Latest news with #DepartmentofEnvironmentalQuality
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Oregon should bypass California's stalled Clean Trucks program and steer its own into the fast lane
Oregon could bypass California on trucks rules, commentators write. (Getty Images) California has set ambitious goals for EV truck adoption with its Advanced Clean Trucks rule, which imposes steeply escalating statewide EV sales quotas on truck manufacturers over the next decade. However, the state only generates about 2% of global transportation-related GHG emissions, so its initiative will not have a significant climate impact unless ACT motivates national- and global-scale action on truck electrification. ACT has so far been adopted by only 10 states, of which six currently have legislation pending to delay ACT implementation. This includes Oregon's HB3119, which provides that 'the Department of Environmental Quality may not implement or enforce the Advanced Clean Trucks regulations … before January 1, 2027.' Oregon cannot simply develop its own vehicle air pollution restrictions because Section 177 of the federal Clean Air Act prohibits states from adopting such emission standards that differ from federal standards unless they are 'identical to the California standards.' One factor stymieing ACT implementation in Oregon is the lack of high-power EV charging infrastructure, without which it is infeasible for Oregon to keep up with California's fast-track ACT timeline, especially for heavy-duty, long-haul trucks. ACT provides a variety of flexible compliance mechanisms such as credit trading and banking to ease the regulatory burden, but there is no guarantee these would suffice to meet the ACT's required schedule of EV trucking sales quotas. And delaying ACT implementation likely would run afoul of Section 177's identicality requirement. In response to ACT-induced disruption in the Oregon market for large trucks, Gov. Tina Kotek recently directed DEQ to 'quickly develop a solution for Class 7 and 8 trucks that considers the current circumstances while still maintaining the integrity of the ACT program for all other classes.' One option being considered is 'credit pooling' (interstate trading of compliance credits). Credit pooling would, in effect, allow California and Oregon to comply with different ACT standards: Oregon would effectively buy the right to relax its ACT standard by paying California to attain a more stringent standard. It's not clear that this scheme would be Section 177-compliant but, in any case, we think it would not make sense to require Oregon's trucking industry to, in effect, pay a penalty fee to California for not complying with an infeasible, California-imposed regulatory standard. Trading revenue would be better spent in-state to support Oregon's own trucking industry rather than subsidizing California's industry. The Section-177 identicality requirement ensures that a manufacturer selling standard-compliant vehicles in one state can sell the exact same vehicles in other states. But requiring identical sales percentages between states only makes the regulations more burdensome for manufacturers, not less so. The EPA could adopt a sensible Section-177 interpretive framework that allows states to develop their own ACT implementation timelines according to their unique circumstances (a 'timeline' would not itself be construed as a 'standard'), but the Trump EPA will not likely be amenable to such accommodation. However, Oregon could reform its ACT regulations to circumvent federal preemption in a way that would be more economically efficient and impactful than California's regulation even without the encumbrance of Section 177. Rather than employing an inflexible standard to drive unpredictable and volatile market trading prices, the regulation could employ stable pricing incentives (EV subsidies financed by fees on internal-combustion vehicles) to drive EV adoption at a scale and pace that the market can tolerate. Price stability would be conducive to long-term investment in truck electrification, and program ambition would not need to be restrained by predictive uncertainty. This policy approach is exemplified by Germany's Feed-in Tariff (FIT) program in the early 2000s, which triggered an explosive expansion of the global solar power market led by Germany in the 2004-2014 time frame. The program did not impose mandatory sales targets and timelines on solar manufacturers; it just offered them a guaranteed price (initially 45¢/kWh) for renewable power. (A price incentive is not a 'standard' and would hence not be governed by Section 177.) A financial incentive program could constitute one element of a targeted industrial policy (including charging infrastructure, grid capacity, battery technology, etc.) that leverages the investment potential of truck electrification to gain the support of the trucking industry and establish a market-based incentive framework for nationwide truck electrification. Oregon should take the lead in developing a policy foundation for truck electrification that would entirely circumvent federal preemption and could extend to national and global scope. Indeed, there would be no other option to federal regulation if current Congressional efforts to axe California's clean truck rules succeed. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
VB waterfront property owners learn about ordinance changes
