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(ACC Mentioned) Local Toxic Toy Laws Take Effect in New York
Jul 13, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Rockland County has become the fourth New York State locality to pass legislation banning the sale of children's products containing certain chemicals, despite legal action brought by industry trade groups against similar county-level laws. -
(ACC Mentioned) The Shrinking Case For Fluorochemicals
Jul 13, 2015 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Stephen K. Ritter
When the Madrid Statement was issued in May, it was accompanied by a rebuttal by Jessica S. Bowman, executive director of the FluoroCouncil, which is a branch of the American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry’s main trade group... -
(ACC Mentioned) 6 Hacks to Reduce Your Food Waste and Save
Jul 13, 2015 | USA Today
By Hadley Malcolm
Americans overestimate how much they can eat and it's costing them a lot of money in wasted food:roughly $640 a year for each household, according to the American Chemistry Council. -
Alternatives to Chemicals Used in Plastic Containers are Equally Harmful, Says Study
Jul 13, 2015 | Packaging Business Review
Replacements for chemicals used in plastic wrap, soap, cosmetics, and processed food containers are likely to trigger high blood pressure and diabetes among children, finds a report by New York University's Langone Medical Center. -
We Don’t Know How Many Chemicals Are in Use Today. We Should Know.
Jul 13, 2015 | Environmental Defense Force
By Richard Denison
No one knows how many chemicals are in use today. It’s a problem that we don’t. -
California Proposes Prop 65 Cancer Listing of 1-Bromopropane
Jul 13, 2015 | Chemical Watch
California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) intends to list 1-bromopropane on Proposition 65 as a chemical known to the state to cause cancer. -
Week Ahead: House to Examine Pipeline Safety
Jul 13, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Lawmakers plan to take a comprehensive look at how federal pipeline safety regulators are implementing a 2011 overhaul of safety rules. The House Energy and Commerce Committee complains that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has yet to implement many of the major reforms in the law. The hearing comes two months after a major pipeline breach that spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean and onto beaches in Santa Barbara County, Calif. “With our newfound energy abundance, it’s imperative we ensure that our energy is transported safely and efficiently,” Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) said in a statement announcing the Tuesday hearing. “PHMSA’s lack of progress in implementing the reforms required under our 2011 pipeline safety law raises serious questions about their ability to provide the oversight necessary to ensure safe operation of our nation’s pipelines,” they added. Whitfield will chair the hearing of the panel’s energy and power subcommittee. PHMSA Interim Executive Director Stacy Cummings will testify, as will local, state and private industry representatives. Later in the week, the full House is likely to vote on Rep. David Valadao’s (R-Calif.) bill aimed at helping the drought in the West by reworking how federal agencies direct water resources. The bill has the support of all California Republicans in the House. The chamber could vote on it as early as Wednesday. The House Natural Resources Committee’s energy and mineral resources subpanel has planned a pair of hearings on specific oil and natural gas production issues in federally controlled areas. A Tuesday hearing will focus on the role of seismic testing in offshore drilling and exploration. The next day, the panel will examine hydraulic fracturing on federal land, including the Interior Department’s new fracking rules. On the other side of Capitol Hill, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is hosting a hearing Tuesday on island-based energy systems, including those in Hawaii, Alaska and United States territories. The Senate Small Business Committee will hold a Tuesday hearing on the “challenges and opportunities” facing businesses involved in energy development and energy-intensive manufacturing. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), that panel’s chairman, will speak the day before the hearing at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on wildlife poaching in Africa. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) will join him, as will Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe and others. -
Plains Pipeline Spills 4,200 Gallons of Crude in Ill.
