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(ACC Mentioned) 7 Tips for a Zero-Waste Kitchen
Sep 4, 2015 | One Green Planet
By Anne Marie Bonneau
I love my (nearly) zero-waste kitchen routine. I eat a delicious, healthy diet and have simplified my shopping habits. -
In the Future, the Best Chemistry Practices Will be Green
Sep 3, 2015 | The Guardian
By Bruce Watson
Chemistry is having “an innovation crisis”, according to John Warner, co-author of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. “We need to ask if the way we’re training future scientists is fitting the need of society.” -
Flame Retardants Debate Sparked by IEC Flammability Specification
Sep 4, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Proposals to increase flammability requirements in international electronics standards have sparked concern that their adoption could increase consumer exposure to flame retardants. -
Toxics Toolbox: A Crash Course on Chemical Management Software
Sep 4, 2015 | GreenBiz
By Bob Kerr
Proactively adopting a sustainable chemicals management program is a company’s best response to ever-increasing requirements and demands from consumers, supply chain partners and regulators. -
Erin Brockovich Takes on EPA
Sep 4, 2015 | The Hill - In the Know
By Kevin Cirilli
Erin Brockovich is joining Navajo Nation's political battle against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). -
New CSB Leader Vows to Listen, Learn from Past Controversies
Sep 4, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Sam Pearson
The new leader of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board says she wants her tenure to be smoother than the one of the man she replaced. -
(ACC Mentioned) Taiwanese Company Proposes $9.4 Billion Chemical Project in Louisiana
Sep 4, 2015 | Fuel Fix
By Jordan Blum
Taiwan-based Formosa Petrochemical said it is considering building a $9.4 billion petrochemical complex in Louisiana to take advantage of the ongoing manufacturing and shale gas booms. -
White House Sets Stakeholder Meetings on EPA Ozone Plan
Sep 4, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Amanda Peterka
The White House has scheduled a series of meetings with industry and public interest groups on U.S. EPA's proposed air standard for ozone. -
Investors Ask U.S. Chamber Members to Pressure Group on EPA Rule
Sep 4, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Elizabeth Harball
In a letter released this week, investors representing over $320 billion in assets called on companies associated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to pressure the prominent business lobbying group to stop fighting the Obama administration's plan to curb power plant emissions. -
5th Circuit Sends EPA SSM 'SIP Call' Suits To D.C. Circuit
Sep 3, 2015 | InsideEPA
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has granted EPA's request to transfer to the D.C. Circuit three pending suits over the agency's rule forcing 36 states to scrap provisions in their Clean Air Act compliance plans exempting some emissions during facility startup, shutdown and malfunction (SSM) periods from air law limits. -
Farm Appeals Ruling Sending CWA 'Dust' Suit To State Court
Sep 3, 2015 | InsideEPA
A North Carolina farm is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to revive its suit challenging Clean Water Act (CWA) permit limits for discharges of feathers, farm dust and other airborne pollutants from such facilities in stormwater runoff, fighting a federal district court judge's decision to send litigation over the issue to state court.
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(ACC Mentioned) 7 Tips for a Zero-Waste Kitchen
Sep 4, 2015 | One Green Planet
By Anne Marie Bonneau
I love my (nearly) zero-waste kitchen routine. I eat a delicious, healthy diet and have simplified my shopping habits. But it did take me a couple of years to (nearly) perfect this routine and I may never achieve complete zero-waste. (Remember calculus class? You merely approach zero.)
When I shop at the bulk store, for example, I still indirectly generate a small amount of waste. The food arrives at the store in paper or (gulp) plastic packaging after all. Also, I refuse to give up butter and the paper does go in the trash. So, until I buy a farm and produce all my food myself, I will create some waste somewhere. Then again, if I live on a farm outside the city, I’ll have to drive everywhere and burn more fossil fuels… So, I suppose as a precursor to these tips, I should add — above all — don’t strive for perfection. That and cook everything yourself. “Cook everything yourself” is my number one rule of life.
1. Shop With Reusable Containers and Bags
Before I go shopping, I figure out what I need and accordingly organize my:Glass jars for bulk items like flour, seeds, nuts, spices, tea, coconut oil and so onMetal containers, such as Lunchbots or tiffins for other itemsCloth shopping bags and homemade cloth produce bags for produce and bulk foods like pasta or cat food
Different stores deal with containers in different ways. Some set scales out in the bulk section for you to weigh the empty containers and mark the tares on them. You don’t want to pay for the weight of a heavy glass jar when you buy bulk tea at $39 a pound (I know). At other stores, customer service will weigh the jars for you. At yet other stores, your request will completely baffle the staff.
Gathering my jar-, container- and bag-filled bags adds a few minutes to my routine but it also saves time in the long run. I have nothing to throw out after we eat everything, which saves me a trip to the curb. Plus, food in glass just looks nice.
