Water:
*California seawater has improved, pollution survey finds -- Waters off California's coast are cleaner -- and safer for swimmers and surfers -- in dry weather than they've been in years, according to an environmental report released Wednesday. In rainy conditions, however, more than half of Southern California beaches tested fair to poor for traces of fecal bacteria. LA Times 5/22/08
E. coli on beaches easy to predict, hard to control -- San Mateo County's coastal beaches and Bayside water play spots received generally healthy ratings in an annual scorecard of California beaches contaminated by fecal bacteria, which can pose a threat to human health. SJ Mercury 5/22/08
*New developments urged, or required, to offset impact -- In response to drought, environmental rules restricting water supplies, greater demand from nearby states and the escalating cost of the increasingly precious commodity, water agencies across California are starting to make a dramatic shift in how they review applications for new developments. Some are demanding that future housing tracts and shopping centers will have little or no impact on a region's water supply. San Diego Union Tribune 5/22/08
Agriculture:
Cheese race is fizzling out -- Experts say predictions that California will soon overtake Wisconsin as the nation's top cheese producer are unlikely to come true. The Golden State and its happy cows gained quickly on Wisconsin in the last decade, but plants in California are maxing out while efforts to boost production in Wisconsin are paying off. LA Times 5/22/08
*Feinstein plan to grant legal status to immigrant farmworkers dies in Senate -- A quick parliamentary maneuver late Tuesday night killed California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's guest worker plan. The plan would have given temporary legal status for five years to 1.35 million illegal immigrant farmworkers, as well as their spouses and children. Sacramento Bee 5/22/08
Farm Bill:
Senate set to join House on override of farm bill veto -- In a rapid rebuke of President Bush's efforts for fiscal restraint, the House voted to override his veto Wednesday of a $307 billion farm bill, and the Senate was poised to follow suit today. SF Chronicle 5/22/08
Lawmakers scramble to fix farm bill mix-up -- Lawmakers scrambled Thursday to fix a clerical error that derailed an effort to override President Bush's veto of a $300 billion farm bill. The House of Representatives voted 316-108 Wednesday to override the president's veto, but shortly after the vote, lawmakers learned that a "not particularly controversial" section of the bill was accidentally omitted from the version that Congress sent to the White House. CNN 5/22/08
Health:
*Up to 24,000 deaths a year in California are linked to air pollution -- As many as 24,000 deaths annually in California are linked to chronic exposure to fine particulate pollution, triple the previous official estimate of 8,200, according to research conducted by the California Air Resources Board. The studies have found rates of heart attacks, strokes and other serious disease increase exponentially after exposure to even slightly higher amounts of metal or dust. Californians exposed to high levels of fine particulates had their lives cut short on average by 10 years, the board staff found. LA Times 5/22/08
Air quality board to fine Bay Area polluters -- Jumping ahead of state and federal regulators, the Bay Area air quality district became the first in the nation on Wednesday to impose fees on businesses that pump some of the highest levels of carbon dioxide into the air each year. Representatives of local refineries, among the polluters whose bills would run an additional $200,000 each year, argued that the district has no legal authority to levy such fees and that the anticipated greenhouse gas emission inventory would overlap with similar efforts at the state level. SF Chronicle 5/22/08
Soot blowing through San Joaquin Valley contributes to 3,000 deaths a year, state says -- In a grim announcement Wednesday, state officials said airborne soot prematurely kills up to 3,000 San Joaquin Valley residents each year, nearly triple the previous estimate. Activists said the study is further proof that the state should delay the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District plan, which they say is not nearly aggressive enough. Modesto Bee 5/22/08
*California’s farm belt adopts measures to cut air pollution -- Environmentalists say a new plan to clean up the soot-laden air in California’s farm belt would fail to adequately regulate agricultural sources of pollution. California’s farm belt has some of the highest levels of airborne dust, smoke and soot in the country. The district’s governing board voted 8-3 in favor of a plan that could keep families from using their fireplaces for up to 35 days each winter and require local employers to make a portion of their workers car pool. The plan is meant to comply with standards set in 1997 under the federal Clean Air Act. AP 5/22/08
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