The Curious Case of SB375 Updated

Here is the link to the online materials from the SB375 seminar I posted on previously: LINK

In the News 1/30/09 – Some good, some bad….

LA Times – Low Snowpack in the Sierra’s (THE BAD NEWS)
Statewide, the snow’s water content is 61% of the average figure for this point in the season. Another La Niña may be developing, an expert says. Conservation is strongly urged. This is bad news, and probably, based on climate change modelings, it’s news we’re going to have to get used to… on the bright side, we have so much room to improve in terms of water conservation/efficiency, that I am hopeful that we will meet the challenge.

If you are interested in learning more about the history of water infrastructure development and technical strategies available to reduce water consumption in urban area’s, take a look at this paper I wrote for the Critical Planning Journal, entitled “Savings at Home, the Past/Present/Future of Residential Water Conservation” Click here to download: crit-plan-review-water-conservation. I hope you find it enlightening
 

LA Times – Solar Panel Installations Through the Roof in 2008 (THE GOOD NEWS
Encouraged by state rebates, Golden State residents and businesses last year installed a record 158 megawatts of photovoltaic panels on their rooftops to turn the sun’s rays into electricity, the California Public Utilities Commission said Wednesday. That’s more than double the 78 megawatts installed in 2007. This is great news, and will be a huge boost towards helping our state meet our AB32 goals and our California Solar Initiative goals.

The Curious Case of SB 375

The Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA law, in conjunction with the Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA held a great panel/roundtable on campus this past Tuesday, discussing the implications of SB 375, Fran Pavley’s Anti-Sprawl law. The event was hugely successful and equally informative, and it was great to see planners, lawyers, and real estate developers finally sitting together at a table discussing smart growth.

Speakers at the event included:

Cara Horowitz. Executive Director, Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment, UCLA School of Law

A pic of the Panel

Jonathan Zasloff. Professor of Law and Associate Faculty Director of the UCLA Ziman Center for Real Estate

Tom Adams. California League of Conservation Voters Board President and sponsor of SB 375

Hasan Ikhrata. Executive Director, Southern California Association of Governments

Kevin Ratner. President, Forest City Residential West

Mike Woo. Los Angeles Planning Commission

Discussions focused on examining the components and implications of SB375, a bill which tries to reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (vehicle emissions) by creating incentives for particular development patterns, particularly New Urbanist, Transit Oriented Developments (TOD’s). As Cara explained in her introductory presentation, the bill generally does 4 key things:

1. It requires CERB to set a regional GHG reduction targets for each Metropolican Planning Organization (MPO’s) (e.g. SCAG, ABAG).

2. It requires regional planners to add a “Sustainable Communities Strategy” section to their regional transportation plans, which set out strategies for meeting GHG reduction targets. (note, MPO’s can back out of doing these as long as they prepare an Alternative Planning Strategy, which would merely identify some alternative development patterns and other policies which might help potentially reduce VMT’s)

3. It provides CEQA breaks for certain mixed use developments (private or public I presume) which are consistent with the Sustainable Communities Strategy.

4. It coordinates regional housing planning with transportation planning, both in substance and in timing. 

In the News – 1/21/09

Here are a few news items I wanted to highlight:

Ecogeek Blog: California Considers Killing Plug-In Hybrid Start-Ups
The California Air Resource Board…presumably an agency with a vested interest in advancing vehicle technology, might be about to push a clean-tech start-up into bankruptcy. What the frik is going on here?  LINK 

LA Times: Funding freeze halts environmental projects across California
Commissions and nonprofits charged with conserving parks, wildlife, water and mountain areas of the state are at risk of laying off staff or closing since the state stopped funding last month. LINK

LA Times: California emission waiver looms for carmakers
Barack Obama is expected to allow California and other states to enforce tough air quality rules soon after taking office. LINK

Mile Automotive: A Los Angeles Based Dark Horse in the Electric Car Market?

The Los Angeles Business Journal had an interesting article on the Santa Monica based start-up, Miles Automotive Group, a small company with around two dozen employees which is working to bring an affordable all-electric, highway safe sedan to California. According to the article, Miles will have 25 prototypes ready for testing by the end of the month, and additionally expects to bring a first run of around 9,000 vehicles to the market by next year – (Thankfully the Los Angeles market ) Check out the article here. While their car doesn’t really have the “sex appeal” that the Tesla Roadster or the Fisker Karma has, it’s got a price tag of around $40k which really makes it look much more appealing. Here is an image of the sedan they are prototyping:

 

Local Upcoming Events

Here is a pretty long list of events I put together. I hope it’s helpful for everyone! 

The 23^rd Annual Land Use Law and Planning Conference, in Downtown, January 23^rd.

Now in its twenty-third year, the UCLA Extension conference offers a big-picture view of land use law and planning practice, with knowledgeable speakers providing succinct and provocative updates on core state and federal case law and legislation as well as practice pointers on basic land use law and planning issues. The conference is essential for attorneys, planners, environmentalists, and developers who need to know how land use law and planning is changing and affecting their interests. This is an all day conference.

Click here for more information or to register

 

 VerdeXchange Green Marketmakers Conference, in Downtown, January 26^th.

On January 26, 2009, engage with leading technology, energy, and regulatory “green marketmakers” who are proactively responding to California’s market-defining initiatives for addressing climate change and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. As outlined in Assembly Bill 32 (signed into law 2006), California’s 2005 Executive Order and a 2004 CARB regulation to reduce passenger car GHG emissions, California’s efforts aim to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels by 2020 and below 1990 levels by 2050 – reductions of 25 percent and 80 percent respectively. These initiatives will undoubtedly shape the national and international markets.

