which land in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Clean Water Act challenges can be heard in any of the nation’s nearly 100 federal district courts.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday calling on federal agencies to use emergency powers to “accelerate” infrastructure projects on federal lands as a response to the coronavirus pandemic.
A coalition of conservative-leaning states went to court Monday to defend the Trump administration’s water jurisdiction rule.
In January, President Trump signed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) into law, replacing the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The new trade pact is set to go into full effect July 1. Thanks to House Democrats from Southern California, the legislative act governing its implementation in the United States will provide $300 million for infrastructure to stop the chronic flow of sewage across the international border from Tijuana, Mexico — an ecological peril highlighted on a recent episode of “60 Minutes.”
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