2. Hit the Bulk Aisle
I live close to three stores with decent bulk sections, which makeszero-waste shopping easy. I’ve heard from a few people in the UK that bulk bins aren’t very common there. If you can’t buy from bulk bins, and need lots of, say, flour, buying large amounts of it reduces your packaging to product ratio. Maybe you can share with a neighbor who digs the zero-waste idea.3. Buy Fewer Ingredients
I buy lots of baking soda. I use it for baking, washing pots and pans, cleaning, washing my hair and making deodorant. If you run out of something, you may find a fix in your kitchen cupboards. If you want to go zero-waste, buy less stuff.4. Think Twice Before You Buy Another Gadget
My kids think I’m strange because, for one, I refuse to own a microwave. I don’t have room for a bunch of appliances in my kitchen. And I probably don’t need what I don’t already have. Besides, there’s always Google. My daughter MK last year bought a cherry pitter that looked like it would break in about two minutes. While she returned it to the store, I found instructions online for a DIY cherry pitter that works like magic!5. Ditch the Disposables
My mom wonders how I run a kitchen without paper towels or plastic wrap. Having had two kids, I have enough too-small cotton t-shirts to make rags that will last me the rest of my life. As for plastic wrap, plates on bowls work. I sewed napkins on my serger about six or seven years ago and we still use them. I take a mug with me every time I go work at my favorite cafe, Philz.6. Recycle as a Last Resort
When plastics are recycled, they are actually downcycled — meaning even when reincarnated as toothbrushes, shopping bags or more plastic bottles, the plastic ends up in landfill eventually, unlike glass or metal, which can be recycled over and over without any degradation in quality.
You may have heard of America Recycles Day, a day designated to encourage us to put plastic water bottles into the recycling bin. Who dreamed it up? The Industry. One, the American Chemistry Council, a trade association, keeps attempting to convince me in my Twitter feed that BPA is wonderful (it’s not). So Big Soda makes a big mess and encourages us to clean it up, which doesn’t actually work. Better to cut off the trash at its source and refuse all this plastic junk.7. Compost Differs From Waste
For me, zero waste means zero trash and zero recycling (because you buy so little in packaging). I exempt compost from the category of waste. That doesn’t mean I buy more food than I can eat or throw edible food on the compost heap. In fact, even my vegetable scraps don’t make it to the heap until after I’ve made broth out of them. Occasionally I find the odd furry lemon or a puddle of what-had-been-parsley in the back of the fridge.
The good news is that compost can save the world! It sucks carbon out of the air and not only that, a half-inch layer of this black gold can still increase yields several years after its application!
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In the Future, the Best Chemistry Practices Will be Green
Sep 3, 2015 | The Guardian
By Bruce Watson
Chemistry is having “an innovation crisis”, according to John Warner, co-author of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. “We need to ask if the way we’re training future scientists is fitting the need of society.”
The push for green chemistry began over two decades ago, and Warner has been part of the movement the whole time. On Wednesday, he presented one of two keynote speeches at a Guardian conference on green chemistry.
One of the recurring themes of the conference was the need for all stakeholders to radically shift their perspective on green chemistry.
As the long overdue revision of the Toxic Substances Control Acthighlights, the US approach to making chemistry greener has mainly beenconducted through regulations and restrictions.
Warner proposed a slightly different perspective: “Instead of enacting another law that bans or regulates a chemical or a molecule that has a toxic or environmentally destructive effect, we need to think about how we invent a product that doesn’t have that effect.”
To make that happen, he said, universities need to reconsider the way they train chemists of the future. Currently, chemical degrees don’t require any classes in toxicity or environmental mechanisms, he said.
“Inventors don’t know how to identify the parts of a molecule that cause toxicity. And if they can’t anticipate a negative impact, then they can’t design it out in the beginning,” he said. “There has to be a day in the future when no one graduates with a chemistry degree without taking classes in toxicology and environmental health.”
Another problem is that much of today’s green chemistry is focused on finding replacements for toxic chemicals that are currently in use. Unfortunately, as in the case of BPA and BPS plastic, the chemicals substituted can be as problematic as the ones taken out.
According to Arlene Blum, founder and executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute, one answer may be for businesses to question whether their products need to use chemicals of concern in the first place, which she says are often used to add a function that the product doesn’t need.
Some chemicals provide essential benefits in some products, but aren’t needed in many others in which they are used. For example, she argued that furniture foam doesn’t need chlorinated tris, a toxic fire-retardant chemical. “It has no significant safety benefit,” she said. “On furniture, fabric burns long before foam.”
After considerable lobbying, the state of California agreed with her, and as of 1 January, it no longer requires furniture to have fire retardant foam.
In recent years, purchasers have provided much of the impetus for green chemistry and sustainable chemical replacements. Calling for a larger selection of affordable green options, they have applied pressure to retailers, who have passed it along to suppliers and manufacturers. For example, Walmart and Target – among other retailers – have emerged as a major force for more environmentally friendly products and have reduced the use of chemicals of concern far beyond what’s required by law.
