12-10-08

Posted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wednesday, 10 December 2008

 12-10-08Merced Sun-StarLawsuit objects to Delta smelt protections...JOHN ELLIS, The Fresno Beehttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/587197.htmlTwo prominent local water agencies filed suit Tuesday to block a new state regulation aimed at protecting a tiny fish that inhabits the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.The Westlands Water District and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority say the California Department of Fish & Game's regulation to protect the longfin smelt would deal a devastating blow to the state's water supply, cutting as much as 1 million acre-feet in water deliveries if it is fully implemented.Already, the 50-page lawsuit says, the state's water supply has been hit by a combination of drought, governmental agency cutbacks and court-ordered reductions related to the delta smelt, a cousin of the longfin."The economic devastation this will cause is unbelievable, especially in the times we are in," said Westlands spokeswoman Sarah Woolf.Tuesday's suit, filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court, is one of three filed against the Fish and Game Department, the California Fish and Game Commission and others by public water agencies from across the state that are responsible for delivering water to more than 25 million Californians and nearly 2 million acres of agricultural land.The crux of the three suits is very similar, Woolf says. The other two were filed by the State Water Contractors -- which includes the Dudley Ridge Water District and Empire West Side Irrigation District, both in Kings County -- and the Kern County Water Agency.A central claim is the state Fish and Game Department and the Fish and Game Commission did not use valid scientific information in the Nov. 14 adoption of the regulation involving the longfin smelt.The short-term regulation, in effect Dec. 1 through mid-February, could trigger a reduction in pumping out of the delta if longfin smelt are found in the vicinity of the pumps.The suit says fewer than 100 adult longfin smelt would be protected by the regulation, and it would give no improvement to future populations, because the vast majority of the fish do not come anywhere near the massive delta pumps that are part of both the state and federal water projects.Environmental groups, however, have said that delta pumping has adversely affected both the longfin and delta smelt.Westlands and Delta-Mendota also are questioning the authority the state Fish and Game department has over the federal Central Valley Project. Westlands and Delta-Mendota receive federal water. Currently, state officials are considering whether to list the longfin smelt -- a 4-inch fish native to the delta -- as either threatened or endangered under the state Endangered Species Act. Merced County supervisor gives up on big donationMerced Theatre doesn't get any funding after all...CORINNE REILLYhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/v-print/story/587204.htmlMerced County Supervisor Kathleen Crookham has abandoned her plan to give a sizable amount of county money to help restore the Merced Theatre. Instead the money will go to a variety of other causes, the Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday.Thirteen of them will get the funds -- but not the theater.Crookham, who will retire from the board at the end of this year, first proposed handing $250,000 in county money to the theater this spring. The allocation would have come from the county's so-called special project fund. Each year, each of the five supervisors gets a pot of taxpayer money -- this year it's $100,000 each -- to parcel out to community projects and causes in his or her district. The majority of the board must approve the expenditures.Crookham, who has served on the board 12 years, had managed to save $270,000 in special project funds by May of this year. That's when she proposed giving all but $20,000 to the Merced Theatre Foundation, which is working to restore the 1930s-era downtown theater. Historically, supervisors have disbursed the money in smaller amounts to a wider variety of causes, and the allocations usually pass with little or no discussion. But at a quarter-million dollars, Crookham's request raised objections. Other supervisors said the expenditure wouldn't be in keeping with the intent of special project funds. They said it was too much to spend on one building, especially one that doesn't belong to the county -- the Merced Theatre belongs to the city of Merced -- and especially when the county faced a budget shortfall that has resulted in dozens of layoffs. Board members first voted to delay a decision on the allocation, then rejected it in June on a 3-2 vote. Crookham and Supervisor Jerry O'Banion supported it. Crookham eventually tried lowering her request to $150,000 and then $100,000 last month. The board rejected it both times. On Tuesday, she presented a plan to give a total of $226,000 in special project money to 13 separate projects and causes. Among the largest allocations were $60,000 to install carpet at the county's main library, $25,000 to the Mercy Hospital Building Fund and $20,000 each to the Merced Fairgrounds, the Steven Stayner & Missing Children's Memorial Fund and the local American Legion Hall.No money was given to the Merced Theatre. The expenditures passed on a 4-1 vote. Supervisor Mike Nelson opposed them, citing the recent economic downturn and the county's tight budget. "Given what's coming down the pike, I'd ask whether any of this is prudent," he said. "I have trouble with it. Philosophically, I just can't support it."Crookham said she thinks a number of the expenditures will help create jobs."This has been a very frustrating experience for me," she said after the vote.Giving seasonSupervisor Kathleen Crookham gave money to these organizations after months of trying to give it all or most of the money to the Merced Theatre.Carpet for the main county library branch, $60,000Mercy Hospital Building fund, $25,000Merced County nonviolent drug offender treatment program, $25,000American Legion hall, $20,000Merced County Fairgrounds, $20,000Steven Stayner & Missing Children's Memorial fund, $20,000Merced Assembly Center, $15,000Valley Crisis Center of Merced, $15,000Castle Air Museum, $10,000Boys and Girls Club, $5,000Merced Multicultural Art Center, $5,000Challenger Learning Center Inc., $5,000Merced County Food Bank, $1,000 Modesto BeeLA Port makes cuts as shipments decline...Daily Breezehttp://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/528559.htmlThe Port of Los Angeles has slashed its budget because of a projected 20 to 30 percent decline in shipments during the upcoming quarter.Reacting to the gloomy economic forecast, port officials are cutting current spending by nearly $21 million. Costs have been reduced in recent months and job openings aren't being filled.Harbor commissioners in June approved a $1.15 billion budget that increased spending 15 percent for the fiscal year.Port executive director Geraldine Knatz now says "our most prudent course of action is to hunker down and plan for possible significant reductions in revenues in the coming year."Settlement in LA kayak trip dispute...last updated: December 09, 2008 02:01:25 PMhttp://www.modbee.com/state_wire/story/527625.htmlWASHINGTON — A settlement has been reached in the case of a government biologist who was threatened with a 30-day job suspension over a kayaking trip.Heather Wylie, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers biologist in Los Angeles, went kayaking on the Los Angeles River in July to protest a proposal by the Corps that could have weakened clean water protections for the river.Her supervisors found out and threatened to suspend her from her job.The group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility intervened on Wylie's behalf.On Tuesday the group announced a settlement whereby Wylie will leave her job without either side acknowledging liability.Details were not released. Her attorneys say Wylie plans to go to law school to become an environmental attorney.Fresno BeeHousing might lead Valley backAnalyst sees some encouraging signs in the region's economy...Sanford Naxhttp://www.fresnobee.com/business/v-print/story/1065413.htmlThe unemployment rate in the Fresno area could reach 2003 levels as the economic free fall that started with the bust in housing prices spreads into other sectors, a university economist said Tuesday.The jobless rate in Fresno County could reach 13% when the economy troughs in late 2009, said Jeff Michael, director of the University of the Pacific Eberhardt School of Business in Stockton.He called that a "stunning return" of double-digit unemployment rates, but noted they still would be below the rates of the early 1990s (it reached nearly 16% in Fresno County in October 