All posts tagged: permit

L.A. to Cut Permit Costs for ‘Low Impact’ Film Shoots

L.A. to Cut Permit Costs for ‘Low Impact’ Film Shoots

Published by Daniella Wilson

L.A.’s film office on Tuesday unveiled a six-month pilot program aimed at removing cost barriers for small shoots as outcry over Hollywood’s production downturn has snowballed into a political campaign issue. FilmLA’s new “Low Impact Permit Pilot Program” will reduce the city’s typical permit fees for tiny productions with fewer than 30 cast and crew members. The program will only apply to productions that shoot for a maximum of three consecutive days and in a maximum of three locations. For those who meet the qualifications, application fees will drop from the typical $931 to $350, and notification fees will drop from $250 per location to $156 per location. L.A. Fire Department spot check fees ($285) will also be waived for these shoots. The initiative will roll out starting April 27. That criterion makes the program seem tailor-made for microdramas, small student films and various new media productions, but it will not apply to the majority of professional feature films, television series and commercials. The initiative was announced during a press event at Echelon Studios, a …

US Issues First Commercial Construction Permit for a Nuclear Reactor in Years to a Wyoming Project

US Issues First Commercial Construction Permit for a Nuclear Reactor in Years to a Wyoming Project

Published by Sam Flores

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday approved its first construction permit for a commercial nuclear reactor in eight years, one that will allow a Bill Gates-backed company to build a sodium-cooled reactor in western Wyoming. TerraPower filed for the permit in 2024 and construction is now set to begin within weeks. Completion of the up to $4 billion plant is targeted for 2030, according to TerraPower. Microsoft co-founder Gates, who is eyeing nuclear generation as a power source for the electricity-hungry data centers behind artificial intelligence, is a founder of TerraPower and its primary investor. “We have spent thousands of manpower hours working to achieve this momentous accomplishment,” TerraPower President and CEO Chris Levesque said in a statement. The TerraPower plant is set to be built near a coal-fired power plant that is being converted to burn natural gas outside Kemmerer, a town of about 2,500 people some 130 miles (210 kilometers) northeast of Salt Lake City. Gates and his energy company are seeking to develop a next-generation nuclear plant that would “revolutionize” how …

Palisades fire victims will see building permit fee relief during recovery

Palisades fire victims will see building permit fee relief during recovery

Published by Sam Flores

The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday signed off on a plan to give financial relief to Palisades fire victims who are seeking to rebuild, endorsing it nearly 10 months after Mayor Karen Bass first announced it. On a 15-0 vote, the council instructed the city’s lawyers to draft an ordinance that would spare the owners of homes, duplexes, condominium units, apartment complexes and commercial buildings from having to pay the permit fees that are typically charged by the Department of Building and Safety during the recovery. Forfeiting those fees is expected to cost as much as $90 million over three years, according to Matt Szabo, the city’s top budget analyst. The vote came at a time of heightened anxiety over the pace of the city’s decisions on the recovery among fire victims. Bart Young, whose home was destroyed in the fire, told council members his insurance company will cover only half the cost of rebuilding. “I’m living on Social Security. I’ve lost everything,” he said. “I’m not asking for special treatment. I’m asking for …

Lawsuit in Canada to Force Catholic Hospitals to Permit Euthanasia

Lawsuit in Canada to Force Catholic Hospitals to Permit Euthanasia

Published by Jenni Sidey

This article, Lawsuit in Canada to Force Catholics to Permit Euthanasia| National Review is republished from National Review with the permission of the author. Freedom of religion is on the ropes in increasingly authoritarian Canada — despite a specific charter guarantee of “freedom of religion and conscience.” Indeed, an Ontario court ruled previously that doctors can be coerced under threat of professional discipline to perform lethal jabs or abortions against their religious beliefs and conscience objections. Why? The court ruled that the unenumerated right of patients to receive any legal procedure paid for by the government superseded the specific charter protection. If doctors don’t want to kill, the court also ruled, they can either provide an “effective referral” — meaning soliciting a doctor known to be willing to kill — or get out of medicine. Now, in British Columbia, the family of a euthanized woman, who was forced to leave a Catholic hospital to be killed, is seeking to compel Catholic hospitals to permit euthanasia on their premises — despite it being utterly contrary to Catholic moral teaching in the …

House passes permit reform bill Big Tech wants

House passes permit reform bill Big Tech wants

Published by Sam Flores

The House of Representatives on Thursday passed a bill aimed at making it easier to get federal permits to build infrastructure for artificial intelligence projects. The bill, known as the SPEED Act, is backed Big Tech giants such as OpenAI, Micron and Microsoft The bill cleared the House in a 221-196 vote, overcoming a conservative rebellion that nearly sank the legislation in a procedural vote earlier this week. The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is likely to be part of a larger conversation around permitting reform.  The SPEED Act’s proponents argue it is critical to help the U.S. outpace China and other global competitors in the race for AI dominance.  “The electricity we will need to power AI computing for civilian and military use is a national imperative,” said Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., the bill’s sponsor and chair of the House Natural Resources Committee.  The SPEED Act would reform the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act, which mandates federal reviews for projects that would impact the environment. It would tighten the timelines for …