Transporation Daily News 12/19

Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen, under pressure from a bipartisan group of senators, admitted Tuesday that his agency is more than a year behind in reviewing the response plans for spills and leaks filed by owners of large cargo vessels, such as the one that caused last month's spill in San Francisco Bay. In response, Sen. Barbara Boxer complained that protection against spills was "taking second fiddle" to the Coast Guard's overall security concerns. CC Times 12/19/07

 

A slow-moving storm churning across California is expected to drop several feet of snow in the Sierra Nevada and bring much-needed relief to depleted reservoirs. Since July 1, California has received 61 percent of its normal precipitation, a worrisome sign for state water managers after the state had its lowest snowpack in 19 years last winter. One snow resort spokesperson added,  "It's a vacationer's dream come true because it's happening right before a major holiday." CC Times 12/19/07

 

The Coast Guard's commandant, Adm. Thad Allen, told Congress Tuesday he expects the cost of cleaning up the San Francisco Bay oil spill to hit at least $61 million - and is likely to climb even higher. The $61 million figure is significant because it's what the owner of the Cosco Busan, which spilled 58,000 gallons of fuel after striking the Bay Bridge on Nov. 7, is required to pay under federal law. But those liability limits, set by the Coast Guard for each type of ship, can be waived if the Justice Department determines a spill was caused by gross negligence. SF Chronicle 12/19/07

 

The success of a bullet train to Southern California rides on the route the California High-Speed Rail Authority chooses between the Bay Area and the Central Valley. Today, it is scheduled to review two options. The environmental community is unanimously and strongly united in support of an Altamont Pass route for high-speed rail, and against a Pacheco route. Environmentalists claim a Pacheco route would expose vast, currently undeveloped areas to huge pressures for growth and degrade large areas of wetlands in the Central Valley that would be impossible to replace. SJ Mercury 12/19/07

 

Not so, argues an editorial in the Chronicle. "The Pacheco Pass route more seamlessly connects the key economic engines of Silicon Valley and the L.A. area, and effectively links Silicon Valley to the rest of the Bay Area." 12/19/07

 

Powerful advocates for the Pacheco Pass alignment and those who favor Altamount Pass are each firmly entrenched in their respective positions and threatening to derail the already difficult project if they don't get their way. Says Chairman Quentin Kopp, the committee probably won't be able to make the crucial decision today. SF Bay Guardian 12/18/07

 

In Francisco's historic cable cars on the California-61 line are not running this morning due to problems with the cables, according to San Francisco Municipal Railway spokesman Alan Siegel. The cable cars stopped running at about 8:50 a.m., Siegel said.  ABC News 12/19/07

 

Mr. Schwarzenegger last week said he would declare a fiscal emergency in the state, which faces a projected $14.5 billion gap over two years. With taxable sales growth slowing to 1.3% in the second quarter from as high as 7.4% in 2005, those revenues for the current fiscal year are now projected to be as much as $624 million lower than expected. California is one of only a few states where two-thirds of legislators, rather than a simple majority, have to sign off on any tax increase. Wall Street Journal 12/19/07

 

Los Angeles Port News:

 

Port authorities approved a controversial container fee Monday expected to generate $1.6 billion to subsidize the purchase of cleaner trucks working in the nation's largest seaport. The fee, approved unanimously by the Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission, will be tacked onto every loaded container leaving or entering waterfront marine terminals by truck beginning June 1 and ending in 2012. Press Telegram 12/17/07

Port authorities acknowledged that the fee may ultimately increase the cost of goods shipped by container. However, they also contend they cannot continue to move goods, or expand terminal operations, without reducing health risks of air pollution, linked to 2,400 deaths a year. LA Times 12/18/07

 

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Thursday approved an agreement with the Port of Los Angeles to "identify and reduce" some of the greenhouse gases generated at the port. At the same meeting that it approved a proposal to increase ship calls by 30 percent at one of the West Coast's largest shipping terminals. The Attorney General is seeking to balance that traffic increase with new requirements that the Port of Los Angeles monitor and report its greenhouse gas emissions. Environmental News Service 12/17/07