Today, EPA awarded a total of $1.9 million to 19 small businesses nationwide, including $200,000 each to two Southern California companies developing sustainable technologies that address environmental issues. Physical Optics Corporation in Torrance, Calif., received $100,000 to develop its Regenerative Capacitive Electro-Desalination System (RECED). RECED is a compact, electrically driven system that efficiently converts brackish water or seawater into drinkable water at a low cost, making it ideal for use […]

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On May 5, 2015, the State Water Resources Control Board (“SWRCB”) adopted an emergency regulation mandating urban areas to reduce potable water usage by 25 percent statewide between June 2015 and February 2016. The regulation was implemented in accordance with Governor Brown’s April 1, 2015 Executive Order on actions necessary to address California’s severe drought conditions. The provisions of the emergency regulation went into effect on May 18, 2015. As […]

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The Obama Administration is making findings that greenhouse gas (GHG) from aircraft endanger the public health and welfare of current and future generations within the meaning of section 231(a) of the Clean Air Act. The  findings specifically refer to six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. These gases were previously defined as air pollution in the 2009 Endangerment Finding under section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act. If […]

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Today, a North Dakota federal judge enjoined the implementation in 13 states of the Obama Administration’s new Clean Water Rule: “Definition of Waters of the United States” (also known as the Waters of the United States Rule, or WOTUS), which becomes effective tomorrow, August 28, 2015. The rule, proposed on June 29, 2015 in the Federal Register, redefines the Clean Water Act’s “navigable waters of the U.S.” to include “those […]

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