How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Business News
- Details
- Written by: Editor
OAKLAND – Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. has asked to intervene in a lawsuit in order to protect newly adopted motor vehicle emission standards that would save nearly two billion barrels of oil and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately one billion tons.
Brown filed a motion to intervene in the U.S. Court of Appeals in support of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a suit brought by energy companies and other industries challenging the EPA's authority to enforce the tough emission standards beginning in 2012.
"The thousands of barrels of oil spilling in the Gulf of Mexico each day are a graphic reminder that we need to cut oil consumption in America," said Brown. "These regulations would do that, as well as vastly reducing pollution from tailpipe emissions."
The EPA's new vehicle emissions standards are the first significant reduction in federal fuel consumption standards in! more than 30 years.
Over the lifetime of the vehicles sold in the first five years, the national program is projected to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 2.1 billion tons and save 1.8 billion barrels of oil. Consumers can expect the new standards to save them between $130 and $180 a year in fuel costs.
EPA estimates the lifetime savings under the program for 2012 through 2016 model-year vehicles at $240 billion. The benefits include fuel savings, carbon dioxide reductions, improved air quality, and enhanced energy security.
California has long set the pace in enacting tough pollution standards, and it has been active in attempting to protect its right to impose those standards and in encouraging other states and the federal government to adopt similar standards.
In Massachusetts v. EPA, 549 U.S. 497 (2007), the Supreme Court ruled that the greenhouse gases that cause global warming are air pollutants under the Clean Air Act a! nd that EPA's evaluation of whether those emissions from motor! vehicles endanger public health or welfare had to be based solely on science. Brown's office took a lead role in that case.
EPA has now made that endangerment finding. As the Supreme Court noted, such a finding triggers a mandatory duty on EPA to adopt motor vehicle regulations. EPA adopted those regulations on April 1 in a joint rulemaking with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Those regulations set greenhouse gas emission standards and fuel economy standards that will achieve a fleet-wide fuel economy for new cars and trucks of roughly 35 miles per gallon in model year 2016.
These motor vehicle regulations are the rough equivalent of California's regulations. As part of a nationwide deal announced at the White House in May 2009, California agreed that compliance with national standards of equivalent stringency would also constitute compliance with California's established regulations, and the automobile manufacturing indus! try agreed not to challenge those standards (through model year 2016.) If these EPA vehicle standards were successfully challenged, that nationwide deal would fall apart.
Brown's filing is in a lawsuit challenging the motor vehicle rule brought by industrial concerns plus politicians and other opponents of EPA action on global warming. Plaintiffs include Massey Energy Company, Rosebud Mining Co., National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the Industrial Minerals Association of North America. The challenge was not joined by the automobile manufacturing industry, the only party directly affected by the EPA regulations.
Brown filed the motion on behalf of himself, Governor Schwarzenegger and the state Air Resources Board, plus 12 other states – Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington – as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the City of New York.
- Details
- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – The state Board of Equalization (BOE) has announced the creation of two new Web applications to enable users to access BOE information from the convenience of their mobile devices.
"The explosion in the number of handheld mobile devices being used today means that people are constantly connecting to and searching for information. These new Web applications enable taxpayers to access BOE information in a way that's most convenient for them. We continue to use technology to connect and serve our taxpayers, whether it's by offering free efiling or creating new mobile applications," said Chair Betty T. Yee.
BOE has created two new Web applications accessible from the BOE Web site at www.boe.ca.gov.
These applications are tailored for mobile devices such as smart phones. By clicking on the cell phone icon (), mobile users can find the closest BOE office or verify a permit.
When looking for a BOE office, with one easy click you can find the location on a map or give them a call.
To verify a permit, simply type in the permit number and with a push of a button find out if the permit is valid.
These Web applications do not require taxpayers to download them to their phone, they simply provide a tailored interface for free access to BOE information using the device's Web browser.
From a list of options on the web applications menu, you can also access the California Tax Service Center, a portal that conveniently places information from all tax agencies relevant to California taxpayers in one location.
This is the first wave of applications BOE is rolling out. BOE hopes to continue to expand options for taxpayers to easily and conveniently obtain useful information from their mobile devices.
There are other useful mobile applications on the California Web site at www.ca.gov.
The five-member California State Board of Equalization is a publicly elected tax board. The BOE collects more than $53 billion annually in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services. It hears business tax appeals, acts as the appellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and administration of property taxes.
For more information on other taxes and fees in California, visit www.taxes.ca.gov.
- Details
- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – The Assembly Appropriations Committee on Friday approved a bill by Assemblymember Wesley Chesbro (D-North Coast) that would create the California Product Stewardship Act.
AB 2139 would establish an Extended Producer Responsibility framework with a single law to cover a wide array of toxic products that are banned from landfills. These products include hypodermic needles, antifreeze, and small propane tanks.
Under an Extended Producer Responsibility Framework, manufacturers would be required to take more responsibility for disposing of products after consumers are through with them. This includes increasing the recyclability of products and reducing packaging.
“Consumers want convenient options for disposing of these products,” Chesbro said. “Right now local governments are burdened with the cost of disposing of them. This bill will provide relief to local governments by getting industry to share these costs and will create an incentive for manufacturers to design products that can be more easily recycled. This will result in a lot more diversion of toxic wastes away from our landfills.”
AB 2139 is supported by a lengthy list of local governments, recycling and waste management organizations and environmental groups, including the Sierra Club of California.
The bill next goes to the full Assembly for a vote.
- Details
- Written by: Editor
SACRAMENTO – The Board of Equalization has established unitary values of privately owned public utilities and railroads in California at $80.4 billion.
Local governments will collect an estimated $883.8 million in revenue (including penalties) over the next fiscal year based on these values.
Total values were up $3.5 billion over those adopted by the board last year and will generate approximately $41.3 million more in taxes for local governments than in the current fiscal year.
Values were set for 405 companies with property in California. They include telephone (long distance, local, and wireless), gas and electric companies, railroads and inter-county pipelines.
While most properties are assessed by county officials, privately-held public utilities are assessed by the BOE statewide. These properties are not subject to Proposition 13 and are reappraised annually at their market value.
A “unitary value” includes improvements, personal property, and land. A unitary valuation applies to properties owned or used by public utilities and railroads and considered necessary to their operation.
The BOE determines the fair market value as of January 1 of each year by considering market conditions, use of the property, income generated by the property, replacement costs, and investments in the property, regulatory climate, depreciation, and other factors.
The values set by the BOE are used by county governments to levy local property taxes, which help support county governments, cities, special districts, and schools. Penalties are assessed for late or incomplete filings or failure to file with the BOE.
The five-member California State Board of Equalization is a publicly elected tax board. The BOE collects more than $53 billion annually in taxes and fees supporting state and local government services. It hears business tax appeals, acts as the appellate body for franchise and personal income tax appeals, and serves a significant role in the assessment and administration of property taxes.
For more information visit www.boe.ca.gov/index.htm.