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Chemical Management News

(ACC Mentioned) Industry Calls EPA Waste Generator Rule Changes Improper, Burdensome
Jan 20, 2016 | InsideEPA
By Suzanne Yohannan

Industry groups are criticizing various facets of EPA's proposed update to regulations for hazardous waste generators, warning the changes could turn into an "improper enforcement assault" and would increase the regulatory burden on industrial parties. At the same time, the industry groups generally support EPA's objective...
Reigning in the Chemical Industry's Deadly Deceptions
Jan 20, 2016 | The Huffington Post - Blog
By Michael Green

A recent New York Times Magazine investigation revealed the history of deception by the chemical giant DuPont around its toxic Teflon chemical PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid, also called C8). The story focuses on Rob Bilott, the heroic lawyer who had previously worked for chemical companies only to become the whistleblower...

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Transportation News

Hazmat Rail Civil Penalties Up 22 Percent in 2015
Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report

The Federal Railroad Administration issued during fiscal year 2015 orders or reached agreements requiring $3.9 million in civil penalties for hazardous materials transportation laws violations, according to a report released by the agency Jan. 20. The total hazmat-related civil penalty is up approximately 22 percent from $3.2 million...

Energy and Environment News

(ACC Mentioned) EPA To Push For Restoration Of Superfund Tax On Oil
Jan 21, 2016 | Thai Social Online

There is no question that the Superfund program, first established 30 years ago to clean up sites around the country contaminated with hazardous waste, is facing a budget crunch. This Story: For 15 years, the government imposed taxes on oil and chemical companies and certain other corporations. The money went into a cleanup trust fund...
No Evidence Fracking Contaminated Wyoming Wells
Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tripp Baltz

Evidence indicates hydraulic fracturing fluids injected underground haven't risen to depths intersected by groundwater supply wells in Pavillion, Wyo., a state investigation said. “Based on an evaluation of hydraulic fracturing history, and methods used in the Pavillion Gas Field, it is unlikely that fracturing has caused any impacts to the water-supply...
Upcoming Interior Department Proposal to Pare Methane Leaks
Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy

A massive natural gas leak in Southern California that has forced thousands of residents from their homes is giving momentum to the Obama administration's plan to clamp down on methane emissions from oil and natural gas wells. The proposal, set to be unveiled by the Interior Department within days, takes aim at wells on federal and tribal...
House Dems Push Interior On Bonding Rules For Decommissioning
Jan 21, 2016 | E&E Daily News
By George Cahlink

Senior House Democrats yesterday called on the Interior Department to finalize new financial bonding standards for offshore drilling and gas platform operators, warning that without them the government may be liable for billions of dollars in decommissioning costs.
Pennsylvania Targets New, Old Wells to Cut Methane
Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Leslie A. Pappas

Pennsylvania intends to become a national leader in reducing methane emissions from oil and gas development and has begun to formulate new regulations to cut methane emissions in the commonwealth by 40 percent, environmental regulators said Jan. 20. “When it comes to air emissions from unconventional...
Advocates Seek Broader EPA Methane Drilling NSPS, Eye Existing Sources
Jan 20, 2016 | InsideEPA
By Amanda Palleschi

EPA is asking its financial advisors to help the agency identify new sources of financing for water infrastructure predevelopment activities, such as environmental and other analyses, as well as intrastructure repair projects, with the agency asking the advisors to compare the use of traditional state revolving fund (SRF) money with other resources.
Southern California Panel Postpones Decision on Gas Leak
Jan 21, 2016 | Bloomberg
By Carolyn Whetzel

A quasi-judicial panel Jan. 20 postponed a decision on a proposed order to address the ongoing leak at Southern California Gas Co.'s underground natural gas storage field near Los Angeles. Drafted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the stipulated order of abatement would require the utility ...
Calls For Federal Role In California, Michigan Could Undercut EPA's Critics
Jan 20, 2016 | InsideEPA
By David LaRoss

Environmentalists are urging EPA to ramp up oversight of drinking water and natural gas drilling operations in response to the ongoing water crisis in Flint, MI, and a methane leak from a California drilling site, claiming the incidents show the need for strong agency oversight and help to undercut EPA's critics' calls to rein in the agency.
Energy Bill Expected on Senate Floor Next Week: Murkowski
Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Ari Natter

A broad energy bill that includes language to expedite the federal approval process for liquefied natural gas exports is expected to be brought to the floor “first thing” the week of Jan. 25, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told reporters Jan. 20.
House Energy Panel Targets EPA Emissions Rules
Jan 20, 2016 | InsideEPA

The House Energy & Commerce Committee's energy and power panel will hold a hearing Jan. 26 to debate two Republican bills aimed at easing and delaying the impact of EPA regulations on coal waste-burning utilities and the brick manufacturing industry, which GOP lawmakers say are “overly burdensome” regulations.
Senate Energy Bill May Offer New Opportunities For Controversial Amendment Votes
Jan 20, 2016 | PoliticoPro
By Darren Goode

The Senate next week will try to pass a major overhaul of U.S. energy policy for the first time since 2007, but first it may have to sort through amendments on controversial issues such as fracking, coal leasing or climate change. The 424-page energy bill starts on strong bipartisan footing, and Senate leaders say they hope to keep it that way.
Senate Likely To Take Up Energy Reform Bill Next Week
Jan 20, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama

The full Senate will likely start debating a wide-ranging energy bill next week that could include a vote on President Obama’s moratorium on federal coal-mining leases. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the bill in July as an attempt at the first broad energy reform legislation in nine years.The bipartisan bill came ...
FERC Offers Guidance on Clean Power Plan Modeling
Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rebecca Kern

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued guiding principles in a white paper to help regional transmission entities, electric utilities and other stakeholders as they analyze state and federal efforts to comply with the Clean Power Plan. The white paper, released Jan. 19, aims to provide a consistent...
Flint Mayor Tells Obama More Money Needed for Water Crisis
Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Ware

The mayor of Flint, Mich., told reporters Jan. 20 she met with President Barack Obama Jan. 19 and told him more federal funding would be needed to manage the city's lead-contaminated water. At the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Karen Weaver said that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) would be meeting with Obama soon...
Mich. Governor Appeals White House Major Disaster Denial
Jan 20, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Sam Pearson

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is appealing the White House's denial of his request for a federal major disaster declaration amid the ongoing drinking water crisis in the city of Flint. Snyder filed the challenge with the Federal Emergency Management Agency today, his office said.
Senate Will Vote To Override Obama’s Veto On Water Rule
Jan 20, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama

The Senate will vote Thursday on a long-shot effort to override President Obama’s veto that preserved his contentious water pollution rule. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) filed for the vote Wednesday, less than a day after Obama announced that he had vetoed the GOP’s attempt to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency...
Senate Republicans Try To Override Veto
Jan 20, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Tiffany Stecker

The Senate will seek to override President Obama's veto of a resolution to block his administration's contentious Clean Water Act jurisdiction rule tomorrow morning. S.J. Res. 22 would prevent U.S. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the so-called Clean Water Rule, better known as the Waters of the U.S. rule or WOTUS.
Mayors' Draft Bill Offers Integrated Water Act Permits
Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Amena H. Saiyid

Legislation drafted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors would authorize the use of integrated Clean Water Act permits that can have more than one regulatory requirement and will allow dischargers to meet water quality goals more efficiently and economically. Released Jan. 20 at the Mayors Water Council, the draft Water Quality...

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Chemical Management News

(ACC Mentioned) Industry Calls EPA Waste Generator Rule Changes Improper, Burdensome

