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Examining the Use of Agency Regulatory Guidance
Sep 23, 2015 | Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management
Location: Dirksen 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building / 11:00 AM -
(ACC Mentioned) ACC: Oilfield Chemicals Market Takes a Hit, While Other Specialty Chemicals Stay Strong
Sep 20, 2015 | ChemInfo
By Meagan Parrish
It’s another sign that the U.S. oil market is continuing to slump. According to a recent report from the American Chemistry Council, the oilfield chemicals market has been steadily declining since December. -
(ACC Mentioned) Specialty Chemical Volumes Fall Slightly in August, ACC Says
Sep 20, 2015 | Chemical Engineering
By Scott Jenkins
Specialty chemical market volumes in the U.S. fell by 0.1% in August, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). -
(ACC Mentioned) Which Corporations are Blocking Local Weather Change Progress? InfluenceMap Needs You to Know
Sep 20, 2015 | Jackson Observer
The UK-based non-profit gave Koch Industries and Duke Power failing marks, as did Philips 66 and the Asian power firm Reliance Industries. Utilizing knowledge aggregation, evaluation and unique analysis, InfluenceMap grades main international firms on their affect on local weather change insurance policies, in an effort to know how company affect is holding again local weather progress. -
Europe Tops U.S. as Cheapest Place to Make Chemicals
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jack Kaskey
Costs to produce ethylene, the most-used petrochemical, are lower in western Europe than the U.S. for the first time in at least four years because of falling oil prices, posing a threat to new American plants that use natural gas. -
Chemical Manufacturers Challenge EPA's HFC Rule
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew Childers
Two chemical manufacturers and a composites makerare challenging an Environmental Protection Agency rule that phases out use of some hydrofluorocarbons in favor of alternatives with less impact on climate change (Mexichem Fluor Inc. v. EPA, D.C. Cir. , No. 15-1328, 9/17/15; Arkema Inc. v. EPA, No. 15-1329, D.C. Cir., 9/17/15; Compsys Inc. v. EPA (D.C. Cir. 2015) ). -
(ACC Mentioned) MSC in the Phila. Inq.: The Keys to Expanding Benefits of Pa.’s Shale-Energy Revolution
Sep 20, 2015 | Northcentral PA
By David Spigelmyer
Pennsylvania is at the forefront of America’s energy revolution. As a result of our abundant shale resources, the United States has surpassed both Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s leading oil and natural-gas producer in 2014. -
Obama Says EPA Ozone NAAQS Decision 'Complicated'
Sep 18, 2015 | InsideEPA
President Obama is acknowledging that EPA's looming decision on whether to tighten its ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) is a “really complicated” situation, saying he recognizes some concerns from states about being placed out of attainment with a stricter limit but also touting the benefits of reducing ozone. -
'Legal Constraints' Forcing EPA's Hand on Ozone -- Obama
Sep 18, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Ariel Wittenberg
President Obama told a business group this week that critics of his environmental policies can swing away at the Clean Power Plan, but the expected tightening of the ozone pollution standard is another matter. -
Ozone Advocates Make Final Push at OMB
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Patrick Ambrosio
Several advocacy groups recently met with White House officials to discuss the need to revise national ozone standards, their last chance to influence the Environmental Protection Agency's looming decision. -
CEOs Asked to Explain Chamber's Climate Opposition
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrea Vittorio
Chief executive officers from AT&T, Inc., Dow Chemical Co. and more than 100 other companies on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are being asked to take a stand on the Chamber's efforts to “undermine” federal climate regulation. -
Senate GOP Pushes Resolution To Scrap EPA CWA Rule
Sep 18, 2015 | InsideEPA
Senate Republicans are pushing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolution to scrap the joint EPA and Army Corps of Engineers rulemaking clarifying Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction, a move that sources have said if successful could prevent future administrations from crafting a similar policy to clarify the law's scope. -
Clinton Wants 'Concessions' Before Backing Crude Oil Exports
Sep 18, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
Hillary Clinton says she would consider lifting the federal ban on crude oil exports, but only if there are “concessions from the oil and gas industry." -
Second Denton, Texas, Fracking Lawsuit Dismissed
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Nushin Huq
The second lawsuit against Denton, Texas, regarding hydraulic fracturing was dismissed, the city announced Sept. 17 in a statement (Patterson v. City of Denton, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. D-1-GN-14-004628, dismissal, 9/11/15). -
Seven Years Later, Keystone XL Decision is Due
Sep 19, 2015 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Luke Hilgemann
How’s this for American exceptionalism: It has now officially taken longer for the federal government to review the Keystone XL pipeline’s permit application than it did to build the entire transcontinental railroad 150 years ago. -
States Say 'E-Enterprise' Could Bolster Rulemaking Relationship With EPA
Sep 18, 2015 | Inside EPA
By David LaRoss
State officials say the imminent public launch of a website for a joint EPA-state "E-Enterprise" initiative to streamline environmental policy work could bolster states' relationship with the agency on developing regulations and options to reduce compliance burdens, such as electronic reporting and other measures. -
Pope's Visit Marked by Optimism on Climate Action
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alex Nussbaum
When President Barack Obama, Pope Francis and other world leaders start gathering in New York during the next several days, they may be within reach of a goal that seemed unattainable just a few years ago—an agreement that may actually slow the pace of rising temperatures. -
EU Ministers Call for Global Greenhouse Gas Peak by 2020
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Gardner
Delegates from around the world meeting at the United Nations climate summit in Paris late this year should agree that global greenhouse gas emissions will peak no later than 2020 and will then decline to half their 1990 level by 2050, environment ministers from the European Union's 28 member states said Sept. 18. -
EU Climate Goals Set to Clash with U.S. Aims
Sep 19, 2015 | PoliticoPro
By Kalina Oroschakoff
EU ministers have signed off on the bloc’s negotiating position for global climate talks in Paris, calling for legally binding targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions to be reviewed every five years. -
OMB Completes Review of Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Rule
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tripp Baltz
The Office of Management and Budget has completed its review of a proposed hazardous liquid pipeline rule, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said. -
Long-Awaited Pipeline Safety Regulations Clear White House Review
Sep 19, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Elana Schor
New proposed standards for on-shore oil pipelines are set for publication in the Federal Register within days after a White House Office of Management and Budget review that stretched for more than a year, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced today. -
DOT Kicks off Regional Forums on Nation's Long-Term Needs
Sep 18, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
The Department of Transportation today kicked off a series of regional forums to collect public feedback on a 30-year forecast of the nation's needs in roads, long-distance rail and other areas. -
Railroads Years Behind Schedule on Automating Trains
Sep 16, 2015 | The Hill - Transportation
By Keith Laing
Most major railroads are one to five years behind schedule on automating trains, which they are mandated to do by the end of the year, according to report from the Government Accountability Office that was released on Wednesday. -
The Tech that Could’ve Stopped that Philadelphia Train Crash Won’t Be Rolled Out for Years
Sep 21, 2015 | The Washington Post
By Brian Fung
A federal audit finds that the nation's railroads are overwhelmingly behind on implementing positive train control, a safety technology experts say would have averted a deadly Amtrak derailment near Philadelphia this year that killed eight people and injured 200 others. -
Railroads Threaten Shutdown over Automated Trains
Sep 19, 2015 | The Hill - Transportation
By Keith Laing
Rail companies are threatening to shut down passenger and freight train service at the beginning of next year if Congress does not extend a federal deadline for automating trains that most railroads say they won't be able to meet. -
Lawmakers Press Railroad Nominee on Safety Deadline
Sep 17, 2015 | The New York Times
By Ron Nixon
President Obama’s nominee to lead the Federal Railroad Administration faced tough questioning by lawmakers on Thursday about the rail industry’s contention that it cannot meet a year-end deadline to install a safety technology meant to keep trains from derailing.
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Examining the Use of Agency Regulatory Guidance
Sep 23, 2015 | Subcommittee on Regulatory Affairs and Federal Management
Location: Dirksen 342, Dirksen Senate Office Building
Time: September 23, 2015 11:00 AM
The Administrative Procedure Act (APA) allows agencies to produce guidance documents to clarify issues in an existing regulation. Specifically, the APA allows that agencies issue non- economically significant guidance without publication in the Federal Register or notice and comment. By definition, these guidance documents cannot bind regulated parties. Unfortunately, this APA exception leaves open the possibility that agencies improperly issue guidance in lieu of rulemaking, in order to take advantage of the APA’s exceptions and relaxed procedures.
Because the distinction between legislative rules and guidance is in many instances blurred, and because opting to issue guidance when rulemaking would be appropriate circumvents the principles of transparency and accountability built into the APA, this hearing will examine if and how the Departments of Labor and Education improperly issue guidance, its effects on regulated parties and the public at large, and ways to ensure guidance is utilized diligently going forward.WitnessesMs. Michelle SagerDirector, Strategic IssuesU.S. Government Accountability OfficeMs. Mary Beth MaxwellPrincipal Deputy Assistant Secretary for PolicyU.S. Department of LaborMs. Amy McIntoshDeputy Assistant Secretary Delegated Duties of Assistant SecretaryU.S. Department of Education
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Sep 20, 2015 | ChemInfo
By Meagan Parrish
It’s another sign that the U.S. oil market is continuing to slump. According to a recent report from the American Chemistry Council, the oilfield chemicals market has been steadily declining since December.
