Deep groundwater aquifers, developed for oil and gas extraction, could yield important sources of water in California and elsewhere. Assessing groundwater quantity and quality requires baseline data and a monitoring framework for evaluating impacts. Stanford researchers have found that California’s Central Valley alone has close to three times the volume of fresh groundwater than previously estimated. The Stanford study is the first to measure California’s groundwater below 300 meters (the […]

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In early 2016, Congress and the Obama Administration created a Federal Interagency Task Force on Natural Gas Storage Safety to investigate the SoCalGas natural gas leak at their Aliso Canyon storage facility – the largest natural gas storage leak in the history of the United States.  Investigation of the Aliso Canyon gas leak accident by the Task Force was meant to inform their various recommendations on how to minimize the […]

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On September 24, 2016, California Governor Brown approved Senate Bill (SB) 1425, which creates a voluntary registry to track greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting from water use.  Registrants include those organizations regulating and enforcing water use, various large-scale consumers of water (both private and public), and any entities conducting business in the state of California.  The registry established by SB 1425 is intended to help the government develop a more […]

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On August 24, 2016, Governor Brown signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 32 and Assembly Bill (AB) 197, setting up stricter emissions reduction targets for greenhouse gases (GHG).  Together, the two bills introduce several new reporting and emissions initiatives that many believe will help California GHG emitters meet their targets.  Of course, our environmental litigation attorneys are well aware of the fact that approval of such legislation has seen its […]

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