Jan 20, 2016 | InsideEPA

By Suzanne Yohannan

Industry groups are criticizing various facets of EPA's proposed update to regulations for hazardous waste generators, warning the changes could turn into an "improper enforcement assault" and would increase the regulatory burden on industrial parties.
At the same time, the industry groups generally support EPA's objective to clarify and consolidate requirements for hazardous waste generators.
Comments from environmentalists generally are calling on EPA to tighten the rule and explain its proposed "deregulation" of hundreds of thousands of tons of hazardous waste annually.
EPA closed the comment period Dec. 24 on its Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) proposed hazardous waste generator improvements rule. The rule proposes to make over 60 changes to its current regulations for generators, designed to improve the effectiveness of, and compliance with, the hazardous waste generator program.
The proposed changes stem from problems identified in 2004 and 2013 EPA evaluations of the hazardous waste generator program. The revisions also address responses to a 2014 notice of data availability that EPA issued on the retail sector asking for comment on hazardous waste management practices in that sector and on challenges they face in complying with RCRA, the rule's preamble says (Inside EPA, May 2, 2014).
Among the proposed changes are replacing the phrase "conditionally exempt small quantity generator" (CESQG) with the phrase "very small quantity generator" (VSQG) so as to be consistent with the other two generator categories -- large quantity generators (LQGs) and small quantity generators (SQGs). Additionally the agency is proposing to allow CESQGs to send hazardous waste to an LQG that is under the control of the same person.
The proposal would also allow companies to maintain their smaller generator status if they have an episodic generation of waste that exceeds the small quantity limits.
While some measures, such as the episodic events are drawing support from industry, the sector is objecting to a number of other provisions.
A host of industry groups calling themselves "Industrial Generators" -- including the American Chemistry Council, American Forest & Paper Association, The Fertilizer Institute, among others -- says in Dec. 23 comments that the agency is using the proposed rule -- which it says is intended to reorganize and clarify existing regulations -- to instead "impose new burdensome requirements on hazardous waste generators."
Industrial Generators further say that "Unfortunately, in this proposed rule, EPA would expand and extend the generator rules in many significant ways without fully considering the cumulative burden that will be placed on generators from these additional rules."
And the National Mining Association (NMA) in Dec. 22 comments says it is "concerned that in its zeal to improve the generator rules EPA is proposing solutions to problems that do not actually exist and is overstepping its statutory obligations."
Retail sector groups including the Retail Industry Leaders Association remark in Dec. 23 comments that while a small portion of the proposed rule "would offer a small measure of regulatory relief to a small number of retailers, other portions of the proposal would actually increase significantly the regulatory burdens on virtually the entire retail industry." Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA.com. (Doc. ID: 188080)
One key measure drawing significant opposition among some industry groups is proposed language "that would cause a generator that fails to comply with any one of the many 'Conditions for Exemption' for its generator status to default to being 'an illegal [treatment, storage and disposal facility (TSDF)]' that 'becomes subject to full regulation,'" and would be viewed as a TSDF without a permit and in violation of storage standards, the Industrial Generators say, referencing the proposal.
EPA says that a VSQG, SQG or LQG violating any "condition for exemption" would now "be subject to all of the requirements that apply to a higher level generator or even to a TSDF that should have a RCRA permit, and that the generator can be penalized for violations of each one of those requirements with which it does not comply," the comments say.
This approach is "illegal because it is based on a premise that is contrary to the statute and congressional intent," as RCRA is clear it never intended to apply permitting to generators, they say.
The retail associations say in their comments that this measure would "unlawfully erase the fundamental statutory distinction between generators and TSDFs, and would be barred by the constitutional prohibition on 'grossly disproportionate' penalties for noncompliance."
And NMA, in commenting on this issue, warns against the agency turning its aim at regulatory clarity "into an improper enforcement assault on regulated stakeholders for minor regulatory violations." NMA explains that the conditions for exempting certain categories of generators from full-blown regulation as TSDFs "relate to the differences in risks present at these types of facilities because of the amount of hazardous waste generated and accumulated on site per month." Therefore, "it is imperative that EPA not simply assume that a CESQG, SQG, or even a LQG is purposefully evading regulation as a TSDF because it has violated a minor requirement that is more akin to a paperwork exercise (i.e., recordkeeping . . .) with no consequence to the environment or public health."
The proposal "would expose small, ostensibly-exempt facilities to an onslaught of criminal and civil liabilities the moment they suffered any lapse in compliance," NMA says.
Other provisions drawing concern among industry parties are measures related to waste determinations. For instance regarding recordkeeping for non-hazardous waste determinations, the retail associations say EPA lacks legal authority to require generators to keep records of determinations that wastes are non-hazardous. EPA claims minimal costs stemming from this proposal, but "the costs to the retail industry alone could very well be in the hundreds of millions of dollars in the first year alone," the retailers say.
Industry is also taking issue with other aspects of the waste determination changes, including that hazardous waste determinations be made at the initial point of generation and during management if the waste properties change in that time, and the addition of new language requiring that waste determinations be 'accurate." This latter requirement "is unnecessary, impermissibly vague, and potentially environmentally counterproductive (to the extent that it would discourage generators from being conservative in classifying their wastes)," the retailers say.
Industrial companies and trade groups that comprise the Federal Recycling and Remediation Coalition (FRRC), among many other criticisms, also point out concerns in Dec. 23 comments over provisions in the new rule for satellite accumulation areas (SAAs) that it says "erode away the original intent and purpose of establishing separate SAA requirements." Specifically, they undermine the view that SAAs be considered areas with low volumes of waste managed by operators such that less cumbersome management standards are appropriate, FRRC says.
Industry groups are generally supportive of some measures EPA is making such as its allowance for an increase in the generation of hazardous waste stemming from an episodic event without causing the generator to bump up in generator status. But some say additional modifications are needed, and the retail associations go so far as to say the measure "largely misses the mark." They say retailers generate most wastes in small quantities over a month and do not know when unusually large quantities will occur.
EPA "should allow retailers to determine their generator status based on their average generation rates over time," they say.
Earthjustice, on behalf of Sierra Club, filed Dec. 24 comments calling for EPA to tighten the rule. In particular, they say the agency should strengthen requirements that apply to CESQGs. The agency should "revoke unlawful and arbitrary provisions allowing CESQGs to treat, store, or dispose of their hazardous wastes at non-hazardous waste sites," they say. These allowances circumvent RCRA's "cradle-to-grave" hazardous waste management requirements and Clean Air Act rules, they say, and are "inconsistent with EPA's own stated goal of improving environmental protection at CESQG sites through this rulemaking."
Further, they say even if EPA believes it can exempt very small quantity generators from hazardous waste requirements for generators, "it does not follow that wastes can also be excused from distinct Subtitle C transportation, storage, treatment, and disposal requirements." The agency "must explain its rationale for allowing such 'cradle to grave' deregulation of hundreds of thousands of tons of hazardous wastes per year . . ., and how these allowances are protective of human health and the environment," particularly since EPA lacks data about CESQGs, the environmental groups charge.

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Reigning in the Chemical Industry's Deadly Deceptions

Jan 20, 2016 | The Huffington Post - Blog

By Michael Green

A recent New York Times Magazine investigation revealed the history of deception by the chemical giant DuPont around its toxic Teflon chemical PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid, also called C8). The story focuses on Rob Bilott, the heroic lawyer who had previously worked for chemical companies only to become the whistleblower who took on DuPont for its lengthy history of pollution.
The story begins at a West Virginia farm where DuPont had been dumping PFOA for years. In the fall of 2000, after DuPont refused to hand over its records, Bilott asked the court to order the company to do so. When he ultimately received the documents, Bilott found a smoking gun: DuPont's internal documents showed that the company had been covering up its knowledge of the health risks from PFOAs for nearly 40 years.
Over decades, DuPont continued to market dangerous products made with PFOA -- and continued to dump PFOA-laden waste, not only on the farm but also in areas that ultimately poisoned the drinking water for 70,000 people. Products with PFOAs were worth $1 billion in annual profits to DuPont, until the company finally agreed to stop producing the chemical in 2013. Today, DuPont has spun off its chemical business, which now operates as a "new" independent company called Chemours.
As a New York Times editorial noted, Congress is currently considering proposals to change the federal government's failure to regulate harmful chemicals. The Times called on Congress to adopt "the strongest possible reform." But reigning in the egregious behavior of chemical companies that have more than a century of experience in gaming the system to their advantage will not be easy. Congress has an opportunity to reign in corporate abuses with its new draft chemical safety bills (having moved through both chambers), but this can only happen if states retain the power to protect citizens.
States have historically been ahead of the federal government when it comes to protecting Americans from harmful chemicals. For example, in 1986, California voters overwhelmingly approved the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, commonly known as Prop 65. This law has created landmark public health gains that have created national changes for chemical safety. Under Prop 65, our organization has reached legal agreements with hundreds of major companies, including Disney, Target, Chrysler and others that have taken national action to end sales of toxic products. Prop 65 has ended the use arsenic-treated wood in playground equipment, eliminated the use of cancer-causing flame retardant chemicals in furniture and stopped companies from selling baby bibs, lunchboxes, toys and dozens of other children's products made with lead-tainted materials.
Reading the Times story on DuPont may be shocking to those who are not familiar with the chemical industry's history. But sadly, the DuPont case around PFOA is simply the latest repetition of the industry's tried-and-true tactics.
Take the case of the chemical company Ciba, a history documented in the recent Pulitzer Prize winning book Toms River (you can hear our talk with author Dan Fagin on the CEH podcast). After its dye factory polluted the drinking water in the New Jersey town of Toms River for decades, the company's cover-up came to light when lawsuits uncovered internal documents showing that Ciba (later Ciba-Geigy) had long known about the potential health risks from its polluting operations, but chose to put its profits above public health. Ciba ultimately merged with Sandoz to form a "new" company, Novartis, which ultimately spun off its chemicals division into the "new" company Syngenta.
Or take a look at the chemical company Monsanto and its factory in the town of Anniston, Alabama. Monsanto produced PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) there for decades, routinely discharging PCB-laden toxic waste into a local creek and dumping millions of pounds of PCBs into open-pit landfills. As a Washington Post investigation notes, "...[T]housands of pages of Monsanto documents -- many emblazoned with warnings such as "CONFIDENTIAL: Read and Destroy" -- show that for decades, the corporate giant concealed what it did and what it knew" about the health risks from PCBs.
Monsanto was even more blunt than other companies about putting profits ahead of human health: the company feared that revealing what it knew about the health threats from PCBs would be costly, with one internal company document noting that "We can't afford to lose one dollar of business."

