Bill language has surfaced in the Legislature to roll back various state environmental rules, and environmental groups are claiming that Republican lawmakers are circulating the legislation as a condition for any budget deal.
The legislation, which you can find here at budget language.pdf, would change the compliance dates for regulations on off-road diesel equipment recently passed by the California Air Resources Board. It would affect regulations on pesticides, and limit which highway and development projects would need to be reviewed for their potential greenhouse gas emissions.
Republicans are declining to comment on the document. "Legislative leaders have agreed to keep the details of negotiations confidential," said Sabrina Lockhart, press secretary for the Senate Republican caucus, when asked about the document and whether it was part of budget talks.
Environmental groups are livid that lawmakers could be secretly negotiating major changes to environmental laws to reach a budget deal. Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council have called a press conference for Tuesday.
"Republican legislative leadership is exploiting the crisis to repeal laws that protect the health and safety of Californians, yet have nothing to do with the budget," the two groups said in a joint statement today.
UPDATE: The Bee's Kevin Yamamura has a fuller story on the Republican budget demands here.
The legislation, which you can find here at budget language.pdf, would change the compliance dates for regulations on off-road diesel equipment recently passed by the California Air Resources Board. It would affect regulations on pesticides, and limit which highway and development projects would need to be reviewed for their potential greenhouse gas emissions.
Republicans are declining to comment on the document. "Legislative leaders have agreed to keep the details of negotiations confidential," said Sabrina Lockhart, press secretary for the Senate Republican caucus, when asked about the document and whether it was part of budget talks.
Environmental groups are livid that lawmakers could be secretly negotiating major changes to environmental laws to reach a budget deal. Environmental Defense and the Natural Resources Defense Council have called a press conference for Tuesday.
"Republican legislative leadership is exploiting the crisis to repeal laws that protect the health and safety of Californians, yet have nothing to do with the budget," the two groups said in a joint statement today.
UPDATE: The Bee's Kevin Yamamura has a fuller story on the Republican budget demands here.
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