1995) -- and well above the rates of about 7% in 2006. The jobless rate in October climbed to 11.4% from 9.6% in September. "The nine months between October through next June will be the most severe part of the downturn," Michael said.When it does end, however, the region will be well positioned for growth, he said. "Population and income growth in the past decade have brought new services that have mostly increased the region's quality of life and business climate. Housing affordability has returned and will make the region more attractive to commuters and investors alike," he said.Michael said he was encouraged by increasing home sales, which are fueled by falling home prices and could help pull the region and state out of the recession earlier."It is painful, but we are further along in the process," he said. "We are starting to see signs of real estate stabilizing, so we could get out of it ahead of the rest of the country. But there is no escaping it when the U.S. and global economy is declining."Sales of existing houses have been climbing over the past several months as falling home prices entice buyers off the sidelines. The 632 houses sold in Fresno and Clovis in October continued a stretch of monthly increases that started in February.The streak may end in November, Fresno Association of Realtors President Don Scordino said. Tougher credit standards; the widespread use by banks of out-of-town escrow companies, which lengthens the home-buying process and leads to more cancellations; reducing loan limits for the FHA mortgage from $362,700 to $276,000; and the early closure of the Fresno County Recorder's Office last month likely could bring November's final numbers down, he said.The final tally could be lower than October even though the number of houses that entered contract totaled 755. That compares with 274 in October 2007 and 419 in October 2006, Scordino said.Michael said none of the 11 Northern California regions he tracks will expand next year. San Jose will be the most affected by recent developments, he said, because it was late coming to the recession.He said the Silicon Valley could lose jobs through 2010, but the estimated 30,000 lost payrolls will pale in comparison to the 200,000 that evaporated in the dot-com crash of 2001. DOE calls for bigger nuclear waste dump...H. JOSEF HEBERT - Associated Press Writerhttp://www.fresnobee.com/state_wire/business/story/1065161.htmlWASHINGTON -- The Bush administration said Tuesday there are no technology constraints to a major expansion of the proposed nuclear waste site in Nevada, calling for possibly tripling the amount of highly radioactive used reactor fuel that could be stored there in manmade underground caverns.In a report to Congress, the Energy Department asked that the current capacity limit of 77,000 tons of waste - imposed by Congress in 1987 - be removed to accommodate all of the waste expected to be generated at commercial power plants, many of which are likely to operate for another four decades or more.In a separate report, the department dismissed suggestions that reactor waste be kept at temporary storage sites at government facilities, an option that President-elect Barack Obama has suggested as a possible alternative to the planned Nevada site, Yucca Mountain, located 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The department said the government is prohibited by law to accept the reactor waste at federal facilities or other sites since a 1982 law specifically singled out Yucca Mountain as the only future waste repository."In order to undertake interim storage in a timely manner, legislation would be needed," the Energy Department report said.But the Yucca Mountain repository, with its statutory capacity limit, is nowhere near adequate for handling all the material expected to be generated by the country's 104 commercial reactors before they are shut down, the department said.Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said unless Congress removes the 77,000-ton limit on Yucca Mountain lawmakers will have to approve a search for a second repository. As many as nine potential waste sites had been looked at before Congress in 1987 declared that only the Nevada site should be considered.The statutory limit on capacity "is not based on any technical considerations, and the repository layout at Yucca Mountain can be expanded to accommodate three times the amount of fuel allowed under the current arbitrary cap," Bodman said in a statement.Nearly 64,000 tons of reactor waste is now kept in cooling ponds and concrete storage canisters at commercial power plants, with about 2,200 tons being added every year. The Energy Department said Tuesday that power plants could generate as much as 143,000 tons over their extended operating life. The Yucca Mountain site also would have to accommodate defense-related reactor waste.During the presidential campaign, Obama called Yucca Mountain the wrong place for a waste repository, citing the potential for earthquakes and other scientific issues. Obama has been unclear on an alternative, but has suggested that for the time being the used reactor fuel should be kept at power plants and perhaps at interim government locations.The Energy Department in its report said that if Congress gives authorization and adequate funds, it could have an interim storage facility running by 2015. But the Bush administration has argued against interim storage, arguing it would take pressure off building a permanent repository and require waste to be moved twice.The department submitted an application for a permit to build and operate Yucca Mountain to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission earlier this year. The commission has four years to act on the proposal. If a permit is approved on schedule the Yucca site could begin taking waste by 2020.Nevada officials have vigorously fought the Yucca project, arguing that the site is not the best place to put material that will remain highly radioactive for up to a million years.Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has vowed to starve the project of funds. Sacramento BeeQ&A on Delta ecosystem challenge...Matt Weiserhttp://www.sacbee.com/1268/v-print/story/1461880.htmlBy New Year's Eve, a panel of state Cabinet secretaries called the Delta Vision Committee will send the governor and Legislature a plan to replumb and restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the hub of California's freshwater delivery system.It will be one of the most ambitious infrastructure and habitat restoration projects ever proposed in America.The Delta provides drinking water to 25 million Californians and irrigates 3 million acres of farmland via diversion pumps near Tracy. But these diversions have contributed to a broad ecosystem collapse in the Delta, including nine fish species in steep decline. As a result, water deliveries to the Bay Area and Southern California have been curtailed. California Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman, who chairs the Delta Vision Committee, and Karla Nemeth, his liaison to the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, describe how their planning efforts likely will converge, probably in 2010, in a big decision for California voters.The committee is expected to propose a new water canal around the Delta to separate demand for the Sacramento River's freshwater supply from the estuary's sensitive environment.Also expected are new water conservation measures and a new governing body to manage the Delta. The Bay-Delta Conservation Plan is preparing a similar package of projects to obtain approval under the state and federal endangered species acts.How significant are these projects to the state?Chrisman: They are very significant. When you think about the vision that helped create the Central Valley Project back in the '20s, the vision that Gov. (Pat) Brown and others had to build the State Water Project, this is a big effort. These are projects that are going to be built over quite an extended period of time – 10, 15, 20 years.Have public attitudes changed toward the idea of a Delta canal?Chrisman: People recognize that a lot of time has passed since the defeat of the peripheral canal back in 1982. Are we talking about a canal of the size that was talked about in 1982 – 21,000 cubic feet per second? I don't know. That's one of the alternatives. Most people recognize that we've got to do something. The "something" is what we're debating now.Delta residents will bear the brunt of these changes. We're talking, potentially, about buying out entire islands and running a canal through others. What do you have to say to them?Chrisman: We understand those concerns and appreciate those concerns, and our commitment is to continue to address those concerns. There's a lot of very strongly held views on these issues. You look at what a special place the Delta is. We recognize that. Our commitment is to make sure