Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 3/23/16
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(ACC Mentioned) The American Chemistry Council has issued its March 2016 Chemical Activity Barometer
Mar 23, 2016 | Gas World
By JJ Koczan
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) expanded 0.1 percent in March following a revised 0.2 percent decline in February and 0.1 percent downward revision in January. -
(ACC Mentioned) TSCA Reform Could Become Law by Midyear
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Sam Pearson
Weeks of closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill between House and Senate aides have an update of the nation's chemical law "rounding third base," the head of the American Chemistry Council said today during a three-day industry convention. -
(ACC Mentioned) TSCA Overhaul Negotiations Moving Forward
Mar 23, 2016 | Bloomberg BNA
By Pat Rizzuto
Congress began serious bicameral TSCA-reform negotiations two weeks ago, Cal Dooley, CEO of the American Chemistry Council told reporters this morning. Had those negotiations started two months ago, legislators could have wrapped up a bill by now, he said. -
(ACC Mentioned) Calif. Regulators Buckle on BPA Warning Labels
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Sam Pearson
California regulators have backed off rules that would have required warning labels on canned foods containing bisphenol A, amid concerns over unintended consequences and industry opposition. -
Endocrine Disruptors May Cost Billions in Health Effects: Report
Mar 23, 2016 | MedPage Today
By Parker Brown
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals could be costing the European Union up to €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) a year because of female reproductive health problems, a new report estimated. -
Consumer Advocates Question TSCA Reform
Mar 23, 2016 | Chemical Watch
Final agreement to reconcile bill not reached, before March recess. Article can be viewed at this link: https://chemicalwatch.com/45849/consumer-advocates-question-tsca-reform?layout=modal -
US EPA Seeks Scientists for Toxicology Review of RDX
Mar 23, 2016 | Chemical Watch
Article can be viewed at this link: https://chemicalwatch.com/45843/us-epa-seeks-scientists-for-toxicology-review-of-rdx?layout=modal -
Applauding Agency Action on Recycled Rubber and Artificial Turf
Mar 23, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Steve Bigelow, Al Garver and Rom Reddy
Last month, three federal agencies – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) – came together to announce that they will conduct a comprehensive study of the recycled rubber infill used in thousands of artificial turf fields across the country. We welcome this news and hope this study will show, once and for all, that these playing surfaces are safe, as has been made clear by the extensive research already available on this issue. -
(ACC Mentioned) Offshore Energy Access Vital to Manufacturing, Energy Security
Mar 23, 2016 | API Energy Tomorrow
By Jack Gerard
The Obama administration’s decision last week to eliminate the Atlantic from the next federal offshore leasing plan is a step backward for American energy policy. Despite bipartisan support in Congress and from voters in coastal states, the administration is doubling down on a shortsighted policy that keeps 87 percent of federally controlled offshore acreage off limits to energy exploration. -
Study Shows Iowa Could See Electric Bills Fall Under Carbon Rule
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Jeffrey Tomich
Iowa residential electricity bills could decline as much as 13 percent over the next decade and a half because of energy efficiency and continued exports of wind energy to meet Clean Power Plan obligations, according to an analysis by M.J. Bradley & Associates. -
Court Allows Lawmakers to Weigh in on Legal Brawl
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
The judges weighing the fate of the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan will consider the views of members of Congress looking to thwart the regulation. -
US Natural Gas Pipeline Developers Facing Challenging Future
Mar 23, 2016 | Platts
By Jim Magill
Developers of US pipeline projects face a host of challenges, many more than in past years, in getting their projects certified and built, Don Santa, the president of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America said Tuesday. -
EPA Weighs Shifting RFS Compliance Duty From Refiners To Fuel Blenders
Mar 23, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA is considering shifting refiners' obligation to demonstrate compliance with the renewable fuel standard (RFS) to companies that blend renewable fuels such as ethanol into the fuel supply, but agency officials caution that any such change would not be done as part of EPA's annual rulemakings that set RFS fuel volume requirements. -
RFS Critics Outline Opposing Attacks In Suit Over Multi-Year Fuel Targets
Mar 23, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
