Category: Civil Service

March 1, 2019

The New York City Council on February 28 adopted legislation to better protect workers in the private sanitation industry. According to a report in ProPublica, one bill authorizes the city’s Business Integrity Commission (BIC) to directly police labor unions at […]

February 26, 2019

The SCC’s decision in the Walmart case illustrates the regulatory difficulty of balancing the needs of different customer classes. In Virginia, customers must buy electricity from their incumbent utility unless they have a demand greater than 5 MW or are […]

January 25, 2019

The agreement among Virginia lawmakers on Thursday marks a rare legislative intervention against utility plans to store coal ash at their plant sites as companies continue to clash with environmental groups over the most effective methods to handle the waste. […]

December 26, 2018

California’s Strategic Growth Council (SGC) approved funding for four groundbreaking research initiatives that will develop clean technologies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance equitable outcomes for vulnerable communities. The research teams that were selected for funding will explore topics […]

November 21, 2018

Democrats came away from this year’s midterm elections with 14 governorships. The party flipped seven of those seats from Republicans. Of Democrats who ran, six campaigned on pledges to increase renewable energy in their state. The results of those elections […]

October 29, 2018

Regulators made no bones about their timeline, pointing to a fire season that seems to begin earlier — and last longer — every year. They say they are aiming to have the initial set of electric utility wildfire mitigation plans […]

September 21, 2018

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed three key bills and made his boldest statement to date on the public health and environmental threat posed by plastic pollution and waste. In addition, Brown also signed RNG (renewable natural gas) Coalition-sponsored bill AB […]

September 17, 2018

The Columbia Gas incident highlights the delicate balancing act of running a natural gas system while underscoring the inherent risks of the explosive fuel. State fire officials told media outlets Friday they will not know the exact cause of the […]

September 11, 2018

Filling a judicial seat these days, particularly on the Supreme Court, precipitates ominous forecasts about the transformation of American life for a generation or more. How is it that a single appointment has become so consequential? One reason is that […]

June 25, 2018

A California law recently raised the maximum daily penalty for improper hazardous waste disposal from $25,000 to $70,000. The civil penalty, passed last fall, can be levied “for each separate violation or, for continuing violations, for each day that violation […]