On April 25, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved a two-and-a-half year enforcement delay to the state’s Truck and Bus Regulation for small trucking companies who are struggling to obtain loans and grants to make required improvements on time.
CARB's action will give small fleets, lightly used trucks and those operating in rural areas more time to upgrade to newer, cleaner models or install filters to remove soot from their exhaust. The extended phase-in deadlines for small fleet mean that truck owners with three or fewer trucks now have an extra year to bring their second truck into compliance and an extra two years for their third truck, as CARB extended the phase-in deadlines for second and third trucks from January 1, 2015 and 2016, to January 1, 2016 and 2018, respectively.
The vote marks the second time CARB has relaxed
its diesel truck regulations since 2010, when it made changes to offer
the industry relief after the recession. The extensions, approved by a 10-1 vote, came after pleas from small trucking firms and owner-operators who became subject to new pollution-cutting requirements for the first time this year. The amendments were adopted over fierce objections from another segment of the industry: truck owners who have already made the costly upgrades.
Multiple speakers at Thursday’s public hearing slammed CARB for sparking a civil war between large carriers and owner-operators that counted as small fleets under CARB’s definition. The large carriers said they didn’t like being put in a position to argue against mom and pop trucking operations – many of whom they hire.
Among those urging regulators to hold to the deadlines were environmental groups and students from Oakland who live near freeways with heavy truck traffic and cope with respiratory illnesses. "We understand that cleaning up trucks is expensive, but somebody has to pay," said Pamela Tapia, a community college student from Oakland with asthma. "Right now we're paying with our health and that's not right."
Final versions of the amendments will be produced within the next few months and will have a 15-day public comment period, after which CARB will put them into effect.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Friday, April 25, 2014
Levee Breach in San Pablo Bay
A landmark moment in the effort to restore Bay Area marshland habitat
Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 2014
A cheer went up as salt water from San Pablo Bay poured through a breached levee Friday and flooded old, abandoned Hamilton Army Airfield in Novato.
The flooding of the runway at the former Air Force base, which was closed starting in 1973, is part of a regional effort to restore 100,000 acres of former wetlands around San Francisco Bay. The Hamilton area was diked off around the turn of the 19th century, cutting off a primary landing spot for thousands of migrating waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway. It had remained dry until Friday when a backhoe dug out the remaining mud barrier.
Creating the new tidal marsh, which cost $107 million over 10 years, involved importing 5.6 million cubic yards of dredged mud to raise the land to its natural height, three quarters of which came from dredging at the Port of Oakland, and growing and planting tens of thousands of native plants. The project was designed create different habitats, including tidal marshland, brackish and fresh water wetlands. The restored area, which includes a 3-mile section of the Bay Trail, will provide crucial habitat for endangered and threatened species, including Steelhead trout, salmon, California clapper rail, black rail, brown pelican, and salt marsh harvest mouse.
"This was designed with sea level rise, climate change and ecological resiliency in mind," said Congressman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. "This is also a model project for re-use of our resources."
Read the complete article here.
Peter Fimrite, San Francisco Chronicle, April 25, 2014
A cheer went up as salt water from San Pablo Bay poured through a breached levee Friday and flooded old, abandoned Hamilton Army Airfield in Novato.
The flooding of the runway at the former Air Force base, which was closed starting in 1973, is part of a regional effort to restore 100,000 acres of former wetlands around San Francisco Bay. The Hamilton area was diked off around the turn of the 19th century, cutting off a primary landing spot for thousands of migrating waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway. It had remained dry until Friday when a backhoe dug out the remaining mud barrier.
Creating the new tidal marsh, which cost $107 million over 10 years, involved importing 5.6 million cubic yards of dredged mud to raise the land to its natural height, three quarters of which came from dredging at the Port of Oakland, and growing and planting tens of thousands of native plants. The project was designed create different habitats, including tidal marshland, brackish and fresh water wetlands. The restored area, which includes a 3-mile section of the Bay Trail, will provide crucial habitat for endangered and threatened species, including Steelhead trout, salmon, California clapper rail, black rail, brown pelican, and salt marsh harvest mouse.
"This was designed with sea level rise, climate change and ecological resiliency in mind," said Congressman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael. "This is also a model project for re-use of our resources."
