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.
Showing posts with label cal-epa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cal-epa. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Monday, May 2, 2011
Friday, May 7, 2010
Another Reason to Buy Organic Strawberries?
(besides that they typically taste better)
The State of California has proposed approving the strawberry fumigant methyl iodide. The state would require further, stringent regulations on the use of the soil fumigant, going beyond the federal rules that allow for its use in other states. But the stricter measures have done little to quell the fears of opponents.
Methyl iodide is a replacement for methyl bromide, a pesticide that is known to contribute to depletion of the ozone layer and is being phased out under the Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances. Methyl iodide is an effective pesticide and ozone-friendly, but it is a known mutagen, and it could cause cancer, nerve damage or fetal-development problems among workers and people living near fumigated fields.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the fumigant in October 2007, finding it safe for use. But a report by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) concluded in 2009 that the compound posed "significant health risks". The DPR commissioned an independent review, which stated amongst its findings that "adequate control of human exposure would be difficult, if not impossible". Nevertheless, the DPR decided on 30 April that further restrictions would make methyl iodide safe enough for use.
Read more here, in Nature News.
The State of California has proposed approving the strawberry fumigant methyl iodide. The state would require further, stringent regulations on the use of the soil fumigant, going beyond the federal rules that allow for its use in other states. But the stricter measures have done little to quell the fears of opponents.
Methyl iodide is a replacement for methyl bromide, a pesticide that is known to contribute to depletion of the ozone layer and is being phased out under the Montreal Protocol on ozone-depleting substances. Methyl iodide is an effective pesticide and ozone-friendly, but it is a known mutagen, and it could cause cancer, nerve damage or fetal-development problems among workers and people living near fumigated fields.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the fumigant in October 2007, finding it safe for use. But a report by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) concluded in 2009 that the compound posed "significant health risks". The DPR commissioned an independent review, which stated amongst its findings that "adequate control of human exposure would be difficult, if not impossible". Nevertheless, the DPR decided on 30 April that further restrictions would make methyl iodide safe enough for use.
Read more here, in Nature News.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
ARB’s Updated AB32 Scoping Plan Economic Analysis
A revised version of the EAAC Economic Impacts Subcommittee Report on ARB’s Updated AB32 Scoping Plan Economic Analysis is now available.
A public meeting to update the Board on AB32 Economic Analyses will be held on April 21, 2010 as a continuation of the March Board Meeting Agenda Item 10-3-6.
Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Time: 1:00-5:30 pm
Location:
Sierra Hearing Room, 2nd Floor, CalEPA Building
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
ARB staff, experts and stakeholders will discuss several economic analyses relating to AB32. This Board agenda item will include an overview of recent economic studies of the implementation of the AB32 Scoping Plan and an opportunity for public comment. The agenda for the Board meeting can be found here.
Click here for further information on the EAAC.
Click here for additional information on ARB’s Updated AB32 Scoping Plan Economic Analysis.
A public meeting to update the Board on AB32 Economic Analyses will be held on April 21, 2010 as a continuation of the March Board Meeting Agenda Item 10-3-6.
Date: Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Time: 1:00-5:30 pm
Location:
Sierra Hearing Room, 2nd Floor, CalEPA Building
1001 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
ARB staff, experts and stakeholders will discuss several economic analyses relating to AB32. This Board agenda item will include an overview of recent economic studies of the implementation of the AB32 Scoping Plan and an opportunity for public comment. The agenda for the Board meeting can be found here.
Click here for further information on the EAAC.
Click here for additional information on ARB’s Updated AB32 Scoping Plan Economic Analysis.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Cities and Counties: Clean Up Your Creeks...Or Else
Water board moves to clean up Bay, waterways
Jane Kay, SF Chronicle, February 12, 2009
The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board voted Wednesday to designate most of San Francisco Bay's shoreline and two dozen tributaries as "impaired" under the federal Clean Water Act.
The vote is the first step in putting counties and cities on notice that the U.S. EPA could impose legal requirements and fines if they don't get rid of the trash, however, the listing could also bring resources to aid in the cleanup.
The list of sites recommended for cleanup - including Strawberry Creek in Berkeley, Guadalupe River in Santa Clara County, and the entire central and lower San Francisco Bay shorelines - will go to the State Water Resources Control Board and the EPA for concurrence. If approved, the EPA would require the region to start regulating trash as an urban pollutant or face heavy fines.
Read the complete story here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/12/BAKG15SAKG.DTL&type=green
Read the RWQCB Staff Report "Evaluation of Water Quality Conditions for the San Francisco Bay Region here: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/board_info/agendas/2009/february/6_Appendix_A.pdf
Jane Kay, SF Chronicle, February 12, 2009
The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board voted Wednesday to designate most of San Francisco Bay's shoreline and two dozen tributaries as "impaired" under the federal Clean Water Act.
The vote is the first step in putting counties and cities on notice that the U.S. EPA could impose legal requirements and fines if they don't get rid of the trash, however, the listing could also bring resources to aid in the cleanup.
The list of sites recommended for cleanup - including Strawberry Creek in Berkeley, Guadalupe River in Santa Clara County, and the entire central and lower San Francisco Bay shorelines - will go to the State Water Resources Control Board and the EPA for concurrence. If approved, the EPA would require the region to start regulating trash as an urban pollutant or face heavy fines.
Read the complete story here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/12/BAKG15SAKG.DTL&type=green
Read the RWQCB Staff Report "Evaluation of Water Quality Conditions for the San Francisco Bay Region here: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/board_info/agendas/2009/february/6_Appendix_A.pdf
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