Refiners, renewable fuel producers and other critics of EPA's rule setting renewable fuel standard (RFS) blending targets for 2014 through 2016 are outlining opposing arguments they intend to raise in consolidated litigation over the rule, with refiners arguing the targets are too high while renewable fuel advocates say they are too low. -
Venezuela Has a Thirst for U.S. Crude
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Energywire
Venezuela's crude oil reserves, the largest in the world, aren't enough to keep it from importing more from the United States. -
House Hears Pitch for Cyberattack Database
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
Risk analysts have struggled to account for the potential fallout from a cyberattack on industrial control systems: Would it look like the aftermath of a nasty fire? Would hackers knock out swaths of infrastructure like a hurricane? -
FRA Rule Gives Us Chance to Bar Most One-Person Crew Trains
Mar 23, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By John Previsich and Ed Wytkind
The freight railroads would have the public believe that operating massive freight trains with a single crew member is perfectly safe. We know those claims are not true and fortunately so does our government which just issued proposed regulations establishing a two-person crew minimum on most trains. We applaud those rules and will push to make them as tough and rigid as possible. -
EPA Sends Final Utility MACT Cost Review To OMB
Mar 23, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA has sent for White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) pre-publication review the final version of its supplemental consideration of costs as part of its determination that the agency's utility maximum achievable control technology (MACT) air toxics rule was “appropriate and necessary” under the Clean Air Act. -
EPA Legal Maneuvers Seek to Blunt Haze Plan Lawsuits
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
U.S. EPA has fired its first shot in the widening legal battle over its regional haze plan for Texas and Oklahoma, asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to either throw out a slew of lawsuits or transfer jurisdiction to Washington, D.C.
Industry and Association News
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(ACC Mentioned) The American Chemistry Council has issued its March 2016 Chemical Activity Barometer
Mar 23, 2016 | Gas World
By JJ Koczan
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB) expanded 0.1 percent in March following a revised 0.2 percent decline in February and 0.1 percent downward revision in January.
Accounting for adjustments, the CAB remains up 1.5 percent over this time last year, a marked deceleration of activity from one year ago when the barometer logged a 2.7 percent year-over-year gain from 2014. Data is measured on a three-month moving average.
In March, production-related indicators were better, with improvement in plastic resins used in packaging and strengthening construction-related resins, pigments and related performance chemistry.
Turning around
Equity prices significantly gained in March, joined by a firming in product prices. Inventories were negative, but new orders appear to be steadying and turning around.
On an unadjusted basis the CAB jumped 0.9 percent, thus ending three consecutive monthly declines.
Created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the Chemical Activity Barometer has four primary components, each consisting of a variety of indicators:
Production
Equity prices
Product prices
Inventories and other indicators
http://www.gasworld.com/march-2016-chemical-activity-barometer-released/2010147.article
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(ACC Mentioned) TSCA Reform Could Become Law by Midyear
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Sam Pearson
Weeks of closed-door meetings on Capitol Hill between House and Senate aides have an update of the nation's chemical law "rounding third base," the head of the American Chemistry Council said today during a three-day industry convention.
Acknowledging he and other industry leaders have repeatedly given overly optimistic predictions for when bills to update the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 would advance, ACC President Cal Dooley blamed delays on lingering disagreements between the two chambers.
"Unfortunately, while we have great relationships with Congress, they don't work on our timetable," Dooley said, addressing an audience of industry figures at the GlobalChem conference in Washington, D.C., this morning. "They don't work on anyone's timetable, actually."
Still, Dooley said he thought the package could become law "by Memorial Day."
Though both bills passed each chamber with broad support, they contain key differences that have so far stymied negotiators. ACC has said it supports both bills, but Dooley repeatedly touted sections of the Senate's bill, S. 697, known as the "Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act."
After final passage, companies must work to implement the new law in a way that achieves its objectives of establishing a chemical management system "that will be the gold standard internationally," Dooley said. Companies may end up having to provide U.S. EPA with more test information than they currently do.
