GREENberg bLAWg Posts
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.
No Second Guessing EPA: CERCLA Citizen Suit Cannot Interfere With Ongoing Cleanup
This week, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) does not give a federal district court jurisdiction to adjudicate claims for past noncompliance with an order issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The decision, Pakootas v. Teck Cominco Metals, Ltd., affirms that CERCLA’s citizen suit provision...
Update #2 on San Francisco CEQA/AB 32 Case: Final Judgment Sheds More Light on Ruling’s Impact
We have brought you blog posts about the San Francisco Superior Court case brought by environmental justice groups challenging the California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) environmental analysis of AB 32. As we reported in March, Judge Goldsmith’s final ruling stated that CARB violated CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act) by failing to...
Dear Jerry, Break Up With Cap-And-Trade: Sierra Club’s open letter to Governor Brown criticizes AB 32’s cap-and-trade regulation
Earlier this month, the director of the Sierra Club of California, Bill Magavern, wrote an open letter to Governor Jerry Brown asking that his administration “re-evaluate” the cap-and-trade regulation adopted by the California Air Resources Board (ARB) in December of last year. The cap-and-trade program is one of the strategies being employed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 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...
Guiding Us Through the Waters of the United States: New Guidelines Proposed Clarifying What Waters are Protected by Clean Water Act
On May 2, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Army Corps of Engineers formally proposed new guidelines for determining which waters and wetlands are “waters of the United States” and are, therefore, protected under the Clean Water Act (CWA). According to the notice, jointly published in the Federal Register, the new guidelines will provide clarity...
GREENberg bLAWg Named a 2011 Top 50 Blog by LexisNexis Environmental Law & Climate Change Community
Launched in the aftermath of the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Greenberg Glusker’s GREENberg bLAWg was recognized, on the one-year anniversary of the disaster, as a “Top 50 Blog 2011” by the LexisNexis Environmental Law & Climate Change Community for its quality coverage connecting the environment and law. The frequently...
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...
The GREENing of Greenberg Glusker
In honor of Earth Day, we thought we’d share some of the steps that Greenberg Glusker has taken to be more green. Last year, Greenberg Glusker completed its office remodel in true green fashion. We recycled and reused materials from the old office design whenever possible, which resulted in using...
The Results Are In: EPA Releases the 16th Annual U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory
And the winner is… the American people! We can all give ourselves a (small) pat on the back because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just published its 16th annual U.S. greenhouse gas inventory and it shows a decrease of overall emissions during 2009 of 6.1% from the previous year. That means...
Arizona Tribe First to Adopt International Green Building Code
As our regular readers know, we have been closely following California’s efforts toward mandating green building requirements both state-wide (through CalGreen) and locally. In a sure sign that green building is here to stay, the Kayenta Township, a political subdivision of the Navajo Nation located in Arizona, recently became...
Sorry Sixth Circuit – You Just Got Housed: House passes a bill taking pesticides out of CWA’s jurisdiction
On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed a bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio) known as the Reducing Regulatory Burdens Act of 2011 (or H.R. 872). The bill would amend the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA) such that CWA permits, known as National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits (or NPDES...
Update on San Francisco Case Halting AB32: Judge makes final his ruling to put California’s greenhouse gas bill on hold
Last month, we reported on the tentative ruling issued by a San Francisco Superior Court judge calling into question the fate of California’s Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (better known as AB32). Well, last week, Judge Ernest Goldsmith affirmed that ruling. His final order halts implementation of AB32 because the California...
Does GHG Stand for “Go! Halt! Go!”?: Bill that would block EPA’s GHG regulations passes House committee
As I am sure you already guessed, the answer to my silly question in the title to this post is “no”… but it sure seems like that could be the case recently! Tuesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a bill, known as the “Energy Tax Prevention Act&rdquo...
Goodbye Perc, Hello Green Dry Cleaning: EPA approves California regulations banning PERC by 2023
This week, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its approval of California’s regulations banning the use of perchloroethylene (also known as perc and tetrachloroethylene) in dry cleaning operations by 2023. EPA is required to regulate the use of perc by dry cleaners pursuant to the Clean Air Act. However, its approval of California’s rules...
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...
