Transportation Daily News July 24

Emissions:

 

*California joins big carbon-trade partnership -- California, six other Western states and four Canadian provinces launched plans on Wednesday for one of the world's largest carbon-trading systems, a sweeping effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming. The North American program, like a similar market-based system in Europe, focuses on heavy polluters such as electric utilities, oil refineries and large industrial and commercial facilities. SF Chronicle 7/24/08

 

Carbon market takes shape -- California officials are counting on that market magic to shrink the state's carbon footprint by 35 million metric tons by 2020. That's a fifth of the total reductions mandated under Assembly Bill 32, the omnibus global-warming law passed in 2006. Sacramento Bee 7/24/08

 

*Judge: EPA must regulate ship water discharge -- An appeals court Wednesday upheld a ruling ordering the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate the water discharged from ships as a way to protect local ecosystems from invasive species. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said it agreed with the federal judge who in 2005 ruled that the EPA exceeded its authority in exempting certain ship discharges from the pollution control requirements of the 1972 Clean Water Act.  A handful of environmental groups and states sued the EPA to require it to regulate ballast water because of concerns that invasive aquatic species such as mollusks were being pumped into local waters. AP 7/24/08

 

EPA urged to control mercury from cement kilns -- Environmental groups Wednesday called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enforce a law that would control the thousands of pounds of toxic mercury discharged into the atmosphere every year by cement kilns in the United States. Two of the nation's worst mercury-emitting cement kilns are in Northern California - in Cupertino and Davenport, north of Santa Cruz. They dump hundreds of pounds of the poison into the air each year and help make the Bay Area's mercury emissions the highest of any region in California. SF Chronicle 7/24/08

 

Transit and infrastructure:

 

*Bay Area officials approve toll-lane network -- Solo drivers would be able to a pay a toll for the privilege of using carpool lanes to speed their commutes on a dozen highways from the South Bay to Sonoma and east under a plan approved Wednesday by Bay Area transportation officials. The system would be phased in over nearly two decades, starting in late 2010 or early 2011. SF Chronicle 7/24/08

 

Fight brews over plan to shut Market Street -- With record gasoline prices, increasing bicycle traffic, growing concern about climate change and Mayor Gavin Newsom's recent efforts to close a 6-mile stretch of road along the city's waterfront on two upcoming Sundays, Supervisor Chris Daly said there's never been a better time to push a car ban on Market Street from Hayes Valley to the Embarcadero. SF Chronicle 7/24/08

 

*MTC approves outlook plan for Bay Area -- Despite pleas that some projects be replaced with more transit-friendly alternatives, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission approved its $223 billion, 25-year Bay Area transportation plan Wednesday. About 85 percent of the budget was committed to ongoing projects, MTC spokesman John Goodwin said. Nearly $6.1 billion went toward establishing 800 miles of carpool and high-occupancy toll lanes. Examiner 7/24/08

 

Shipping and ports:

*Federal prosecutors charge shipping company in Bay oil spill -- Federal prosecutors charged the shipping company that employed the crew of the Cosco Busan with falsifying documents to cover up its negligence in the November spill that poured more than 50,000 gallons of heavy fuel into the Bay. The indictment says the ship's crew and its supervisors made up detailed voyage plans after the spill to make it appear those plans were onboard when the cargo ship struck the Bay Bridge. SJ Mercury 7/24/08

 

Bay Area Coast Guards return home on new ship -- The first new Coast Guard ship in almost four decades reached home Wednesday, reuniting its crew with family and friends they hadn't seen in six months. The Bertholf, a 420-foot ship and the first of its class in the Coast Guard, is a multi-mission ship designed for law enforcement, search-and-rescue missions and working military operations with the Navy, said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Dave Oney. Crew members spent the past six months training on the ship in Pascagoula, Miss., and arrived home Wednesday after a goodwill tour. SJ Mercury 7/24/08