By Brendan Pierson

(Reuters) – A federal judge has ruled in favor of Volkswagen in lawsuits brought by two U.S. counties against the automaker over its diesel emissions cheating scandal.

US District Judge Charles Breyer in San Francisco ruled Thursday that Salt Lake County, Utah, and Hillsborough County, Florida, cannot prove Volkswagen violated their rules against tampering with vehicle emissions control systems. Districts can still appeal to the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Robert Giuffra, an attorney for Volkswagen, said the decision brings the company “close to the end of the US diesel dispute.” The company reached an $85 million settlement in May with Texas, the last remaining state to sue the company, though that deal isn’t final yet.

Attorneys for the two counties did not immediately respond to inquiries or comments.

Volkswagen announced in 2015 that it had cheated emissions tests by installing so-called “defeat devices” and sophisticated software in 11 million vehicles worldwide that allowed them to reduce emissions only during emissions tests.

The company previously agreed to pay more than $20 billion in criminal and civil penalties and settlements to US federal regulators, states, dealers and owners. A total of more than US$30 billion has been paid out worldwide.

The 9th Circuit ruled in 2020 that state and local governments cannot sue over the defeat devices and software originally sold with the vehicles because the federal Clean Air Act leaves that to the US Environmental Protection Agency. However, it allowed them to sue against updates to the software that were later installed during maintenance.

Breyer dismissed the counties’ claims regarding these updates because he said there was no evidence that they worsened emissions.

(Reporting by Brendan Pierson in New York and David Shepardson in Washington, Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Alistair Bell)

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Friends of the Urban Forest members plant trees along Linden Street in Hayes Valley in 2010.

Friends of the Urban Forest

San Francisco’s urban tree canopy is one of the smallest in the nation — and some fear it’s on the decline. While the reasons for this are myriad and complex, new plantings have struggled to keep pace with removals or mortality rates, reports show, leaving thousands of sidewalk basins barren and treeless.

Trees have also been inequitably distributed across The City, which is all too clear on hot, fogless days when neighborhoods like SoMa and Bayview are degrees warmer than areas with ample canopy cover.

It’s why The City has outlined a goal to plant 30,000 new street trees in the next 20 years as part of a plan to green up underserved communities and reduce The City’s greenhouse gas emissions by using trees to sequester carbon.

But for now, the goal remains just that. Public Works, the agency that manages The City’s street trees, estimates it needs to plant about 4,000 trees a year, including 1,500 new ones and 2,500 replacements, to keep pace. But with limited resources, the agency is struggling to meet these requirements.

“The reality is, we’re not going to meet that goal because of the funding,” said the department’s interim director, Carla Short. “I think we’re sort of trying to still use that as an aspirational goal and still do our best to push for it.”

During the pandemic, Public Works’ tree funding was de-appropriated, and its staff was reassigned to disaster response teams, causing its Bureau of Urban Forestry to cancel equipment orders, freeze hiring and cease maintenance contracts. However, even once that funding was reinstated, the department struggled to get projects back on schedule.

This budget cycle, Mayor London Breed declined to allocate General Fund money to the Department of the Environment, which it requested to fund its climate action plan that includes a chapter on healthy ecosystems. Some say The City’s investment in maintaining the urban forest has also missed the mark.

“We are treading water at best with the funding The City puts toward street tree planting,” said Brian Wiedenmeier, executive director of Friends of the Urban Forest, who expressed disappointment about Breed’s decision to withhold funding from the Department of Environment.

Drought’s great

To complicate matters further, the drought, made more extreme by a warming world, is taking a toll on the city’s trees — and not just those that push their knobby roots into the concrete.

“If you’re talking about street trees, to me, that’s just half the issue,” said Denise Louie, a native plant enthusiast who’s concerned about the fire risk posed by drought-stressed trees in The City’s open spaces, such as the tall stands of Eucalyptus in Glen Canyon near her home.

Warmer, threer conditions mean many more trees require constant watering, another service and investment Public Works and other organizations, like Friends of the Urban Forest, do not have. Short noted that watering alone makes up about three quarters of the cost of a street tree.

“The cost of planting a tree in San Francisco is a lot more expensive than places that have seasonal rains or more consistency in the rains than we do,” she said.

The entire tree population in San Francisco is under increasing pressure from the changing climate at a moment when it’s been enlisted as part of the solution. Because trees suck carbon from the atmosphere, San Francisco’s urban forest is seen as a critical piece of The City’s plan to achieve net-zero emissions by 2040, a goal outlined by the mayor last year.

“Carbon is one of the easiest benefits to see in a tree,” said David Nowak, an emeritus research forester with the US Forest Service. “You can directly see it occurring — as you see a tree grow, it’s sequestering carbon.”

