ACC Oct 16

Industry and Association News - There are no clips to report at this time.

Chemical Management News

1. (ACC Mentioned) Powerful Lobbying Groups Want to Make Sure You Keep Using Plastic Bags

   Oct 15, 2015 | The Huffington Post - Green Blog

   By Laura Turner Seydel
   
   
   Plastic bag use has become ubiquitous in many parts of the world as a cheap and convenient means of transporting items. Meant for one-time usage, plastic bags have left a deep imprint on the planet. All over the world, countries are taking action by either banning lightweight plastic bags, charging for them or generating taxes from the stores...
2. EPA Expands ChemView Information

   Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

   Exporters and officials in countries receiving chemicals subject to the Toxic Substances Control Act's export notification requirements have access to information on those chemicals, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Oct. 15. The agency e-mailed a notice detailing new information provided through its ChemView database.
3. Intra-Party Conservation Fight Becomes New Legislative Roadblock

   Oct 15, 2015 | PoliticoPro

   By Elana Schor
   
   
   A fight over federalism is dividing Republicans in Congress. GOP lawmakers are split over the future of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a popular, bipartisan, 50-year-old program that diverts a portion of oil and gas royalties to environmental improvements.
4. EPA Rule, Private Investments Aim to Cut HFC Emissions

   Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

   By Anthony Adragna and Rebecca Kern
   
   
   President Barack Obama's administration Oct. 15 unveiled its latest series of public and private sector initiatives, including plans for two Environmental Protection Agency rules, to slash emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The centerpiece of announcement was a proposed rule (RIN 2060-AS51) that would expand Section 608...
5. EPA Moves To Prohibit More HFC Refrigerants Amid Industry Concern

   Oct 15, 2015 | InsideEPA

   By Abby Smith
   
   
   EPA is committing to initiate a rulemaking early next year under its Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program to ban additional refrigerants with a high global warming potential (GWP), a move made alongside a suite of Obama administration actions to curb hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that act as potent greenhouse gases (GHGs).
6. EPA, DOE, DOD Outline Further Efforts to Cut HFC Emissions

   Oct 15, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard

   By Alex Guillén
   
   
   The Obama administration today unveiled a suite of new initiatives to reduce hydrofluorocarbons, a potent class of greenhouse gases emitted by refrigeration, air conditioning and other industrial processes. As part of the effort, EPA will continue using its “Significant New Alternatives Program” to require viable HFC...
7. Rule Clarification Proposed on Nonhazardous Waste

   Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

   By Pat Ware
   
   
   Waste generators would be required to document when a solid waste is determined not to be hazardous under a proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule (RIN 2050-AG70), an agency official said Oct. 15. Jim O'Leary, an official in the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, said during...
8. Air Toxics Lessons for Texas from a Friendly Rival

   Oct 15, 2015 | Environmental Defense Fund

   By Elena Craft
   
   
   For all their differences, Texas and California have a few big environmental challenges in common: large populations that drive significant miles on roadways, major industry that drives economic sustainability, and the resulting air pollution. Specifically, high levels of air toxics are linked to ozone pollution, and thus associated with higher...
9. US NTP Launches Rodent Uterotrophic Database

   Oct 15, 2015 | Chemical Watch

   The US National Toxicology Program has launched a rodent uterotrophic database, as a resource for evaluating the outcome of in vitro alternative assays that measure oestrogenic activity and understanding outcome variability. The database was used to validate an approach that could use high-throughput assays and computational methods...

Chemical Security News - There are no clips to report at this time.

Transportation News - There are no clips to report at this time

Energy and Environment News

10. New California Laws Target Oil & Gas Pipelines

    Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

    By Carolyn Whetzel
    
    
    New or replacement oil pipelines near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas along California's coast must use leak detection systems and other technologies to reduce the impacts of a potential spill beginning in 2018, under legislation (A.B. 864) Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law.
11. EPA Right To Go After Methane

    Oct 15, 2015 | The Hill - Congress Blog

    By Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson
    
    
    The EPA recently proposed to reduce methane emissions from one of its largest sources -- the oil and gas industry. Methane is more than 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide in its greenhouse gas effects and as such, cutting methane emissions is critical to addressing climate change.
12. Heritage Outlines ‘Concerns' With House Energy Bill

    Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

    By Ari Natter
    
    
    Heritage Action for America has “numerous concerns” with broad House energy legislation (H.R. 8) that could be brought to the floor this month, Dan Holler, the group's communications director, told Bloomberg BNA. Among the sections the conservative group takes issue with are provisions in the bill that would...
13. House Package Draws Complaints From The Right

    Oct 15, 2015 | E&E News PM

    By Geof Koss
    
    
    After struggling to win Democratic support for energy legislation intended to be bipartisan, the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are now drawing criticism from a prominent conservative group over language in the bill. Heritage Action for America said it has "significant policy concerns" with the measure (H.R. 8)...
14. Obama Administration Announces $14.5 Million In Coal Community Grants

    Oct 15, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard

    By Darren Goode
    
    
    The Obama administration today announced $14.5 million in grants to help coal communities transition away from relying as much on the fossil fuel and to diversify their economies, while a much larger effort isn't gaining much traction in Congress. The first round of 36 planning and implementation grants under the administration's...
15. California Enacts New Energy Climate Laws

    Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

    By Carolyn Whetzel
    
    
    Bills to advance California's ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, fight regional air pollution, and encourage the recycling and composting of organic waste were among the dozens of environmental and energy-related measures that Gov. Jerry Brown enacted in the days leading up to an Oct. 11 signing deadline.
16. EPA Doesn't Anticipate Background Ozone Problems

    Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

    By Patrick Ambrosio
    
    
    The Environmental Protection Agency does not anticipate background ozone levels will be a problem during implementation of the recently revised national ozone standards, but the agency is still preparing several tools to help states address background levels, an EPA attorney said.
17. New Jersey Accelerates Energy Efficiency Adoption with this New Pilot Project

    Oct 15, 2015 | Environmental Defense Fund

    By Mary Barber
    
    
    The large-scale adoption of energy efficiency in buildings is a key to achieving a cleaner environment, lower utility bills, and more comfort for customers. But increasing private capital investment in the energy efficiency market has been a big challenge.
18. Advocates Mull Challenge To 'Suspect' Utility ELG Legacy Waste Provisions

    Oct 15, 2015 | InsideEPA

    By Lara Beaven
    
    
    Environmentalists are weighing whether to challenge what they see as legally "suspect" provisions in EPA's final effluent limitation guidelines (ELG) for power plants, faulting the rule's compliance deadline and its lack of strict limits on legacy waste streams that are stored in impoundments and will be discharged after the rule takes effect.

Full Text of Stories Below

Industry and Association News - There are no clips to report at this time.

Chemical Management News

1. (ACC Mentioned) Powerful Lobbying Groups Want to Make Sure You Keep Using Plastic Bags

   Oct 15, 2015 | The Huffington Post - Green Blog

   By Laura Turner Seydel

   Plastic bag use has become ubiquitous in many parts of the world as a cheap and convenient means of transporting items. Meant for one-time usage, plastic bags have left a deep imprint on the planet. All over the world, countries are taking action by either banning lightweight plastic bags, charging for them or generating taxes from the stores that sell them. Among the countries that have banned plastic bags outright are Rwanda, China, Taiwan and Macedonia. In the United States over 100 counties and municipalities have banned plastic bags, with California being the first to impose a statewide ban.

   However many of these important measures are in trouble in the US. California's landmark legislation is now officially on hold, with a referendum to repeal the ban added to the ballot for November 2016. Florida and Arizona have both already passed bills making the banning of plastic bags illegal. Powerful and large special interest lobbying groups are behind these "bag bans" as well as litigation aimed at already existing bans. Outside interests are funding these efforts to dissuade and dismantle local level legislation. Primary among them is the Progressive Bag Affiliates, funded by the largest plastic bag manufacturers in the country and the American Chemistry Council.