Click here for more information or to register

 

 UCLA Workshop on SB375 – California’s New Anti-Sprawl Law, @ UCLA, January 27^th.

The most important and far-reaching land use legislation since the Coastal Act, SB 375 could transform development and the built environment in California. Now that the bill has been signed by the Governor, what’s next? What does SB 375 mean for local governments, developers, community groups, and commuters? Bill sponsor Tom Adams of the California League of Conservation Voters will join other stakeholders and panelists to address these issues. This conference is sponsored by the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment, the Evan Frankel Environmental Law and Policy Program, and the Richard S. Ziman Center for Real Estate at UCLA.

Click here for more information or to register

Goodbye LNG – Woodside pulls out…

The LA Times reported today about how Woodside Natural Gas is scrapping its proposal to build an LNG terminal 27 miles off shore of LAX. Link to article. The company has cited the downturn in the world economy as the key reason for this move.

To facilitate complete disclosure, I was actually a consultant for this company on this project, working on helping them get some of their environmental mitigation measures together. In particular, I was going to be guiding the LEED design and accredidation process of their onshore facility, which based on our initial designs would have been equipped with solar panels and an array of other energy and water efficiency features.

While at first I had my qualms about working with a petroleum company, as eny enviro would, after learning more about the project, and the importance on Natural Gas to this state, I eventually found myself thinking that it would actually be a shame if we didn’t get this project. The fact is, this state needs natural gas for its energy generation, and the more stable and competitive our supplies are, the longer or natural gas power plants will continue to run … thus giving us a clean bridge to renewables.. as opposed to being forced into playing with unrealistic “clean coal” alternatives.

Another reason I really thought we could use this project, is that it provided an important source of natural gas from the west. All of our natural gas pipelines currently run from the east to west, almost all of which cross the San Andreas fault, and almost all of which are OLD and might be at risk of being heavily damaged. Thus, in the event of a major earthquake, our natural gas supplies will essentially be wiped out. Meaning our electricity will be out longer, our stoves won’t work, our heaters won’t work, and industry will be delayed/halted.

So… I have actually a bunch more to say on this.. but I need to head out the door… I will follow this up with a more substantive post.

News in Brief: Highways and Toxic Discharges

Governor Fast Tracking Highway Construction: So it looks like the Governor is looking to fast track some major state highway projects through the environmental review process in an attempt to boost the economy – LINK. “Schwarzenegger is proposing that the California Department of Transportation forge ahead with some construction projects that are tied up in court over environmental issues. One is a $165-million carpool-lane expansion on U.S. 50 in Sacramento that a judge has delayed because of the amount of greenhouse gas emissions it could generate, among other concerns.Protections would also be lifted on a freeway-widening project through an ecologically sensitive area of coastal San Diego County and on a controversial plan to drill a tunnel into the Berkeley Hills. And Schwarzenegger wants to empower a panel of his appointees to waive environmental rules on other projects.” – LA Times.

You know, when the governor initially said he wanted to fast track infrastructure projects, I assumed that he was speaking of major clean energy power generation/efficiency facilities, water conservation/quality projects, and mass-transit upgrades… I’m starting to think that these weren’t the projects he had in mind.
 

Toxics Being Discharged into LA County Waters: According to an LA Times article last week, Heal the Bay has uncovered that water quality regulators have been lax on enforcing water quality regulations, and on developing mandated standards. LINK.  While it is always important to know and keep updated about toxic’s in ourlocal waters, I wasn’t exactly sure why this was really newsworthy. So, to investigate further, took a look at the study which is on Heal the Bay’s web site, Link, and now I get the sense that it’s less of a story about some new dramatic finding, and more a story on a study’s findings, which are less than surprising. Here is the conclusion of the study:

“CONCLUSION
Only 126 priority pollutants are regulated under the California Toxics Rule, yet thousands of toxic chemicals are used every day. Toxicity testing is the safety net of the Clean Water Act, but only if the toxicity results are used to target polluted effluent and the clean-up of toxic surface waters. Most of the region’s aquatic ecosystems have degraded biological integrity. One of the most important actions to protect aquatic life is to ensure that receiving waters are not toxic. As explained by the EPA, an enforceable numeric toxicity limit is the most protective strategy for aquatic life, and there should be enforcement actions taken against those dischargers that create conditions which are harmful to aquatic life. Currently, whole effluent toxicity testing is not being used effectively as a regulatory tool to protect aquatic life in the Los Angeles Region, especially given the erosion of permit requirements from numeric limits to triggers in response to the State Board’s indecision in 2003. Because the State Board ruling in 2003 was statewide, similar results as found in this study in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties are expected statewide. It is time to repair the safety net and ensure that California’s waters and all dependent living organisms are adequately protected.”

Interesting yes, surprising, no. (Maybe I’m jaded though, since I’ve worked at Heal the Bay in the past, and these studies findings were obvious to the organization even then.)

Tesla Sighting in Santa Monica

I took a few pics on my cell (You’ve got to love the white leather :

Events: From Proposition 65 to a New Paradigm in Green – Jan 15th

The LA County Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section is hosting an interesting program focused on Proposition 65, the 1986 proposition requiring pre-exposure warnings of chemical health risks, and its emergingrelation to the recent green chemistry movement/laws. The seminar will be held on January 15th, around noon, at the LACBA Conference Center in Downtown.

Here is the program description: