Smog-causing mowers clipped. The EPA recently granted California long-awaited permission to begin enforcing stricter emission rules for lawn mowers and other gas-powered equipment. [News Source]

Ocean rescue. The reauthorization of a basic law regulating fishing practices in American waters may prove to be of great importance to future ocean health. [News Source]

Late start for long-awaited dredging. Boaters, fishermen, tourists and beachgoers should all benefit from a $1.5-million dredging project that got under way last week in the Point Judith Harbor of Refuge. [News Source]

Remember, air pollutants can also be found indoors. Houses may be filled with polluted air this season. [News Source]

Don’t roast chestnuts on an open fire. Without cooperation from residents, officials are warning that the air quality in the San Joaquin Valley could substantially deteriorate over the holiday weekend. [News Source]

Not breathing easy? Turn heat up, not wood-burning fireplaces. The unhealthy buildup of fine particle pollution from wood-burning stoves, mixed with car exhaust, has led the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to issue nine "Spare the Air Tonight" warnings since Dec. 1 [News Source]

Test Shows Birmingham Violates Air Pollution Rule on First Day (WSFA Montgomery) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Air pollution continues to be a major problem in Jefferson and Shelby counties. A test Tuesday in north Birmingham showed the area in violation of a new air pollution standard on the first day it was being enforced. [News Source]

Fuel economy standard on the way.

The country’s first ‘fuel economy standard’ will be created next year in a bid to limit petrol consumption and cut air pollution emitted from car engines

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Investigators seek power to protect nature. Despite their important task in fighting environmental crime, civil servant investigators have a battle on their hands to obtain the authority to make arrests under certain circumstances. [News Source]

State’s smog controls upheld. California won two major victories Friday in an ongoing battle with the Bush administration to preserve the state's strongest-in-the-nation smog controls. [News Source]

Federal court rejects EPA’s smog strategy.

A federal appeals court yesterday struck down the Bush administration’s strategy for reducing smog, ruling that the EPA’s rules for forcing state cleanups do not meet requirements of the Clean Air Act.

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