California High-Speed Rail Authority extends public review period and sets virtual hearing for Bakersfield to Palmdale section

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the California High-Speed Rail Authority has extended the deadline for public comments for the Bakersfield to Palmdale section of the bullet train project.

Additionally, the previous hearing originally scheduled for April 9 has been re-scheduled as a virtual webcast meeting on April 23, 2020, from 3 - 8 p.m. Comments may be submitted over the internet or by phone.

Photo Credit: CAHSRA

For more information:

Bakersfield to Palmdale Environmental Documents

April 23 Webcast Registration/Info

California Energy Commission and New Energy Nexus offering free COVID19 webinar for the Cleantech industry

We just received the following from the California Energy Commission (CEC). Those of you in the Cleantech community and those of you interested in it may register for a free seminar about available resources for Cleantech during this COVID-19 pandemic.

"The California Energy Commission and New Energy Nexus invite you to a webinar on “Weathering the COVID Crisis: Reflections & Resources for the Cleantech Community”. Chair David Hochschild, Vice Chair Janea Scott, and New Energy Nexus CEO, Danny Kennedy will talk about the steps we are taking to support cleantech companies.

Attendees will also hear strategies from some of the most successful CEOs in cleantech on how to survive and thrive during these uncertain times. Lynn Jurich, co-founder and CEO of Sunrun, Dan Shugar, founder and CEO of NexTracker, and Ryan Popple, co-founder and Executive Director of Proterra, will share the challenges their companies are facing, how they are managing those challenges, and advice and lessons learned from the last recession. There will be a short Q&A at the end of the webinar – please bring your most pressing questions!

This free webinar will take place on April 21, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. and is open to the public. To attend, please register in advance:

https://energy.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CLxNtEODTjemQQTTXCkiyw

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar."

EPA Region IX transferring over 1,100 N-95 face masks to California OES

The Pacific Southwest Region (Region IX) of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has transferred more than 1,100 N-95 face masks to California's Office of Emergency Services (OES).

Typical N-95 Face Mask

Photo Credit: USEPA 

The transfer is part of EPA's continuing review of its inventory of personal protective equipment (PPE). In addition, EPA is currently developing a plan to donate more equipment to state and local agencies nationwide that are dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

“EPA is working hard to support our nation’s first responders as they risk their own safety to save lives during the coronavirus pandemic,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “After searching our inventory of personal protective equipment, we identified excess supplies and sent them to those on the frontlines of this fight. At EPA we are here to help in any way we can and I encourage everyone else to do the same.”

“We are doing all we can to support our state and local partners as they address this pandemic in our communities,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator John Busterud. “We don’t maintain large supplies, but we want to ensure that anything we can spare goes to the frontline responders who need it the most.”

Such equipment is used by EPA personnel for laboratory, inspection, and emergency response functions.

EPA relaxes regulations for COVID-19, but, it's not what many news outlets are reporting

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just announced a temporary enforcement discretion policy as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Photo Credit: EPA website

The new policy is not, we repeat, IS NOT a repeal of existing environmental regulations that would allow regulated industries and other entities carte blanche to operate their equipment and processes in violation of their permits and regulations.

Several news outlets have reported otherwise, including statements from former EPA employees that are flat out wrong and totally misrepresent what EPA has done.

What the policy does do, however, is relax civil penalties in the event that an operator cannot meet certain monitoring, record-keeping, storage, operational, and other requirements during the pandemic. In order to utilize this policy, the operator must do the best it can to continue operating in compliance AND it must demonstrate and document legitimate reasons related to COVID-19 that caused it to operate out of compliance.

One such example would be a requirement to conduct quarterly or yearly source testing by a certain date or frequency. Most companies are required as part of their permits to utilize third-party, independent testing companies to perform these and other tests. If during the pandemic, the testing lab closed down or was otherwise unable to provide its employees to perform the test, the affected company would find itself technically in non-compliance with environmental regulations, EVEN THOUGH THE EQUIPMENT THAT NEEDED TO BE TESTED WAS OPERATING NORMALLY AND IN COMPLIANCE WITH ITS EMISSION LIMITS.

"EPA is committed to protecting human health and the environment, but recognizes challenges resulting from efforts to protect workers and the public from COVID-19 may directly impact the ability of regulated facilities to meet all federal regulatory requirements," said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. "This temporary policy is designed to provide enforcement discretion under the current, extraordinary conditions, while ensuring facility operations continue to protect human health and the environment."

For a complete explanation of what EPA has done, please check the following links:

EPA Announces Enforcement Discretion Policy for COVID-19 Pandemic

EPA Policy on Enforcement during the COVID-19 outbreak

EPA Cornoavirus Website