Preview Newsletter
PM ACC 12/30/2015
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(ACC Mentioned) Polypropylene Prices Rise 2 Cents
Dec 30, 2015 | Frank Esposito
By Plastics News
North American polypropylene resin prices have ended 2015 on the upswing, climbing an average of 2 cents per pound since Dec. 1, as supplies of the material remain tight throughout the region. -
(ACC Mentioned) Mixed Results Have PVC, PS, PET Makers Looking Toward 2016
Dec 30, 2015 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American markets for PVC, polystyrene and PET bottle resin are hoping for better days in 2016. -
(ACC Mentioned) Obama Signs Ban on Microbeads in Beauty Products
Dec 30, 2015 | Environmental News Service
President Barack Obama Monday signed into law a bill phasing out the manufacture of facewash, toothpaste and shampoo containing plastic microbeads by July 1, 2017 and the sale of these products by July 1, 2018. -
FM Alert: Worker Endangerment Initiative Addresses Violations
Dec 30, 2015 | Facility Executive
A new plan to more effectively prosecute crimes that put the lives and the health of workers at risk has been developed by the Departments of Justice and Labor. -
Feds Announce $22 Million Industrial Cleanup Near LA
Dec 30, 2015 | Associated Press (in the New York Times)
The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Justice have reached a $22 million settlement to clean up a former industrial site 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. -
EPA Extends Deadline For Input On 'Exceptional' Air Rule
Dec 30, 2015 | InsideEPA
EPA is extending from Jan. 19 to Feb. 3 the deadline for public comment on its proposed modifications to its policy on when emissions associated with “exceptional” events such as dust storms or wildfires can be exempted... -
EPA's Final Brick MACT Faces Lawsuits From Industry, Advocacy Groups
Dec 30, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA's recently finalized air toxics rule for brick and clay products manufacturers faces suits from environmentalists who claim the agency is unlawfully setting weaker “health-based” emissions limits than the Clean Air Act requires... -
How the Polluter-Backed National Black Chamber Misleads Minorities
Dec 30, 2015 | Washington Post
By Martin Luther King III
For months now, the National Black Chamber of Commerce has been warning communities of color that the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan will cause job losses and generate higher energy bills.
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(ACC Mentioned) Polypropylene Prices Rise 2 Cents
Dec 30, 2015 | Frank Esposito
By Plastics News
North American polypropylene resin prices have ended 2015 on the upswing, climbing an average of 2 cents per pound since Dec. 1, as supplies of the material remain tight throughout the region.
The 2 cent hike is the third consecutive monthly price hike, following a 2 cent increase in November and a 3 cent upward move in October. These increases have reversed a trend that had seen regional PP prices fall for three straight months.
Even with these three late-year increases, regional PP prices declined by a net of 11 cents per pound in 2015. Most of that drop stems from a 10-cent January decline, which had followed a similar 10-cent drop in December 2014 as global crude oil prices were crashing.
Some North American buyers reported seeing increases of 3 cents in both November and December, but a greater number reported seeing 2 cents both months. In an email, market analyst Scott Newell said the discrepancy is because “the [PP] market isn’t moving in unison anymore.
“Processors are taking different amounts of increases and/or margin expansion depending on what kind of contract they have, what kind of pricing formulas they have, or what suppliers they are buying from,” said Newell, who is with Resin Technology Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas.
Recent production outages — combined with strong domestic demand — have limited the availability of PP throughout North America. “Polypropylene is sold out,” one buyer in the Midwest told Plastics News. “Producers have complete pricing power.”
Regional PP sales were up 5.2 percent through November, according to the American Chemistry Council in Washington. Domestic growth of 6 percent was lessened by a drop of almost 20 percent in export sales during that 11-month period.
Among individual end markets, regional PP sales into injection molded consumer and institutional products — including furniture and housewares — were up almost 11 percent through November. In that same period, regional PP sales into sheet — including thermoformed packaging sheet — surged almost 10 percent.
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(ACC Mentioned) Mixed Results Have PVC, PS, PET Makers Looking Toward 2016
Dec 30, 2015 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American markets for PVC, polystyrene and PET bottle resin are hoping for better days in 2016.