Jul 13, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
A pipeline leak at a St. Louis-area pump station Friday spilled about 4,200 gallons of crude oil, with some of it reaching a nearby creek. -
(ACC Mentioned) EPA Faces Budget Cuts Under House Bill
Jul 13, 2015 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Jessica Morrison
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), an industry trade association, urged the House to pass the bill... -
Lawmakers to Review Regulatory Czar
Jul 13, 2015 | E&E Daily
By Kevin Bogardus
Lawmakers in the House and Senate this week will examine one of the most powerful offices in the federal government. -
Business Groups Sue Over Obama Water Rule
Jul 13, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
The Obama administration continues to be flooded with lawsuits over its new water regulations. -
Opponents of Tighter Ozone Standard Turn to Ill. to Advance Argument
Jul 13, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Amanda Peterka
Opponents of U.S. EPA's proposal to tighten the national ozone standard have turned their attention in recent weeks to Illinois, keying in on potential negative economic effects to President Obama's home state in their efforts to kill the proposed update. -
California Rejects Industry Push For Relief In Fracking Groundwater Rules
Jul 13, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Curt Barry
California water board officials have approved first-time groundwater monitoring rules for hydraulic fracturing and other well stimulation treatments, rejecting oil industry calls to ease several provisions in the regulations, though the board has also declined to expand the rules to wastewater disposal as sought by environmentalists.
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(ACC Mentioned) Local Toxic Toy Laws Take Effect in New York
Jul 13, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Rockland County has become the fourth New York State locality to pass legislation banning the sale of children's products containing certain chemicals, despite legal action brought by industry trade groups against similar county-level laws.
New York's first local “Toxic Free Toys Act” became law in Albany County on 8 January 2015, but its enforcement has been stayed by the district court, pending the outcome of litigation brought by an industry coalition that says the measure violates federal preemptive safety laws (CW 9 June 2015).
While the court's action has stalled the regulation in Albany, on 11 May 2015 a new law went into effect in Westchester County banning the sale of children's products, toys and apparel containing the following chemicals:formaldehyde;benzene;lead;mercury;antimony;arsenic;cobalt; andcadmium.
A similar measure in Suffolk County sets permissible chemical content limits in children's products and will take effect 1 January 2016. The law will cover the same chemicals identified by the Westchester legislature, with the exception of formaldehyde.
The Rockland County Toxic Free Toys Act, passed by the legislature in late June, takes the Westchester law's approach of banning children's products containing any level of the chemicals, but, like Suffolk, omits formaldehyde.
A coalition of 11 industry trade groups called for Rockland County Executive Ed Day to veto the measure, saying that it imposes “impossible and redundant regulations on manufacturers and retailers.”
However, although Mr Day said “the ambiguous restrictions proposed in this law are either ridiculously expensive or completely unenforceable,” he chose neither to sign the bill nor veto it; the county legislative process prescribes that the unsigned bill is therefore adopted as approved by the legislature.
The ban will take effect 90 days from its filing with the Secretary of State, which is anticipated to take place as early as this week.
The industry coalition, which includes the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), the Toy Industry Association (TIA) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC), says that the federal Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) and the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) preempt the Rockland rule.
According to the coalition, this duplication is “both unnecessary and legally questionable,” as the CPSA and FHSA both prohibit local activities on federally regulated hazards.
In calling for a veto, the industry groups also pointed to language in the bill that “would be impossible to comply with because it would ban naturally occurring elements that can't be taken out of products.”
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(ACC Mentioned) The Shrinking Case For Fluorochemicals
Jul 13, 2015 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Stephen K. Ritter
When the Madrid Statement was issued in May, it was accompanied by a rebuttal by Jessica S. Bowman, executive director of the FluoroCouncil, which is a branch of the American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry’s main trade group...
Access to full text unavailable -- subscription required.
Story can be found at: http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i28/Shrinking-Case-Fluorochemicals.html
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(ACC Mentioned) 6 Hacks to Reduce Your Food Waste and Save
Jul 13, 2015 | USA Today
By Hadley Malcolm
Americans overestimate how much they can eat and it's costing them a lot of money in wasted food:roughly $640 a year for each household, according to the American Chemistry Council.
Tens of millions of tons of food get trashed every year in the USA, often because people buy too much or cook meals that are too big. Here are six ways to stop wasting so much by making your grocery trips more efficient, keeping your pantry organized and sharing what you can't manage to eat yourself.
