12-13-08

 12-13-08Merced Sun-StarOutside forces conspire against Merced Irrigation DistrictGrowing concern about water...JONAH OWEN LAMBhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/167/story/592715.htmlLocal farmers may be concerned over a potential Merced Irrigation District water sale outside the district, but a wave of other issues could have ripple effects on water and the farmers who need it.The state's water shortage, endangered fish on the Merced River, an ecological crisis in the Delta and a possible loss of tax revenues all may spell out a draining of MID's coffers and reservoirs, MID's management explained."There are extraordinary events going on in California that affect MID," said Kenneth Robbins, MID's general counsel, at an MID budget workshop Friday. "Part of this is political, part of this is biological." The most pressing loss MID may face is not water at all, but tax money. Every year, MID receives a small allotment,(roughly $2 million) from the state from local property taxes. With the state deficit's continued expansion -- at last count it was more than $14 billion -- local tax revenues, including MID's small portion, may disappear with the coming budget, Robbins said. Other monies slated to dry up include an annual payment of more than $3 million a year to MID for releasing water to the San Joaquin River Group. This water release is part of a settlement set up in 1999 among numerous Valley water agencies and the State Water Resources Board to increase water quality and ecosystem health. In 2010, the agreement may come to an end.Fish are another worry. This year's fall Chinook salmon run up the Merced river was the second-lowest on record. If the trend continues, it could mean a release of water by MID. If the river's steelhead, an endangered species, are affected by low river flows, said Rhonda Reed, a fisheries biologist with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there could be actions ensuring that the steelhead population stays healthy.Still, other downstream crises may precipitate drawing more of Merced's water. The Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, a body tasked by the state to solve the Delta's ecological crisis, recently released a strategic plan that recommends, among other things, that more upstream water flow into the Delta, according to the plan.The needs of fish aside, the state could take water from MID without asking, said Robbins. That would be a last resort if the drought worsens, a last resort that has no precedent, noted Reed.This group of storm clouds on MID's horizon has crystallized opposition by some farmers and MID board members to any outside sales of local water.MID board member Wil Hunter said MID's revenue shortfall needs to be dealt with, but everything should be on the table, not just water sales. "I'm not out for cutting jobs," said Hunter. "We have to look at all alternatives."Stan Morimoto, a former MID board member, said most farmers would rather pay more now than set a precedent by selling water out of the district: "Right now farmers are doing OK. If you're going to ask us for an increase, ask us now." Drought means workers hungry in US produce capital...TRACIE CONE, Associated Press Writerhttp://www.mercedsunstar.com/280/v-print/story/592084.htmlMENDOTA, Calif. Idled farm workers are searching for food in the nation's most prolific agricultural region, where a double blow of drought and a court-ordered cutback of water supplies has caused hundreds of millions of dollars in losses.This bedraggled town is struggling with an unemployment rate that city officials say is 40 percent and rising. This month, 600 farm families depleted the cupboards of the local food bank, which turned away families - more than 100 of them - for the first time."We're supposed to supply the world," said Mendota Mayor Robert Silva, "and people are starving."The state's most dire water shortage in three decades is expected to erase more than 55,000 jobs across the fertile San Joaquin Valley by summer and drive up food prices across the nation, university economists predict."People being thrown out of work are the ones who can least afford it," said Richard Howitt, a professor of agriculture economics at the University of California-Davis, who estimates that $1.6 billion in agriculture-related wages across the valley will be lost in the coming months because of dwindling water.Already the wage losses have hit businesses that are the backbone of the small farm communities that sustain nearly a quarter of the nation's agriculture production."A lot of problems with this country's economy can't be fixed fast," said Alan Hansen, whose family-owned hardware store on the main drag is suffering a 25 percent decline in sales."But this can be fixed like that," he said, snapping his fingers. "All they have to do is get the water here."California's population has ballooned from 10 million to more than 36 million since water began flowing through the state's network of canals in middle of last century, delivering water from the wet north to the arid south.After years of discounting the environmental consequences, court orders seeking to protect threatened fish such as the Delta smelt have slowed the flows even as prolonged drought left some reservoirs at just 12 percent of capacity.This year federal water deliveries were 35 percent of the normal allocations, fallowing hundreds of thousands of acres and causing $260 million in crop losses statewide. The governor issued a disaster declaration for the region.Now farmers are relying on dwindling groundwater supplies and keeping their fingers crossed for 10 percent of their water allotments. Last week a coalition of farmers and urban water users filed a lawsuit claiming that state officials overstepped their authority by approving another round of potential cuts.The valley produces 80 percent of the world's almonds. But grower Shawn Coburn has held off spending $350,000 to fertilize his 1,000 acres this month because he fears he will not have enough water for a 2009 crop."If you like foreign oil, you're going to love foreign food," he scoffed.This month, the government could further restrict water deliveries during the drought - and that would mean crop loans would be harder to get."I think that's the next shoe to drop," said Sarah Woolf, spokeswoman for the Westlands Water District, which encompasses Mendota.Already the $40 million losses in Fresno County cotton production this fall permanently closed half a dozen gins. And roughly four square miles of lettuce fields went unplanted, resulting in $13 million in lost sales."Think of all of the tractor drivers, truck drivers and pickers that processing all of that lettuce would take," said Tom Nyberg, deputy county agricultural commissioner. "Those jobs were lost, too."Two hundred more jobs vanished when the Spreckles Sugar plant east of Mendota closed this fall. A farmers co-op wanted to buy it but could not find water for their beets.The local hardware store lost $5,000 a month in sales to Spreckles and had to lay off one of its nine workers.Hansen, the store owner, said he understands there is an environmental balance to be struck and that the Delta smelt are a necessary link in the food chain."But if you follow that chain up," he said, " eventually it leads to us."Farmworkers, who make up the majority of Mendota's 9,600 population, are at the bottom of the employment ladder.Rosa Lopez misses her husband, who moved eight hours south to Brawley to pick lettuce. Luis Suarez, 12, tears up when he talks about his retriever Bambi, whom the family took to a Fresno shelter when they could not afford food or shots. Micaela Mendez and Maria Diaz have taken relatives into their cramped apartments so they can share expenses.At sunset Wednesday, a dozen residents of a trailer park prepared their Christmas nativity scene and prayed for rain."If we don't have faith, we've lost everything," said Otilia Suarez in Spanish. "We thank God for the small amount of food that we do have, and we keep praying for a better tomorrow." Modesto BeeAir board acts over objections...E.J. Schultz, Bee Capitol Bureau. Associated Press and Modesto Bee staff writer Ken Carlson contributed to this report.http://www.modbee.com/local/v-print/story/532224.htmlSACRAMENTO -- California regulators Friday approved landmark rules for heavy-duty trucks and buses aimed at curbing air pollution and gases that contribute to global warming. The Air Resources Board acted despite objections by truckers in the Central Valley and elsewhere who say they can't afford to buy the smog controls or new rigs during a recession.But environmentalists and the valley's top air regulator praised the move as a necessary step to meet federal pollution targets."There's no way the valley could come into attainment ... without this rule," said Seyed Sadredin, executive director of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.The diesel rules will speed up the replacement of thousands of polluting trucks and buses that stay on the road for decades and are not as clean as newer models that have tougher, federally mandated emissions standards.Nearly a million vehicles will have to be replaced or retrofitted with smog traps, filters or cleaner-burning technology beginning in 2011. By 2014, all trucks must have soot filters, and by the time the rule is fully implemented in 2023, no truck or bus in California could be older than 13 years unless it had equipment to cut nitrogen oxide emissions.Big diesel trucks are a major contributor to smog and soot pollution. Most of the trucks and buses on the road today have few emission controls or none, according to the Air Resources Board.Low-mileage agriculture vehicles and specialty farm vehicles have later deadlines to comply, but all the trucks must meet the standard by 2023. The rules also call for school buses made before April 1, 1977, to be off the road by 2012.State will save billionsThe regulations will cost the trucking industry $5.5 billion, according to air board estimates. But supporters said the state will save many more billions of dollars in health-care costs, especially in the valley, one of the nation's dirtiest air basins. The board separately approved rules aimed at curbing greenhouse gases by increasing fuel efficiency. The regulation applies to tractors pulling box trailers 53 feet or longer. Beginning in 2010, equipment with model year 2011 or older must include fuel-efficient technology, such as aerodynamic devices to reduce wind drag.Truckers unleashed a fierce lobbying campaign against the rules."The costs are astronomical. Nobody can survive it. Most businesses are going to be out of business," said Jim Gandulgia, owner of a trucking company in Fresno.Protests from truckers dominated the two-day hearing. But clean-air activists also made their pleas to the board.The Merced-Mariposa County Asthma Coalition took a group to testify at the Sacramento hearing. Melissa Kelly-Ortega, a program associate and Merced resident who has two children with asthma, said the truck rule gives "a glimmer of hope that our children will be able to breathe clean air."Fuel savings a plusTruckers pushed for an alternate proposal that would give them more time to comply. But air board chairwoman Mary Nichols said the delays would keep the state from meeting federal clean-air deadlines.Larger trucking firms are expected to have an easier time complying than smaller operators.Richard Raham, general manager for Dot Foods Inc. in Modesto, said the Illinois-based food distributor already has the filters on most of its trucks in California and is moving forward with upgrading the rest.The company runs 660 trucks in the nation and also will comply with the measures to improve mileage and reduce greenhouse gases, he said."It is going to be costly, but if it can increase fuel economy savings, we can see the benefits of it," Raham said. Fred Burtschi, owner of an agricultural trucking firm in Riverbank, expected it will cost up to $90,000 to put the emission controls on six of his trucks with older diesel engines."What they are trying to implement on the trucks is crazy," he said. "They have trouble retrofitting the trucks to comply and the engines are not designed to handle the extra load. The fuel mileage has gone down 10 percent on those (retrofitted trucks)."The board agreed to some minor changes, including allowing owners who are downsizing fleets to earn more time to meet targets on their remaining trucks. Also, the board promised to take a fresh look at the rules at the end of next year, including examining the economic fallout.More than $1.5 billion in state grants and loans are available for the upgrades, but truckers say that's not enough.EPA exempts farms from reporting toxic fumes...DINA CAPPIELLO, Associated Press Writer. Associated Press writer Mary Clare Jalonick contributed to this report.http://www.modbee.com/2028/v-print/story/531545.htmlThe nation's farms no longer have to report to authorities the toxic, smelly fumes released from manure.The Bush administration issued a regulation Friday exempting farms from reporting releases of hazardous air pollution from animal waste to federal, state and local authorities. The rule applies specifically to the gases from manure that are often responsible for odor problems.Environmental Protection Agency officials said that the changes will allow responders to focus on spills and releases from factories, natural disasters and other emergencies that require urgent attention. They said it would also reduce reporting burdens on America's farmers, saying it is difficult to estimate the pollution coming from "a herd of cows.""When there is a train wreck, we need to know about it because we need to go out and look at chemical spills," said Barry Breen, director of the agency's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "When there is a lagoon full of manure there is nothing our folks can do when they show up."The farm reporting rule is one of several eleventh-hour environmental regulations unveiled by the Bush administration this week that were lobbied for by industry. The Interior Department on Thursday issued revised rules loosening protections for endangered species. And the EPA, also on Friday, issued regulations exempting industrial solvents and other chemicals that can be burned for fuel from the strict regulations governing hazardous waste.Environmentalists lashed out again, saying that the new reporting rule would make it difficult to keep track of farms polluting the environment and putting neighbors at risk.The gases released when animal waste decomposes include hydrogen sulfide, with its characteristic rotten egg smell, and ammonia. Exposure to these chemicals can cause respiratory problems and irritate the eyes, nose and throat."The effect of this is to create a loophole for all operations for not report their toxic emissions to the federal government," said Ed Hopkins of the Sierra Club. "If you don't know there is a problem you aren't going to get a solution."Representatives of the poultry and beef industries said Friday the rule was long overdue. In 2005, associations representing chicken, turkey and egg farmers asked the Bush administration to exempt all ammonia emissions from reporting requirements.The rule finalized Friday covers gases just from animal waste. Large farms with hundreds of dairy cows or thousands of pigs would still be required to report air releases to local and state authorities."We have always felt that reporting requirements ... were never meant to address the release of naturally occurring substances," said the National Chicken Council, National Turkey Federation and U.S. Poultry & Egg Association in a statement. "We believe the EPA heard our concerns and has come to a reasonable compromise."Congress also wanted clarification. In appropriations bills passed in 2005 and 2006, it directed the EPA to revisit the regulations.Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, who chairs the Agriculture Committee, said that the EPA "needed to formulate a common-sense answer which recognizes that animal production is not the same as a chemical factory."But he criticized the Bush administration for pushing out the rule before a two-year, $14 million study launched last year on toxic air pollution from farms was finished.The timing of the rule "almost guarantees that the issue will be revisited by the new administration and Congress," Harkin said.Patterson IrrigatorWest Park lawsuit inches toward trial...James Leonardhttp://pattersonirrigator.com/content/view/2641/42/After two months of delays, a judge at Fresno County Superior Court in Selma might finally decide whether to dismiss the city of Patterson’s suit against the proposed West Park industrial development at a 3 p.m. Tuesday hearing.Judge Tyler Tharpe is scheduled to hear a motion brought by Stanislaus County and PCCP West Park LLC, the developer of the proposed 4,800-acre industrial park at the former Crows Landing Naval Air Base, seeking to dismiss the city’s lawsuit.The motion to dismiss the case was initially scheduled for October but has been postponed several times for various reasons.The city filed the suit May 14, claiming the county violated state law April 22 when supervisors voted to choose a master developer for the site and create a project description before an environmental impact report was complete.The city filed its own motion to dismiss the county and developer’s motion to dismiss the case, but Tharpe denied that one last week.Patterson City Attorney George Logan said he thinks Tharpe will also deny Tuesday’s motion, saying it appears the judge is set to let the city’s complaint go to trial.His hunch about Tuesday’s decision mainly comes from a state Supreme Court ruling that could set precedent for the city’s argument.On Oct. 30, the state Supreme Court ruled in the case Save Tara v. City of West Hollywood that the city violated state law by joining two developers and obtaining a federal grant for a senior citizen housing project before an environmental impact review had been completed.The ruling determined that a full environmental impact report on a project must be completed at the time of the governmental agency’s earliest commitment to the project, rather than at its final approval.Logan believes that ruling gives enough credence to Patterson’s argument for the judge to allow the case to go to trial.The trial, should Tharpe decide to go forward with it, is scheduled for 3 p.m. Jan. 29 in the Selma courthouse.Fresno BeeDelta deadlockA Fresno Bee special report in August examined the issues surrounding the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta using a Valley lens...Russell Clemings and Dennis Pollock, The Fresno Beehttp://www.fresnobee.com/local/v-print/story/1072898.htmlEditor's note: The Fresno Bee spent the summer of 2008 examining how experts and interested parties are trying to make the Delta work, and what it means to people who live in the central San Joaquin Valley. Reporters Russell Clemings and Dennis Pollock collaborated on the research. Pollock, formerly The Bee's agriculture beat writer, has since retired. Their report published Aug. 24, 2008. It's republished here as a service to those who are interested in following the Delta debate. ------------------------------California voters rose up by a 3-to-2 margin in 1982 and torpedoed the most contentious water project in state history -- the Peripheral Canal.The 42-mile ditch would have linked the Sacramento River to pumps near Stockton that send water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to thirsty Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley.But rejection of Proposition 9 didn't settle anything. Instead, it locked state water politics, which revolve around the delta, into a chronic stalemate.More than a quarter-century later, advocates for cities, farms and wildlife routinely duke it out in courtrooms and legislative halls. Crops on the San Joaquin Valley's west side die for lack of water. Fishing boats wait out a ban on salmon. No one is winning.Today, some think only one thing may break the delta deadlock: an epic disaster.The potential for such an event grows every year. Century-old levees within the delta grow ever weaker, raising prospects of a Hurricane Katrina-like catastrophe -- a flood of salty water that would submerge hundreds of square miles of farmland and historic towns like Isleton and Locke.It might happen after an earthquake. Or it might happen as a result of erosion as sea levels rise amid global warming. No one knows when the delta will reach that tipping point. That it eventually will is viewed as certain."Major changes in the Delta and in California's use of Delta resources are inevitable," said a December report by Delta Vision, a two-year-old task force created by Gov. Schwarzenegger to find ways to avert a water disaster. "Current patterns of use are unsustainable, and catastrophic events, such as an earthquake, could cause dramatic changes in minutes."The quarter-century of debate over the delta's fate since the Peripheral Canal vote has yielded no discernible progress toward a solution. Farms and urban water users regularly face cuts in their supplies to protect rare fish from the effects of pumping. About 10,000 acres of crops in the Westlands Water District were abandoned this spring after planting.But the cuts haven't helped. Populations of salmon and delta smelt have crashed despite multiple court interventions. This year's California salmon season was closed even before it started.The Peripheral Canal succumbed to fears that it would cost a fortune and suck the delta dry. But since its rejection, pumping from the delta to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California has risen more than one-third anyway. In 2004, just as the fish decline became apparent, pumping reached its highest level.The last effort to solve the delta's problems, called CalFed, took almost a decade and collapsed when Congress and the Legislature balked at writing blank checks for solutions designed to keep everyone happy.Now, the Delta Vision task force is working on a new effort to repair the broken delta. Its biggest problem could be that every conceivable solution has its avid supporters, but also its bitter critics.New dams, aggressive water conservation and farmland retirement are all on the table.So, again, is the Peripheral Canal.Prime habitat for fishFor almost a century, the central focus of California's development strategy has been moving water from the north, where it is plentiful, to the south, where it is scarce.Between north and south, at the headwaters of San Francisco Bay, is the delta. Once, it was an inland marsh bigger than Rhode Island. Now, it is a maze of channels and low islands that would be flooded if not for 1,300 miles of levees.Even in this altered state, the delta remains prime habitat for many fish species and a major migratory route for salmon. Once, their fry could count on being swept to sea by strong river currents. Now, they're as likely to be confused and diverted by suction from the water project pumps.Water users who rely on those pumps aren't doing much better. Even as overall water exports have risen steadily, supplies for some San Joaquin Valley farms and Southern California cities have faced temporary court-ordered curbs to protect threatened fish that can die in the delta pumps.The Delta Vision task force has begun work on strategies for dual goals of improving the delta ecosystem and making water supplies more reliable.Hopes are high. But so were hopes for CalFed, a joint state-federal program launched in 1994, when the state was still shaking off its worst drought since the late 1970s.In 2000, CalFed proposed an $8.6 billion program of water storage and improved conservation. Beset by bureaucratic rivalries and competing interests, the plans languished, even though they avoided the contentious Peripheral Canal.Now, CalFed's collapse is a rare point of consensus among quarrelling parties."There isn't any doubt about the failure of the CalFed program," said Tom Birmingham, general manager of the Westlands Water District, one of the state's biggest farm water users.No approach perfectSimple solutions can be hard to resist.Courts stepping in because rare species are being harmed? Weaken their protections.Too much water being used by farms and cities south of the delta? Make them conserve.An inefficient system lets huge amounts of water flow into the sea in wet years? Build more dams to capture and store it.A closer look reveals that each approach has obstacles.Farmers and other major water users sometimes question the intrinsic value of a fish, whether it is a prized wild salmon or the lowly minnowlike delta smelt. They talk about balancing the needs of wildlife with those of humans.To Zeke Grader, the two are the same.Grader is executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. His members have sat out this year's salmon season, not by choice, but because federal fisheries managers banned salmon fishing off California this year after record low numbers returned to spawn last fall in the Sacramento River.Some boats that fished for salmon switched to albacore. Others doubled down on crab. Neither is a good alternative."They'd rather be fishing for salmon," Grader said. "That's been the anchor fishery for our fleet all along the coast of California."Diners who want to order wild salmon are paying a high price. So are taxpayers in general. In the farm bill passed by Congress early this year, they ponied up $170 million in disaster assistance for those affected by the ban.Exactly why salmon populations have collapsed is open to debate. But Grader is convinced that it has to do with the recent rise in water exports from the delta. Flows of fresh water through the delta, he said, are needed to help salmon find their way from their Sacramento River spawning grounds to the ocean and back."That fresh water going out to the ocean was the key thing for maintaining the estuary," he said. "If you start reducing the amount of water to that estuary, you're killing it."The delta smelt is less glamorous than the salmon. But it is officially listed as a threatened species. It appears to be just as sensitive to increased pumping. And its sorry state has led to court-ordered cuts in water exports.In a series of rulings late last year in cases brought by environmental advocates, a Fresno federal judge required state and federal water project operators to take several steps to protect the smelt. U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger set restrictions on flows in two channels, Old River and Middle River, during months when the pumps tend to pull smelt into their intakes.Next month, in a second case resulting from an environmental lawsuit, Wanger will hear evidence about water project operations and their effects on two Chinook salmon runs and one type of steelhead.(On Oct. 21, Wanger denied a request by environmental groups to reduce delta pumping and take other measures at two major California reservoirs to help the state's endangered salmon population. In an 11-page ruling, Wanger didn't outright reject the requests, but said a hearing would be necessary if environmental groups wanted to pursue the proposals.)Some urge conservationOne way to live with reduced pumping is to use less water. Some environmental advocates argue that California's cities and farms could do much more there. In fact, more water could be gleaned from conservation than what is currently pumped from the delta, says Barry Nelson, a senior policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group."We call it the virtual river," he said.In recent reports, the Oakland-based Pacific Institute has estimated how much could be conserved. One conclusion: Urban areas could cut use by 30%, saving 2.3 million acre-feet annually. That's about half what the two big projects have pumped in an average year over the past two decades."The savings that are available through water conservation and efficiency are as great as some of the water supply projects, and they can be achieved with much lower economic and environmental costs," said Heather Cooley, a senior research associate at the institute.Most of the institute's work focuses on things like requiring more efficient plumbing fixtures, and using tiered pricing to penalize the biggest water users. A second report will make recommendations for farm water users."Those who are wasting water should be sent a very strong price signal," Cooley said.Some of the institute's proposals represent major changes. Lawn sizes could be limited. Homeowners could be forced to replace inefficient plumbing when they sell. To the extent that such measures aren't widely adopted, the institute's estimates may be high.Similarly, some farmers question how much room there is for further conservation in their operations.Westlands grower John Diener has spent nearly a million dollars in the past five years on systems that use less water. He scoffs at the suggestion that he and his fellow farmers could do more."If that were the case, they would already have done it," he said. "It's not in our economic interest to waste water."One large local irrigation supplier, the Israeli firm Netafim, says it has supplied Westlands growers with micro-irrigation and drip systems for 160,000 acres this decade.In an even more drastic move, Westlands has bought out growers on about 100,000 acres and shifted their water to other land. But having shaky water supplies makes that increasingly difficult."At some point, it's unaffordable to retire land," Westlands grower Mark Borba said. "It requires investors who purchase a bond, and they look at the collateral and say that is not a good investment."Retiring land from farming also harms small towns that rise and fall with the farm economy. And Birmingham says retiring farmland does not even cut delta water exports if the saved water is used elsewhere, as in Westlands.Others want new damsAmong water users, talk about the delta often turns to increasing the water supply, or at least increasing the reliability of existing supplies. Often, that means new dams.When it issued its 2000 report, the CalFed program identified a dozen dam sites. Eight years later, Schwarzenegger and Sen. Dianne Feinstein are promoting a $9.3 billion state water bond, of which $3 billion would go to storage and $2 billion to improving efficiency.If recent history is any guide, new dams will face many obstacles. Since completion of the 2.4 million acre-feet New Melones Dam in 1979 on the Stanislaus River, the only new dams built in California have been smaller, with reservoirs one-third that size or less.As a result, the water bond faces uncertain prospects despite its bipartisan backers. Since its introduction in July, it has made no progress toward the November ballot, as the Legislature has struggled to pass a state budget. (Schwarzenegger continues to campaign for water bonds -- $204 million worth as of this month.)The long-maligned Peripheral Canal would face similar hurdles.Once politically radioactive -- Prop. 9 was opposed by more than 90% of voters in some Northern California counties and by more than 70% even in the central San Joaquin Valley -- the canal has gained traction in recent months as a possible solution.Advocates say it would help fish by separating the pumps from the delta and help water users by creating a direct connection between the pumps and Northern California's rivers. But estimates of its costs range as high as $20 billion, and suspicions linger that it would open the door to further pumping increases without any lasting benefit to the delta's fish or their habitat.Canal backers such as Birmingham are optimistic anyway. Last month, the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonprofit center based in San Francisco, issued a report endorsing a Peripheral Canal. Among other things, the