Goats Save the Environment!

In Auburn, Washington 100 goats were set loose to clear a grassy area of several acres near a retention pond for a Supermall. It took the goats three weeks to clear the area for Glimcher Realty Trust. The animals and their herder cost the company $3,000 for the three weeks. Using landscapers, a company spokesperson says that the same project would have cost $40,000. And no chemicals or gas-powered equipment were necessary to run the goats. Apparently goats eat just about anything in front of them. The project was so successful that the goats were hired for a similar project at Sea-Tac International Airport. Saving money while doing their part to save the environment. It is great what a little ingenuity and a hundred goats can do.

California's AB32 and Green House Gas Reduction

The Terminator is now affectionately known as the Environmental Governor. A lot of what follows was directly copied from other articles, so I do not claim it as my own.

AB32 the “Global Warming Solutions Act” establishes mandates to reduce California statewide greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) back to 1990 levels by 2020, an approximately 30% reduction from forecasted emissions. On January 1, 2008, sectors identified as significant GHG emitters (electricity producers, petroleum refiners, and cement processors) are required to start tracking 2008 emissions. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has been put in charge of implementation by January 1, 2012. However, they are also authorized to take earlier action.

AB32 will establish a local market for emissions trading, by setting a baseline and then receiving credit for producing less GHG than the baseline creating an emissions offset. Since carbon “cap and trade” markets are currently voluntary and unregulated, the nature and characteristics of carbon offsets vary significantly between willing buyers and sellers. CARB is preparing to endorse the CCAR’s Forestry Project Protocol for generating voluntary offsets, thereby providing a "seal of approval" for offsets generated using this protocol.

To qualify for greenhouse gas emission offsets, a reduction in GHG emissions must be deemed “real, permanent, measurable, verifiable, and additional”. “Additional” (similar to the concept of "surplus") means that the reduction in emissions reflect a deliberateness of purpose with regard to reducing GHG emissions and . That is, the reduction activity would not have taken place in the absence of offsets. Since energy efficiency is mandated by policy and subsidized by the government, any GHG reductions achieved through energy efficiency in California is unlikely to meet the criteria of “additionality”.

AB32 will have a broad reach within the environmental planning world. The current debate suggests that GHG now should have a significant consideration in the CEQA process. It seems as though many lawsuits will be following.

New Regs Ease UST FUND Acceptance

There are significant changes in the Permit Waver requirement of the California UST Petroleum Fund application process. Ceres Associates considers these significant changes because they represent the difference for two of our clients of getting on the FUND or not getting on the FUND. Prior to the recent court ruling, if you owned a property that had unknown tanks and contamination was found, you did not have access to the FUND, even though this seems to be contrary to the spirit of the law that created the FUND. However, based upon a recent court decision in Kelsoe v. State Water Resources Control Board, that concept has changed. It is the opinion of the Court of Appeals that a permit waver may be used to excuse permit noncompliance that occurred before January 1, 1990. In addition, under the Kelsoe Decision if noncompliance occurred after January 1, 1990 and certain conditions have been met then a permit waiver will be granted.

In addition to the Kelsoe Decision, there is Assembly Bill (AB) 1437 that becomes effective January 1, 2008. AB1437 states that permit compliance is satisfied if the claimant obtained a UST permit when the claimant became subject to UST permitting requirements, or when local regulators started issuing permits, whichever is later. In addition AB1437 states that if there are unknown tanks on a property, after reasonable due diligence is conducted and the claimant was unaware of the USTs, the claimant can claim permit compliance.

Obviously, we have simplified the two changes here. If you would like to know more, please give us a call.

E-Waste Recycling - The Real Deal

Well I went to New Mexico, and saw a prototype of the e-waste recycling unit I wrote about a couple of months ago. This unit only consumes about a ton a day, but it works. You put the waste into a grinder which is fed into a machine that uses a technology the firm coined as "catylitic pyrolysis". What comes out is metals that can be separated by specific gravity or can come out as a glob, fibers, gas, and a bit of char. The gas is used to refuel the machine, and the fibers, metals, and char, are sold back into the marketplace. If you want to spend about $5M on a 25 ton per day unit you will make about 50% ROI, according to the firms financial model. If you want to spend $20 on a 150 ton per day unit your ROI will be closer to 100%. The manufacuter is in place, and the company is awaiting orders. I guess that is where Ceres Associates comes in - to go out and tell people about this equipment who might be interested in doing their part to save the environment while making a good deal of money. Truly the best of both worlds.