“We’ve had a pretty good in 2015 — our final [demand] numbers will be up closer to 2 percent,” said John Cullen, resins sales and marketing director at PET maker DAK Americas LLC of Charlotte, N.C. “In an 8-billion-pound market, that’s a good year for many PET makers.”
Demand for PET from carbonated soft drinks — North America’s largest PET end market — continued to slide in 2015, but fell less than 1 percent, according to Cullen. Bottled water unit growth was up 15 percent, but that translated to only a 7 percent increase in PET resin used, he added, as bottlers continued to make lighter water bottles. The average water bottle now uses only 8 grams of PET, with some using only 7 grams, according to Cullen.
DAK — along with fellow PET makers M&G Group and Nan Ya Plastics Corp. — have asked the U.S. Commerce Department and the U.S. International Trade Commission to impose anti-dumping and countervailing duties on PET imported from Canada, China, India and Oman. Early decisions in the case have favored the PET makers’ side.
A final decision on the matter is expected in April. Cullen said imports from those countries already have declined since the filing was made.
On the capacity side, more PET resin doesn’t seem to be needed, but M&G nonetheless is building a massive 2 billion pound capacity plant in Corpus Christi, Texas. That plant is set to open in 2016. Cullen said most of its output is expected to be sold into export markets.
DAK has purchased the rights to 900 million pounds of the new plant’s annual output. At the same time, DAK will reduce its own PET production capacity in 2016 by converting one of its resin lines to fiber production.
In new PET product development, Cullen said that “exciting things are happening” in bottle production in the food and beverage segment, including some applications where a high-temperature process is needed to replace traditional glass and metal cans.
DAK’s customers also have “a very positive outlook,” according to Cullen. “We see the market being good for the next few next few years, which should keep those guys busy,” he said of his firm’s customers. “They’ve got good machinery going in. They’re revitalizing the existing asset base.”
At the recent Global Plastics Summit 2015 in Chicago, IHS Chemical analyst Tison Keel said that PET overcapacity remains an issue not only in North America but worldwide, giving the global PET resin market an operating rate of only 70 percent.
“The market will continue to be challenged unless it takes shutdowns of PET capacity,” he said. “It will have to happen — it’s irrational not to take it out.”
Between 650 million and 1 billion pounds of PET capacity could exit North America after 2016, he said. Another 330 million to 550 million pounds of PET resin capacity in the region could be converted to fiber
Polystyrene
For PS, North American demand is on track to be down just over 1 percent in 2015, but Bradley Crocker, CEO of PS maker Americas Styrenics of The Woodlands, Texas, said that his firm is “very optimistic about 2016.”
“As our primary feedstock, benzene, trends down on lower priced crude, PS becomes a more economical choice for those flexible applications that can use a variety of plastic resin,” Crocker said in an email. “We expect these better economics coupled with polystyrene’s performance and ease of processing to drive demand growth in 2016.”
Some market watchers have said that North American PS could benefit in 2015 from supply tightness for polypropylene — allowing PS to retake or move into come applications.
“Applications where PP and PS overlap are plentiful, especially in food packaging,” Crocker said. “Tightness in PP obviously creates an opportunity for PS that’s reinforced by the fact that lower cost benzene disproportionately advantages PS resin vs. other resins, including PP.
“We have already seen several instances where rigid food packaging and food service products have switched back to PS from PP over the last 12 months — a trend we expect to continue throughout 2016,” Crocker said.
Although the overall North American PS market looks to be down in 2015, its leading food service/food packaging end market is showing growth — faint growth, but growth nonetheless.
“We really like the food service/food packaging segment for polystyrene,” Crocker added. “We believe demand for economical, functional, safe, and in many cases insulative food packaging will continue to grow at GDP levels on a global basis.
“Polystyrene clearly offers both functional and economic advantages when used in foam packaging,” he said. “Which is why [Americas Styrenics] patented and recently commercialized EV polystyrene resin is such a novel and significant development for this industry. EV polystyrene resin allows production of a container like a meat tray or egg carton with the same excellent properties expected from standard grades of high heat crystal polystyrene but with lower resin content by weight.”
At the customer level, Crocker said that his firm “believes the mood is pretty optimistic within both [Americas Styrenics] and our customer base.”
