California

"After Edison submits a plan to restart one reactor at San Onofre, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to take months to review it."

"California regulators have not been conducting the intensive workplace-safety inspections of Chevron's Richmond plant and the state's 14 other oil refineries that federal standards call for, a Chronicle investigation shows."

"A state plan to rank communities by the cumulative effects of pollution on residents has raised objections among local business leaders, who say it would kill job development in areas identified as disadvantaged."

"A new management plan for the Giant Sequoia National Monument further limits logging in and near groves of the world's largest trees, but would still allow it in nearly a quarter of the monument."

"California public health scientists have twice recommended in the past five years that Yosemite National Park authorities educate visitors about hantavirus, a rare disease that is linked to the deaths of two park visitors, one illness and a possible fourth this summer. Yet park officials did not warn visitors until after the disease showed up in recent weeks."

"FRESNO, Calif. -- The rustic tent cabins of Yosemite National Park — a favorite among families looking to rough it in one of the nation's most majestic settings — have become the scene of a public health crisis after two visitors died from a rodent-borne disease following overnight stays."

"YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. -- A second person has died of a rare, rodent-borne disease after visiting one of the most popular parts of Yosemite National Park earlier this summer, and park officials were warning past visitors to be aware of some flu-like aches and symptoms and seek medical help immediately if they appear."

"California legislators are poised to vote this week on a pair of bills that would help renters and low-income communities go solar. But the bills have encountered stiff resistance from some utility companies, which call them unnecessary and expensive."

"Levees protecting most of the city of Sacramento and 15 other areas of the Central Valley were declared today to have failed federal maintenance criteria. As a result, they are no longer eligible for federal rebuilding funds in the event of a levee breach."

"RICHMOND -- An Oakland-based attorney says he has more than 3,000 signed-on seeking legal action against Chevron stemming from a fire at the oil company's local refinery on Aug. 6."