ACC uses a Specialty Chemicals Market Volume Index to monitor 28 speciality chemicals segments, including oilfield chemicals. From a year-over-year perspective, the volume of oilfield chemicals decreased by 18.1 percent in August. Mining chemical volumes also decreased by 4.8 Y/Y.
In just August, lubricant additives declined, while construction and foundry chemicals were flat.
Despite those losses, the overall outlook from the index was positive for the third quarter. In August, 19 segments expanded including plastic additives and electronic chemicals, which grew the most using a three month moving average.
“Year-earlier comparisons were generally in the 4.0 percent to 6.8 percent range during 2012-2014 but since February of this year they have been below that range as the downturn in the oil and gas sectors affected headline volumes. Still, on a Y/Y basis, gains are fairly widespread among most market and functional specialty chemical segments, and, in some cases, they are improving,” ACC reported.
News from the U.S. oil industry has been grim since the collapse of oil prices in 2014, with widespread layoffs affecting thousands of workers and rig counts dropping most weeks. Last week, OPEC reduced its predicted daily output for non-member states — including the U.S. — to somewhere between 80,000 to 100,000 barrels a day for the rest of this year.
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(ACC Mentioned) Specialty Chemical Volumes Fall Slightly in August, ACC Says
Sep 20, 2015 | Chemical Engineering
By Scott Jenkins
Specialty chemical market volumes in the U.S. fell by 0.1% in August, according to the latest Weekly Chemistry and Economic Report from the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com). The retreat follows a 1.3% gain in July and a “generally weak” first half of 2015. “Market activity remains off 2.6% from its December [2014] peak,” the ACC report said. “Thus far in 2015, weakness in oilfield chemicals and other segments have weighed on overall volumes,” the report added. Fifteen of the 28 specialty chemical market segments monitored by ACC saw expansion in August while 13 segments declined. This is off from the 24 expanding segments in July, but up from 11 in June and 8 in May, the report points out. In August, the segments experiencing large gains (1.0% and greater) in market volumes included: antioxidants, cosmetic chemicals, electronic chemicals, mining chemicals, plastic additives, plasticizers and rubber-processing chemicals, the ACC report explained. The ACC report includes data from the Chlorine Institute that suggest the volume of chlorine produced fell by 1.4% in August. Also, this ACC report included the results of its monthly survey of economic forecasters. The economists are…
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Sep 20, 2015 | Jackson Observer
The UK-based non-profit gave Koch Industries and Duke Power failing marks, as did Philips 66 and the Asian power firm Reliance Industries. Utilizing knowledge aggregation, evaluation and unique analysis, InfluenceMap grades main international firms on their affect on local weather change insurance policies, in an effort to know how company affect is holding again local weather progress.
Google, Unilever and Cisco Techniques got here out forward in InfluenceMap’s scores, nevertheless no firm earned a grade above a “B.” Chevron and BP each earned “E-” grades. Comcast and 21st Century Fox earned “E-” grades as nicely, making them the bottom rating media corporations. You’ll be able to see the .
Not everybody agrees with the non-profit’s methodology, which was developed partially by the Union of Involved Scientists. A consultant from Duke Power that they “query the credibility of a report that seems to compile an Web search to mischaracterize the corporate’s place and our actual work to decrease our carbon footprint.” For instance, the corporate has been working to decrease its emissions by changing coal burning power crops with pure fuel. Duke Power acquired an “F” grade from InfluenceMap.
, their scores don’t measure precise local weather change efficiency, resembling carbon footprint, however somewhat “the extent to which an organization is supporting or obstructing the local weather coverage course of.”
InfluenceMap additionally graded commerce associations, just like the Alliance of Vehicle Producers and the American Chemistry Council. These commerce teams may be notably highly effective in relation to pushing coverage ahead or blocking regulation.
“Increasingly, we’re seeing corporations depend on their commerce teams to do their soiled work of lobbying towards complete local weather insurance policies,” stated InfluenceMap adviser Gretchen Goldman in a press release. 5 commerce associations acquired an “F” grade: the Worldwide Air Transport Affiliation, the Nationwide Affiliation of Producers, the American Petroleum Institute, the Canadian Affiliation of Petroleum Producers, and the American Legislative Change Council (ALEC).
InfluenceMap hopes to proceed to increase their platform, which they are saying might at some point be utilized to different areas of coverage and laws.
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Europe Tops U.S. as Cheapest Place to Make Chemicals
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jack Kaskey
Costs to produce ethylene, the most-used petrochemical, are lower in western Europe than the U.S. for the first time in at least four years because of falling oil prices, posing a threat to new American plants that use natural gas.
In Europe, where oil-derived naphtha is used to make ethylene and co-products such as butadiene, August production costs fell to $209 per metric ton, according to a Bloomberg Intelligence analysis. That made European production about $48 per ton cheaper than in the U.S., where natural-gas liquids such as ethane and propane are used to make ethylene, a plastics ingredient.
Increased gas production from shale formations had given a cost advantage to the U.S. since about 2010, spurring plans for more than $145 billion of new and expanded chemical plants by companies such as Dow Chemical Co. and Exxon Mobil Corp. Cost parity with Europe threatens the viability of some of those projects as well as continued job growth in the industry, said Jason Miner, a Skillman, N.J.-based analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence.
“Nothing has been canceled yet, but these changing economics add to the probability of cancellations for anyone who hasn't started construction yet,” Miner said by phone.
Declining chemical prices in recent months have narrowed margins for U.S. producers to the lowest since 2011, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. The impact won't be seen in financial results before the fourth quarter due to inventory accounting and contract prices that lag behind the spot market, Miner said.
Oil probably will stay low through the end of the decade and possibly for 15 years, Jeff Currie, head of commodities research at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., said on Sept. 17.
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Chemical Manufacturers Challenge EPA's HFC Rule
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew Childers
Two chemical manufacturers and a composites makerare challenging an Environmental Protection Agency rule that phases out use of some hydrofluorocarbons in favor of alternatives with less impact on climate change (Mexichem Fluor Inc. v. EPA, D.C. Cir. , No. 15-1328, 9/17/15; Arkema Inc. v. EPA, No. 15-1329, D.C. Cir., 9/17/15; Compsys Inc. v. EPA (D.C. Cir. 2015) ).
Mexichem Fluor Inc., Arkema Inc. and Compsys Inc. filed their petitions for review in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Sept. 17 and 18.
“Mexichem believes there are serious questions that need to be addressed in its required analysis of the risks and benefits of HFCs and other alternates,” W. Caffey Norman, a partner at Squire Patton Boggs LLP representing Mexichem Fluor, told Bloomberg BNA Sept. 18.
An attorney for Arkema couldn't be reached for comment.
The EPA's rule (RIN 2060-AS18) lists as unacceptable certain hydrofluorocarbons previously permitted for use by chemical and equipment manufacturers in aerosols, foam blowing, motor vehicle air conditioning, retail food refrigeration and vending machines. The EPA concluded other chemicals are available for the same uses but pose less risk to human health and the environment, according to the final rule (128 DEN A-4, 7/6/15).
President Barack Obama has tasked the EPA with using its authority to regulate ozone-depleting substances under Section 612 of the Clean Air Act to promote use of substances with lower global warming potential. HFCs represent a small, but especially potent, portion of overall greenhouse gas emissions from the U.S.
The EPA anticipates its rule will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54 million to 64 million metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent in 2025. HFC emissions in the U.S. are projected to double by 2020 and triple by 2030 without action to curb their use, the administration has said.
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Sep 20, 2015 | Northcentral PA
By David Spigelmyer
Pennsylvania is at the forefront of America’s energy revolution. As a result of our abundant shale resources, the United States has surpassed both Saudi Arabia and Russia as the world’s leading oil and natural-gas producer in 2014.
But what does that mean for manufacturers and small businesses here at home?
It’s absolutely clear that safe shale development is stimulating new manufacturing opportunities, delivering for consumers, and creating environmental benefits, all while providing us with a reliable source of energy.
Numerous household goods are produced with clean-burning natural gas: cameras, footballs, batteries, life-sustaining medications, tape, computers, curtains, deodorant, air mattresses, bandages, ink. And homegrown shale gas has reduced home-heating and utility costs by half over the past several years.
Manufacturers are also regaining a competitive edge in the global marketplace and producing more “Made in U.S.A.” goods once again. At the same time, new natural-gas power plants are being built – helping to create tens of thousands of construction and building-trade jobs – to keep our economy moving and our air clean.
With shale’s benefits extending throughout the commonwealth, it was a natural fit for Philadelphia to host a world-class forum this week – Shale Insight 2015 – that was focused on further expanding these environmental, economic, and national security benefits.
In fact, not only do Philadelphia-area consumers benefit from natural-gas extraction in other corners of Pennsylvania, but the region plays a key – and growing – role in expanding natural-gas end-use opportunities.
For example, Delaware County’s Marcus Hook Industrial Complex – and the countless hardworking families that rely on the facility for employment – is experiencing a complete transformation.
Sunoco Logistics’ proposed Mariner East pipeline will deliver natural-gas liquids to Marcus Hook – a project that the Laborers’ International Union of North America called a “lifeline to good union jobs with family-supporting pay.” This project is expected to generate nearly $4.2 billion in economic activity, support 30,000 construction jobs, and produce nearly $62 million in tax revenues for the commonwealth, according to a recent Econsult Solutions study.