   On March 26, 2015 the Georgia House defeated Senate Bill 139, legislation prohibiting cities and towns from restricting plastic bags and other single-use items. Right up to the vote, this was a heated issue with both sides trying to garner support. I testified in opposition to the bill because I am passionate about instilling the values of reusing and recycling, as well as supporting legislation that makes good common sense. This bill did not. Take for instance the two Georgia communities where interest in these restrictions has been gaining the most steam, Athens-Clarke County and Tybee Island. Tybee Island citizens are combating the ruinous effect plastic waste has on their coastline. Not only do they depend on tourism as a mainstay of their economy but they are home to five of the world's seven species of sea turtles. Sadly, turtles ingest the plastic bags, posing significant health risks and even death. In Athens-Clarke County, citizens are struggling to meet their waste-diversion goals as landfills are filling up. These bags pose a problem not only in traditional waste environments but recycling facilities as well. Plastic bags are more difficult to recycle and can damage expensive equipment.

   Tybee Island's sea turtles ingest plastic bags thinking they are jelly fish which can lead to significant health risks. Photo courtesy of Georgia DNR

   Let's be real about plastic bags; they are non-biodegradable, cause huge build-ups of litter, endanger animals, increase our foreign dependence on oil and poison our waters. We trade all of this for mere moments of convenience. Americans use and dispose of an unfathomable 100 billion plastic bags annually and at least 12 million barrels of oil are used per year in their manufacture. Last year Tybee Island taxpayers spent $600,000 on beach cleanups and related waste management without help from the state. Nationally, only an approximate three percent of plastic bags are recycled each year. These bags can take thousands of years to break down, but due to the nature of their materials they don't really fully decompose. As such, there is a tremendous amount of one-use plastics that wash down our storm drains and into our rivers, lakes and ultimately, our oceans. Once exposed to the harsh conditions of saltwater and sun the plastics break down into smaller and smaller pieces. This oceanic plastic pollution, driven by powerful circulating currents, accumulates into five giant garbage patches, the largest, estimated to be twice the size of Texas, is in the Northern Pacific. And this is only what we can see on the surface; the amounts that lie below are much, much greater. This plastic pollution doesn't accumulate forever, rapidly fragmenting in the gyres, it is pushed outward across the planet, where it washes up on beaches or settles on the seafloor, much like smog does in the air. Here in Georgia, the impact of plastic bags is plainly evident on our beloved Chattahoochee river and the network of creeks and streams in the river basin. Carried by heavy rains, you can see hundreds of these bags in tree and shrub branches, true eyesores, too high to be reached by volunteers who participate in regularly scheduled cleanups. The good news is we are slowly waking up to this man-made crisis, with localities passing their own legislation to reduce plastic bags across the country.

   Some companies are already taking steps on their own. Whole Foods will credit you for bringing your own bags, which you can then contribute back to the many causes of the Whole Planet Foundation, my favorite being microenterprise lending to poor women. At Costco, they do not offer bags at all, although you may reuse their cardboard packing containers.

   In Georgia, we have been victorious in deterring powerful outsider groups from interfering in our local politics and stopping important legislation. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning. One of the best ways you can make a difference is by starting at home and implementing a family policy of the 4 R's -- Reuse, Reduce, Recycle and Refuse! Just refuse plastic bags and other one use throw-away items. You can also visit the Plastic Pollution Coalition and the 5 Gyres Institute websites to learn more on the threat of plastic waste.

   Return to headline | Return to top

2. EPA Expands ChemView Information

   Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

   Exporters and officials in countries receiving chemicals subject to the Toxic Substances Control Act's export notification requirements have access to information on those chemicals, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Oct. 15. The agency e-mailed a notice detailing new information provided through its ChemView database. That database contains information on more than 12,000 chemicals. Newly available information includes summarized details from substantial risk notifications the agency has received under Section 8(e) of TSCA “making this important health and safety information more easily accessible to researchers and the public,” the EPA said. ChemView is available at http://www2.epa.gov/assessing-and-managing-chemicals-under-tsca/chemview.ck'd

   Return to headline | Return to top

3. Intra-Party Conservation Fight Becomes New Legislative Roadblock

   Oct 15, 2015 | PoliticoPro

   By Elana Schor

   A fight over federalism is dividing Republicans in Congress.

   GOP lawmakers are split over the future of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a popular, bipartisan, 50-year-old program that diverts a portion of oil and gas royalties to environmental improvements. The fund's authorization expired two weeks ago, and Congress has not yet moved to reauthorize it.

   The showdown now threatens a number of other priorities. Two Republican senators facing tough reelection fights next year are holding up a bipartisan deal to overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act in a bid for leverage to reauthorize the fund, but they are running into resistance from states-rights' diehards who refuse to provide new authority without changing how the program operates to boost states' sway over the money and reduce federal land purchases. Reauthorizing the fund also has been floated as a potential bargaining chip in the ongoing debate over oil exports.

   A majority of the House is on record supporting a reauthorization, and 62 senators were set to vote yes in January — before three changed their votes at the last minute making it impossible to clear a filibuster. Normally, that would be enough, but leadership has not scheduled any vote to reauthorize the fund amid resistance from Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. That has supporters of the fund looking to hitch a ride somewhere else.

   "The real challenge is a process one," former Deputy Interior Secretary Lynn Scarlett said. "Are there other bills moving that have really large Democratic and Republican support, which are likely going to pass, and this would be a good complement [for]?"

   Scarlett, who served in the George W. Bush administration and is now managing director for public policy at The Nature Conservancy, said the LWCF should be reauthorized without changes.

   Created in 1965, the fund was authorized to accrue $900 million per year, mostly from offshore oil and gas royalties. Congress has appropriated an average of $340 million of that every year for the past decade for state and federal agencies to restore wildlife habitat, improve national parks and acquire new parcels of land, among other purposes.

   States have watched the share of the fund under their direction fall dramatically, from at least 40 percent of the funds in the first dozen years the program was around to about 12 percent over the last decade, according to the Congressional Research Service. The fund has received nearly $17 billion in appropriations since its creation, some of which has been diverted to unrelated federal programs. Critics like Bishop say changes are needed first to tip the balance back toward states.

   "This administration is misusing the fund," Bishop said in an interview, declaring himself "tired of the same old crap" and vowing to "do something big and good" to reform the conservation program. "I would like to appropriate more" for the fund, he added, "but if you're going to do it, you've got to do it in a way that solves problems."

   Lawmakers have long known that its authorization would expire this year, but Bishop has shown no urgency to propose concrete reforms. In a letter sent last week, seven days after the authorization expired, he requested a detailed inventory of properties the federal government purchased with LWCF funds, among other information he said he would need before considering LWCF legislation. Bishop has not embraced a bipartisan reform bill negotiated in the Senate that would guarantee states see a larger share of the fund.

   The Interior Department's chief appropriator, Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), acknowledged in a recent interview that he could keep funding the program even without reauthorization, but he said he is deferring to Bishop on its future. "I support" the fund, he said, "but it needs to be reformed, and I think [Bishop] is working to do that."

   Dark clouds began surrounding the fund long before its federal authorization expired on Sept. 30. Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) had filibuster-proof 62 votes to permanently green-light the fund in January when he introduced an amendment to Senate legislation to approve the Keystone XL pipeline. But three Republicans changed their votes at the last minute amid talk of resistance in the House.

   Bishop and other conservative critics lament that the fund's original mission of providing public access to recreational lands has gotten lost, and it has primarily become money for Washington to acquire new land — what he slammed as a "slush fund for Interior." Critics say the government cannot maintain the land it already has and should not be acquiring more.

   Democrats like Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva says Congress should permanently reauthorize the fund and turn it at least partly into a mandatory entitlement program freed from the annual appropriations process.

