The California Air Resources Board announced that on September 23, 2010, California adopted a new standard to require one-third of the electricity sold in the state in 2020 to come from clean, green sources of energy. CARB states that the standard will promote green jobs to construct and run renewable facilities in California and reduce hundreds of tons of harmful air pollution.
The Center for International Trade and Transit (CITT) is holding an October 6, 2010 public briefing on the "Panama Canal Expansion: The Battle for Jobs and Cargo: Who Wins? Who Loses? Who Decides?" at California State University, Long Beach. Scholars and industry experts will discuss the Panama Canal's expansion, offer their perspective, and challenge existing assumptions about implications for west coast ports, jobs, and cargo volume. There will be formal feedback from a national retailer before the floor will open to the audience for Q&A.
The Foreign Agriculture Service issued the following GAIN reports:
The Foreign Trade Zones Board has issued the following notices:
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative has posted September 23, 2010 remarks by U.S. Trade Representative Kirk at the Miami Chamber of Commerce. Among other things, USTR Kirk stated that the U.S. is working to resolve outstanding issues with the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement by November’s G-20 summit in Seoul and submitting it to Congress for approval in the following months.
USDA Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services’ Deputy Under Secretary Darci Vetter will travel to Turkey on September 26-30, 2010 for the second meeting of the U.S.-Afghanistan-Pakistan Agricultural Trilateral Conference. More than 70 representatives from the three nations will attend the two-day forum in Istanbul to develop plans that address food security, trade and irrigation issues affecting Afghanistan and Pakistan alike.
On September 23, 2010, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration withdrew from Office of Management and Budget review a final rule required by SAFETEA-LU (section 7118 of Pub. L. 109-59) to establish certain procedural regulations to implement authority provided to DOT to open packages believed to contain hazardous materials.
White House Press Secretary Gibbs stated that during President Obama's September 23, 2010 bilateral meeting with Premier Wen of China, the President talked about the importance of the currency issue to the U.S. and to the world economy and the need for China to do more than it has to date. The President described the currency issue as the most important one addressed during their meeting.
Various U.S. government agencies are seeking comments on the following information collections for which they have requested or intend to request Office of Management and Budget approval or extension of approval (see notices for specific details):
The International Trade Administration announces that the Department of Commerce is currently seeking applications to fill three vacant positions on the U.S. Travel and Tourism Advisory Board. Applications are due by October 8, 2010.