Beyond Marcus Hook, pipeline projects like Mariner East are critical to delivering shale’s end-use benefits to commercial and consumer users. According to a Brookings Institution report, in fact, affordable natural-gas supplies have “improved the economic well-being of consumers by $74 billion per year.” Additional consumer benefits will be realized as more natural gas is safely produced and moved to market.
Reliable and affordable natural-gas supplies – a key manufacturing feedstock – give Pennsylvania manufacturers a critical competitive advantage. The American Chemistry Council has stated that “shale development has reversed the fortunes of the U.S. plastics industry” and ensured that manufacturers are “re-shoring” jobs once lost to foreign nations with lower energy costs.
Our environment is improving due to greater natural-gas use, too. Federal government data shows that the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions are at a 20-year low and power-generating emissions are at a 27-year low, all due in large part to clean-burning natural gas.
For consumers, building trades, manufacturers, and our environment, responsible shale development is delivering a stronger future for Pennsylvania, which will be closely watched as our industry matures and weathers these difficult global commodity market headwinds.
This week’s dialogue at Shale Insight 2015, rooted in facts and science, was laser-focused on ensuring that the economic equation is right for our state and its citizens to maximize the broad-based benefits tied to this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
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Obama Says EPA Ozone NAAQS Decision 'Complicated'
Sep 18, 2015 | InsideEPA
President Obama is acknowledging that EPA's looming decision on whether to tighten its ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) is a “really complicated” situation, saying he recognizes some concerns from states about being placed out of attainment with a stricter limit but also touting the benefits of reducing ozone.
In Sept. 16 remarks to the Business Roundtable in Washington, D.C., the president stressed the legal constraints EPA is working under in developing its rule. The Clean Air Act mandates that the agency every five years assess whether to revise its NAAQS, and by law the agency cannot consider costs in that decision. EPA can only set the standards based on scientific data on a pollutant's impacts on public health and the environment.
Obama acknowledged those guidelines, describing the “fairly stringent statutory guidelines by which the EPA is supposed to evaluate the standards,” adding that “EPA is following the science and the statutes as best as it can.” The ozone standards “date back to when I was I think still in law school,” Obama said.
EPA last updated the ozone standard in 2008, tightening it to 75 parts per billion (ppb) down from the prior less-stringent 1997 standard expressed as 84 ppb. The Obama administration has proposed tightening the standard down to range between 65 and 70 ppb, though its science advisers backed a limit as strict as 60 ppb.
The final rule is undergoing White House review ahead of an Oct. 1 judicial deadline for EPA to issue it, and the agency is said to favor a 70 ppb limit while the White House is said to push a 68 ppb standard.
Critics of a more stringent standard say it will place many areas in nonattainment, triggering an air law mandate for them to impose costly emissions controls on industrial sources of ozone-forming air pollution.
Karen Kerrigan, president of the free-market Center for Regulatory Solutions, in a Sept. 18 statement cited the president's recent remarks as acknowledging “the serious concerns of state and local leaders. . . . President Obama’s remarks on the costs of the proposal are also welcome. For months, activists supporting tighter standards have argued that costs are an irrelevant -- even illegal -- consideration for the president’s advisers. So we certainly appreciate President Obama’s apparent rejection of these talking points from pressure groups.”
The American Petroleum Institute also hold a Sept. 18 conference call to reiterate its concerns about a stricter NAAQS, saying EPA data show many areas are already struggling to meet the 2008 standard.
Obama said that he had recognized “some of the concerns” of states and municipalities faced with potentially tougher rules over “legitimate economic issues that have to be considered.”
But he also said that “Even with the costs associated with implementing the ozone rule, when you do a cost-benefit, the amount of lives saved, asthma averted and do forth is still substantially higher than the costs.”
The president in his remarks also contrasted the pending ozone rule with his Clean Power Plan to cut greenhouse gases emitted by existing power plants. He said “you can legitimately go after me” over the the Clean Power Plan because “that was hatched by us.” For the ozone NAAQS, “this is an existing statute and an existing mechanism, and we are charged with implementing it based on the science that's presented to us.”
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'Legal Constraints' Forcing EPA's Hand on Ozone -- Obama
Sep 18, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Ariel Wittenberg
President Obama told a business group this week that critics of his environmental policies can swing away at the Clean Power Plan, but the expected tightening of the ozone pollution standard is another matter.
Addressing a meeting of the Business Roundtable in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Obama was asked about a tougher ozone limit hurting small businesses.
"I think there may be a misperception that the EPA can do whatever it wants here," Obama said, according to a White House transcript.
"I guess the bottom line is this: You can legitimately go after me on the clean power plant rule because ... that was hatched by us, and I believe we need to deal with climate change, so we can have a lengthy debate about that," he said. "And on ozone, this is an existing statute and an existing mechanism, and we are charged with implementing it based on the science that's presented to us."
U.S. EPA has proposed tightening the Clean Air Act ozone standard from 75 parts per billion to between 65 and 70 ppb by 2025. The White House Office of Management and Budget is reviewing the final rule, which by court order is due out by the end of this month.
The EPA proposal has been the target of intense lobbying by business groups arguing it would damage the economy. Environmental groups have countered, stressing the importance of ozone curbs for public health (Greenwire, Sept. 15).
Obama stressed that air regulations didn't begin with his administration. EPA, he said, is bound by "legal constraints."
"This is not something that just popped out of my head full blown," he said. "And so I always enjoy seeing the advertising for 'Obama's ozone plan.' The ozone rules date back to when I was, I think, still in law school, before I had any gray hair. And there are some fairly stringent statutory guidelines by which the EPA is supposed to evaluate the standards."
The president acknowledged that air quality in some areas can be degraded by pollution blown in from afar (Greenwire, Sept. 10).
Those communities, he said, may face more challenges complying with stricter ozone levels. He said EPA is working with specific states and communities on those concerns.
He also said he understood industry's concerns about local costs that could be incurred complying with a tighter standard, saying "those are legitimate economic issues that have to be considered."
But Obama emphasized that the benefits of a tougher ozone standard will outweigh the costs in EPA's ultimate decision.
"Even with the costs associated with implementing the ozone rule, when you do a cost-benefit, the amount of lives saved, asthma averted and so forth is still substantially higher than the costs," he said. "I think what you'll see in the analysis overall is -- we don't issue a regulation where the costs are not lower than the benefits."
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Ozone Advocates Make Final Push at OMB
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Patrick Ambrosio
Several advocacy groups recently met with White House officials to discuss the need to revise national ozone standards, their last chance to influence the Environmental Protection Agency's looming decision.
Representatives from several industry groups, including the National Association of Manufacturers, told Bloomberg BNA that they met with the White House Office of Management and Budget to stress concerns that revised ozone standards could have a detrimental effect on the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, the American Lung Association has had several meetings with the administration to highlight the effect the EPA's decision will have on public health across the country.
The Michigan, Illinois and Virginia chapters of the American Lung Association met with OMB Sept. 15 and 16 to discuss the need for stronger ozone standards. Lyndsay Moseley, director of the association's Health Air Campaign, told Bloomberg BNA that the meetings provided an opportunity for doctors and parents of children with asthma to “make their voices” heard on the federal level.
“This is about making it real and putting a human face on the decision that the White House and the EPA are making right now on ozone,” Moseley said.
The EPA is under a court-ordered deadline of Oct. 1 to sign a final decision on whether to revise or retain the current 75 parts per billion ozone standards, set in 2008 under President George W. Bush.
According to meeting summaries provided by the ALA, members of the association's state coalitions told OMB officials that the current primary, health-based ozone standard is outdated, so asthmatics and other vulnerable populations are getting inaccurate information about air quality and may be putting themselves at risk by going outside on days with unsafe air quality.
The American Lung Association is one of several public health and environmental groups that will make their case before OMB on the ozone rule (RIN 2060-AP38). The American Thoracic Society had a meeting Sept. 15, while the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Natural Resources Defense Council and other groups have scheduled meetings.
Industry Raises Economic Concerns
The administration also has heard from a variety of industry groups that would like to see the EPA retain the current 75 part per billion ozone standards.
The National Association of Manufacturers, which has been one of the leading critics of the EPA's proposal to revise the ozone standards to somewhere in the range of 65 ppb to 70 ppb, arranged a Sept. 16 meeting between OMB and a “pretty diverse” group of company officials, according to Greg Bertelsen, director of energy and resources policy at the association.
Bertelsen said those officials presented a consistent message to administration officials: Industry is still working hard to implement the 2008 ozone standards, and a decision to significantly tighten those standards would hurt their ability to do business.
Officials with the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the Council on Environmental Quality and the EPA heard presentations about the “really diverse impacts” that revised ozone standards could have on the manufacturing industry, Bertelsen said.
“We felt really good walking out of the meeting,” Bertelsen said.
‘Cumulative Burden' Discussed
The American Forest & Paper Association and the United Steelworkers met with administration officials Sept. 10 to present concerns about the “cumulative burden” of federal air quality regulations on industry, according to Donna Harman, president and chief executive officer of the American Forest & Paper Association.