report gauged the canal's cost to be in the same range as expected damages from a catastrophic failure of delta levees.Birmingham and other water users embraced the report enthusiastically."The handwriting is on the wall," he said. "If we are going to conserve fish in the delta, improve the delta ecology and sustain the economy of California, we're going to have to completely change the way we convey water from north of the delta to south of the delta."Birmingham said that water users would even be willing to pay for a Peripheral Canal themselves.Environmental advocates are skeptical of that. In any case, they say any delta fix must deal first with the crash in fish populations and other ecological damage."What we've said about a Peripheral Canal is the same thing we've said about more surface storage," Nelson said. "Show us a proposal and we'll look at it carefully."After the Public Policy Institute report, five congressional Democrats from Northern California -- George Miller, Ellen Tauscher, Doris Matsui, Mike Thompson and Jerry McNerney -- quickly issued a joint statement expressing doubts about the Peripheral Canal's proposed resurrection.On the other side, the Delta Vision task force's latest draft recommendations say a Peripheral Canal-like "isolated facility" is "the linchpin to managing Delta water supply and ecosystem functions."Tom Graff, senior counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, was an opponent of the 1982 Peripheral Canal vote. His group still says fisheries must be taken care of first. But he says the institute's report, in particular, has "actually moved the ball somewhat in the direction of a canal."It's not the first time observers of California's water wars have sensed change. Breakthroughs are forever just around the corner. CalFed was the great hope of the previous decade. Delta Vision is the great hope for this decade.Will the second succeed where the first and its predecessors failed? What will it take for the warring sides to reach consensus, rescue the delta's ecology, save its beleaguered levees and stabilize supplies for water users?"That's the great unanswered question," Nelson said. "Is California up to addressing what is clearly the greatest water management challenge of the last half-century in the absence of a disaster? Or is it going to take a catastrophe?" Study Underscores Impact of Court Imposed Water Pumping Restrictions...Coalition for a Sustainable Delta...Press Releasehttp://www.fresnobee.com/556/v-print/story/1072330.htmlCalifornia Economy and Water Supply Reliability Hit Hard BERKELEY, Calif., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire/ A new study released today underscores the severity of the statewide economic and water supply implications of ongoing water pumping restrictions imposed by federal courts in California to protect the Delta smelt. According to the study, statewide economic impacts can exceed $1 billion per year during drought years such as those currently facing the state and may well exceed $3 billion should the state enter a prolonged dry period. Additionally, the report documents the severe water supply implications of the Court's orders. Even during average and wet periods the Court imposed restrictions exacerbate ongoing drought conditions by limiting the ability of water managers to replenish water storage facilities and groundwater reserves. The net result is a significant additional blow to the state economy and a greatly reduced ability to respond to severe drought and other emergencies."The study documents immediate and very severe economic impacts to an already reeling state economy and highlights the longer-term water supply implications resulting from a reduced ability to replenish our reservoirs, groundwater storage facilities and other critical reserves, said Terry Erlewine, General Manager of the State Water Contractors. The sad reality is the courts have taken over operational control of the state's water supply system. Clearly, the state's residents, farms and businesses will be paying a steep price for years to come."Commissioned by Bay Area, San Joaquin Valley and Southern California water users, the timely report was designed to provide a better understanding of the economic and water supply impacts of an Interim Order, designed to protect the Delta smelt, imposed by Judge Oliver Wanger of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California last December 14, 2007. The study also provides important insight on the economic and water supply reliability impacts of additional restrictions being sought for fishery and ecosystem protection. The crucial assessment comes just as a court-ordered revised Biological Opinion outlining the impacts of the state's water pumping operations on the endangered smelt is due to be submitted. The study's estimates are very conservative since only the Delta smelt restrictions were considered, and modeling assumptions tended to underestimate supply impacts. Other equally problematic restrictions could soon be in place for salmon, longfin smelt and other native Delta fish. As a result, total economic and water supply implications would likely be even more severe in the future. "The export restrictions imposed in a effort to conserve the Delta smelt clearly add significant new risks to California's water supply system, said Dr. David Sunding, author of the study and a professor of agricultural and resource economics at UC Berkeley. The water pumping restrictions not only worsen the current drought, they also ensure that water rationing, fallowed farm land and economic dislocation will be the norm. The study highlights the unsustainable nature of the state's current water system. Rather than a series of court-imposed restrictions aimed at individual species, California would benefit from a more comprehensive fix for the delta."Specific water supply and economic impacts include, but are not limited to the following:    --  Pumping restrictions, such as those resulting from the         Wanger Interim Order, significantly reduce the reliability         of water deliveries from both the State Water Project         (SWP) and Central Valley Project (CVP).    --  For both the SWP and CVP, supply reductions are         greatest in years with near average water supplies          greatly impacting water storage and groundwater         replenishment efforts.-SWP impacts average 414 thousand acre-feet (TAF)/yr or roughly the amount of water needed to serve over 3 million residents.-Impacts would be as high as 700 TAF/yr in "above average" years.-CVP impacts average 170 TAF/yr but exceed 263 TAF/yr in "above average" years.    --  Statewide economic impacts average over $500 million         annually with most of that impact in the San Joaquin         Valley and Southern California. Economic impacts will be          much greater in drought conditions.     --  Annual economic losses could soar in excess of $3 billion          should the state enter a prolonged dry period, such as           the one experienced from 1987-1992."The economic and water supply impacts of court imposed water supply restrictions are very sobering," said Michael Boccadoro, spokesperson for the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta. "The study underscores the need to make sure we get the science correct before more restrictions are imposed. Environmental activists are playing a very dangerous game with the state's economy and the livelihoods of the state's residents as they seek additional restrictions."Environmental and sportfishing groups last week filed suit to force the complete and total shutdown of delta water pumping operations.The study was prepared by Berkeley Economic Consulting, under the direction of Dr. David Sunding, a well known and respected University of California professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics at Berkeley.Questions about the study can be directed to Dr. Sunding directly at 415-299-2653. All other inquiries should be directed to Mr. Boccadoro at the numbers listed below.For more information or a copy of the full report, visit http://www.sustainabledelta.com/The Coalition for a Sustainable Delta is an ad hoc group of water users who depend on conveyance through the delta for a large portion of their water supplies. The Coalition is dedicated to protecting the delta and is committed to promoting a strategy to ensure its sustainability.915 L Street, #C-438 - Sacramento, CA 95814Contact: Michael Boccadoro916/ 441-4383 or 916/ 600-4383California Rules to Cut Diesel Truck Pollution Called Most Sweeping in U.S....Environmental Defense Fund...Press Releasehttp://www.fresnobee.com/556/v-print/story/1072775.htmlWill Dramatically Cut Largest Source of Deadly Diesel Pollution in State SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ The California Air Resources Board today approved two diesel truck regulations that will dramatically cut the largest source of diesel pollution in the state and are the first of their kind in the United States, according to Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The Air Resource Board estimates that the truck regulations are expected to save 9,400 lives between 2010 and 2025 and greatly reduce health care costs. "In passing these rules, California will continue to lead a nationwide movement to protect our most vulnerable citizens and reduce health care costs by placing highly cost-effective controls on diesel engines," testified Dr. John Balbus, EDF's chief health scientist and a member of the National Academy of Science Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology (http://www.edf.org/documents/8955_Balbus-CA-Truck-Testimony.pdf), during the public meeting this morning before the Air Resources Board voted to approve the rule late today. "The scientific literature is overflowing with studies documenting harm from diesel emissions to the lungs, the immune system, the heart and cardiovascular system, even the developing brain."Retrofitting these trucks with particulate matter filters can reduce diesel soot up to 85 percent, and upgrading to newer trucks to meet EPA's latest engine standards can reduce smog-forming nitrogen oxide up to about 90%. The state is offering truckers more than $1 billion in funding to offset the costs of complying with the new rules. "We should be positive about the overall outcome: we are on a path to reduce deadly diesel emissions," said Camille Kustin, an EDF policy analyst based in Sacramento. "However, we'll be moving along that path slower than we had hoped." Diesel trucks are the largest emitter of toxic diesel particulate matter in the state due to a combination of lagging emission standards, the long life of the diesel engine, and the high number of miles each truck travels. The newest diesel trucks are much cleaner than their predecessors thanks to recent EPA regulations, but the natural turnover of trucks will not happen fast enough in order for the state to meet federal clean air requirements and to achieve near and long term health benefits. There are more than 900,000 diesel trucks in California, but they produce more than double the amount of the particulate matter and nitrogen oxide from all of the state's 20 million passenger cars and trucks. Environmental Defense Fund, a leading national nonprofit organization, represents more than 500,000 members nationwide and 100,000 in California. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.orgCONTACT: Sean Crowley, 202-550-6524 (m), scrowley@edf.orgLori Sinsley, 415-308-6970 (m), lsinsley@edf.orgLARRY MILLER: Big decisions on rail loom for Fresno...Larry Miller, member of the Technical Assessment Group advising the HSR-Rail Consolidation study for Fresno, the Fresno COG Rail Committee, the San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee and the Regional Blueprint Advisory Grouphttp://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/valley_voices/v-print/story/1073097.htmlIn reporting, editorials and letters over the past month, The Bee has become a valuable forum for airing issues about high-speed rail, Amtrak and freight rail. The Bee has also been a champion of finding matching funds to finance the construction of high-speed rail. Bravo.But amid all this, however, it would be a mistake for the public to believe that high-speed rail is an event still over the horizon for Fresno. One critical element in the process is taking place right now and has enormous implications for how well Fresno will live with passenger and freight rail service.This has to do with rethinking where to put the trains -- if indeed there are options that derive from the installation of high-speed rail in Fresno. This initial recommendation of the city, county and Fresno County Council of Governments called for developing a master rail corridor for all freight and passenger trains (including high-speed rail) to be located inside the current Union Pacific freight rail corridor along Highway 99. The state's High Speed Rail Authority adopted that recommendation. The corridor was to be a completely grade-separated corridor housing all trains coming into and out of Fresno, regardless of whether they stopped in Fresno or not.Unfortunately, the "footprint" required for the trackage, access and separation necessary to implement that plan has turned out to be nearly two to three times as wide as UP's corridor. Equally problematic, the plan presupposed that the UP would share its right of way with high-speed rail, a supposition the UP has since formally denounced -- vigorously.Now, an ambitious feasibility study, underwritten jointly by the rail authority and the Fresno Council of Governments (COG), has been researching what options exist to route high-speed rail, Amtrak, UP and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe freight railroads into and/or around Fresno. A major concern from the Fresno side of the study is seeing if some form of freight rail consolidation can be engineered as part of the project. No one is yet talking price tag, but the project could be on the order of $1 billion. So with roughly 70 trains per day (a number growing rapidly) now transiting Fresno and causing long traffic delays, noise and air pollution -- among other problems -- COG views this as a rare chance to address this decades-long nightmare.The study has come up with three general groups of options, each with various permutations, which are all compounded by a fundamental desire to put a multimodal passenger rail station downtown:Leaving the freight rail corridors as they are and putting high-speed rail entirely into a new corridor either to the west of Fresno and/or routing it along what is now the Golden State Highway. Among other things, this has ominous implications for future rail consolidation.Following the original preferred alignment by putting all rail service into or alongside the UP corridor or above and between Highway 99, in this case by stacking and separating the services vertically, either by means of elevated tracks or by trenching or tunneling, or both. This could be an ambitious and expensive alternative, even if UP were to cooperate.Creating a master, grade-separated rail corridor to the west of Fresno. This could accommodate high-speed rail trains that don't stop in Fresno as well as those freight trains with cargo not destined for Fresno. But, while very few freight trains actually need to come into Fresno, both railroads have active yards in Fresno, and BNSF in particular does both crew changes and car switching in its large Calwa yard.There are no easy solutions to these issues, but one thing is certain: The upcoming decision will impact Fresno for generations.From 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 17, at the Fresno COG, the consulting firm, URS, will present its findings on options to a Technical Assessment Group representing Fresno's interests. Although not a public outreach meeting, the meeting is open to the public and residents of Fresno may want to follow it, perhaps with an eye to generating a larger public forum before decisions are made.Sometimes planners, consultants and elected officials -- with good intentions -- make major decisions on the public's behalf, and only afterward does the public fully comprehend the import of such decisions.It would be tragic if the public were not involved from the outset. This will be the largest and perhaps most important construction project Fresno has ever seen.I urge residents to be involved, and I encourage the broadcast media to join The Bee's coverage of this hugely important decision-making process. Environmental Impact Statement should clear the way for final STB decision on EJ&E transaction...CN...Press Releasehttp://www.fresnobee.com/556/v-print/story/1072051.htmlKey mitigation issues addressed in final environmental impact statement;CN continues to reach voluntary mitigation agreements with communitiesWASHINGTON, DC, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - CN (TSX: CNR)(NYSE: CNI) said that today's publication by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Federal Register of a notice of availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on CN's proposed acquisition of the major portion of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E) should clear the way for the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to promptly issue a final decision on the transaction. On Dec. 5, the STB's Section of Environmental Analysis (SEA) issued the Final EIS on this transaction. EPA's publication of the notice of availability is the final step in the environmental review process under Council on Environmental Quality regulations."SEA has conducted a thorough, comprehensive environmental review of this transaction," said E. Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer of CN. "SEA has recommended significant mitigation for communities along the EJ&E line addressing a range of issues in the final EIS, including all of the measures contained in the comprehensive voluntary mitigation plan submitted by CN. Significantly, the final EIS acknowledges the benefits of the transaction to many Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs and reflects CN's view that the impacts on communities along the EJ&E can be mitigated in fair and reasonable ways."By addressing all significant environmental impacts along the EJ&E line, based on the STB's established standards, CN's comprehensive voluntary mitigation program provides for improvements that address noise, safety, and crossing delays. CN estimates such mitigation will cost CN more than $60 million. Together with the $20 million CN has paid for the consultant working on the environmental review under SEA's direction, this $80 million is an unprecedented expenditure on environmental issues for a transaction that involves a private sector investment of $300 million for the purchase and $100 million in proposed improvements to the line.Since announcing this transaction more than a year ago, CN has reached out to communities and other stakeholder leaders to find effective ways to balance the specific needs of communities along the EJ&E line with the critical need for rail congestion relief in the Chicago region. CN has proactively engaged communities in voluntary mitigation efforts and has reached agreements with six communities, with discussions ongoing with several additional communities. CN has also reached an agreement with Amtrak on its continued access to and from Chicago's Union Station and is currently engaged in constructive discussions with Metra."CN's EJ&E transaction has been under thorough examination by the STB's environmental staff and its consultants, as well as communities and business groups," said Mr. Harrison. "In fact, it appears that no other rail control transaction has received such an extensive environmental review in the history of the STB."Mr. Harrison added, "With the publication of the EIS, SEA has laid out all the key facts and the record for the STB is now complete. We believe this transaction will provide meaningful transportation, environmental, and economic benefits for the Chicago region and the nation. We seek the agency's approval before the end of this year so that the transaction can be allowed to close and its significant public interest benefits realized."CN and U. S. Steel, the indirect owner of the EJ&E, announced on Sept. 26, 2007, an agreement under which CN would acquire most of the EJ&E for $300 million, subject to regulatory approval by the STB. More information on the transaction, including a map of the areas served by the EJ&E and CN, is available by clicking on the EJ&E Acquisition icon on CN's website, www.cn.ca.Forward-Looking StatementsThis news release contains forward-looking statements. CN cautions that, by their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk, uncertainties and assumptions. Implicit in these statements, particularly in respect of growth opportunities, is the Company's assumption that such growth opportunities extend beyond business cycle considerations and, as such, are less affected by the current situation in the North American and global economies. The Company cautions that its assumptions may not materialize and that current economic conditions render such assumptions, reasonable at the time they were made, subject to greater uncertainty. The current situation in financial markets is adding a substantial amount of risk to the North American economy, which is currently experiencing recessionary conditions, and to the global economy, which is already slowing down. Under these circumstances, it is difficult to make a projection in respect of business prospects for the next 12 to 18 months. The Company cautions that its results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to, industry competition, legislative and/or regulatory developments, compliance with environmental laws and regulations, various events which could disrupt operations, including natural events such as severe weather, droughts, floods and earthquakes, the effects of adverse general economic and business conditions, inflation, currency fluctuations, changes in fuel prices, labor disruptions, environmental claims, investigations or proceedings, other types of claims and litigation, and other risks detailed from time to time in reports filed by CN with securities regulators in Canada and the United States. Reference should be made to "Management's Discussion and Analysis" in CN's annual and interim reports and Annual Information Form and Form 40-F filed with Canadian and U.S. securities regulators, available on CN's website, for a summary of major risks.CN assumes no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements to reflect future events, changes in circumstances, or changes in beliefs, unless required by applicable laws. In the event CN does update any forward-looking statement, no inference should be made that CN will make additional updates with respect to that statement, related matters, or any other forward-looking statement.CN - Canadian National Railway Company and its operating railway subsidiaries - spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Ala., and the key metropolitan areas of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, and Jackson, Miss., with connections to all points in North America. For more information on CN, visit the company's website at www.cn.ca Ongoing budget impasse will directly hurt Valley economyAsk our local legislators why nothing is happening to resolve situation...Editorialhttp://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/v-print/story/1073098.htmlUnless the Legislature and the governor can solve California's cash-flow problems in the next two weeks, the state will be unable to sell bonds needed to finance $5 billion in public works.In this troubled economy, that will cause even more pain for the entire state, and take a big chunk of public works spending out of the San Joaquin Valley.If the bonds can't be sold, state agencies will be forced to halt or hold off on numerous construction projects, costing thousands of jobs, according to Treasurer Bill Lockyer. What kind of projects? The impact in our region would be significant, according to the state treasurer's office.The Valley -- from the Tehachapi Mountains to Stockton -- stands to lose approximately $175 million in school construction money if legislators don't immediately fix the state's cash position.That list includes $54 million for Chawanakee Unified in North Fork, $18 million for Fresno Unified and $15 million for Lindsay Unified, according to the treasurer's office.More than $200 million in transportation projects also could be halted in the Valley. That includes $92 million to widen Highway 198 in Kings County, and $37 million for bridges scheduled to be replaced in Merced County.Why, at a time when the jobless rate is soaring, would legislators add to unemployment numbers by sending the state's finances off a cliff?That's a question you need to ask Valley legislators --Democrats Dean Florez and Juan Arambula and Republicans Dave Cogdill, Jeff Denham, Roy Ashburn, Mike Villines, Danny Gilmore, Connie Conway and Tom Berryhill.As we have said repeatedly in editorials, Democrats and Republicans must make concessions to save the state. So far there has been little sign of compromise, and it seems the political divide is getting even larger the more they talk.That's not a good sign for the state's economy. California is headed for bankruptcy unless lawmakers come to their senses.This stalemate is costing taxpayers $1 billion for every month that it continues without a solution. The cost of doing nothing is not zero. Florez, Arambula, Cogdill, Ashburn, Denham, Villines, Gilmore, Conway and Berryhill don't seem to understand that basic piece of math. Sacramento BeeDeltaPolitical headwinds building against Delta pumping study...Matt Weiserhttp://www.sacbee.com/1268/story/1467929.htmlPolitical pressure is bearing down on a major study due Monday that could permanently restrict water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect imperiled fish.The study, called a biological opinion, is being prepared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under a federal court order to protect the threatened Delta smelt. The translucent, finger-length fish has long symbolized environmental conflict in the Delta, a source of drinking water for two-thirds of all Californians.The forthcoming study sets new operating rules for state and federal pumping systems in the Delta. Federal District Court Judge Oliver Wanger in Fresno ordered the study last year, after ruling that existing operations violate the Endangered Species Act. On Dec. 5, however, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., wrote Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne urging him to ask the Department of Justice to petition the court to delay the new rules.A delay is "essential here to minimize the potentially devastating economic impacts to my state from significant further cutbacks in our water supply," Feinstein wrote.Interior spokesman Shane Wolfe said the agency is preparing a response for Feinstein and has had "numerous conversations" with the Department of Justice.Feinstein wants the study combined with a similar report being drafted for Central Valley salmon, due in March, by the National Marine Fisheries Service. Unless combined, she argues, the two might conflict.The state Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation operate the two Delta water systems and are the lead defendants in the federal case. They provide Delta water to dozens of contractors, including some of the state's largest water agencies.DWR Deputy Director Jerry Johns said his agency wants the smelt and salmon rules combined."A lot of time, protecting one fish has a bad impact on the other that you didn't think about," Johns said. "What we're looking for is asking the fish agencies to consider how this gets coordinated in a more effective fashion."Johns declined to describe DWR's concerns about the draft rules. But in a 15-page letter to the Bureau of Reclamation on Dec. 1, obtained by The Bee, Johns detailed numerous objections and said the rules amount to "severe" pumping cutbacks.He complained that recommendations by state water contractors were not included in the rules, and said the pumping systems should be allowed to kill more smelt than the draft rules allow.However, Barry Nelson, a senior policy advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said there's no need for delay.He said the salmon and smelt rules already are being coordinated in regular meetings between the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service.Nelson said indications are that the new rules include many of the protections recommended by groups such as the governor-appointed Delta Vision Task Force, which heard testimony from numerous fisheries experts in a series of meetings over nearly two years."I don't know which of those (water) contractors is leading the charge, but it's quite clear those contractors are hoping the agencies can be pressured to weaken the protections in the draft biological opinion," Nelson said.Laura King-Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors, said her agency did not ask Feinstein to write the letter and has not been in contact with the Interior secretary's office.She said her group, which represents 27 water agencies that buy Delta water, hasn't even seen the draft biological opinion yet."But DWR has seen it," King-Moon said, "and the rumblings I've heard from them is that they don't seem to be very satisfied. I doubt we will be." California brings heavy-duty diesels under clean air rules...Chris Bowmanhttp://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1470828.htmlCalifornia is snuffing out the last of the old stogies on the road.Against the backdrop of recession, the state's smog-fighting Air Resources Board on Friday ordered owners of all heavy-duty diesel trucks to install soot traps on exhaust pipes of older, high-polluting rigs or take them off the road, starting in 2011.The 8-0 decision, together with a strategy adopted Thursday for slashing global warming emissions from all tailpipes and industry exhaust vents amount to the most sweeping and costly measures in the state's 40-year history of air pollution control. Unlike the climate-change restrictions, the diesel rules will have more immediate and palpable effects on the economy of California and the health of its 38 million residents.Air Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols called the regulations a "giant step forward" in the state's long fight against unhealthy air. But she also acknowledged the financial burden of compliance, particularly for independent single-vehicle haulers."We worked very hard on these regulations to make sure we give enough time and flexibility for the smallest of operators to comply," Nichols said in a media briefing after the vote. "But the bottom line is that this is an industry that has an enormous health impact on the people of this state."Under the rules, the stink and smudge of diesel that fouled California's skies for more than 60 years will be virtually gone by 2023, when the rules take full effect. The vast majority of trucks will be running with 95 percent cleaner engines by 2020, air board officials said.Public health advocates celebrated the decision."The board just saved over 9,000 lives," said an excited Bonnie Holmes-Gen, a lobbyist for American Lung Association of California, referring to the state's estimate of deaths the diesel regulations would prevent from 2011 to 2025.Nichols has called diesel pollution a "silent killer" because the ultrafine, windblown specks in fresh diesel exhaust can penetrate more deeply into lungs than ordinary dust and even enter the bloodstream, triggering death among people with cardiovascular troubles.But many in the trucking, construction and