Plan your meals
Reducing how much food you throw out requires an investment of time to make sure you're buying only what you need. When you're planning your meals each week, look for recipes where at least one or two ingredients overlap to reduce how much food you have to buy, plus don't try more than one or two new recipes in a week to avoid making too much and buying too many ingredients you're not used to cooking with, says Megan Roosevelt, a registered dietitian and founder of nutrition company Healthy Grocery Girl.
If a recipe calls for an ingredient you feel like you'll never use again, don't buy it, says Brittany Ewing, vice president of partnerships for SideChef. Just swap it out for something you already have on hand, such as olive oil in place of sesame oil.
Then once you've done your shopping, set certain rules for yourself so you follow through. Plan to cook at home and eat leftovers for lunch at the beginning of each week, when your groceries are freshest, and wait to schedule lunch dates and dinners out for later in the week, Roosevelt says.
She also has a "first in, first out" policy: When you get your groceries home, rotate the food already in your pantry and fridge to the front where you can see it, and put what you just bought in the back so that you'll eat your older items first.
Use an app
There's using up leftovers, and then there's giving away those leftovers to strangers. And both are possible with the help of apps including SideChef and LeftoverSwap. SideChef gives users step-by-step instructions, including photos and videos, for recipes and focuses on ideas for using up food. Recipe collections include Recipes for Ugly Fruit, 10 Green Smoothies to Clean Out Your Fridge and 6 End of the Week Frittatas.
LeftoverSwap was born out of a desire to share slices of pizza after co-founders Dan Newman and Bryan Summersett ordered too much while hanging out one night five years ago. The app launched in 2013 and allows users to post photos of leftover food for anyone nearby to take off their hands.
Yes, sharing your half-eaten food with strangers, for free. You can find everything from a surplus of sandwiches from a catered event to produce from people's home gardens, Newman says. There are about 100 posts a month in cities from Portland. Ore., toWashington, D.C., though Newman says the biggest problem is that the app gets more people posting leftovers than those looking to eat them.
Just add water
Ingredients like herbs can be one of the most frustrating for a home cook because they're usually sold in large bunches but recipes often only call for small amounts. When you have too much, you can infuse water with herbs like mint and basil or cut up herbs and freeze them into ice cubes to give a kick to water or cocktails, Roosevelt says.
You can also add them into store-bought dips like hummus or pesto for extra flavor (or use them to make your own dips). Plus, make sure you're storing them properly in the first place to extend their life: Wash, wrap in paper towels, cover with a plastic bag and place upright in a glass of water in your fridge, "like a bouquet of flowers," Roosevelt says.
Freeze it
When in doubt, just throw it in the freezer. That goes for meat, vegetables and fruit on their last legs or nearing expiration. Make sure to wrap tightly in plastic wrap or put in bags with all air squeezed out. Wrap things like chicken breasts individually so it's easy to pull out exactly how much you need, and cut up fruit and vegetables beforehand for easy additions to smoothies, pancakes, throwing on a roasting pan or blending into soups later on.
Ignore sell-by dates (to a degree)
If you're throwing out food based on the dates stamped on packages, you're probably contributing to excess waste. Those sell-by, best-by and use-by dates aren't necessarily an indication of food safety, according to the United States Department of Agriculture. Sell-by dates are used to tell stores how long to display a product. While you should buy products before this date, it doesn't mean the food is bad after it.
Similarly, the use-by date is an indication of the last day of peak food quality, but food handled properly isn't necessarily unsafe to eat after this date, the USDA says. If you're unsure, use your eyes and nose: If the food smells bad or has mold, toss it. But you have more leeway than the stamped dates let on.
Plastic-wrap produce
Produce such as cucumbers and bananas now often come wrapped in plastic at the grocery store. It's not a thoughtless ploy to create more garbage, industry experts say. The plastic keeps fruits and veggies from ripening too quickly by slowing the intake of oxygen and the release of ethylene gas, says Gina Jones, vice president of research and development at the Produce Marketing Association.
So seek out these plastic-swaddled items, especially if you don't plan to use the produce for a while. Leave food in its packaging and rewrap it if you have leftovers after opening. Often the plastic is recyclable, too, if not in curbside collection than with plastic recycling collection some grocery chains offer.