Harman told Bloomberg BNA in an e-mail that the association shared estimates that air rules in the regulatory pipeline are estimated to cost the forest products industry between $10 billion and $20 billion in capital costs over the next seven years, with national ambient air quality standards on the “leading edge” of those costs.
The AF&PA shared a cost analysis that showed adverse effects from tightening the ozone standards that would be “unsustainable” for pulp, paper and wood products manufacturers that face strong global competition, she said.
“We appreciated that the meeting was well attended by OMB, EPA and other offices,” Harman said. “The analysis and examples presented were clear and compelling as to why the standard should not be lowered and EPA should focus on implementing the existing standard.”
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce met with OMB Sept. 15 to make a presentation on how the EPA's proposal to tighten the ozone standards would “threaten jobs and economic growth” across the U.S., William Kovacs, senior vice president for environment, technology and regulatory affairs for the U.S. Chamber, told Bloomberg BNA in an e-mail.
Petroleum Industry Plans
The American Petroleum Institute will highlight EPA's recently released 2014 ozone data during its planned meeting with OMB Sept. 25, Howard Feldman, senior director of regulatory and scientific affairs at the API, told reporters during a Sept. 18 conference call.
Feldman said that an API analysis of data from 2012 through 2014 shows that 217 counties are measured or projected to be out of attainment for the current 75 ppb ozone standards. Those numbers jump to 958 counties in nonattainment under potential 70 ppb standards and 1,433 counties in nonattainment under 68 ppb standards, Feldman said.
John Walke, clean air director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, responded to API's claims on Twitter by criticizing the association for overstating the number of nonattainment counties by using outdated data and using an extrapolation method that the agency itself doesn't use to determine compliance.
Compliance with the ozone standards is based on a three-year average of the fourth highest, daily maximum eight-hour concentration measured each year.
Points to Possible Extension for D.C., Houston
Feldman also pointed to a recent EPA proposal to give eight nonattainament areas, including Washington, D.C., and Houston, an additional year to meet the 2008 ozone standards as a reason the standards shouldn't be changed (161 DEN A-10, 8/20/15).
“EPA clearly understands that more time is needed to implement current standards,” Feldman said.
The API will raise its concerns about the need for more implementation time, as well as its previously stated concerns about the attainability and lack of “compelling” data supporting revised standards, during its scheduled OMB meeting, Feldman said.
Upcoming OMB Meetings on EPA's Ozone Standards
9/22:
Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management
9/23:
Independent Petroleum Association of America
9/23:
American Lung Association of Colorado
9/24:
Environmental Defense Fund, Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club
9/24:
Pennsylvania Healthy Air Campaign of the American Lung Association
9/25:
American Petroleum Institute
9/25:
American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers
9/28:
National Black Chamber of Commerce
9/28:
Portland Cement Association
9/28:
American Academy of Pediatrics
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CEOs Asked to Explain Chamber's Climate Opposition
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrea Vittorio
Chief executive officers from AT&T, Inc., Dow Chemical Co. and more than 100 other companies on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are being asked to take a stand on the Chamber's efforts to “undermine” federal climate regulation.
A dozen mostly Democratic legislators led by Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) asked the CEOs in a Sept. 18 letter how much they knew about and whether they agreed with what the Chamber is doing to oppose the Obama administration's signature rules to control carbon pollution.
The Clean Power Plan (RIN 2060-AR33), finalized Aug. 3, sets unique carbon dioxide emissions goals for the power sector in each state and lets states come up with plans to meet them.
“We are writing to you to ensure that you fully understand the Chamber's role in the campaign to undermine U.S. action and leadership on climate change, and to give you an opportunity to clarify where your company stands on this issue,” the letter says.
The senators' inquiry was inspired by a recent New York Times article that said the Chamber helped craft a plan to dismantle the carbon rules before they were even issued. It was at the Chamber's headquarters that corporate lawyers, coal lobbyists and Republican political strategists allegedly plotted their legal challenges to the rules, according to the article.
“The strategy of the Chamber on climate change amounts to little more than denial and delay,” the letter says.
The Chamber did not return a request for comment.
The group was part of an early legal challenge against the carbon regulations that later got dismissed for being premature (In re Murray Energy Corp.,, 788 F.3d 330, 2015 BL 180996 (2015) ; 175 DEN A-16, 9/10/15).
Fourteen states, led by coal-dependent West Virginia, have since asked for a rehearing (In re Murray Energy Corp., D.C. Cir., No. 14-1112, petition for rehearing 7/24/15); 143 DEN A-2, 7/27/15).
Many of the same states are also asking for an administrative stay of the rules until legal challenges can be resolved (151 DEN A-5, 8/6/15).
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Senate GOP Pushes Resolution To Scrap EPA CWA Rule
Sep 18, 2015 | InsideEPA
Senate Republicans are pushing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) disapproval resolution to scrap the joint EPA and Army Corps of Engineers rulemaking clarifying Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction, a move that sources have said if successful could prevent future administrations from crafting a similar policy to clarify the law's scope.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) on Sept. 17 introduced S.J. Res. 22, “a joint resolution providing for congressional disapproval under chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, of the rule submitted by the Corps of Engineers and the Environmental Protection Agency relating to the definition of 'waters of the United States'” under the CWA. At press time the resolution had 46 GOP co-sponsors but had not attracted support from any Democrat.
The CRA allows Congress to approve resolutions by a majority vote to undo agency rulemakings. However, even if Republicans are able to move a CWA rule disapproval through both chambers, it is doubtful that Senate supporters of the push would be able to secure the 67 votes to overcome an expected veto by President Obama.
The “resolution would nullify this ill-conceived rule sending a message to the EPA and [Corps] that they failed to address the concerns raised by farmers, ranchers, manufacturers and small businesses in Iowa and across the country,” Ernst said in a Sept. 17 press statement on the rule, which took effect in most states on Aug. 28.
A federal district court judge's injunction in pending litigation over the rule blocked the agencies from implementing the rule in the 13 states that sought the injunction. In those states, EPA has said it will abide by the injunction and continue to use 2008 George W. Bush administration guidance on CWA jurisdiction.
The Obama administration's rulemaking aimed to resolve uncertainty about the water law's reach following Supreme Court rulings that created competing tests for jurisdiction. But industry groups, several states, and Republican lawmakers argue the rule extends the reach of the CWA far beyond what Congress intended.
House critics of the rule in July introduced their CRA disapproval resolution, H.J. 59, which has drawn support from three Democrats: Reps. Collin Peterson (MN), David Scott (GA) and Brad Ashford (NE), along with 34 GOP co-sponsors.
If such a resolution succeeded either with Obama's signature or by Congress overturning a veto, some observers say the CRA could prohibit the agencies from crafting another jurisdiction policy.
The law says a rule blocked under the CRA "may not be reissued in substantially the same form, and a new rule that is substantially the same as such a rule may not be issued, unless the reissued or new rule is specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of the joint resolution disapproving the original rule."
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Clinton Wants 'Concessions' Before Backing Crude Oil Exports
Sep 18, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
Hillary Clinton says she would consider lifting the federal ban on crude oil exports, but only if there are “concessions from the oil and gas industry."
“In the absence of a broader energy plan that does include concessions from the oil and gas industry, I don’t think that the ban should be lifted,” Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, told reporters in New Hampshire on Friday.
“I’m not against it under all circumstances but I have not yet seen any legislation introduced that would strike the right balance, in my perspective.”
Clinton’s campaign said earlier this week that she opposes a House Republican bill to lift the 1970s-era crude oil export ban. But the campaign didn’t say whether she is opposed to just the House bill or crude exports in general.
“The bill, as I understand it, does not come anywhere near doing what I think has to be done to move towards the energy transition that is so important to our country,” the former secretary of State added Friday.
Only three Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted to approve the bill when the panel considered it this week. Others, though, have raised the possibility of coming to some sort of compromise on the issue.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), who is pushing the issue in the upper chamber, said this week that she would consider attaching renewable energy tax credits to the bill if it means winning Democratic support for the measure. Including the tax credits might risk Republican support for the package, however.
The White House said this week that it opposes the House bill, but House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said he thinks Republicans can secure enough votes to overcome a presidential veto.
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Second Denton, Texas, Fracking Lawsuit Dismissed
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Nushin Huq
The second lawsuit against Denton, Texas, regarding hydraulic fracturing was dismissed, the city announced Sept. 17 in a statement (Patterson v. City of Denton, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. D-1-GN-14-004628, dismissal, 9/11/15).
A Texas district court judge signed the dismissal order for the case against the city by the Texas General Land Office on Sept. 11.
A similar lawsuit against the city, filed by the Texas Oil and Gas Association, was dismissed Sept. 4 (Tex. Oil & Gas Ass'n v. City of Denton, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. 14-08933-431, 9/14/15); (177 DEN A-6, 9/14/15).
Both lawsuits were filed separately on Nov. 5, 2014, after the city passed a referendum banning hydraulic fracturing.
The lawsuits were later amended to include the city's gas well moratorium as well (215 DEN B-12, 11/6/14).
In May, the Texas legislature passed H.B. 40, which limited authority municipalities had to regulate oil and gas activities. In light of the new law, the Denton City Council voted 6-1 to repeal the hydraulic fracturing ban ordinance. The moratorium expired on Aug. 18, 2015, and was not extended. Therefore, both issues in the lawsuits were moot.