But Heather White, executive director of Environmental Working Group, pointed out that consumers can only do so much. “We can’t shop our way out of this problem,” White said. “Right now, we’re asking every consumer, every family, to be their own little EPA [Environmental Protection Agency]. We have to regulate chemicals.”A toxic situation: Walmart and Target take on chemical safety
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Paul Anastas, director of Yale University’s Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering, argued that regulation is often slow and limited. He recalled that during his first stint at the EPA, the US banned dioxin – but it took 23 years of work.
“We’ve been playing Whac-a-mole, going after the most hazardous products one after another,” Anastas said. “Going after one chemical at a time will never get us to where we need to be. We need to go after the fundamentals.”
According to Anastas, product development and manufacturing in the US relies on misguided conventional wisdom. He said these three popular aphorisms are among those he believes to be untrue:“People will not pay more for green.”“The US will always be a net energy importer.”“The environment will always be a cost drain.”
Anastas said these miconceptions often have a negative influence on policy decisions, design decisions and investments. To achieve what Anastas described as “transformational change”, we need to fundamentally shift the way we look at green chemistry, he said, adding that the key is to shift the frame of the conversation from a focus on restriction to a focus on opportunity.
Adapting a quote from Elon Musk, Anastas suggested a potential motto for the next generation of green chemists: “We have no desire to do the best green chemistry. We will do the best chemistry, and it will happen to be green.”
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Flame Retardants Debate Sparked by IEC Flammability Specification
Sep 4, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Proposals to increase flammability requirements in international electronics standards have sparked concern that their adoption could increase consumer exposure to flame retardants.
Earlier this year, a technical committee of standards body the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) proposed that a specification including flammability requirements should be included in two existing international standards: IEC 60065; and IEC 62368-1.
If this happens it would require certain electronic equipment, including televisions and computers, to meet criteria for flame retardancy, or "resistance to candle flame ignition".
But the NGO Green Science Policy Institute (GSPI) says this “would bring hundreds of millions of pounds of potentially toxic flame retardant chemicals into consumers’ homes each year.”
The California-based institute has opposed efforts to include such an open-flame ignition specification in international standards for years.
The group acknowledges that the specification (TS 62441) does not stipulate particular chemicals or technologies that must be used to meet the requirement. But, it says, brominated and chlorinated flame retardants are the “least expensive and most familiar chemicals that could be used to meet the specification”.
It says that many of these flame retardants have been linked to “serious adverse health effects” in animals, and that replacement flame retardants “lack adequate data to show they are safe for health and the environment.”
“While on the surface these proposed provisions might seem beneficial ... these requirements are not needed for fire safety, and their adoption will adversely impact public and environmental health,” says the GSPI.
Fire fighters' organisations, scientists, and the Canadian Environmental Law Association have echoed the GSPI's concerns in recent years.
The IEC's Standardisation Management Board has recommended that the specification is adopted. However, similar proposals have in the past been voted down by the IEC’s members (CW 28 May 2012).
Votes on the committee drafts of IEC 62368-1 and 60065 are due by 16 October, although a final decision is not expected before August 2016.
The European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (Cenelec), which creates harmonised electronics standards in the EU, will be voting in parallel to the IEC on whether to adopt the specification into EU standards.
European trade body the Phosphorus, Inorganic and Nitrogen Flame Retardants Association (Pinfa)supports the inclusion of the specification into IEC standards, saying it will improve fire safety with “little effort from manufacturers.”
Pinfa secretary general Philippe Salemis said there are flame retardants available that have a “good environmental and health profile” and have been assessed by third parties like the US EPA and the European Commission-funded ENFIRO project.
The North American Flame Retardant Alliance (Nafra) said TS 62441 “provides fire safety engineers with a harmonised methodology ... [that] was established by independent fire safety experts and provides a reference point for enhancing fire safety in electronics materials.”
Furthermore, the group credits a “significant” decline in fires over the past 40 years to fire safety codes.
Earlier this year, a proposal to adopt TS 62441 as a standalone IEC standard failed to pass, and the GSPI is "optimistic" that the proposed amendments will be voted down again this time, said senior scientist Simona Balan. "The earlier vote on TS 62441 was rejected, mainly due to a lack of fire safety benefit and health concerns about the use of flame retardants. The current proposals raise the same concerns, so it would be surprising to me if they passed."
In 2013, a California state agency eliminated the state's open-flame test for upholstered furniture. A chemical company, Chemtura, filed suit, saying that the justification of reducing chemical exposure was out of the jurisdiction of a flammability standard (CW 22 January 2014).
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Toxics Toolbox: A Crash Course on Chemical Management Software
Sep 4, 2015 | GreenBiz
By Bob Kerr
Proactively adopting a sustainable chemicals management program is a company’s best response to ever-increasing requirements and demands from consumers, supply chain partners and regulators.
A key challenge for firms employing this approach is accessing the necessary chemical information. Software systems designed to meet this need can save resources, support improved chemical selection for the design of safer products and allow more rapid response to changing market demands for ingredients and materials.
