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Uber, Lyft Urge CPUC To Delay Zero-Emission Rules, Ease GHG Targets

Uber and Lyft are urging the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to delay and ease implementation of the state’s Clean Miles Standard (CMS) requiring greenhouse gas cuts and increased “electric vehicle miles traveled” (eVMT) from their drivers’ vehicles, citing eVMT barriers and program administration failures to date. “CPUC should delay implementation of Phase 2 until it has met its statutory duty to review what barriers exist to expanding the use of” zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by transportation network companies (TNCs), Uber...

California Passes Bill For PFAS Mitigation Fund To Reduce Treatment Costs

California lawmakers have passed a bill that would, if funded in future fiscal year budgets, create a PFAS mitigation fund allowing state water regulators to cover or reduce costs associated with treating PFAS in drinking water, recycled water, stormwater, and wastewater. The bill, SB 454 by Sen. Jerry McNerney (D-Stockton), this week unanimously passed the state Senate and Assembly and awaits action by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D). Oct. 12 is the deadline for the governor to sign or veto bills...

Split Over SDWA PFAS Case, EPA, Parties Again Ask Court For More Time

The Trump EPA and other parties are split over how to proceed in litigation over the Biden-era PFAS drinking water limits and are again asking the D.C. Circuit for more time, until Sept. 12, to confer on a joint proposal for a briefing schedule to continue litigation. “The parties are conferring in good faith on a briefing schedule, but have not yet reached consensus,” the parties said in an unopposed joint motion to govern filed late Sept. 10. “To afford...

California Lawmakers Poised To Approve Western Grid-Expansion Bill

California lawmakers are poised to enact landmark legislation to create an expanded Western regional electricity market, after a controversial provision to create a California oversight council was removed from the proposal in the final days of the state’s 2025-26 legislative session. “As we move toward achieving California’s 100% clean energy goals, we must look at every opportunity to reduce costs, improve reliability, and cut emissions,” said Sen. Josh Becker (D--Menlo Park), a co-author of the bill, AB 825 , in...

California Leaders Reach Deals On Cap & Trade, Energy, Oil Drilling Bills

Leaders of the California Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) are announcing agreements on legislation to extend the state’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program to 2045, provide funding to expedite power transmission projects, and spur new oil drilling in the state by easing regulations and providing more financial incentives to industry. “After months of hard work with the Legislature, we have agreed to historic reforms that will save money on your electric bills, stabilize gas supply, and slash toxic air pollution...

California Opposes Effort To ‘Short-Circuit’ Suit Over Auto Waiver Repeals

California and allied states are urging the 9th Circuit to continue pausing litigation challenging Biden EPA federal preemption waivers for two of California’s vehicle emissions programs, opposing an industry and EPA bid to dismiss the cases in a way that could also truncate the states’ district court litigation challenging Congress’s repeal of those waivers. “The Court should not countenance this attempt to . . . short-circuit separate litigation that raises novel and complex constitutional claims against unprecedented actions by the...

House Slated To Delay DOD’s AFFF Phaseout After Panel Blocks Amendment

The House appears slated to approve a defense authorization bill that includes provisions slowing the Defense Department’s (DOD) phase out of PFAS-containing firefighting foam after the Rules Committee rejected amendments that sought to strip the delay as well as other amendments seeking to strengthen PFAS controls. The House began floor consideration of the fiscal year 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) Sept. 9 following a Rules Committee vote the same day that only allowed one amendment related to per- and...

Experts Flag Significance Of CARB Guidance For Climate Disclosure Rules

Industry attorneys and other experts are highlighting new guidance from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to help companies comply with forthcoming requirements to report climate-related financial risks and measures to reduce and adapt to such risks, underscoring the significance of the state’s first-in-the-nation mandates. “The bulk of the draft guidance consists of a checklist to be used in preparing the climate risk report required by Section 38533,” states a Sept. 3 blog post by attorneys with Ropes & Gray,...

Industry Seeks To Block California GHG-Disclosure Laws During Appeal

Industry groups say a federal district court should block implementation of California’s corporate climate-disclosure laws while they appeal the court’s earlier decision rejecting their request for a preliminary injunction, renewing their argument that implementation will violate their First Amendment rights. “The state’s opposition is based on a false premise: that this motion is a second bite at the preliminary-injunction apple. It is not,” says a Sept. 2 reply brief by the groups in support of their motion for an injunction...

Trump EPA Offers Slimmer, Delayed Regulatory Agenda For TSCA Program

The Trump administration’s newly released “spring 2025” regulatory agenda shows a significantly slimmer agenda for EPA’s TSCA program than in the Biden EPA’s final months, with most items remaining on the agenda seeing extended deadlines for action and several rules moving from the active to the “long-term actions” section of the agenda. While the Trump EPA has repeatedly sought delays in multiple court challenges to Biden-era Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rules in order to rewrite them, only two of...