   Every House Democrat supports reauthorizing the LWCF, and 32 Republicans are either cosponsoring legislation to do so or have signed letters backing the program. That adds up to a majority of the lower chamber, Grijalva has noted. But he has not said whether the program's backers would pursue a discharge petition to secure a floor vote on the fund, a tactic that last week paid off for the first time in 13 years for supporters of the Export-Import Bank.

   “The House has an opportunity to embrace a bipartisan bill,” Grijalva said last week, slamming Bishop by name for leading a “shutdown” of the fund. Last week alone, members of the Natural Resources panel briefly boycotted one markup and used another to implore Bishop to take up a reauthorization bill.

   Bishop has dismissed his critics.

   "It's cute — they're cute," he said of Democrats. "I realize this is all PR posturing. That's why I'm not worried about it."

   As the impasse drags on, it's ensnared other energy and environmental priorities. Burr and Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), both of whom are defending their seats in 2016, are pressing for a vote on reauthorization during the upper chamber's consideration of an update to the Toxic Substances Control Act, a painstaking bipartisan compromise to reform the nation's decades-old marquee chemical safety law. That bill's sponsors are still working to head off their push.

   Burr and Ayotte have "taken the wrong hostage on this," said Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.), a chief backer of the effort to modernize the Toxic Substances Control Act.

   Some greens also want to see Burr and Ayotte find another vehicle. One approach floated in recent weeks would pair reauthorization of the fund with an end to the crude export ban, perhaps as part of a larger year-end budget deal. National Wildlife Foundation President Collin O'Mara recently called for a dialogue on a plan to mitigate the impact of unrestricted oil exports through permanent reauthorization of the conservation fund, as well as extension of renewable energy incentives and other environmentalist priorities.

   "This debate is happening," O'Mara said of the GOP's crude exports crusade and its growing number of Democratic backers. "It's up to the conservation community to decide whether they want to be a part of it."

   Elsewhere in the Senate, Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and her Democratic counterpart, Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell, hashed out a deal earlier this year aimed at ensuring the fund lives on with a boost to state-level funding and a new pot of money to fix the maintenance backlog at national parks. The agreement would address one of Bishop’s top concerns by setting a 40-percent floor for state programs’ share of the fund, the same size as the federal carve-out.

   The Murkowski-Cantwell approach also sends a significant share of its state-level funding increases to forest legacy and endangered species programs that are more federally directed, a House GOP aide said, while Bishop wants to see changes that provide states more autonomy.

   Murkowski said she has a "genuine interest" in successfully reauthorization and hopes her framework with Cantwell will become "the path forward." But she acknowledged that may be unlikely anytime soon.

   "I'm just hoping," she said, "the House can get through their leadership issues and we can get focused on some of the things in front of us."

   Return to headline | Return to top

4. EPA Rule, Private Investments Aim to Cut HFC Emissions

   Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

   By Anthony Adragna and Rebecca Kern

   President Barack Obama's administration Oct. 15 unveiled its latest series of public and private sector initiatives, including plans for two Environmental Protection Agency rules, to slash emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).

   The centerpiece of announcement was a proposed rule (RIN 2060-AS51) that would expand Section 608 of the Clean Air Act to bar the deliberate venting, release or disposal of HFCs or other non-ozone-depleting substitute refrigerants when servicing or disposing of air conditioning and refrigeration equipment.

   The EPA proposed rule—the latest action in Obama's plan to address climate change—came the same day as major private sector companies, including Dow Chemical Co., Honeywell International Inc., Johnson Controls Inc., and Target Corp. announced new commitments to slash emissions of HFCs.

   In addition, the EPA announced plans to begin a new rulemaking in 2016 under its Significant New Alternatives Policy Program (SNAP) that would change the status for certain high global warming potential HFCs to unacceptable and approve several new climate-friendly alternatives.

   HFCs are artificial chemicals mainly used in air conditioning, refrigeration and foam insulation that can be up to 10,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide in contributing to climate change. Emissions of HFCs are expected to nearly triple in the U.S. by 2030 if actions aren't taken to limit their use, the White House said in an Oct. 15 fact sheet.

   Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said at an Oct. 15 Energy Department expo on alternative coolant technologies that if the projected global use of HFCs continues around the world, this will lead to the equivalent of 1/2 degree Celsius temperature rise.

   “We've got a tough road ahead to get [global warming temperatures] down to 2 degrees [Celsius]. This is a 1/2 degree, so this is a big deal,” he said.

   Significant Emissions Reductions Touted

   The newly announced proposed rule would impose an estimated $63 million a year in compliance costs in 2014 dollars and would prevent annual emissions of greenhouse gases equivalent to 7.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, according to the EPA.

   The agency said additional provisions in the proposal would:

   • strengthen leak repair requirements;

   • establish record-keeping mandates for the disposal of appliances containing five to 50 pounds of refrigerant;

   • change the technician certification program; and

   • make the regulatory requirements easier to read.

   EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy signed the rule Oct. 15 and public comment will be accepted for 60 days following the proposal's publication. The agency said it anticipates issuing a final rule in 2016.

   Section 608 of the Clean Air Act currently prohibits “knowingly venting, releasing or disposing of refrigerants or refrigerant substitutes during the course of maintaining, servicing, repairing, or disposing of appliances” for ozone-depleting refrigerants, but the proposal also would expand those requirements to non-ozone–depleting substitute refrigerants, including HFCs

   “We need to reduce refrigerants and manage those better,” McCarthy said at the DOE event.

   Another EPA Rule Planned

   Also on Oct. 15, the EPA announced that it began a second round of rules under its Significant New Alternatives Policy Program to phase out certain HFCs when safer alternatives exist.

   McCarthy also announced at the DOE event EPA's intention to initiate a new rulemaking during the first half of 2016 that would add to the SNAP list of additional low global-warming–potential alternatives and change the status of higher global-warming–potential substances when safer options are available.

   McCarthy said the additional proposed rules will “look at what are alternatives that are already approved that we want to relook at, and get those out on the market because those are really good low global-warning–potential chemicals.”

   The agency finalized a similar rulemaking (RIN 2060-AS18) in July banning certain HFCs that chemical and equipment manufacturers previously used in aerosols, foam blowing, motor vehicle air conditioning, retail food refrigeration and vending machines (128 DEN A-4, 7/6/15).

   The Natural Resources Defense Council and the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development Oct. 6 petitioned the EPA for faster phaseout of several refrigerants and other alternatives to ozone-depleting substances (194 DEN A-3, 10/7/15).

   Private Industry Commitments

   The administration also highlighted new commitments from 14 private companies and associations to reduce global HFC emissions.

   Also, the administration referred to agreements made with 22 private companies and organizations in September 2014 which have a goal of reducing HFC emissions by the equivalent 700 million metric tons of carbon dioxide through 2025.

   “We see technologies today that make a low-carbon future possible,” McCarthy said at the DOE event.

   At a separate event on Oct. 15—the White House Industry Leader Roundtable—the Air Conditioning, Heating & Refrigeration Institute, which represents large air conditioning and refrigeration companies, said it is pledging $5 billion over the next 10 years for research and development and for investment to develop low global-warming–potential technologies.

   McCarthy, who attended the White House event, said all the companies that had committed to reducing HFC emissions in 2014 “were able to achieve the reductions that they were seeking in a tighter time frame than they promised.”

   DOE Report on Alternative Refrigerants

   Additionally, the Energy Department issued a report summarizing the results of a testing program at its Oak Ridge National Laboratory to evaluate the performance of alternative refrigerants to HFCs in mini-split air conditioning units in high ambient temperatures.

   The testing program involved international technical experts from Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Italy, Japan, Peru, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. The program discovered several alternatives to HCFC-22 and HFC-410A, two of the most common refrigerants.

   Return to headline | Return to top

5. EPA Moves To Prohibit More HFC Refrigerants Amid Industry Concern

   Oct 15, 2015 | InsideEPA

   By Abby Smith

   EPA is committing to initiate a rulemaking early next year under its Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program to ban additional refrigerants with a high global warming potential (GWP), a move made alongside a suite of Obama administration actions to curb hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that act as potent greenhouse gases (GHGs).