Dooley also defended science standards contained in the Senate bill, which EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy harshly criticized in a recent letter to congressional negotiators. She called them unnecessary and burdensome to the agency (E&E Daily, March 4). Dooley said the provisions would strengthen the system of chemical regulation.
"We need to have a system where we can identify that some testing methodologies, some studies, some research has been done better than others and provides high-quality outcomes and data that can inform the risk assessment decisions that EPA is making," Dooley said.
In the long term, Dooley said, companies can take the lead to promote a reformed U.S. chemical management system as an example for emerging countries like China, India, Taiwan and Brazil. As these countries' chemical regulatory systems develop, industry must help them choose systems similar to those in United States, Dooley said, rather than the European Union's REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) system.
Industry sees that system, which places the burden on companies to register their chemicals and prove they are safe to use, as more burdensome. The E.U. model has identified more than 150 chemicals "of very high concern," many of which are legal for use in the United States.
Jim Jones, EPA's assistant administrator for chemical safety and pollution prevention, declined to address EPA's position in the letter to Congress, saying it "pretty much speaks for itself."
Jones said the agency was devoting "99.5 percent" of its energy to implementing existing law in case Congress failed to pass legislation. That includes three planned proposed rules coming later this year for restrictions on chemicals identified as posing unreasonable risks, he said.
If lawmakers fail to update TSCA, Jones said, EPA can still make progress on existing chemicals, but the agency's work won't be as effective.
"It will take longer; it will be more resource-intensive," Jones said. "There will be administrations that come in and think it's a bad idea and stop doing it -- I'm hoping it won't be next year."
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/23/stories/1060034520
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(ACC Mentioned) TSCA Overhaul Negotiations Moving Forward
Mar 23, 2016 | Bloomberg BNA
By Pat Rizzuto
Congress began serious bicameral TSCA-reform negotiations two weeks ago, Cal Dooley, CEO of the American Chemistry Council told reporters this morning. Had those negotiations started two months ago, legislators could have wrapped up a bill by now, he said.
Dooley spoke this morning at GlobalChem, the annual chemical regulation conference from the Society of Chemical Manufactures & Affiliates and the American Chemistry Council, where he introduced Jim Jones, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, and Wendy Cleland-Hamnett, director of the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, to a full house.
Jones and Cleland-Hamnett outlined priorities for 2016.
Here's the short list of what they touched on:
• On TSCA reform:"If we get a bill signed implementing that bill will be a priority," said Cleland-Hamnett.
• On three Section 6 rules under development: expect the first to be proposed late summer or early fall and two more by end of year.
• EPA developing a rule to require chemical makers to generate new data for certain flame retardants
• Also anticipated in 2016:
• final rule: Section 8 nanoscale reporting
• final rule: emissions standards for composite wood products
• proposal: modifications to PCB use authorizations
http://www.bna.com/tsca-overhaul-negotiations-b57982068930/
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(ACC Mentioned) Calif. Regulators Buckle on BPA Warning Labels
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Sam Pearson
California regulators have backed off rules that would have required warning labels on canned foods containing bisphenol A, amid concerns over unintended consequences and industry opposition.
The Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), which is part of the California Environmental Protection Agency, administers the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, also known as Proposition 65.
Under changes proposed last week, retailers would have to post a warning about BPA at the point of sale, rather than forcing manufacturers to place the warning on the products themselves. Manufacturers would also have to tell retailers which products contain BPA-lined cans, but retailers would not have to relay the information to customers.
In a proposed emergency regulation, the state agency suggested allowing stores to use warning labels at checkout stands rather than labeling food products.
The signs would have to be no smaller than 5 inches by 5 inches and to have "Warning" in large letters, followed by the text: "Many cans containing foods and beverages sold here have epoxy linings used to avoid microbial contamination and extend shelf life. Lids on jars and caps on bottles may also have epoxy linings. Some of these linings can leach small amounts of bisphenol A (BPA) into the food or beverage. BPA is a chemical known to the State of California to cause harm to the female reproductive system. For more information go to:www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/BPA."