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Alternatives to Chemicals Used in Plastic Containers are Equally Harmful, Says Study
Jul 13, 2015 | Packaging Business Review
Replacements for chemicals used in plastic wrap, soap, cosmetics, and processed food containers are likely to trigger high blood pressure and diabetes among children, finds a report by New York University's Langone Medical Center.
The two compunds, di-isononyl phthalate (DINP) and di-isodecyl phthalate (DIDP), classified under phthalates, are being used as alternatives for di-2-ethylhexylphlatate (DEHP).
Langone Medical Center associate professor of pediatrics, environmental medicine, and population health and lead investigator Leonardo Trasande said: "Our research adds to growing concerns that environmental chemicals might be independent contributors to insulin resistance, elevated blood pressure and other metabolic disorders.
"Alternatives to DIDP and DINP include wax paper and aluminum wrap; indeed, a dietary intervention that introduced fresh foods that were not canned or packaged in plastic reduced phthalate metabolites substantially.
"Our study adds further concern for the need to test chemicals for toxicity prior to their broad and widespread use, which is not required under current federal law, the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act."
Consumers can also keep phthalates at bay by not cooking food in plastic containers or covered by plastic wrap through microwave, washing plastic food containers by hand and discontinuing the use of plastic containers with labels on the bottom with the digits 3, 6, or 7 inside the recycle symbol.
The set of studies, undertaken to ascertain the hazards of DEHP replacements, had mentioned a 'significant association' between high blood pressure and the presence of such phthalates.
Blood sample tests and urine analyses were conducted from various people who took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
It has been found that for every tenfold rise in the amount of consumption phthalates, the blood pressure increased by 1.1 millimeters of mercury.
Previously, a study published in May in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism linked DINP and DIDP concentrations to diabetes. DEHP, originally utilized as a plasticizer, was banned in 2004 in Europe and replacement of DEHP with DINP and DIDP took place in the US over the past decade.
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We Don’t Know How Many Chemicals Are in Use Today. We Should Know.
Jul 13, 2015 | Environmental Defense Force
By Richard Denison
No one knows how many chemicals are in use today. It’s a problem that we don’t.
The TSCA Inventory lists about 85,000 chemicals, but because it is a cumulative list that started in 1979, it lists all chemicals that have been in commerce at some point since then. It is not a list of chemicals currently on the market.
EPA periodically collects information on chemicals produced or imported above a certain volume threshold (currently set at 25,000 pounds per reporting site in the reporting year). In the most recent data collected in 2012, companies reported producing or importing 7,700 chemicals. However, given the volume threshold and the several exemptions from reporting requirements, we know this number is a significant underestimate of the number of chemicals in active commerce.
This means that all we know is that somewhere between 7,700 and 85,000 chemicals under TSCA’s jurisdiction are presently in commerce. I’ve repeatedly heard industry and environmentalists cite each of these numbers in claims they make about how many chemicals are in use today. The truth, however, clearly lies somewhere within this huge range.
There have been attempts before to close this data gap. Using its current TSCA authority, EPA proposed “resetting” the TSCA Inventory seven years ago. The idea died, however, after industry interests opposed it as too burdensome. And the various iterations of the late Senator Lautenberg’s earlier TSCA reform bill, the Safe Chemicals Act, going all the way back to 2010 featured an inventory reset that entailed companies filing “declarations” of their active production or import of chemicals. That failed to get any Republican support. Now some are dismissing the Inventory reset provisions of the Senate’s Lautenberg Act, S. 697, as mere window-dressing or even an industry-friendly provision. (The House TSCA reform bill, H.R. 2576, has no analogous provision.)
As TSCA reform efforts advance, huge debates have swirled around how long it will take EPA to scrutinize chemicals in use, what resources will be needed, etc. These questions cannot be answered with any confidence at this point – because we simply don’t know how many chemicals are in use. An essential first step under a reformed TSCA is to reset the TSCA Inventory and establish a new baseline.