But, he added, “It’s not just about the carbon. By having the forest there, you get multiple other benefits at no cost: You get cooler air temperatures, cleaner air and less flooding because the trees absorb the water … People like the vegetation, and it actually helps improve human health; it reduces noise and (boosts) wildlife.”

While Nowak asserts that both natives like Monterey Cyprus and non-native trees like Blue Gum Eucalyptus can provide such services, Louie argues that the native plants that have adapted to this region over thousands of years are best suited to boost the region’s biodiversity. “We need to appreciate what’s left of our natural heritage,” she said.

Native plant advocates

In general, proponents of native plants want The City to do more to help reestablish the native flora that was here before urbanization.

“San Francisco has taken some strong steps to expand the role of biodiversity in our urban tree selection, but we are still missing the mark,” said Susan Karasoff, a Yerba Buena Plant Society member. “To support our city’s local biodiversity, we need locally appropriate native plants, but fewer than 1% of our current trees are native.”

While Short concedes that most trees going into sidewalks are non-natives, she said she’s proud of the work being done to look for species better suited to hotter, three climates — climates that might become normal for San Francisco.

“I am a big fan of native species. However, they are often not the best choice for the built environment,” said Short, who has a background in conservation ecology. “A Coast Live Oak in a sidewalk is never going to be what it should be. It’s never going to provide the same level of benefits that it could” if planted in an open space.

But native or non-native, trees alone will not be a panacea for a warming world, Nowak said.

“To think that we’re going to plant enough trees in this world to offset all the emissions from the automobiles and fossil fuels we’re burning — I don’t think it’s going to happen. I don’t think it can happen mathematically,” Nowak said. “But I argue this: If I could only plant one tree in the world, I would plant it in an urban area.”

jwolfrom@sfexaminer.com, @jessicawolfrom

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration is restoring California’s authority to set its own tailpipe pollution standards for cars, reversing a Trump administration policy and likely ushering in stricter emissions standards for new passenger vehicles nationwide.

A waiver approved Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency allows California to set tough emissions rules for cars and SUVs and impose mandates for so-called zero-emission vehicles that do not contribute to global warming.

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At least 15 states and the District of Columbia have signed on to California’s vehicle standards, which are stricter than federal rules and designed to address the state’s severe air pollution problems. According to the American Lung Association, seven of the 10 US cities with worst ozone pollution are in California, along with six of the 10 most polluted cities measured by year-round particle pollution.

Former President Donald Trump’s 2019 decision to revoke California’s authority to set its own limits on auto emissions was one of his most high-profile actions to roll back environmental rules he considered overly burdensome on businesses. Regulation of vehicle emissions is central to combating climate change.

President Joe Biden has made slowing climate change a top priority of his administration. Transportation is the single largest source of planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, making up 29% of all emissions. Within the transportation sector, passenger cars and trucks are the largest contributor, accounting for 58% of all transportation-related emissions and 17% of overall US carbon emissions.

“Today we proudly reaffirm California’s longstanding authority to lead in addressing pollution from cars and trucks,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan. “With today’s action, we reinstate an approach that for years has helped advance clean technologies and cut air pollution for people not just in California, but for the US as a whole.”

The waiver reinstates California’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions under the federal Clean Air Act for model years 2017 through 2025, effective immediately. The California Air Resources Board will determine how to implement and enforce the standards.

The waiver also withdraws a Trump-era regulation that blocked other states from adopting California’s standards. Collectively they represent 36% of the US auto market.

Officials in California, New York and other states have been seeking reinstatement of the waiver, saying California’s strict standards have improved air quality in the state and ensured that Los Angeles and other cities are no longer shrouded by smog.

California Gov. Gavin Newson thanked the Biden administration “for righting the reckless wrongs of the Trump administration and recognizing our decades-old authority to protect Californians and our planet.”

Restoration of the Clean Air Act waiver “is a major victory for the environment, our economy and the health of families across the country” and comes at a pivotal moment to address climate change, said Newsom, a Democrat. “California looks forward to partnering with the Biden administration to make a zero-emission future a reality for all Americans.”

Harold Wimmer, the lung association’s president and CEO, called climate change a health emergency. From degraded air quality due to wildfire smoke to increased ground-level ozone, or smog from carbon pollution, “climate change is harming the health of people across the country,” he said.

The new bipartisan infrastructure law includes 500,000 new charging stations for electric cars and trucks. Fully electric vehicles, or EVs, represent just 2% of new vehicle sales in the US, but analysts expect that to rise rapidly in coming years. Major automakers, including General Motors and Ford, are pledging billions to develop EVs and GM has gone so far as to announce a goal of ending gasoline-fueled passenger vehicles entirely by 2035.

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Biden’s sweeping environmental and social policy bill — stalled for months in the Senate — includes a $7,500 tax credit to buyers to lower the cost of electric vehicles.