   In an Oct. 15 announcement, the White House also unveiled actions from the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Defense Department (DOD) aimed at research on alternative chemicals and steps to cut federal use of HFCs.

   The announcement was paired with a host of private sector commitments and a report from industry representatives on progress made since a September 2014 agreement to cut HFCs between industry and the Obama administration.

   Despite the administration's efforts to join with industry on the issue, some industry representatives remain concerned about the speed of administration actions, citing an apparent lack of coordination between EPA and DOE as the two agencies work to reduce HFC emissions and maximize energy efficiency from the sector.

   The forthcoming SNAP proposal, which EPA intends to initiate in early 2016, would build upon a July 2 finalized SNAP rule removing several high-GWP HFC refrigerants from a list of approved substances. The announcement comes just days after environmentalists formally petitioned the agency to set a phase-out schedule for a range of HFCs, though the agency did not announce which chemicals it would seek to ban and how quickly.

   David Doniger of the Natural Resources Defense Council praised the move in an Oct. 15 blog post, arguing that the commitments “give a boost to international negotiations early next month in Dubai on phasing down HFCs under the Montreal Protocol.”

   EPA also issued a new proposed rule aimed at improving the handling of refrigerants in the market, a rule the agency estimates would “further reduce enough HFC emissions in 2025 to equal 7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide,” according to a press release.

   Doniger said that proposal would “extend to HFCs a set of leak prevention and recycling requirements that now apply to other refrigerants that harm the ozone layer.”

   Together, the agencies' actions would reduce HFCs by an equivalent of 1 billion metric tons of CO2 by 2025, White House energy and climate change adviser Dan Utech said at a press event. DOE Secretary Ernest Moniz added that combined action by several countries on HFCs could reduce global warming by about half a degree Celsius, a significant amount given the international goal to limit warming to 2 degrees beyond pre-industrial levels to avoid catastrophic climate-related damage.

   EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said at the event that HFC reductions are particularly important because the chemicals are “up to 10,000 [times more potent] than carbon dioxide. So they're more dangerous for climate change.”

   She told reporters that if HFCs are not addressed, their use will “escalate tremendously. That's why if we cut this off by building the technologies that can use lower global warming potential chemicals, climate-friendly chemicals, and we make those more efficient so it saves consumers money, that curve will essentially go away at no cost to anybody.”

   The press event, during which McCarthy, Moniz and Utech spoke with industry representatives about the latest developments in HFC-reducing technologies, followed a discussion with industry where representatives gave one-year progress reports and reaffirmed commitments to HFC reductions.

   “The message is not to force reductions, but to encourage those reductions and underpin them with standards when the technologies are available. And we see transitions happening today that make a low-carbon future possible. That's what you're looking at today -- no sacrifice, no need for new sweaters, no need for dim light bulbs,” McCarthy said. She added that the demonstrated technologies show that “U.S. companies are creating that future and they will have advantages as they move forward internationally.”

   'Procedural Commitment'

   Industry representatives emerged from the discussion optimistic, but they also voiced concern about the quick pace at which the Obama administration hopes to phase out HFCs and also increase energy efficiency in the sector.

   Representatives of Johnson Controls, a major manufacturer of environmental controls, told InsideEPA/climate that they are seeking a “procedural commitment” from the two agencies that details their coordination efforts.

   “When we talk to [the agencies], they tell us they're talking to each other, but we don't have proof that they are, and they still have a very aggressive pace,” said William McQuade, director of technology, energy efficiency and the environment at Johnson Controls. He added that the White House Council on Environmental Quality has not taken many steps on such a commitment.

   But McCarthy said agencies have addressed industry concern over the timing of the rulemakings, partially through an in-depth stakeholder engagement process during development of the earlier SNAP rules.

   She noted that all the companies at the roundtable reported that they “were able to achieve the reductions that they were seeking in a tighter time frame than they promised. And they all came back to us and said that . . . because we did tremendous outreach with the industry before we proposed anything, we were able to do a phase down in the U.S. that really took advantage of chemicals and technologies that were readily available.”

   In addition, McCarthy said that industry gave EPA and DOE “high marks” for coordinating their efforts through the SNAP and appliance energy conservation standards programs.

   Despite McCarthy's remarks, industry groups have repeatedly raised concern about the lack of coordination between the two agencies, arguing that DOE finalizes appliance efficiency standards without taking into account the refrigerants that EPA is in the process of phasing out.

   The critique has surfaced in litigation over at least one DOE standard, for commercial refrigeration equipment. Industry petitioners in Zero Zone, Inc., Air-Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), et al. v. DOE et al., say the 2014 standard should be vacated, in part because they claim DOE failed to consider alternative refrigerants, despite knowing that “the two main refrigerants they were relying on were going to be banned.”

   In Sept. 30 oral arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit one industry attorney cited preliminary DOE technology documents from 2010 and 2011 that identify the refrigerant issue and argued that even though there was no official SNAP rulemaking proposal when DOE's standard was finalized, EPA was already working on a draft of its rule.

   But McCarthy says the two agencies have learned from industry, “and you will see us continuing to move forward. So people shouldn't worry that we're going to get ahead of them. What they should know is that the companies that are in the leadership position will be valued for that leadership.”

   Laura Wand, vice president at Johnson Controls, echoed McQuade's comments, saying agencies must show “transparency” in how chemicals are selected to be phased out, and “consistency of the application of that procedure so we can plan.”

   With an easy-to-understand procedure in place, it would be easier for companies to manage transitions to new chemicals and new equipment, Wand says. “We're fortunate in that we're a big company that can make investments . . . but not everybody can do that,” she said, adding, “If we're struggling with it, imagine all the smaller companies.”

   McQuade added that industry's “resources are finite” regarding compliance with EPA and DOE rules. “It's one of these things where as they assign timelines, they need to keep in mind that some of the same people are working on all these different products and we can't do it all at once,” he said.

   Other Agency Commitments

   Beyond EPA's announcement, DOE and DOD also detailed new efforts to accelerate the phase out of HFCs, including new investment in research to identify lower-GWP alternatives and actions to reduce interagency use of HFCs.

   According to the White House, DOD will make available up to $3 million over three years “to fund competitively-selected [research] projects” to examine the use of low-GWP refrigerants for military applications.

   The department also set a goal to update its existing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems in 2016 to require use of lower-GWP refrigerants acceptable under the SNAP program, and also plans to “update refrigeration systems at European commissaries to low-GWP refrigerants by 2022.”

   DOE will also take efforts to reduce HFC use at its facilities, announcing a Request for Proposal for disposing harmful chemicals like HFCs, as well as research into technologies to recycle those substances.

   In addition, Moniz announced a report summarizing results of a DOE-funded study, run by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, testing the viability of low-GWP alternative refrigerants in hot climates.

   “Up to now, there's been a concern that in very hot climates it would be hard to replace the HFCs. I believe we took a big step putting that issue to rest, and that's even before one does the engineering optimization that one sees in products like this,” Moniz said. He added that it is important to transfer the new technologies and innovation to “the Indias of the world” to avoid a “huge global climate change problem.”

   Return to headline | Return to top

6. EPA, DOE, DOD Outline Further Efforts to Cut HFC Emissions

   Oct 15, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard

   By Alex Guillén

   The Obama administration today unveiled a suite of new initiatives to reduce hydrofluorocarbons, a potent class of greenhouse gases emitted by refrigeration, air conditioning and other industrial processes.

   As part of the effort, EPA will continue using its “Significant New Alternatives Program” to require viable HFC alternatives be used in more products. EPA in July released a rule requiring HFC alternatives be used in retail refrigerators, vehicle air conditioners, vending machines and some aerosols and foams. EPA will also work to expand rules on climate-damaging HFC refrigerant management practices to ozone-depleting substances as well.