In the proposal, regulators said not all products resulted in exposure to the same levels of BPA. In addition, products currently on the shelves may remain there for up to three years, reducing the effectiveness of new labeling, the agency said.
Regulators also sounded the alarm that the regulation, if unchanged, would worsen the problem of "food deserts" in low-income areas where residents are more likely to rely on canned food. Perversely, it could also prompt consumers to avoid fruits and vegetables in favor of less healthy food, the filing said.
"Given the variety of canned and bottled foods that may cause significant exposures to BPA, and the fact that retailers likely do not know which products currently on their shelves may require warnings, OEHHA is concerned that some retailers will decide to remove canned and bottled food items from store shelves to avoid potential enforcement actions," the agency wrote.
It also proposed setting a maximum allowable dose level for BPA of 3 micrograms per day. Under state law, the agency is supposed to identify this threshold as the level 1,000 times beneath the level at which the substance caused "no observable effect" in test subjects.
The requirement stems from a decision last year by the agency's Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee, part of its Science Advisory Board, to list BPA as harmful to reproduction (Greenwire, May 8, 2015).
The agency took the action over strong industry objections. Though a state court ruling in a suit brought by the American Chemistry Council scuttled a 2013 attempt to list BPA under a different legal mechanism, the agency chose instead to use a new mechanism to flag the chemical.
Under state law, the designation would potentially have required manufacturers to place labels warning that BPA is "known to the state of California to cause cancer or other reproductive harm" on many canned food products. Companies that failed to comply could be sued by California or private parties.
Both industry and chemical watchdog groups expressed dismay with the changes.
Caroline Cox, research director at the Center for Environmental Health, said point-of-sale warnings are insufficient to protect consumers.
"That doesn't really help a customer who's trying to make a healthy purchasing decision for themselves or their families," Cox said.
In a statement, Kathleen Roberts, executive director of the North American Metal Packaging Alliance, said the group's members "continue to be disappointed with OEHHA's decision to list BPA, given the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) clear and concise conclusion that BPA in current applications is safe."
Roberts said it was "unknown how retailers or consumers will react to the proposed warning system."
Earlier this month, The National Law Review warned that companies must post the labels by May 11 "or have sufficient evidence to support a claim that the levels of BPA do not pose a significant risk of reproductive toxicity."
Under the emergency procedures, OEHHA will accept public comments for five days once the proposal is transmitted to another agency, the Office of Administrative Law, and republished.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/23/stories/1060034500
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Endocrine Disruptors May Cost Billions in Health Effects: Report
Mar 23, 2016 | MedPage Today
By Parker Brown
Endocrine-disrupting chemicals could be costing the European Union up to €1.5 billion ($1.6 billion) a year because of female reproductive health problems, a new report estimated.
Researchers looked at two conditions that they said had the most robust data: uterine fibroids associated with diphenyldichloroethene (DDE) exposure and endometriosis with phthalates. But the epidemiological evidence supporting causality was weak, they admitted, although the toxicological evidence was moderate.
Led by Patricia Hunt, PhD, at Washington State University, the researchers estimated a probability of 20%-39% that these health effects are actually caused by the chemical exposure. Their report was published on Tuesday in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Assuming a causal relationship, the number of cases of fibroids and endometriosis due to the endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in Europe was estimated to be 56,700 and 145,000, respectively, leading to combined healthcare and economic costs of €163 million ($183 million) for fibroids and €1.25 billion ($1.4 billion) for endometriosis.
Linda Birnbaum, PhD, director of the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, said in an interview that the study was important because the costs of EDC are rarely quantified. "It's very important that we get an economic estimation of what the costs might be," said Birnbaum, who was not associated with the study.
She added that other chemicals that are likely adding to reproductive problems, and that evidence from animal studies, cell culture studies, and indirect human studies altogether form a "package" that shows the harmful effects of chemicals.
