California Environmental Law and Policy Update – October 2021 # 4 | Allen Matkins
To concentrate
Associated Press – October 18
Michael Regan, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announced Monday that the agency is launching a broad strategy to regulate a group of sustainable chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. (PFAS), which are increasingly becoming in public drinking water systems, private wells and elsewhere. The chemicals, used in products ranging from kitchen utensils to carpets and fire-fighting foams, have been linked to serious health problems. As part of the new strategy, the EPA will set aggressive drinking water limits for PFAS under the Safe Drinking Water Act and require manufacturers of PFAS to report the toxicity of their products. The agency will also designate PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund Act, thereby expanding the power of the EPA to compel PFAS clean-up and establishing a basis for private claims for the costs of clean-up. PFAS.
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The San Diego Union-Tribune – October 21
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration on Thursday announced a proposal to ban new oil and gas wells within 3,200 feet of sites such as schools and residences. If adopted, the buffer zone between new boreholes and these sensitive community sites would be the largest in the country. Wells already operating in this area would have to comply with new pollution controls, including leak detection and response plans that would require operators to detect chemicals such as methane or hydrogen sulfide with a system. alarm. The proposed regulation, brought forward by the California Geologic Energy Management Division, the state’s petroleum regulator, is still in the draft stage. A final rule will only come into effect until at least 2023.
US News & World Report – October 18
The California Third District Court of Appeals ruled last Friday that a pest prevention and management program run by the California Department of Food and Agriculture, challenged by the city of Berkeley and some environmental groups , in part violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) with respect to its approach to pesticide spraying. The court found that adopting the program violated CEQA because the program does not require site-specific environmental reviews and omits a requirement to notify the public before spraying operations. The decision also concluded that the program does not adequately require consideration of potential contamination of water bodies or mitigation of damage to bees, and that it underestimates the extent of current use of pesticides.
The Orange County Register – October 20
Still reeling from the recent oil spill that polluted local waters and blanketed wildlife, Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach city councils each passed resolutions on Tuesday calling for limits on offshore drilling. The Huntington Beach statement calls for “a permanent ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling and similar exploration activities off our coasts,” while the Laguna Beach statement goes even further, bolstering its 2017 resolution with a new demand to end all drilling, current and future. . The resolutions are largely symbolic, as cities in California do not control the use of state or federal waters.
Ventura County Star – October 17
A new peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of environmental radioactivity found that radioactive contamination released in the Woolsey fire in 2018 had migrated from the Santa Susanna field lab site to Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks and other nearby communities. The study contradicts a report by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control which concluded that the devastating fire, which erupted at the field lab site, did not cause the release of contaminants in nearby areas. The 2,850-acre site outside the Simi Valley served as a premier research center for the United States during the Cold War and experienced partial nuclear meltdown in 1959.
Los Angeles Times – October 19
Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide drought emergency on Tuesday. While most of California’s 58 counties have been in a state of drought emergency since July, Newsom’s proclamation caused the last eight remaining counties to declare drought and reinforced its call for all to voluntarily reduce water use. by 15%. The proclamation notes that the state’s Water Resources Control Board may pass emergency regulations to prohibit wasting water.