Read the complete article here.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Cal/EPA Issues Environmental Hazard Scores for 8,000 Census Tracts
New map could refocus state's pollution battles
Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2014
The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) has released a statewide assessment of census tracts most burdened by pollution, providing a powerful tool to pressure regulators to clean up neighborhoods with long-standing health risks.
The environmental health assessment, published in draft form this week, was a major update to an initiative that includes an interactive online map and is being refined over time by Cal/EPA. The state's first such report last year assessed the state by ZIP Code and yielded broadly similar results, showing that Latinos and African Americans make up a disproportionately high percentage of the population in areas most affected by pollution. But the previous list was criticized by environmental justice groups and researchers who complained that ZIP Codes were too large and arbitrary to reveal much.
The screening and ranking tool, called CalEnviroScreen, was developed to pinpoint the communities with the highest exposure and vulnerability to multiple environmental hazards, including polluted air and water, waste facilities and contaminated soil. The rankings are not based only on measures of environmental exposure: they also take into account socioeconomic characteristics and health data on residents to assess the overall vulnerability of communities. Those factors include poverty, education, unemployment, rates of asthma and low-birth-weight infants. In total, 19 criteria are considered.
State Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) wrote a 2012 law that requires the state to spend 25% of the auction proceeds from California's GHG-cutting cap-and-trade program to benefit disadvantaged communities that face disproportionate effects from pollution and climate change. Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget for 2014-15 would set aside $225 million of $850 million in proceeds. Budget documents say projects could include energy-efficiency upgrades for homes in low-income areas, improvements to bus and rail systems, urban forestry projects and programs to fund cleaner trucks and equipment near ports, rail yards and distribution centers.
Read the complete article here.
Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2014
The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) has released a statewide assessment of census tracts most burdened by pollution, providing a powerful tool to pressure regulators to clean up neighborhoods with long-standing health risks.
The environmental health assessment, published in draft form this week, was a major update to an initiative that includes an interactive online map and is being refined over time by Cal/EPA. The state's first such report last year assessed the state by ZIP Code and yielded broadly similar results, showing that Latinos and African Americans make up a disproportionately high percentage of the population in areas most affected by pollution. But the previous list was criticized by environmental justice groups and researchers who complained that ZIP Codes were too large and arbitrary to reveal much.
The screening and ranking tool, called CalEnviroScreen, was developed to pinpoint the communities with the highest exposure and vulnerability to multiple environmental hazards, including polluted air and water, waste facilities and contaminated soil. The rankings are not based only on measures of environmental exposure: they also take into account socioeconomic characteristics and health data on residents to assess the overall vulnerability of communities. Those factors include poverty, education, unemployment, rates of asthma and low-birth-weight infants. In total, 19 criteria are considered.
State Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) wrote a 2012 law that requires the state to spend 25% of the auction proceeds from California's GHG-cutting cap-and-trade program to benefit disadvantaged communities that face disproportionate effects from pollution and climate change. Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget for 2014-15 would set aside $225 million of $850 million in proceeds. Budget documents say projects could include energy-efficiency upgrades for homes in low-income areas, improvements to bus and rail systems, urban forestry projects and programs to fund cleaner trucks and equipment near ports, rail yards and distribution centers.
Read the complete article here.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
An Allegory about NIMBYism
Remove contaminated soil.
Restore the aquifer to drinking water quality.
Replace air strippers that vent to the atmosphere with carbon filters.
Redevelop properties to bring in new tenants and raise property values.
What do these objectives have in common?
Throughout the history of a particular Silicon Valley Superfund site, these goals have been supported by the community, responsible parties, and regulators. And at face value, they each appear to be protective of human health and the environment and benefit the neighboring community.
Only more recently has the concept of sustainable remediation been used to look at cleanup programs from a holistic viewpoint, and examine the collateral damage that some remedial decisions can cause, even those that appear to be protective.
In the 2008 Optimization Evaluation reports prepared by Northgate, Geosyntec, Weiss, and Schlumberger, we found that annual carbon (CO2) emissions related to the operation of five treatment systems at the Silicon Valley Superfund site ranged from 42 to 281 metric tons. For comparison, the EPA estimates that the annual CO2 emissions from a typical passenger vehicle are approximately 5 metric tons.
