California Dump Truck Owners Association

By THE Associated Press, New York Times, January 7, 2010

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed stricter health standards for smog, replacing a Bush-era limit that ran counter to scientific recommendations.

The new limits -- which are presented as a range -- will likely put hundreds more counties nationwide in violation, a designation that will require them to find additional ways to clamp down on pollution or face government sanctions, most likely the loss of federal highway dollars.

With credit tight and consumers still pinching their pennies, many business owners find they can't go on.

By Nathan Olivarez-Giles;  LATimes

The Obama administration's new plan to give a boost to small businesses reflects continued trouble in that sector, which is facing new failures even as much of the nation's economy is stabilizing.

More than 12 percent of the 2,667 new vehicles that Caltrans has bought since 2007 are sitting unused and gathering dust on state lots, according to newly released data confirmed by the department.

Payments on bond borrowing are becoming uncomfortably high, crowding out funds for universities, healthcare, parks -- and all the other government services being slashed these days.

The House of Representatives today voted 217 to 212 to pass legislation, H.R. 2847—“The Jobs for Main Street Act”, that would supplement the core federal transportation programs with $37.2 billion in new transportation infrastructure investments and extend the authorization for the federal highway and transit programs through FY 2010.  It is important to note all Republicans and 38 Democrats voted against the measure.

Decades of neglect of California’s transportation infrastructure amounts to an annual burden of $40 billion a year for the motoring public, according to a report released Thursday by TRIP, a Washington, DC transportation think tank.

When Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger traveled to Copenhagen to tout his record battling global warming, at home a very different story developed. He told his top air-quality regulators to change – and, critics fear, potentially weaken -- a premier regulation curbing diesel soot.

One of every six U.S. employers that closed permanently in 2008 was in California, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration using bankruptcy court data.

A proposed toll increase for the seven state-owned bridges that crisscross the San Francisco Bay could double the cost for trucks.

Under the proposal, a typical five-axle truck would pay $25 to cross any one of the seven bridges. A trip today is only $11.25. This is a 122% fee increase at a time when few can pass it on effectively, especially construction trucks.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) today will begin enforcing its New Entrant Safety Assurance Process rule, which requires newly registered truck and bus companies to meet stricter safety requirements.

The legislative budget analyst's projection, to be released today, threatens to send Sacramento back into gridlock and force more broad cuts to state programs.

Less than four months after California leaders stitched together a patchwork budget, a projected deficit of nearly $21 billion already looms over Sacramento, according to a report to be released today by the chief budget analyst.

The new figure -- the nonpartisan analyst's first projection for the coming budget -- threatens to send Sacramento back into budgetary gridlock and force more across-the-board cuts in state programs.