National
Public Lands Rule Comment Period
The comment period for the Trump Administration's proposed rescission of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Public Lands Rule wrapped up on Monday, November 10. Sierra Club collected more than 16,000 comments, which is over 10% of the approximately 150,000 comments received by the agency. We joined Tribal partners, 61 members of Congress, attorneys general from 6 states, 180 Western officials, and other partners across the country to defend the rule. A huge thank you to all of the chapters who participated, our Public Lands Action Team members and Wildlands Team, our Conservation campaign strategists and organizers, and the Fed Policy, Digital, Comms, and Social Media teams for all of your work on this effort. For more details, visit this newsletter in Campfire Community and find more background on the Public Lands Rule here.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)’s “11th National OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program — 1st Analysis and Proposal” was released this month which triggers a 60 day period for public comment. The proposal includes the plan for where the U.S. may allow offshore oil and gas leasing based on the economic benefits against the social and environmental costs. There are 34 possible leasing sites that have been ranked, most of them being off of the Gulf of Mexico. The public comment period is vital to ensuring that states, tribes, industry and individuals voices are heard. There may be local meetings taking place in order to contribute and engage with your local community.
Out of Plain Sight takes you on a journey through the lens of a Los Angeles Times reporter and discovers barrels of toxic waste that have been dumped off of the coast of Southern California. It can be easy to disconnect with the environmental issues that the world faces and this movie reminds you of the issues that are in your backyard that you may not be aware of but should pay attention to. You can view showtimes in your area here https://www.outofplainsight.com/tickets
The EPA is redefining the scope of the waters that are protected by the bedrock clean water law which will limit the amount of wetlands that the law will protect. The EPA stated that the updated “Waters of the United States” will focus more on relatively permanent, standing or continuously flowing bodies of water, such as streams, oceans, rivers and lakes, along with wetlands that are directly connected to such bodies of water. Rolling back the protections are another method to lower the amount of land that is protected from the government putting water, land, and animals at risk.
State
The Trump administration has released a draft plan that would open up California's federal coastal waters to offshore oil and gas drilling. This is supposedly supposed to strengthen the U.S. Energy dominance but the governor of California Gavin Newsom is strongly opposed to the plan due to the economic and environmental risks. You can get involved within your local community, Orange County is holding a peoples hearing taking place at the Costa Mesa Library in December.
Local
The city of Glendale just passed a new REACH code that requires all newly installed or replaced AC units to use heat pumps for heating and cooling or installing a more energy efficient air conditioning unit. There are some exceptions to this rule which you can read on the cities website but is a big step forward in ensuring that all new units are better for the environment and more efficient for tenants.
Los Angeles Mono-Lake Replenishment
The LADWP just approved an expansion of Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys to now recycle up to 40 million gallons of water per day. This directly decreases the amount of water that would need to be redirected from Mono Lake. In the past Mono Lake suffered the consequences of having the water diverted and not being replenished how it was needed. The upgrade of the plant will slowly lessen the environmental burden on Mono Lake without sacrificing the amount of water being provided.