those aren't just words, that we really live by that and work with the folks down there. Are we going to agree on everything? Of course not.Tell us how your committee and the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan fit together.Nemeth: BDCP lays out a set of project objectives, and marries them with a conservation strategy for species that contributes to the recovery of those species. It also identifies a dedicated funding stream. In this case, it would be contributions from the water users.Chrisman: We (the committee) will be producing an implementation plan … that will constitute our recommendation to the governor by the end of this year. BDCP will inform whatever decisions are ultimately made by the governor and the Legislature on how to move forward. BDCP will be the permitting arm of these efforts.Nemeth: One of the real benefits of the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan is that it really focuses on helping fish species recover through sustaining the entire ecosystem. We really believe the opportunities for success are high with this kind of a process.Will all this culminate in a ballot measure or legislation?Chrisman: The possibility is "yes" to all of that. Clearly there will have to be, down the road, some bond measure to help fund some of these efforts.The Delta Vision Task Force called for initial legislation by May 2009 to begin reforming government in the Delta to make these large projects work. What is your time frame to have projects ready to build?Chrisman: The only deadline is the deadline that requires the Cabinet committee to send our recommendation to the governor by the end of this year. Quite frankly, these are things we really can't wait for. We have got to move and we have got to move now. The urgency is today.The task force also said Delta water diversions have been excessive in the past, and we may have to divert less in the future to protect the environment. What will you recommend?Chrisman: That's yet to be determined in this process. There's a number of questions that have got to be answered through this process first. They're going to be answered in an open and transparent way. We just don't have the answers to that yet. California's Nichols has a plan for global warming...Rob Hotakainen, McClatchy Washington Bureauhttp://www.sacbee.com/378/v-print/story/1461805.htmlWASHINGTON – California's Mary Nichols has an idea for how Washington can respond to global warming: Start with the Environmental Protection Agency.Nichols, the head of the California Air Resources Board, has a big interest in whether that happens. She's believed to be one of two finalists – along with Lisa Jackson of New Jersey – to head the agency for President-elect Barack Obama.An announcement is expected this week in Chicago, when Obama names his environmental team. If Nichols gets the post, she would add to California's growing clout in crafting a national response to global warming. As powerful committee chairs, California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer and Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman of Los Angeles are already positioned to take leading roles when the new Congress begins tackling the issue in January.If Nichols loses out, it could be a result of geographic considerations. While officials with Obama's transition team have not given any public indication of who will be chosen, some environmental groups say that Jackson may have the upper hand because she would help balance California's power.Boxer, who has long battled with the EPA over its refusal to allow California to control its own greenhouse gas emissions, has been lobbying on behalf of Nichols. Nichols worked in the EPA under President Clinton as an assistant administrator for air and radiation."As far as a candidate, you know that I love Mary Nichols just because I know her so well," Boxer told reporters. "But I think these other candidates that are mentioned are terrific … I'm awaiting the president-elect's decision, and I'm excited about it."While the finalists appear to have been winnowed down to Nichols and Jackson, several other names have been mentioned, including environmental lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Kathleen McGinty, who headed Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection. Jackson, 46, served as the commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and would be the first African American to head the EPA.Obama is expected to announce his secretaries of energy and the interior and the administrator of the EPA either today or Thursday.In advance of his announcement, he met Tuesday with former Vice President Al Gore, one of the nation's leading advocates for a plan that would require a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.Other Californians still mentioned as possibilities for the environmental team include Democratic Rep. Mike Thompson, as interior secretary, and a dark horse, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, as energy secretary.Nichols is one of eight state environmental chiefs who's urging that the EPA take the lead in developing a plan to lower greenhouse emissions by amending the Clean Air Act.Under that strategy, carbon dioxide would be classified as an air pollutant and be subject to federal regulation.Boxer, who tried without success to get a global warming bill through the last Congress, backs the idea, now that the EPA won't be run by the Bush administration. She said morale at the agency has plummeted under Bush's leadership.Nichols, a Los Angeles Democrat and former environmental attorney, has headed California's air board since her appointment last year by Schwarzenegger.She has helped lead the state's efforts to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and has criticized the EPA for its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide.Under the Federal Clean Air Act, California has the right to set its own vehicle-emissions standards but needs a waiver from the EPA to do so.Meanwhile, Nichols, 63, isn't talking. She has confirmed that she's a candidate for the job, but in a meeting with The Sacramento Bee's editorial board last Wednesday, she would not even say whether she had discussed the position with Obama."I'm not talking about that," Nichols said. "I've been asked not to talk about it." Forecast: Sacramento, state unemployment to top 9% for 2 yearsGet ready for two years of 9 percent unemployment...Dale Kaslerhttp://www.sacbee.com/103/v-print/story/1461955.htmlCalifornia and Sacramento's jobless rate will top 9 percent sometime early next year and won't fall below it until early 2011, according to an economic forecast released Tuesday by the University of the Pacific.The higher unemployment is the obvious result of a deepening recession as the economy moves well beyond the initial job losses in construction and mortgage lending. "We're out of the housing thing and into a pretty severe … traditional structure of a recession," said Jeff Michael, director of UOP's Business Forecasting Center.The state has lost about 100,000 jobs so far; Michael said another 300,000 jobs will disappear in 2009.The recession should end in late 2009. And that's if things go well and the federal government adopts the appropriate policies, he said.Michael advocates a big fiscal-stimulus package and a program to reduce mortgage principals for troubled borrowers, both of which have been urged by President-elect Obama.Even so, unemployment will linger above 9 percent through all of 2010, he said. Unemployment tends to stay high well after a recession is over because employers are slow to hire back."There's not a lot of good news in here," he said.Michael said the Sacramento area figures to lose 2 percent of its jobs next year, a significant downturn. The region's sea of state workers could suffer some of the worst of it because of the state's budget crisis, he said.Proposals for layoffs or unpaid furloughs have been floated by elected officials as one way of cutting the deficit.The region's unemployment rate is 7.9 percent. The statewide rate is 8.2 percent.One small plus for Sacramento is it faces relatively little exposure to job losses in manufacturing, a sector that typically gets hit hard in a recession.The tech sector is also vulnerable, although Michael said the job losses in Silicon Valley will be just a fraction of what they were during the dot-com recession of 2001.Michael said unemployment will likely rise into the teens in some Central Valley communities like Modesto and Merced, though it won't get quite as high as it did in the 1990s. Drexel campus OK'd by Placer supervisors...Bob Walterhttp://www.sacbee.com/101/v-print/story/1461858.htmlWithin minutes Tuesday, Placer County supervisors gave their stamp of approval to a plan – in the works for seven years – for the Sacramento region's first major private university.With little discussion and a series of quick votes, the