“We have clearly invested in this optimism with innovation and capital that improves economics, performance and sustainability of polystyrene resins,” he said. “And we have worked with our customers to take advantage of our investments to improve their business performance and long term growth potential.”
Market analyst David Barry with PetroChem Wire LLC in Houston said that PS still has its work cut out for it. PS “is making a slow but profitable retreat,” he said. “Profit margins are up, but it’s not going to pick up new market share.”
PVC
The North American PVC field had an odd year, as the construction market — PVC’s biggest consumption sector — did not rebound as expected. As a result, U.S./Canadian PVC sales are on track to be down almost 3 percent in 2015.
Sales of PVC into the domestic market fell 3 percent in the first 10 months of 2015, according to the American Chemistry Council in Washington, but export sales fell less than 2 percent, lowering the overall sales loss.
Ten-month sales into PVC’s dominant rigid pipe and tubing sector — which accounted for almost 45 percent of domestic sales — fell almost 2 percent in that period. Sales into siding and related uses provided a bright spot, growing almost 3 percent through October.
U.S. housing starts were on pace to be around 1.1 million this year, but some market watchers had expected that number to be 1.4 million or 1.6 million.
“The demographics are changing in this country,” said a source at a PVC maker. “For the 20-30 year old people, about 25 percent are living at home. Millennials are wanting to stay in the inner cities and don’t want to move to the suburbs.
“This is driving building and construction more into commercial buildings and into multi-unit homes like apartments and condos. We see a move to smaller homes. The McMansion is not as in as it once was. I think we’ll see that replacement and retrofitting is still a big market.”
Outside of home construction, the source’s company “is hoping that, as a country, [the U.S.] can move the needle on our infrastructure.
“We need to replace the old cast iron and ductile iron [pipe] product — that is terribly corroded and costly to move water through — into PVC pipe which has over a 100-year life, as well as very low break rates and the lowest cost to convey water,” the source said, adding that water in PVC pipe “doesn’t have to have chemicals added to stop corrosion from the chlorine.”
In flooring, the source said that luxury vinyl tile “is making a huge movement” in the market. PVC decking “is holding its own” and use of PVC in the automotive market also is increasing.
PVC market analyst Mark Kallman, with Resin Technology Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas, agreed that the construction market struggled in 2015 as potential home buyers “were unwilling to take on debt, even with low interest rates.”
He added that there’s “some confidence” in the North American PVC field.
There’s the potential for North American PVC demand to grow 1 to 2 percent in 2016, Kallman said, or even as high as U.S. GDP growth, expected to be 2.5 to 3 percent.
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(ACC Mentioned) Obama Signs Ban on Microbeads in Beauty Products
Dec 30, 2015 | Environmental News Service
President Barack Obama Monday signed into law a bill phasing out the manufacture of facewash, toothpaste and shampoo containing plastic microbeads by July 1, 2017 and the sale of these products by July 1, 2018.
The Microbead-Free Waters Act (H.R. 1321), introduced in the House by Congressmen Frank Pallone, a New Jersey Democrat, and Fred Upton, a Michigan Republican, and by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, and Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican in the Senate, was unanimously approved by both chambers earlier this month.
“These microbeads are tiny plastic, but make for big-time pollution,” said Upton, who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee. “As someone who grew up on Lake Michigan and represents a large chunk of Michigan coastline, I understand firsthand how important it is to maintain the beauty and integrity of our Great Lakes.”
A variety of microbeads magnified 65 times under a microscope. A standard paperclip is shown for size comparison. (Photo courtesy Plastic Free Seas)
Microbeads are minuscule scrubbers found in cleansers, body scrubs, and toothpaste. On their own, they are nearly invisible, smaller than a pinhead. But once they go down the drain, problems begin.
Plastic microbeads, designed to be washed down the drain and too small to be reliably captured by wastewater treatment facilities, pollute lakes, rivers and oceans. One tube of exfoliating facewash can contain more than 350,000 microbeads. Some 2.9 trillion microbeads are estimated to enter U.S. waterways annually.
The types of plastic most commonly used as microbeads are: polyethylene, polymethyl methacrylate, nylon polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene.
Microbeads are known to absorb pollutants and are often mistaken as food by fish and wildlife.