And in an email, corresponding author Leonardo Trasande, MD, at New York University School of Medicine, wrote, "While more research is needed, these findings add to concerns that endocrine disruptors contribute to a broad array of conditions across the lifespan, including neurodevelopmental effects, obesity and diabetes, and male reproductive conditions." An earlier study by Trasande found that EDCs overall were costing Europe $200 billion annually.
He said the researchers have been focusing on Europe "in the context of ongoing decision-making regarding criteria to be set for identifying endocrine-disrupting chemicals."
The authors added that the public health costs should be considered by the EU as they think about forming guidelines and possibly regulatory action for EDCs. A representative of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told MedPage Today that the agency couldn't comment on the specifics of the report, but it does have a program set up to review evidence on EDCs and to take action if necessary.
Hunt and colleagues also considered looking at other chemicals -- dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), among others -- but decided to focus on only the two with the most research behind them. Data on the health and economic costs of fibroids and endometriosis were drawn from numerous European cohort studies, and estimates were adjusted to reflect 2010 prices.
Exposure to DDE in women ages 15-54 in 2010 was measured in 12 studies by taking a sample of cord blood. The authors separated the women into how much they had been exposed to DDE and used the lowest group as the base; they then took the odds ratio of getting fibroids for the groups.
The process for phthalate-attributable endometriosis was similar, but the authors relied on one large biomonitoring study, DEMOCOPHES, and only women ages 20-44 were included.
Trasande told MedPage Today that exposures in the U.S. are similar to those in Europe, and so any costs "are likely to be equal if not greater."
The study had several limitations: it focused on adult EDC exposure only; it relies on assumption of causation; and it focuses only on two reproductive disorders and two EDCs.
"It is important to recognize that the cost burdens calculated in this analysis do not represent all, or even most, of the reproductive costs associated with human female exposure," the authors wrote.
They added that despite the complexities of the research, their estimation is conservative and could represent only the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to reproductive-related healthcare costs and EDCs. "Longer-term research is needed especially to identify effects of fetal exposure, recognizing that it is difficult to study diseases that take 30-40 years to manifest," wrote Trasande in an email.
The study was funded by the Endocrine Society, the John Merck Fund, the Broad Reach Foundation, and the Oak Foundation.
The authors disclosed no relationships with industry.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/OBGYN/GeneralOBGYN/56864
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Consumer Advocates Question TSCA Reform
Mar 23, 2016 | Chemical Watch
Final agreement to reconcile bill not reached, before March recess.
Article can be viewed at this link: https://chemicalwatch.com/45849/consumer-advocates-question-tsca-reform?layout=modal
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US EPA Seeks Scientists for Toxicology Review of RDX
Mar 23, 2016 | Chemical Watch
Article can be viewed at this link: https://chemicalwatch.com/45843/us-epa-seeks-scientists-for-toxicology-review-of-rdx?layout=modal
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Applauding Agency Action on Recycled Rubber and Artificial Turf
Mar 23, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Steve Bigelow, Al Garver and Rom Reddy
Last month, three federal agencies – the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) – came together to announce that they will conduct a comprehensive study of the recycled rubber infill used in thousands of artificial turf fields across the country. We welcome this news and hope this study will show, once and for all, that these playing surfaces are safe, as has been made clear by the extensive research already available on this issue. We commend these agencies for stepping up to the plate to provide clarity for parents and all stakeholders.
While this federal, multi-agency study will hopefully be the end of the story, it is hardly the beginning. Parents and officials across the country need to know that recycled rubber has been studied in detail, and anyone arguing that we’re operating in a vacuum of knowledge is at best uninformed and at worst, misleading the public.
The fact is, the public discourse around recycled rubber infill has been fraught with misconceptions. Unfortunately, speculative and sensationalistic media reports have needlessly stoked fear among parents of children playing on these fields. This has left concerned parents, coaches, congressional representatives, educators and state and local officials wondering about how to evaluate complicated scientific studies and data on the subject. Many of these media reports include a disclaimer that no scientific research has actually shown playing on these fields is connected with any adverse health effects, but, nevertheless, much damage has been done.