   In addition, the Energy Department has published a report giving a passing grade to HFC alternatives in air conditioners in high temperatures. DOE will also ask for suggestions on disposing of HFCs, chlorofluorocarbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons.

   The Defense Department will also use new air conditioners and refrigerators in its new DDG51 destroyers and amphibious transport dock ships, and will put up to $3 million into R&D for HFC alternatives for military applications.

   The Obama administration announced new commitments to reduce HFC emissions from Chemours, Danfoss, Dow Chemical, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, Target and other. Twenty-two companies made similar commitments in 2014.

   The announcement comes just two weeks before the U.S. will press for other nations to amend the Montreal Protocol, created to crack down on ozone layer-depleting substances, to tackle HFCs as well. Action on HFCs is also expected to help build momentum ahead of December’s Paris climate talks.

   Return to headline | Return to top

7. Rule Clarification Proposed on Nonhazardous Waste

   Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

   By Pat Ware

   Waste generators would be required to document when a solid waste is determined not to be hazardous under a proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule (RIN 2050-AG70), an agency official said Oct. 15.

   Jim O'Leary, an official in the Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, said during an EPA-sponsored webinar on a proposed rule for hazardous waste generators that the change to existing regulations is intended to manage waste more properly.

   Generators “consistently fail to make a correct hazardous waste determination,” with an estimated 10 percent to 30 percent noncompliance rate, O'Leary said. This results in “a lot of wastes not managed properly,” he said.

   The causes of improper classification range from not understanding the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act to “not even being aware of RCRA,” he said. Many states already require such documentation, he said.

   Between 353,000 and 543,000 entities that generate hazardous waste regulated by RCRA would be affected by the final rule, Kathy Lett, also an official with ORCR, said during the webinar. An estimated 34.7 million to 34.8 million tons of hazardous waste is generated annually, she said.

   The proposed rule, which would make over 60 changes to existing hazardous waste generator regulations, was signed Aug. 31 and published Sept. 25 (80 Fed. Reg. 57,918; 186 DEN A-20, 9/25/15)

   Comments on the proposed rule are due Nov. 24, but the deadline may be extended, EPA officials said.

   Provide More Flexibility

   The goals of the proposed rule are to reorganize existing regulations, some of which are over 30 years old, and make them more user-friendly, provide more flexibility for waste generators, strengthen environmental and public health protection, and clarify some components of the program, Lett said.

   In one significant change to allow more flexibility for generators, the proposed rule would allow a “conditionally exempt small quantity generator” (CESQG) to send waste to a large quantity generator owned by the same company to provide for more efficient waste management, Lett said.

   The revised rule also would replace the phrase CESQG with the phrase “very small quantity generator” (VSQG) to be more consistent with “small quantity generator” and “large quantity generator,” she said.

   Another important change would allow generators to retain their usual generator category even when an episodic event, such as when tanks are cleaned or a spill or an act of nature occurs, results in exceeding the maximum generation amount for the category, Lett said.

    

   Return to headline | Return to top

8. Air Toxics Lessons for Texas from a Friendly Rival

   Oct 15, 2015 | Environmental Defense Fund

   By Elena Craft

   For all their differences, Texas and California have a few big environmental challenges in common: large populations that drive significant miles on roadways, major industry that drives economic sustainability, and the resulting air pollution. Specifically, high levels of air toxics are linked to ozone pollution, and thus associated with higher risks of cancer and respiratory problems.

   Fortunately, California has a new study detailing successes the state has had in addressing these issues – and it contains valuable lessons for Texas. The “Ambient and Emission Trends of Toxic Air Contaminants in California” study, authored by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and published last month in Environmental Science and Technology, demonstrates how emissions and health risk have decreased due to landmark clean air standards on air toxics. Between 1990 and 2012, CARB monitored the seven most significant air toxics that are responsible for cancer risk in California and found that the state’s efforts resulted in a staggering 76 percent decline in the risk of cancer from exposure to air toxics.Air Toxics Lessons for Texas from a Friendly Rival.

   California’s success story illustrates that a state can establish meaningful standards and facilitate reduction of toxic emissions, even with population growth and significant increases in trucks and cars on the roadways – if they have the right model.

   “These impressive reductions in California’s most hazardous toxic contaminants in our air took place against a backdrop of more than two decades of steady growth in California, with a growing population, and increasing numbers of cars and trucks that used ever larger quantities of gas and diesel,” Air Resources Board Chair Mary D. Nichols said. “There is no way these improvements in public health would have occurred without a strong, well designed program to reduce public exposure to toxic air
   pollution.”

   Not only are California citizens already benefitting from decreased cancer risk and cleaner air, but cancer risk is expected to continue to decline thanks to the air toxics standards.

   California’s drop in air toxics is the direct result of many years of actions aimed at cutting diesel emissions and reducing air toxics. These efforts began in 1990 with a reformulated diesel fuel program that included roadside inspection and standards for public transportation. In 2006, California began requiring ultra-low-sulfur-diesel fuel and eventually mandated the use of diesel particulate filters on trucks in 2008 to reduce soot and other harmful particles from entering the air. Diesel particulate matter from trucks dropped 68 percent.

   Other notable harmful emissions that were significantly decreased by California’s efforts include emissions from dry-cleaners, such as per-chloroethylene and hexavalent chromium, which dropped 90 percent.

   Texas and California may not see eye to eye on every issue. But clean air is a shared goal, and the results from California’s air toxics standards leave us wondering what Texas can achieve.
   

   Return to headline | Return to top

9. US NTP Launches Rodent Uterotrophic Database

   Oct 15, 2015 | Chemical Watch

   The US National Toxicology Program has launched a rodent uterotrophic database, as a resource for evaluating the outcome of in vitro alternative assays that measure oestrogenic activity and understanding outcome variability.

   The database was used to validate an approach that could use high-throughput assays and computational methods, to replace the uterotrophic assay in the US EPA's Endocrine Disruptor Screening.

   Return to headline | Return to top

Chemical Security News - There are no clips to report at this time.

Transportation News - There are no clips to report at this time

Energy and Environment News

10. New California Laws Target Oil & Gas Pipelines

    Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

    By Carolyn Whetzel

    New or replacement oil pipelines near environmentally and ecologically sensitive areas along California's coast must use leak detection systems and other technologies to reduce the impacts of a potential spill beginning in 2018, under legislation (A.B. 864) Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law.

    A.B. 864 is one of three bills the governor signed Oct. 8 to boost oversight of pipelines in the wake of the May 19 rupture of the Plains All American Pipeline, which discharged more than 100,000 gallons of crude and petroleum along the coast north of Santa Barbara, some of it spilling into the Pacific Ocean.

    The state fire marshall has until July 1, 2017, to adopt regulations to implement the new law.

    A.B. 864 also requires pipeline operators in sensitive areas to submit plans for retrofitting existing facilities by July 1, 2018, and to complete the retrofits by Jan. 1, 2020.

    Another bill, S.B. 295, requires the state fire marshall to adopt regulations to carry out annual inspections of intrastate pipelines and the operators of those facilities within its jurisdiction beginning in 2017.

    Spill Prevention, Response

    The third measure (S.B. 414) requires California's Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) to arrange drills and exercises with the U.S. Coast Guard to conduct studies identifying the best available technologies to prevent spills or respond to them. The OSPR then has until July 1, 2018, to adopt regulations to update the Lampert-Keene-Seastrand Oil Spill Prevention and Response Act to reflect information derived from the studies.

    S.B. 414 also requires a review of scientific literature to examine the use of chemical dispersants to be used to update the California Dispersant Plan. The OSPR must submit a report to the legislature by Jan. 1, 2017, and update its regulations by July 1, 2018, to improve oil spill preparedness and response. Finally, S.B. 414 deletes a provision of state law that requires regulators to consider how much oil was cleaned up when assessing civil penalties for spills.

    Brown also signed A.B. 1420, a measure targeting gas operations and pipelines, on Oct. 8

    A.B. 1420 requires regulators at the Department of Conservation's Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources (DOGGR) to prescribe minimum standards for oil and gas production facilities, including pipelines under the state fire marshall's jurisdiction.

