[Source: Los Angeles Business Journal] MANUFACTURING: Call for increased facility supervision may yield speedier closures. Manufacturers and metal finishers are concerned about a planned crackdown on toxic emissions by the South Coast Air Quality Management District. The crackdown, announced at the April 7 meeting of the district’s governing board, was prompted by recent discoveries of Read More…
Newsroom
Aerojet Rocketdyne to cut 1,100 jobs in Sacramento, move some to L.A.
[Source: Los Angeles Times] Sacramento will lose 1,100 jobs over the next 18 months as rocket engine maker Aerojet Rocketdyne plans to relocate or cut positions in that facility and move jobs to Alabama, Canoga Park and other locations. The job changes are the next phase of a multiyear plan initiated in 2015 to reduce Read More…
CA Legislature passes Gov. Brown’s $52B plan to fix roads, hike gas taxes
[Source: KABC News/Associated Press] The California Legislature has approved Gov. Jerry Brown’s $52 billion plan to fix the state’s roads through an increase in gas taxes and other vehicle fees. The measure squeezed by in a late-night vote Thursday by the Assembly, hitting the two-thirds threshold without a single vote to spare. The governor’s 10-year Read More…
CalChamber-supported Prop. 65 litigation reform passes policy committee
[Source: California Chamber of Commerce] A California Chamber of Commerce-supported bill — AB 1583 (Chau; D-Monterey Park) — improves transparency and reduces litigation costs in Proposition 65 cases against California businesses passed an Assembly policy committee yesterday. Proposition 65 was designed to protect California’s drinking water from chemicals known to cause cancer or birth defects, Read More…
U.S. bill restricts use of science in environmental policymaking
[Source: New Scientist] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is facing a future in which its hands will be tied on making many policies if a new bill becomes law. Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill, the HONEST Act, that would prevent the EPA from basing any of its regulations on Read More…
California air regulators vote to keep tough fuel standards
[Source: Associated Press] California air regulators voted Friday to keep the state’s tough vehicle emissions standards through 2025. The state Air Resources Board voted unanimously at a meeting in Riverside to continue with the standards for 2022 to 2025 after reaching a conclusion similar to one by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Obama Read More…
California adopts strictest methane rule in the nation
[Source: The San Diego Union Tribune] As expected, California officials on Thursday night passed what is considered the nation’s strictest rule aimed at curbing emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) approved the measure on a unanimous vote at a meeting in Riverside. “The Trump administration has backed away Read More…
Cancer is mostly random, study confirms
[Source: NBC News] Random mutations are the single biggest factor in causing cancer, researchers reaffirmed Thursday. About two-thirds of the genetic mutations that lead to cancer happen simply because of random errors made as cells divide and not because of diet, chemicals or inherited genes, the team at Johns Hopkins University said. “We hope that Read More…
State air board OKs Southern California smog plan at Riverside meeting
[Source: The Press Enterprise] The California Air Resources Board voted to approve Southern California’s smog clean-up plan during their meeting in Riverside on Thursday, March 23. Board officials said that low- and zero-polluting trucks are essential if the plan is to succeed. The Environmental Protection Agency needs to work expeditiously to develop standards for much Read More…