Can you guess what happened with Monsanto's chemical business? That's right, a spin off was created, founding the "new" chemical company Solutia.
Chemicals like PFOA, dye chemicals and PCBs are, as the Times story noted, just a few of the "more than 60,000 synthetic chemicals that companies produced and released into the world without regulatory oversight." You probably wouldn't buy a car if you found out the automaker never conducted government-required crash tests, but every day we all use products made with chemicals that have never been evaluated for their potential to harm our or our children's health.
In creating a new federal rule, Congress must not pre-empt successful state laws like Prop 65 that all Americans count on for our children's and families' protection. Readers can urge your Senators and Congress members to insure that states' rights to develop their own chemical regulations are protected in any new chemical safety bill.

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

Transportation News

Hazmat Rail Civil Penalties Up 22 Percent in 2015

Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report

The Federal Railroad Administration issued during fiscal year 2015 orders or reached agreements requiring $3.9 million in civil penalties for hazardous materials transportation laws violations, according to a report released by the agency Jan. 20. The total hazmat-related civil penalty is up approximately 22 percent from $3.2 million in FY 2014, but down roughly 11 percent from the $4.4 million issued in FY 2010, according to an analysis by Bloomberg BNA. While the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issues rules related to hazmat transport, the related modal agency—in this case the rail agency—generally conducts enforcement for its mode. Hazmat violators generally receive an initial notice of probable violation and see their cases closed through an order of assessment. The FRA's FY 2015 enforcement report is available at https://www.fra.dot.gov/eLib/details/L17311#p1_z5_gD.

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Energy and Environment News

(ACC Mentioned) EPA To Push For Restoration Of Superfund Tax On Oil

Jan 21, 2016 | Thai Social Online

There is no question that the Superfund program, first established 30 years ago to clean up sites around the country contaminated with hazardous waste, is facing a budget crunch.
This Story
For 15 years, the government imposed taxes on oil and chemical companies and certain other corporations. The money went into a cleanup trust fund, which reached its peak of $3.8 billion in 1996. But the taxes expired in 1995, and because Congress refused to renew them, discounted oakleys, the fund ran out of money.
Now the Obama administration will push to reinstate the "Superfund" tax. The Environmental Protection Agency, which rarely urges passage of specific bills, will send a letter to Congress as early as Monday calling for legislation to reimpose the tax.
The move will spark an intense battle on Capitol Hill, with Democrats and the administration lining up against oil companies and chemical manufacturers. The measure’s proponents say it will ease the burden on taxpayers, who are currently funding the cleanup of "orphaned" sites,
wholesale ray ban sunglasses, where no one has accepted responsibility for the contamination. Opponents suggest that it amounts to an unfair penalty.
"This is really about who should pay for the cleanup," said Mathy Stanislaus of the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. "Should it be the taxpayer, who has no responsibility for contaminating the sites, or should it be those individuals who create hazardous substances that contaminate the site?"
Since the fund ran out of money at the end of fiscal 2003, the federal government has appropriated public dollars each year to pay for orphaned sites, which account for 606 of the 1,279 sites across the nation. But that has slowed the rate of cleanup. The program completed 19 sites last year, compared with 89 in 1999, the EPA says.
"It’s clearly slowed down as the money’s dried up," said Mike Charles, senior manager for government relations at the American Society of Civil Engineers.
Superfund sites are found in the District of Columbia and every state except North Dakota (whose one site was restored to health). Orphaned sites abound,
fake discount oakleys, including Ordinance Products in Cecil County, Md., and Atlantic Wood Industries in Portsmouth, Va.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D Ore.), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee who has been pushing to reinstate the Superfund tax for more than three years, said the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico might encourage lawmakers, even some Republicans,
wholesale ray bans, to embrace a new tax on oil and petrochemicals.
Blumenauer’s bill would raise about $18.9 billion over 10 years by imposing excise taxes of 9.7 cents a barrel on crude oil and refined oil products, excise taxes of 22 cents to $4.87 a ton on certain chemicals, and an income tax of 0.12 percent on certain corporations’ modified alternative minimum taxable income above $2 million.
"I think the stars have aligned to make it not only possible for the first time in 15 years but likely that we will reinstate the Superfund tax," Blumenauer said in an interview. He added that for industries facing the tax, "it’s a golden opportunity to demonstrate their environmental responsibility and their willingness to solve problems."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D Calif.) also supports the reinstatement of what her spokesman, Drew Hammill, called the "polluter pays" tax.
But a similar measure in the Senate, sponsored by Sen.
Oil producers and refiners, now facing the prospect of Congress raising the Oil Spill Liability Fund tax from 8 to 49 cents a barrel,
wholesale cheap ray bans, are furious at the idea of another tax burden.
"Policymakers Congress and the administration have simply got to stop using the domestic refining and petrochemical industry as an ATM machine," said Charles Drevna, president of the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association. "They seem to think we’re an endless supply of cash for other programs."
Chemical manufacturers are just as opposed, and they note that the chemicals in question are used in everything from plastics to public water treatment. Cal Dooley, president of the American Chemistry Council, said members of his association "have invested literally billions of dollars" in sites that they have taken responsibility for cleaning up.
"It is blatantly inequitable and unfair for the administration or Congress to reinstate a Superfund excise tax," Dooley said in an interview. He said it would undermine the goal of "an economic recovery in the manufacturing sector in the United States" because it would result in "shifting jobs outside the United States to chemical manufacturers that would not be subject to this tax."

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No Evidence Fracking Contaminated Wyoming Wells

Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report

By Tripp Baltz

Evidence indicates hydraulic fracturing fluids injected underground haven't risen to depths intersected by groundwater supply wells in Pavillion, Wyo., a state investigation said.
“Based on an evaluation of hydraulic fracturing history, and methods used in the Pavillion Gas Field, it is unlikely that fracturing has caused any impacts to the water-supply wells,” the report said.
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality is taking public comment on the Pavillion groundwater report, Keith Guille, spokesman for the department, told Bloomberg BNA Jan. 19. The study, released in mid-December, is the third of three state agency reports indicating fracking fluids used by oil and gas operators in the rural gas field in Pavillion aren't the cause of contamination of local domestic water wells. The public comment period ends March 13.
In response to complaints by domestic well owners regarding objectionable taste and odor problems in well water, the Environmental Protection Agency initiated a groundwater investigation near the town of Pavillion. In December 2011 the federal agency issued a report linking the impact to groundwater to hydraulic fracturing (237 DEN A-15, 12/9/11).
“Ground water in the aquifer contains compounds likely associated with gas production practices, including hydraulic fracturing,” the EPA said. “The presence of these compounds is consistent with migration from areas of gas production,” it said, later recommending that homeowners near the field take showers with the window open to avoid methane buildup.
Following its release, the EPA report was greatly criticized by the state, the industry and the company conducting most of the gas operations in the field, Encana Corp. Encana and others suggested the contamination was caused by the EPA when it drilled through groundwater layers into the hydrocarbon zone. The EPA later turned the Pavillion investigation over to Wyoming.
Three Investigations Concluded
The state has now conducted three separate investigations into Pavillion, a well bore integrity study released in August 2014 by the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, a commission review of the legacy pits in the field and the recent report by the department (153 DEN A-1, 8/8/14)(232 DEN A-13, 12/3/14).
The department review involved an analysis of samples drawn from 13 private water wells located near gas-producing wells in the field. Gas in the nearby Wind River Formation appears to have come mainly from upward migration from deeper gas-bearing zones, the report said.
“Evidence suggests that upward gas seepage (or gas charging of shallow sands) was happening naturally well before gas well development,” the report said.
Gas Seepage Seen
Some gas wells in the field are “experiencing slow gas seepage that could possibly have caused changes in water quality,” the report said The study recommended there be “focused assessment of the potential for gas seepage versus naturally occurring upward seepage of gas,” as well as an evaluation of conditions that might allow the potential movement of liquid or gas from intermediate zones pressurized by gas into shallower, permeable zones.
The presence of bacteria in many of the water supply wells could be the cause of taste and odor issues, the report said.
The report also called for further evaluation of surface disposal pits in the field and their potential impact on water quality.