    Under A.B. 1420, DOGGR has until Jan. 1, 2018, to evaluate and update as needed existing regulations for all active underground gas pipelines that are four inches or less in diameter located in sensitive areas that are 10 years old or older. The new law also calls for random spot checks of facilities, a list of all pipelines in sensitive areas, and for a local health officer to take action when a gas pipeline leaks.

    Return to headline | Return to top

11. EPA Right To Go After Methane

    Oct 15, 2015 | The Hill - Congress Blog

    By Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson

    The EPA recently proposed to reduce methane emissions from one of its largest sources -- the oil and gas industry. Methane is more than 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide in its greenhouse gas effects and as such, cutting methane emissions is critical to addressing climate change. This proposal is one piece of the broader effort we need to ensure our children and grandchildren have a healthy environment and vibrant future in the face of climate change.  

    As a Texan, I know both the importance and the impact of oil and natural gas development in this country.  Our economy has relied on fossil fuels to power our manufacturing base, our transportation and agricultural sectors, and more.  And, for the foreseeable future, the country will continue to develop these resources and technologies to achieve our energy, economic, national security, and, in some cases, our environmental objectives. However, we must acknowledge that the development of any fossil fuel resource can have significant negative environmental impacts. Those impacts affect the very oceans we fish, the air we breathe, and the water we drink.  These too have real economic value that needs to be protected.  While few people get rich from clean air and water, as a former nurse I know that everyone benefits from a healthier environment.   

    Some will say that EPA regulations are killing the economy and jobs, and that this proposal won’t make any real difference in addressing climate change, and that industry and the state of Texas do not need the federal government to tell them how to protect public health and the environment.  As much as some might wish for a world where big environmental issues are addressed voluntarily by industry or through the workings of the free market, or through individual state regulations, it just does not work that way.  

    These methane regulations will not only benefit our public health and environment, but they will be a boon for industry as well. Currently, the oil and gas industry emits enough methane pollution into the air to heat more than 6 million homes each winter. Once implemented, these regulations will curb and prevent this waste, allowing the oil and gas industry to capture and sell more of its own product. 

    Tackling methane pollution will also create high-quality jobs in a growing domestic manufacturing and service sector supporting common sense and cost effective methane control technologies. States like my home state of Texas, which has the highest concentration of facilities in the country, stand to benefit from future growth associated with this industry. 

    As the ranking member of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology I have heard from countless experts about the risks associated with climate change. Record temperatures, an increase in heavy rain events, and rising seas are a few examples of what Americans are confronting now and can expect to see more frequently in the coming years. The scientific evidence shows we cannot afford to wait, but must act now if we are to stand a chance of lessening the impacts of climate change.  

    Leaders in the faith community have also been calling on us to address climate change. In his recent encyclical, Pope Francis noted that climate change “represents one of the principal challenges facing humanity” and that the poor will be disproportionately affected by its impacts. Pope Francis also stated that “there is an urgent need to develop policies so that, in the next few years, the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be drastically reduced.” 

    We need to listen to our scientists, to our religious leaders, and to the American people by supporting broad-based national policies that will cut greenhouse gas emissions, because acting on climate change is not only an environmental imperative, but both a near-term and long-term public health and economic imperative as well.

    Return to headline | Return to top

12. Heritage Outlines ‘Concerns' With House Energy Bill

    Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

    By Ari Natter

    Heritage Action for America has “numerous concerns” with broad House energy legislation (H.R. 8) that could be brought to the floor this month, Dan Holler, the group's communications director, told Bloomberg BNA.

    Among the sections the conservative group takes issue with are provisions in the bill that would extend subsidies for hydropower producers and an energy job training program, according to Holler.

    “On the campaign trail, Republican candidates are putting forward a bold energy agenda designed to fuel economic growth,” he said in an e-mail. “By contrast, H.R. 8 embraces some of the same stale thinking that has plagued America's energy policy for decades. The federal government is not capable of creating plans for the private sector to flourish and conservatives cannot pretend otherwise.”

    Complications?

    The group's hostility toward the bill could complicate its path toward passage.

    Democrats also have voiced objections to the legislation after negotiations with Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee failed, and controversial measures were added to the bill via a manager's amendment unveiled a day before the committee's markup (189 DEN A-30, 9/30/15).

    The legislation, which is supported by groups representing Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. and Range Resources Corp., is expected to be brought to the floor later this month, Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told Bloomberg BNA.

    Specifically, Heritage Action for America said it opposed a section of the bill that would extend for 10 years a $100 million program providing a 2.3 cent per kilowatt hour payment to hydroelectric producers.

    Past recipients of the program, created by energy legislation enacted in 2005, include Green Mountain Power Corp. and SAF Hydroelectric LLC, according to Energy Department data.

    The organization also opposes a section of the bill that would establish a program aimed at increasing education and training for energy and manufacturing jobs, supported by committee Democrats.

     

    Return to headline | Return to top

13. House Package Draws Complaints From The Right

    Oct 15, 2015 | E&E News PM

    By Geof Koss

    After struggling to win Democratic support for energy legislation intended to be bipartisan, the leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are now drawing criticism from a prominent conservative group over language in the bill.

    Heritage Action for America said it has "significant policy concerns" with the measure (H.R. 8), which passed the committee last month.

    Those concerns include a 10-year extension of a 1.8-cents-per-kilowatt-hour payment for qualified hydropower facilities that was created by the 2005 comprehensive energy law. Heritage Action says the extension would cost up to $100 million.

    The group also objects to Title II of the bill, which directs the Energy secretary to establish an education and training program for energy and manufacturing jobs, in consultation with industry, "to identify the areas of highest need and develop guidelines for the skills necessary to enter the workforce," according to a committee summary.

    To carry out the program, the bill also directs the secretary to "provide direct assistance" to schools, nonprofits, labor groups and "minority serving institutions." "Special consideration" is provided for outreach to companies and job trainers "preparing displaced and unemployed energy and manufacturing workers to re-enter the workforce."

    The opposition to that section stems from Heritage's skepticism over the effectiveness of federal job-training programs.

    Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler said the package falls short in addressing energy needs.

    "Republican presidential candidates understand the importance of putting forward a bold energy agenda designed to fuel economic growth," he said in a statement. "Unfortunately, this bill embraces some of the same stale thinking that has plagued America's energy policy for decades. The federal government is not capable of creating plans for the private sector to flourish. The Republican-controlled House can and should do better."

    The conservative complaints are the latest hurdle for the bill, which committee leaders from both parties spent months negotiating in an effort to break past the legislative impasse surrounding energy.

    Despite Republicans' decision to set aside more contentious energy issues from the package, just three Democrats supported the measure during last month's committee markup (E&E Daily, Oct. 1).

    During the markup, Energy and Commerce Committee ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) accused Republicans of backtracking on an earlier agreement to only include provisions agreed to by both sides, while ignoring the risks of climate change (E&E Daily, Sept. 30).

    A GOP aide on the committee said there may be changes to the bill before it arrives on the floor "due to ongoing discussions with our members."

    While Heritage Action said the bill may hit the floor as early as next week, a spokesman for Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) today said in an email that "there are no scheduling announcements at the moment."

    Return to headline | Return to top

14. Obama Administration Announces $14.5 Million In Coal Community Grants

    Oct 15, 2015 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard

    By Darren Goode

    The Obama administration today announced $14.5 million in grants to help coal communities transition away from relying as much on the fossil fuel and to diversify their economies, while a much larger effort isn't gaining much traction in Congress.

    The first round of 36 planning and implementation grants under the administration's Partnership for Opportunity and Workforce and Economic Revitalization (POWER) Initiative targets programs in 12 states and tribal nations, particularly in Kentucky.

    “This is not the final word,” Assistant Commerce Secretary for Economic Development Jay Williams said on a media conference call about the grants.