grocery industries said the costly rules couldn't come at a worse time.They said the recession coupled with the impending diesel restrictions already has devalued older trucks to the point that banks won't accept them as collateral. As a result, many trucks owners said they can't qualify for loans to buy more modern, cleaner trucks or even the soot traps, which can cost up to $10,000."Residential construction is down 70 percent. Commercial construction is down 40 percent. Now you're asking truckers to take on debt," said Bruce Wick, spokesman for the California Professional Association of Specialty Contractors.Many truckers said the rules would force them out of business.In response, air board members gave truck owners an extra year before the rules would take effect and allowed them to delay a year on bringing a truck into compliance for every dirty one they retire."There's no bigger health risk than losing one's job," said Dr. John Telles, a board member and physician. "The reason to do this is to improve the health of Californians, not to make it worse."Friday's vote followed more than 15 hours of testimony from truckers hauling everything from gravel to bee colonies and dozens who suffer asthma, including high school students from Oakland and Fremont who live and play near heavily traveled freeways.Nearly 300 people spoke during the two-day hearing at the air board's headquarters in downtown Sacramento. That is the highest participation of any hearing in the agency's history, Nichols said.The big-rig trucks, large delivery trucks and airport shuttle buses are the last of the diesel-powered vehicles and equipment to come under the soot-cutting knife of the air board, following similar rules for garbage trucks, municipal buses and off-road construction and farming vehicles and equipment.But the number of these heavy-duty vehicles, along with their heavy weight, high mileage and longevity, makes them the single largest source of toxic air pollution in California, air board officials said.The regulations will dramatically cut emissions of tiny diesel exhaust particles and smog-forming nitrogen oxides from more than 400,000 diesel vehicles registered in the state and another 500,000 out-of-state trucks that pass through California each year.In 1998, the board declared the particles in diesel exhaust a "toxic air contaminant" because of their potential to cause cancer and premature heart- and lung-related deaths in adults. Failures show no sign of easing...Tony Pughhttp://www.sacbee.com/103/story/1470691.htmlWASHINGTON – As the curtain falls on one of the most devastating financial years on record, business bankruptcy filings – both large and small – continue to soar.The nearly 58,000 commercial filings for bankruptcy protection nationwide through November exceed the year-end totals of each year since Congress overhauled the bankruptcy laws in 2005, according to Automated Access to Court Electronic Records, an Oklahoma City bankruptcy data company.The 11-month figure is also 35 percent more than the nearly 43,000 business petitions filed in all of last year, the company's data show. The massive job losses, stagnant consumer spending, tighter credit and the subprime mortgage crisis have hammered businesses.Victims include Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual, the two largest corporate Chapter 11 filings in U.S. history.Thousands of smaller companies also have been forced to liquidate or restructure through the bankruptcy system. They include car dealerships such as Ernie Haire Ford of Tampa, Fla., home remodeling firms such as Accurate Kitchens of Clifton, N.J., and natural gas marketers such as Catalyst Energy of Atlanta.When the recession began last December, businesses nationwide were filing an average of 206 bankruptcy petitions a day. That average has increased steadily since June, reaching 318 per day in November.Commercial bankruptcy filings are up 111 percent in Oregon, 91 percent in Utah and 83 percent in California, which leads the nation with nearly 12,000 business filings this year.Things look even worse for next year, when business filings are likely to increase 40 percent to 50 percent, said Dan North, chief economist at Euler Hermes ACI, an Owings Mill, Md., firm that insures more than $150 billion in U.S. trade transactions each year.North expects a wave of retail filings in the first quarter of 2009, as struggling businesses run out of gas after hanging on for the holiday shopping season.Some retailers, such as KB Toys, have decided not to wait, hoping that the holiday season will help them liquidate their inventories. After filing for bankruptcy protection this week, KB Toys will begin going-out-of-business sales at all its stores. The chain blamed a "sudden and sharp decline in consumer sales."Earlier this month, the nation's largest poultry producer, Pilgrim's Pride, sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.In Delaware, where many out-of-state companies file incorporation papers, filings have jumped 243 percent from last year. Many companies file in Delaware because the bankruptcy process tends to move faster there, said Gregory Stone, an assistant finance professor at the University of Nevada, Reno.Last year, in the New York-Delaware region, there was one major business filing per quarter. "Two or three at the most," said Mark Indelicato, a bankruptcy lawyer and partner at Hahn & Hessen law firm in New York. "Now you're seeing multiple filings per week."The situation wouldn't be so bad if access to credit weren't so tight. In previous years, companies with operational and cash problems had little trouble getting emergency loans."There was enough liquidity in the market – the availability of cheap dollars – to chase deals, so you could always correct a problem by refinancing it and getting a different level of debt in there," Indelicato said. "But ever since the subprime crisis hit, these parties have hit a wall and they can't get financing anymore."The Federal Reserve's most recent quarterly survey of senior bank-loan officers found that 81 percent have made it more expensive for large firms to borrow. Seventy-one percent did the same for small firms. The response rates were the highest ever recorded in the survey, said North of Euler Hermes ACI.The uncertainty shows no sign of abating. The Distressed Company Alert, a weekly newsletter about troubled public companies, typically adds five to 10 companies a week to its list.These days, it's adding 18 to 24 a week. Stockton RecordLAFCO approves land annexation...The Recordhttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081213/A_NEWS/812130325/-1/A_NEWSSTOCKTON - The San Joaquin Local Agency Formation Commission on Friday approved Stockton's request to annex land into the city for a 7,000-home subdivision to be built over 20 years on a Delta island in northwest Stockton.The approval by the commission, which manages how local agencies grow, followed the city's approval in November of the project.The subdivision, Sanctuary, is to be built on Shima Tract and is projected to include twice as many homes as are in Brookside. Construction is likely to begin once the housing market rebounds, developer The Grupe Co. has said.Home sales in S.J. fallChanges in foreclosure laws cited as creating a temporary reduction...Bruce Spencehttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081213/A_BIZ/812130317Home Sales dipSales of existing homes in San Joaquin County last month took a sharp dip from October as the number of foreclosures hitting the market fell. Here's a look at cloed sales throughout the county:                       Nov.'07    Oct.'08    Nov.'08    % increaseS.J. County         288       1,258        981            341%Stockton            143          699        530            371%MLRE*                 72          245        182            253%Tracy                  44          240        202            459%Lodi                    29            74         67             231%*Manteca/Lathrop/Ripon/EscalonSource: Groupe Real Estate/TrendGraphix        Rick Hudock/The Record---------------------The number of existing houses sold in San Joaquin County dipped sharply last month, as did the number of houses on the market.Sales fell after September and October saw the highest sales numbers ever - predominantly foreclosure properties, according to the latest Grupe Real Estate-TrendGraphix monthly sales report, based on Multiple Listing Service data.A total of 981 existing single-family homes sold last month countywide, down from 1,258 in October, the report said. That's still the fifth-best sales month this year, which brokers have reported to be the best ever in terms of sales numbers.The number of houses on the market fell to 3,954 last month, down from 4,273 from October and down by almost one-third from a year ago.Foreclosures make up about 45 percent of monthly listings countywide but account for almost nine out of 10 sales. At the current sales rate, today's foreclosures would be picked out of the market within two months.This isn't a drying up of the foreclosure properties pool but a temporary lag, said Jerry Abbott, president and co-owner of Grupe Real Estate, Stockton.State and federal policy changes aimed at helping homeowners wrestling with potential foreclosure have simply slowed down for many the march through the foreclosure process, he saidFor example, a state law kicked in during September that requires lenders to at least make an effort to talk with homeowners about mortgage modifications before proceeding with the foreclosure process.And last month, federal mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae announced a temporary moratorium on evictions and foreclosures from Thanksgiving to Jan. 9 to give some homeowners extra time to try to rework their mortgages with lenders.Abbott said that means new foreclosures have been lagging for a couple of months, but he expects foreclosure numbers to jump again in January and February."It's kind of thin pickings right now in terms of good foreclosure properties," he said.Tom Guiliano, vice president of sales and marketing at Cornerstone Real Estate Group in Stockton, said residential sales this year continue to be strong because ever-dropping foreclosure prices have made houses affordable again to families and investors.TrendGraphix said the median sales price fell from $190,000 in October to $175,000 last month in San Joaquin County. That compares with a $200,000 sales mark in January 2002, when TrendGraphix began tracking sales as the market was well into the start of a six-year boom.Guiliano said that if interest rates continue to sink, even down around the 4.5 percent mark being mulled by federal officials, the jump in foreclosures early next year would be met with surging sales.He forecast one complication for that scenario: Real estate's financial sector, which has been forced into lean staffing, will struggle to keep up as high sales go even higher."If we have a glut of sales, I don't think there is the infrastructure for lenders and title companies to handle the transactions," he said.Irvine-based RealtyTrac, which tracks the foreclosure market, reported that national foreclosure activity in November hit the lowest level since June in part because of a number of recently enacted state laws that extended the foreclosure process, more aggressive loan modification programs and holiday moratoriums by some lendersRealtyTrac CEO James J. Saccacio called the slowdown "a temporary lull before another foreclosure storm hits in the coming months."Manteca BulletinGet ready for housing shortage in near future...Dennis Wyatthttp://www.mantecabulletin.com/main.asp?SectionID=28&SubSectionID=58&ArticleID=60652A housing shortage looming in San Joaquin County?It seems impossible to fathom given the fact Stockton-Modesto has the highest foreclosure rate in the nation with cities such as Manteca having hundreds of empty houses taken back by banks.A housing shortage though, is exactly what the Eberhardt School of Business Forecasting Center is projecting for San Joaquin County.A housing report issued by the forecasting center predicts that after the market stabilizes over the next two years, "the county will require a rapid increase in construction to satisfy the demand for new household formation."The coming demand is being addressed during a San Joaquin County housing needs workshop set for Thursday, Jan. 8, from 8 to 10 a.m. at the University Center Ballroom at the University of the Pacific. Among the panelists are John Beckman, chief executive officer for the Building Industry Association of the Delta; Jeffrey Michael director of the forecasting center; and other panelists. The workshop is free and open to the public.The report makes the following points:• The excess supply from the housing boom is relatively small and growing population in the next year or two should absorb the slack in the local market.• Home building will soon have to increase from its current lows to accommodate new households.• The county's population is young and represents the largest group for new household formation.• Lower housing costs - as they did during the previous growth boom - will again attract new migration from the higher cost metro area.• An increasing number of Hispanic and Asian households will tend to lower rates of household formation as more people tend to live in the same housing unit.• The county's relative high housing costs decrease the creation of independent households. High housing costs and economic downturns increase the size of family households as children are less likely to move out of their parents' home. It also increases the size of non-family households as individuals seek to share housing expenses.• Before the housing boom, San Joaquin County had a mild housing shortage. In 2000, the county was about 6,000 units below the level needed to bring non-seasonal vacancy rates, prices and rents close to the national norms.Tracy PressSupercenter suitA group of local activists has filed a lawsuit challenging the planned expansion of Tracy’s Wal-Mart...Eric Firpohttp://tracypress.com/content/view/16735/2268/A group has sued Tracy for its approval of Wal-Mart’s request to add 70,000 square feet and sell groceries at its store on West Grant Line Road.Tracy First, a group that has fought the expansion of the nation’s biggest retailer, filed the lawsuit Nov. 2. The lawsuit charges the city’s report to gauge the environmental effects of a bigger Wal-Mart were "legally deficient," said Steve Herum of Herum and Crabtree, a Stockton law firm that represents Tracy First. The lawsuit says the city study improperly defined how big the store would be by not including an 11,000-square-foot garden center and failed to evaluate and possibly cut air pollution, traffic, energy use and how it could spread urban rot in other shopping centers in Tracy. The lawsuit asks a court to set aside the old study and force the city to write a new one. Wal-Mart has been trying to add space for five years, and public debates draw throngs of impassioned supporters and critics. Wal-Mart was built in 1993, and the company could have built a 163,000-square-foot store but built at 125,000 square feet instead. On Oct. 21, the City Council voted 3-1 to allow the store to add 70,000 square feet, of which roughly 30,000 will be devoted to groceries. Fans of a Wal-Mart grocery store believe they’ll save money there, while critics complain it will drive other grocery stores and other retail shopping centers out of business. "I think it’s detrimental to the city," said Marvin Rothschild, a Tracy First member who signed on to the lawsuit. Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Loscotoff scoffed at the idea that there was anything wrong with the city’s environmental report, and said the city’s work with the company in the past five years ended in "valid approval" of the environmental study. "We’ve appreciated the support we’ve received," he said. The lawsuit was hardly unexpected, and was in fact predicted by Councilman Steve Abercrombie when he voted to OK a bigger Wal-Mart. Mayor Brent Ives said the city will likely defend itself against the suit, as it did when it beat a challenge to its approval of a WinCo grocery store. "We think we did a good job with the (environmental impact report)," he said. San Francisco ChronicleAir board adopts strict rules on diesel exhaust...Wyatt Buchananhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/13/MN8U14N2IV.DTL&type=printableOne million diesel-exhaust-spewing big rigs on California's roads face the nation's strictest emissions restrictions under rules adopted Friday by the state air board, a move that officials say is needed to save thousands of lives but that some truck drivers fear will put them out of business.The regulations, approved one day after the California Air Resources Board's landmark vote to curb greenhouse gases, require all trucks and buses, whether or not they are registered in the state, to retrofit or replace their rigs starting in 2010.Air board officials estimate the changes will cost the trucking industry $5.5 billion, causing some truckers to plead for financial assistance. They said they will offer truck owners $1 billion in help.After hearing public comment for two days, the board voted unanimously in favor of the rule. Board Chair Mary Nichols said the decision was necessary because the trucking industry "has an enormous impact on the lives and health of the people of the state."Air board officials estimate that the rule will save the lives of 9,400 people between 2011 and 2025. A related study by UC Berkeley and Harvard researchers concluded that truck drivers and dockworkers who breathe diesel soot on the job have higher rates of lung cancer and death than other workers.During hearings Thursday and Friday, truck drivers and others concerned about their bottom line predicted dire economic consequences from the rules, while public-health advocates and air officials from around the state focused on people who suffer from asthma and other health risks associated with the pollution."This regulation is not something that you could do or should do - it's something you must do," said Bonnie Holmes-Gen, senior policy director for the American Lung Association of California.But Doug Britton, who owns a Fresno County trucking company whose 10 trucks are 10 to 20 years old, said he is worried about whether he will be able to stay in business.The cost of installing filters, which run about $12,000 per truck, and replacing old engines would "cause my debt to explode to 2 1/2 times the amount I've carried the last 20 years," Britton said. "That scares the heck out of me."About 400,000 trucks are registered in the state, and about 500,000 from other states do business in California, according to the air board. The regulation applies to trucks that weigh more than 14,000 pounds, or those that are larger than a Ford F350 or GM 3500.Truck owners would be required to install filters on their exhaust, and most would have to do so by 2014. Truckers also would have to replace their engines between 2012 and 2022 or buy a new truck with an engine made with 2010 specifications. If a new or used replacement is not available, truckers will not have to buy a replacement.Truckers who do not adhere to the rules could face fines of up to $1,000 per day per violation.Air board officials said their top priority is public health, adding that failure to meet clean air standards in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California would put $2 billion in federal highway money at risk.But the board agreed to let owners of small fleets, those with three or fewer trucks, wait until 2011 to comply with the new rules. The air agency will carry out an intensive campaign in the coming year to inform those owners of the new rules. The board also decided to let fleet owners delay retrofitting one vehicle for each one that is taken off the road.Julie Sauls, spokeswoman for California Trucking Association, said the group will take a close look at the new rules and talk to its members.The trucking industry offered an alternative plan, with different timelines, to ease some of the burden on truck drivers who could be saddled with vehicles they cannot legally drive or sell. But the board said the proposal did not meet the timeline for the federal requirements.Air board members also voted to require people who drive their trucks long-distance to install more efficient tires and to outfit their rigs with aerodynamic features.Board member Dr. John Balmes said after the vote that while the change might cost the industry more than $5 billion, the savings in public health costs are estimated at as much as $50 billion."It's a tough rule in a tough time, but there will be societal savings," he said.Areas near parks dropped from oil drilling plan...MIKE STARK, Associated Press Writerhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/12/national/a225348S11.DTL&type=printableThe Bureau of Land Management has dropped more than half the parcels it originally proposed for an oil and gas lease sale next week, many of which were criticized because of their proximity to southern Utah national parks.The agency's final list for the Dec. 19 sale was released on Friday and includes 132 parcels totaling 164,000 acres.The sale has been controversial since details were first announced Nov. 4 The BLM at that time proposed lease sales on 359,000 acres in Utah.After the proposal was criticized by the National Park Service, a fellow federal agency, and environmental groups, the BLM removed more than 37,000 acres near Utah's national parks. Another 80,000 acres in western Utah were dropped so the agency can conduct an environmental analysis.Other parcels were taken off the list out of concern for wildlife, cultural resources and potential conflicts with existing coal mines, said Megan Crandall, a BLM spokeswoman.One of the remaining parcels in the sale is adjacent to Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal with the agreement of the Park Service, Crandall said.Patrick O'Driscoll, a Park Service spokesman in Denver, said Friday's final list reflects an agreement worked out two weeks ago about what parcels should and shouldn't be leased."Our primary concern all along were those parcels that were so close to national parks," he said.Environmental groups, the Outdoor Industry Association, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and others protested portions of the proposed sale, saying drilling threatened some of the most prized landscapes in eastern Utah.Stephen Bloch, a staff attorney for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, says the final list from the BLM still includes some of Utah's most spectacular lands, including parcels near the White River, Desolation Canyon and Nine Mile Canyon, which has thousands of prehistoric paintings and rock carvings.The proposal is a "fire sale" for industry in the waning days of the Bush administration, he said.Crandall said the BLM removed parcels below the rim of Nine Mile Canyon. Others on a plateau above the canyon remain on the list.FDA reconsiders consumer advice on fish...RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writerhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/12/national/w143338S04.DTL&type=printableFor years, the federal government has recommended that pregnant women and young children limit their consumption of fish to avoid exposure to potentially harmful amounts of mercury.Now, two top consumer protection agencies are at odds on whether that advice should be reconsidered to encourage all people to eat more fish, in order to promote healthy hearts.The Food and Drug Administration has been circulating a draft report within the government that argues the health benefits of eating fish outweigh the potential ill effects of mercury. But the Environmental Protection Agency has fired off a memo to the White House calling the 270-page FDA study "scientifically flawed and inadequate" and an "oversimplification" lacking analytical rigor.Environmental groups are crying foul. They say it's a sneak attempt to undercut important public health advice in the waning hours of a Bush administration that has treated science as a stepchild."The FDA was once a fearsome protector of the public health. Now it's nothing more than a patsy for polluters," Richard Wiles, executive director of the Environmental Working Group, said in a statement.The food industry is praising the FDA's shift. One organization, the Center for Consumer Freedom, called it "long overdue and a huge public-health victory" that "just might be the best Christmas present health-conscious Americans could hope for."The interagency feud spilled into the open Friday when the Environmental Working Group released copies of the dueling memos. The dispute was first reported by the Washington Post.The FDA is embroiled in another controversy over the science of food safety. Recently, a panel of outside advisers challenged the agency on bisphenol A, or BPA, a chemical used to make plastic for food packaging and other consumers goods. The independent experts said that FDA's conclusion that low doses of BPA are safe was scientifically flawed.The battle over mercury is now attracting the interest of Congress. "FDA should not change anything it cannot back up with the best science, because we know that mercury can cause brain and cardiovascular damage," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who chairs the Environment and Public Works Committee. "FDA should not play politics with the health of our families."At the FDA, officials sought to tamp down the controversy and dispel concerns that the agency is about to toss out the government's current mercury guidance."It would be a mistake to assume that this draft report represents the FDA's official position because a final determination on these matters has not been reached," said spokesman Michael Herndon. "Following the discussion among government agencies, FDA intends to seek public comment. This will all be done in a very public and transparent manner, and the FDA will make no final determination until all the relevant comments and scientific analysis has been carefully considered."Mercury occurs naturally and is also released in the environment through pollution. Very high levels in the bloodstream can damage the nervous system of developing fetuses and young children, causing learning disabilities and other problems. Fish absorb mercury in the water and as they feed on plankton and other smaller fish. Some fish, like king mackerel and swordfish, accumulate higher levels of mercury.Fish and shellfish are the biggest sources of human exposure to mercury. Fetuses and young children are the most susceptible to harm. About 8 percent of U.S. women of childbearing age have enough mercury in their blood to be at risk of having babies with subtle learning disabilities, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates.Because of such concerns, the FDA and EPA have recommended that women of child-bearing age and young children not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish, which contain high levels of mercury. The agencies also advised that they eat no more than two meals a week of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury, a total of 12 ounces. And since "white" albacore tuna has more mercury than chunk light tuna, they recommended no more than six ounces a week.The FDA's draft report said the latest studies seem to indicate that the risks may not be as dire as previously thought. The agency also sought to weigh the risk of mercury against the benefits of eating more fish.Current research suggests "a beneficial impact on fetal neurodevelopment from the mother's consumption of fish, even though they contain methylmercury," the report said."The net effect is not necessarily adverse, and could in fact be beneficial," it added.But the EPA said, "this FDA report bases its conclusions on models that use very limited inputs from studies that have significant problems for risk analysis."Contra Costa TimesProposed Delta restrictions irk state water officials...Mike Taugherhttp://www.contracostatimes.com/localnews/ci_11221568?nclick_check=1State water managers have sharply criticized environmental protections for the Delta that are part of a long-awaited permit expected to be issued Monday.The permit is meant to protect a tiny fish, the Delta smelt, that is believed to be close to extinction.After years of record and near-record levels of water deliveries, the smelt and other fish species have collapsed. Biologists are proposing tough new restrictions to reverse that.Known as a biological opinion, the new permit was ordered last year by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, who concluded that a previous version was too weak to save the fish. Last week, Sen. Dianne Feinstein sought to delay the permit, which was originally due in September. By Friday, the likelihood of a further delay appeared to be fading.Exactly how much water agencies from the East Bay to San Diego will lose is unknown. But in a Dec. 1 letter, the state Department of Water Resources warned that the effect will be severe and that biologists were unfairly targeting water operations while ignoring other threats to the fish.The letter, from department Deputy Director Jerry Johns, harshly criticized the November draft of the permit, demanded major changes and called its review of science biased.Among the biggest concerns appeared to be a requirement to release more water from reservoirs during the fall of wet years to reduce salinity in the Delta. Biologists think that will improve habitat for fish, but it could come at a significant cost in stored water. Johns also objected to new limits on the number of smelt that could be killed at the pumps that send Delta water south. His letter said those limits would likely be exceeded often.A spokeswoman for the department's customers said the permit would not lead to a crisis immediately but could have a severe effect in the next year or so."We're preparing for the worst case, that this biological opinion will keep us in a severely restricted water supply situation," said Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors. "The noose is ever tightening."An environmentalist had little sympathy for the department, which he said was reaping what it sowed."The excessive Delta pumping caused the problem," said Barry Nelson, a water policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "It also led to windfall profits at public expense."The state agency letter acknowledges increases in water pumped from the Delta in recent years, saying they were due to higher demand from water agencies, the need to replace lost Colorado River water in Southern California and the need to fill new reservoirs and groundwater banks in Kern County and Southern California.It asks that Fish and Wildlife Service to delete from the new permit all reference to "Article 21," a provision that allows water contractors to buy surplus Delta water inexpensively. Deliveries under that program have been far higher than the Fish and Wildlife Service authorized in 2005.Johns argued that the biologists should be concerned only with the amount of water pumped and not how it was classified. Raw sewage contaminates Martinez creek...Lisa P. Whitehttp://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_11219652MARTINEZ — Raw sewage has contaminated a creek that runs through a neighborhood park in Martinez, the Mt. View Sanitary District said Friday. News of the spill, which dumped at least 1,800 gallons of raw sewage into the creek, came a day after the sanitary district reported finding high levels of coliform bacteria in 1.3 million gallons of treated waste water released into the wetlands near the Benicia Bridge, more than two miles north of the sewage spill.It was unclear Friday afternoon whether there is any