Another key advantage of an inventory reset is the opportunity it provides to reexamine past confidentiality claims that have masked the identities of some 17,000 of the 85,000 chemicals on the Inventory. S. 697 couples companies’ declarations of active production or import with a requirement that they reassert any chemical identity CBI claims they wish to maintain. (You can’t require reassertion of claims for chemicals no one is making anymore.) EPA then is mandated to review and require substantiation of all such claims within 5 years.
We simply have to reset the TSCA Inventory so that we understand just how big the task ahead is. Not to do so would be to bury one’s head in the sand.
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California Proposes Prop 65 Cancer Listing of 1-Bromopropane
Jul 13, 2015 | Chemical Watch
California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) intends to list 1-bromopropane on Proposition 65 as a chemical known to the state to cause cancer.
Data to support the proposed listing comes from a 2014 National Toxicology Program (NTP) report that demonstrated increased occurrence of skin tumours in male rats and lung tumours in female rats exposed to the chemical (CW 2 October 2014).
1-bromopropane is used as a solvent cleaner in degreasing operations, and is also used in asphalt products, dry cleaning, spray adhesives and aerosol solvents.
The substance has been listed on Prop 65 as a male and female reproductive toxicant since 2004. Comments on the proposed listing will be accepted until 10 August.
Separately, the OEHHA has extended the comment period on its proposal (CW 15 June 2015) to adopt maximum allowable dose levels (MADLs) of 100 micrograms per day for oral exposure to:atrazine;propazine;simazine;2,3-diamino-6-chloro-s-triazine (DACT);des-ethyl atrazine (DEA); anddes-isopropyl atrazine (DIA).
The public comment period will close on 1 October 2015.
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Week Ahead: House to Examine Pipeline Safety
Jul 13, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Lawmakers plan to take a comprehensive look at how federal pipeline safety regulators are implementing a 2011 overhaul of safety rules.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee complains that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has yet to implement many of the major reforms in the law.
The hearing comes two months after a major pipeline breach that spilled thousands of gallons of oil into the Pacific Ocean and onto beaches in Santa Barbara County, Calif.
“With our newfound energy abundance, it’s imperative we ensure that our energy is transported safely and efficiently,” Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) said in a statement announcing the Tuesday hearing.
“PHMSA’s lack of progress in implementing the reforms required under our 2011 pipeline safety law raises serious questions about their ability to provide the oversight necessary to ensure safe operation of our nation’s pipelines,” they added.
Whitfield will chair the hearing of the panel’s energy and power subcommittee. PHMSA Interim Executive Director Stacy Cummings will testify, as will local, state and private industry representatives.
Later in the week, the full House is likely to vote on Rep. David Valadao’s (R-Calif.) bill aimed at helping the drought in the West by reworking how federal agencies direct water resources.
The bill has the support of all California Republicans in the House. The chamber could vote on it as early as Wednesday.
The House Natural Resources Committee’s energy and mineral resources subpanel has planned a pair of hearings on specific oil and natural gas production issues in federally controlled areas.
A Tuesday hearing will focus on the role of seismic testing in offshore drilling and exploration. The next day, the panel will examine hydraulic fracturing on federal land, including the Interior Department’s new fracking rules.
On the other side of Capitol Hill, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is hosting a hearing Tuesday on island-based energy systems, including those in Hawaii, Alaska and United States territories.
The Senate Small Business Committee will hold a Tuesday hearing on the “challenges and opportunities” facing businesses involved in energy development and energy-intensive manufacturing.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), that panel’s chairman, will speak the day before the hearing at a Center for Strategic and International Studies event on wildlife poaching in Africa. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-Calif.) will join him, as will Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe and others.
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Plains Pipeline Spills 4,200 Gallons of Crude in Ill.
Jul 13, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
A pipeline leak at a St. Louis-area pump station Friday spilled about 4,200 gallons of crude oil, with some of it reaching a nearby creek.
The spill came from a station owned by Plains All American, the same company that owned the Santa Barbara, Calif., pipeline that spilled nearly 100,000 gallons of crude in May, fouling the Pacific Ocean and Southern California beaches and killing hundreds of animals (Greenwire, June 12).