    But the Obama administration’s effort to get Congress to approve a much larger near-$10 billion proposal for next year for coal communities, workers and technology hasn’t gotten far on Capitol Hill.

    “We’ve made some progress on some of the requests for discretionary dollars,” said Jason Walsh, a senior White House economic policy adviser, said. “But some of the biggest investments” in the administration's proposed POWER+ Plan, including legacy costs for coal mining and workers and carbon capture and sequestration tax credits, “have not been addressed,” he added. “We are prepared to help them above and beyond what we’re announcing today but we need Congress to work with us.”

    The POWER Initiative grant program is led by the Commerce Department’s Economic Development Agency and also includes the Labor Department, Small Business Administration and Appalachian Regional Commission. Oct 15, 2015 1:38 PM EDT

    Return to headline | Return to top

15. California Enacts New Energy Climate Laws

    Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

    By Carolyn Whetzel

    Bills to advance California's ambitious greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, fight regional air pollution, and encourage the recycling and composting of organic waste were among the dozens of environmental and energy-related measures that Gov. Jerry Brown enacted in the days leading up to an Oct. 11 signing deadline.

    Brown signed into law S.B. 350, one the most closely watched measures (195 DEN A-16, 10/8/15) Oct. 7. S.B. 350 boosts the state's renewable energy standard, now 30 percent by 2020, to 50 percent by 2030 and aims to double the energy efficiency of existing building by the same date (195 DEN A-16, 10/8/15).

    The governor signed a related bill, A.B. 802, the next day. A.B. 802 requires the California Public Utilities Commission to clear the way for the state's investor-owned utilities to offer incentives to make existing buildings more energy-efficient and then recoup those costs through reasonable rates.

    A.B. 802 also requires utilities to maintain records on the energy use of the buildings they service. The new measure deletes a provision in existing law requiring building owners or operators disclose energy performance information upon the sale or lease the building.

    Another new law,A.B. 793 , requires retail electric and gas companies to develop incentive programs by June 30, 2016, that encourage customers to use energy management technologies.

    Alternative Fuels, Renewable Energy

    Several of the bills aim to encourage the use of alternative fuels and renewable energy and to promote the use of clean technologies.

    A.B. 1269 extended until 2021 sales and use tax exclusions for projects that promote advanced manufacturing in California, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, or curb air and water pollution and energy consumption. A.B. 199 expanded the list of eligible projects for sales and use tax exclusions to include those they process or use recycled feedstock.

    A.B. 692 requires state agencies that use vehicle fuels to buy a minimum of 3 percent in very low carbon fuels a year, beginning January 2017, and then increase the amount by 1 percent a year, as long it is feasible and the fuels perform adequately.

    A.B. 1034 encourages surface mine operators to consider the construction of renewable energy generation facilities on disturbed land, as an interim use to reclaiming mined land.

    Three other measures call on state and local agencies to assess climate risks and adaptation strategies.

    A.B. 1482 requires the Natural Resources Agency to update the state's climate adaptation plan by July 1, 2017, and then again every three years. The law also establishes a framework for the Resources Agency to coordinate climate adaptation efforts with other state agencies.

    S.B. 246 establishes an Integrated Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program to coordinate regional and local adaptation efforts with the state planning.

    By 2017, cities and counties must include climate risk assessments and adaptation strategies in general plans under S.B. 379. Local agencies that have yet to adopt a general hazard mitigation plan have until 2022.

    Other key climate bills that Brown signed into law include:

    •  A.B. 693, which creates a program to offer financial incentives to solar installations at multifamily affordable housing projects;

    •  A.B. 876, which requires county and regional agencies to include organic waste recycling facilities in existing planning to manage solid waste;

    • A.B. 1045, which requires the California Environmental Protection Agency to create policies to encourage recycling of organic waste and gives state air and water regulators and the Department of Food and Agriculture until 2017 to develop recommendations that promote organic waste processing technologies and an infrastructure;

    • A.B. 1496, which requires the California Air Resources Board to monitor high emission methane hot spots and review scientific information on the atmospheric reactivity of methane as a precursor to the formation of photochemical oxidants; and

    • A.B. 1236, which requires cities and counties to create an expedited permitting and inspection process for the installation of electric vehicle charging stations.

    A key air quality measure signed into law, S.B. 513, authorizes most regional air districts to levy motor vehicle registration fees that can be used on projects to bring the areas into attainment with federal and state air pollution standards.

     

    Return to headline | Return to top

16. EPA Doesn't Anticipate Background Ozone Problems

    Oct 16, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report

    By Patrick Ambrosio

    The Environmental Protection Agency does not anticipate background ozone levels will be a problem during implementation of the recently revised national ozone standards, but the agency is still preparing several tools to help states address background levels, an EPA attorney said.

    Many state environmental agencies, including many in the Western U.S., have expressed concern that tighter ozone standards could be more difficult, if not impossible, to meet due to high background ozone levels.

    Background ozone levels could be those linked to naturally occurring ozone and other uncontrollable sources of pollution, including pollution from Asia and Mexico and pollution caused by wildfires.

    However, Lorie Schmidt, associate general counsel at the EPA, said during an Oct. 15 webinar held by the Environmental Law Institute that an agency analysis showed that areas will not have problems meeting the new 70 parts per billion ozone standards due to background ozone.

    The EPA Oct. 1 issued a final rule (RIN 2060-AP38) to revise the national ozone standards from 75 ppb to 70 ppb, a level EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said essentially will eliminate exposures to the levels of ozone that clinical studies clearly show to be harmful (191 DEN A-1, 10/2/15).

    The agency said upon release of the final ozone decision that it expects “only a few” areas in the West will have difficulty meeting the ozone standards due to high background levels.

    Tools ‘Haven't Worked Well.'

    EPA officials have repeatedly pointed to several mechanisms under the Clean Air Act that are available to areas to ensure that they do not struggle to attain national ambient air quality standards due to uncontrollable emissions.

    However, the agency's exceptional events policy, international transportation provisions and ability to designate rural transport areas have not been effective in the past, Cindy Langworthy, counsel at Hunton & Williams LLP, said during the webinar.

    “Historically, none of these tools have worked very well,” Langworthy said.

    Schmidt said the EPA is working on several tools to help handle high background ozone levels, including a white paper to guide states through implementation issues related to background ozone levels. The agency also is working on revisions to its exceptional events rule, which allows for data associated with wildfires, stratospheric intrusions and other uncontrollable events to be excluded from consideration in assessing an area's compliance with the standards.

    The EPA expects states to be more interested in using the exceptional events rule under tighter ozone standards, Schmidt said.

    The agency told Bloomberg BNA in June that the revised exceptional events rule will address state concerns that the policy is costly and unpredictable. The agency sent proposed revisions to the White House Office of Management and Budget for review on Oct. 8 (197 DEN A-11, 10/13/15).

    To obtain an exceptional events designation, state or local air quality agencies must submit data to the EPA that establish a clear causal relationship between the event—such as a wildfire—and the recorded exceedance, that show the event wasn't reasonably controllable or preventable and that show the exceedance of an air quality standard wouldn't have happened but for the event.

    The agency recognized that states have been “unhappy” with the processing of exceptional event requests in the past, Schmidt said. One of the goals is to streamline the process for obtaining an exceptional event designation, she said.

    NRDC Critical of Standards

    John Walke, clean air director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the 2015 ozone standards will result in “far fewer” new nonattainment areas than the previous 75 ppb standards, set in 2008 under President George W. Bush.

    McCarthy told reporters during an Oct. 1 media call announcing the new ozone standards that “all but a few” areas of the country will be able to attain the 70 ppb standards by complying with existing regulations.

    Walke said that admission, combined with the much lower projected cost of the 2015 standards compared to the 2008 standards, are a “testament” to the weakness of the new standards.

    The NRDC, along with other environmental and public health groups, have been critical of the EPA's decision to set the ozone standards at 70 ppb, the weakest level within the range that the agency had proposed.