Companies from Walmart and Seagate to Boeing and Halliburton have turned to software solutions to help them stay on top of chemicals management demands.
The components of a chemical management strategy (right click image to enlarge).
Strategies focused on safer chemicals are critical components of proactive chemicals management. Enhancing ingredient and material safety involves several data-driven tactics, including:Prioritizing chemicals of concern for reduction or elimination;Understanding and improving the health and environmental profiles of ingredients;Verifying product composition; andEnhancing ingredient transparency and communication.
The level of chemicals information management this requires may be a new and significant challenge for many companies. It requires both strong leadership within the company and effective tools to manage the volume and complexity of transactions with suppliers, customers and product designers.
Pure Strategies reviewed the available tools and published a report on sustainable chemicals management software solutions provided by many leading vendors that are helping companies meet these challenges.
We found that there are clear benefits for firms that use such tools, but the key is to find the right solution for each company’s needs.The business case for chemical management software
Well-designed software and services comprehensively can track chemical ingredient information from incoming products or materials all the way through reformulation and incorporation into the products sold to a company’s customers.
These software systems also can alert companies to potential violations of regulatory, customer or internal standards. Potential benefits include:
1. Increased efficiency and reduced costs
Sustainable chemicals management software reduces staff time otherwise required for chemical data tracking. These tools also facilitate communication with both suppliers and customers about chemical ingredients and restrictions.
2. Reduced risk
Ready access to information on chemical ingredients and restrictions can help to avoid fines for regulatory violations and liability for hazardous constituents in products.
3. Improved customer relationships
Companies can assure customers of compliance with chemical ingredient restrictions and ensure rapid response to new regulatory or customer requirements.
4. A better brand reputation
Sustainable chemical software can improve brand reputation through facilitating safer chemicals in products and accurate ingredient disclosure for customers and consumers.
5. Competitive advantage
Such software provides product design teams access to essential information on requirements potentially affecting ingredient selection for new products, helping boost a competitive strategy.How it works
Sustainable chemicals management software helps managers organize, analyze and make decisions about chemicals and materials in their supply chains and products.
Key software capabilities to support these decisions include:Inventorying chemical data;Screening chemical ingredients against restricted substances lists (RSLs);Assessing chemical ingredients for inherent hazard characteristics;Evaluating exposure potential; andIdentifying less hazardous alternatives.
Not all software tools include all of these components. We found that most tools provide robust chemical data inventorying and RSL screening capabilities, a good starting point for meeting the needs of many companies. However, additional features may be required to execute the company’s sustainable chemicals strategy and these should be considered in evaluating potential solutions. These include:
Inventories of chemical data
A key benefit of adopting sustainable chemicals management software is automated inventory and management of chemical information (CAS numbers, percentages of ingredients of chemicals in products and generation of information about data gaps).
Some software vendors also will assist companies in filling data gaps by working with their suppliers to obtain missing information.
Screen chemical ingredients against RSLs
Software readily can compare a company’s inventory of materials or ingredients against lists of regulatory limits and reporting requirements, as well as customer RSLs. Depending on the company’s sector or market, there may be a vast number of applicable regulatory and customer RSLs.
Issues to explore with vendors include both the scope and number of regulatory and customer RSLs that are incorporated in the software (from a few to several hundred), and the frequency with which the lists are updated (as often as daily).
Assess chemical ingredients for inherent hazards
Companies that focus exclusively on regulatory lists of hazardous chemicals inadvertently may move to equally hazardous or more hazardous alternatives that aren’t yet on those lists.
An example would be replacing bisphenol A (BPA) with bisphenol S (BPS) or bisphenol F (BPF) — neither of which is regulated, but which a report on recent research concludes “may pose similar health hazards.”
Among software tools that assess intrinsic chemical hazards, there is substantial variability in the breadth and depth of their offerings.
Assess exposure potential
Only a few of the sustainable chemicals management software vendors provide assessments of potential consumer exposures to hazardous chemicals in consumer products.
The contexts and scenarios for consumer exposures sometimes can be complex and uncertain.
Vendors offering assessments of the extent and routes of exposure incorporate information that may include: intrinsic physico-chemical characteristics of ingredients, such as volatility or solubility; life cycle and product factors, such as the phase of use and routes of exposure where a chemical may pose a health hazard; or exposure scenarios derived from public or proprietary databases and research.
Identify less hazardous alternatives
The least common feature provided by software vendors is support in identifying safer alternatives — more sustainable chemical ingredients that can perform a needed function in a product.
Some software tools provide analyses and services such as scoring chemical products or ingredients on the basis of relative hazards and potential exposures. Another resource could be toolboxes of safer chemical alternatives for specific functions.How to choose
Because of differing company needs and resources, there is no one-size-fits-all ideal software system for all companies.