In a 2010 economic analysis of 25 San Francisco Bay Area Superfund sites, Northgate staff, Maile Smith and Scott McLaughlin found that although concentrations of groundwater pollutants had been greatly reduced, contaminant removal rates were insufficient to reach cleanup goals. Furthermore, we found that the benefits of groundwater cleanup were reduced by the cross-media (e.g., water to air) pollution impacts of the remediation programs. The study indicated that the collective pollution reduction achieved by the cleanup programs at these sites is less than the pollution generated by the production of goods and services required to operate and maintain the cleanup programs themselves.
And this week the Center for Investigative Reporting published an article on the journey of the groundwater pollutants from that particular Silicon Valley Superfund site, illustrating the pathway that pollution takes after it is pumped from the ground and filtered through those carbon vessels.
“There’s really no such thing as throwing something away,” said Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Rusty Harris-Bishop. “You’re always throwing it somewhere.”
It's an interesting tale, and certainly highlights the potential collateral damage that can occur when we collectively decide, "not in my backyard."
Read the complete article here: http://cironline.org/reports/cleanup-silicon-valley-superfund-site-takes-environmental-toll-6149
Restore the aquifer to drinking water quality.
Replace air strippers that vent to the atmosphere with carbon filters.
Redevelop properties to bring in new tenants and raise property values.
What do these objectives have in common?
Throughout the history of a particular Silicon Valley Superfund site, these goals have been supported by the community, responsible parties, and regulators. And at face value, they each appear to be protective of human health and the environment and benefit the neighboring community.
Only more recently has the concept of sustainable remediation been used to look at cleanup programs from a holistic viewpoint, and examine the collateral damage that some remedial decisions can cause, even those that appear to be protective.
In the 2008 Optimization Evaluation reports prepared by Northgate, Geosyntec, Weiss, and Schlumberger, we found that annual carbon (CO2) emissions related to the operation of five treatment systems at the Silicon Valley Superfund site ranged from 42 to 281 metric tons. For comparison, the EPA estimates that the annual CO2 emissions from a typical passenger vehicle are approximately 5 metric tons.
In a 2010 economic analysis of 25 San Francisco Bay Area Superfund sites, Northgate staff, Maile Smith and Scott McLaughlin found that although concentrations of groundwater pollutants had been greatly reduced, contaminant removal rates were insufficient to reach cleanup goals. Furthermore, we found that the benefits of groundwater cleanup were reduced by the cross-media (e.g., water to air) pollution impacts of the remediation programs. The study indicated that the collective pollution reduction achieved by the cleanup programs at these sites is less than the pollution generated by the production of goods and services required to operate and maintain the cleanup programs themselves.
And this week the Center for Investigative Reporting published an article on the journey of the groundwater pollutants from that particular Silicon Valley Superfund site, illustrating the pathway that pollution takes after it is pumped from the ground and filtered through those carbon vessels.
“There’s really no such thing as throwing something away,” said Environmental Protection Agency spokesman Rusty Harris-Bishop. “You’re always throwing it somewhere.”
It's an interesting tale, and certainly highlights the potential collateral damage that can occur when we collectively decide, "not in my backyard."
Read the complete article here: http://cironline.org/reports/cleanup-silicon-valley-superfund-site-takes-environmental-toll-6149
Friday, March 7, 2014
It's Been a Dirty Winter
Kurtis Alexander, SFGate Blog, March 6, 2014
This year’s dry winter is making history not only for a lack of rainfall but for a lung-blasting surge in air pollution.
With few storms to clear out the stagnant wintertime skies, dirty air has built up more often than usual, prompting air-quality regulators in the Bay Air to issue a record-tying number of advisories, known as Spare the Air alerts.
On 30 occasions between November and February the Bay Area Air Quality Management District advised that pollutants such as particulate matter in smoke and haze were approaching or would hit unhealthy levels. The number of Spare the Air alerts this winter was the highest since the 2006-07 season.
The story was similar in other parts of the state. While not a record, the notoriously polluted San Joaquin Valley recorded 66 days of air quality approaching substandard levels, up from 52 the prior winter.
Read the complete post here.
This year’s dry winter is making history not only for a lack of rainfall but for a lung-blasting surge in air pollution.
With few storms to clear out the stagnant wintertime skies, dirty air has built up more often than usual, prompting air-quality regulators in the Bay Air to issue a record-tying number of advisories, known as Spare the Air alerts.
