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Powering Mary Jane: Marijuana and Electric Public Utilities
Get PDFThe discourse surrounding legalizing marijuana use and cultivation is full of political, legal, and economic voices. While some discussions address the high electricity consumption of marijuana grow operations and their effects on the energy grid, few—if any—discuss whether or not public utilities could be held federally liable for supplying power to marijuana grows and incentivizing growers to use more energy efficient methods. Just as banks, doctors and lawyers could be at risk for providing their services to this emerging industry, so too could public utilities. In some cases, utilities that refuse to provide service to state-legal marijuana grow operations experience theft of electricity. This occurs in states where marijuana cultivation is both legal and prohibited. Until Congress intervenes, public utilities must continue to operate in legal limbo if they supply power and incentives to marijuana grows. Legitimate state-legal marijuana businesses face a persistent dearth of resources that other legitimate businesses receive, and high energy consumption will increasingly strain our overburdened power grids. These issues could be addressed through a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order, Congressional action, or Supreme Court rule
Mandatory Agency Dues: Beneficial or a First Amendment Violation?
Get PDFUnions have long been recognized as a major cornerstone to American culture – they have helped ensure fair wages, hours, and benefits for American workers for over a century. However, the question has continuously come up in legal discourse of whether unions modernly maintain their importance and effectiveness as exclusive bargaining representatives. This question raises an array of issues – one of those being whether public employees should be required to pay union dues when they are not members and do not support the union.
A case recently before the Supreme Court could end laws in 22 states that requires public employees to pay “agency fees” to a union regardless of whether they are members of the union or wish to support it. The case raised the question of whether unions are adequately and accurately representing the real interests of the public employees they are meant to represent
RIVERS THAT DEPEND ON AQUIFERS: DRAFTING SGMA GROUNDWATER PLANS WITH FISHERIES IN MIND
Get PDFGuidebook on rivers that depend on aquifers. Published by the Center on Urban and Environmental Law.
Also available at: https://ggucuel.org/fisheries
CERCLA Cleanup 2018.08.01 Letter to Nancy Pelosi
Get PDFLetter to Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, listing concerns about the integrity of the ongoing cleanup at Hunters Point and asking her to support transparency in the Navy’s cleanup operations
The Impact of Spanish Caseload on Customer Satisfaction and Reliability of Payments
Get PDFIn July 2017, the County of San Mateo Department of Child Support Services (DCSS) implemented a Spanish Caseload as a means of addressing the evolving and diverse needs of its customers. The Spanish Caseload was divided among three Spanish-speaking Child Support Analysts (CSA) with the objective to increase customer satisfaction and increase reliability of child support payments. A review of relevant literature articles that align with the study discussed the impact of language access and customer satisfaction, customer satisfaction and willingness to pay, and lastly language access in the public sector. Data was collected from DCSS staff, customer surveys and data from Case Management Tool (CMT) to compare DCSS pre- and post-implementation of the Spanish Caseload. The results of this study may provide information on whether the Spanish Caseload implemented was effective in increasing customer satisfaction and increasing reliability of payments
The California Intercity Bus Program Application Form: A Case Study on Implementing a Web-Based Online Application
Get PDFThis study is about improving the current paper-based application form for the California Intercity Bus program within Caltrans, that provides millions of dollars in discretionary transportation funding to qualified applicants throughout the state. The application program is a process which applicants submit their paper-based application form to the funding office via email attachments, and it goes through a five-person scoring committee for final approval of their funding request. The study discusses the current application process and issues encountered between the Caltrans funding office and the prospective applicants. This research project is for the benefit of senior management, the staff, and funding applicants willing to embrace new technology that will streamline the process and increase work efficiency. A review of the relevant literature will discuss different aspects of a web-based online application process. Data will be collected from key informant interviews and an online structured survey to the current and future funding applicants. The results of this study may provide information on how implementing a web-based online application could increase efficiency in the California Intercity Bus program application process
Sanctuary Campuses: To Be or Not To Be, That is the Question
Get PDFIn addition to cities affirming their status as sanctuaries to undocumented immigrants, college campuses have also pressured their administrations to declare their campuses sanctuaries in order to combat the President’s attacks on the undocumented members of their student bodies. Despite this pressure, many campuses are reluctant to definitively state whether or not they will be considered a “sanctuary campus” given the potential consequences of such a declaration, namely having their vital federal funding stripped. Further, for institutions that are willing to deem themselves sanctuary campuses, it is unclear just what a sanctuary campus will look like and entail. While sanctuary cities, such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, and Houston, have been around for decades, sanctuary campuses are likely to face different challenges and function differently than their city counterparts
NRC Petition Supplemental Filing 2 2018.02.13
Get PDFLetter supplementing Greenaction’s petition with additional information supporting the revocation of Tetra Tech’s license, including reports by the Navy on data by Tetra Tech related to its remediation of soil at parcels C and E
CERCLA Cleanup 2018.11.20 Request Release of PRG data
Get PDFRequest to the Navy to release various calculations and inputs relied upon when using the EPA’s PRG calculator to assess risk to human health and the environment in its ongoing work to remediate contamination at the shipyard
CERCLA Cleanup 2018.09.06 Response from CA Dept of Public Health
Get PDFResponse from the CA Department of Public Health related to its testing for hazardous materials left at Parcel A