Once in the environment, plastic microbeads concentrate toxins such as pesticides and flame retardants on their surfaces. These toxic substances may then transfer to the tissue of fish that mistake microbeads for food. A recent study found that one-quarter of fish purchased at California markets had ingested plastic.
“The President’s signature on this legislation is a major victory for U.S. waterways and the environment,” said Congressman Pallone. “Without the ban, an estimated eight trillion plastic microbeads pollute U.S. waterways each day, threatening the environment and ultimately our health.”
Lakes Erie and Ontario have the highest concentrations of microbeads of any U.S. waters. A report by scientists from the State University of New York found Lake Erie averaged about 46,000 particles of plastic per square kilometer, compared to about 6,000 to 8,000 particles over the same area in lakes Superior and Huron and about 17,000 particles in Lake Michigan.
“Plastic microbeads are devastating to wildlife and human health, and I’m pleased our bill will now be law so we can phase them out in a way that’s fair to Ohio companies and keeps them on a level playing field with their competitors,” said Senator Portman. “Lake Erie is not only a precious natural resource, but also essential for Ohio jobs and tourism and our bill takes appropriate steps to protect this important asset for Ohio.”
Following California’s landmark microbead ban enacted earlier this year, the Microbead-Free Waters Act bans all plastic microbeads from beauty products, including those made from so-called “biodegradable plastics,” as most of them do not biodegrade in marine environments.
“Our oceans are inundated with microplastics that threaten sea birds, turtles and other marine wildlife. Now we can stop adding to the trillions of pieces already out there,” said Blake Kopcho, oceans campaigner with the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity. “This will eliminate a pointless and harmful source of plastic pollution before it ever has a chance to reach the oceans.”
This legislation is supported by the Personal Care Products Council, the Alliance for Great Lakes, the American Chemistry Council, Revlon, Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, the Plastics Industry Trade Association and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association.
Consumer Healthcare Products Association President and CEO Scott Melville said, “This legislation now puts into law CHPA members’ longstanding commitment to discontinue formulating cosmetic OTC [over the counter] products with plastic synthetic microbeads. OTC manufacturers have already begun the process of reformulating cosmetic OTCs, such as acne face washes and toothpastes, to remove plastic microbeads.”
Melville said the timeline in the legislation ensures that manufacturers have enough time to remove microbeads from these products or identify and phase in alternative options.
W.R. Grace & Co. already is offering an alternative made with odorless, tasteless, and chemically inert synthetic micronized silica. “Grace exfoliating silica gels do not bioaccumulate, are not biopersistent, and can be engineered to provide exceptional exfoliating properties,” the company said in a statement.
Other alternatives are also in the works. In June, TerraVerdae BioWorks, an industrial biotechnology company headquartered in Canada with operations in the United States and the UK, announced a line of biodegradable, natural microspheres for use in personal care and cosmetic products, as a direct replacement for plastic microbeads that are the subject of restrictive legislation.
Until the ban takes effect, avoiding products with microbeads is not difficult. Check ingredient labels for polyethylene and polypropylene.
An app has been released which allows shoppers to scan a bar code with a smartphone camera to determine if a product has microbeads.
The Beat the Microbead app is easy to use and informative. Download it for free here.