“The City of Denton believes this is the appropriate course of action and is pleased that both the TxOGA and GLO litigation has been dismissed,” the city said in a statement released Sept. 17.
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Seven Years Later, Keystone XL Decision is Due
Sep 19, 2015 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Luke Hilgemann
How’s this for American exceptionalism: It has now officially taken longer for the federal government to review the Keystone XL pipeline’s permit application than it did to build the entire transcontinental railroad 150 years ago.
Yes, you read that right. Today marks the seven-year anniversary of what has become one of the most embarrassing examples of bureaucratic red tape in American history.
You’ve no doubt heard of the Keystone XL pipeline by now. On September 19, 2008, the company planning to build it filed a routine permit application with the State Department. The pipeline would transport up to 830,000 barrels of oil from Canada and North Dakota’s Bakken Formation to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast. Along with this oil would flow economic growth, well-paying jobs, and lower energy prices—all with essentially zero environmental downsides, to boot.
Yet 2,556 days, 17,000 pages of scientific research, and myriad legal challenges later, Americans are still waiting for the Obama administration to decide. Rarely will you see a more obvious case of bureaucratic incompetence—and it’s holding up an economic and environmental no-brainer.
Consider the economic opportunity this $5.4 billion pipeline presents. The Canadian Economic Research Institute estimates it could add $172 billion in U.S. economic growth over 25 years. Meanwhile, President Obama’s own U.S. State Department estimates construction would support over 42,000 jobs. Nearly 10,000 would be skilled—aka, well-paying—jobs like steel welders, pipefitters, electricians, and heavy equipment operators.
There’s also the potential for gas prices to go even lower than they are today. According to a February 2015 report from IHS, a leading energy research firm, the “vast majority” of Keystone XL’s refined oil will stay right here in the U.S. In other words, it could further add to America’s surging oil supply that has sent gas prices plummeting over the past year.
Given these benefits, it’s unsurprising that Americans support Keystone XL’s construction by a ratio of two-to-one, according to a CNN/ORC poll released in January. It has also drawn support from some of the nation’s unlikeliest of bedfellows: the business-backed U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the labor confederation AFL-CIO.
The benefits are there for all to see, which explains why Congress has done everything it can to make Keystone a reality. On January 29 of this year, legislators finally passed a bill approving the pipeline’s construction and sent it to Obama’s desk. It was the first bill passed by the new Congress and enjoyed strong bipartisan support in both the U.S. Senate and House.
Yet 26 days later, Obama vetoed it. In so doing, he also vetoed the $172 billion in economic growth, 42,000 well-paying jobs, and lower energy prices that could come along with it.
In his veto statement, Obama echoed the arguments of anti-energy activists that Keystone XL poses a threat to the environment. Yet as study after study has shown, these arguments couldn’t be further from the truth.
Environmental opposition to Keystone XL is based on the belief that without the pipeline, the Canadian and North Dakotan oil would stay in the ground. But this is wishful thinking at best. As we are already seeing, it will simply be shipped via rail instead. Even Obama’s own State Department admits as much. In its Final Environmental Impact Statement last year—the product of years of investigations involving eight federal agencies—federal officials noted Keystone XL “is unlikely to significantly affect the rate of extraction in oil sands areas.”
Given this reality, the State Department concluded Keystone XL’s construction would be unlikely to alter global greenhouse gas emissions. Put another way: It wouldn’t harm the environment.
Considering the economic opportunities and negligible environmental impacts of Keystone XL, why wouldn’t Obama allow its benefits to flow into the U.S.? This is especially so when you consider pipelines—particularly new, state-of-the-art ones like Keystone XL—are the safest mode of transportation. Ensuring we’re using the safest and most efficient methods possible only makes sense.
Even if Obama ultimately rejects the Keystone XL pipeline—and with it, billions of dollars in economic growth and thousands of new jobs—it’s past time for a decision. It wasn’t so long ago that American exceptionalism went hand in hand with economic growth. The only thing exceptional about this depressing situation is how the can-do determination of 19th and 20th century America has given way to the bureaucratic dysfunction of the 21st.
Luke Hilgemann is the CEO of Americans for Prosperity.
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States Say 'E-Enterprise' Could Bolster Rulemaking Relationship With EPA
Sep 18, 2015 | Inside EPA
By David LaRoss
State officials say the imminent public launch of a website for a joint EPA-state "E-Enterprise" initiative to streamline environmental policy work could bolster states' relationship with the agency on developing regulations and options to reduce compliance burdens, such as electronic reporting and other measures.
The E-Enterprise effort has fostered "a very different kind of working relationship" between EPA and state environment officials that changed how the agency develops major rules, New Hampshire environment chief Tom Burack, the top state official on the E-Enterprise For The Environment Council, told Inside EPA during the Environmental Council of the States' (ECOS) fall meeting in Newport, RI, earlier this month.
"What we've done for E-Enterprise has led to really a different working relationship, a working relationship where it isn't just EPA deciding what needs to be done, scoping the problem, scoping the solution, and then going to the states and saying, 'Hey, we've designed a problem and a solution. Put your comments on it so we can then finalize the approach we've already decided.' That got rethought," Burack told Inside EPA during the Aug. 31-Sept 2 meeting.
The direct goal of the E-Enterprise project is to develop new tools for states and EPA to access and share data more easily, such as electronic reporting and joint federal-state databases of environmental information. A "web portal" -- a single site intended to provide "comprehensive" environmental information to federal, state and local regulators as well as regulated entities and the general public -- is slated to make its public debut in October.
At the ECOS meeting, Burack, acting deputy EPA Administrator Stan Meiburg -- the second co-chair of the E-Enterprise leadership council -- and other officials said that developing E-Enterprise projects has led to closer collaboration between federal and state officials on rulemakings and other actions that have little or no direct connection to information technology.
As proof of that shift, Burack pointed to EPA's new rules governing power plants' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, known as the Clean Power Plan.
He also cited the agency's Aug. 5 update to the regulations governing states' Clean Water Act (CWA) water quality standards, both of which he said involved a level of outreach far beyond what states would have expected from the agency years earlier.
"I think the Clean Power Plan is an example of EPA doing a frankly unprecedented example of listening and outreach -- not just with the states, although it was very heavily with the states, to really understand the complexity and the challenges of dealing in a point of intersection across energy and environmental issues. . . . What we saw there, and what I think we'll see with other rulemakings across the country, is that kind of communication and collaboration starting to build," Burack said.
Regulatory Revisions
EPA made substantial changes to its power plant GHG policy between proposing the rules in 2014 and finalizing them on Aug. 3, including dropping energy-efficiency measures from its framework for setting state goals and incorporating a more regional approach to converting from coal-fired power plants to natural gas, among other shifts in how states will be expected to comply.
However, those modifications have been far from enough to win over states that have opposed the fundamentals of the power plan; even before the rules have been formally published in the Federal Registerthere are already multiple suits by state governments seeking to overturn them, including one joint case brought by a coalition of 15 states.
Meanwhile, the final CWA standards rule, issued Aug. 5 but not yet published in the Register, has been much better-received by many state officials. It updates for the first time since 1983 obligations for states' water quality standards, which states must craft to set water quality goals for each class of waterbodies within their borders.
The agency did not make major changes to its water rule between proposal and final action, but the changes it did make were generally aimed at satisfying states' requests for more flexibility and clearer definitions on new terms and mandates -- decisions that have drawn praise from state water officials.
"The rule is a great example of this cultural and philosophical shift that we're bringing about here. It shows the movement from a model of delegated federalism to one of more cooperative or even collaborative federalism. There's much more value for the perspectives and capacities that states bring to the table," Burack said.
However, despite EPA changing the rule in response to state comments, environmentalists' and industry's requests for significant revisions were uniformly rejected. Changes sought but denied included industry groups' arguments in their comments that the rule would be unlawful if not dramatically pared back. EPA's decision to reject those revisions could signal a potential legal challenge after the rule appears in the Register.
Web Portal
While the E-Enterprise project's co-benefits are valuable for regulators, officials involved with it are preparing for a greater public focus on its technical goals as the deadline for unveiling the web portal approaches.
The site, which has been under development since 2014, is intended to provide "comprehensive" environmental information to federal, state and local regulators as well as regulated entities and the general public.
Speaking at a Sept. 1 meeting of ECOS' E-Enterprise committee, EPA's Meiburg said at the meeting that when complete the portal will allow users to access more complete data on a wide variety of topics while also reducing the burden on regulators tasked with compiling such databases.
"We can build them once and use them as many times as we all care to use them," rather than state, local and federal officials pursuing separate but partly or entirely duplicative efforts, he said.
In a Sept. 11 telephone interview with Inside EPA, Martha Rudolph -- Colorado environment chief and new ECOS president -- called E-Enterprise a major issue for states facing limited resources to support the development and maintenance of electronic systems. "We see the need to continue to pursue this because of resource issues, programs becoming more complex, because it leverages what capacity we have," she said.
In pursuit of that goal, she said, the council, which represents many state environmental agencies, is focusing on "getting results" from the various E-Enterprise projects, including field-testing a variety of technologies and sharing methods to "see what works" in making real efficiency improvements.
