ENVIRONMENTAL LEGAL BLOGS

MASSACHUSETTS V EPA-MAJOR "GLOBAL WARMING" CASE

     The Associated Press   reports today:   

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court hears arguments this week in a case that could determine whether the Bush administration must change course in how it deals with the threat of global warming.

A dozen states as well as environmental groups and large cities are trying to convince the court that the Environmental Protection Agency must regulate, as a matter of public health, the amount of carbon dioxide that comes from vehicles.

***

The Bush administration intends to argue before the court on Wednesday that the EPA lacks the power under the Clean Air Act to regulate carbon dioxide as a pollutant. The agency contends that even if it did have such authority, it would have discretion under the law on how to address the problem without imposing emissions controls.

     Massachusetts v. Environmental Protection Agency.

NEW PERMANENT MANAGEMENT STANDARDS FOR TREATED WOOD WASTE

     California DTSC has put out an announcement that the agency is promulgating permanent management standards for such waste (which is not regulated by the feds) to replace the present interim standards.

     DTSC will accept written comments on the proposed permanent standards beginning yesterday, November 24, 2006 and lasting through January 8, 2007.  Also, DTSC will hold a hearing on the proposed standards on January 8, 2007, at 10 am,  in the Byron Sher Auditorium, 2nd Floor, 1001 "I" Street, Sacramento, California.

    Technically, DTSC's proposal is to amend California Code of Regulations, title 22, division 4.5, chapter 11, article 5, Appendix XII, and to add title 22, California Code of Regulations, sections 66261.9.5, and 67386.1 through 67386.11.  You can read the proposed regulations by going to the Disc's website at http://www.dtsc.ca.gov.

    
Additionally, you can submit written comments on the proposed regulations by writing to: Ms. Nicole Stark, Chief, Environmental Analysis and Regulations Section, Department of Toxic Substances Control, P.O. Box 806,           Sacramento, CA  95812-0806 E-mail Address: [email protected]

SILVER NANOTECHNOLOGY TO BE REGULATED

     Today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports:

Consumer products using extremely small particles of silver to kill germs will need Environmental Protection Agency approval, part of the government's first move to regulate the burgeoning nanotechnology industry.

The EPA said Wednesday it was changing federal policy to require that manufacturers provide scientific evidence that their use of nanosilver won't harm waterways or public health.

Environmentalists and others are concerned that after the material is discarded and enters the environment, it may be killing helpful bacteria and aquatic organisms or even pose a risk to humans.

Nanosilver is used to kill germs in shoe liners, food-storage containers, air fresheners, washing machines and other products.

    The EPA's nanotechnology website is at www.epa.gov/ncer/nano 

    

WI FI POLLUTION?

     From today's Evening Standard (U.K.):

It is the hi-tech tool that has revolutionised home and office alike - but a growing band of campaigners claim wi-fi is a major threat to health.

Sufferers say the electro-magnetic waves emitted by wireless computer networks - wi-fi - leave them feeling exhausted, nauseous and sleepless.

KERN COUNTY SLUDGE BAN SUFFERS ANOTHER DEFEAT

  From yesterday's The Bakersfield Californian  (free registration required):

Kern County's sludge ban suffered another blow Wednesday from U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess of Los Angeles.

Last week, Feess issued a tentative ruling that stopped Kern County from enforcing the sludge ban while Kern fought off a legal assault from the city of Los Angeles, Orange County and the businesses that haul and farm sludge for them.

Feess said in court that the Kern ban, enacted as Measure E by local voters on June 6, violated state recycling laws.

On Wednesday, Feess issued a formal ruling that upheld those two previous decisions.

MORE EVIDENCE WE ARE NOT DESTROYING THE PLANET'S ENVIRONMENT

     From today's Anchorage Daily News (reporting an article from the Los Angeles Times):

An international team of scientists reported Thursday that rising temperatures are steadily transforming the Arctic -- warming millions of square miles of permafrost, promoting lush greenery on previously arid tundras and steadily shrinking the annual sea ice.

Yet the researchers also found new patterns of cooling ocean currents and prevailing winds that suggested the Arctic, long considered a bellwether of global warming, may be reverting in some ways to more normal conditions not seen since the 1970s.

(emphasis added).

     Combined with my Post the other day indicating that the world's forests were actually increasing in significant areas, the data reinforce the idea that there are forces of nature at work beyond our present scientific understanding.  Maybe something for politicians to think about before enacting their next draconian scheme designed to reduce our lifestyle to avert a supposed crisis which actually would seem just part of nature's cycle.

EARTH'S FORESTS PROVE THE DOOMSAYERS WRONG YET AGAIN

     Today's The Scotsman reports:

FEARS of a "skinhead" Earth devoid of any trees appear to be unfounded, according to new research which shows forests making a comeback in China and India.

An international team of scientists, including Aberdeen University academic Professor Alexander Mather, found that 22 out of the world's 50 most forested countries were now increasing the amount of woodland and predicted that a "great restoration of the landscape" could begin by 2050.

While global forests are still in decline, China, Vietnam and Spain have seen significant net increases from 1990 to 2005 and India's forests are now stable.

     But how can this be?  Almost all we ever hear is that we-- humans, particularly capitalist indsutrialized humans-- are destroying the ozone layer, the oceans, the mountains and, yes, the forests.  And yet here we have a report that the most rapidly industrializing country on earth-China- has seen a "signficant net increase.." in its forests.

     History teaches us that, as far back as Copernicus, the wisdom of every era is subject to challenge when future generations look back.  Thirty-some years ago, a Saudi Arabian official predicted that the world would run out of oil by the turn of the century.  No doubt readers can recall other dire predictions about the end of the food supply as the world's population increased beyond manageable proportions.  These prophets of doom turned out to be wrong. 

     If the forests are any indciation, the prophets of doom are wrong yet again.

SMOG WAS OUR FRIEND...

    According to an article appearing in Saturday's (UK) Telegraph, we'd be nowehere today with air pollution:

Smoggy skies 'created life on Earth'

Hazy, smoggy skies on baby Earth could have provided the chemical building blocks of the very first life on our planet, according to a study of one of Saturn's moons.

Primordial Earth likely had a layer of atmospheric haze, similar to the one currently on the moon Titan, that may have served as the principal reservoir of life’s building blocks, according to the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

     The link is here.  Have you thanked your local pollution today?

NEW ENVIRONMENTAL FEE REGULATIONS

     From the California DTSC:

The Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) is conducting a public workshop to discuss the proposed Environmental Fee Regulations.  The regulations are being developed as a result of the April 24, 2006, California Supreme Court ruling in the Morning Star v. State Board of Equalization et. al. case.  The Supreme Court's decision allows the collection of the environmental fee to continue without interruption, but directs DTSC to promulgate valid regulations under the Administrative Procedures Act. 

The Environmental Fee is a fee paid by businesses in industry groups that use, generate or store hazardous materials or that conduct activities related to those materials. It applies to businesses with 50 or more employees that are employed more than 500 hours in California during a calendar year. The fee is based upon the total number of employees.  The Environmental Fee is the main funding source for the DTSC contaminated site cleanup, hazardous materials laboratory, and pollution prevention activities. 

The public workshop is scheduled for November 28, 2006 at 10:00 am; Byron Sher Auditorium
1001 I Street, 2nd Floor; Sacramento, California  95812.  You can also participate by webcast at www.calepa.ca.gov/broadcast