Results tagged “epa”

Remember last year when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed taking away “traditional navigable waters" status for the Los Angeles river? That stirred some major controversy including a three-day kayak trip from the Valley to the ocean by a group of activists set out to prove the river's navigability. Heather Wiley, who works for the Army Corp and disagrees with their decision, was caught up in the mess.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that they are fining a container company nearly $50,000 for environmental violations. APM Terminals Pacific Limited-- one of the world’s largest container terminal companies--reportedly discharged industrial-activity storm water at its marine shipping container terminal facility, a violation of Clean Water Act and the California National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, according to the agency.

We're number one! But if you're gearing up to start cheering, don't hold your breath. In fact, you might want to reconsider breathing in at all. Why? Because according to the Environmental Protection Agency, we have the most toxic air in the country, reports cbs2.

You've probably seen this happen: it's raining, yet the sprinklers are working hard in a city park. Not such a smart idea in a drought, or anytime actually. This past week, new sprinkler regulations went into affect (.pdf info sheet), only allowing sprinkling use on Mondays and Thursdays and not between the times of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. For a few years now, there's been a more advanced sprinkler that knows the weather so if it's raining, it knows not to turn on. The Isla Earth podcast from the Catalina Island Conservancy explained in an older episode:

An estimated 5,400 deaths a year in Southern California are attributed to environmental factors and air pollution, but little alarm over that fact has been raised. Today, that changes.

At first California officials were pushing a proposal that would force ships to use cleaner fuels and emission-control measures when 230 miles from the coast. The shipping industry said such a law would have to be mandated federally, not by a state. Courts sided with the shipping industry. Now the Environmental Protection Agency is on board, reports the Press Telegram: "EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson believes the proposed rule could prevent the premature deaths of at least 8,000 U.S. and Canadian residents - primarily those in urban areas near busy ports. U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who battled the Bush administration for years on efforts to tighten environmental standards around the nation's seaports, called the proposal 'music to my ears.'" Even if the federal government approves it, the final ruling has to come from the International Maritime Organization. Random Fact: Did you know that our state's coast is basically a national monument? Meet the very unique California Coastal National Monument that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management under the Department of the Interior.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced today that Los Angeles is the US city with "the most Energy Star-certified buildings," according to the Daily News. We have 262 Engery Star buildings, which means they "use one-third less electricity than traditional buildings." The count is current as of the end of '08, and occupants of the buildings "saved $87.2 million over the course of the year and conserved enough energy to power 35,800 households." The list includes buildings all over the city, with many located on major thoroughfares like Wilshire and Santa Monica Boulevards. Is your building green, or a potential Energy Star? Use the tools offered by the EPA to find out what it takes.

Sewer work on a small section of Cesar E. Chavez Ave. between North Broadway and New High will resume today lasting up to two weeks (.pdf). Crews will reduce traffic lanes on North Broadway and Cesar E. Chavez Ave. to rehabilitate aging pipeline as part of a $2 billion settlement agreement with the EPA and Santa Monica Baykeeper. In 2001, the Environmental Protection Agency sued the city of Los Angeles over frequent sewage spills, which were reported to happen on average two times a day. Between 1994 and 2004--when the settlement was reached--it was estimated that Los Angeles had experienced more than 4,500 spills.

Today President Obama is asking the EPA to reverse a previous Bush-era move that "stopped California and more than a dozen other states from setting their own stricter limits on auto emissions," reports the LA Times.

It's day one for the new administration and it's straight to business for them and for California. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today sent this letter to President Barack Obama requesting that he direct the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to act promptly and favorably in reconsidering California’s request for a Clean Air Act waiver so we can reduce global warming pollution from passenger vehicles. California has sued the Bush administration over this to no avail.

Hey President Bush, you're not off the hook yet. Jerry Brown is back suing President Bush over green issues, this time over new rules pertaining to the Endangered Species Act. "The Bush Administration is seeking to gut the Endangered Species Act on its way out the door," Attorney General Brown said in a statement today. "This is an audacious attempt to circumvent a time-tested statute that for 35 years has required scientific review of proposed federal agency decisions that affect wildlife."

An aide to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa may have been appointed to President-Elect's Barack Obama's White House Council on Environmental Quality, but a top California official was not chosen to head the Environmental Protection Agency, despite speculations that she was a top choice.

In probably the most comprehensive study of its kind, a series from USA Today--The Smokestake Effect: Toxic Air and America’s Schools--pinpoints toxic hotspots near schools in over 34 states. Working with the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, they looked at over 127,000 public, private and parochial schools, ranking them by air quality.

Mary Nichols, chair for the California Air Resources Board, has been rumored to be a top contender to head up the Environmental Protection Agency for the Obama administration. In an interview with the Sacramento Bee, she said "I'm not talking about that. I've been asked not to talk about it." That made one Bee blogger to be suspicious: "asked not to talk about it? Hmm. Does that sounds like a 'yes' to you?"

After suing the Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year, California Attorney General Jerry Brown is at it once again over the agency's lack of regulation over greenhouse gas pollution from ships, aircraft, and construction and agricultural equipment.

">cannot tell cars, and now, ships to lower their emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency argues that "unlike smog and diesel fumes, climate change is a global problem, not a state one," says the LA Times in their leading California section article today. And the EPA is right, it is a global problem. But time is of the essence, so what's with the wait?

Photo by Here in Van Nuys via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr

Today, our great state filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency over the Bush administration's opinion that states cannot set emission standards.

The EPA denied California a waiver that it needs under the federal Clean Air Act to move forward with regulating greenhouse gas emissions from new cars and light trucks. At least 16 other states had been expected to follow California's lead and adopt the state's tougher emission limits. [CBS2/AP]