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — If you own property along the Chesapeake Bay, the Lynnhaven River or its tributaries, changes are coming that may affect your property. The key part of the new ordinance is the Resource Protection Area, a key component of the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area. The state's Department of Environmental Quality requires the RPA to be a 100-foot buffer measured from the edge of applicable wetlands or waterbodies. Right now, city code requires an additional variable width buffer, measured on certain properties starting from the top of the slope leading to wetlands. This buffer will now be measured from the wetlands or waterline under the updated regulations. This adjustment means that on some properties, the area considered a protected buffer zone, if applicable, will shrink to the state-required 100-foot buffer, potentially affecting land use, development and property rights. This is all being done to help keep chemicals out of the Chesapeake Bay and slow down water before it gets out to the Bay. What this means for some residents, essentially, is that these changes could impact how you build and what you're able to build. 'The ownership is not changing,' said environmental coordinator Hannah Sabo. 'The changes to this ordinance are specifically regulatory, so [it tells you] how you can build within that buffer area, but it does not change who owns the property. It does not change, really, the developmental rights on that property.' These changes won't go into effect until later this year once council formally accepts them. If you missed Monday night's meeting, you can attend another meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Great Neck Recreation Center on Shorehaven Drive. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
The Gallatin River is crying, ‘Mayday, mayday, mayday!'
An algal bloom in the Gallatin River (Photo courtesy of Upper Missouri Waterkeeper). 'Mayday, mayday, mayday' is not a celebration of the first day of May, but 'an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal' for a life-threatening emergency. And right now, it's the once-pristine Gallatin River crying 'mayday' as it faces the life-threatening emergency of being further — and most likely permanently — degraded by the Big Sky area's sewage and nutrients. How bad is it? Well, the Department of Environmental Quality just approved yet another application for a 45-condo development using septic systems within a quarter mile of the already-hammered river. Mind you, this is after the Gallatin was formally declared 'impaired' last year due to nutrient overload which now feeds the neon green algae blooms in this once gin-clear river downstream from Big Sky. The state agency is obviously ignoring the fact that putting even more nutrients in the Gallatin will only exacerbate its 'impaired' status — the exact opposite of what 'regulatory' agencies are supposed to do to uphold Montanans' 'inalienable right to a clean and healthful environment' (according to the state's constitution, Article II, Section 3), as well as the constitutional mandate that 'the state and each person shall maintain and improve a clean and healthful environment in Montana for present and future generations.' (Article IX, Section 1) It's tough to find any other interpretation of those plain language constitutional guarantees than if there's already an environmental pollution problem, the onus is on the state to 'maintain and improve' the environment, not approve and allow even more pollution. Gov. Greg Gianforte, a religious man, swore an oath on the Bible to uphold the Constitution — but that obviously doesn't mean much when the big money at Big Sky wants yet more overdevelopment and more pollution. This is the second phase of the Quarry development which, as reported by Brett French, wants '136 single-family condos, 130 multifamily condos and 11 mixed-use buildings.' Yet, that's just a tiny fraction of the 1,354 additional homes the Big Sky Resort Area District says it will need in the next three years as housing for their underpaid workers. What's even more shocking is the fact this decision comes only days after the release of a hydrogeologic study by Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology that compared the undeveloped side of the Gallatin with the Big Sky side. Their conclusion? The aquifer is 'shallow, unconfined, and vulnerable to contamination.' In other words, the septic effluent has a short trip from the drain field to the aquifer to the Gallatin. In the meantime, DEQ is claiming that most of the nitrogen polluting the Gallatin is 'natural' — and that septic effluent is only a minor input. Which begs the question: How was it possible that the Gallatin ran clear and clean for thousands of years before Big Sky, the Yellowstone Club, and the ever-growing cluster of real estate developments started dumping their waste on the mountain and in the river? It's no mystery where the nutrients causing the algae blooms are coming from — and no, it's not from the bison in Yellowstone National Park. It's from the pollution emanating from this bizarre enclave of the wealthy stuffed into a narrow canyon with nowhere for their waste to go but down to the Gallatin. In short, what we're seeing is an abject failure of Montana's so-called 'environmental regulatory' agency — aided and abetted by the Gallatin County Commissioners who, when the rich say 'jump,' they jump to approve. As for a 'clean and healthy environment for present and future generations of Montanans' — without enforcement that prescient mandate of our Constitution is just words on paper as the Gallatin River cries 'mayday, mayday, mayday' to deaf ears.