ECOS sees a need to "get some actions out there, show not we're not just talking about this, get efficiency measures established," she said. -
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Pope's Visit Marked by Optimism on Climate Action
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alex Nussbaum
When President Barack Obama, Pope Francis and other world leaders start gathering in New York during the next several days, they may be within reach of a goal that seemed unattainable just a few years ago—an agreement that may actually slow the pace of rising temperatures.
The Pope will address the United Nations on Sept. 25 and is expected to pick up where he left off in a June letter to the world's Catholics, making the moral argument for attacking climate change. Two days later, Obama will meet with leaders from China, Germany, France and close to 40 other nations, as he pushes for an agreement to rein in greenhouse gases.
This is a far cry from Copenhagen in 2009, when the last UN attempt at a climate pact ended in chaos and finger-pointing between developing countries and wealthier, industrialized nations. Six years later, the talks are back on track, with New York the latest stop on a road that organizers hope will end with a landmark agreement in Paris in December.
After years of diplomatic jockeying, “there finally is momentum,” said David Waskow, director of climate initiatives at the World Resources Institute, a policy research group. “The arrows are all pointing in the right direction.”
The turnaround has come amid a host of developments:
• a half-decade of increasingly irrefutable science pointing to the dangers of a warmer world;
• occurrences such as extended droughts, rising sea levels and raging forest fires
• a veritable revolution in clean energy that has offered more affordable alternatives to fossil fuels; and
• and years of diplomacy designed to bring fast-growing nations such as China and India into the fold for pollution limits.
While there are questions about whether the final deal will go far enough, policy makers are more hopeful than they have been in years.
“It is light-years different from Copenhagen,” said Nick Nuttall, a UN spokesman. “The Paris agreement will happen. Let's see how ambitious it will be, but we think it will be a good one.”
The new agreement would commit more than 190 nations to limits on heat-trapping pollution, albeit through voluntary pledges. The goal is to keep warming this century below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), the guard rail recommended by scientists for avoiding the most dangerous disruptions to the environment.
Pope Francis will be serving as a traveling campaigner for climate action. He will meet with Obama in the White House and then become the first pontiff to address the U.S. Congress on Sept. 24. A day later, he will speak to the UN General Assembly in New York before heading to Philadelphia. Throughout, he is expected to focus on the impact of climate change on the poor and the need for a global deal, said Dan Misleh, executive director of the Catholic Climate Covenant in Washington.
For Francis, “this is a justice issue,” Misleh said. “There are countries that are contributing the most of the problem and there are countries that are suffering the most of the impact, and I think he's going to try to draw the connection and say this is a global responsibility.”
$100 Billion a Year
Success is hardly assured. The talks are still far apart on key issues, including how the industrialized world will provide the $100 billion a year in climate aid it has promised to developing countries. The legal force of any agreement is still up in the air as well. The Obama administration has pushed for a less-formal agreement rather than a treaty to avoid bringing the deal before a Republican Congress that would surely work to block it.
Even if an accord is reached, it is unclear how much it can accomplish.
After Copenhagen, negotiators scrapped the idea of mandatory greenhouse gas cuts in favor of a system that lets each country pledge whatever steps it is willing to take. The idea was to make a deal more politically palatable for many countries but it leaves progress less certain, said Nigel Topping, the London-based chief executive officer of We Mean Business, a business-backed group that supports a climate deal.
“The big plus is we will have every country committing to their contribution,” Topping said. “The challenge is whether they add up to enough action.”
Warmest Year Ever
The current year is on track to be the warmest ever recorded, surpassing the mark set last year (see related story).
NASA scientists say new satellite data show sea levels are rising faster than originally predicted, with an increase of at least 3 feet (91 centimeters) “unavoidable” at this point.
More than 30 governments have submitted climate plans to the UN so far, including the world's top three greenhouse emitters—China, the U.S. and the European Union. Several developing countries where emissions are expected to grow the fastest, including India, have yet to submit their pledges, though they've promised to do so by the time of the Paris meeting.
The 28 EU nations, during a meeting in Brussels Sept. 18, said the final accord should call for a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse-gas pollution by 2050 and needs to be legally binding.
Obama's meeting with other heads of state in New York is intended to nudge the process forward. Alongside the UN sessions, banks, business leaders, cities and other parties will hold dozens of side meetings during a New York Climate Week, offering commitments to lower emissions, finance clean-energy projects and take other steps.
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EU Ministers Call for Global Greenhouse Gas Peak by 2020
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Gardner
Delegates from around the world meeting at the United Nations climate summit in Paris late this year should agree that global greenhouse gas emissions will peak no later than 2020 and will then decline to half their 1990 level by 2050, environment ministers from the European Union's 28 member states said Sept. 18.
In a common EU position adopted at a meeting in Brussels in preparation for the Nov. 30–Dec. 11 Paris climate summit, the ministers also said delegates in Paris should agree, as part of a “durable legally binding agreement,” to a rolling program of five-year reviews of countries' emissions commitments and should endorse a longer term goal of achieving worldwide “sustainable climate neutrality” by 2100.
EU climate action and energy commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete said to prevent dangerous levels of global warming, all countries should become “carbon neutral by the end of the century.”
Emissions reduction pledges, known as Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), so far made by countries ahead of the Paris conference, were “very good news” because in preparing them “countries have done serious work, approved at the highest level,” he said.
Nevertheless, it was clear that INDCs would have to be built on because current pledges fall short of the emissions cuts needed to ensure a 50 percent global cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and longer term climate neutrality, according to Cañete.
INDCs representing about 70 percent of global emissions had so far been submitted ahead of Paris, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres said Sept. 15 .
Commitments Reiterated
The EU position for Paris agreed to by the environment ministers was largely a reiteration of current EU commitments and pledges.
For example, the environment ministers repeated the EU's stated goal that developed countries should provide $100 billion a year by 2020 in finance to developing countries for climate-related expenditure.
The ministers' position of halving global emissions by 2050 compared to 1990 is equivalent to a 60 percent cut compared to 2010 levels, which the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, proposed in February as a goal for Paris (38 DEN A-5, 2/26/15).
On review periods, the ministers said the Paris agreement should “contain a dynamic five yearly mitigation ambition mechanism in which all parties should be required to either submit new or updated commitments, without falling behind previous levels of commitment, or resubmit the existing ones.”
The main new element in the environment ministers' position was the adoption of “climate neutrality” as a goal by the end of the century, rather than “decarbonization,” the term the Group of Seven industrialized countries used in a June declaration (110 DEN A-7, 6/9/15).
Carole Dieschbourg, Luxembourg's environment minister who chaired the ministers' meeting, said “climate neutrality” was stronger wording “because it is tackling all the emissions.”
Partial Welcome
Wendel Trio, director of advocacy group Climate Action Network Europe, said the EU's call for a “binding and transparent international climate regime” was welcome but had “blind spots.”
Ministers had not given “clarity on how and when the EU will increase its 2030 climate target, which does not represent its fair share of the global effort,” and had not been clear enough on how the EU would assist developing countries, Trio said.
In its INDC, the EU has promised to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent of their 1990 level by 2030.
Markus J. Beyrer, director-general of industry federation BusinessEurope, said the position the environment ministers adopted went “in the right direction,” but “a clear call for comparable efforts by major carbon emitting economies outside Europe is missing.”
Reserve Ratified
Separately, the environment ministers ratified a fix to the EU's emissions trading system (ETS), known as the market stability reserve (MSR).
The MSR is intended to combat a surplus of emissions allowances available to participants in the ETS, which has depressed the EU carbon price to a level considered too low to encourage investment to reduce emissions. The ETS covers power plants, heavy industry and some aviation.
The European Parliament voted in July to approve the MSR, which will remove allowances from the market when the surplus reaches a certain level, and reintroduce them if the surplus falls. The MSR also will absorb 900 million allowances that should have been introduced into the ETS between 2014 and 2016(131 DEN A-8, 7/9/15).
In a majority vote, the environment ministers backed the introduction of the MSR in 2019. Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Poland and Romania voted against, preferring a 2021 start date and arguing that an earlier start would unduly disrupt the ETS before its next phase, which starts in 2021.
In a statement appended to the ministers' decision to ratify the MSR, Poland questioned the legal basis on which the decision was taken. Poland said the decision could only be adopted on the basis of unanimity among EU member states.
Andrzej Celiñski, a spokesman for the Polish permanent representation to the EU, told Bloomberg BNA that Poland had not yet decided if it would “start legal actions” to have the decision reviewed.
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EU Climate Goals Set to Clash with U.S. Aims
Sep 19, 2015 | PoliticoPro
By Kalina Oroschakoff
EU ministers have signed off on the bloc’s negotiating position for global climate talks in Paris, calling for legally binding targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions to be reviewed every five years.
That sets up a potential conflict with the U.S. administration, which has been less ambitious in setting its emission cuts and is wary of the political blowback from Republicans in Congress over making the reductions binding.
But the EU, which has promised to cut its emissions by 40 percent compared to 1990 levels by 2030, is determined to push hard for an ambitious and legally binding agreement at December's COP21 climate talks in the French capital. The U.S. has pledged to cut its emissions by 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025.
The EU will push for five-year review cycles to take stock and increase ambition over time, and not allow countries to backslide on previous commitments.