In order to evaluate the varied options offered by the vendors and choose the best solution, a company needs to:Set goals: Carefully evaluate expected benefits from using software tools in order to align needs and selection.Establish requirements: Clarify chemicals management software requirements, as well as resource availability/limitations for investment in a software system.Make a selection: Review the vendors’ service summaries in the Pure Strategies report, explore the vendor websites, then contact the vendors that appear most likely to meet company needs.
Identify vendors whose sustainable chemicals management software most closely aligns with company requirements, and whose approach allows the company to pay only for the services it needs.
Sustainable chemicals management software offers companies a way to gain more control over the chemicals used and stay ahead of changing requirements while increasing efficiency and strengthening relationships with suppliers and customers.
As more companies employ powerful tools that allow them to develop sophisticated chemicals management programs, the companies that lack these initiatives risk not understanding their own ingredient exposure — and lagging behind their peers in transitioning to the safer ingredients consumers are demanding.
For more detail on the topics discussed here, as well as vendor summaries, see the full Pure Strategies report.
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Sep 4, 2015 | The Hill - In the Know
By Kevin Cirilli
Erin Brockovich is joining Navajo Nation's political battle against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The famed environmental activist will visit Navajo Nation on Sept. 8 to view the affects of a devastating EPA mining leak and could potentially testify on Capitol Hill later this month. Navajo leaders are prepping a massive lawsuit against EPA officials for their handling of an Aug. 5 mining accident in Colorado. The leak dumped 3 million gallons of contaminated water into Animas River and ultimately the San Juan River — one of the Navajo Nation's primary water sources. "I am deeply concerned with the actions of the U.S. EPA and I stand by the Navajo Nation," Brockovich said in a statement. "The U.S. government needs to clean up the mess they caused."
Brockovich gained national fame in 2000 as the source of inspiration for the blockbuster film "Erin Brockovich," starring Julia Roberts. The film chronicled her time as a legal clerk in the 1990s, when she helped investigate illness in a poor California town that was tied to groundwater pollutants.
It led to a settlement a $333 million settlement against Pacific Gas and Electric for $333 million — at the time, the largest settlement ever in a direct action lawsuit.
Tribe leaders — who represent about 300,000 people — hired Hueston Hennigan LLP to represent them in the case earlier this week. The team will be led by John Hueston, who was the lead prosecutor in the 2006 case against former Enron executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, who were found guilty of fraud and conspiracy. Navajo President Russell Begaye said in a statement that they "appreciate Ms. Brockovich’s willingness to visit our Nation to witness the damage first hand and help raise awareness about the plight of our people.” Earlier this week, Navajo Vice President Jonathan Nez publicly criticized White House officials for not contacting the tribe leaders nearly one month after the leak.
“President Obama and FEMA need to be more proactive and declare this as a disaster area,” Nez said in a statement after a meeting with Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.). The Navajo Nation spans New Mexico, Arizona and Utah. -
New CSB Leader Vows to Listen, Learn from Past Controversies
Sep 4, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Sam Pearson
The new leader of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board says she wants her tenure to be smoother than the one of the man she replaced.
Although she didn't mention former CSB Chairman Rafael Moure-Eraso by name, new CSB Chairwoman Vanessa Sutherland told reporters this week that she is working to address some of the persistent criticisms of his leadership at the agency by meeting with stakeholders and employees during a listening tour planned for her first 90 days after being sworn in to lead the agency.
Sutherland was confirmed to lead the CSB along with new board member Kristen Kulinowski shortly before lawmakers left town for the August recess (E&E Daily, Aug. 6).
Sutherland said Wednesday that she had closely followed hearings of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and news reports on governance issues at the CSB. That has led her to emphasize listening, collaboration and fostering more collegial work relationships at the agency, she said.
Those meetings included one with U.S. EPA Inspector General Arthur Elkins, whose office has investigated CSB officials' conduct, Sutherland said, and pending meetings with advocacy groups, labor unions, trade organizations and other interested parties.
Listening was key "so that I can understand how to best perform my role as chair," Sutherland said.
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Sutherland is also navigating her first weeks on the job without two top officials -- Managing Director Daniel Horowitz and General Counsel Richard Loeb -- who are on administrative leave during an investigation of their conduct under Moure-Eraso's tenure.
Horowitz and Loeb's leave was already extended and is set to expire later this month. However, Sutherland said their administrative leave is likely to be extended further until an investigation by an outside law firm and investigative consultant under contract to the CSB can be concluded.
The CSB has already allocated up to $100,000 for this initiative, Sutherland said, which could be concluded by the end of the month.
Continuing the investigation longer than necessary is "not necessarily fair to the CSB from an operational standpoint, and it's not fair to the two employees who remain in limbo forever," Sutherland said.
Among Sutherland's challenges is increasing the pace of CSB investigations, some of which have stretched on for years due to staff turnover. Sutherland said she hopes to understand why some investigations take so much longer than others and consider how CSB processes could facilitate faster action.
Sutherland also said she hopes to rebuild the CSB's reputation as an attractive place to work.