California Declines To Cap Refiner Profit Margins Amid Supply ‘Crisis’ Fears

The California Energy Commission (CEC) is declining to implement a first-time cap on oil refiners’ profit margins and penalties on companies that exceed it, fearing the move could undercut Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) efforts to encourage more industry investment in crude oil production to avoid a transportation fuel supply “crisis” in the state. “We believe there is an urgent need to take steps now to stabilize the legacy industry for a manageable transition. We are focusing on ways to maximize...

Oversight Council Impasse Threatens California Bill For New Western Grid

Disagreement over the creation of an oversight council for an expanded Western state power market is threatening to sink a bill in the California Legislature that would authorize the state’s participation in the new independent regional organization that would oversee the system. Creating such a council would “make it unappealing or even impossible for our regional partners to join such a market,” argues a coalition of electric generators, utilities and environmental groups in a recent comment letter on the pending...

California Lawmakers Wrangle Over Cap & Trade Bill As Deadline Nears

California lawmakers are continuing to debate what provisions to insert into legislation that would extend the state’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program to 2045 and make pivotal changes to how the program is operated, with Senate leadership resisting a comprehensive new proposal offered by the Assembly as the Sept. 12 session deadline nears. “The Senate wants a really low price ceiling, so low that it would be hit immediately,” says one source closely following the debate. “That’s really problematic from an...

Biosolids PFAS Report Should Reflect More Realistic Conditions, States Say

State regulators are urging the Trump EPA to revise the modeling underpinning the Biden-era draft risk assessment of two legacy PFAS in biosolids to make it more applicable to state-specific conditions and outcomes, cautioning that the assessment’s use of certain risk assumptions and biosolids application rates fails to reflect realistic state practices. But state agencies do not all agree on the direction EPA should take. Some state regulators argue EPA should use stricter risk scenarios, such as accounting for infants...

Lawmakers Seek To Strike Defense Bill Measure Paring Back AFFF Phaseout

Two lawmakers have filed amendments aimed at eliminating a measure pending in the House defense authorization bill that would delay the Defense Department’s (DOD) phaseout of firefighting foam containing PFAS and expand an exemption for using the foam, signaling opposition to an attempt to weaken the phaseout requirements. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) -- co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force -- and George Whitesides (D-CA) filed separate but identical amendments to the House Rules Committee that would strike section...

Water Systems Urge Trump EPA To Revise PFAS Biosolids Risk Assessment

Water systems and biosolids advocates are urging the Trump EPA to revise the modeling, including risk scenarios and human exposure assumptions, underlying the Biden-EPA’s draft risk assessment of two legacy PFAS in biosolids, charging it improperly calculated risks and overstated the harm the chemicals cause. “Overall, projected risks from individual pathways are overestimated as the risk assessment focuses on ‘worst-case scenarios,’” the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), which represents publicly owned wastewater and stormwater agencies, says in an...

Automakers Seek ‘Interim’ Rule Easing Near-Term Vehicle GHG Limits

Automakers are pressing EPA for an “interim final rule” or similar quick mechanism to roll back near-term greenhouse gas limits for light- and medium-duty vehicles, seeking “near-term certainty” while the agency pursues its plan to undo its landmark climate risk finding and all vehicle GHG programs. While such an “interim” move would be sure to spark legal challenges, the industry suggestion comes as the Trump administration has pursued similar near-term relief for other sectors, including oil and gas producers. The...

Environmentalists Criticize Defense Bill Rollbacks On PFAS Restrictions

As Congress prepares to take up defense policy legislation when lawmakers return from their summer recess, environmentalists are criticizing the pending House and Senate bills for proposing various rollbacks on PFAS-related restrictions that they say would erode protections aimed at safeguarding military personnel and communities from the chemicals. “The rollback would deliberately gut the very protections intended to shield the people who put their lives on the line for the U.S.,” the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which has long pushed...

California-Quebec GHG Auction Sells Out Credits At Slightly Higher Prices

The latest quarterly California-Quebec greenhouse gas auction sold all allowances at slightly higher prices than the last sale in May, but environmentalists are renewing concerns that the relatively low prices are caused by ongoing market uncertainty from state lawmakers’ inaction to extend the program beyond 2030. “The impact of market uncertainty is evident when comparing today’s results to this time last year -- the price settled $1.48 lower from the August 2024 auction, which means over $100 million dollars left...

New Mexico Urges Judicial Panel To Send PFAS Suit Back To State Court

New Mexico is urging a federal judicial panel to reject Air Force efforts to move its recently filed lawsuit against the service over PFAS releases to the massive multidistrict litigation (MDL) over firefighting foam, arguing the suit belongs in state court in a case that could test what recourse states have in pursuing their claims against federal facilities. In an Aug. 20 brief , New Mexico Attorney General (AG) Raul Torrez told the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML)...

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