supervisors gave Drexel University of Philadelphia the green light to establish a university on 1,150 acres of farmland west of Roseville.University project manager Julie Hanson said Tuesday that the donors – who include William and Claudia Cummings, the Wayne L. Prim Family and their partners – were thrilled by Placer County's support. "This is a historic vote and a historic opportunity for Placer County and the region," she said. "Our next goal will be to help Drexel be successful here."Supervisors had unanimously endorsed the concept last month after a lengthy public hearing.The plan allows a group of developers led by the Angelo K. Tsakopoulos family to donate 1,157 acres – south of Pleasant Grove Creek and north of Base Line Road – to Drexel.About 600 acres of the land would be used for the university campus, including faculty housing, sports facilities and open space.The rest of the land would be sold for development of more than 3,200 residences, 1,155 university dwellings and 22 acres of commercial space, along with 220 acres of park, open space and public land.All proceeds from the sale of the adjoining land would go to the university.Drexel has five years to act on the offer, which could be made to another university if the Philadelphia institution declines.The long-range vision is a university with some 6,000 students, 2,000 jobs and a potential economic impact – according to a 2004 study by the Sacramento Regional Research Institute – of more than $105 million a year.Opponents, including the Sierra Club and others, argued that the deal would convert valuable farmland into an urban island that is far from existing population and transit centers. They also said the donors would profit hugely by selling adjacent farmland for more development.Sierra Club spokeswoman Marilyn Jasper said Tuesday's vote was not the end of the lingering controversy."It's not over yet," she said, declining to elaborate.In January, the 117-year-old Philadelphia university will begin offering five master's programs at the $10 million Drexel Center for Graduate Studies in downtown Sacramento.Carl "Tobey" Oxholm III, Drexel's executive vice president and second-ranking official, said the downtown center also is a way to begin answering the $200 million-plus question that Drexel faces:"Is Northern California an open and welcoming market for the kind of distinctive approach to a top-tier education that Drexel provides?" he said.Oxholm stressed that there is no time line for a decision."The donors have come up with a truly magnificent plan," he said earlier. "But most universities in the United States, if you want their product, you go where they are."There are not many models of creating new campuses in different states, much less different time zones and different coasts. It's a pretty big leap."Drexel offers intense "co-op education" programs that balance classroom and field experience, Oxholm said. Most students take five years to complete the program and spend their middle three years split 50-50 between the classroom and working in the fields of their majors."They come out with three real jobs on their résumés," he said Tuesday.The only traditional private university now based in the capital region is William Jessup, which has about 550 students in Rocklin and plans to grow to 800-1,000 students within five years. Jessup's long-range goal – probably decades away, officials said – is to have up to 5,000 students on its 125-acre campus. Editorial: Placer university is a challenging boon...12-9-08http://www.sacbee.com/editorials/v-print/story/1458981.htmlAt its meeting today, the Placer County Board of Supervisors is expected to take final action on a plan that could one day bring a new university to a 1,157-acre tract west of Roseville.If the board votes as expected, it will culminate a five-year effort by land developer Angelo Tsakopoulos and his partners to get farmland rezoned for the project.Under the deal, 557 acres would be sold for residential and commercial development. Proceeds from that sale would then be dedicated to a college campus – one affiliated with Drexel of Philadelphia or another university – to be built on the remaining 600 acres. There will be lot to celebrate if this endowment effort succeeds. A new university could bring jobs, cultural events and education options to Placer, benefiting the entire region. Drexel, which has established a center for graduate studies in downtown Sacramento, appears to be highly interested. Under the deal, Drexel would have five years to accept the offer and start the process that could eventually result in a university of 6,000 students.But as you can see, there are many "ifs" built into this arrangement, and the ongoing recession has magnified them. If the economy doesn't quickly rebound, it could be some time before Drexel could invest in a university campus, even with donated land. And even if Drexel plunges ahead, Placer County will have to demonstrate that it can efficiently provide infrastructure and marry the university with its plans of protecting open space.Within Placer County, the local Sierra Club chapter has registered some legitimate concerns about the the chosen site for the university. The assembled parcels sit apart from Roseville and are nearly surrounded by agricultural lands (some owned by Tsakopoulos). To be sure, the area sits within the zone envisioned for future development by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments. But the SACOG Blueprint is a vision for growth through 2050. It envisions an orderly sequencing – not a checkerboard.To ensure that the university is an asset on all levels, Placer County and its citizens will have some work on their hands. They will need to make sure that the project's financing plan assures needed infrastructure while still being realistic for a university. Now's a fine time to consider how this campus will be connected to the broader community through transit, telecommunications and alliances with cultural organizations.Lastly, approval of the university project makes it essential that supervisors and resources agencies approve a conservation plan for Placer County in the next two years.Supervisor Robert Weygandt, who has voted for the university project in earlier stages, says he's convinced that the Placer County Conservation Plan can stem concerns about leapfrog growth, providing certainty for both developers and open-space advocates. Weygandt will need support from both his board and university supporters to turn this vision into a lasting legacy. Stockton RecordLawsuits pile up over further fish protection...Alex Breitlerhttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081210/A_NEWS/812100322/-1/A_NEWSLOS ANGELES - As few as 50 tiny longfin smelt would be protected by Delta pumping restrictions that could further crimp the water supply for 25 million Californians, water users said Tuesday in a trio of lawsuits filed against the state.Districts that supply water to cities and farms from the Bay Area to San Diego say the restrictions, approved last month by the California Fish and Game Commission, are disproportionate and do not reflect the best science.The restrictions are in effect until mid-February, when the commission is expected to vote on whether the longfin smelt - a close cousin of the threatened Delta smelt - should receive permanent protection under state endangered species laws.The well-chronicled decline of the Delta smelt already has led to severe cutbacks in how much water can be pumped from the state and federal facilities near Tracy.Now attention has turned to the longfin smelt. The added restrictions approved last month are double trouble, especially in a drought year, water users say."Given the minuscule benefit to the fish, there appears to be something wrong with this picture," said Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors, in a prepared statement.Moon's group, which represents 27 water agencies, filed suit Tuesday along with the agricultural Westlands Water District and the Kern County Water Agency. The lawsuits were filed in Los Angeles Superior Court.They are the latest in a series of legal entanglements over the Delta, water supplies and fish.The state Department of Water Resources had said the longfin smelt protections could lead to a 1.1 million acre-feet reduction in pumping this winter. That's enough water to supply more than 1 million average families for a year.Fish and Game officials at their November meeting said it was unlikely that such dire projections would come true. They also said that longfin smelt have declined to the point where each individual fish is important to the well-being of the species. Cutbacks in water pumping could be triggered if surveyors find as few as six smelt near the export pumps this winter.A Fish and Game spokeswoman said the department had received just one of the three lawsuits and could not commentCouncil ratifies Spanos