Sutherland said she knew of former CSB employees who had taken jobs at her former employer, the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, where she worked as general counsel, and at the National Transportation Safety Board.
Those employees should consider coming back to the CSB either to fill open positions or as consultants, Sutherland said.
Some former employees later told staff members at the Oversight and Government Reform Committee that they left the CSB over concerns about the management style of Moure-Eraso, who resigned in March under pressure from the White House (E&E Daily, March 27).
The IG's office later found Moure-Eraso may have committed perjury, and the Oversight Committee referred him to the Department of Justice earlier this year for a possible investigation (Greenwire, July 8).
Though she lacks the chemical engineering background that previous CSB leaders have had, Sutherland said she doesn't see that as a hindrance to her ability to manage the agency.
The CSB's problems stem from governance and management failures, not from a lack of technical expertise, Sutherland said.
Lawyers, engineers and technical workers "like to break things apart and put them back together," she said. "There's sort of basic principles that are inherent in that kind of thinking, and that thinking is fun for me."
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(ACC Mentioned) Taiwanese Company Proposes $9.4 Billion Chemical Project in Louisiana
Sep 4, 2015 | Fuel Fix
By Jordan Blum
Taiwan-based Formosa Petrochemical said it is considering building a $9.4 billion petrochemical complex in Louisiana to take advantage of the ongoing manufacturing and shale gas booms.
Formosa Chairman Bao-Lang Chen and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal jointly announced the feasibility study for the project that would produce ethylene, which is the main building block of plastics, and an array of other specialty chemicals and plastics. The complex would be built in St. James Parish, which is located along Interstate 10 between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
A final investment decision on building one of the largest ethylene complexes in the world is expected in mid-2016. The project would include about 1,200 permanent jobs, not counting thousands of temporary construction positions.
Formosa already has a multibillion-dollar expansion ongoing of its plastics plant in Texas, which is located more than 100 miles southwest of Houston in Point Comfort.
The American Chemistry Council counts 243 announced projects with a cumulative investment of $147 billion from 2010 to 2023. More than 60 percent comes from foreign investment and a small majority of projects remain in the planning stage.
“We believe strategic growth in petrochemicals in the future will be in the U.S., especially in Louisiana,” Chen said in a prepared statement. “It is the right and perfect location for our company’s next development base.”
Formosa would build an ethane cracker and downstream plants in an initial phase, followed by a doubling of those capacities in the second phase starting in 2022. The facility would convert ethane to ethylene and then produce plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene and more.
To secure the project, the state is offering Formosa a $12 million performance-based grant to offset infrastructure costs, with the grant to be paid in four equal annual installments beginning in 2018, as well as other tax exemption incentives.
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White House Sets Stakeholder Meetings on EPA Ozone Plan
Sep 4, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Amanda Peterka
The White House has scheduled a series of meetings with industry and public interest groups on U.S. EPA's proposed air standard for ozone.
The Office of Management and Budget has scheduled six meetings between now and Sept. 16, according to an online post by the White House. Other meetings are also possible.
EPA proposed last November tightening the ozone standard of 75 parts per billion to between 60 and 70 ppb after determining the 75 ppb limit -- set by the George W. Bush administration -- was no longer adequate to protect public health from ozone, a component of smog.
Industry sources say EPA settled on 70 ppb in the final rule sent to OMB last week, despite a push by environmentalists for a more stringent standard.
EPA declined to discuss its final rule today, merely resending a prior statement noting that the agency had passed the rule to OMB.
A court order requires EPA to release a final standard by Oct. 1.
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While overshadowed by the Clean Power Plan for curbing the power sector's greenhouse gas emissions, EPA's ozone standard is among the most contentious environmental regulations of the Obama administration.
A more stringent ozone standard would force large swaths of the country to take costly steps to clean up pollution, even though EPA says existing regulations would help most areas meet a tighter limit by 2025.
Industry groups have launched aggressive advertising campaigns against the proposal as public health and environmental groups urge EPA to set a standard no higher than 60 ppb to guard against adverse health effects associated with exposure to ground-level ozone.
On the schedule to meet with OMB next week: the NAAQS Implementation Coalition -- trade associations, companies and other entities that emphasize their struggles with EPA air standards. The American Forest and Paper Association and Phillips 66 are also expected to meet.
The American Lung Association chapters in Michigan and Virginia will make the trip to the White House the following week. On Sept. 16, OMB is scheduled to meet with the National Association of Manufacturers, one of the most vocal opponents of a tighter standard.
NAM argues that naturally occurring background ozone levels in the West would make compliance with a more stringent standard difficult. The group recently ran a TV ad campaign stressing that "pristine" national parks would face compliance challenges (Greenwire, Aug. 5). One industry source said that EPA's bid to set a final 70 ppb standard hinged on those concerns with background ozone.
NAM has also said that neither the public health science nor the potential compliance costs justify a tighter standard.