    Walke said the Obama administration standard provides even less of a margin of safety than the Bush-era ozone standards. In 2008, the EPA identified actual harm from exposures of ozone at 80 ppb and set the standards at 75 ppb to provide an adequate margin of safety.

    The EPA in 2015 concluded that clinical studies showed exposure to ozone levels of 72 ppb can be harmful to healthy, exercising adults. Walke said the agency only provided a 2 ppb cushion to serve as a margin of safety by setting the standards at 70 ppb, less than the 5 ppb margin of safety provided by the 2008 standards.

    Schmidt defended the decision to set the ozone standards at 70 ppb, a decision that she said was based on a review of new clinical studies, a renewed analysis of exposure to determine what levels of pollution people are actually exposed to and advice from independent science advisers. Schmidt said that under the 2015 ozone standards, 99.5 percent of children will not have a single annual exposure of 70 ppb ozone levels.

     

    Return to headline | Return to top

17. New Jersey Accelerates Energy Efficiency Adoption with this New Pilot Project

    Oct 15, 2015 | Environmental Defense Fund

    By Mary Barber

    The large-scale adoption of energy efficiency in buildings is a key to achieving a cleaner environment, lower utility bills, and more comfort for customers. But increasing private capital investment in the energy efficiency market has been a big challenge.

    Environmental Defense Fund’s Investor Confidence Project (ICP) addresses one specific barrier to more energy efficiency investment: the lack of trust investors and building owners have in projected energy and cost savings. ICP offers protocols that define industry best practices for energy efficiency project development and a credentialing system that provides third-party validation.

    By standardizing the process by which energy efficiency projects are developed and measured – and creating a new Investor Ready Energy Efficiency™ asset class as an end result – investors can more easily finance energy efficiency projects and have more confidence in the energy and financial savings expected from these projects.

    While many states have made great strides promoting the policies and incentives to spur private investment in energy efficiency projects, my home state of New Jersey is getting serious about it.

    The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities today approved the Investor Confidence Project (ICP) pilot with the New Jersey Clean Energy Program’s (NJCEP) Pay-for-Performance (P4P) energy efficiency program. This pilot, the first ICP state incentive program of its kind in the country, is designed to assess the benefits of adopting ICP protocols for NJCEP’s commercial projects as they seek to increase private investment for energy efficiency within the state.

    The P4P pilot introduces ICP as an alternative way for buildings to meet the pay-for-performance requirements. One of the goals of the pilot is to assemble data over three years of participation that will provide project developers and the Clean Energy Program with new information regarding project performance over an extended period of time. This information is crucial to ensuring the predicted energy and environmental benefits are actually achieved and maintained.

    Hats off to the New Jersey Office of Clean Energy, TRC (the P4P market manager), and the many Pay-for-Performance partners who over the last eighteen months worked hard to develop a P4P/ICP framework. It will inform and build upon progress in other areas of the country like Texas, Connecticut, San Francisco, and New York that are all at different stages of adopting ICP.

    We look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Board of Public Utilities and the Office of Clean Energy on energy efficiency and other cost-effective, clean energy solutions that are good for people, businesses and the environment.

    Return to headline | Return to top

18. Advocates Mull Challenge To 'Suspect' Utility ELG Legacy Waste Provisions

    Oct 15, 2015 | InsideEPA

    By Lara Beaven

    Environmentalists are weighing whether to challenge what they see as legally "suspect" provisions in EPA's final effluent limitation guidelines (ELG) for power plants, faulting the rule's compliance deadline and its lack of strict limits on legacy waste streams that are stored in impoundments and will be discharged after the rule takes effect.

    "They are certainly points we'll be considering" in deciding whether to sue the agency over the rule, says an environmentalist, while adding that "we haven't made any decision" on a potential lawsuit. Separate from the provisions that advocates are questioning, they are generally pleased with the contents of the rule.

    The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents electric utilities, says it is also still evaluating the rule. In a statement to Inside EPA, Quin Shea, EEI vice president for environment, says it appears EPA has provided "reasonable compliance schedules for the ELGs that are aligned with the compliance timelines for other rulemakings, such as the recently finalized Clean Power Plan." But Shea adds, "[S]ignificant implementation challenges remain that have the potential to create compliance challenges and increase customer costs."

    The power plant ELG is one of the last major rules in a suite of utility sector regulations crafted by EPA in recent years, including its utility air toxics rule and coal ash waste disposal regulation.

    EPA in the ELG included several provisions championed by environmentalists, including setting stringent technology standards for treating most effluent and including voluntary incentives to use alternative technology for flue gas desulfurization wastewater that would result in zero liquid discharge.

    But the agency did not set a new limit on discharges from so-called legacy wastewater from power plants that is currently stored in impoundments and discharged after the rule goes into effect.

    EPA also allowed some flexibility in when power plants must comply with new limitations in the rule that are more stringent that previously established best practicable control technology currently available (BPT) standards. These new standards do not apply until a date determined by the Clean Water Act (CWA) permitting authority that is as soon as possible beginning Nov. 1, 2018, but no later than Dec. 31, 2023.

    EPA officials said on a Sept. 30 phone call with reporters that the agency delayed the implementation dates of the ELG in order to coordinate with deadlines in the agency's Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) coal ash waste rule, which regulates coal ash as a solid rather than hazardous waste.

    In comments on the draft version of the ELG and in meetings with White House and EPA officials prior to the final rule's release, environmentalists argued that EPA must determine the best available technology economically achievable (BAT) for each legacy wastewater stream. They argued that the CWA requires the agency to establish effluent limits that reduce or eliminate discharges of pollutants regardless of when those pollutants were first generated.

    The environmental groups also argued that the "plain language" of the CWA requires compliance with ELGs within three years of a final rule. "EPA must state in the final rule that compliance is required with the new BAT requirements 'as soon as possible, but no later than three years from the effective date of the final rule,'" the comments said.

    Legacy Wastewater

    EPA said in the final rule that it decided not to establish BAT limitations for legacy wastewater based on a technology other than surface impoundments because it does not have the data to do so.

    The agency notes that the "vast majority of plants combine some of their legacy wastewater with each other and with other wastestreams, including cooling water, coal pile runoff, metal cleaning wastes, and low volume waste sources in surface impoundments. Once combined in surface impoundments, the legacy wastewater no longer has the same characteristics that it did when it was first generated."

    But the environmentalist says, "EPA doesn't have a strong basis to draw a line" between legacy wastewater and other types of wastewater. The agency is saying it can't understand the wastestreams because they are comingled, the source says, but "that's kind of an absurd line of reasoning." One of the biggest risks to water quality from power plants is leachate from impoundments, the source says.

    The issue of legacy waste is also a point of contention in pending litigation over the RCRA coal ash rule, where EPA determined it can regulate coal ash disposal sites at active power plants but not closed ones.

    Industry has signaled in non-binding statements of issues to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that it will challenge EPA's authority to regulate legacy sites at all, while environmentalists plan to attack the agency's finding that it can only regulate sites located at active power plants, rather than applying the rule to all former ash disposal sites.

    The environmentalist says the interplay between the RCRA and CWA rules creates "a confusing landscape" but adds that "some of the fog will clear" in the coming months as utilities make decisions about closing inactive coal ash surface impoundments.

    The RCRA rule goes into effect Oct. 19, and if a utility opts to stop putting new coal combustion residuals (CCR) into the surface impoundment on that date and close the impoundment, it can manage the waste site under less stringent requirements than for active impoundments. Utilities must notify EPA by Dec. 17 of their intent to close their impoundments in order to take advantage of the rules. While environmentalists are generally displeased with the coal ash rule and generally pleased with the ELG, the net result of the two rules will be an industry-wide transition away from wet storage of CCR, the source says. But there remains "one big, big gap" in regulation due to EPA's "failure to address legacy ponds," the source says.

    Return to headline | Return to top

Full Text of Stories Below