deal...David Sidershttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081210/A_NEWS/812100324/-1/A_NEWSSTOCKTON - A.G. Spanos Cos. was relieved Tuesday of its obligation to build hundreds of multifamily homes in north Stockton's Spanos Park West, the City Council allowing the developer to build those homes elsewhere or, if the company prefers, to pay a per-unit fee of $2,000.The council's 6-1 vote ratified a deal drafted by Spanos and City Manager Gordon Palmer over several months. Members of the council majority said they believed Spanos when it said it intends to build homes - not pay a fee - including 157 units downtown.For a city that has long sought housing downtown, "this is a start," Councilman Clem Lee said.Councilwoman Susan Eggman, who dissented, had proposed unsuccessfully that the buyout provision be removed from the deal.Spanos agreed when the council approved construction of Spanos Park West in 2002 that the subdivision would include 935 townhouses, apartments or other high-density housing units, a type attractive to city planners because such homes typically are more affordable and better suited to mass transit than are traditional single-family homes.But after building 308 high-density units in an apartment complex off Interstate 5, Spanos was encouraged by the city in 2004 to instead expand commercial building at the site, including selling land to Wal-Mart for a planned store.Spanos said this year it has no more room to build."We followed instructions," said Mike Hakeem, an attorney for Spanos. "We didn't do anything wrong."According to the agreement adopted Tuesday, Spanos is to build 488 high-density units in two other north Stockton developments. They are Crystal Bay, which was approved earlier this year, and The Preserve on Atlas Tract, south of Bear Creek, a 1,500-home subdivision approved Tuesday.Spanos also would build 157 high-density homes downtown or pay $2,000 per unit to a multifamily housing-related nonprofit group.Hakeem said Spanos' intent is to build homes, not pay a fee. He said Spanos is interested in two downtown sites he declined to identify.Councilwoman Rebecca Nabors said she is confident that Spanos intends to build."They have done a fantastic job in this community as a whole," she said.The Sierra Club's Eric Parfrey said $2,000 is nowhere near enough to build an apartment unit. He said to allow such a buyout establishes a precedent and that other developers could seek the same."It's such a drop in the bucket that it's insulting," he said.Palmer has said the fee, should Spanos pay it, could be leveraged by nonprofit builders to fund construction. He said the fee was proposed by Spanos only as a penalty to be imposed should Spanos fail to build homes.The deal allows Spanos 10 years to build homes or pay a fee, or a combination.The planned Wal-Mart at Spanos Park West remains in litigation and has not yet been built. Lower courts ruled the city's 2004 approval of the store was illegal.The California Supreme Court, before which the case has been briefed, has yet to issue a ruling.Tracy PressGovernment gets suedA local nuclear energy watchdog has filed suit against the government after being frustrated by recent public records requests...Tracy Press http://tracypress.com/content/view/16694/2268/A government watchdog has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Energy and its National Nuclear Security Administration that alleges the government has long delayed responses to public records requests. Tri-Valley CAREs charges the energy department and the nuclear security agency have failed to respond to six Freedom of Information Act requests made by the group in recent months seeking nuclear and biological research records. Nuclear Security spokesman John Belluardo said the Department of Energy has a service center in New Mexico that now handles public records requests for the agencies he works for. The idea, he said, is to "consolidate them there for quick processing." But Tri-Valley CAREs says there’s nothing quick about the responses they’ve received. The government has 20 days to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request, but it’s waited in one case more than a year for data about a Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories biosafety committee, which is supposed to review some of the lab’s DNA research and biological material. "As a ‘watchdog’ organization, Tri-Valley CAREs relies on open government laws like FOIA to do its work on behalf of the community," said Tri-Valley attorney Robert Schwartz. "Congress provided that right, but DOE and NNSA have taken it away through abuse and neglect." Clear the tracksUnion Pacific Railroad workers have been repairing the Mococo Line through downtown Tracy in recent days, making many wonder when freight trains will again roll through the heart of the city...Aaron Rognstad http://tracypress.com/content/view/16707/2268/Tracks at Sixth Street and MacArthur Drive has conjured up images of increased freight train traffic making its way through Tracy, just as it did two decades ago.A work crew of 120 Union Pacific laborers has been busy replacing railroad ties and resurfacing the track along a 4-mile stretch of the Mococo Line through Tracy in preparation for future freight train use. Construction commenced Nov. 23 and will end Monday. For months, there have been rumors that UP will increase traffic on the line. And with the recent construction along the tracks that run along Byron Road in western Tracy, through the Bow Tie area downtown and past 11th Street and MacArthur Drive in eastern Tracy, it’s evident that the railroad will eventually send more traffic through the city. City officials and residents with homes near the tracks are apprehensive about the move. "We do have many concerns surrounding this," City Manager Leon Churchill said. "With the more volume that potentially could occur moving through the city, public safety concerns arise like police, fire and EMS response times. There could be situations where the city could be cut in half." UP spokeswoman Zoe Richmond said the line will be open for heavy freight at some point, but no date has been set. "At some point, once we have something more certain, we’ll go out to the community and discuss it," Richmond said. Last year, former City Manager Dan Hobbs and Andrew Malik, the head of the engineering department, met with UP officials to discuss the railroad’s plans, which could include building overpasses and underpasses at $35 million a pop, according to Mayor Brent Ives. Malik was not available for comment Tuesday. Ives, a board member of the San Joaquin Regional Rail Commission, said that he had received a heads-up about the work on the tracks. "It’ll be an interesting discussion to be sure," he said of UP’s plans. "We all know they’re getting ready to re-establish service, but there’s nothing imminent." The company has already reactivated other dormant tracks in the region so it can move more freight into and out of the Port of Oakland. The railroad has also invested $3 billion into the maintenance of existing lines in all 23 states that it serves, as well as the construction of new lines to increase freight in some areas. Richmond said that escalating passenger traffic along its lines from Sacramento to the Bay Area prompted the move to run freight through Tracy once again. Bay Area Rapid Transit interest in buying portions of the line running through multiple cities, to include Tracy, further pushed the decision, Richmond said. "It’s not a question of if, but when," Richmond said of trains roaring through town again. Cecilia Davies, a homeowner on the 300 block of North Baldwin Lane whose house abuts a sound wall in the Bow Tie area, said she wouldn’t like the added noise that freight trains will bring along with them, but said she would have to live with it. "Well, what can you really do?" she asked. "If they want to start running trains through here, then yeah, it’s annoying, but I grew up near the tracks in Oakland, so it won’t bother me that much." Another homeowner on Gonzalez Street, whose house backs up to the tracks, looked at the move as a positive one and thought that the city would work with UP to make sure the trains would move swiftly through the city. "More stuff should be moved by train," Darren Bandimere said. "There’ll be less trucks on the roads. "We need to think about the big picture. Lots of cities have trains going right through them. Look at Manteca. They figured it out, and so will Tracy." Richardson said that UP plans to coordinate the signal system with surrounding stop lights to make sure trains move rapidly through the city with wait times comparable to most traffic lights. "If done correctly, you won’t have a train stopping for long periods of time at a light," Richmond said. "We’re also going to have discussions with emergency services to make sure they understand how the traffic flow will work." Richmond