California ditches clean truck, locomotive rules

TRANSPORTATION: California abandons regulations aimed at phasing out diesel trucks and requiring cleaner locomotives, saying the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to issue waivers allowing the rules’ implementation. (CalMatters)

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ALSO:

• The Biden administration awards a California city $14 million to install 101 electric vehicle charging stations at 15 locations. (KTLA)
• Daimler resumes big rig sales in Oregon after regulators clear up misunderstandings around new medium and heavy-duty clean truck rules. (OPB)

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PUBLIC LAND:

• The Biden administration proposes banning new mining claims on federal land targeted for lithium extraction near the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Nevada. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
• President Biden orders the federal Bureau of Land Management to identify parcels of public land for clean energy development to power data centers proposed for Department of Energy and Defense sites. (Utility Dive)

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NUCLEAR: Wyoming regulators greenlight construction of non-nuclear portions of TerraPower’s proposed advanced reactor facility in the southwestern part of the state. (WyoFile)

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CLIMATE:

• California advocates look to revive legislation that would require the state’s largest carbon polluters to help cover the costs of climate disasters, but the oil lobby is already gearing up to fight it. (The Guardian)  
• California lawmakers create a $50 million legal fund to defend its climate and environmental policies against expected Trump administration challenges. (CalMatters)
• California lawmakers propose allocating $1.5 billion from a new climate bond to fund wildfire resilience projects. (Sacramento Bee)

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UTILITIES:

• Documents show California regulators scrutinized Southern California Edison’s wildfire hazard mitigation efforts in the months leading up to the deadly Los Angeles-area wildfires. (Los Angeles Times)
• San Diego Gas & Electric opens centers for customers experiencing wildfire hazard-related public power safety outages. (KPBS)

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GRID: Federal data show utility equipment has sparked more than 3,600 California wildfires since 1992, but the cause of the deadly Los Angeles blazes remains under investigation. (New York Times)

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OIL & GAS: Colorado advocates push back on proposed natural gas and produced water pipelines on federal land in the western part of the state. (Post-Independent)

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SOLAR: Washington state officials say a 2017 law aimed at encouraging solar panel recycling has yet to be enforced and has driven some manufacturers from doing business in the state. (Seattle Times)

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HYDROGEN: A report finds California lost a net total of three light-duty hydrogen fueling stations last year, casting doubt on the state’s ability to meet targets. (RTO Insider, subscription)

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OVERSIGHT: A Utah city considers revising its land-use code to encourage solar, energy storage, natural gas and small modular nuclear reactor development. (Deseret News)

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POLITICS: Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte announces a new task force aimed at  developing ways to “unleash” energy development and production. (Montana Free Press)

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