Cleanup crews spent Friday trying to catch oil running into ditches from the pumping station with absorbent pads, according to a report from the Belleville [Ill.] News-Democrat. The leak has been plugged, according to Plains.
"Plains has initiated its emergency response plan, and personnel are working with first responders and others to contain the release," the company said in a statement.
No oil was visible in nearby Silver Lake, which serves as the water supply for the city of Highland, Ill., but oil had reached a tributary of the lake, officials said.
A House subcommittee will hold a hearing tomorrow questioning the response of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to recent leaks (E&E Daily, July 13). The hearing will also address its slow implementation of safety rules passed by Congress in 2011 (Jennifer Dlouhy, Houston Chronicle, July 10). -- BTP
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(ACC Mentioned) EPA Faces Budget Cuts Under House Bill
Jul 13, 2015 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Jessica Morrison
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), an industry trade association, urged the House to pass the bill...
Access to full text unavailable -- subscription required.
Story can be found at: http://cen.acs.org/articles/93/i28/EPA-Faces-Budget-Cuts-Under.html
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Lawmakers to Review Regulatory Czar
Jul 13, 2015 | E&E Daily
By Kevin Bogardus
Lawmakers in the House and Senate this week will examine one of the most powerful offices in the federal government.
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management and the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law will both hold hearings delving into the operations of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
OIRA, based in the Office of Management and Budget, reviews regulations and rules issued by agencies across the federal government. The office is essentially the last stop for rules before the government finalizes them.
OIRA's staff is often heavily lobbied by outside interests, especially when controversial regulations come under its review, such as U.S. EPA's rule to cut power plants' carbon emissions.
This year, Republicans on Capitol Hill have trained their sights on several rules offered by the Obama administration. Further, Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), chairman of the Senate subcommittee holding the OIRA hearing, has looked to reform the regulatory state.
"Due to its integral role in executive oversight, Congress seeks to ensure that Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) functions efficiently and has the resources it needs to conduct rigorous oversight of agency regulatory analysis and provide adequate direction and resources to agencies to improve the rulemaking process," the Senate subcommittee said on its website for the hearing's agenda.
"In this hearing, the Subcommittee will explore ways in which OIRA might leverage its role in the federal rulemaking process to improve certain agency regulatory actions and facilitate greater transparency. In addition, the Subcommittee may encourage OIRA to take measures responsive to concerns about agency avoidance of OIRA review," according to the panel.
OIRA Administrator Howard Shelanski is set to appear before both subcommittees.
Schedule: The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law hearing is Wednesday, July 15, at 3 p.m. in 2141 Rayburn.
Witnesses: OIRA Administrator Howard Shelanski; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum; Karen Harned, executive director of National Federation of Independent Business' Small Business Legal Center; Richard Williams, director of regulatory studies program, Mercatus Center; and Noah Sachs, director of Merhige Center for Environmental Studies.
Schedule: The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management hearing is Thursday, July 16, at 2 p.m. in 342 Dirksen.
Witness: OIRA Administrator Howard Shelanski.
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Business Groups Sue Over Obama Water Rule
Jul 13, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
The Obama administration continues to be flooded with lawsuits over its new water regulations.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) and other groups announced a lawsuit Monday against the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Waters of the United States" rule. They are the latest industry groups challenging the rule, which looks to define which water bodies the government has the ability to regulate.
In a statement announcing their lawsuit, NFIB contended that the rule covers water bodies that go beyond what the EPA is legally allowed to regulate under the Clean Water Act.
“This is another example of the EPA getting impatient with the American people and their elected representatives and simply assuming the power that it wants,” said Karen Harned, the executive director of the NFIB Small Business Legal Center.
“It doesn’t work that way under the Constitution.”
In a statement, a Chamber of Commerce official said the rule is “deeply flawed” and would hurt businesses, farmers and manufacturers. The groups, along with the Portland Cement Association and two Oklahoma-based Chambers of Commerce, sued the EPA in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma on Monday.