said that other cities like Salinas — which hasn’t seen freight train traffic through town since the early 1970s — and Oakdale are also being considered for increased rail use through their downtowns. San Francisco ChronicleObama urged to fund watchdog agencies...Jane Kayhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/10/MNQK14IV9B.DTL&type=printableAs George Bush's presidency draws to an end, watchdog groups are calling for President-elect Barack Obama's administration to fully fund federal agencies that relaxed monitoring of water, air quality and the safety of the food supply and consumer products in the past eight years.Agencies charged with protecting public health and natural resources from pollution - the EPA, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Geological Survey and the Consumer Product Safety Commission - suffered drastic budget cuts or were thwarted from carrying out their missions, the groups say.At the same time that the Environmental Protection Agency allowed businesses to reduce reporting of toxic waste releases, it and other agencies also eliminated or downsized more than a dozen essential monitoring programs, according to researchers at environmental groups that have asked Obama to redress the problems.Representatives of the EPA didn't respond to general criticisms of the agency's past performance in protecting the public, but a spokesman for Obama's transition team said the new administration will address the issues."The president-elect made it clear throughout the campaign that restoring scientific integrity and environmental protection will be a top priority of the Obama administration," said spokesman Reid Cherlin. "He strongly believes that we can't afford to ignore these problems any longer and that we need to restore the protections that ensure clean air, clean water and responsible stewardship of public lands."In a report released last week, the Natural Resources Defense Council listed examples of troubling policies under Bush, including:-- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's discontinuation of a program that tracks health effects from accidents involving hazardous chemicals. In 2005, there were 69 deaths from chemical releases reported in 15 states, but no reports have been publicly released since then.Funds to respond to outbreaks of food-borne bacteria are down $2 million from 2004 levels, and funds for the program that measures some 100 chemicals in people around the nation have decreased 18 percent from 2002 to 2008. Grants to help 33 states with their programs, including those in California, have also been cut.-- Budget cuts to the U.S. Geological Survey that eliminated or reduced decades-old testing of streams, lakes and groundwater for pesticides, pharmaceuticals, selenium, mercury, bacteria and other contaminants. In the last eight years, monitoring sites have been reduced from 496 in 2000 to 113 in 2008. -- The failure to appoint the full slate of three commissioners to the Consumer Product Safety Commission needed to adopt rules, mandatory recalls and other enforcement actions for months-long periods in 2007 and this year. The commission's staff in 2007 was less than half of the peak staffing in 1980, according to the Consumer Federation of America. A small staff means fewer inspections for lead and other safety problems in children's toys.Watchdog groups Public Citizen and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a lawsuit Thursday challenging a commission decision that would allow the sale of children's products containing plastic-softening phthalates beyond February, when the federal law prohibiting them goes into effect. Julie Vallese, the agency director, said the commission would have halted sales in February and stopped manufacturing had the law used the word "ban."-- EPA changes to the landmark public right-to-know Toxic Release Inventory in 2006, under which businesses may discharge up to 500 pounds a year of dangerous chemicals that persist in the environment and accumulate in the body before they have to fully report them. If the chemicals were emitted, businesses had to report amounts and locations to the public. For other toxic chemicals, businesses have not been required to report emissions below 2,000 pounds a year. Amounts greater than 500 pounds a year have had to be reported in full.Monitors cutIn the past decade, the EPA has cut in half the number of lead monitors around industrial sites. Sites emitting 500 pounds of lead a year are not required to be monitored, while monitoring used to be required at 1,000 pounds a year.The agency has proposed exempting large livestock operations, or "factory farms," from reporting ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and other emissions from the waste. The EPA has established a lead- monitoring plan to "reduce the burden to states but still assure monitoring" around sources that might violate the law. The agency decided to exempt livestock operations because it thought it was better to focus on the most serious hazardous releases, officials said. Miriam Rotkin-Ellman, environmental health scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council in San Francisco and an author of the report, said, "Not testing or tracking pollution doesn't make it go away. It just keeps us in the dark about real health threats."Rolling back rulesBracken Hendricks, a senior fellow at the American Center for Progress, a Democratic-leaning think tank, said the Bush administration rolled back regulations that protected public welfare while "also hampering the public's ability to learn what harm had been caused."The strategy was part of the administration's "war on science," Hendricks said. "The administration hurt our ability to make good decisions based on good data."During this year's presidential campaign, Obama said he would return scientific integrity to the EPA and he wanted regulations that were written by scientists - not by lobbyists.Among the candidates for new EPA administrator is Mary Nichols, chairwoman of the California Air Resources Board. She was an assistant administrator for the EPA under the Clinton administration and California's Secretary of Resources under former Gov. Gray Davis.No easy turnaroundBut it won't be easy for the new president to turn around eight years of agency dismantling, said David Orr, professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College in Ohio. Orr attended a meeting with Obama adviser John Podesta on energy and environment issues before the election and is familiar with a 391-page document that environmental groups sent to Obama's team last month.Faced with financial and environmental deficits, the Obama administration will have to make the case that good environmental policy is always good economic policy, Orr said."The Bush administration has cut and defunded a good bit of the regulatory apparatus, twisted the law, lowered morale and confidence in the agencies and, on the way out the door, imploded the economy. It's going to be awfully hard for the next administration to get the house in order again," Orr said. "It will take years to restore the critical environmental agencies."Is your child's school a toxic hot spot?...Amy Graff...The Mommy Fileshttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=46&entry_id=33396Are you worried about the air quality at your child's school? Concerned about its proximity to a factory emitting mystery smoke? Wonder what that weird smell is when you pick your kids up in the afternoon?An investigative report released yesterday by USA Today includes a feature that allows you to look up the air quality at 128,000 public, private, and parochial schools throughout the country. The national paper used data from the Environmental Protection Agency to determine the levels of toxic chemicals created by industrial pollution. Find your school by clicking here.How did Bay Area schools fare in the report? Three schools in Berkeley (Black Pine Circle, Nia House Learning Center, and Via Center) ranked in the first percentile. That means the air is worse at only 377 of the 128,000 schools that were studied. Berkeley Montessori and Berkwood Hedge (also in Berkeley) were 2nd percentile with the air worse at 887 schools; Las Juntas Elementary and New Vistas Christian School in Martinez were 2nd percentile with the air worse at 1,695; and Searles Elementary and Purple Lotus School in Union City were 3rd percentile with the air worse at over 2,000 schools. These schools had the poorest air quality in the Bay Area and some of the worst in the state. By contrast, many schools in San Francisco and Mill Valley ranked in the 80th percentile with some of the state's cleanest air. Why the concern? USA Today reporters reveal why children are so vulnerable to toxic chemicals:Experts say even small amounts of toxic chemicals can do irreparable harm to children, who breathe more air per pound than adults do, and whose