Products That Contain Plastic Microbeads:
– Aveeno Active Naturals Positively Radiant Skin Brightening Daily Scrub (Aveeno is a Johnson & Johnson brand)
– Aveeno Active Naturals Positively Ageless Resurfacing Scrub with Vitamin C
– Aveeno Active Naturals Clear Complexion Cream Cleanser
– Bath & Body Works Pure Paradise 2-in-1 Body Scrub and Wash
– Clean & Clear Advantage 3-in 1 Exfoliating Cleanser
– Clean & Clear Morning Burst Facial Scrub – Oil Free
– Clean & Clear Blackhead Eraser Scrub – Oil Free
– Clean & Clear Deep Action Exfoliating Scrub – Oil Free
– Clean & Clear Daily Pore Cleanser – Oil Free
– Clearasil Reckit Benckiser Daily Clear – Refreshing Superfruit Scrub
– Clinque Estée Lauder Companies 7 Day Scrub Cream Rinse-Off Formula
– Clinque Estée Lauder Companies Exfoliating Scrub
– CVS Pharmacy Oil-free acne scrub
– Dermalogica Clear Start – Blackhead Clearing Pore Control Scrub
– Hempz Sandalwood & Apple Herbal Body Scrub
– Kiehl’s Facial Fuel-Energizing Scrub – Skin Buffer for Men
– Kiehl’s Clearly Corrective – Skin Brightening Exfoliator
– Olay Treatment, a Procter & Gamble product
– Olay Moisturizer, a Procter & Gamble product
– Olay Prof. Exfoliating Renewal Cleanser, a Procter & Gamble product
– Rite Aid Renewal DIY Regenerating Cleanser
– Rite Aid Renewal Regenerating Micro Refining Cream
– Rite Aid Renewal Acne Body Scrub Clear
– Rite Aid Renewal Acne Wash Daily Scrub Oil-Free
– Rite Aid Renewal Bright Skin Daily Face Scrub
– Rite Aid Renewal Exfoliating Cleanser
– Up & Up (Target Brand) Exfoliating Body Wash – Pomegranate Seeds
– Up & Up (Target Brand) Blackhead Facial Scrub with Salicylic Acid
– Up & Up (Target Brand) Acne Wash Oil-Free Pink Grapefruit Foaming Scrub
– Up & Up (Target Brand) Renewing Cleanser
– Victoria’s Secret 2-in-1 Wash and Scrub
– Walgreens Blackhead Clearing ScrubToothpaste (Crest is a a Procter & Gamble brand)
– Crest Pro Health
– Crest Pro Health for Me
– Crest Sensitivity
– Crest Complete Multi Benefit
– Crest 3D White
– Crest 3D White Luxe -
FM Alert: Worker Endangerment Initiative Addresses Violations
Dec 30, 2015 | Facility Executive
A new plan to more effectively prosecute crimes that put the lives and the health of workers at risk has been developed by the Departments of Justice and Labor. Under the new plan, the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Offices will work with theDepartment of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA), and Wage and Hour Division (WHD) to investigate and prosecute worker endangerment violations.
“On an average day in America, 13 workers die on the job, thousands are injured, and 150 succumb to diseases they obtained from exposure to carcinogens and other toxic and hazardous substances while they worked,” said Deputy Attorney General Sally Quillian Yates. “Given the troubling statistics on workplace deaths and injuries, the Department of Justice is redoubling its efforts to hold accountable those who unlawfully jeopardize workers’ health and safety.”
“Safety and security in the workplace are a shared commitment. Workplace injuries and illnesses cause an enormous amount of physical, financial, and emotional hardship for workers and their families, and underscore the urgent need for employers to provide a safe workplace for their employees,” said Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Chris Lu. This “announcement demonstrates a renewed commitment by both the Department of Labor and the Department of Justice to utilize criminal prosecution as an enforcement tool to protect the health and safety of workers.”
Starting in 2014, the Departments of Justice and Labor began meetings to explore a joint effort to increase the frequency and effectiveness of criminal prosecutions of worker endangerment violations. This culminated in a decision to consolidate the authorities to pursue worker safety statutes within the Department’s Environment and Natural Resource Division’s Environmental Crimes Section.
In in a memo sent to all 93 U.S. Attorneys across the country, Deputy Attorney General Yates urged federal prosecutors to work with the Environmental Crimes Section in pursuing worker endangerment violations. The worker safety statutes generally provide for only misdemeanor penalties. However, prosecutors have now been encouraged to consider utilizing Title 18 and environmental offenses, which often occur in conjunction with worker safety crimes, to enhance penalties and increase deterrence. Statutes included in this plan are the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act), the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, and the Mine Safety and Health Act (MINE Act).
In addition to prosecuting environmental crimes, the Environment and Natural Resources Division has also been strengthening its efforts to pursue civil cases that involve worker safety violations under statutes such as the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and the Toxic Substances Control Act. Violations of a number of provisions under these statutes can have a direct impact on workers tasked with handling dangerous chemicals and other materials, cleaning up spills, and responding to hazardous releases
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Feds Announce $22 Million Industrial Cleanup Near LA
Dec 30, 2015 | Associated Press (in the New York Times)
The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of the Justice have reached a $22 million settlement to clean up a former industrial site 10 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles.
The EPA reports 40 former customers of Cooper Drum have agreed to pay $15 million to construct a groundwater treatment system and $7 million to reimburse the agency for past cleanup work at the site.
