Buck Endemann

https://lnkd.in/gnEYQwGG Wanted to highlight two more panels I'm looking forward to this week at GRA: Groundwater Resources Association of California's Law & Leg Forum: 1: Legislating and Implementing Solutions For Emerging Contaminants. Panelists include my colleague Kate Tipple who will address state regulators & lawmakers efforts in tackling #PFAS and other emerging contaminants impacting water resources, and the realities of compliance and stricter #emergingcontaminants standards. 2. After this winter's above normal rainfall (and flooding), pressure grows re: what can be done to store excess water for future beneficial use. Gov. Newsom has touted the Sites Reservoir while lawmakers have proposed legislation to reduce barriers to building #waterstorage. Another panel will address what DOES major CA water infrastructure actually look like, especially considering that groundwater aquifers are now considered natural infrastructure? How do major water projects like Sites Reservoir play a role? Registration and more info here: https://lnkd.in/gnEYQwGG

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Petition Challenging the State Water Resources Control Board's Authority to Designate the Tulare Lake Basin as Probationary under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act filed in California Superior Court, County of Kings. Introduction to SGMA The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), enacted in California in 2014, aims to ensure sustainable groundwater management statewide. SGMA emphasizes local management, empowering agencies to develop and implement plans addressing unique groundwater conditions. This approach seeks to achieve long-term sustainability and prevent overuse, depletion, and contamination. SGMA's Probationary Designation A key mechanism within SGMA is the Probationary Designation. This designation applies when a local groundwater management plan fails significantly or lacks sufficient local will or capacity to sustain the basin. The State Water Board can designate a basin as "probationary" and take corrective measures to ensure sustainable management. This can shift certain responsibilities from local agencies to the state. The Kings County Writ Petition Petitioners filed a Writ of Mandate Petition challenging the State Water Board’s Probationary Designation of the Tulare Lake Basin under SGMA. The petition alleges that the State Water Board exceeded its SGMA-granted authority with this designation. The allegations include: Procedural deficiencies in the State Water Board's decision-making process. Overreach in interpreting their authority under SGMA. Lack of sufficient evidence to justify the probationary status. The petition calls for a judicial review to address these concerns and potentially overturn the Probationary Designation. Potential Impact of the Writ Petition If the Kings County Writ Petition succeeds, it could significantly affect the State Water Board's authority under SGMA. A favorable outcome for Kings County might: Set a legal precedent that limits the State Water Board's power to impose probationary designations. Reinforce local agency authority and control over groundwater management. Necessitate a review and possibly an overhaul of the procedures and standards used by the State Water Board. Such changes could reshape groundwater management under SGMA, encouraging stricter adherence to the legislative intent of local-level management. One of my core areas of specialization at #FrostBrownTodd is representing appropriative, overlying, and Indian water rights. I stay current on all SGMA developments. Stay tuned for updates as this important case progresses. The outcome of this Kings County Writ Petition could have far-reaching implications for groundwater management across California. Let’s keep the conversation going on how we can collectively ensure sustainable groundwater practices while balancing local and state responsibilities. #GroundwaterManagement #SGMA #KingsCounty #SustainableWater #CaliforniaWaterLaw #TulareLakeBasin #StateWaterBoard

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📝 On Friday, September 27th, California's Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill 219 (SB 219) into law. In our latest blog, Kiwa Anisman, Policy Analyst at Trio, breaks down the impacts of SB219 on California's climate disclosure laws (SB 253 and SB 261), and highlights key takeaways for corporates. Read more on our website: https://bit.ly/4epSZCy #Policyupdate #SB219 #SenateBill219

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In the News: California Supreme Court Decision on Water Surcharges Check out this recent feature from Courthouse News, which discusses a pivotal decision made by the California Supreme Court regarding decoupling mechanisms and due process rights within the water industry. Important insights for anyone following state water regulations! Read the full article here:https://lnkd.in/gymcf5XN #WaterRegulation #CaliforniaLaw #CaliforniaWater

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Only for California Residents🏠 The Self-Generation Incentive Program (SGIP) is offering generous subsidies to make energy storage more accessible and affordable for everyone Here’s what you need to know about SGIP: Residential Rewards: Get subsidies ranging from $150 to $1,000 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) when you install a battery storage system. This incentive is available to properties served by utilities like PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E. Equity Budget: Residents of low-income and disadvantaged communities can receive even higher subsidies, up to $850 per kWh, making it easier to join the energy transition. Equity Resiliency Incentive: For homes in high fire risk areas or those affected by power shutoffs, subsidies can go as high as $1,000 per kWh. This is especially valuable for ensuring your home stays powered during emergencies. #greentech #solarfarm #farm #farmlife #californiafarmer #californiafarming #oasispowers #energysecurity #greenenergy #greenenergysolutions #energystorage #solar #solarsystem #solarenergy #california #californiarealestate #californialife #battery #batterybackup #green #lithiumbattery #lifepo4 #lifepo4battery #poweroutage