bodies process chemicals differently.Exposures "may be causing mutations in a child's cells that begin the pathway to cancer," says Philip Landrigan, one of the nation's foremost experts on pediatric medicine and a physician at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York."Those mutations, once they take place, they're hard-wired," Landrigan says. "They may go on to cancer. They may go nowhere. But they certainly put the child at greater risk of cancer, and that risk is life-long."Regulators usually examine cancer risks by asking how many more cases might result from pollution. If the risk, based on a lifetime of exposure, is less than one additional case per 1 million people, the EPA considers the air safe. But if the risk is higher--for instance, if the risk of an additional cancer exceeds one in 100,000, a level USA TODAY found at 64 schools where it monitored--regulators might work with industries to curb emissions."These results suggest that we need to be concerned about what the children are breathing while at school," says Patrick Breysse, a scientist with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who helped oversee USA Today's efforts.How did your child's school fare in the report?Special Report The Smokestack EffectToxic Air and America's Schools...San Francisco Chronicle...Planet in Peril...USA TodayInteractive map of Merced County Schools exposure to cancer-causing toxics and other toxic chemicalshttp://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/search/CA/~/merced/merced+high+/name/~/1/Chemicals most responsible for the toxicity outside this schoolGlycol Ethers 65% of overall toxicity Formaldehyde 13% of overall toxicity Manganese and manganese compounds 8% of overall toxicity Polluters most responsible for toxics outside this schoolGreif Inc Merced Ca Merced, California Certainteed Corp Chowchilla, California Arvin Sango Inc. Merced, CaliforniaFind your school at http://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/indexSources: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, University of Massachusetts at Amherst Political Economy Research Institute* Chemicals most responsible for the toxicity outside this school may not add up to 100% because only the top chemicals are listed. Special Report The Smokestack EffectToxic Air and America's SchoolsMethodology...San Francisco Chronicle...USA Today...Planet in Perilhttp://content.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/smokestack/methodologyChildren are uniquely susceptible to the dangers posed by many sorts of toxic chemicals because they breathe more deeply than adults, and because their bodies are still developing1. That's why USA TODAY worked with the researchers and scientists at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and the University of Maryland in College Park to analyze exposure to industrial pollution at schools across the nation. The goal: To determine what sort of toxic chemicals children breathe when they go to school. Schools ListUSA TODAY gathered information on about 127,800 public and private schools from the National Center for Education Statistics and more than two dozen state education agencies2. While we attempted to make the list as comprehensive as possible, it may not include some recently opened buildings. It also includes some schools that have closed since 2005. We also excluded some schools whose locations we could not map. If you don't find your school among those listed in our database, let us know by sending the school's name and address to smokestack@usatoday.com.Toxicity AssessmentsToxicity assessments for each school are based on emissions data collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as part of its Toxics Release Inventory program, also known as TRI. More than 20,000 industrial and government facilities are required to tell the agency about their emissions of hundreds of chemicals that are known to harm humans or the environment. Most facilities do not measure their emissions; rather, their reports to the TRI are estimates (PDF). It is difficult to verify the accuracy of those estimates, but some critics have complained that TRI reports generally understate emissions3. Generally, only large industrial and government facilities are required to report to the TRI, meaning there are many other potential sources of pollution that are not included in the agency's data. As a result, those sources also are not included in toxicity assessments for schools. To assess how those emissions affect the air outside nearby schools, USA TODAY partnered with researchers from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst's Political Economy Research Institute. After more than two years of effort, the researchers obtained data from an EPA model known as the Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators, which scores chemicals based on their potential danger. The model also uses information about industrial facilities – such as the height of its smokestacks and the way each chemical disperses in the air – to estimate where concentrations of the chemicals they release will be highest. The model allows the EPA to assess pollution's impact on every square kilometer of the nation, and the agency uses that information to help identify potential problems spots. The University of Massachusetts researchers used those findings to produce lists of chemicals that contributed to the air toxicity at each of the nation's 127,800 schools in 2005, the most recent year for which the EPA has completed its model. With the help of the University of Massachusetts researchers and other experts, and after consulting with the EPA, USA TODAY used those records to create three measures of a school's exposure to industrial toxics:

  • Overall toxicity: This is the primary measure of toxicity from industrial pollution outside a school. It reflects both the concentration of chemicals the EPA's model shows impacted the school in 2005, as well as the potential harm associated with those chemicals. That measurement is ranked against each of the other 127,800 schools for which USA TODAY developed toxicity information, and is displayed as a percentile. For example, if you see a school whose overall toxicity shows up in the second percentile, you'll know only 1% of the nation's schools had higher toxicity levels.
  • Exposure to cancer-causing chemicals: This ranking is similar to the overall toxicity measure, but includes only those chemicals known or thought to cause cancer4. The measure shows how one school ranks relative to all of the nation's other schools.
  • Exposure to other toxic chemicals: This ranking shows the potential severity of exposure to chemicals that do not cause cancer. For each chemical thought to cause health problems other than cancer, we compared the likely concentration of that chemical at each school to the EPA's reference concentration, the agency's exposure threshold. In other words, the higher a school ranks on this scale, the more likely it is that non-carcinogens could exceed that threshold.

Because these measures are based on a model and estimates of emissions, they are subject to some limitations. For example, the model makes certain assumptions about topography, the height of smokestacks and the toxicity of certain chemicals, any of which could influence the assessment of toxicity in a particular location. In some cases, the EPA model appeared to underestimate exposure to toxic chemicals 5. In others, it appeared to overstate it6. Also, the model is not meant to assess risk – your chances of getting sick. Because it is based on reports from 2005 and includes only some potential sources of pollution, the model may not fully reflect the current situation at each school. For example, some facilities have closed since 2005, and others have opened. Also, large industrial sites account for only a fraction of the nation's toxic air pollution. The EPA estimates that in 2002, cars, smaller businesses and other sources accounted for 85% of the toxic chemicals in the nation's air.MonitoringUnder the guidance of scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Maryland School of Public Health, USA TODAY monitored air quality near 95 public and private schools throughout the nation. We placed monitors mainly – but not exclusively – near schools the EPA model suggests face higher exposure to industrial pollution. To make the most complete assessment possible, we used three main types of monitors, depending on the types of chemicals the model suggested would be present:

  • Badges: We hung simple badge-like monitors near 95 schools in 30 states. The badges collect a class of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds. We also used a similar badge to detect ethylene oxide, a known carcinogen, near 23 schools. We left the badges in place for between four days and a week before returning them to the University of Maryland for analysis.