“EPA's regulatory overreach harms American enterprise by creating a vague rule to be implemented within a technically complex, expensive and time-consuming permitting process that will cause unnecessary expense and delay, and force many of our members to walk away from valuable business ventures,” said William Kovacs, the Chamber of Commerce’s vice president of environment, technology and regulatory affairs.
More than two dozen states have already sued against the rule, which officials filed in the Federal Register in June. The rule, from the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, is designed to clarify which water bodies the government can regulate and protect from potential pollution.
Coal company Murray Energy has also sued over the rule, and in early July, twelve groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Farm Bureau Association, filed their own lawsuit against it.
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Opponents of Tighter Ozone Standard Turn to Ill. to Advance Argument
Jul 13, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Amanda Peterka
Opponents of U.S. EPA's proposal to tighten the national ozone standard have turned their attention in recent weeks to Illinois, keying in on potential negative economic effects to President Obama's home state in their efforts to kill the proposed update.
The Center for Regulatory Solutions, a project of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council, last week released a report finding that a more stringent standard would cause economic harm in the Chicago region. An Illinois congressman used that report's findings to grill EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy at a contentious hearing last week on agency rulemaking.
"Simply put," the new Center for Regulatory Solutions report says, "EPA's proposed ozone regulation would impose a severe penalty on manufacturers in the state, which would in turn hobble an already fragile state economy, making it harder for Illinois residents to find quality job opportunities and for those living in poverty to climb out of it."
The report comes shortly after the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Black Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Black Chamber of Commerce hosted an event in Chicago that focused on the economic impacts of a tighter ozone standard.
Ground-level ozone is a key component of smog that's formed when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds react in the presence of sunlight. EPA in November proposed to lower the national limit from 75 parts per billion -- set in 2008 under the George W. Bush administration -- to between 65 and 70 ppb, but said it would take comment on a standard as low as 60 ppb.
The agency is aiming to finalize the proposal by an Oct. 1 court-ordered deadline.
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On Wednesday, the full House voted mostly along party lines to delay the proposal by retaining a policy provision in the GOP fiscal 2016 spending plan for the Interior Department and EPA that would bar the agency from updating the standard until at least 85 percent of counties have met the 2008 limit. Republican leaders later pulled the spending plan from the floor because of a clash over the Confederate flag (E&ENews PM, July 8).
The Center for Regulatory Solutions released its report a day after the House vote.
In it, the center found that 21 counties representing 79 percent of Illinois' gross domestic product -- including the entire Chicagoland area -- would be found out of compliance with a 65 ppb standard. The report warns of job losses stemming from industrial facilities having to install expensive air pollution controls.
"Due to the energy rebirth taking place in America, Illinois' chemical industry is experiencing some remarkable growth," said Mark Biel, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois. "The U.S. EPA's proposed ozone standard effectively puts the brakes on this new development as the lower limits will make it very difficult for facilities to expand. The impact on jobs can't be overstated."
At a hearing last week in the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), who represents an area west of Chicago, focused on the potential effects of a tighter ozone standard on Illinois in grilling McCarthy on agency regulations.
"It is clear this rule will have a disparate impact on low-income communities, communities of color and seniors on a fixed income," Hultgren said.
Environmental and public health groups have pushed back against industry concerns about a tighter standard, arguing that the Clean Air Act stipulates EPA must set a standard based only on public health effects and that opponents historically overstate economic impacts of air regulations.
Several prominent environmental groups late last week urged McCarthy to set a more restrictive standard.
In a letter sent a day after the House vote, the 20 environmental groups said the scientific evidence over the last several years provides a "compelling" case for setting a 60 ppb standard. Studies have linked levels above that limit with negative health effects.
"Poorer communities and communities of color in particular bear an outsized share of the burden from air pollution," the environmental groups wrote, adding, "All Americans, no matter their income or where they live, have a right to clean air."
Earthjustice, the Environmental Defense Fund, Friends of the Earth, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club were among the groups signing the letter.
The groups raising concerns about the impacts on Illinois are instead calling on EPA to retain the current ozone standard of 75 ppb.
Karen Kerrigan, president of the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council and the Center for Regulatory Solutions, noted the White House shelved a previous proposal to tighten the ozone standard on economic grounds.