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Upcoming Interior Department Proposal to Pare Methane Leaks

Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report

By Jennifer A. Dlouhy

A massive natural gas leak in Southern California that has forced thousands of residents from their homes is giving momentum to the Obama administration's plan to clamp down on methane emissions from oil and natural gas wells.
The proposal, set to be unveiled by the Interior Department within days, takes aim at wells on federal and tribal lands, with the goal of plugging unintentional methane leaks at the sites and stopping energy companies from intentionally flaring or venting the gas.
The Interior initiative will be the first federal regulation of methane emissions from existing wells. Industry executives say it's an unnecessary burden at a time of plummeting crude prices that are forcing oil companies to pare workers and go into bankruptcy.
Although it wouldn't directly affect the spill at the Aliso Canyon storage field that has spewed gas into the atmosphere since October, some lawmakers and conservationists say the leak near Porter Ranch in Los Angeles underscores the urgency for rules (12 DEN A-14, 1/20/16).
“In the wake of this, it is so clear that more needs to be done—not as a deterrent, not to punish the industry—but simply to ensure going forward we have adequate safeguards over this massive unseen infrastructure,” Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen's energy program, said in a phone interview. “We need to start with some sort of movement on existing infrastructure.”
Potent Gas
If it's plugged by late March, the Aliso Canyon spill may have sent the methane equivalent to about 4 million metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere from an underground gas storage site, according to data from the state's Air Resources Board. By contrast, the equivalent of about 182.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide is estimated to escape as methane from the nation's oil and gas sector each year according to the Environmental Protection Agency's latest estimates.
The primary component of natural gas, methane is a short-lived but potent greenhouse gas that is 84 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the atmosphere over 20 years. The Obama administration has pledged to pare the oil and gas sector's methane emissions by 40 to 45 percent from 2012 levels by 2025.
Reaching that goal means going beyond new wells and infrastructure targeted by a 2015 EPA proposal (RIN 2060-AS30) that would force energy companies to detect and repair leaks nationwide (160 DEN A-1, 8/19/15).
Environmentalists have pushed the Obama administration to tackle the methane leaking from existing energy infrastructure and sometimes intentionally burned or flared at oil wells as a byproduct of crude.
Operators of natural gas storage facilities in California must conduct daily inspections of well heads and have risk management plans, under interim regulations the state's oil and gas regulators proposed Jan. 15 (11 DEN A-14, 1/19/16).
Sierra Club
Methane leaks are “one of the largest unregulated sources of greenhouse gas pollution,” Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune said in an interview. “We have a big opportunity to protect public health and make more progress on climate change.”
The new Interior Department proposal should provide a model for the EPA to move on to existing wells and infrastructure on private land, said Dan Grossman, national director of state oil and gas programs for the Environmental Defense Fund based in Boulder, Colo.
“Existing sources are the vast majority of the sources we're going to be seeing over the foreseeable future,” Grossman said in a telephone interview.
An estimated 65 billion cubic feet of natural gas leaked from oil and gas operations on federal and tribal lands in 2013, according to a report last year from ICF International Inc., a consulting firm based in Fairfax, Va.
How Long?
The proposal from the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management is expected to specify when energy companies can use natural gas captured from wells on public land to power equipment at the site. The agency also may dictate when—and how much—energy companies should pay in royalties for natural gas that's vented or flared.
A major question is low long energy companies would have to start capturing gas—including by sending it into pipelines—before they are hit with penalties or royalties. Some venting and flaring is necessary at the beginning of a well's life, particularly if pipelines aren't available to take the fossil fuel.
“We'll be primarily looking at the flexibility given for operational realities and the definition of avoidably lost gas,” said Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government affairs for the Western Energy Alliance, a trade association representing more than 450 companies engaged in exploration and production of oil and natural gas in the West.
Industry representatives say a lack of pipelines is the real problem. That forces energy companies to flare the natural gas flowing from their oil wells, said Dan Naatz, senior vice president of government relations for the Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents non-integrated oil and gas production companies.
“The ultimate solution is infrastructure,” Naatz said by phone. “Nobody wants to vent and flare if they can move it out and pay the royalties and move it on to market.”
Interior's proposed rule may mimic the methane leak detection and repair requirements the EPA proposed for new oil wells nationwide. Under the EPA proposal, companies would have to inspect sites every six months. Conservationists such as the Environmental Defense Fund want the agency to establish a more frequent quarterly timetable.
Anadarko, Encana
The proposal could touch tens of thousands of producing oil and gas wells on public lands nationwide, but its effects will be felt unevenly and mostly by producers active in the West. Energy companies with substantial federal leases, including Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Encana Corp., WPX Energy Inc. and Newfield Exploration Co., are more exposed to the rules than counterparts such as Pioneer Natural Resources Co. and Whiting Petroleum Corp., which are plumbing mostly private land.
Oil and gas companies say the mandates are unnecessary, coming on top of existing state regulations, the EPA proposal and voluntary moves by companies already eager to capture and sell natural gas. The Obama administration risks choking off a source of economic growth by imposing “costly regulations” on a small—and declining—source of emissions, Sgamma said.
“When you combine that with low commodity prices, things start to seem punitive, rather than truly based on regulatory need,” Sgamma said by phone.
Requirements for more frequent monitoring of methane emissions at oil and gas sites could bolster an emerging methane mitigation industry, benefiting such companies as Oregon-based FLIR Systems Inc., which makes infrared detectors, and Apogee Scientific Inc., which makes handheld leak-detection systems.

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House Dems Push Interior On Bonding Rules For Decommissioning

Jan 21, 2016 | E&E Daily News

By George Cahlink

Senior House Democrats yesterday called on the Interior Department to finalize new financial bonding standards for offshore drilling and gas platform operators, warning that without them the government may be liable for billions of dollars in decommissioning costs.
Democratic Reps. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona and Peter DeFazio of Oregon -- the ranking members on the Natural Resources and Transportation and Infrastructure panels, respectively -- said Interior should finish the bonding rules, first proposed in April, as quickly as possible. They cited a fresh Government Accountability Office report that found weaknesses in Interior's system for tracking bonding on offshore projects in the Gulf of Mexico (EnergyWire, Jan. 20).
"It's a broken system, everyone knows it, and the Interior Department shouldn't have to wait for another GAO report to step in and fix this," Grijalva said.
DeFazio said without better rules the federal government could wind up paying gas and oil decommissioning costs. "Environmental safety ought to come at the cost of the oil and gas companies -- not the American taxpayer," he added.
Under current rules, when offshore oil and gas infrastructure is no longer in use, lessees must decommission it, a costly process that can require plugging wells and removing platforms to avoid environmental hazards. Lessees are required to put up bonds or other financial guarantees to show they can cover the decommissioning costs to avoid the government having to pick up the tab.
According to a GAO report released Tuesday, as of October 2015, there was $38.2 billion in estimated decommissioning liabilities for offshore operations in the Gulf of Mexico. It found the department had waived bonds for about $33 billion of those liabilities for lessees meeting financial strength requirements. But it noted Interior's data may not be complete and cited earlier GAO reviews that found waivers might increase risk to the government.
"Unless and until Interior obtains accurate and complete data on decommissioning costs, Interior may not have reasonable assurance that its cost estimates of decommissioning liabilities in the Gulf are accurate, or that it is requiring sufficient amounts of financial assurance based on these estimates," the GAO said.
Janice Schneider, assistant Interior secretary for land and minerals management, did not dispute the findings and said the GAO recommendations would be folded into the rules on offshore liabilities now being finalized. She said the goal of the department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is to have the best financial assurance practices to "ensure the taxpayer never has to pay to decommission an [outer continental shelf] facility."
Any changes will be scrutinized by energy companies that prefer self-bonding rather than finding more costly outside financial guarantees. Environmental groups, meanwhile, have consistently warned that companies take on more liabilities than what they have bonded for and questioned the effectiveness of a patchwork of self-bonding regulations.

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Pennsylvania Targets New, Old Wells to Cut Methane

Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report

By Leslie A. Pappas

Pennsylvania intends to become a national leader in reducing methane emissions from oil and gas development and has begun to formulate new regulations to cut methane emissions in the commonwealth by 40 percent, environmental regulators said Jan. 20.
“When it comes to air emissions from unconventional natural gas development, we can be—and Pennsylvania should be—a national leader,” John Quigley, secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), said Jan. 20 during a webinar that outlined the plan.
Pennsylvania is the second-largest producer of natural gas in the country, with gross natural gas production exceeding 4 trillion cubic feet in 2014, according to the DEP.
The proposed regulations, which could take from one to two years to finalize, would cover both new and existing unconventional natural gas sources, and would apply to oil and gas exploration, development and transmission.
Urgent Crisis
Gov. Tom Wolf (D) of Pennsylvania announced the new regulations during a Facebook town hall meeting Jan. 19, saying they would “improve our air, address the urgent crisis of climate change, and help businesses reclaim product now wasted.”
Methane has been identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as the second most prevalent greenhouse gas in the U.S. that is emitted through human activity, and has 25 times more warming power than carbon dioxide, Wolf said.
Nearly 115,000 tons of methane were released in Pennsylvania in 2014 due to natural gas activity, according to the DEP. Methane leaks cost the energy industry about $60 million each year in lost natural gas that never reaches the market, the DEP said.
The proposed regulations, which are still being formulated, will “enforce the idea that the industry has to police itself,” Quigley said during the webinar. “We are placing the burden of detecting these leaks on the industry.”
According to the webinar and a briefing paper dated Jan. 19, DEP will:
• Create a general permit for oil and gas exploration, development and production facilities. The new permit would replace the August 2013 Category No. 38 conditional permit exemption criteria issued for oil and gas exploration, development, and production facilities, including well pads. It would require technology upgrades, better recordkeeping and quarterly monitoring inspections.
• Revise the current general permit for new and modified natural gas compression and/or processing facilities, expanding it to cover compressor stations.
• Develop a regulation that establishes stringent requirements for existing sources, to reduce leaks at existing well pads, processing facilities and compressor stations.
• Establish best management practices to reduce emissions along production, gathering, transmission and distribution lines.
‘Fantastic Step.'
Gretchen Dahlkemper, Pennsylvania mother and national field manager for Moms Clean Air Force, said she was encouraged that Pennsylvania is going beyond federal regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency by regulating not only new but also existing sources of methane.
“This will put Pennsylvania in a leadership position across the country,” she told Bloomberg BNA in a phone call Jan. 20. “It's a fantastic first step.”
Matt Walker, community outreach director for the Clean Air Council in Philadelphia, said it was also important that DEP is planning to eliminate an exemption that allowed drillers to operate without an air permit by voluntarily reducing methane emissions. The Clean Air Council is also encouraged that the DEP plans to regulate pigging operations and liquid unloading venting, Walker told Bloomberg BNA in a phone call Jan. 20.
According to the DEP, the new general permit would establish requirements for sources at unconventional natural gas wells including dehydrators, engines, turbines for compressor engines, pigging operations, liquid unloading venting, gas processing units storage tanks and truck load-outs.
Long Process
The building blocks of the plan will be discussed at the next Air Quality Technical Advisory Committee meeting on Feb. 11, Quigley said.
“We're at the beginning of the process here,” Quigley said. “We're rolling out concepts, not regulatory language.”
Developing an environmental regulation in Pennsylvania can take from one to two years and requires public hearings and multiple reviews.

