SoCal air quality regulators mulling hike in vehicle registration fees for smog reduction

[Source: Los Angeles Times] Air quality regulators are considering seeking an increase in vehicle registration fees for millions of Southern California drivers to help pay for smog reduction programs. The idea, though still in preliminary stages, would be one component of a funding proposal under development by the South Coast Air Quality Management District as part of a major Read More…

Cleaning up environmental regulation

[Source: The Daily Signal/Diane Katz] Environmental regulations constitute a hefty portion of America’s regulatory burden, in large part because “reform” is an alien concept within the Environmental Protection Agency. But the House GOP on Tuesday unveiled a new policy agenda that, with any luck (and political fortitude), will reverse decades of regulatory excess and abuse. Read More…

‘Environmental Justice’: Obama-era politics override rule of law

[Source: The Daily Signal/Todd G. Young, Southeastern Legal Foundation] In every Soviet-era military unit, the long shadow of totalitarian political control hung over day-to-day operations. A political commissar served alongside commanding military officers to ensure that communist purity was maintained. We’re seeing the same political strong-arm in President Barack Obama’s executive agencies, particularly in the Read More…

Latest draft Prop. 65 warning regulations take several steps backwards

[Source: California Chamber of Commerce] The latest proposed revisions to the state’s Proposition 65 warning regulations are problematic and unworkable, the California Chamber of Commerce and a broad coalition explain in a letter to the agency leading the rule drafting. The revisions proposed by the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) take several steps Read More…