The Environmental Protection Agency signaled it is prepared to comply with a congressional request for all documents -- including communications with the White House -- concerning its decision to block California from imposing limits on greenhouse gases, a released memo revealed. CC Times 12/28/07
Beginning in the early 1990s, prosecutors said, companies systematically underreported the amount of sand they mined, built a pricing structure that hid profits from the state and stole sand by mining well outside the areas leased to them. tugboat captain Kevin Bartoo called the State Lands Commission set in motion six years of litigation and the discovery of what prosecutors say was a taxpayer rip-off amounting to millions of dollars. Contra Costa Times 12/26/07
At more than $1 billion, the biggest construction contract Caltrans had ever awarded, Bay Bridge East Span Skyway Project, has been completed. The first car isn't expected to cross the new skyway until 2012, when the 1.2-mile structure is connected to the toll plaza with the Oakland Touchdown structure and with Yerba Buena Island with the $1.43 billion self-anchored suspension span and its approach structures. The Skyway was commissioned after experts decided only a new structure would withstand the magnitude 8 earthquake expected to hit the Bay Area within the next half-century. CC Times 12/31/07
BART begins a service improvement 35 years overdue on Tuesday when trains will run every 15 minutes instead of 20 minutes at night and all-day Sunday. For system operators, the change means BART is running smoothly enough that it can afford to meet an original service goal: no scheduled waits longer than 15 minutes. Train fares rise 5.4 percent automatically, from 10 cents for shorter trips and up to 35 cents for longer ones. CC Times 12/31/07
American-West Bio Energy of Larkspur and Greenline Industries of San Rafael have filed an application with the city to build a 28,000-square-foot biodiesel fuel manufacturing plant on vacant land in Richmond. Two companies are ready to purchase the finished product. The $40 million plant would convert seed oils and animal fats into biodiesel that, depending on the blend, can be used in cars, trucks, ships and heavy equipment such as cranes and tractors, said Ted Lavoie, vice president of strategic development at Greenline Industries. CC Times 1/01/08
California launched a legal and scientific counterattack on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, suing in federal court in San Francisco to secure the authority to enact its own set of tough tailpipe emissions standards. California's suit, joined by 14 other states ready to adopt the same standards, was widely expected after the EPA turned down the state's request for a rule waiver to enact the emission cuts, and it may turn the legal showdown with the Bush administration into a national battle over how to deal with global warming. EPA officials said that they will study the California appeal while again citing the energy bill as a reason to deny the California waiver. CC Times 1/03/08
The Port of Oakland is poised to get $3.4 million from a state bond measure to reduce diesel truck and ship pollution -- including money to provide cleaner power for big ships in port, a Bay Area first. Two berths would be wired for electric service so that docked ships could plug into the electric grid for power and turn off their soot-spewing diesel engines. California Air Resources Board administrators recommended Thursday that the port be awarded the money from Proposition 1B, a transportation and clean air measure approved by voters in fall 2006. CC Times 1/04/08
Round-trip domestic fares began rising $10 to $20 late Thursday, as crude futures crossed the once-unthinkable $100-a-barrel mark. Several major carriers increased prices, with each citing higher fuel costs as the reason. CC Times 1/05/08
Truck drivers serving California ports are on the front line of a debate raging at ports nationwide over the best way to reduce air pollution caused by their idling vehicles. At the Port of Oakland, that debate has crystallized into a proposal that calls for trucking companies to hire drivers -- rather than use them as independent contractors. It's hoped the companies can afford cleaner-burning trucks than the drivers can afford on their wages. The drivers support this plan, saying it will help ensure them a livable wage, but companies oppose it, saying the additional expense would cut into their bottom line. CC Times 1/06/08
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