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Advocates Seek Broader EPA Methane Drilling NSPS, Eye Existing Sources

Jan 20, 2016 | InsideEPA

By Amanda Palleschi

EPA is asking its financial advisors to help the agency identify new sources of financing for water infrastructure predevelopment activities, such as environmental and other analyses, as well as intrastructure repair projects, with the agency asking the advisors to compare the use of traditional state revolving fund (SRF) money with other resources.
Jim Gebhardt, director of EPA's Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Financing Center (WIRFC), outlined the new request at the Jan. 12-13 meeting of the agency's Environmental Financial Advisory Board (EFAB). The center is part of President Obama's “Build America” initiative, a government-wide effort to increase infrastructure investment and promote economic growth.
Environmentalists and some utilities have raised concerns that WIRFC's focus on innovative financing options will result in cuts to the SRF program. And some EFAB members reiterated those concerns when discussing the new charges to the panel, although EPA officials have sought to assure critics that the agency is committed to existing public funding mechanisms. And EPA's de facto water chief pledged to EFAB that the agency will do a better job of explaining WIRFC's purpose and benefits.
As part of the launch of WIRFC in January 2015, President Obama signed a memorandum for executive heads of departments urging the expansion of federal support for “predevelopment activities” for infrastructure projects. These are upfront costs for activities such as project and system planning, economic impact analyses, preliminary engineering assessments, and environmental review that precede actual construction. They are a major challenge for innovative infrastructure projects, the memo says, noting that while they account for a small percentage of total costs, these activities have considerable influence on which projects will move forward, where and how they will be built, who will fund them, and who will benefit from them.
“Yet, in light of factors like fiscal constraints, the extent of overall needs, and risk aversion, State, local, and tribal governments tend to focus scarce resources on constructing and developing conventional projects and addressing their most critical infrastructure needs, thereby underinvesting in predevelopment,” the memorandum says.
At the EFAB meeting, Gebhardt said he sees potential in existing SRFs for predevelopment funding. “The whole question was around this thorny issue of identifying seed capital for infrastructure,” he said. “It occurred to me that I always think in terms of the SRFs, as a large reservoir of resources. Given the strength that SRF balance sheets have -- both large states and small -- there are some opportunities to think more creatively about how to engage those dollars to drive projects.”
Predevelopment Funding
The charge to EFAB asks the advisors to “identify, characterize and assess existing predevelopment funding programs, including any initiatives undertaken by states, including non-SRF resources. Any information that can be gathered regarding the rate at which such investments yield projects would be instructive.”
The charge continues, “The importance of gathering any available data would be to inform how existing predevelopment funding models are performing, shed light on best practices in this area and inform, (a) the adoption of existing models by other states or [non-governmental organizations] and (b) the creation of new beneficial predevelopment funding mechanisms that could be widely adopted.”
In addition, EPA also asked that EFAB assess the “relative value” of funding the same projects with existing SRF dollars by using “a portion of idle SRF cash that would otherwise be invested in short-term U.S. Treasuries.”
EFAB member Joanne Throwe, director of the University of Maryland's Environmental Finance Center, expounded on the issue facing the advisors, saying, “Is there a benefit and what is the benefit of doing the predevelopment to make good decisions versus to get the money? Is there some way to look at that question and help people understand why it's important to spend a little more of their precious money and time doing a better job of this?”
On infrastructure repair projects, WIRFC is asking EFAB to identify existing and prospective new funding mechanisms for the repair and replacement of failing wastewater infrastructure. This effort should include assessment of “minimum credit standards” that could “allow SRFs to expand lending activities for such projects,” WIRFC says.
“The biggest barriers to repair, replacement, or upgrade or decentralized systems is the limited access to funding and the challenge of affordability,” the charge states. “Limited funding access is, in part, related to the high costs of repair and replacement relative to household income that raises credit concerns on the part of prospective lenders. Affordability also presents challenges to government policymakers to make available funds that do not require repayment.” EPA clean water SRF officer Stephanie Von Feck, who Gebhardt asked for feedback prior to the meeting, suggested that EFAB could look into partnering with local county health departments, because they often have the charge of permitting and enforcing water infrastructure repair projects.

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Southern California Panel Postpones Decision on Gas Leak

Jan 21, 2016 | Bloomberg

By Carolyn Whetzel

A quasi-judicial panel Jan. 20 postponed a decision on a proposed order to address the ongoing leak at Southern California Gas Co.'s underground natural gas storage field near Los Angeles.
Drafted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the stipulated order of abatement would require the utility to permanently shut down the well that has been leaking since Oct. 23, monitor emissions and take steps to prevent similar, future leaks.
Requests from Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) and state and local elected officials to hold the panel's final deliberations at a location convenient to the Porter Ranch community most affected by the leak, rather than at the SCAQMD headquarters in Diamond Bar, prompted continuance of the hearing until 9 a.m. Jan. 23 at the Hilton Hotel in Woodland Hills.
The Jan. 20 meeting of the SCAQMD hearing board marked the third time the quasi-judicial panel heard testimony from residents from the Porter Ranch community living downwind of the SoCalGas community and questioned the utility and air quality regulators about provisions in the proposed order.
As at the two previous hearings, Porter Ranch residents and others called for the complete closure of the natural gas storage field, which serves the entire Los Angeles Basin.
Several residents reported suffering from headaches, nausea and other health effects from exposure to the leaking gas. Another Porter Ranch resident, among the 2,500 SoCalGas has relocated, expressed concern about the future, unknown health effects when he returns homes.
Generally, the residents questioned whether SoCalGas could be trusted to operate the storage facility safely in the future.
Members of the SCAQMD hearing board also questioned SoCalGas and its attorney, Robert Wyman of Latham & Watkins, about how quickly natural gas could be withdrawn from the field.
SoCalGas said it will provide more details on gas withdrawals and other provisions in the order in time to revise it for the Jan. 23 hearing.
Emissions Data Reporting Obligations
Members of the hearing board also queried Wyman on provisions in the proposal relevant to SoCalGas emissions data reporting obligations. Emissions data are public information, but the provisions were drafted to clarify regulators' access to review confidential data.
The utility said Jan. 18 that it's on track to complete the drilling of a relief well to stop the leak by the end of February.
Citing safety concerns, SoCalGas and the SCAQMD decided against pursuing a plan to capture and burn off the leaking gas(12 DEN A-14, 1/20/16)
An analysis of emissions data by the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found that odorants used in natural gas are linked to nausea, headaches and other health effects.

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Calls For Federal Role In California, Michigan Could Undercut EPA's Critics