connection between the two incidents.District manager David Contreras said the agency learned at noon Wednesday that a manhole on Fig Tree Lane, east of Morello Avenue and north of Highway 4, was overflowing, and that raw sewage was running into the creek in Holiday Highlands Park. Initially, the agency estimated about 1,800 gallons of sewage had run into creek, but Contreras said that figure could rise because the manhole may have been overflowing since Monday. Contreras said sanitary district workers immediately responded to the spill, dammed the creek downstream, unclogged the blocked sewer line and pumped the sewage back into the sanitary sewer. A staff biologist at the scene did not see any dead fish, and live crawdads were visible in the creek, Contreras said. It was unclear Friday whether the state Department of Fish and Game had evaluated the impact of the spill on the wildlife in the creek. The cleanup should be completed by today, but the sanitary district will continue to test for coliform in water samples drawn from below the sewage spill, to compare them with samples from upstream, he added. District workers on Wednesday posted notices about the spill, warning pets and children to stay away from the water, Contreras said. But Martinez resident Kurt Fisherkeller said he did not see any notices when he was in the park Thursday with his daughter. He did see a group of sanitary district workers, however. "It was a toxic waste shutdown over there (Thursday); they had yellow tape, they had 10 or so trucks," Fisherkeller said. Fisherkeller said the normally clear creek was cloudy and foul-smelling on Thursday. "To me it's a public health-type thing because kids play down there and if you have a high level of coliform in the water," he said. "Kids play in the water and they put their fingers in the water and then put them in their mouths."On Thursday, the sanitary district reported that a test for coliform bacteria from a sample of treated waste water drawn Tuesday greatly exceeded the amount allowed under the district's permit. When asked why he did not mention the Fig Tree Lane spill while speaking to a Times reporter Thursday about that other incident, Contreras said he was still gathering facts about the spill 24 hours after it was reported. "I didn't volunteer this to you because I didn't have all the facts," he said, noting that the Times had not asked about the Fig Tree Lane spill. "I'm not going to give information that wasn't accurate and volunteer that information." Recycling industry discusses survival...Matthias Gafnihttp://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_11222703SACRAMENTO — Louie Pellegrini is losing money selling the recycled materials he collects from Alameda County residents' bins."Ten percent of my revenue went up in smoke in November," he said of his once prosperous business.This week, the East Bay garbageman joined a crowded Sacramento conference room full of frustrated haulers, brokers and other recycling industry figures to vent and consider solutions to the commodities nadir. They heard a grave update on the foundering market at the emergency workshop hosted by the state's Integrated Waste Management Board's Market Development and Sustainability Committee. For some materials, prices dropped 80 percent in 30 days this quarter, the industry's steepest decline in its relatively short history.No one Wednesday saw an end to the downturn and some worried it could set back recycling by decades."There needs to be a bailout," Pellegrini told the committee.The disposal and recycling operator with contracts in numerous East Bay cities has asked Alameda and San Leandro about renegotiating contracts, which Pellegrini said could lead to 8 percent to 10 percent garbage rate increases for residents. Although a bailout is unlikely, Pellegrini and other struggling operators asked for eased permit and storage regulations, adjusted port fees, increased communication with foreign markets, rebuilding domestic infrastructure and tax credits."The fragility of this industry means it's hurting more than some of the other ones," said board Chairwoman Margo Brown. She said the state agency would first tackle storage issues. Many recyclers have had to warehouse materials they are unable to sell. Whether the market is hot or cold, recycling facilities still receive daily truckloads of materials and must endure high costs for expensive sorting equipment.Many workshop participants said the crisis presents a watershed for the industry, especially in finding ways to expand the dormant domestic market. Since 2002, seven California paper mills have closed, about half the state's total. About 75 mills nationwide have shuttered, said Jason Young of a Southern California recycled materials firm. The mills bought recycled paper.The biggest buyer of recycled materials is China, which needs the products for its own consumption but also to package its exports. The global economic slowdown has given China such a glut of raw materials that it has severely cut purchases. Relying on China and other countries is a risky future for the industry, said George Eowan of the California Refuse Removal Council, representing 100 diversion-oriented companies statewide."Do we want to be reliant on foreign markets, just like we're reliant on foreign oil?" Eowan asked the committee.The recycling movement is at stake, warned an executive with one of the nation's largest waste companies."We risk, potentially, the public trust in recycling and all the good that comes from it," said Waste Management's Chuck Schmidt.Santa Cruz SentinelUC Santa Cruz tree-sit demonstration ends peacefully...J.M. Brownhttp://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_11225736The 13-month-old tree-sit demonstration at UC Santa Cruz ended peacefully early this morning after protesters voluntarily abandoned redwood platforms above Science Hill, campus spokesperson Jim Burns said. When crews arrived at 8 a.m. to cut down the trees as part of site preparation for construction of a biomedical facility, Burns said the platforms established last November as part of a demonstration against campus growth plans had been vacated. He said it was not clear when the tree sitters left. One man who was occupying a fourth redwood outside the original tree-sit site came down voluntarily and was arrested, Burns said. The man's identity was not immediately released. Burns said the tree sitters were not given advance warning that the trees would be cut down today, but said demonstrators had been told during recent mediation talks that the university intended to work at the site as early as the winter break, which began today. The site is being fenced this morning for the work to begin, Burns said. The tree-sit began in November 2007 after hundreds of demonstrators marched through campus in opposition to UCSC's Long-Range Development Plan, a 2005 growth outline that calls for up to 5,000 more students by 2020 and new residential and academic buildings. Demonstrators had said they were concerned about the environmental impacts of the growth. Tree-sit spokeswoman Jennifer Charles could not immediately be reached for comment. Demonstrators took to the three 75-foot high platforms and held meetings in the parking lot below the site for about six weeks, until the winter break last year. Police began arresting people who brought food or supplies to the site, including a professor. In March, a judge granted an injunction against the tree-sit, which UCSC officials had long argued was an unsafe, unsanitary and an illegal occupation of university property. Support for the demonstrations eventually waned, despite a one-year anniversary gathering hosted at the site last month. The university approached the demonstrators shortly thereafter, suggesting the two sides enter mediation to end the demonstration, but the talks ended without resolution. The Sentinel is gathering more information about this story today. Los Angeles TimesNew popularity for Dr. Seuss' 'The Lorax'Dr. Seuss' spokesthing for the environment was ahead of the curve in 1971. Now, he's a green kids favorite...Erik Himmelsbachhttp://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-ca-lorax14-2008dec14,0,3179286,print.storyThe little kids understand. My 6-year-old son, Emmett, reads Dr. Seuss' "The Lorax" at least once a week and can explain the message of the book succinctly. "It's about ruining God's creations, that money's not more important than nature."Published in 1971, at a time when Earth Day and the ecology movement were gaining counterculture traction, "The Lorax" addressed then-unconventional issues such as deforestation, pollution and greed. It was "An Inconvenient Truth" for children." 'The Lorax' was very overt, very political," says William Dreyer, curator of the Art of Dr. Seuss Collection. "It was a statement on conservation and corporate responsibility. He did an amazing job of simplifying issues into a story that can be appreciated and grasped by kids and adults."The book tells the story of the Once-ler, a greedy businessman, who, literally, can't see the forest for the trees. The Once-ler builds a huge factory and chops down lush Truffula trees to feed the demand for his product (a frivolous item called a thneed).In spite of repeated warnings from a creature called the Lorax, who speaks for the trees (but also for the creatures), the Once-ler continues to raze the forest. Eventually, the wildlife become deathly ill before finally moving away in order to survive. After polishing off the last Truffula tree, the Once-ler finds himself alone and out of business, surrounded by a wasteland of his own making.With hindsight, the Once-ler learns his lesson, but is it too late?The same could be asked of all of us, the grown-ups who push the buttons in the real world. What is it about taking care of the earth that we don't understand? If anything, environmental conditions have gotten worse since "The Lorax" came out all those years ago. With the rollback of environmental regulations and the slashing of EPA budgets, President Bush has been a veritable Once-ler in chief for the last eight years."America has lost her footing, lost her elegance," says 87-year-old Audrey Geisel, widow of the late Dr. Seuss. (He was born Theodor Seuss Geisel and died in 1991 at age 87.) "Globally speaking, it's not good, and it's getting less good all the time. We didn't learn from 'The Lorax.' We're paying a price, and we don't seem to know it."Although Rachel Carson is credited with launching the environmental movement with her 1962 book, "Silent Spring," Dr. Seuss made that message palatable for all ages. He had, says Michelle Colman, author of "Eco Babies Wear Green," "a great way of teaching a lesson without sounding overly didactic. It's an incredible talent."But signaling social alarms was long at the core of Dr. Seuss' mission; over the years, he warned about fascism ("Yertle the Turtle"), conformity ("The Sneetches") and nuclear proliferation ("The Butter Battle Book"). "Children's reading and children's thinking are the rock-bottom base upon which the future of this country will rise. Or not rise," he wrote in a 1960 essay. "Books for children have a greater potential for good or evil than any other form of literature on earth.""The Lorax" was not a huge hit when it was published in 1971. But that didn't bother the author."He did not play to the audience," says Audrey Geisel. "They could take it or not take it. He had something he wished to say, and he said it." Dr. Seuss himself once referred to the book as "propaganda."Not only was the subject matter dark, so was the palette of colors Dr. Seuss used. "He loved the atmosphere in this book," says Geisel. "The color work -- all the shades of gray and deep purples and blues. It was a complete change, and he rather enjoyed it."In the early 1970s, concepts like recycling and "greening" were the domain of the freaky fringe. Dr. Lynn Busia, now administrator of pupil services for the Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified School District, was a young teacher when "The Lorax" first came out. "It was very far out for the time," she says. But as a teacher, "you bring a part of yourself and your feelings of life into the classroom. Dr. Seuss was a vehicle for that. You could write a whole curriculum around 'The Lorax' and the environment and about doing what's right as a human. That's the beauty of that book for a teacher. You weren't bringing in ecology -- you were bringing in Dr. Seuss."There you have it: Dr. Seuss as both children's author and subversive revolutionary. "He embedded many sociopolitical messages throughout his career. His true genius lies in that it was done with such humor and finesse," says Dreyer, who is currently overseeing a traveling art exhibit called "Dr. Seuss for President," which focuses exclusively on his politically driven illustrations.This political work dates to World War II, when he drew editorial cartoons for liberal PM Magazine. In the early 1960s, the San Diego resident threatened to quit the La Jolla Beach Club after they refused Dr. Jonas Salk bed and board because he was Jewish. "They didn't want Dr. Seuss to leave because it would be in the papers and it would be very bad," says Audrey Geisel. "After Ted made his case, Jonas stayed for a week."These days, the world has finally caught up with Dr. Seuss' Earth-saving book. "The Lorax" has become a story-time staple for green-leaning parents such as actress Kelly Rutherford. " 'The Lorax' teaches kids what's possible," Rutherford says. "What's beautiful is that, when they're a young age, they're open to that. It's important to empower them, to show them what's possible, that we have the ability to create change."Clearly, the message resonates because the book is flying off the shelves. Sales have doubled in the last five years, according to Kate Klimo, vice president and publisher of Random House/Golden Books. "It wasn't until the last couple of decades, when the environmental movement became an established social force, that the book really broke out," she says.One new edition of "The Lorax" comes made entirely from eco-friendly materials; the Art of Dr. Seuss Collection, meanwhile, is planting three trees for the sale of every "Lorax" print -- according to Dreyer, nearly 10,000 trees have been planted to date. In addition, Conservation International, along with Random House and Dr. Seuss Enterprises, has kicked off the Lorax Project, a grass-roots effort dedicated to protecting forests and endangered species."I don't know how the man did it," says Audrey Geisel. "But he always hits at the proper time, this many years beyond his life. One thing after another, it's just how it goes. This is certainly 'The Lorax's' time."And yet, if "The Lorax's" time is now, ultimately its lessons are timeless. Toward the end of the book, we notice a pile of rocks in front of the Once-ler's dilapidated hovel. There's one word etched into the pile: "Unless." When the Once-ler finishes his story, he tosses a seed -- the last Truffula seed. "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not," he laments."Dr. Seuss puts the onus for social change on the individual reader," Klimo says. "Such is the power of the story that, rather than wriggle away, the reader is moved to step up."Unless . . .EPA issues hazardous-waste exemptionAn estimated 118,500 tons are made exempt from federal incineration controls. A second rule allows factory farms to avoid reporting hazardous air pollution...Washington Posthttp://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-waste13-2008dec13,0,5329359,print.storyReporting from Washington — The Environmental Protection Agency issued a new regulation Friday exempting an estimated 118,500 tons of hazardous waste annually from strict federal incineration controls, and it separately exempted factory farms from a requirement to report hazardous air pollution to the federal government.The two rules are among dozens of