Bill Introduced to Delay Implementation of the Global Warming Solutions Act
California Assemblywoman Shannon Grove recently introduced Assembly Bill 333, which seeks to delay California’s AB 32, commonly known as the Global Warming Solutions Act. Adopted in 2006, the Global Warming Solutions Act aims to reduce California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The act tasked the California Air Resources Board (CARB) with...
Five Ways to Avoid Seeing RED over CALGreen’s Requirements
As reported by my land use partner, Elizabeth Watson, a LEED accredited professional, on January 1, 2011, the long-awaited statewide green building code for new commercial and residential construction in California went into effect. Referred to as the California Green Building Standards Code or CALGreen, the new code sets forth...
Wait-and-See Instead of Cap-and-Trade: Judge puts California’s plans to implement greenhouse gas bill on hold
In a somewhat ironic twist, a San Francisco Superior Court judge has tentatively ruled that the CARB (the California Air Resources Board) violated CEQA (the California Environmental Quality Act) (I know, I know, the acronyms never end!) by adopting certain plans for the implementation of California’s landmark Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (better...
L.A. Takes the Lead in Replacing LEED
Amid much fanfare, in 2008 the Los Angeles City Council established the Green Building Program requiring, among other things, that most new structures over 50,000 square feet in size be built to the United States Green Building Council (“USGBC”) Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (“LEED”) basic “Certified” standard. To incentivize...
Panel Concludes Carbon Capture and Storage Part of the Answer to California’s GHG Emissions
In a final report released last week, a review panel consisting of experts from industry, trade groups, academia and an environmental organization concluded that there was a public benefit to utilizing carbon capture and storage (CCS) for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in California. CCS refers to the capture, or removal, of CO2...
Another Rule Bites The Dust: The Ninth Circuit Abandons the “Federal Defendant” Rule in NEPA Cases
Thanks to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, gone are the days when private parties and state and local governments were prohibited from intervening on the liability or merit stage of claims brought under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (“NEPA”). CEQA GavelNEPA, much like it’s California equivalent...
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...
California Air Resources Board Adopts Cap and Trade Regulations
Recently, the California Air Resources Board or ARB adopted its long-anticipated regulations for controlling greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) through a market-based cap and trade system. California’s regulations represent a significant development in the regulation GHGs. California could well set the model for similar controls in other states and will certainly stoke the...
Court Upholds Pay to Pollute Rule
Last week, the Ninth Circuit ruled that the federal Clean Air Act does not preempt the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (Air District) from requiring certain developers to either reduce their polluting emissions from their construction activities or pay a fee. The case (National Association of Home Builders v. San Joaquin...
Happy 30th Superfund
30 years ago tomorrow, Congress passed the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), which is commonly known as the Superfund law. CERCLA, which Congress amended in 1986, was created to address the most contaminated properties in the United States and to provide federal authority to respond to releases or threatened...
States – Clean Up Your Act: EPA Issues A Final Rule Requiring Certain States To Revise Their Permitting Regulations To Address The Effects Of Greenhouse Gases
On December 1st, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule requiring several states to revise their state implementation plans (SIP) such that New Source Review (NSR) Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) permits will cover greenhouse gases (GHG). Identified in the “SIP call” are 13 states including: Arizona, Arkansas, our own California...
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...
Knowing is Half the Battle: EPA Final Rule Sets Forth Greenhouse Gas Reporting Requirements for Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries
In October of 2009, EPA launched the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program with its issuance of 40 CFR Part 98, requiring reporting of Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from large sources and suppliers in the United States with the goal of gaining more insight into where GHGs are originating and, therefore, ultimately developing policies and...
In a Troubled Economy, They Can’t Leave Well Enough Alone
Since 1989, one bright spot for owners of property in California contaminated by petroleum releases from underground storage tanks has been monies available from the State of California Petroleum Underground Storage Tank (“UST”) Cleanup Fund (the “Fund”). Monies in the Fund are provided by a storage fee paid by petroleum...
Seeing the Greenbacks in a Green Retrofit: Key Issues in Securing Financing for a Green Retrofit
Savvy building owners and operators recognize the commercial rental market’s growing awareness of energy efficiency and sustainability issues. Driven by state and local government mandates and a desire for healthier working environments, builders and architects are constructing new green buildings nationwide. However, for every new green building constructed, there...