The EPA in December raised vehicle mileage standards to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reversing a Trump-era rollback that loosened fuel efficiency standards.

The EPA rule raises mileage standards starting in the 2023 model year, reaching a projected industry-wide target of 40 miles per gallon by 2026. The new standard is 25% higher than a rule finalized by the Trump administration and 5% higher than an earlier proposal by the Biden EPA.

While hailing the waiver reinstatement, environmental and public health groups said it is now up to Newsom to impose strict rules on emissions from cars and SUVs.

“Now that he’s got the keys back, Gov. Newsom needs to steer California to the strongest possible clean car standard and reclaim the state’s climate leadership,” said Scott Hochberg, an attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity.

Besides New York, other states that follow California’s rule include Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Several other states are moving to adopt the California standard.

Trump’s move to revoke the state waivers split the industry, with most automakers behind him while Ford, Honda, BMW, Volkswagen and Volvo decided to go with California standards. After Biden was inaugurated, General Motors and other automakers came out in favor of California setting its own standards.

In a statement Wednesday, Ford took a shot at GM’s apparent change of heart in supporting reinstatement of the California waiver.

“It was the right thing to do for people and the planet before the last election, it’s the right thing to do now and we’re committed to continuing to do the right thing going forward as we lead the electric vehicle revolution,” said Bob Holycross, a Ford vice president.

Reinstatement of the California waiver comes as the Biden administration proposed stronger pollution regulations for new tractor-trailer rigs that would clean up smoky diesel engines and encourage new technologies during the next two decades. A proposal released Monday by the EPA would require the industry to cut smog-and-soot-forming nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 90% per truck over current standards by 2031. The emissions can cause respiratory problems in humans.

New rules would start in 2027 to limit the emissions from nearly 27 million heavy trucks and buses nationwide.

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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The San Francisco Bay Area Water Emergency Transportation Authority has been awarded $3.4 million by the US Federal Transit Administration to build a zero-emission, electric ferry to launch a new service between San Francisco’s growing Treasure Island and Mission Bay neighborhoods.

The authority oversees the San Francisco Bay Ferry which currently operates water routes connecting the cities of Alameda, Oakland, Richmond, San Francisco, South San Francisco and Vallejo.

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The grant will support a new network of zero-emission, short-hop ferry services along San Francisco’s waterfront.

The first vessel will bring ferry service to Treasure Island, where 8,000 residential units are planned or currently under construction, and help ease the potential traffic bottlenecks on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

“Mission Bay and Treasure Island are rapidly growing, and both have transportation challenges,” said Jim Wunderman, Chair of the WETA Board of Directors. “This grant helps provide a solution to those challenges, and at the same time advances WETA’s transition to zero-emissions technology.”

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Mission Bay, on San Francisco’s eastern waterfront is the home of Chase Center and Oracle Park, a major UCSF medical campus and a growing number of employers and residential development.

The electric vessel will operate out of a new Mission Bay Ferry Terminal that is expected to be complete as early as 2025. In the meantime, the vessel will serve a temporary terminal at Pier 48 ½, where WETA currently provides San Francisco Bay Ferry special event service for home Golden State Warriors games.

The vessel is one of four that will operate as a part of this new service. In 2020, WETA received a $9 million grant from the California State Transportation Agency to build a battery-electric ferry along with shoreside charging infrastructure. WETA will be seeking future grant funding for the two additional zero-emission ferries and corresponding charging infrastructure.

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WETA’s first zero-emission ferry is expected to enter service in 2024.

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DAVIS (AP) – Banana peels, chicken bones and scraps of vegetables have no place in California trash cans as part of the nation’s largest mandatory food waste recycling program due to come into effect in January.

The goal of the effort is to keep landfills in the most populous US state free of food waste, which will damage the atmosphere as it decays. When food scraps and other organic materials break down, they release methane, a greenhouse gas that is stronger and more harmful in the short term than carbon emissions from fossil fuels.

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To avoid these emissions, California plans to begin converting residents’ food waste into compost or energy, making it the second US state to do so after Vermont launched a similar program last year.

Most people in California will be forced to throw excess food in the green waste bins instead of in the trash. The municipalities will then compost the food waste or use it to produce biogas, an energy source similar to natural gas.

“This is the biggest change in waste since recycling began in the 1980s,” said Rachel Wagoner, director of the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery.

She added that it is “the easiest and fastest thing any individual can do to influence climate change”.

The California push reflects the growing recognition of the role food waste plays in pollution in the United States, where up to 40% of food is wasted, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

A handful of states and nations, including France, have passed laws requiring grocery stores and other large businesses to recycle excess food or donate it to charities, but the California program targets households and businesses.