Jan 20, 2016 | InsideEPA

By David LaRoss

Environmentalists are urging EPA to ramp up oversight of drinking water and natural gas drilling operations in response to the ongoing water crisis in Flint, MI, and a methane leak from a California drilling site, claiming the incidents show the need for strong agency oversight and help to undercut EPA's critics' calls to rein in the agency.
“There's a lot of language in American public life today that problems will somehow take care of themselves, but I think it's painfully obvious here that we're seeing the long-term impacts of that approach on innocent people,” an environmentalist says of the Flint crisis and the ongoing need for an EPA role in response activities.
Meanwhile, a pro-regulation advocate says groups are also preparing class-action litigation over the massive ongoing leak of the potent greenhouse gas (GHG) methane from a gas storage facility in Southern California's Aliso Canyon, and citing it to support a push for EPA to strengthen its proposed rule governing methane releases from the oil and gas sector. “I don't know what citizen suits we'll see that could lead to direct regulatory changes. It may just be comments to the agency. But I think it's clear that we need a direct federal response. States don't have the resources.”
The push for stronger EPA oversight in the natural gas and drinking water arenas in response to the two incidents follows months where the agency has come under fire for a host of regulations opponents see as burdensome such as its power plant GHG rules, as well as other perceived misconduct by the agency -- most prominently its Aug. 5 spill of 3 million gallons of contaminated wastewater from a Colorado mine during a botched cleanup.
On the presidential campaign trail, contenders for the GOP nomination have frequently promised cuts to the agency and vowed to rein in its authority. For example, current front-runner Donald Trump has called EPA “a disgrace,” while Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said in a recent Iowa stump speech that “Every single one of those crazy EPA rules . . . are gone on my first day in office,” according to a Jan. 18 Detroit News article.
EPA's Authority
The pro-regulation advocate says the situations in Flint and Aliso Canyon show the candidates opposed to EPA are “detached from reality,” but said such attitudes will complicate any attempt to expand EPA's power through legislation by polarizing attitudes about EPA and making it hard to move any such bills.
The source notes the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico failed to lead to any significant new EPA or other federal agency regulations for offshore oil drilling despite calls from advocates for such measures.
“After Deepwater Horizon, I was absolutely convinced that there would be a sweeping Congressional response. Instead, not only was there no new law sent to the president's desk, the mantra on Capitol Hill has been that there's too many regulations on oil drilling. So we're left with what agencies can do on their own. I think this still will expose vulnerabilities that onshore communities have, and get people thinking about what can be done,” the source says.
EPA spokespeople declined to comment on any potential broader impacts from federal involvement in the Flint and Aliso Canyon incidents or the idea that they incidents could undercut EPA's critics, but said in separate Jan. 20 statements on the two that the agency will search for ways to help resolve each situation.
“All levels of government--federal, state and local must work together to find solutions for the residents of Flint and to ensure this never happens again. The agency looks forward to our continued dialogue,” a spokesperson said on the Flint crisis.
On the Aliso Canyon leak, a spokesperson said EPA Region 9 officials are reviewing information submitted by the Southern California Gas Company and “will determine the appropriate next steps” when that process is complete.
Federal Oversight
Along with calls for stricter oversight by EPA, advocates in Flint are trying to force the agency to use its powers more broadly, after federal officials failed to act on a petition for federal action that residents submitted in early 2015. EPA formed a task force to offer technical assistance to drinking water officials and environmental regulators in Flint on Oct. 16, but the environmentalist says the agency should have acted much sooner.
“Our concern is that there was a non-response at the earlier time -- that there were serial failures on every level of government here. . . . to get a response, it takes a great deal of continued attention. It's what we saw in Flint, where citizens, particularly parents, did not take no for an answer,” the environmentalist says.
In Flint, a change in the city's drinking water source caused a spike in lead levels, as well as possibly contributing to an outbreak of Legionnaire's Disease. Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), who has been a critic of EPA, formally requested federal aid for dealing with the situation on Jan. 14, leading to Flint's crisis being declared a federal disaster.
Residents affected by the Flint disaster have already filed two class-action lawsuits and on Nov. 16 sent 60-day notice of a planned Safe Drinking Water Act citizen suit against the state and EPA that advocates hope will set a precedent for earlier and stronger action by the agency against deficient state programs.
And Flint Mayor Karen Weaver (D) said during a press conference at a Jan. 20 meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C., that "We do need more support, and more resources,” while calling for expanded oversight of drinking water utilities in other areas. “I hope that other cities around the country take note about what has happened in Flint, start monitoring what is going on in your water,” she said.
In addition to spurring a stronger response to citizen complaints, the environmentalist says groups would like EPA to compile and maintain its own records of drinking water infrastructure in need of improvement.
EPA already compiles a survey of infrastructure needs in the sector every four years, but that data is based on states' self-assessments and is used to guide distribution of the State Revolving Fund to support capital projects rather than to identify potential public health crises.
“We need to be looking at this as one of the large infrastructure needs in America. We need a much more aggressive, active and forward-leaning review in terms of where the exposures are in communities beyond Flint,” the source says.
Methane Emissions
Meanwhile, in response to the Aliso leak, environmentalists have already sent comments to EPA asking it to tighten the agency's pending rule on methane emissions, which as proposed would update the new source performance standards issued for the sector four years ago in order to restrict methane.
In light of the Aliso Canyon leak the advocates are intensifying calls for EPA to strengthen the leak detection and repair requirements in the proposed rule. Advocates are pressing for stronger regulations because methane is a GHG roughly 80 times as potent as carbon dioxide in terms of its global warming impact over a 20-year period and approximately 23 times as potent over a 100-year period.
“The Obama administration's proposal for new infrastructure leaves the door open for a similar treatment of existing [sources], and I think the Aliso Canyon incident ought to jump-start it,” says the advocate tracking the issue.
However, even a more stringent version of those rules would not directly affect Aliso and the more than 400 other such natural gas storage facilities nationwide because the agency appears to lack jurisdiction over those facilities, instead leaving their regulation to states. Changing that balance of power would require legislation, which the advocate says is unlikely given the current climate in the divided Congress.
Separate from the California and Michigan incidents, environmentalists are also urging EPA to step up its use of novel power to rescind some states' delegated authority to implement federal environmental laws. For example, advocates sent a Jan. 11 petition to the agency arguing that it must withdraw Texas' delegated authority to issue certain federal Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act permits, because recent changes to state laws and a lack of adequate state environmental agency funding mean that Texas is in “ongoing noncompliance” with federal permitting requirements.

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Energy Bill Expected on Senate Floor Next Week: Murkowski

Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report

By Ari Natter

A broad energy bill that includes language to expedite the federal approval process for liquefied natural gas exports is expected to be brought to the floor “first thing” the week of Jan. 25, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, told reporters Jan. 20.
The bill (S. 2012) could face a rocky path forward if it attracts controversial amendments as expected.
Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) hinted he planned to offer at least one amendment seeking to roll back the Obama administration's moratorium on new coal leasing on federal lands as part of a broader environmental review announced Jan. 15 (11 DEN A-16, 1/19/16).
“This energy bill will be an opportunity to speak out with amendments specifically related to the president's most recent actions,” Barrasso said during a press conference following the Republicans' weekly caucus meeting, adding in a subsequent interview with reporters: “We are working the process of drafting things now.”
The underlying five-part bill, approved by the energy committee on a bipartisan 18-4 vote in July 2015, includes provisions that would strengthen building codes, among other energy-efficiency measures, as well as provisions that would increase cybersecurity protections for the electricity grid and expedite the licensing process for hydropower projects.
Amendments
Murkowski told Bloomberg BNA she would work to keep amendments that would kill the legislation off of the bill and planned to meet with Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the committee's top Democrat, on Jan. 21, to discuss amendments.
“My hope is, and I'm going to encourage our colleagues this: Please remember this is an energy bill and that we would like to advance an energy bill not only through the Senate, but to conference to the House and get something signed into law by the president so we can reform our energy policies,” Murkowski said. “This is not a messaging bill. This is a bill that we want to use to advance policy.”
Murkowski also said she would work with Cantwell to craft a manager's package of amendments that may include a provision boosting the bill's support for hydropower.
The wide-ranging legislation also includes measures that would repeal a section of law that requires federal buildings to phase out fossil fuels by 2030, authorize funding for grid-storage research within the Department of Energy and streamline the federal approval process for natural gas pipeline projects. The legislation, called the Energy Policy Modernization Act, could become the first broad rewrite of energy policy since 2007 if enacted into law.
The House version of the bill (H.R. 8) was passed by a vote of 249-174, amidst a veto threat and nearly unanimous opposition by Democrats (233 DEN A-4, 12/4/15).

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House Energy Panel Targets EPA Emissions Rules

Jan 20, 2016 | InsideEPA

The House Energy & Commerce Committee's energy and power panel will hold a hearing Jan. 26 to debate two Republican bills aimed at easing and delaying the impact of EPA regulations on coal waste-burning utilities and the brick manufacturing industry, which GOP lawmakers say are “overly burdensome” regulations.
The power subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-KY), will debate two bills including H.R. 3797, which seeks to ease compliance by coal waste utilities with various EPA rules governing the sector.
For example, the bill -- introduced by Rep. Keith Rothfus (R-PA) -- would ensure that more sulfur dioxide (SO2) allowances are available for coal-waste burning plants under EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule power plant emissions trading program that aims to reduce SO2 and nitrogen oxide emissions.
The coal waste sector is based in Pennsylvania, where it uses waste coal as a power source, reducing stockpiles of the material in the state. Waste coal-burning utilities have complained, however, that EPA's air rules have been unduly harsh on the sector, which has limited resources to install pollution controls on its generally small power plants. The bill would offer relief by allowing SO2 credit purchases instead of having to buy pollution controls.
The power subcommittee will also debate the “BRICK Act” introduced by Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), which would delay the compliance deadline in EPA's air toxics rule setting maximum achievable control technology (MACT) emissions standards for the brick and clay products manufacturing sector.
The BRICK Act, not yet allocated a bill number, would delay the implementation of the brick MACT until all pending lawsuits over the rule are resolved.
The Brick Industry Association, tile manufacturers and also environmentalists have filed suit over the Brick MACT in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, with industry groups saying the rules are unreasonably tough and based on flawed methodology, and environmentalists claiming conversely that EPA's standards are too lenient and set a dangerous precedent by setting “health-based” standards that are less tough than MACT standards typically would be.
“These commonsense bills will protect American businesses from overly burdensome EPA regulations,” said Whitfield in a Jan. 19 statement.

