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Archive of Environment on Tuesday June 30, 2009
CA: EPA gives California emissions waiver
WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency will announce today that it is granting California's request to impose tough restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks -- reversing the Bush administration's position and opening the way for the state to take the lead on global-warming policy. Read More
OR: Buy that Prius now because tax credit could expire
Oregon's tax credit for gas-electric hybrid vehicles like the Toyota Prius and others will disappear Jan. 1 if the governor signs a bill that cleared its final hurdle Monday into law. Read More
AK: Murkowski, Begich expect Senate to redo climate bill
Alaska's two U.S. senators on Monday indicated the Senate will redo a bill, recently approved by the House of Representatives, that attempts to slash the country's collective emission of greenhouse gases. Read More
CO: New Colorado laws affect rainwater, health care
One new law set to take effect Wednesday will allow Colorado homeowners to collect rainwater, if they can prove they're not infringing on other water users' rights. That's right, rainwater. Read More
CO: GOP state lawmaker -- 'Pitchforks about to come out' over drilling regulations
State Rep. Laura Bradford says ranchers and landowners in and around Grand Junction and Mesa County are enraged by new, more environmentally stringent drilling regulations keeping them from fully developing their oil and gas mineral rights. Read More
CO: Colorado at center of feds' solar bull's-eye
The federal government is carving out public land in Colorado and five other Western states for fast-tracked development of commercial solar power plants, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Monday. The goal is to have 13 commercial- scale solar power plants under construction by the end of 2010, Salazar said. Read More
IA: New laws to affect a variety of Iowans
Consumers, farmers, sex offenders, septic tank owners and wine drinkers are among the Iowans who will be impacted by new state laws slated to take effect Wednesday. Read More
KY: Ky. has 7 high-hazard coal-ash piles
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has disclosed the locations of 44 "high-hazard" coal-ash piles in 10 states, including seven in Kentucky and one in Indiana, after previously saying it was keeping the locations secret to prevent them from becoming targets of terrorists. Read More
MD: Harford waste oil, antifreeze recycling sites get reprieve
A one-year grant from the Maryland Department of the Environment will allow Harford County to keep nine waste oil and antifreeze recycling locations open through next June. Read More
MD: State approves third Calvert Cliffs reactor
The Maryland Public Service Commission, the state's top energy regulator, has approved a proposed third nuclear reactor at the Calvert Cliffs power plant in Southern Maryland. Read More
MD: New group scrutinizes stimulus spending, transportation priorities
Maryland needs to get on track with investing stimulus dollars for transportation, a newly formed coalition of smart growth, business, environmental and faith groups said Monday. Read More
MN: New Minnesota sales tax begins
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Mike Kilgore says the green Minnesotans pay in a higher tax beginning Wednesday will mean a greener Minnesota in a year. Read More
MT: MT-owned coal tracts moving toward possible lease
The Montana Land Board is holding public hearings this week over whether to lease for development state land near Ashland that contains roughly 600 million tons of coal. Read More
ND: Neighbors to N.D. wind turbines find them noisy
VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- A proposed wind energy center expansion in North Dakota is drawing objections from neighbors who worry about the noise and other health problems. Read More
ND: N.D. does well in study of air toxins
A state health official says North Dakota's flat landscape and its relatively small population help hold down air pollution. Read More
ND: Delay in Canada, Missouri lawsuits against N.D.
A resolution may not come until next year in lawsuits filed by Canada and the state of Missouri that challenge North Dakota's plan to divert water from the Missouri River to the state's northwest communities, the project's manager said Monday. Read More
NM: Feds -- NM well water not apparent health hazard
Well water near a Superfund site in western New Mexico's uranium belt poses no apparent health risk despite an earlier report that called the site of Homestake Mining Co.'s former mill a hazard, federal officials said. Read More
NV: Public lands in 6 states, including Utah, set for solar projects
LAS VEGAS -- The federal government's top land steward said Monday that the United States will fast-track efforts to build solar power generating facilities on public space in six Western states. Read More
OH: State park visitors asked to help with trash
There's a ray of hope for the litter-challenged who insist on not following the haul-as-you-go trash policy and befouling Ohio state parks. Read More
OR: Oregon Legislature bans field burning
The Oregon Legislature narrowly passed a bill on Monday that will ban field burning in the Willamette Valley starting in 2010. Read More
OR: Oregon's 2009 session ends with trail of big taxes
Oregon lawmakers, working a late-evening marathon to bring the six-month session to a close, barnstormed through a flurry of bills Monday, including a near total ban on field burning and a moratorium for online schools. Read More
OR: Green jobs make up 3 percent of Oregon's work force, report says
Green jobs account for 3 percent of Oregon's private, state government and local government employment, the Oregon Employment Department said in a report released today. Read More
PA: Rendell requests FEMA aid for flood victims
In a letter addressed to President Barack Obama yesterday, Gov. Ed Rendell pleaded for federal assistance for flood-ravaged communities in Westmoreland and Allegheny counties that were drenched by record-setting rains June 17. Read More
US: EPA lists sites where coal ash may pose threat
WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday made public a list of 26 communities in 10 states where residents are potentially threatened by coal ash storage ponds similar to one that flooded a neighborhood in Tennessee last year. Read More
US: Gray wolf back on endangered list, for now
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed Monday to reinstate federal protection of wolves in the upper Great Lakes region. In early May, wolves were removed from the list of threatened and endangered species in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. Read More
US: A green way to dump low-tech electronics
Since 2004, 18 states and New York City have approved laws that make manufacturers responsible for recycling electronics, and similar statutes were introduced in 13 other states this year. Read More
UT: Utah part of solar-energy study
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced Monday that close to 700,000 acres of federal land in Western states, including Utah, will be set aside as solar energy study areas to be evaluated for their suitability for large-scale solar energy production. Read More
VA: Va. college bans indoor plants to avoid mold
Houseplants are banned at a Roanoke college, whose officials are taking no chances that they might cause a mold problem. Read More
VT: Welch -- Climate bill a windfall for Vt.
A major climate bill narrowly passed by the U.S. House of Representatives last Friday could be a windfall for energy-efficiency efforts in Vermont. Read More
WA: Wash., feds to discuss Yakima water
YAKIMA, Wash. -- State and federal officials plan to meet with other stakeholders in the Yakima River basin to talk about how to improve water supplies there. Read More
Furloughs cut into state services
With states facing a $121 billion shortfall in the next fiscal year, a growing number of them have turned to squeezing their workforce for savings, and effects both great and small will be felt. Read More
New section follows stimulus spending
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