Yahoo
23-04-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Residents of a Stillwater neighborhood say data center construction is killing their pond
STILLWATER, Okla. (KFOR) — A Google data center being built in Stillwater is alarming an entire neighborhood nearby. Doris Al-Harake is the homeowners association president of Parkview Estates in Stillwater. She said that over a week ago, residents started to notice troubling changes at the pond near the neighborhood's front entrance. 'The construction across the street, which will be the Stillwater's new Google data center, it killed all of our fish. Like I said, hundreds of fish,' said Al-Harake. Elementary students release butterflies for Earth Day Residents in the neighborhood said they've never seen the pond in its current state. 'Parkview has a long-standing reputation of being fun and festive, and we do a lot of events out here, and so now this is just sad,' said Jennifer Jalbert, a neighbor. Stillwater city officials said that with the recent rainfall, the red clay soil is solely to blame. 'Some of the things we've done is installation of additional silt fencing,' said Dawn Dodson, City of Stillwater Chief Public Affairs Officer. 'Developing an earthen berm on that east of the silt fence to act as additional containment.' Dodson said this is a temporary problem. 'We definitely believe that it will improve,' said Dodson. Al-Harake said the neighborhood deserves better. 'We didn't cause this, and we shouldn't have to pay for it. We have residents out here picking up dead fish,' said Al-Harake. The Department of Environmental Quality said they are now investigating and should have more information later this week. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
North Dakota Senate adds funding for local wastewater projects to replace federal cut
About $1.9 million in federal funding was approved for the Fessenden wastewater lagoon but rescinded with the cancellation of FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. (Photo provided by Wells County Emergency Management) The North Dakota Senate this week added funding to a budget bill to help communities that lost federal grants for infrastructure projects. Sen. Jeff Magrum, R-Hazelton, who introduced an amendment to House Bill 1577 on the Senate floor Thursday, said he's noticed some 'hiccups' involving federal fund distribution. The Federal Emergency Management Agency canceled about $20 million in grants designated for North Dakota projects. The pulled federal grants announced earlier this month were from FEMA's Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program, designed to help state and local governments with projects that reduce risks to hazards. Loss of $20 million in FEMA infrastructure grants 'devastating' to North Dakota communities 'They had gotten these grants and they were ready to build their projects and the money was pulled out from under them,' Magrum said. The amended bill authorizes the state-owned Bank of North Dakota to issue up to $9.7 million in loans through the Department of Environmental Quality for wastewater projects affected by the funding cuts. Two wastewater projects that lost funding are a $7.8 million wastewater treatment project in Lincoln and a $1.9 million wastewater lagoon erosion project in Fessenden. The bill directs the Department of Environmental Quality to seek state funding in 2027 to repay the loans. If federal funds are restored to the projects, the bill requires those funds to be used to pay back the loans. The bill does not address the other FEMA grants that were cut, which included $7.1 million for a water intake project in Washburn. Lawmakers plan to add funding for the Washburn project in another bill, said Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Sen. Tim Mathern, D-Fargo, told lawmakers that backfilling the projects with state-backed loans is a major decision to help those communities. He pointed out that the state Department of Health and Human Services also lost federal funding that has not yet been replaced by the state. 'Get prepared for a special session because there will be a load of these,' Mathern said. The bill also includes the option for the interim Legislative Management Committee to conduct a study on the potential creation of a wastewater project fund for the state. The study would be presented during the 2027 legislative session and include input from cities, counties, townships and water resource districts. The bill returns to the House. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