On 30 occasions between November and February the Bay Area Air Quality Management District advised that pollutants such as particulate matter in smoke and haze were approaching or would hit unhealthy levels. The number of Spare the Air alerts this winter was the highest since the 2006-07 season.
The story was similar in other parts of the state. While not a record, the notoriously polluted San Joaquin Valley recorded 66 days of air quality approaching substandard levels, up from 52 the prior winter.
Read the complete post here.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Trees Capture Particulate Matter From Road Exhaust
Naomi Lubick, Chemical and Engineering News, November 22, 2013
Trees planted along a city street screen residents from sun and noise—and from tiny particles that pollute urban air. A new study shows that tree leaves can capture more than 50% of the particulate matter that’s a prime component of urban pollution and a trigger for disease (Environmental Science and Technology).
In urban settings, particulates come primarily from car exhaust, brake pad wear, and road dust and can contain metals, such as iron and lead. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies particulates in three size ranges: less than 1 μm (PM1), up to 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and up to 10 μm (PM10) in diameter. These particles are tiny enough for people to inhale and can exacerbate heart disease, asthma, and other health conditions.
By examining silver birch leaves with a scanning electron microscope, researchers confirmed that the hairy surfaces of the leaves trapped metallic particles. Like the particles measured inside homes, these metallic particles are most likely the product of combustion and brake wear from vehicles passing by. Previous work has indicated a strong correlation between the amount of material identified by magnetic remanence and benzo(a)pyrene, a carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon found in particulates.
Read more here.
Trees planted along a city street screen residents from sun and noise—and from tiny particles that pollute urban air. A new study shows that tree leaves can capture more than 50% of the particulate matter that’s a prime component of urban pollution and a trigger for disease (Environmental Science and Technology).
In urban settings, particulates come primarily from car exhaust, brake pad wear, and road dust and can contain metals, such as iron and lead. The Environmental Protection Agency classifies particulates in three size ranges: less than 1 μm (PM1), up to 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and up to 10 μm (PM10) in diameter. These particles are tiny enough for people to inhale and can exacerbate heart disease, asthma, and other health conditions.
By examining silver birch leaves with a scanning electron microscope, researchers confirmed that the hairy surfaces of the leaves trapped metallic particles. Like the particles measured inside homes, these metallic particles are most likely the product of combustion and brake wear from vehicles passing by. Previous work has indicated a strong correlation between the amount of material identified by magnetic remanence and benzo(a)pyrene, a carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon found in particulates.
Read more here.
Monday, October 21, 2013
The Air is Giving Us Cancer
Air Pollution Is a Leading Cause of Cancer
Kate Kelland and Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters, October 17, 2013
The specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), announced that it has classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans. Particulate matter, a major component of outdoor air pollution, was evaluated separately and was also classified as carcinogenic to humans.
The IARC cited data indicating that in 2010, 223,000 deaths from lung cancer worldwide resulted from air pollution, and said there was also convincing evidence it increases the risk of bladder cancer.
Depending on the level of exposure in different parts of the world, the risk was found to be similar to that of breathing in second-hand tobacco smoke, said Kurt Straif, head of the agency's section that ranks carcinogens.
Air pollution, mostly caused by transport, power generation, industrial or agricultural emissions and residential heating and cooking, is already known to raise risks for a wide range of illnesses including respiratory and heart diseases. Research suggests that exposure levels have risen significantly in some parts of the world, particularly countries with large populations going through rapid industrialization, such as China. Although the composition and levels of air pollution can both vary dramatically from one location to the next, IARC said its conclusions applied to all regions of the world.
"Our conclusion is that this is a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths," Dr. Christopher Wild, director of IARC, told reporters in Geneva.
Read the press release here.
Kate Kelland and Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters, October 17, 2013
The specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), announced that it has classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans. Particulate matter, a major component of outdoor air pollution, was evaluated separately and was also classified as carcinogenic to humans.
The IARC cited data indicating that in 2010, 223,000 deaths from lung cancer worldwide resulted from air pollution, and said there was also convincing evidence it increases the risk of bladder cancer.
Depending on the level of exposure in different parts of the world, the risk was found to be similar to that of breathing in second-hand tobacco smoke, said Kurt Straif, head of the agency's section that ranks carcinogens.