“In Paris, Europe will be a deal maker, not a deal taker,” said Miguel Arias Cañete, the European commissioner for climate action and energy, after a meeting of EU environment ministers Friday.
The EU's common position wasn't reached without some friction. Poland fought a rearguard action against the more ambitious targets, arguing that it could harm the competitiveness of EU industries if the goals aren't matched by other countries.
In the end, the Poles won some wording changes, with the ministers agreeing to pursue “climate neutrality and resilience” rather than decarbonization in the second half of the century, which the Poles argue will allow for the use of technologies such as carbon capture and storage that leaves a space for traditional fuels like coal — which currently supplies almost 90 percent of Poland's electricity needs. The ministers also agreed on a long-term goal of cutting emissions by 50 percent by 2050 compared to 1990 levels, instead of an earlier proposed 60 percent of 2010 levels, which EU officials said made little real difference.
The compromises made to Poland, whose government is in a very tight election campaign, were “irrelevant but face-saving,” said an official.
“There are some countries that are very sensitive to words,” said Arias Cañete.
The EU's steps weren't enough for environmental groups, which argue that the world is doing too little to prevent a rise in global temperatures of more than 2 degrees Celsius compared to preindustrial levels, a point beyond which climate scientists warn of potentially catastrophic climate changes.
Christiana Figueres, the UN's climate chief, said in Brussels last week that the international emissions cut pledges so far on the table ahead of Paris aren't enough to stop the planet from warming by about 3 degrees.
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OMB Completes Review of Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Rule
Sep 20, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tripp Baltz
The Office of Management and Budget has completed its review of a proposed hazardous liquid pipeline rule, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said.
PHMSA Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez announced Sept. 18 the Office of Management and Budget has completed its review of the notice of proposed rulemaking, and PHMSA is now preparing it for publication in the Federal Register.
“We believe the proposed regulations will result in critical safety improvements to our hazardous liquid pipeline system and prevent incidents that can be devastating to people and the environment, and hope that the proposal will spark a robust public dialogue about pipeline safety in the U.S.,” Dominguez said during testimony at a field hearing of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in Billings, Mont.
The notice will appear in the Federal Register in the next seven days to 10 days, and PHMSA will provide additional information about its progress as it becomes available, Damon Hill, agency spokesman, told Bloomberg BNA Sept. 18. An advanced notice of proposed rulemaking was published in the Federal Register Oct. 18, 2010.
At the hearing, witnesses testified to pipeline safety successes and concerns, focusing particularly on rural areas and on incidents at river crossings. In a few weeks, PHMSA's pipeline safety programs' authorization is set to expire.
Todd Denton, president of Phillips 66 Pipeline LLC, referenced the July 2011 rupture of a 12-inch Exxon Mobil Corp. pipeline, which spilled some 63,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone River (115 DEN A-14, 6/16/15).
Denton said the liquids pipeline industry recognizes “that while relatively rare, pipeline incidents at river crossings are very real, with real impacts on the local surrounding communities.”
He said Phillips 66 has added a “large-scale effort to our already robust integrity management program in our Billings division.” The program involves surveying more than 400 crossings to verify the depth of cover and identify those prone to erosion and water channel changes, he said.
Land Movement
The effort also involves identifying and assessing “hundreds of potential land movement features that could impact our pipelines,” he said.
John Ostlund, a commissioner for Yellowstone County, Mont., said that after the Exxon spill, new pipelines “are being bored much deeper under our important waterways, and new valves have been installed with additional monitoring equipment with a focus on pipeline safety.”
Michelle Slyder, a representative for the Montana Liquid & Gas Pipeline Association, spoke to federal rules requiring pipeline operators to “deliver baseline messaging to emergency responders.”
“The MLGPA meets or exceeds these requirements by providing direct mail to both audiences on an annual basis via membership with the Pipeline Association for Public Awareness, referred to as PAPA,” she said.
In remarks made before the panel of witnesses, Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) asked questions about communication and leadership in the midst of a pipeline incident.
“In case of a spill, who's in charge, and who do we contact to make sure things are going in the right direction?” he said.
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Long-Awaited Pipeline Safety Regulations Clear White House Review
Sep 19, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Elana Schor
New proposed standards for on-shore oil pipelines are set for publication in the Federal Register within days after a White House Office of Management and Budget review that stretched for more than a year, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration announced today.
The proposed regulations have been in the works for years amid a series of high-profile oil pipeline ruptures in Michigan, Montana, and Arkansas. They will be subject to a public comment period before the agency finalizes them.
PHMSA's newly installed chief, Marie Therese Dominguez, told senators during a field hearing in Montana that the agency "hope[s] that the proposal will spark a robust public dialogue about pipeline safety in the U.S."
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DOT Kicks off Regional Forums on Nation's Long-Term Needs
Sep 18, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
The Department of Transportation today kicked off a series of regional forums to collect public feedback on a 30-year forecast of the nation's needs in roads, long-distance rail and other areas.
A draft version of the analysis, titled "Beyond Traffic," was released in February; it found that the bulk of the population growth by 2045 will take place in 11 metropolitan areas dubbed "megaregions," with pressure on their transportation systems growing apace.
The forums, which began today with a session in Sacramento, Calif., hosted by Mayor Kevin Johnson and Deputy Transportation Secretary Victor Mendez, will be held in each of those 11 areas by the end of next month. Other sites include New Orleans, Seattle and Boston, according to a DOT news release.
The Sacramento forum also involved a panel of state and local officials; input gathered from participants could find its way into the final version of the "Beyond Traffic" report, scheduled to be released next year.
"As we finalize the framework," Mendez said in the release, "we wanted to hear directly from residents who rely on and are working to improve the region's transportation system."
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Railroads Years Behind Schedule on Automating Trains
Sep 16, 2015 | The Hill - Transportation
By Keith Laing
Most major railroads are one to five years behind schedule on automating trains, which they are mandated to do by the end of the year, according to report from the Government Accountability Office that was released on Wednesday.
Railroads currently have until Dec. 31 to install an automated train navigation system known as Positive Train Control (PTC), which regulates the speed and track movements of trains.
The December deadline for automated trains on most of the nation's commuter and freight railroads was set under a law passed in the aftermath of a 2008 commuter rail crash in California.
Lawmakers have moved to extend the federal deadline for railroad companies to install PTC, but the effort stalled after a deadly Philadelphia Amtrak crash in May that killed multiple passengers.
The GAO revealed Wednesday that two-thirds of the railroads they reviewed have said they will not complete the installation of the train automation technology before the looming deadline.
"Most railroads in GAO’s review (20 of 29) estimate that they will implement positive train control (PTC) — a communications-based system designed to prevent certain types of train accidents — 1 to 5 years after the statutory deadline of December 31, 2015 (3 did not have an estimated completion date)," the GAO said in a report.
Another railroad was exempted from the requirement, while five railroads expected to meet the deadline may be affected by the fact that other railroads won't be ready.
The GAO said the "ability of these five railroads to fully operate with PTC may be affected because other railroads that operate equipment on their tracks — known as tenants — or that own tracks that they operate on — known as hosts — may not be equipped with PTC."
"In addition, the ability of railroads to meet the deadline may be affected by the interoperability of their PTC system with those of other railroads and whether they can obtain final system approval from the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)."
Supporters of moving the automated train deadline said the report showed the need for granting railroads an extension of the mandate before the end of the year.
“Passenger and freight railroads need time beyond the current deadline to finish implementation of a complex system that relies on new technology,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who is chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee.
“Failure to extend this legal deadline would create significant hardships for customers and passengers who rely on railroads," Thune continued. "Passing an extension that includes meaningful accountability for PTC implementation is the best thing Congress can do to enhance safety and avert a chaotic situation that would hurt our economy much more than the recent West Coast ports backup.”
Freight and passenger rail companies have warned Congress that they will likely have to shut down traffic on major train corridors throughout the country unless lawmakers pass an extension of the deadline this fall.
"Without an extension of the PTC deadline ... neither passenger traffic nor chemicals Americans need and use every day, such as chlorine for drinking water, will move on the Union Pacific system by the end of 2015," Union Pacific Railroad said in a post on its website.
Safety advocates have pressed the Obama administration to enforce the mandate as it was originally written, citing the deadly Amtrak crash earlier this year.
"As you know, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) first urged railroads to adopt PTC technology soon after a deadly train crash killed four in Darien, Connecticut in 1969," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote in an August letter to the Federal Railroad Administration.
"In the many decades since, this critical, life-saving technology could have prevented hundreds of other deaths and thousands of injuries," Blumenthal continued. "Railroads need to be held accountable for their deliberate or negligent failure to comply with an existing legal deadline."
Passenger-advocacy groups have pressured Congress and rail companies to figure out a way to keep trains on the tracks at the beginning of next year.
"Congress passed a law in 2008 requiring railroads to implement PTC technology with the right goals in mind: bringing the U.S. rail system in line with global best practices and prevent future accidents that cost lives," National Association of Railroad Passengers President Jim Mathews said in a statement.
"But a lack of a predictable stream of investment meant passenger railroads faced an enormous unfunded mandate," he continued. "Now, with 2016 almost upon us and the majority of America's commuter railroads unable to meet the deadline, along with the railroads that host 72 percent of the miles traveled by Amtrak trains, we're faced with a tough dilemma about how best to proceed."