By law, and affirmed by the Supreme Court, EPA is not allowed to consider economic impacts when deciding on the level of a new national ambient air quality standard. If EPA finalizes a 70 ppb standard, environmentalists are likely to cast it as EPA bending to industry under intense political pressure.
Environmental and public health groups are still sore at the Obama administration for punting on setting a tighter ozone standard in 2011. Then, as the election approached, the president called off the review of the standard based on economic reasons.
Environmentalists have pointed to the recommendation by EPA's scientific body as providing evidence that a tighter standard is needed. Last June, the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee recommended a new standard in the range of 60 to 70 ppb but said that the 70 ppb level would likely not provide the "ample margin of safety" that the Clean Air Act required.
"Health, environmental and progressive state groups will all visit OMB to make the case that 70 is too weak -- a point also made by EPA's science advisers," said Frank O'Donnell, president of advocacy group Clean Air Watch.
Some Democrats have come out against a tighter standard, including local officials from President Obama's home state of Illinois (Greenwire, Sept. 1).
And last week, Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who's up for election next year, said that a tighter standard "doesn't make sense on the ground" for Colorado (Greenwire, Aug. 27).
But Bennet didn't go as far as to say he would support legislation to delay EPA's update to the standard until 85 percent of counties meet the 75 ppb limit. That legislation, sponsored by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), has been incorporated into the Senate's fiscal 2016 spending bill for the Interior Department and EPA.
Stephen Brown, vice president of federal government affairs at Tesoro Corp., argued that 70 ppb would likely represent a political calculation because a lower standard would potentially harm Bennet's and Hillary Clinton's chances in purple states. He also said that he believed the administration viewed ozone as an "unnecessary distraction" as the president tries to shore up his climate change agenda.
Environmental and public health groups have sought to make ozone a legacy issue for the president.
"My guess," Brown said, "is that 70 is the path of least resistance from the perspective of the West Wing; they just have to decide whether they want to walk down it or take a detour into riskier territory."
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Investors Ask U.S. Chamber Members to Pressure Group on EPA Rule
Sep 4, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Elizabeth Harball
In a letter released this week, investors representing over $320 billion in assets called on companies associated with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to pressure the prominent business lobbying group to stop fighting the Obama administration's plan to curb power plant emissions.
The Chamber of Commerce has consistently condemned the Clean Power Plan. On the day of the final rule's release, Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue said the regulation is an "effort to shut down existing power plants and thus drive up energy prices for businesses and consumers alike," adding that "it will inflict significant damage to our entire economy and reduce our nation's global competitiveness without any significant reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions."
The letter, dated Aug. 6, asks companies to pressure the chamber to refrain from suing EPA in order to block the recently released Clean Power Plan. It also asks companies to request that the chamber publicly report its use of member funds to influence climate change-related legislation and regulations.
The letter further asks companies to "compare your position on climate to the Chamber's and, as appropriate, issue a public statement clarifying that the Chamber does not represent your views or positions."
The letter was organized in part by Boston-based Walden Asset Management, which describes itself on its website as "the oldest institutional investment manager in the sustainable and responsible investment (SRI) industry." Signatories include the pension funds for the states of New York and Connecticut, the Merck Family Fund, Calvert Investments and the Sierra Club. Over 60 different groups signed the letter.
"In the interest of protecting long-term shareholder value, it is high time for companies to stop acquiescing and step up in support of plausible approaches that will move the United States toward a carbon constrained society," Connecticut State Treasurer Denise Nappier (D) said in a statement.
"We are confident that the Chamber does not represent the position of many of its major members on climate," Stu Dalheim, vice president at Calvert Investments, said in a statement. "This letter urges companies to be their own spokesperson."
Among the approximately 50 companies that received the letter are AT&T Inc., Dow Chemical Co., Exxon Mobil Corp., Ford Motor Co., Google and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Individually, its recipients have taken a wide range of public positions on climate change.
Google, for example, made headlines last year for separating itself from the American Legislative Exchange Council over the lobbying group's stance on climate. A spokeswoman for Google declined to comment specifically on the letter sent to the Chamber of Commerce, but provided a link to the company's public comments on the proposed Clean Power Plan.
The Chamber of Commerce has not yet responded to a request for comment.
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5th Circuit Sends EPA SSM 'SIP Call' Suits To D.C. Circuit
Sep 3, 2015 | InsideEPA
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit has granted EPA's request to transfer to the D.C. Circuit three pending suits over the agency's rule forcing 36 states to scrap provisions in their Clean Air Act compliance plans exempting some emissions during facility startup, shutdown and malfunction (SSM) periods from air law limits.
EPA in a Sept. 3 motion to the D.C. Circuit is now asking that the three transferred cases be combined with an already pending case that consolidates 12 lawsuits over the SSM rule that were filed in the D.C. Circuit. “The Transferred Petitions seek review of the same final agency action as each of the twelve petitions for review filed in this Court in the first instance. Consolidation is therefore appropriate,” the agency argues.