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Senate Energy Bill May Offer New Opportunities For Controversial Amendment Votes

Jan 20, 2016 | PoliticoPro

By Darren Goode

The Senate next week will try to pass a major overhaul of U.S. energy policy for the first time since 2007, but first it may have to sort through amendments on controversial issues such as fracking, coal leasing or climate change.
The 424-page energy bill starts on strong bipartisan footing, and Senate leaders say they hope to keep it that way. Top members of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee plan to meet Thursday to discuss what amendments each side may offer, with the bill expected to hit the floor as soon as Monday.
“Since it came out of committee 18-4, I hope we’ll be able to replicate what we did on frequent occasions last year,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday, comparing the energy push to successful enactment of a multiyear highway bill and an overhaul of the No Child Left Behind education law.
As with those measures, the energy bill will “be open for amendment,” McConnell promised, although he did not offer details on what issues would come up or whether controversial items would be subject to 60-vote thresholds to pass. The underlying bill would expedite liquefied natural gas exports, implement new efficiency programs and promote efforts to modernize pipelines and electric transmission, among other items.
Coal-state senators sense opportunity with the new bill. A likely amendment target is the Interior Department’s proposal announced last week to suspend new coal leases on federal land for at least three years.
“This energy bill will be an opportunity to speak out with amendments specifically related to the president’s most recent actions,” said Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, the fourth-ranking Senate Republican whose home state is the country’s top coal producer.
On the other end of the ideological spectrum, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Democrats are exploring possible amendments related to climate change, similar to the batch offered a year ago when the Senate debated dozens of amendments to a bill authorizing the Keystone XL pipeline.
“It’s important that we try to put some real meat onto the energy bill and also use it as an opportunity to also remind people that basically every senator’s home state university is saying that climate change is real,” Whitehouse told POLITICO.
In a surprisingly lopsided 98-1 vote, the Senate approved a nonbinding amendment from Whitehouse in the Keystone debate saying climate change is “not a hoax,” while later defeating two other Democratic amendments that noted the role humans play.
President Barack Obama vetoed the Keystone bill, a fate that Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said Republicans discussed ways to avoid when they met at an annual party retreat last week. Murkowski said she and Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the panel’s ranking member, would meet Thursday to discuss an amendment agreement, similar to negotiations that preceded last year’s Keystone debate.
“It’s imperative that it not just be a messaging bill that the president will threaten a veto but something that is actually going to become law,” Murkowski said this week.
It remains to be seen what may get a vote, but senators on both sides of the aisle are eyeing the energy bill as a vehicle for favorite priorities.
Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.), who supported the bill in the energy committee, said he expected to offer amendments to block federal regulations on hydraulic fracturing or coal ash disposal and to make it easier to build cross-border energy infrastructure. Cantwell and Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) said they were considering offering amendments to add energy efficiency requirements. And Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said she was interested in promoting advanced manufacturing.

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Senate Likely To Take Up Energy Reform Bill Next Week

Jan 20, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire

By Timothy Cama

The full Senate will likely start debating a wide-ranging energy bill next week that could include a vote on President Obama’s moratorium on federal coal-mining leases.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee passed the bill in July as an attempt at the first broad energy reform legislation in nine years.The bipartisan bill came after months of negotiations between Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).
It includes a number of priorities from both parties, including speeding up approvals for natural gas exports, modernizing the electrical grid and indefinitely authorizing the federal government’s main conservation program.
“This is a bipartisan bill that focuses on energy supply, on infrastructure, on energy efficiency, on reliable energy, it talks about a number of things at a time that the president has actually had an assault on American energy,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), a member of the committee and chairman of the Republican Policy Committee.
Barrasso said the bill’s debate on the Senate floor provides a prime opportunity to take some sort of action against Obama’s decision to halt new federal coal leases while officials determine how to change the program to better reflect its impact on the environment and the climate.
“In a sense, that is going to just be sending pink slips to thousands of people who earn their living and livelihood with coal,” said Barrasso, whose home state hosts many mines on federal land, especially in the Powder River Basin.
“This energy bill will be an opportunity to speak out with amendments specifically related to the president’s most recent actions.”
Murkowski said she’s pretty confident that an amendment on the coal action will come up in debate, though she’s not sure what kind of change it would make.
“Given the announcement last week from the administration on the three-year moratorium, I would fully expect that we would see an amendment, maybe there would be multiple amendments,” she said.
Murkowski also expressed hope that the bill could accomplish reforms to the permitting process for hydroelectric power.
A package of reforms was removed from the bill in July after the two parties could not settle differences on it.
Murkowski joined with Jay Faison, a Republican campaign donor who advocates for conservative climate change policies, for a New York Times piece last week pushing for more hydropower and reforms.
“We could be doing much more to harness the huge potential of hydropower, even without building new dams,” they wrote.

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FERC Offers Guidance on Clean Power Plan Modeling

Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report

By Rebecca Kern

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued guiding principles in a white paper to help regional transmission entities, electric utilities and other stakeholders as they analyze state and federal efforts to comply with the Clean Power Plan.
The white paper, released Jan. 19, aims to provide a consistent approach for transmission planning entities, which often work across several states, as each state is working to develop compliance plans to meet individualized emission target limits set in the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan (RIN 2060-AR33)(204 DEN A-12, 10/22/15).
While the EPA hasn't assigned FERC a direct role in the Clean Power Plan, the commission will be called upon to address reliability concerns as implementation begins. States' compliance plans are due by September 2018 if they seek a two-year extension. Then each state will be required to meet interim emission goals from 2022-2029, with final goals starting in 2030 (150 DEN A-5, 8/5/15).
The National Rural Electric Cooperative, which represents the electric cooperative utilities, has been working with regional transmission planning entities and states as it analyzes the Clean Power Plan and how it will impact the electric grid.
“We certainly support the principles FERC laid for analyzing the impacts of the Clean Power Plan,” Tracy Warren, NRECA spokeswoman, told Bloomberg BNA Jan. 20. “We look forward to working with FERC on that process.”
Need for Consistent Modeling
FERC pointed to the need for consistent modeling among transmission planning entities because using inconsistent models “may suggest reliability problems where none exist, or may mask problems that do exist.”
There are various studies and models that transmission planners use to examine technical and economic factors affecting the grid that could also be used to analyze the Clean Power Plan. FERC said these studies include resource adequacy planning (examining the supply of generation to meet demand), production cost (an economic dispatch study), integrated gas-electric systems simulations (using software models to identify constraints on the gas system affecting electric transmission), powerflow and transient stability simulations (assessing whether the future system can reliably serve expected load), and frequency response (assessing whether electric system stays stable).
Transparency, Incorporating Interrelated Studies
One principle FERC recommended for transmission planners is to ensure transparency and encourage stakeholder involvement in the development models, model inputs and study designs.
The transmission planners need to provide access to information so stakeholders can replicate the studies, FERC suggested. An open process helps promote the use of accurate assumptions and ensures rigorous study methods and a reasonable interpretation of results. FERC also said transparency will also improve modeling practices within a region and help coordinate modeling efforts across neighboring planning regions.
FERC's second principle advises incorporating the results of one study into a subsequent interrelated study can lead to a more robust analysis.
Also, FERC said that because transmission planning entities often cover multiple states, their models will need to reflect varying state compliance approaches across the region. To accurately model the impact of the Clean Power Plan, more modeling work and preparation may be needed to refine study tools and databases in some regions.
Study Sensitivity, New Modeling Tools
FERC's third principle recommends transmission planners account for uncertainty and test for sensitivity to various factors that affect the electric grid.
Evaluating various policy scenarios and sensitivities can provide an effective way to assess the potential impacts of the Clean Power Plan, FERC said.
“By accounting for the full range of probable outcomes, rather than just ‘best' or ‘worst' cases, studies are more likely to identify effective compliance options or potential reliability concerns,” FERC said.
FERC's fourth principle recommends transmission planners adopt new modeling tools and techniques to better analyze the impacts of the Clean Power Plan and the state compliance plans. These new modeling tools would help transmission planners better evaluate changes to the grid, including increased generation from renewables, increased reliance on natural gas-fired generation and the implementation of new environmental regulations.
FERC said the next steps could include outreach to industry and technical conferences.

