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August 18, 1998 - California's "Superfund" program, enacted in 1981 to clean up contaminated hazardous substance sites, sunsets on January 1, 1999. We make recommendations that are designed to address concerns raised about the program, while advancing the state's goals for protecting public health and the environment.
February 18, 1998 - In 1998, the Legislature will be evaluating a number of bond proposals to address funding needs for resources infrastructure. In this section, we provide a framework for constructing an estimate of resources infrastructure needs and setting funding priorities to assist the Legislature in evaluating these proposals.
February 18, 1998 - Cal-EPA: How Well Is It Meeting Its Goals
October 16, 1997 - The Secretary of the Interior has directed California to come up with a plan to live within its entitlement of 4.4 million acre-feet of water per year. We provide findings and recommendations regarding this directive.
October 14, 1997 - In April 1997, the federal government declared coho salmon in California streams from Humboldt County north into southern Oregon as "threatened" under the federal Endangered Species Act. We examine various issues related to this finding.
January 1, 1997 - Earthquake insurance is now available to California homeowners and renters under a new system that was established through legislation enacted in 1995 and 1996. This legislation created the California Earthquake Authority (CEA} and provided a means for the CEA to pool various sources of finances to underwrite earthquake insurance sold by insurance companies that agree to participate in the new system.
June 3, 1996 - The Department of Water Resources concluded in its 1994 California Water Plan Update that California's annual water supplies are generally adequate to meet current demand in "normal" (nondrought) years. However, the department forecasts a shortage in the year 2000 for California's water users as a group (domestic, industrial, agricultural, and environmental) that will increase in subsequent years. The projected shortage results both from factors that reduce supply and those that increase demand. Among the most important factors reducing water supply for nonenvironmental users are recent federal limits on water diversions in order to protect fish and wildlife habitat. Projected population growth adds most to future increases in demand.
February 21, 1996 - Plans Needed for Conservation of Land Resources
April 28, 1995 - Presented by Mark Newton to: University of California, Berkeley Environmental Health Policy Program Workshop On: Taxing Pesticides to Fund Environmental Management and Integrated Pest Management