By Lizzie Johnson, San Francisco Chronicle
Mayor Ed Lee on Thursday set a new goal for San Francisco — that at least 50 percent of the city’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2020. That’s 10 years ahead of the target the state has set for itself.
“At a time when the federal government is rolling back environmental regulations, we are pushing forward in San Francisco, setting one of the most ambitious clean energy targets of any major city in the U.S.,” Lee said.
By Brian Dabbs, Bloomberg BNA.
The scaling back of advanced biofuel blending requirements between 2013 and 2014 may be an abuse of the EPA’s authority, a federal appeals court judge said April 24 during oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging an aspect of the agency’s renewable fuels regulation.
A Justice Department attorney representing the Environmental Protection Agency argued the agency action would ensure the most biofuel possible actually reached consumers, but Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, dismissed that stance as agency overreach.
By Anna Simet, Biomass Magazine.
In an 87-11 vote, on April 24, the U.S. Senate confirmed Sonny Perdue as the 31stU.S. secretary of agriculture.
Perdue brings to the USDA a farming background and lengthy career of public service, ranging from Captain in the U.S. Airforce, to 11 years as a Georgia state Senator, to a two-term governor. As governor of Georgia, according to his USDA biography, Perdue was credited with transforming a budget deficit into a surplus, dramatically increasing student performance in public schools, and fostering an economic environment that allowed employers to flourish and manufacturers and agricultural producers to achieve record levels of exports.
By Cole Rosengren, Waste Dive.
By Arlene Karidis, Waste360.
Large commercial generators of wasted food are facing some of the tallest tasks to move forward. These two businesses are partnering with waste companies and food donation organizations and looking for economically and environmentally sound food waste prevention and reduction strategies.
Commercial waste generators face barriers like limited storage space for organics awaiting recycling and little infrastructure to move food fast and see that it is put to beneficial uses.
By U.S. DOE BETO Office.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announces the launch of its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Projects Map, an interactive map depicting all of BETO’s recent projects throughout the United States that are competitively awarded through the SBIR program. SBIR grants are awarded for the development of new ideas and innovative research, focusing on areas where small businesses can have an impact, including the biomass industry. The SBIR program is part of a larger effort overseen by the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE).
Governor Andrew Cuomo's proposed Food Recovery and Recycling Act was removed during final negotiations and left out of New York's FY18 state budget agreement. The program would have required commercial establishments generating over two tons of food waste per week to divert it for recycling.
Despite advocacy from wide range of public, private, and NGO groups that included meetings, calls, and letters - and despite evidence to the contrary - many NY Senate conservatives saw it as an "unfunded mandate" that would drive up costs for waste generators.
Although the Governor's office and state Department of Environmental Conservation were rumored to be willing to compromise by offering exemptions to generators that fell outside a 30 mile radius from operating organics recycling facilities, it was not enough to win over opposition.
By Lauren Tyler, NGTNews.
The California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition and the California Natural Gas Vehicle Partnership are hosting a workshop on Tuesday, April 25 to discuss today’s natural gas trucks operating at California ports.
As reported, the event will take place at Banning’s Landing at 100 E. Water St., in Wilmington, Calif., from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
By Lauren Tyler, NGT News.
Aiming to reduce vehicle emissions and promote sustainability in the Salt Lake Valley, the Wasatch Front Waste & Recycling District (WFWRD) in Utah has fully transitioned its residential collection truck fleet away from diesel fuel to be powered, instead, by compressed natural gas (CNG).
Serving the unincorporated areas of Salt Lake County and the cities of Taylorsville, Cottonwood Heights, Holladay, Herriman, and portions of Murray and Sandy, the WFWRD currently operates 46 residential side-load collection trucks and two front loaders that, as of August 2016, all run on natural gas fuel.
By The National Law Review.
On April 13, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is seeking comments from the public on existing regulations that the Agency should consider repealing, replacing, or modifying. 82 Fed. Reg. 17793 (Apr. 13, 2017). EPA issued the Request for Comment in response to the February 2017 Executive Order issued by President Trump, “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda,” that seeks “to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens on the American people.”
As required by the EO, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt formed an EPA Regulatory Reform Task Force to carry out the Administration’s regulatory reform agenda at EPA. The Task Force is led by a Regulatory Reform Officer, EPA Senior Counsel and Associate Administrator for Policy Samantha Dravis, and it includes the Agency’s Chief of Staff, Ryan Jackson, among others.