Cooper Drum reconditioned used steel drums from industrial customers from 1974 to 1992 at the 3.8 acre site in South Gate. Residual waste leaked and contaminated the soil and groundwater.
The site was placed on Superfund's National Priorities List in 2001.
EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Jared Blumenfeld says the goal of the cleanup is to protect residents from toxic chemicals.
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EPA Extends Deadline For Input On 'Exceptional' Air Rule
Dec 30, 2015 | InsideEPA
EPA is extending from Jan. 19 to Feb. 3 the deadline for public comment on its proposed modifications to its policy on when emissions associated with “exceptional” events such as dust storms or wildfires can be exempted from Clean Air Act compliance assessments, saying it will give stakeholders more time to analyze the proposal.
In a Dec. 30 Federal Register notice, the agency says the extension is “at the request of several stakeholders to allow interested parties additional time to thoroughly review and analyze the noted documents and provide meaningful comments.”
EPA’s proposal would “streamline” the existing policy to ease its implementation by states, after states complained that EPA regional offices have been slow and inconsistent in their processing of requests by states to use it. Under the policy, states can exclude air monitoring data from determinations of whether they meet federal air standards if the data were gathered during unusual events, such as wildfires, that can raise pollution levels.
The exceptional events policy is key to implementation of EPA’s tougher ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) of 70 parts per billion (ppb), issued Oct. 1. Western state air regulators have warned that “background” ozone levels, which arise from natural causes or foreign sources, can approach or exceed 70 ppb in some locations, rendering attainment of the NAAQS potentially impossible.
EPA in a recent white paper on background ozone downplays the likelihood of high background ozone levels compromising NAAQS attainment, but again offers the exceptional events policy as one regulatory tool to help states to comply.
Environmentalists, meanwhile, have expressed early concerns that the streamlining measures will in effect undermine the stringency of the NAAQS -- which they argue is already insufficiently tough.
For example, states would face an easier time demonstrating that an event qualified as exceptional because EPA proposes to eliminate a current requirement that states show they would have complied with a NAAQS “but for” the exceptional event causing high levels of pollution, which states have complained is too difficult to prove.
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EPA's Final Brick MACT Faces Lawsuits From Industry, Advocacy Groups
Dec 30, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA's recently finalized air toxics rule for brick and clay products manufacturers faces suits from environmentalists who claim the agency is unlawfully setting weaker “health-based” emissions limits than the Clean Air Act requires, and from clay and tile product makers who argue that EPA's methodology for crafting the rule is flawed.
The final maximum achievable control technology (MACT) rule for the brick and clay products manufacturing sector retains the controversial proposed health-based emissions limits for certain pollutants that the industry has lobbied for but which environmentalists oppose, setting a potential precedent for other air rules.
In a Dec. 22 lawsuit filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Sierra Club and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) ask the court to review the Oct. 26 national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP) rule. The suit gives no reasons why the rule is unlawful. However, environmentalists in their comments on the proposed brick rule, in addition to state air regulators, opposed what they say would be EPA's first-time use of Clean Air Act section 112(d)(4) health-based standards.
The health-based limits are weaker than MACT limits on toxic air emissions based on a MACT “floor,” or minimum emissions limit that would otherwise apply. EPA claims discretion under the air law to apply the health-based standards where there is a clearly identifiable safe threshold for a pollutant.
But environmentalists and state air regulators in their comments on the proposed version of the rule said that EPA has failed to demonstrate that health-based limits are appropriate and is setting a dangerous precedent by using them.
For example, the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA), representing many state and local air regulators, in comments on the Dec. 18 proposed brick MACT rule said, "We believe it is not appropriate to propose such a far-reaching and significant change in the manner in which the MACT standards are established under section 112(d) of the Clean Air Act."
NACAA continued, "While we support focusing our efforts on the greatest risks, we are concerned that EPA has not adequately established that the approaches in its proposal are the appropriate vehicles to accomplish that goal. Furthermore, a precedent-setting change of the magnitude that EPA has proposed should be discussed openly and carefully with all affected parties, rather than being buried in an individual MACT proposal."