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Flint Mayor Tells Obama More Money Needed for Water Crisis

Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report

By Pat Ware

The mayor of Flint, Mich., told reporters Jan. 20 she met with President Barack Obama Jan. 19 and told him more federal funding would be needed to manage the city's lead-contaminated water.
At the winter meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Karen Weaver said that Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) would be meeting with Obama soon and will ask for federal resources to make the water safe to drink again.
In 2014 and 2015, Flint residents began complaining about foul-smelling and discolored drinking water after the city switched its source of drinking water from the Detroit water system to the Flint River as a cost-saving measure. It was relying on the Flint River as a temporary source while it built a new water system. City and state officials insisted the water was safe, although it issued boil-water advisories for parts of the city after tap water tested positive for E-coli.
In September 2015, elevated blood levels were found in some of the city's children (192 DEN A-8, 10/5/15).
When asked who was to blame, Weaver said “the buck stops with the governor” but added there is plenty of blame to go around.
But Weaver said Snyder made a “good start” in his Jan. 19 State of the State address, in which he agreed to release 2014 and 2015 e-mails related to the city of Flint water system and “fix” the lead-contaminated water (see related story). She said she is focused on letting the investigation “show who knew what when.”
Snyder on Jan. 20 appealed Obama's denial of a disaster declaration for the city of Flint, saying the “unique” situation—lead in the city's water pipes and some children's bloodstreams—“poses an imminent and long-term threat to the citizens of Flint.”
HHS Leads Federal Response
Also on Jan. 19, Nicole Lurie, assistant secretary for preparedness and response at the Department of Health and Human Services, was named the lead federal official to coordinate emergency aid efforts in Flint (12 DEN A-2, 1/20/16).
U.S. Sens. Gary Peters (D-Mich.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said in a statement that they and Weaver met with Lurie Jan. 20 to discuss what actions HHS is taking to address the effects of lead exposure in Flint's drinking water.
“The Flint Community, especially the children who face irreversible damage from lead exposure, need comprehensive action to truly address the extensive nature of issues arising from months of contaminated water,” Peters said in the statement. “I am pleased that HHS is coordinating a multi-layered federal response, but those efforts must be met with a substantial financial commitment from the State of Michigan, whose short-sighted decision-making led to this crisis,” he said.
Stabenow said, “I applaud the President's decision to give Health and Human Services the lead role in this crisis and intend to work closely with them and my colleagues in addressing this historic public health emergency.”
The measures being taken by HHS are a good first step in helping Flint recover, Weaver said in the statement. “However, we must see a full commitment from the state of Michigan in the immediate and long-term future in order for these resources to be most effective,” she said.

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Mich. Governor Appeals White House Major Disaster Denial

Jan 20, 2016 | E&E News PM

By Sam Pearson

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R) is appealing the White House's denial of his request for a federal major disaster declaration amid the ongoing drinking water crisis in the city of Flint. Snyder filed the challenge with the Federal Emergency Management Agency today, his office said.
The move comes as President Obama is visiting Detroit, just 70 miles away from Flint. But the president planned to highlight the auto industry's recovery from the recent recession, not to monitor the Flint response.
Speaking after touring the North American International Auto Show, Obama said he understood the struggles Flint is going through.
"I am very proud of what I've done as president, but the only job that's more important to me is the job of father," Obama said. "And I know that if I was a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kids' health could be at risk."
Obama said the crisis was "a reminder of why you can't shortchange basic services that we provide to our people, and that we together provide as a government to make sure the public health and safety is preserved."
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, White House Deputy Press Secretary Eric Schultz said that while state and local leaders bear primary responsibility for what happened in Flint, the White House wants to look into whether state and federal agencies could have communicated better.
"Clearly, the notification process is part of the problem here, and the president is determined to figure out what went wrong," Schultz said.
Nicole Lurie, a Department of Health and Human Services assistant secretary whom the president designated yesterday as the federal lead on the Flint response, arrived in the city today and is meeting with local stakeholders, Schultz said.
Schultz said Obama's meeting with Flint Mayor Karen Weaver (D) yesterday left the president "determined to get to the bottom of this, determined to resolve the situation as fast as humanly possible" by mobilizing all possible federal resources to supplement the work of state and local agencies.
Winning the major disaster declaration could have given Flint more federal funds, but the White House said current law does not allow situations like the water crisis to qualify for this kind of aid.
In a statement, Snyder urged the Obama administration to make an exception for the city. "The situation in Flint is a disaster and in need of a federal declaration," Snyder said.
"This situation poses an imminent and long-term threat to the people of Flint. We appreciate the support of the White House through the earlier emergency declaration," said Snyder. "But additional federal resources are needed for the work that must be done."
Snyder is seeking consideration for FEMA's individual and public assistance programs and the agency's hazard mitigation grant program.
At the White House yesterday, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said the administration was correct to turn down Snyder's earlier request because it did not involve a natural disaster, fire, flood or explosion.
Snyder's office has also promised to release the governor's emails from 2014 and 2015 later today in a bid to shed light on his handling of the Flint crisis.

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Senate Will Vote To Override Obama’s Veto On Water Rule

Jan 20, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire

By Timothy Cama

The Senate will vote Thursday on a long-shot effort to override President Obama’s veto that preserved his contentious water pollution rule.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) filed for the vote Wednesday, less than a day after Obama announced that he had vetoed the GOP’s attempt to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation.The rule, dubbed the Clean Water Rule or "Waters of the United States," would extend federal power under the Clean Water Act to small bodies of water such as streams and wetlands. It is highly controversial, with Republicans calling it a massive power grab and Democrats saying it’s needed to protect vulnerable waterways from pollution.
McConnell slammed Obama for his veto earlier Wednesday.
“[Waters of the United States] isn't really a clean-water measure, it’s an unprecedented federal power grab clumsily masquerading as one,” he said in a statement. “In passing a bipartisan measure to overturn it, Congress stood up for the middle class and said that America's clean-water rules should be based on the kind of scientific, collaborative process the American people expect — not Washington politics.”
Obama had told Congress that the measure “seeks to block the progress represented by this rule and deny businesses and communities the regulatory certainty and clarity needed to invest in projects that rely on clean water. I cannot support it.”
The resolution under the Congressional Review Act passed the Senate in November with 55 votes, far short of the two-thirds majority needed to override Obama’s veto.
The House’s vote last week was 253-166, also short of two-thirds.
A federal court has put the regulation on hold to allow the courts to decide whether it complies with the Clean Water Act and the Constitution.

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Senate Republicans Try To Override Veto

Jan 20, 2016 | E&E News PM

By Tiffany Stecker

The Senate will seek to override President Obama's veto of a resolution to block his administration's contentious Clean Water Act jurisdiction rule tomorrow morning.
S.J. Res. 22 would prevent U.S. EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers from implementing the so-called Clean Water Rule, better known as the Waters of the U.S. rule or WOTUS.
The Senate passed the resolution 53-44 in November, and the House passed the measure last week 253-166 (Greenwire, Jan. 13). However, backers need a two-thirds supermajority to override the veto.
"Senate Republicans are listening to Americans' concerns, and we'll continue working to protect them, and their private property, from the Obama administration's overreach," Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) said in a statement.
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), who sponsored the resolution, said she was "committed to identifying new ways to push back against this complex, burdensome and overreaching rule" following the president's veto.
Senate leaders have set up a procedural vote for 10:30 a.m. They may not get the votes necessary to overcome the hurdle.

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Mayors' Draft Bill Offers Integrated Water Act Permits

Jan 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report

By Amena H. Saiyid

Legislation drafted by the U.S. Conference of Mayors would authorize the use of integrated Clean Water Act permits that can have more than one regulatory requirement and will allow dischargers to meet water quality goals more efficiently and economically.
Released Jan. 20 at the Mayors Water Council, the draft Water Quality Improvement Act would incorporate the Environmental Protection Agency's integrated planning policy principles that allow municipalities to modify administrative compliance orders, consent decrees and long-term control plans to reduce overflows from combined stormwater and sanitary sewer systems. The policy also allows National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits to be reopened to prioritize Clean Water Act projects based on financial capability, as long as no water quality standards or Clean Water Act obligations are violated.
The draft bill also would allow the integrated permits to have terms of up to 10 years instead of the current five, and include at least two Clean Water Act obligations, such as controls to meet total maximum daily load allocations, reduce combined sewer overflows, minimize sanitary sewer overflows, manage stormwater pollution and treat wastewater.
Fredric Andes, an attorney with Barnes & Thornburg LLP, presented the draft legislation to the Mayors Water Council meeting on Jan. 20 on behalf of Mayor David Berger, of Lima, Ohio, whose flight was delayed. The water council is an arm of the U.S. Mayors Conference that plans to present the bill to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has jurisdiction over Clean Water Act implementation.
Codifying Into Law
The purpose behind this bill is to ensure that the administration's integrated planning policy is codified into law and not undone by the succeeding administration, Andes said.
The council plans to work with Rep. Bob Gibbs (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Transportation Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, and Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Cal.), the subcommittee's ranking member, to introduce the bill, he said.
“Chairman Gibbs has expressed prior interest in this concept, and it's something he and the subcommittee continue to look at,” Justin Harclerode, the transportation committee spokesman, told Bloomberg BNA Jan. 20. “There is no specific proposal at this time.,”
Present at the meeting was Adam Krantz, chief executive officer for the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, which represents publicly owned wastewater utilities. Krantz and Pat Sinicropi, NACWA senior director for legislative affairs, both told Bloomberg BNA that they hadn't had a chance to study the draft bill to provide meaningful comment on it.
NACWA ‘Broadly Supportive' of Mayors' Interest
“NACWA is broadly supportive of the Mayors' interest to achieve meaningful policy reforms that help low-income ratepayers better afford compliance obligations under the Clean Water Act without jeopardizing water quality,” Sinicropi wrote in an e-mail.
The association has endorsed the bipartisan Clean Water Compliance and Affordability Act (S. 2358) that would direct the EPA to set up a pilot program to allow at least 15 cities, towns and counties to manage wastewater and stormwater through the prism of integrated planning (234 DEN A-12, 12/7/15).

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