The GAO said Wednesday that Congress should try to find a way to address both the safety and implementation concerns.
"GAO recommends that FRA develop a plan that outlines how the agency will hold railroads accountable for making continued progress toward the full implementation of PTC by, among other things, collecting any additional information needed to track progress of individual railroads," the group said.
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The Tech that Could’ve Stopped that Philadelphia Train Crash Won’t Be Rolled Out for Years
Sep 21, 2015 | The Washington Post
By Brian Fung
A federal audit finds that the nation's railroads are overwhelmingly behind on implementing positive train control, a safety technology experts say would have averted a deadly Amtrak derailment near Philadelphia this year that killed eight people and injured 200 others.As many as 70 percent of rail operators say they will fail to meet a key year-end deadline for deploying positive train control (PTC) on their routes, according to the Government Accountability Office. Some will miss the target by a year; others, as much as five years.
Only five railroads — SEPTA in Pennsylvania; Silicon Valley's Caltrain system; Southern California's Metrolink; Portland's TriMet; and Portland and Western Railroad — will successfully meet a legal requirement to install PTC by Dec. 31.
Positive train control works by regulating the speed of a train based on its location and the data it receives from PTC equipment embedded in the tracks or mounted nearby. Information about signal status and local speed limits can be relayed through PTC to the locomotive, which then automatically applies the brakes if the train is moving too quickly.
In the case of the Philadelphia crash, Amtrak train 188 leapt off the rails after barreling into a curve at 102 miles per hour, over twice the speed limit. Investigators said that in the moments leading up to the crash, the locomotive actually accelerated, for unexplained reasons. Had positive train control been active, the safety feature would likely have intervened, saving lives.
Even the few railroads that report being on track with PTC may face problems using the technology, GAO said.
"The ability of these five railroads to achieve full PTC implementation may be affected because other railroads they interact with may not be equipped by the deadline," the agency said in its report Wednesday. In addition, the complex business relationships between companies that all use the same tracks could pose a roadblock to progress.
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Railroads Threaten Shutdown over Automated Trains
Sep 19, 2015 | The Hill - Transportation
By Keith Laing
Rail companies are threatening to shut down passenger and freight train service at the beginning of next year if Congress does not extend a federal deadline for automating trains that most railroads say they won't be able to meet.
Railroads currently have until Dec. 31 to install an automated train navigation system known as Positive Train Control (PTC), which regulates the speed and track movements of trains. Several companies have already said they will shut down service in January 2016 to avoid fines for not meeting the deadline.Advocates for the industry in Congress have called for an extension of the deadline, but rail regulators in the Obama administration say their hands are tied unless Congress passes an extension of the mandate.
"There are many railroads that making a good faith effort and we believe have been working diligently toward PTC implementation, but the law and the statute and the deadline is very black and white and in our read does not give flexibility to railroads that are acting diligently and railroads who are not," Acting Federal Railroad Administration chief Sarah Feinberg told lawmakers this week during a confirmation hearing for her appointment to the position on a full-time basis.
The December deadline for automated trains on most of the nation's commuter and freight railroads was set under a law passed in the aftermath of a 2008 commuter rail crash in California.
Lawmakers have moved to extend the federal deadline for railroad companies to install PTC, but the effort stalled after a deadly Philadelphia Amtrak crash in May that killed multiple passengers.
A report from the General Accountability Office revealed this week that two-thirds of 29 major railroads that were reviewed have said they will not complete the installation of the train automation technology before the looming deadline.
Supporters of extending the deadline have sounded the alarm about a potential shutdown of the nation's train service as the deadline grows near.
"I believe, absent Congressional action, we will begin to see the effects of the deadline four to six weeks prior to the December 31st deadline as railroads begin to cycle traffic off their lines," Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), who is chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, said during Feinberg's confirmation hearing.
“This is a looming economic and safety disaster that is completely avoidable," he continued.
Feinberg told lawmakers she had little choice but to enforce the law they passed, even as they held the fate of her confirmation to the full-time position atop the railroad agency in their hands.
"We will enforce the law as of the deadline of Dec. 31, so on Jan. 1 we will enforce the deadline and the law," she said.
Passenger advocacy groups have pressured Congress and rail companies to figure out a way to keep trains on the tracks at the beginning of next year.
"You're 17 times more likely to be killed in a car crash than a train accident, so for Congress to allow the absence of PTC to force commuters onto highways is the ultimate case of letting the perfect get in the way of the good,” National Association of Railroad Passengers President Jim Mathews said in a statement.
The GAO has also recommended that Congress try to find a way to address both the safety and implementation concerns with the automated train deadline.
"GAO recommends that FRA develop a plan that outlines how the agency will hold railroads accountable for making continued progress toward the full implementation of PTC by, among other things, collecting any additional information needed to track progress of individual railroads," the group said.
Advocates of enforcing the automated train deadline have said an extension would let railroads off the hook for improving safety on their tracks, however.
"Any deadline extension must be granted based on need and upon proof that all efforts are being made to install PTC technology as quickly as possible," Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said in a statement after the GAO report was released.
“Many of the railroads who will not meet the deadline are now threatening to stop service and shut down the economy if the deadline isn’t pushed back—an intolerable and unacceptable position that should not be rewarded,” he continued.
Rail groups in Washington said their inability to meet the automated train deadline is not caused by a lack of effort.
"The [PTC compliance] report supports what the industry, the Federal Railroad Administration and the GAO have said in the past: significant challenges of technology, spectrum, and funding make the end of year deadline unattainable," American Public Transportation Association (APTA) President Michael Melaniphy said this week.
"These challenges still remain and APTA has shared the specific challenges commuter railroads are facing with the Senate and House Committee leaders," he continued. "We support efforts in Congress to craft an extension that would provide for the full effective interoperable implementation of this life-saving technology." -
Lawmakers Press Railroad Nominee on Safety Deadline
Sep 17, 2015 | The New York Times
By Ron Nixon
President Obama’s nominee to lead the Federal Railroad Administration faced tough questioning by lawmakers on Thursday about the rail industry’s contention that it cannot meet a year-end deadline to install a safety technology meant to keep trains from derailing.
Sarah Feinberg, 37, who was nominated by Mr. Obama in May, has been acting administrator of the agency for about nine months. During that time, there have been several train crashes attributed to excessive speeds, including in May, when an Amtrak passenger train derailed in Philadelphia, killing eight people and injuring 200.
Under questioning by a Senate panel weighing her confirmation, Ms. Feinberg said the railroad administration would enforce the 2008 law that set Dec. 31 of this year as the deadline to have railroads install the technology, known as positive train control.
“On Jan. 1, we will enforce the deadline and the law,” Ms. Feinberg said. She said the agency would work with the rail companies to help them with technical and financial challenges they face in trying to install the safety technology. But she emphasized, “We do not have the authority to extend the deadline.” That authority belongs to Congress.
The deadline to install positive train control, which dominated the questions at the hearing, has become a contentious issue. Some members of Congress have proposed pushing back the deadline. A Senate bill passed in July would extend it to 2018. But many safety advocates say the industry has known of the deadline for years and should be able to install the technology on time.
A report on Wednesday by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, found that no railroad would be able to fully install the technology by the end of the year. The investigators recommended that Congress extend the deadline. Many railroad operators say they will refuse to carry crude oil or hazardous chemicals after Jan. 1 if Congress does not do so.
At the hearing, Ms. Feinberg received tough questioning from Democrats and Republicans, who asked if the agency had contingency plans if the railroad industry did not meet the deadline.
“If you know that they aren’t going to be in compliance at the end of the year, what are you going to do?” asked Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri.
Senator Roger Wicker, Republican of Mississippi, said he and other panel members were frustrated by the “lack of a specific proposal concerning an extension.”
Ms. Feinberg was introduced at the hearing by Senator Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, whom she has known since she was a child. Mr. Manchin called Ms. Feinberg “uniquely qualified to lead the agency.”
Ms. Feinberg, a former Facebook executive and White House adviser, has dealt with several high-profile rail accidents during her tenure at the railroad administration. In addition to the Amtrak wreck, a train derailment in Oxnard, Calif., killed the engineer and injured about 30 people, and an oil train derailment in West Virginia caused the evacuation of about 100 people from their homes.
During her tenure, higher domestic oil production has caused a significant increase in the amount of crude oil traveling by rail, setting off concerns about the safety of those shipments through cities and towns.
Before she became acting administrator, Ms. Feinberg’s most relevant transportation experience was the nearly 18 months she spent as chief of staff to Anthony Foxx, the transportation secretary. Mr. Foxx, whose department oversees the railroad agency, has said that Ms. Feinberg has his full confidence.
Railroad administrators without transportation experience are not unprecedented. Recent examples include Gilbert E. Carmichael, who led the agency from 1989 to 1993 and was active in Mississippi Republican politics before he became administrator. Likewise, John H. Riley, who led the Federal Railroad Administration from 1983 to 1989, worked as a Senate aide before being appointed to lead the agency by President Ronald Reagan.
During her time as acting administrator, Ms. Feinberg has issued a crude-by-rail rule that imposes significant new safety requirements and has started a partnership with Google to integrate the railroad administration’s grade crossing data into its mapping software, allowing users to receive audio and visual alerts about railroad crossings.
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