  • Active monitors: Because some chemicals, such as metals, cannot be picked up on badge monitors, USA TODAY employees set up pumps to collect samples of metals near 17 schools and polycyclic aromatic compounds near 23 schools. At those schools, we monitored the air for between 72 and 96 hours. Filters that picked up metals were analyzed by Johns Hopkins; the rest were analyzed by the University of Maryland.
  • Ultraviolet monitors: To find chemicals that cannot be easily measured either by badges or active samplers, we used an ultraviolet detection system made by Cerex Monitoring Solutions to conduct additional monitoring near eight schools in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas. That monitor delivers its findings in real time and does not require laboratory analysis.

The monitoring work was conducted by employees of USA TODAY and other affiliated newspapers and television stations. In every case, we attempted to place the monitors within about 100 yards of a school, though a few had to be placed slightly farther away. Scientists at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins analyzed each sample, and interpreted those results. Because USA TODAY was able to monitor near schools only for a comparatively short period of time, our findings may not reflect the extent of long-term exposure to pollutants at a particular location. For example, changes in wind direction or activity levels at a particular industrial facility can significantly influence the concentration levels near a school on any given day.1 See, for example, A Framework for Addressing Health Risks of Environmental Exposure to Children by the EPA's National Center for Environmental Assessment, published in 2006. 2 Includes Alabama, California, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.3 For example, Houston Mayor Bill White asked the EPA this year to adjust its emissions estimates for petrochemical and refining plants, pointing to studies showing their emissions were under-reported.4 For chemicals that are linked to both cancer and other health effects, we used the severity weighting the EPA assigned to the cancer-causing attributes of the chemical.5 At Salina Elementary in Dearborn, Mich., for example, the EPA model did not suggest students were exposed to acrolein, but an air monitoring station near the school detected high levels of the chemical.6 At Cesar Chavez High School in Houston, for example, the EPA model suggests students were exposed to levels of 1,3-butadiene significantly higher than the levels detected by an air monitoring station about a block away. Mommy striped bass are poisoning the babies...Jane Kay, Village Greenhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=50&entry_id=33433Eight years of study in San Francisco Bay shows that female striped bass can pass along the pesticides and industrial contaminants in their bodies and malform the growing offspring.In other words, the mother striped bass can poison their own babies, according to a UC Davis study.Scientists have long known that pollutants ending up in the bay can taint the fish, leading to posted signs warnings anglers who might take the catch home.The UC Davis study, using new analytical techniques, has found how the contaminants transfer from the mother to her eggs, and interfere with development of the yolk, brain and liver.In a comparison study, hatchery striped bass developed normally. But the hatchlings and embryos from wild fish caught in the Upper Sacramento River grew more slowly and were significantly smaller than the hatchery fish. The wild hatchlings even looked different. They were longer and thinner than those in the hatchery control group.The findings have implications far beyond fish because the San Francisco estuary is the source of drinking water for two-thirds of the people and most of the farms in California, said the lead author, David Ostrach, a research scientist at Davis's Center for Watershed Sciences."If the fish living in this water are not healthy and are passing on contaminants to their young, what is happening to the people who use the water, are exposed to the same chemicals or eat the fish?" Ostrach told his university's news bureau.Left behind in the bay are toxic and persistent banned chemicals, including PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, leaking out of abandoned transformers and other electrical equipment and the agricultural and home pesticides toxaphene, heptachlor, chlordane, dieldrin and DDT and its breakdown products. And very troubling are the growing amounts of flame retardants called PBDEs, still widely used in furniture, mattresses and electronics.PBDEs are ubiquitous in the environment and dangerous to health. In lab animals they interfere with hormonal functions and reproduction. State health officials have found them in the breast milk of Bay Area women at 100 times higher than levels measured elsewhere in the world. California peregrine falcon eggs also had unusually high amounts of the flame retardants.Striped bass populations have been in decline, and some of the suspected causes are the pumps, canals and other workings of the state and federal water projects that divert flows to cities and farms. Also, the bass suffer from introduced species, which eat the young. Chemicals have been blamed for lower fish numbers, but the new study clearly exhibits what are called sublethal effects. The contaminants don't out-and-out kill the fish but stealthily interfere with their growth.The study was published last month by the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences as part of a series of reports by Davis researchers that began fish investigation 20 years ago. Ostrach's coauthors are Kai Eder, Janine Low-Marchelli and Shaleah Whiteman. Funding comes in part from the state and federal agencies and the nonprofit San Francisco Estuary Institute.Contra Costa TimesWater agencies file three lawsuits over imperiled fish...Mike Gaugherhttp://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_11179580Water agencies filed three separate lawsuits Tuesday to overturn interim rules approved last month by the California Fish and Game Commission to protect another dwindling fish species.The lawsuits, all filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, say the commission unfairly targeted Delta water delivery operations. Last month, the commission approved temporary measures to protect longfin smelt from pumps in the south Delta. Longfin smelt, which range from Monterey Bay to Alaska, are experiencing a severe population decline in the Delta. The commission is scheduled to decide in February whether to classify the fish as threatened or endangered under state law.The three lawsuits were filed by: the Kern County Water Agency; the Westlands Water District and the San Luis-Mendota Water Authority; and the State Water Contractors, an association that represents state water customers across the state including the Bay Area.Washington PostSutley to Chair Council on Environmental Quality...Philip Ruckerhttp://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/12/10/sutley_to_chair_council_on_env.htmlPresident-elect Barack Obama has selected Nancy Sutley, a deputy mayor of Los Angeles for energy and environment, to chair the White House Council on Environmental Quality, a Democratic source said.Sutley, who has a long record on environmental and natural resources policy, will be a key player in shaping the new administration's policies on climate change and the environment. Sutley's appointment is likely to be announced in coming days, when Obama unveils his slate of environmental nominees, and was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.The president-elect is expected to tap Carol Browner, the Clinton administration's Environmental Protection Agency chief, for a new White House position overseeing all environmental, energy, climate and related matters, The Washington Post reported yesterday. Browner, who has been a top transition official for Obama, currently is a principal at The Albright Group, the strategy firm founded by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright.Sutley was a top aide to Browner in Clinton's EPA. A supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Democratic primary, Sutley is a prominent member of the gay and lesbian community. She represents Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) on the board of directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and previously served on the California State Water Resources Control Board and as an energy adviser to former California governor Gray Davis (D).During the Clinton administration, Sutley was a top aide to Browner at the EPA.