A coalition of conservation and environmental justice groups today filed legal papers in the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging an extension of a federal air-pollution permit for the Avenal Power Plant, a proposed 600-megawatt facility that would emit hundreds of tons of air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley.
In 2011 the Environmental Protection Agency issued a permit for the project that illegally waived the need for the project to comply with several key air-pollution standards. Since then, however, Avenal has chosen not to begin construction of the project even though, by law, the permit expired after 18 months. In its latest move, executed without any public participation, the EPA has now also waived the 18-month construction deadline, compounding the project’s failure to demonstrate that it will install state-of-the-art greenhouse gas controls and that it will not cause or contribute to the Valley’s ongoing air-pollution problems.
The Avenal natural-gas fired power plant is to be located in one of the most polluted and economically disadvantaged areas of the San Joaquin Valley, a region with some of the nation’s highest levels of ozone and particulate matter pollution. The plant would be sited within a few miles of the communities of Avenal, Huron and Kettleman City — areas with predominantly low-income, minority populations already experiencing disproportionate health impacts from the numerous polluting facilities in the region. The plant would generate annually 144.3 tons of nitrogen oxides, 80.7 tons of fine particulate matter and 1.71 million metric tons of carbon dioxide…
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A bill designed to wrest control of millions in safe drinking water funds from the California Department of Public Health stalled in the State Senate last week.
The proposal, sponsored by Assemblyman Henry T. Perea (D-Fresno) would have transferred the oversight of $400 million from the Department of Public Health to the Department of Water Resources. The bill, supporters say, would finally get the money in the hands of local water districts more than 16 years after the establishment of the Safe Drinking Water Revolving Fund.
The move was greeted with dismay by local clean water advocates like Visalia’s Community Water Center, who say it would’ve streamlined the process to repair equipment and drill new wells in some of the county’s poorest communities…
A coalition of conservation and environmental justice groups today filed legal papers in the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals challenging an extension of a federal air-pollution permit for the Avenal Power Plant, a proposed 600-megawatt facility that would emit hundreds of tons of air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley.
In 2011 the Environmental Protection Agency issued a permit for the project that illegally waived the need for the project to comply with several key air-pollution standards. Since then, however, Avenal has chosen not to begin construction of the project even though, by law, the permit expired after 18 months. In its latest move, executed without any public participation, the EPA has now also waived the 18-month construction deadline, compounding the project’s failure to demonstrate that it will install state-of-the-art greenhouse gas controls and that it will not cause or contribute to the Valley’s ongoing air-pollution problems…
With dry conditions igniting fires statewide and reservoirs dropping ever lower, state lawmakers should be thinking about water. The good thing – they are. They are thinking about a 2014 water bond.
Both chambers have produced legislation to rescind and scale back the bloated $11.14 billion water bond that, if left unchanged, would head to the ballot in 2014 and face certain defeat. The total amounts would be $5.6 billlion in the Senate version vs. $6.5 billion in the Assembly bill. Both would invest in clean drinking water, an issue that has risen in priority – particularly in the San Joaquin Valley – since the Legislature originally approved a bond proposal. Both have pots of money for water storage and watershed projection…
Hydrogen Energy California (HECA) wants to build a huge new polluting facility in Kern County between Tupman and Buttonwillow. The plant would use coal and petcoke to produce hydrogen for generating electricity or manufacturing fertilizer. HECA claims it will produce clean energy because CO2 will be captured and sent to the nearby Elk Hills where Occidental Petroleum will use it for oil recovery…
A recent change in state rules has allowed some of the county’s poorest water districts to get emergency help while officials work to unravel years of red tape.
Dozens of small water systems throughout the county are plagued with groundwater that exceeds federal standards for nitrates, arsenic or bacteria. Many of the districts also rely on aging infrastructure that regularly sends mud or sand straight to homeowners’ taps — or doesn’t manage to deliver any water at all.
And while new emergency measures may seem like a band-aid — proposed bottled water vending machines here, new wells drilled there — officials say they’re a valued first step toward getting drinkable water to parched communities…
The bill to replace the California Department of Public Health as guardian for the state’s drinking water quietly slipped away last week. Assembly Bill 145 died in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Drinking-water advocates and many people living in small San Joaquin Valley towns are disappointed over the failure of the bill. Many thought it would speed up public funding for small towns in the Valley that must wait years for a balky funding system.
AB 145, introduced by Henry T. Perea, D-Fresno, would have moved the Drinking Water Program responsibilities to the State Water Resources Control Board, an enforcement agency that already deals with dirty water.
The Department of Public Health will continue to run the program. The agency is known among Valley activists, engineers and local officials as a foot-dragging bureaucracy…
California has embarked upon a new era of land use planning that looks to the smart growth principles of compact and transit oriented development to achieve economic and environmental sustainability while furthering public health and social equity. With the passage of the Sustainable Communities Strategy and Climate Protection Act in 2009 (SB 375) and local public finance proposals, such as SB 1 (Steinberg) that would create sustainable communities investment authorities, local governments are being encouraged
and incentivized to plan and invest within this framework of smart growth. Yet, many of these policies and efforts neglect and exclude some of California’s most disadvantaged areas: rural, and in particular, unincorporated “legacy” communities…
Water rate affordability is a central element to water access. Cost makes water excludable and inaccessible to those who cannot afford it. Water affordability is also a major concern to public welfare, safety, and security. When households are unable to make their water payments, consequences can include public health crises, social unrest, and lost revenue for water providers that can threaten their fiscal stability…
Yellow shirts were proudly worn at the Capitol West steps on Wednesday, August 28, 2013. This rally served as the culmination of a two day long conference in Sacramento hosted by California Environmental Justice Alliance and many other partner groups. This rally featured legislative speakers as well as community leader speakers and established the presence of an environmental justice movement that is resonating across the whole state. From communities like San Diego, Richmond, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Coachella, Riverside, Fresno, Wilmington, Kettleman, Oakland, Bakersfield, Delano, and many others, the participants stood together to demand environmental justice from the California legislature…