Air pollution, mostly caused by transport, power generation, industrial or agricultural emissions and residential heating and cooking, is already known to raise risks for a wide range of illnesses including respiratory and heart diseases. Research suggests that exposure levels have risen significantly in some parts of the world, particularly countries with large populations going through rapid industrialization, such as China. Although the composition and levels of air pollution can both vary dramatically from one location to the next, IARC said its conclusions applied to all regions of the world.
"Our conclusion is that this is a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths," Dr. Christopher Wild, director of IARC, told reporters in Geneva.
Read the press release here.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Northgate Proud to Support TechWomen
The field of environmental engineering is nearly nonexistent in Sierra Leone. Michelle wants to change that. She is priming herself to become a leader in her country’s first generation of environmental engineers, and has a long-range objective of owning her own engineering company. Her plans for the future don’t stop there. She also wants to form a coaching and mentoring program that would provide girls with the encouragement they need to complete school and pursue rewarding technical careers. Inspired by these ambitious goals, she is learning as much as she can about environmental engineering while at Northgate, as well as the ins and outs of developing and operating a business.
As a women-owned company, Northgate is excited and proud to be part of a program that supports women engineers in a global context. Our seasoned staff finds it fulfilling to share its considerable reservoir of knowledge and experience with emerging young leaders eager to contribute to social change in their communities. The State Department asserts that programs such as TechWomen, which cultivate the participation of women in local and global economies, further the possibility of world peace.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Sustainability for the Nation: Resource Connection and Governance Linkages
As the government sector works hard to ensure sufficient fresh water, food, energy, housing, health, and education for the nation without limiting resources for the future generations, it's clear that there is no sufficient organization to deal with sustainability issues. Each federal agency appears to have a single mandate or a single area of expertise making it difficult to tackle issues such as managing the ecosystem. Key resource domains, which include water, land, energy, and nonrenewable resources, for example, are nearly-completely connected yet different agencies exist to address only one aspect of these domains.
In order for the nation to be successful in sustaining its resources, "linkages" will need to be built among federal, state, and local governments; nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and the private sector. The National Research Council (NRC) was asked by several federal agencies, foundations, and the private sector to provide guidance to the federal government on issues related to sustainability linkages. Sustainability for the Nation: Resource Connection and Governance Linkages is the committee's report on the issue. The report includes insight into high-priority areas for governance linkages, the challenges of managing connected systems, impediments to successful government linkages, and more.
Read or download the report here.
In order for the nation to be successful in sustaining its resources, "linkages" will need to be built among federal, state, and local governments; nongovernmental organizations (NGOs); and the private sector. The National Research Council (NRC) was asked by several federal agencies, foundations, and the private sector to provide guidance to the federal government on issues related to sustainability linkages. Sustainability for the Nation: Resource Connection and Governance Linkages is the committee's report on the issue. The report includes insight into high-priority areas for governance linkages, the challenges of managing connected systems, impediments to successful government linkages, and more.
Read or download the report here.
Friday, July 19, 2013
Sustainable Remediation Basics :: Online Education Opportunity
CL:AIRE introduces a new e-learning module titled "Sustainable Remediation Appraisal".
This online course delivers approximately four hours of learning with two assessments per module. On completion of the course and passing the assessments, a personalised PDF certificate will be issued for your continuing professional development.
This course presents an overview of sustainable remediation. In the first instance looking at the emergence of sustainable remediation as a topic and defining what it means. Secondly, by introducing the frameworks and guidance that have been developed and examining how these may be applied in practice. Finally, it looks at the range of tools and techniques that may be applied through the life-cycle of the process.
The course costs £50 + VAT and payment is possible via PayPal.
More details about the course content is available on the attached flyer, or you can visit CL:AIRE's website www.claire.co.uk/elearning.
This online course delivers approximately four hours of learning with two assessments per module. On completion of the course and passing the assessments, a personalised PDF certificate will be issued for your continuing professional development.
This course presents an overview of sustainable remediation. In the first instance looking at the emergence of sustainable remediation as a topic and defining what it means. Secondly, by introducing the frameworks and guidance that have been developed and examining how these may be applied in practice. Finally, it looks at the range of tools and techniques that may be applied through the life-cycle of the process.
The course costs £50 + VAT and payment is possible via PayPal.
More details about the course content is available on the attached flyer, or you can visit CL:AIRE's website www.claire.co.uk/elearning.
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