California Dump Truck Owners Association (CDTOA) - California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

De This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 12, 2,2011

Los propietarios de camiones en toda la nación deberían haber recibido postal del ARB titulado "Diesel Truck Owners: Act Now" (Propietarios de Camiones Diesel: Actúen Hoy) enviado en agosto como un recordatorio de el plazo de cumplimiento de normas de emisiones de aire de fin de año.

El Personal de ARB fue invitado a varios programas de radio AM y satélite XM durante los meses de agosto y septiembre y respondieron preguntas de los radio escucha sobre  la próxima fecha límite. Las transmisiones incluyen un sinfín de cuestiones de transporte terrestre, incluyendo TRU's, mascotas en la cabina y sus multas. El Volumen de llamadas diarias al ARB en la línea directa (1-866-6DIESEL) es una indicación  que existe un gran interés de la comunidad de camiones sobre los reglamentos de disel de California.

by Dan Walters

California, long considered to have the world’s eighth-largest economy, has slipped to ninth place, according to the Palo Alto-based Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy.
Blame it on Brazil.

With a fast-growing, $2.1 trillion economy, Brazil has slipped past California ($1.9 trillion) into eighth place, according to the center’s calculations from the latest World Bank economic rankings.
California was once as high as seventh but was later surpassed by Italy, which remains No. 7, just ahead of Brazil and just behind No. 6 Great Britain.

By Paul V. Simpson Esq. and Jamie Rudman, Esq. Simpson, Garrity, Innes & Jacuzzi - This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it / This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

California's Wage Prevention Theft Act (the "Act"), Labor Code Section 2810.5 took effect on January 1, 2012. On December 30, 2011, the last business day before the Act became effective, the California Labor Commissioner posted on its web site 15 "frequently asked questions" ("FAQs") about the Act and the Labor Commissioner's responses to the FAQs appear to significantly expand employers' obligations. See, www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/dlse.html.

By Robert R. Roginson and Jonathan Judge of Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo 12-20-11

The definition of what constitutes a “public work” for prevailing wage purposes has long included the hauling of refuse from a public works site to an outside disposal facility. Assembly Bill 514, signed by Gov. Brown in October of 2011, amends Section 1720.3 of the Labor Code by specifying what materials hauled from a work site are included in the definition of the “hauling of refuse” for purposes of clarifying if the employee is entitled to be paid the applicable prevailing wage rate. AB 514 is effective January 1, 2012.

AB 514 amends Section 1720.3 to define the “hauling of refuse” to include the “hauling soil, sand, gravel, rocks, concrete, asphalt, excavation materials, and construction debris.” This is not an exhaustive list, and accordingly the hauling of other, similar materials may be considered to be the hauling of refuse as well.

By Eric Eisenhammer, The Coalition of Energy Users

In early December the Coalition of Energy Users presented the unelected California Air Resources Board with hundreds of signatures from Californians urging they stop their plans to raise gas prices by billions of dollars by changing the formula for gas. On December 29, a Federal judge struck down their plans as a violation of the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution.

A ruling by Fresno-based U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence O’Neill found that CARB’s plans discriminate against out of state fuel producers in a ruling that is a huge victory for Californians who cannot afford to pay more for gas at this time of record unemployment.

STATE: Injunction sought by producers is a blow to emission control efforts

By Felicity Barringer, The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge this month blocked enforcement of a California regulation favoring producers of gasoline, diesel fuel and biofuels whose methods generate fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

The ruling by the judge, Lawrence J. O’Neill of U.S. District Court in Fresno, said the rule unconstitutionally discriminates against out-of-state producers and tries to regulate activities that take place entirely outside state boundaries, from producers’ choice of farming methods to refiners’ use of coal-fired electricity.

By granting a preliminary injunction, which had been sought by ethanol producers, the judge dealt a blow to the state’s much-touted effort to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. The low-carbon fuel rule had been expected to account for 10 percent of the overall reduction in emissions, or some 16 million metric tons.

California’s fuel standard “impermissibly treads into the province and powers of our federal government, reaches beyond its boundaries to regulate activity wholly outside of its borders,” the judge said.

By Lewis & Co. for CIAQC’s Board

Over the last four weeks CIAQC has focused much attention on CARB and the On-Road Truck Regulation. On December 16th CIAQC meet with CARB staff in Sacramento to discuss several significant implementation issues for the Truck & Bus Regulation and testify at the CARB Board Hearing---the staff met with us prior to our Board testimony in the “CIAQC Office” in the cafeteria. This followed the December 6, 2011 CIAQC letter to Governor Brown outlining the detailed concerns including retrofit filter safety, and the numerous problems with the ability of fleets to register their trucks using CARB’s on-line reporting system along with and CARB’s lack of outreach on the implementation of the regulation and tight deadlines that were emerging.

by William Yeatman on January 10, 2012 - in Blog, Features

Barack Obama swept into the Presidency promising a new political order, one characterized by “transparency” and “openness.” Three years later, the President’s lofty campaign promises are belied by the Environmental Protection Agency’s record of suppression.

The White House says its rule-making isn't costly or unusual. The evidence shows otherwise

The White House is on the political offensive, and one of its chief claims is that it isn't the overregulator of business and Republican lore. This line has been picked up by impressionable columnists, so it's a good time to consider the evidence in some detail.

Jan Eberly, an Assistant Treasury Secretary, kicked off the Administration campaign with a white paper in October that purported to debunk the "misconceptions" that "uncertainty is holding back business investment and hiring and that the overall burden of existing regulations is so high that firms have reduced their hiring." Then the Administration mobilized some of the worst offenders, such as Kathleen Sebelius of HHS ("There has been no explosion of new rules") and Lisa Jackson of the EPA (her opponents are "using the economy as cover").

Matt Sledge - Reporter

When federal officials finalized a loan to a consortium building a toll road through open country in San Diego County near the Mexican border in 2003, they had high hopes for the project: the South Bay Expressway. Taking advantage of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, the investors behind the four-lane highway sought to prove that the private sector had a role to play in America's transportation infrastructure.

Unlike other so-called "brownfield" acquisitions of existing toll roads like the Chicago Skyway, the South Bay Expressway was supposed to serve as evidence that private industry could build "greenfield" highways with a little help from the feds.

Alejandra Molina Register Writer

The number of drunken driving-caused deaths in California dropped to a record low of 791 last year, marking the largest single annual drop of DUI deaths in the past 14 years, according to a report.
According to the Office of Traffic Safety, figures from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that statewide, DUI deaths increased yearly from 1998 to 2005, but have decreased every year since 2005.

SACRAMENTO, CA - As Californians ring in the New Year Sunday, several new traffic laws will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2012.
The laws were passed by the state Legislature and then signed by Gov. Brown earlier this year, California Highway Patrol Commander Fran Clader said.