It is also important to note that when we talk about recycled rubber infill in synthetic turf fields, we are also talking about the same recycled rubber that is used in a variety of products that are widely considered to be safe, such as sneakers, garden hoses, hospital floors, playground surfaces, and an array of other uses. The recycled rubber industry and the artificial turf industry regularly test their products to ensure that they are safe. In fact, recycled rubber used as infill for fields and playgrounds is routinely tested against EPA standards for soils and both the CPSC and European safety standards for toys. To say that inert rubber, when turned into infill for fields, is unsafe is simply not credible.
As an industry, we have consistently said that we support all additional research. At the same time, we strongly reaffirm that the existing studies clearly show that these products are safe and have no link to any health issues.
More than 90 peer-reviewed studies, reports, and evaluations on this question have been issued from academic researchers, state agencies, and independent third-parties and have found no reason for any health concerns associated with playing on these fields or other surfaces. These studies have looked at a wide range of questions, chemicals, potential exposure pathways, and potential for ingestion.
Let’s hope that reasonable, scientific analysis prevails in this debate, and that it ultimately trumps unscientific speculation. We hope the federal government’s involvement, which we have been encouraging for years, will settle this matter, put parents’ minds at ease, and validate past and recent due diligence by public officials. We also hope that this study will address the right questions in a comprehensive way so that no further questions remain. As this federal research action plan moves ahead, we look forward to coordinating with the agencies as well as other stakeholders to ensure that science prevails.
Bigelow is president of the Recycled Rubber Council. Garver is president of the Synthetic Turf Council. Reddy is managing partner at Sprinturf and is a founding member of the Safe Fields Alliance.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/technology/273927-applauding-agency-action-on-recycled-rubber-and-artificial
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(ACC Mentioned) Offshore Energy Access Vital to Manufacturing, Energy Security
Mar 23, 2016 | API Energy Tomorrow
By Jack Gerard
Dear Jennifer,
The Obama administration’s decision last week to eliminate the Atlantic from the next federal offshore leasing plan is a step backward for American energy policy. Despite bipartisan support in Congress and from voters in coastal states, the administration is doubling down on a shortsighted policy that keeps 87 percent of federally controlled offshore acreage off limits to energy exploration.
Expanding access to America’s energy resources – both offshore and onshore – is vital to our future energy security and economic growth. Oil production in the western Gulf of Mexico – one of the few locations where offshore exploration is allowed – is projected to reach 1.9 million barrels per day by 2017, accounting for 21 percent of total U.S. crude oil production. It’s critical that the Interior Department’s final 2017-2022 leasing plan maintains maximum opportunities here, in Alaska’s Cook Inlet, and in Alaska’s Beaufort and Chukchi seas, which contain more technically recoverable oil and natural gas than the Atlantic and Pacific coasts combined, according to estimates.
The economic impact of federal decisions on resource access extends well beyond the oil and natural gas industry.
Affordable U.S. energy has spurred an American manufacturing renaissance, reducing power and materials costs for producers of steel, chemicals, refined fuels, plastics, fertilizers and numerous other products. Manufacturing accounts for more than 30 percent of U.S. energy consumption, and industry leaders are speaking out about the impact the administration’s offshore policy could have on their future:National Association of Manufacturers: “For manufacturing to succeed, access to reliable and affordable energy is essential. Although our oil and natural gas production has been a boon for manufacturing growth and productivity in recent years, this misguided plan has the opposite effect, hurting our competitiveness, the ability to create jobs and economic growth.”
American Chemistry Council: “This marks the third time in as many years that [the Interior Department] has withdrawn or withheld from development major portions of the OCS. Its approach will harm American manufacturers who rely on secure and affordable supplies of energy in order to compete in global markets…A supply strategy that includes OCS energy will support the manufacturing renaissance taking place in the United States.”To maintain our position as the world’s leading oil and natural gas producer, we need more access to our energy resources, not less. The administration’s misguided policy stunts the safe and responsible path to securing the domestic energy supplies needed for future energy security and economic growth.