"In 2011, President Obama appeared to heed the concerns of state and local leaders when he pulled back on tightening the ozone standard," she said. "We hope he will do so again."
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California Rejects Industry Push For Relief In Fracking Groundwater Rules
Jul 13, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Curt Barry
California water board officials have approved first-time groundwater monitoring rules for hydraulic fracturing and other well stimulation treatments, rejecting oil industry calls to ease several provisions in the regulations, though the board has also declined to expand the rules to wastewater disposal as sought by environmentalists.
The groundwater monitoring rules adopted July 7 by the Water Resources Control Board (WRCB) represent a first-of-its-kind regulatory effort in the United States, according to the board, and the most extensive and stringent rules of their kind in the nation, according to the oil industry.
While rules affecting "area source" wells will take effect later this year, a "regional component" of the regulation will not begin implementation until next January.
The rules are required by the 2013 state law SB 4, which mandated a sweeping set of new permitting provisions on fracking and other well stimulation treatments in response to alarm that the state lacked adequate oversight of the processes, which some fear could harm the environment and public safety.
Well stimulation operators are required to submit groundwater monitoring plans as part of newly required permits from the Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources (DOGGR). WRCB must sign off on the plans before permits are approved by DOGGR.
The draft regulatory criteria are intended to "evaluate whether groundwater contamination can be attributable to a particular event, and if any changes to the monitoring plan are necessary if groundwater contamination is observed," according to the rules.
As part of the resolution approving the regulations, WRCB at the July 7 board meeting agreed to a new requirement that board staff collaborate with stakeholders to develop performance measures to evaluate the model criteria by March 1, 2016, staff explained.
In addition, WRCB staff agreed to require a 15-day public comment period on any groundwater monitoring plans that deviate from the standard requirements in the criteria, under a late addition to the adopted resolution. The provision allows WRCB staff to "consider proposed alternatives and modifications to the methods described herein-based on factors such as site-specific conditions (e.g. terrain, geology, access), number and depth of aquifers containing protected water, potential pathways, and risk to receptors (e.g., groundwater resources)," according to the amended rules.
Board member Tam Doduc asked that the public comment period be added to the provision to ensure that stakeholders and other interested members of the public are able to review the alternative monitoring plans in the same manner that they contributed to the drafting of the criteria.
Industry's Concerns
WRCB refused to amend the rules in response to several oil industry recommendations. For example, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) argued that board staff in a recent revised draft of the rules inappropriately deleted a condition in the definition of "protected water," which requires stricter monitoring requirements, specifying a minimum yield of 200 gallons per day.
During the July 7 board meeting, WSPA representative Kevin Buchan reiterated the group's call for the 200-gallon trigger to be reinserted into the rule, which in practice is likely to prevent the industry from having to take special precautions with relatively small sources of water.
But WRCB staff responded that even sources of water that yield under 200 gallons of water per day should be protected for potential beneficial uses, citing some well owners who rely on such supplies especially during droughts.
WSPA's Buchan also called on WRCB to ease new rules requiring special well monitoring response actions when well stimulation materials spill onto surface areas so they do not reach groundwater sources, arguing that existing state regulations for spill containment are in place and adequate, requiring companies to "immediately clean it up."
But Jonathan Bishop, WRCB chief deputy director, responded at the meeting that the additional safety measures included in the groundwater monitoring criteria are necessary in part because "spills are a problem that have happened for generations and will continue to happen . . . and the level of response to those are erratic in the world."
WRCB also rejected a WSPA request that only two "perimeter," or "downgradient" monitoring wells be required for treatments, rather than an additional third "upgradient" well.
While environmentalists are generally very supportive of the new groundwater monitoring rules, they had urged WRCB to include wastewater disposal in the criteria, citing new findings in a study of oil and gas drilling and related practices by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). LLNL served as WRCB's "expert" in the rulemaking, including by developing recommendations for board officials to consider that were contained in a June 18 report submitted by the lab.
But WRCB did not discuss expanding the rules to include wastewater disposal before they approved the resolution and groundwater monitoring rules.
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