Several petitioners that filed suit in the 5th Circuit -- industry organization BCCA Appeal Group, Luminant Generation Company and other utilities, and the state of Texas -- oppose the request, EPA says. They also opposed the agency's successful request for the 5th Circuit to transfer those cases to the D.C. Circuit.
Observers had said that the filings in the 5th Circuit created legal confusion over which court would hear challenges to the SSM rulemaking, including the potential that litigation over the rule's specific impacts in Texas could continue in the 5th Circuit while the other suits over the merits of the overall rule proceeded in the D.C. Circuit.
Texas-based opponents of the rule to force removal of the SSM provisions from state implementation plans (SIPs), which are blueprints for states' air law compliance, argued the regulation is only locally applicable because their suits only target the part of the rule affecting Texas and therefore should be heard in the 5th Circuit. However, the dockets for the 5th Circuit cases show the court transferred them to the D.C. Circuit in late August.
EPA's rule sets deadlines for the 36 affected states to remove language from their agency-approved SIPs allowing exemptions from emissions limits for spikes in air pollution associated with facility SSM. EPA says the rule is necessary after a D.C. Circuit ruling scrapping the SSM exemption as an unlawful waiving of air law requirements, and a later ruling that scrapped an alternative “affirmative defense” EPA tried to offer in lieu of SSM exemptions.
States suing EPA over the rule argue that their federally approved SIPs remain legally valid, while industry groups claim that SSM pollution spikes are unavoidable and the waivers are vital. Environmentalists counter that the prior D.C. Circuit rulings on the issue show that agency cannot allow any SSM air law exemptions.
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Farm Appeals Ruling Sending CWA 'Dust' Suit To State Court
Sep 3, 2015 | InsideEPA
A North Carolina farm is asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit to revive its suit challenging Clean Water Act (CWA) permit limits for discharges of feathers, farm dust and other airborne pollutants from such facilities in stormwater runoff, fighting a federal district court judge's decision to send litigation over the issue to state court.
A July 30 ruling by Chief Judge James C. Dever of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina dismissed Rose Acre's challenge, siding with the state and EPA to find that a dispute over a state-crafted CWA permit belongs in state court, even when it presents a “substantial federal question” concerning the reach of the water law. The judge then ordered that the litigation be transferred to the state court.
Rose Acre Farms then filed a notice of appeal Aug. 28 in Rose Acre Farms, Inc. v. North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources, et al. (DENR), signaling that it will ask the 4th Circuit to overturn Dever's order.
If upheld by the 4th Circuit, Dever's ruling would short-circuit Rose Acre's bid to solidify an earlier federal court victory for industry on the same issue, in Lois Alt, et al. v. EPA, et al. There, a federal district judge in West Virginia ruled in 2013 that farm dust carried in runoff is exempt from permit limits under a water law exemption for “agricultural stormwater,” refusing to defer to EPA's own reading of the rule in question.
EPA and environmentalist groups who intervened on the agency's behalf appealed that ruling to the 4th Circuit, but voluntarily dismissed the case before substantive briefing began, with the agency citing resource constraints in a blog post explaining its decision.
But it is uncertain whether the 4th Circuit will address the “agricultural stormwater” exemption even if it sides with Rose Acre; a ruling for the farm could instead order further district court proceedings.
In the North Carolina district case, Rose Acre and industry groups that filed on its behalf argued that a ruling in favor of DENR would open thousands of family-owned farms to the expense of federal permit requirements under federal law, and that a decision by a judge on the merits of such regulation should only be made in federal court.
But Dever in his opinion rejected industry arguments that any such suit challenging CWA permit terms can be heard in federal court, even when the permit was crafted by state regulators.
“Rose Acre's requested relief necessarily includes a declaration that DENR does not have the authority under state law to require the permit because the CWA provides only a floor for minimum compliance. Resolution of this matter on the merits would necessarily involve the application of state law, and a resolution in favor of Rose Acre would conflict with the North Carolina Superior Court's interpretation of state law. Although such a conflict is not impermissible, its potential favors dismissal,” Dever wrote.
Since states that issue CWA permits are applying state law and regulations, their actions are properly within the jurisdiction of state courts, he said -- even though EPA reviews and approves state policies before they can be implemented -- in part because state law can be stricter than the federal CWA.
Dever labeled Rose Acre's move to the federal courts as “procedural fencing,” a disfavored practice where, he describes, "a party has raced to federal court in an effort to get certain issues that are already pending before the state courts resolved first in a more favorable forum.”
Even though he rejected Rose Acre's federal suit, Dever implied in the ruling that he expects the North Carolina courts to reach the same result as Alt and block regulators from issuing permits for farm dust.
“[T]he court is confident that the North Carolina appellate courts will review de novo the legal issues at stake and account for persuasive legal analysis of the issues,” he writes, citing both Alt and National Pork Producers Council v. EPA, a 2011 decision by the 5th Circuit that struck down a CWA rule requiring all concentrated animal feeding operations to seek CWA permits -- even if they had not been shown to discharge pollutants to protected waters.
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