NEW ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO WRESTLE WITH FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS IN CALIFORNIA'S CLIMATE PROGRAM
Earlier this year the California Environmental Protection Agency appointed a 17-member Economic and Allocation Advisory Committee (EAAC) to provide advice on implementation of AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, which requires California to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
The committee will be investigating several fundamental questions, including whether to make polluters pay for valuable greenhouse gas pollution permits and what to do with revenues generated through such polluter payments. They expect to provide their findings by the end of the year.
The Planning and Conservation League's Matt Vander Sluis was on hand for the committee's first meeting earlier this month. He urged the members to consider both the causes and effects of global warming in their deliberations and asked them to recommend investing a portion of revenues generated from implementation of AB 32 to address the growing impacts of global warming on human communities and ecosystems.
A coalition of environmental and public health organizations, including PCL, submitted a joint letter to the committee this week, calling for a polluter-pays system and outlining investment priorities that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect disadvantaged communities, and safeguard the capacity of our natural resources to provide clean water, clean air, healthy soil, and healthy environments in a warming world.
TAPPING DISCONTENT, CONGRESS INVESTIGATES LAX REGULATION OF BOTTLED WATER
Many of us assume that bottled water should be safer and healthier than regular tap water. After all, it's more expensive. Surprisingly, while the bottled water industry has more than doubled over the past decade, our federal safety protections for bottled water quality remain less stringent than those for tap water.
This double standard originates in the oversight agencies; water quality standards for bottled water are established by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) while tap water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The FDA has reduced enforcement authority for bottled water. Furthermore, unlike the EPA, the FDA cannot regulate the levels of DEHP, a phthalate commonly used in plastic bottles with known health risks to humans.
Last week, the U.S. Congress held a hearing to investigate the regulation of bottled water. The hearing revealed that the regulations implemented by the FDA are outdated. Lawmakers recommended that bottled water companies provide more specific information on their source of water, including any history of contamination, and type of plastic used. The requested information may lead to more appropriate product labeling requirements that would tell consumers where the water came from instead of how many calories it contains. Here in California, the Legislature is considering AB 301 (Fuentes), which requires that consumers have access to additional information about bottled water, including the water's geographic source and the volume sold.
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1107 9th Street, Suite 360, Sacramento, CA 95814 • Phone (916) 444-8726 • Fax (916) 448-1789 •
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