Transporation Daily News 11/29

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) is developing regulations that target heavy-duty diesel vehicles that are currently in service in California in an effort to meet federal requirements in a timely fashion. The goal of the regulations is to reduce diesel particulate matter (PM) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) in order to meet standards set forth under the federal Clean Air Act and the State Implementation Plan. CARB is expected to vote on the proposed regulations in the summer of 2008.  The types of vehicles covered by the regulations would include diesel trucks over 14,000 pounds, concrete mixers, dump trucks, bucket/boom trucks, crane trucks, hay squeeze vehicles, tow trucks, fuel tank trucks, passenger buses and more. CalChamber 11/28/07

 

Attorney General Jerry Brown sued the U.S. government Wednesday, accusing environmental regulators of relaxing rules that require industry to report toxic pollution. The lawsuit, filed by California and 11 other states in federal court in New York City, contends that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has weakened its Toxic Release Inventory rules, a national system that requires industries to produce detailed annual reports on the release of chemical pollutants. Under new rules, said Brown, about 5,300 facilities nationwide could conceal vital safety information about production and waste management. Contra Costa Times 11/29/07

 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday signaled a controversial push to engage private companies in the building and management of state and local public works projects, proposing a strategy widely employed in Canada, Europe and elsewhere. In such partnerships, which could take a variety of forms, private companies could finance, build and manage roads, schools, waste-water treatment plants, ports, levees, hospitals and other projects. The companies would rent the facilities to the government or collect fees from users. LA Times 11/28/07

 

The Bush administration reported a small drop in greenhouse gas emissions for the United States last year, the first decline since 2001, but the emissions still represented a sizable increase over the last decade and a half. LA Times 11/29/07