EPA

California made its own tailpipe emissions deal with four major carmakers, officials said today, ignoring Trump administration threats to roll back Obama-era vehicle standards.

The state agreed to give the carmakers an extension to reach greenhouse gas reduction targets and pledged to eliminate penalties for power plant emissions tied to charging electric vehicles. In a win for California, the car companies agreed to recognize the state’s authority to make its own clean air rules and to follow California’s standards across the country.

In a decision that surprised many, a federal court released a decision Thursday ordering the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to effectively ban the pesticide chlorpyrifos.

California’s list of chemicals harmful to humans is about the get longer. An agricultural pesticide widely used on the Central Coast is joining the ranks.  

A plan to expand an area approved for oil industry injection wells near Pismo Beach is now in the hands of the federal Environmental Protection Agency. 

Several Costco stores along the Central Coast will soon need to update their refrigerator systems under a company settlement with the Environmental Protection Agency.

Costco will pay $335 million in penalties for federal Clean Air Act violations and will fix refrigerant leaks, among other improvements, the agency said in a media release.