California lawmakers are considering granting special parking privileges to women in the final three months of pregnancy and the first two months after birth. The legislation would apply to more than a half-million women who give birth every year in California. Inside Bay Area 3/21/08
The pilot of a container ship that spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the Bay in November pleaded not guilty Friday to breaking two federal environmental laws. Cota is charged with a misdemeanor count of killing migratory birds and another misdemeanor charge of illegal dumping. He faces up to 18 months in jail and more than $100,000 in fines if convicted. He is due back in court April 4. CC Times 3/22/08
Trucking's owner-operators, the self-employed drivers who haul everything from Hummers to hay, are suffering. Many say they're running on the edge of bankruptcy, about to disappear unless they get help. While a wave of trucking failures now might be invisible to consumers, when the economy rebounds, it would push up shipping rates, helping increase prices. Industries that depend on independent truckers, such as logging, are starting to suffer. Maine Gov. John Baldacci declared a civil emergency at the end of November, speeding fuel tax reimbursements for logging truck operators and asking the Department of Transportation to identify roads that could tolerate logging-truck weight, allowing truckers to take more direct routes and save fuel. CC Times 3/15/08
Parking is an issue at several BART stations, and while a few lot expansions are in the works, BART says just building more parking lots and garages is a costly and impractical solution. CC Times 3/24/08
A proposal going before the Air Resources Board on Thursday fails to sway critics convinced that the state continues to retreat from its once-lofty goal of seeing thousands of electric cars on the roadways. A staff report recommends that the board greatly reduce the required number of purely electric vehicles that automakers offer for sale and instead focus on more readily available and less expensive hybrids that would still cut pollution dramatically. It's a difference that would save the auto industry more than $2 billion through 2017. Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols said any new approach must reflect the limits of technology but at the same time steer automakers toward adding electric and fuel-cell-powered cars to their fleets. San Diego Union Tribune 3/24/08
A large number of cargo ships visiting California ports may be unable to perform an important task after an oil spill: phoning critical agencies and emergency teams within 30 minutes. In public records obtained by The Bee, 21 of 164 ships subjected to spot state inspection in a three-year period could not place four notification phone calls, as required by state law. Often the ship's crew failed to locate the phone numbers or didn't understand the task. Sacramento Bee 3/23/08
The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a clean air plan requiring shipping companies to buy and maintain a modernized fleet of big rigs and employ thousands of independent truckers who currently operate under contract. LA Times 3/21/08
Threatened with legal action, the California League of Cities has decided to stop appointing city council members to the regional air district board, leaving two board seats in limbo. The two empty seats are up for appointment at the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, which copes with one of the country's worst air quality problems. Eventually, the problem could affect a total of five board seats that the league would have filled. Fresno Bee 3/20/08
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