While the federal government continues to tangle with Congress over a climate change law, the California Air Resources Board on Dec. 16 went ahead and endorsed its own cap-and-trade regulation. The measure was a major component in AB 32, California’s climate change law signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) in 2006. The regulation sets a statewide limit on the emissions from sources responsible for 80% of California’s greenhouse gas emissions and establishes a price signal needed to drive long-term investment in cleaner fuels and more efficient use of energy, according to CARB. It is also designed to provide covered entities

The California Air Resources Board made it official last week during its two-day monthly meeting in Sacramento: It approved a four-year reprieve for its off-road diesel emissions rule, admitting that the down economy and flawed science contributed to unrealistic data. �The Board�s decision to approve the revised off-road diesel emissions rules gives hope to thousands of construction workers fearful for their job security while safeguarding California's air quality,� says Michael Kennedy, general counsel of the Associated General Contractors of America and a lead advocate for the negotiated emissions rule change. �Board members have demonstrated real wisdom and courage in acknowledging

The group headed by the National Transportation Safety Board investigating the Sept. 9 natural gas pipeline rupture and explosion that killed eight people in San Bruno released an interim report that ruled out outside corrosion and damage caused by a third party as the cause for the blast, but found that part of the pipe near the rupture was constructed with seam-welded pipe, which owner Pacific Gas & Electric reported as seamless. Photo: NTSB NTSB investigator examines welds on a pipeline section recovered from the San Bruno explosion. The group, chaired by the NTSB, includes technical experts from the Pipeline

The group headed by the National Transportation Safety Board investigating the Sept. 9 natural gas pipeline rupture and explosion that killed eight people in San Bruno, Calif., released an interim report that ruled out outside corrosion and damage caused by a third party as the cause for the blast, but found that part of the pipe near the rupture was constructed with seam-welded pipe, which owner Pacific Gas & Electric reported as seamless. Photo: NTSB NTSB investigator examines welds on a pipeline section recovered from the San Bruno explosion. Related Links: NTSB Preliminary Report 9/29/2010 State Inspector Warned PG& E

If you’re a tough public utilities commission advocating energy efficiency and water conservation and other sustainable requirements for taxpayers, and you plan on building a new headquarters, the old saying “if you’re going to talk the talk, you’ve got to walk the walk” holds a more serious sway. Webcor crews start to go vertical on the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission headquarters building in the Civic Center. KMD/Stevens Architects designed the SFPUC building. Related Links: Green Building In San Francisco, its PUC is facing this challenge every day while moving toward a spring 2012 completion of its new, LEED-platinum building.

What’s clearer than the smoke still belching out of California’s vintage earthmoving machines? The state’s “in use” air-quality rule is getting retooled. The Associated General Contractors of America and the California Air Resources Board have reached an agreement to postpone the off-road diesel rule until 2014. What happens next may very well depend on the upcoming elections. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton For ENR New data from AGC-sponsored study led to revised off-road diesel deadline. In a joint Oct. 7 announcement, Mary Nichols, CARB chairwoman, and Michael Kennedy, AGC’s general counsel, agreed to resolve technical details attached to a complex set

The Associated General Contractors of America and the California Air Resources Board have reached an official agreement to postpone the beginning of compliance of the state�s off-road diesel emission rules until 2014. �The new estimates provided a common starting point for changes that everyone agreed the data should drive,� Kennedy says. In a joint announcement, Mary Nichols, CARB chairman, and Michael Kennedy, AGC�s general counsel, agreed that they would continue to work together to resolve the technical details attached with a complex set of regulations that CARB put into motion in 2007. �Stretching out the timelines and reporting requirements will

The Associated General Contractors of America and the California Air Resources Board have reached an official agreement to postpone the beginning of compliance of the state’s off-road diesel emission rules until 2014. NICHOLS In a joint announcement, Mary Nichols, CARB chairman, and Michael Kennedy, AGC’s general counsel, agreed that they would continue to work together to resolve the technical details attached with a complex set of regulations that CARB put into motion in 2007. “Stretching out the timelines and reporting requirements will make the path to compliance a lot easier while the construction industry recovers from severe financial hardships,” says

The California Air Resources Board admitted recently that today’s off-road diesel equipment will easily meet the state’s emission goals for many years to come. However, the board is not giving up on pushing forward its regulatory agenda of monitoring and controlling the emissions of the industry’s construction fleets. Photo: Tudor Van Hampton For ENR What may console the construction industry, however, is an expected series of delays to CARB’s nitrogen oxide (NOx) and particulate matter reductions, which were scheduled to kick in this year for large fleets (over 5,000 hp), in 2013 for medium fleets (2,501 to 5,000 hp) and

The natural-gas pipeline explosion that killed at least four people and destroyed 38 homes on Sept. 9 in San Bruno, Calif., has prompted the California Public Utilities Commission to come down hard on the pipeline owner, San Francisco-based PG&E. Photo: AP/Noah Berger Federal investigators are shipping a gas-pipe segment back to Washington, D.C., to study California’s fatal Sept. 9 pipeline blast. In a letter to PG&E President Christopher Johns, the agency directed the utility to take a number of remedial measures: conduct an integrity assessment of all gas facilities near the blast site; perform an “accelerated” leak survey of all