Both NACAA and environmental groups Sierra Club and NRDC in their comments on the proposal said EPA lacked evidence that there is a safe threshold for the pollutants in question, which are hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen chloride (HCl) and chlorine. NACAA further questioned EPA's method of calculating risks based on exposure of population at the centroid of a census tract, rather than at the point closest to emission sources. And environmentalists say EPA has failed to demonstrate no cancer risk for these pollutants.
Industry's Concerns
Meanwhile, industry groups opposed to tougher regulation of the sector are also suing the agency over specific concerns they have with the rule’s provisions regulating ceramic tile and clay products.
In a suit filed with the D.C. Circuit Dec. 24, the Tile Council of North America says that EPA’s regulation of the ceramic tile sector as a source subcategory under the NESHAP is unlawful because EPA adopted “major source” limits for the sector even though there are no major sources now manufacturing ceramic tile in the United States.
Major sources are defined as those emitting 10 tons per year (tpy) or more of one HAP, or 25 tpy of a combination of HAPs, and are subject to tougher permit requirements than “area” sources emitting beneath these levels.
The suit asks the court to vacate the rule with respect to ceramic tiles. The group in March 19 comments on EPA’s proposed NESHAP says, “The Proposed NESHAP is based on hypothetical or imaginary manufacturing and air emissions control strategies, flawed data from an unvalidated stack test method, and on statistically created emissions data. EPA even proposes in places not to use actual emissions data.”
Further, “EPA proposes a first for the Clean Air Act: creation of a major source NESHAP for a subcategory that has no major sources, by EPA's own admission.”
The group says the “proposal, if finalized, would create an economic hurdle so high that no one in the industry would expand their business to the point of becoming a NESHAP major source.” The Tile Council says that the disincentive to expand will give an unfair advantage to foreign producers not subject to the same constraints.
The Brick Industry Association also filed a Dec. 23 suit over the rule.
In the clay sanitary ware sector, Kohler Company, which says it is the only manufacturer of clay products affected by the NESHAP, is suing the agency over what the company claims are several serious flaws in the methodology EPA used in crafting the rule that make it unnecessarily strict.
In a lawsuit filed Dec. 23 with the D.C. Circuit, Kohler claims that the rule “is in excess of the agency's statutory authority, goes beyond the bounds set by the United States Constitution, and otherwise is arbitrary, capricious, an abuse of discretion and not in accordance with law.” “Accordingly, Petitioner asks the Court to hold unlawful, vacate, enjoin, and set aside the rule, and to order such other relief as may be appropriate,” the suit says.
The initial filing does not outline more specific criticisms of the air toxics rule, but Kohler in March 18 commentson the proposed version of the NESHAP took issue with numerous aspects of EPA's approach for setting the rule's maximum achievable control technology (MACT) limits to curb toxic air emissions.
For example, the company said EPA should not have based the then-proposed MACT “floors,” or minimum emissions limits, on the performance of Kohler's South Carolina clay product facility when the plant was using a “wet scrubber” pollution control device that operates infrequently.
The company said it installed the control to comply with EPA’s previous clay MACT, which the D.C. Circuit subsequently vacated in a 2007 ruling. The scrubber is therefore not in normal use and not required by law, so emissions released while using it are atypical and do not represent the level of control actually “achieved in practice” as required by the air law in setting a MACT limit, Kohler said.
“Kohler Co. agrees with EPA that the ‘kiln’ in question is an existing source, but disagree[s] that the wet scrubber, which was permanently shut down and abandoned-in-place since March 2009, qualifies as part of an existing source. We agreed to test the kiln as an existing source per operational requirements in the facility’s air permit (without the wet scrubber). This was not acceptable to EPA, and EPA demanded that we restart and operate the abandoned scrubber during the kiln’s emissions testing, even though the scrubber was not required by any rule or permit, and had not been operated in 17 months,” according to the comments.
'Best Performance'
However, EPA in the final version of the rule said, “Because this source had an operational [air pollution control device, or APCD] (even though it was not being operated), we believe that testing with the APCD operating would be most representative of the source’s best performance as defined” by the Clean Air Act.
Kohler in its comments also took issue with numerous technical aspects of the proposed rule, including EPA’s testing and recordkeeping requirements, which the company says will not accurately reflect kiln performance, and also definitional issues that determine which kilns are subject to the rule.