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DWR is proposing removal of the Sutter Extension Water District's Sunset Weir across the Feather River between Yuba City and Live Oak. This should be good for salmon, steelhead and sturgeon, and for recreational boat travel on the river; and, it also presents an opportunity to improve public access to the right bank of the Feather River for bank fishing, launching and retrieving kayaks, canoes and other small craft, bird watching and other recreational activities. The current write-up says nothing about public river access, the public's right to be on the river and the temporarily dry bed and banks of the river below ordinary annual high water mark, the Public Trust Doctrine, and the public right to fish from and on state-owned lands. The Public Trust Doctrine requires state agencies to consider the effect of their proposed decisions on public trust interests, including the public' interest in access to and use of navigable waters (including their temporarily dry bed and banks), avoiding so far as feasible any adverse effect on those interests, and that this consideration must be given in a public manner facilitating public participation in the decision making. The comment period is August 1, 2024 through August 30, 2024. A public meeting is scheduled August 15, 2024, 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm, ay the Yuba Cit Council Chambers on Civic Center in Yuba City. if you care about public access to California's inland waters generally, or to the Feather in particular. please comment in writing and if possible attend the meeting.

Please check out WBD's Global Energy Transition Outlook for 2025 to understand how energy suppliers, investors, and commercial consumers are thinking. Completed by 1,350 energy professionals, this year’s report provides insight into international investments in the clean energy transition at a time of rapid change.

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The California PUC’s decision against CCSA's Net Value Billing Tariff is a sobering reminder of the continuing challenges in expanding community solar, and one that has left a chill among developers. Ultimately, we believe in the strengths of community solar and in this industry’s ability to continue advocating for enabling legislation, but we also believe that now may be the time for the industry to consider new angles to supporting community solar, a sentiment that was echoed at last week's #CommunitySolarSummit. In our latest post, Segue partner Kristina Shih reflects on the status quo within the community solar industry, and where the industry must evolve and innovate a path forward amidst the broader DER industry. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gjfcJwNM #communitysolar #DERs #VPPs

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Today Carbon Accountable released a roadmap for implementation of #SB253, the California Climate Corporate Accountability Act (Senator Wiener - SD11). The document identifies key policy principles and presents exemplar regulations. It clearly demonstrates the feasibility of adhering to the statutory timeline established by the law, and sharply challenges the rationale for the proposed two year delay by the Office of California Governor Gavin Newsom for this critical climate law. While Carbon Accountable looks forward to the formal process that will be led by the ARB to develop SB 253 implementing regulations, this exercise demonstrates that the timely development of a robust set of implementing regulations for SB 253 is eminently doable. This is good news because there is no time to lose - #companies need #GHGemissionsdata to manage climate risks and inform their chosen decarbonization strategies and #consumers and #investors must have access to the #climatedata they need for decision making. #ClimateAccountability #GHGData  #CarbonTransparency #ClimateAction Here's a link to story in Politico California Climate - https://politi.co/4cgZy8O Here’s a link to the full roadmap - https://bit.ly/3AoCQOw

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At the end of April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a pre-publication of its final rule to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants, which includes robust emission standards for certain subcategories of facilities based on implementation of carbon capture and sequestration. Members of our Energy & Infrastructure team Ron Erlichman, Andrew Compton and Lauren Bachtel discuss the major components of this significant rule in detail below. #EPA #powerplants #coal #naturalgas #oil #emissions #GHG #greenhousegas

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At the end of April, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released a pre-publication of its final rule to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants, which includes robust emission standards for certain subcategories of facilities based on implementation of carbon capture and sequestration. Members of our Energy & Infrastructure team Ron Erlichman, Andrew Compton and Lauren Bachtel discuss the major components of this significant rule in detail below. #EPA #powerplants #coal #naturalgas #oil #emissions #GHG #greenhousegas

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When this country’s most populated state is able to run longer on renewable energy, that’s progress. It has been a process for California to get to this point and the state still has other sources of energy available for backup, but this is a step in the right direction. It’s no secret that we will need more energy moving into the future, so it will require all available sources to keep our ideas and innovation powered. These developments and their reliability are critical especially for those of us in the technology sector. At Belden we keep up-to-date on new opportunities for some of the biggest issues impacting our industry and those of our clients and partners. It’s important for us to know that the power we need will be there into the future. #Belden #Power #PowerGrid

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🌟 New Opportunity Alert: Energy Community Tax Adder Expanded in Southern California! 🌟 ⚡ Exciting updates from the IRS on the Energy Community Tax Credit Bonus offer new opportunities for solar projects. The new notice expands the criteria for determining energy communities, which identifies new areas eligible for this tax adder. Because of this update, 22 California counties now have access to the 10% Energy Community Tax Bonus for a 40% Investment Tax Credit on solar projects. Green Convergence recommends starting the solar process soon to secure eligibility as criteria change with policy updates. Don't miss out on maximizing your investment in renewable energies! Learn more about this game-changing update in the full article: https://lnkd.in/gkgH48gB #CommercialSolar #EnergySavingsForBusiness #SolarForBusiness #CommercialEnergyEfficiency #BusinessSolarExperts #TaxCredits #IRS #EnergyCommunity #GreenConvergence ☀ 🔋

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In the below post, my colleague Matt Snell and I analyze the Supreme Court's recent changes to federal Administrative law and the possible effects on environmental and energy regulation. (Hint: No need to hold on to those old Administrative Law textbooks any more!)

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