Media Center

Nitrogen Pollution Reduction Act to Protect California's Drinking Water is Introduced in the State Assembly

February 23, 2026 Press ReleaseSacramento

Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan has introduced the Nitrogen Pollution Reduction Act (AB 2447), sponsored by the Natural Resources Defense Council’s Soil Health Team (NRDC). The bill requires the State Water Resources Control Board and California's regional water quality control boards to…

Study Finds Federal Water Giveaways in the West Exacerbate Strained Water Systems and Cost Taxpayers

December 11, 2025 Press ReleaseLos Angeles

A new report out today, Free Water While It Lasts: An Analysis of Wholesale Water Pricing in the Lower Colorado River Basin States, examines new data that shows huge disparities in who pays what for water from the Colorado River…

Michigan’s Opportunity to Cash In on Waste

June 10, 2025 BackgrounderMichiganAndrea Collins

A proposed increase to Michigan’s waste disposal surcharge could fund recycling and waste prevention efforts—especially food waste reduction—throughout the state.

Environmental Groups Reach Settlement on Pesticide-Treated Seeds with California Agency

November 13, 2024 Press ReleaseCalifornia

A group of environmental organizations informed a California state court today that they had reached an agreement with the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) to propose regulations addressing pesticide-treated seeds.

California Becomes First State to Ban “Sell By” Dates on Packaged Foods

September 30, 2024 Press ReleaseCalifornia

AB 660 requires the use of standardized food date-labeling terminology, reducing consumer confusion and the environmental impacts of food waste.

Confusing Food Date Labels Are (Almost) a Thing of the Past

September 10, 2024 Press ReleaseSacramento

In a major victory for consumers and the environment, the California State Legislature passed the nation’s first mandatory food date labeling reform bill. Assembly Bill 660, which standardizes confusing date labels that result in unnecessary food waste, is now on…

Federal Appeals Court Rules Use of Antibiotic as Citrus Pesticide Is Unlawful, Vacates EPA Approval

December 13, 2023 Press ReleaseSan Francisco

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday ruled in favor of farmworkers and public-interest groups’ call for reversal of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of the medically important antibiotic streptomycin as a pesticide on citrus crops.

Governor Newsom Signs Bill to Protect Californians and Pollinators from Dangerous Neurotoxins

October 11, 2023 Press ReleaseSacramento

With the support of Governor Newsom and persistence from the state legislature, California has passed AB 363, which bans over the counter sales of lawn and garden neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticides by 2025, limiting their use to trained professionals. The bill…

Groups File Lawsuit to Require California to Regulate Pesticide-Treated Seeds 

February 21, 2023 Press ReleaseCalifornia

Legal challenge calls on state Department of Pesticide Regulation to close loophole on unregulated sale, use of pesticides on seeds.

Padilla, Chu Join Union Workers in Los Angeles to Push for Federal Heat Stress Protections

August 30, 2022 Press ReleaseLos Angeles

As temperatures soar to triple digits in areas of Southern California, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Representative Judy Chu (D-Calif.) were in Los Angeles today along with union representatives and workers to advocate for federal workplace heat stress protections.

California Bans PFAS in Paper-Based Food Packaging

October 5, 2021 Press ReleaseCalifornia

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law today banning the use of the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS in paper-based food packaging and to require disclosure of toxic substances in cookware.

California Leaders Approve Bill to Ban PFAS in Paper-Based Food Packaging

September 7, 2021 Press ReleaseCalifornia

California lawmakers have approved legislation to ban the use of the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS in paper-based food packaging and to require disclosure of toxic substances in cookware, sending the bill to Governor Gavin Newsom for his signature.

NRDC Expands Regional Food Matters Project to Reduce Food Waste in 5 Great Lakes Cities and Counties

January 19, 2021 Press ReleaseChicago, Cincinnati, Madison, Detroit, Ohio

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) announced the expansion of the Food Matters Project in the Great Lakes region with the goal of furthering larger-scale change related to food waste throughout the region. Building on projects previously launched in the Mid-Atlantic…

Advocates Demand Regulation of Toxic Neonic-Treated Seeds

September 23, 2020 Press ReleaseCalifornia

A group of health and environmental organizations filed a legal petition today, calling upon the California Department of Pesticide Regulation to regulate the planting of crop seeds coated with neurotoxic neonicotinoid insecticides (neonics) and close a loophole that allows the…

Fishing and Conservation Groups Sue Country’s Largest Agricultural Water District Over Illegal Plot to Raise Shasta Dam

May 14, 2019 Press ReleaseCalifornia

Yesterday, a coalition of fishing and conservation groups filed a lawsuit against Westlands Water District for unlawfully aiding efforts by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to raise Shasta Dam. The destructive project would flood critical parts of the protected McCloud…

California’s Chlorpyrifos Recommendations Fail to Protect Children and Communities

November 15, 2018 Press ReleaseCalifornia

The California Department of Pesticide Regulation today issued new temporary recommendations for chlorpyrifos—a pesticide linked to learning disabilities in children—that will allow the toxic chemical to continue to be used on many crops grown in the state, putting children, farmworkers…

Court Knocks Down Monsanto Challenge to California Cancer Chemicals List

April 19, 2018 Press ReleaseCalifornia

Health and environmental groups defeated an effort to exclude the use of expert scientific findings to add the controversial chemical glyphosate to California's list of carcinogens today. Monsanto had been seeking to force California to remove the herbicide from the…

New Legislation Approved Requiring Disclosure of Use of Antibiotics in Meat Products

October 24, 2017 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO – San Francisco will now require large chain grocers to provide information about the antibiotic use associated with each line of raw meat sold in their stores. The “Right to Know” ordinance, authored by Supervisor Jeff Sheehy, seeks…

Burger King to Clean Up Antibiotics Practices in Chicken Supply by 2018

June 22, 2017 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO – The parent company of Burger King and Tim Hortons has committed to ending the use of all antibiotics important to human medicine in their chicken supply by the end of 2018, according to news reports today.

Cal/EPA Assessment Finds Pesticide Chlorpyrifos Poses Risks to California Children

January 11, 2016 Press ReleaseCalifornia

SAN FRANCISCO (January 11, 2016) – A long awaited health assessment from the California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) finds that children are at risk from the dangerous agricultural pesticide chlorpyrifos. The chemical is a widely-used toxic pesticide that can interfere…