The state passed a law in 2016 aimed at reducing methane emissions by significantly reducing the amount of food thrown away. Organic materials like food and garden waste make up half of all California landfills and a fifth of the state’s methane emissions, according to CalRecycle.

As of January, all cities and counties that offer garbage services are said to have introduced food recycling programs and grocery stores will have to donate edible food that would otherwise be thrown on blackboards or similar organizations.

“There’s no need to put this material in a landfill, it’s just cheap and easy,” said Ned Spang, director of the Food Loss and Waste Collaborative at the University of California, Davis.

Vermont, home to 625,000 people compared to nearly 40 million in California, is the only other state that bans residents from throwing their food waste in the trash. According to a law that came into force in July 2020, residents can compost the garbage in their yards, choose to pick it up at the roadside or drop it off at garbage stations. Cities like Seattle and San Francisco have similar programs.

California law requires the state to reduce organic landfill waste by 75% compared to 2014, or from around 23 million tons to 5.7 million tons by 2025.

Most local governments allow homeowners and apartment residents to dispose of excess groceries in garden trash cans, with some placing containers on the countertop to hold the trash for a few days before taking it outside. Some areas may have exemptions for parts of the law, such as rural areas where bears rummage in trash cans.

The food waste is composted or converted into energy through anaerobic digestion, a process that creates biogas that, like natural gas, can be used for heating and electricity.

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But California composting facilities have a strict licensing process to dispose of food waste alongside traditional green waste like leaves, and only a fifth of the state’s facilities currently accept food waste.

The state has also set a goal of diverting 20% ​​of the food that would otherwise end up in landfills by 2025 in order to feed people in need. Supermarkets must start donating their excess groceries in January, and hotels, restaurants, hospitals, schools and large venues will do so from 2024.

The donation portion of California’s law will contribute to a federal goal to cut food waste in half by 2030.

Davis is one of the California cities that already has a mandatory food recycling program. Joy Klineberg, a mother of three children, throws coffee grounds, fruit peels and cooking waste into a metal container with the label “Compost” on her worktop. When preparing dinner, she empties excess food from the cutting board into the rubbish bin.

Every few days she throws the contents into her green waste bin outside, which is picked up and sent to a facility in the district. Unpleasant smells on the countertop were not a problem, she said.

“All you change is where you throw things, it’s just another trash can,” she said. “It’s really easy and it’s amazing how much less rubbish you have.”

Implementing similar programs in larger cities is more difficult.

The two most populous in the state – Los Angeles and San Diego, which together make up about one in eight Californians – are among the cities whose programs won’t be available to all households next month.

That’s because it takes time to buy the necessary equipment, such as green waste bins for households that don’t already have one for garden waste, and facilities to dispose of the material. Garbage collection fees will rise in many places.

Like Davis, CalRecycle wants to focus more on education and less on punishment. Governments can avoid penalties by reporting to the state themselves by March if they haven’t set up programs and outlining plans to launch them. Cities that refuse to do so could be fined up to $ 10,000 per day.

Ken Prue, assistant director of San Diego’s environmental division, said the city invested nearly $ 9 million in this year’s budget to buy more trash cans, kitchen containers, and trucks to carry the extra trash.

Prue hopes that after the program starts next summer, San Diego residents will quickly realize the importance of recycling food waste.

“Hopefully before you know it it becomes second nature,” he said.

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OAKLAND (CBS SF / BCN) – The Bay Area Air Quality Management District ruled Monday that emissions from the AB&I Foundry in East Oakland pose an increased health risk and the company must take action to reduce emissions.

The finding comes from the district’s draft Health Risk Assessment, which is required by facility law. The AB & I Foundry website describes the company as a manufacturer of cast iron pipes and fittings for plumbing systems.

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“This health risk assessment is a critical step in understanding and controlling toxic air emissions and protecting the health of a community that has historically been exposed to high levels of air pollution,” said Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the Air District. “The Air District remains committed to providing clean air to the Bay Area’s most vulnerable residents and will continue to fight to breathe.”

The public has 60 days to review and contribute to the health risk assessment. Air District staff will respond to any comments before finalizing the report.

The health risk assessment and staff contact information can be found on the Air Quality District website.

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Due to the increased emissions, the company must submit a risk mitigation plan to the Air District and take action to reduce air pollution for the population.

“AB&I has already taken steps to reduce our emissions by announcing on March 12th that AB&I will relocate molding operations to Texas in 2022. It is heartbreakingly the loss of 100 of our current 200 jobs,” Michael Lowe, the company’s general manager, said in a statement.

“We are continuing to work cooperatively with the Air District by adapting our operations to the stricter emissions standards and hopefully saving the remaining 100 jobs. Unfortunately, California regulations are a moving target that creates business uncertainty and makes it very difficult to continue long-term investments, ”said Lowe.

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