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Visit the Full BlogWhere the Law and the Environment Connect. Tox of the Town is a blog written by attorneys in Greenberg Glusker’s Environmental Law Group. With years of legal, technical, and business know-how experience, we look forward to providing our readers with timely updates on environmental issues. Subscribe to our blog today to receive updates on changing environmental laws, regulatory and compliance issues, ongoing litigation, and more.
Even Your Parking Structure Violates Prop 65
The Prop 65 “Clear and Reasonable Warnings” updates that became effective in August 2018 contain lots of traps for the unwary, including one that you might not have noticed: tailored Prop 65 warnings are required at each of the public entrances to your enclosed parking facilities. To avail your regulated...
Guaranteeing California’s Renewable Energy Small Business Future
In late February, Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) (in collaboration with State Controller John Chiang) introduced California Senate Bill 1465. The legislation would seek to provide credit support for small renewable energy and agricultural businesses in the form of loan guarantees. By doing so, the bill hopes to “facilitate export expansion” and promote...
Life in the Green Lane – Carpool Privileges to be Given to Qualifying Cars
At the start of the year, California began offering green clean air vehicle decals to purchasers or lessees of cars meeting California’s Enhanced Advanced Partial Zero Emission Vehicle requirements. These decals enable a single driver to drive in the carpool lane. California is limiting the number of stickers to 40,000. The...
Heavy Duty Greening: Obama Administration Announces New Fuel Efficiency and Pollution Standards
On Tuesday, the Obama administration, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) announced new standards aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increasing fuel efficiency for buses, big rig trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles. This comes on the heels of last week’s similar announcement for cars and light-duty trucks. The program covers vehicles built...
We’ll All Be Driving Cleaner By 2025
President Obama announced today an agreement with thirteen major automakers to commence the next phase of the Administration’s program to increase fuel efficiency standards to 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by Model Year 2025. EPA and the Department of Transportation worked with auto manufacturers, the state of...
No Longer Running On Fumes: Air Board Approves $40 Million in Additional Funding for Clean Vehicles
As my colleague posted last month, California’s popular Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) was in jeopardy of running out of funds by this month. The program, funded by California’s Air Resources Board (ARB), provides vouchers or rebates on a first-come, first-served basis toward the purchase of zero-emission or plug-in hybrid cars, and zero-emission or...
Running on Empty: California’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program Funds May Be Tapped Out By July
In what the Air Resources Board (ARB) is calling “a wonderful problem to have,” the Clean Vehicle Rebate Project (CVRP) is projected to run out of funds by next month. I don’t think this comes has a huge shock to those of us that are Angelinos. After all, we are pretty accustomed to...
Update on Simitian’s Renewable Energy Bill: Governor Brown signs bill requiring 33% of utilities’ power come from renewable energy sources
In February, we reported that Sen. Joe Simitian’s (D-Palo Alto) bill, known as SBX1 2, passed the California State Senate. As expected, it was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown last month after having also passed the State Assembly on March 29th with a vote of 55-19. The law requires that 33% of...
To Solar or Not to Solar, That is the Question: Residential Solar Systems Increase Home Sales Prices in California According to New Study
So, maybe you’re thinking of having a photovoltaic (that’s solar for all you non-science types out there) energy system installed on the roof of your house. You consider yourself a pretty “green” person and you would like to take it to the next level. You start to look into how much...
Greener Power For California? New bill would increase utilities’ required percentage of power from renewable energy sources
On Thursday, the California State Senate passed SBX1 2, introduced by Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and a few others. This bill would require 33% of the power that California utilities provide to their customers come from solar, wind and other qualified renewable sources by the year 2020. Currently, California law (which...
Taking Drinking and Driving To a Whole New Level:
Four Loko and Other Alcoholic Energy Drinks To Be Recycled Into Ethanol What do you get when you mix an energy drink with enough caffeine to keep you awake for three days and a hefty amount of alcohol? Stumped? Then you clearly aren’t in college or underage. If you...
Plug In and Save: A Run-Down of the Soon-To-Be-Released Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt and Their Related Tax Breaks and Rebates
With the Los Angeles Auto Show in full swing and plenty of its focus geared towards environmentally friendly vehicles (including remarks on the subject by Governor Schwarzenegger), we here at GREENberg bLAWg thought it would be a good time for a quick overview of the new green cars coming soon to a...
As Solar Power Projects Soar How Can Energy Consumers Take Advantage?
In keeping with his commitment to create jobs by funding clean technology, President Obama announced last month that the Department of Energy was awarding nearly $2 billion in conditional commitments from the Recovery Act to two solar companies. One recipient of the funds, Abound Solar Manufacturing, is building two...
Kerry to Settle For Clean Energy Bill?
With the collapse of the Senate’s intention to consider even a scaled-down cap and trade bill before its August recess, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) has re-entered the fray. Kerry, along with Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT), earlier introduced the American Power Act, a major component of which was a multi-sector cap and trade requirement. When...
SKIPSO: New Online Resource for Cleantech Companies and Investors Alike
For companies, investors, executives and service providers looking to make their mark in the cleantech and sustainable energy arena, there is a new website, www.skipso.com which serves to connect fellow green-minded thinkers in the same way that LinkedIn has connected millions of users since its launch in 2003. The site not...
Government Sends Mixed Messages Regarding Cleantech Agenda
With the Gulf oil spill crisis growing by the day, the quest for alternative energy sources is front and center in policy debates and the news, but it is unclear whether the United States government is ready to fully embrace clean technology. President Barack Obama spent time addressing the...