The company opposed mercury limits in the rule, and questioned why EPA did not extend its health-based limits to more pollutants covered by the regulation. “Kohler Co. supports the proposed health-based emission limits for [hydrogen fluoride (HF)] and HCl in the proposed rule, and questions why similar limits weren’t evaluated for the other HAP being regulated (mercury and dioxin/furan)?”
The company argued, “since tunnel kilns emit only trace quantities of dioxin/furan and [mercury], Kohler Co. believes health-based limitations, rather than emission floors, may be appropriate for them as well, especially
since EPA has already documented that sanitary ware facilities emit only area source quantities of HAP.”
Again, however, EPA in the final rule opted for emission floors for mercury and dioxins/furans.
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How the Polluter-Backed National Black Chamber Misleads Minorities
Dec 30, 2015 | Washington Post
By Martin Luther King III
For months now, the National Black Chamber of Commerce has been warning communities of color that the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan will cause job losses and generate higher energy bills.
In fact, the opposite is true.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s first-ever limits on carbon pollution from power plants will create clean- energy jobs, improve public health, bring greater reliability to our electric power grid, bolster our national security, demonstrate the United States’ resolve to combat climate change and maybe even reduce our utility bills.
By limiting the emission of carbon dioxide, the Clean Power Plan also will slow a main driver of extreme weather, which has inflicted widespread economic damage and human misery, including death.
That’s what the National Black Chamber of Commerce neglects to mention.
Why? As it turns out, the money behind the chamber’s campaign comes from polluters who stand to gain if the Clean Power Plan is blocked. According to The Post, the chamber received more than $800,000 over the past decade from ExxonMobil, and among the sponsors of the group’s national conference in August were other companies that oppose strong action to combat climate change.
At the heart of the chamber’s case is a now-discredited 2014 report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that purported to analyze the then-proposed Clean Power Plan — not the actual plan the EPA advanced this summer.
That report has been widely debunked by fact checkers, including PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning independent media analysis organization, and The Post’s Fact Checker, which gave the Chamber of Commerce’s “ report’’ its worst rating for veracity: four Pinocchios.
Here’s what the Clean Power Plan will actually deliver. In addition to cutting carbon pollution nationwide by 32 percent from 2005 levels in 15 years, it will prevent up to 3,600 premature deaths and 90,000 asthma attacks in children, according to the Obama administration.
The chamber also conveniently leaves out why we must tackle climate change.
Extreme weather is on the rise and costing us dearly. Americans paid about $100 billion in 2012 alone just to clean up after extreme weather, including powerful storms, massive fires, severe floods and powerful storms.
Look at who suffered first and suffered the most after Hurricane Katrina flooded New Orleans.
It was the communities — largely African American — in low-lying areas that got hit worst when the levees broke.
Fourteen of the 15 hottest years since record-keeping began in the 1800s have occurred since 2000, according to the U.N. World Meteorological Organization. And 2015 is on course to set an all-time heat record. We all know who suffers the most during extreme waves — folks who can’t afford air conditioning in their homes.
And consider who lives closest to coal-fired power plants and is most exposed to their pollution; 39 percent of the 6 million Americans who live within 30 miles of a power plant are people of color , according to the NAACP.
No wonder polls indicate that most African Americans actually support provisions of the Clean Power Plan. Many people of color live on the front lines of environmental hazard and harm. According to a Nov. 4 poll by Green for All and the Natural Resources Defense Council, 77 percent of African Americans recognize that their community suffers a greater burden from air pollution and climate change than the population at large.
That explains why 83 percent support limiting power plant carbon pollution under the EPA plan, according to the joint poll.
The national survey also found that 66 percent believe the Clean Power Plan will foster job creation.
African Americans are not going to be fooled by any group supported by industrial polluters. They know climate change is real and that we have to do something about it. Only 3 percent believe concern about climate change is overblown.
African Americans and all people of color can benefit greatly by supporting the Clean Power Plan, which will help reduce the impacts of climate change and expand the use of clean, renewable energy from the wind and sun.
In so doing, we will join with Americans of all races in a vibrant coalition for environmental progress and justice — and secure a brighter, healthier and more prosperous future.
Martin Luther King III is co-founder of the Drum Major Institute.
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