regulations being issued during the final weeks of the Bush administration.The hazardous-waste exemption was proposed in June 2007 and approved by the White House three weeks after the presidential election. The exemption allows companies that create hazardous chemical wastes in industrial processes to burn them as fuel in their own incinerators, instead of paying highly regulated incineration firms to destroy them.Susan Bodine, the EPA's assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response, said in a statement that the rule eliminated unnecessary regulation and promoted "energy recovery" without sacrificing human health or the environment.But Ben Dunham, associate legislative counsel for the nonprofit advocacy group Earthjustice, said that "everything about this rule-making was flawed," including "the logic that says, 'If you can burn it, it's not a hazardous waste.' "California approves measure to cut diesel pollutionDespite opposition from truckers, state Air Resources Board votes to require retrofitting or replacement of older rigs...Margot Roosevelthttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-diesel13-2008dec13,0,7860997,print.story Reporting from Sacramento — California regulators cracked down on diesel air pollution Friday, adopting the nation's toughest rules on heavy-duty trucks, despite pleas from truckers who said they would be bankrupted in a sinking economy.The state Air Resources Board voted unanimously for the measure that requires truckers to retrofit or replace older rigs, starting in 2011. The board declared that the health benefits far outweighed the financial pain in a state that has the dirtiest air in the nation. Diesel trucks are responsible for a third of the smog in California. "This is an industry that has an enormous impact on people's lives," Chairman Mary Nichols said. "This regulation will save more than 9,000 lives and reduce the toxic emissions that cause cancer and birth defects."In two days of hearings, high-school students from East Oakland, nurses and doctors from the San Joaquin Valley, community activists from Pacoima and Commerce pleaded with the board to control the soot-belching rigs that travel through their neighborhoods. Ana Sanchez, a single mother from Salinas, held up a photo of her asthmatic daughter, Julianna, using an inhaler. "This ignoring pollution has gone on long enough," she told the board. "Yes, a trucker may lose a job . . . but what about my daughter losing her life?"The testimony of truckers was wrenching, too, with many small owner-operators -- including dump truck drivers from San Fernando and loggers from Eureka -- telling the board they would lose their livelihoods. Their life savings are tied up in trucks that are unmarketable because they will be illegal within a few years, they said."At the stroke of your pen, you will have trashed my assets and turned them into toxic waste," said Greg Pile, a San Diego beekeeper who delivers hives with five trucks that are more than 18 years old. The federal government is forcing new diesel trucks to carry far cleaner engines by 2010. But that does not affect older models. Big rigs can last up to 25 years, so it would take years for the current fleet to turn over. State officials say existing trucks must be phased out in order to meet federal mandates to clean California's air -- particularly in the heavily polluted South Coast Basin and San Joaquin Valley.The new rules, would cover any trucks weighing more than 14,000 pounds that travel through California, no matter where they are registered. Owners would be required to retrofit about 230,000 heavy-duty rigs with diesel exhaust traps and replace about 350,000 older, dirty engines by 2023.No other state requires existing trucks to be retrofitted or retired, but that could soon change. "Other states are going to pick up on what California has done," Nichols predicted. "They usually look to California for leadership."The regulation, which is the most expensive measure adopted by the air board, is expected to cost truckers $5.5 billion. The state will offer about $1 billion in subsidies, but many operators complained they are not eligible for the aid because they live in rural areas, their mileage is low or they don't meet other requirements."We fall through the cracks," said Angel Raposa, who owns five dump trucks in the Bay Area with her husband. With the economy in recession, they are operating three trucks part time. "Now our equipment has lost so much value, in anticipation of this rule, that we are unable to sell. We had always counted on the fact that selling our equipment could carry us through hard times."Diesel exhaust can cause lung and heart disease, cancer and premature deaths, according to representatives of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Lung Assn. and the California Medical Assn., which endorsed the rules. Board economists said the measure would save Californians up to $68 billion in healthcare costs in the first 15 years."I get emotional," Christine Cordera, an activist with the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative in Oakland, told the board. "We have seen people sick for decades. We have lost people we love. At what point do we say our children's lives are more important than a company's bottom line?"Air board member Dr. John Telles noted that the rule could also have negative health effects for truckers. "Having taken care of cardiovascular patients, I can say . . . when a person loses his job, his health falls apart," Telles said. "I don't think the state of California wants to put people out of work."In a spirited discussion, Nichols and other board members responded that the economy may be on the upswing by 2011, when the regulations kicks in. However, in adopting the final rule, the board unanimously added a provision to extend the compliance deadline for fleets of three trucks or fewer by one year. And they called for the staff to report next year on how truckers are faring economically. They said they will seek to expand subsidies.The board eased the rules for agricultural trucks with low mileage and for school buses, after local officials said they did not have the funds to replace buses.It also passed a measure requiring long-haul truckers to install fuel-efficient tires and aerodynamic devices on their trailers to improve fuel economy and lower carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to climate change. Heavy duty trucks are responsible for 7% of the state's global warming emissions. Despite the economic effects on a major industry, the diesel rule debate remained remarkably free of political interference. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been vocal on other environmental issues, such as renewable energy and climate change, issued no statements. No legislators testified against the measure. Owing perhaps to the widespread public awareness of diesel pollution, 14 state senators and 24 Assembly members wrote the board, saying that "an effective heavy-duty diesel truck rule is essential to clean up California's air."Washington PostEPA Issues Exemptions for Hazardous Waste, Factory Farms...R. Jeffrey Smithhttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/12/AR2008121203026_pf.htmlThe Environmental Protection Agency issued a new regulation yesterday exempting an estimated 118,500 tons of hazardous waste annually from strict federal incineration controls, and it separately exempted factory farms from a requirement to report hazardous air pollution to the federal government.The two rules are among dozens of regulations being issued during the final weeks of the Bush administration after lengthy internal deliberations and public controversy.The hazardous waste exemption was proposed in June 2007 and approved by the White House three weeks after the presidential election. It allows companies that create hazardous chemical wastes in industrial processes to burn them as fuel in their own incinerators, instead of paying highly regulated incineration firms to destroy them.Susan Bodine, EPA's assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response, said in a prepared statement that "this action recognizes that [such wastes] . . . should be managed as a commodity valued for its energy content." She said the rule eliminates unnecessary regulation and promotes "energy recovery" without sacrificing human health or the environment.The rule expands a previous EPA exemption for wastes that are chemically identical to fossil fuels so that it covers other wastes that produce similar emissions. James Berlow, director of the EPA's hazardous waste minimization and management division, said that an estimated 34 affected companies will be subject to high penalties if the toxic compounds are not fully destroyed. An agency spokeswoman said it would affect less than 1 percent of all hazardous wastes.But Ben Dunham, associate legislative counsel for the nonprofit advocacy group Earthjustice, said that "everything about this rulemaking was flawed," including "the logic that says, 'If you can burn it, it's not a hazardous waste.' " He said it would allow firms with poor environmental records "to simply throw their hazardous waste in the company boiler" and burn it without strict monitoring, sometimes in populated areas.The regulation covering factory farms, which exempts them from a federal reporting requirement first enacted 28 years ago, was proposed last December and approved by the White House on Thursday. But Barry Breen, the EPA's deputy assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response, noted that the agency's original proposal -- which would also have exempted factory farms from reporting to state and local authorities -- was modified to cover only reports to the EPA.Breen said that forcing farms to tell the EPA about emissions of ammonia or hydrogen sulfide from manure pits or other farm operations was unnecessary because "there's no way our responders can deal with that. We deal with train wrecks, explosions, fires in buildings. We just don't need the notice" from farms.Local authorities said, however, that they still wanted to know about the sources of emissions that might cause respiratory problems or deaths, and their views prevailed.CNN TechnologyEnvironmentalists blast changes to Endangered Species rules...Erika Dimmler...12-12-08http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/12/12/endangered.species/index.htmlWASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration cleared the way Thursday for federal agencies to skip consultations with government scientists when embarking on projects that could impact endangered wildlife, the interior secretary said.The final regulations to the Endangered Species Act take effect before President Bush leaves office in January, but wildlife conservation groups say undoing the damage could take months."The responsibility to initiate consultation will still lie with the federal agency undertaking the action," Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said, but if the agency in question can satisfy the requirement that no harm will come to an endangered species, then there is no need to consult with either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Services.The determination of "no harm" will rest with agency bureaucrats instead of scientists, but the agencies can still seek the input of the scientists on a voluntary basis, Kempthorne said.Developers and agencies with large projects have long sought a weakening of Endangered Species Act regulations, which they say delay their projects and add to costs.Environmental groups contend that this change will take scientists and biologists who have protected endangered species completely out of the mix, leaving wildlife more vulnerable and harder to protect. They also say that more than 250,000 citizens voiced their opposition to the measure through the Web site regulations.gov."The Department of Interior is ignoring the vast majority of the over 200,000 comments they got on this rule change-by moving forward. They are basically saying public be damned," said Andrew Wetzler, Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Endangered Species program.The NRDC maintains that "absent court action, undoing this ruling could take months ... despite today's feel-good statements, we remain convinced that these changes are illegal."The National Wildlife Federation, also voicing strong opposition, said that "in the eleventh hour of his presidency, President Bush has rammed through a sweeping overhaul of the Endangered Species Act. This action eviscerates key protections that have helped safeguard and recover endangered fish, wildlife and plants for the past 35 years.'But Chris Paolino, a spokesman for the Interior Department, said that the change is an "attempt to refocus the resources, time and manpower of both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Federation and National Marine Fisheries to focus on those projects that have a measurable, adverse impact on endangered species."President-elect Barack Obama has said he would work to reverse the changes, but since they go into effect before he takes office, his administration would have to reopen the rulemaking process.CNN MoneyRegional banks in Georgia, Texas failFDIC says Haven Trust Bank in Georgia and Sanderson State Bank in Texas have been closed by state regulators...Ben Rooney http://money.cnn.com/2008/12/12/news/economy/bank_failure/index.htm?postversion=2008121218NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- State regulators closed local banks in Georgia and Texas Friday, bringing the total number of failed banks this year to 25.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said that the sole branch of Sanderson, Texas-based Sanderson State Bank will reopen Monday as a branch of The Pecos County State Bank.Sanderson State Bank had total assets of $37 million and total deposits of $27.9 million. The FDIC estimates that the cost to the Deposit Insurance Fund will be $12.5 million.Meanwhile, Haven Trust Bank, which operates four branches in Georgia, will reopen as Branch Banking & Trust on Monday. It was the fifth bank in Georgia to fail this year. Haven Trust had total assets of $572 million and total deposits of $515 million. Branch Banking & Trust, which is based in Winston-Salem, N.C., agreed to assume all of the deposits for $112,000. Haven Trust's failure will cost the Deposit Insurance Fund an estimated $200 million, the FDIC said. Bailout: Dollars and cents"Haven Trust Bank clients will benefit from the stability of a bank that is driven by values, [which] guide every decision we make and ensure everything we do is in the best interest of our clients," said BB&T in a statement on its Web site.Bank failures have increased dramatically this year as a global financial crisis has unfolded. The 25 banks closed this year compares with only three bank failures last year, and none in 2006 and 2005.In fact, the number has not been this high since 1993, when 42 banks failed, according to the FDIC.While the majority of the failures have been at small, regional banks that were exposed to the downturn in the housing market, the financial crisis has also brought down a number of very large banks. In September, Seattle-based thrift Washington Mutual became the largest bank failure in U.S. history. That followed the demise of IndyMac Bank, a Pasadena, Calf.-based bank that had $32 billion in assets when it was closed in July.The spike in failures comes amid rising loan delinquencies and defaults as consumers and businesses struggle with the weak economy. At the same time, credit has been extremely tight as banks hunker down in anticipation of more writedowns related to illiquid mortgage-backed securities.Meanwhile, the federal government has pumped billions of dollars into the financial system in an effort to free up lending and revive the ailing economy. But banks remain reluctant to lend as the economic outlook grows darker.