The Environmental Protection Agency will begin enforcing tougher air quality standards next year. Reason offers a fast-track approach to compliance.
California has made tremendous progress on air pollution during the last few decades, but still faces two major air quality challenges. Parts of the San Joaquin Valley and South Coast exceed federal standards for ozone and particulate matter by a large margin. Both areas are in danger of missing federal deadlines for meeting air pollution standards. California can meet these challenges. Unfortunately, California lawmakers and regulators have often pursued unnecessarilyexpensive and even counterproductive policies, while failing to exploit cost-effective pollution reduction opportunities. This briefing paper by the Reason Public Policy Institute summarizes the air pollution situation in the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) and South Coast (SC), recommends policies for achieving cleaner air more quickly and more cheaply than current policies, and assesses the political viability of the recommended approaches. [Editor's note: The link below is to a 150K PDF document.]
Thanks to Chris Steins
FULL STORY: Clearing the Air In California

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
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Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Adaptive Reuse Will Create Housing in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall
A developer is reimagining a strip mall property as a mixed-use complex with housing and retail.

Study: Anti-Homelessness Laws Don’t Work
Research shows that punitive measures that criminalized unhoused people don’t help reduce homelessness.

In U.S., Urban Gondolas Face Uphill Battle
Cities in Latin America and Europe have embraced aerial transitways — AKA gondolas — as sustainable, convenient urban transport, especially in tricky geographies. American cities have yet to catch up.
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