Sincerely,
Jack Gerard
President and CEO
API -
Study Shows Iowa Could See Electric Bills Fall Under Carbon Rule
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Jeffrey Tomich
Iowa residential electricity bills could decline as much as 13 percent over the next decade and a half because of energy efficiency and continued exports of wind energy to meet Clean Power Plan obligations, according to an analysis by M.J. Bradley & Associates.
Christopher Van Atten, a senior vice president of the Boston-based firm, presented preliminary results of the firm's Clean Power Plan modeling during a meeting hosted yesterday by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources.
The meeting in the Des Moines suburbs was the fifth hosted by the state since U.S. EPA issued the final Clean Power Plan rule on Aug. 3. It will also likely be the last until there is more legal clarity following the stay issued by the Supreme Court, as Iowa is joining many other Midwestern states in hitting the pause button on formal compliance work.
"Any meetings following today we decided to put on hold until we know more," said Bill Ehm of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. "Unless we hear something out of the EPA or the courts, I think we stand adjourned for some time."
The M.J. Bradley presentation was among presentations to state regulators, Iowa utilities and environmental advocates. The regional grid operator, the Midcontinent Independent System Operator, recapped findings of initial modeling. The analysis showed that most states within MISO benefit from mass-based compliance plans except when there are high penetrations of renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Michael Goggin, senior director of research for the American Wind Energy Association, also shared results of Clean Power Plan models, which suggested that Iowa's lowest-cost path to compliance would involve adding another 2,500 megawatts of wind capacity, not including exports. The state already ranks No. 2 with more than 6,200 MW installed, according to AWEA.
Renewable energy, Goggin said, would not only help the state minimize compliance costs but also limit risk that goes along with fuel price volatility.
Iowa's two investor-owned utilities, MidAmerican Energy and Alliant Energy, also made brief presentations.
David Young of the Electric Power Research Institute also made a presentation urging caution in interpreting various models.
Iowa, which got nearly one-third of its electricity from wind farms last year, reduced carbon dioxide emissions from affected fossil units by 12 percent to 32.2 million tons. The reductions were largely because coal units ran less frequently.
The year-over-year reduction put the state within 500,000 tons of its 2022 goal under the Clean Power Plan, said Marnie Stein of the Iowa DNR. But an increase in electricity demand over the next five years could make the goal less easy to achieve than it appears.
The M.J. Bradley analysis indicated that Iowa's emissions reductions and fuel mix would differ little regardless of whether the state chooses a mass-based compliance plan, capping CO2 output from affected plants, or a rate-based plan that limits emissions per unit of energy produced.
Four different policy scenarios modeled by M.J. Bradley indicated that Iowa's CO2 emissions would be reduced by about 10 percent by 2030. And electric bills would decline under each scenario, by 6 to 13 percent, because of lower energy use, lower fuel costs and increased energy exports.
Revenue from the sale of emissions allowances under a mass-based compliance plan could be used to further reduce electric bills, Van Atten said.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/03/23/stories/1060034484
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Court Allows Lawmakers to Weigh in on Legal Brawl
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
The judges weighing the fate of the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan will consider the views of members of Congress looking to thwart the regulation.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today issued a short order granting a request from more than 200 lawmakers who have asked to file a "friend of the court" brief in pending litigation over the rule to curb greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
Led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), 34 senators and 171 representatives opposed to the rule asked the court last month for permission to file their views in the case. Lawmakers and other groups are often allowed to share their perspective in pending cases even though they aren't parties to the lawsuit (Greenwire, Feb. 23).
The lawmakers contend that EPA is illegally attempting to regulate power plants under two separate sections of the Clean Air Act despite language in the law aimed at preventing "duplicative regulation." And "contrary to the policy choices made by Congress," the lawmakers said, EPA's Clean Power Plan "seeks to transform the nation's electricity sector" by setting carbon dioxide emission reduction mandates for the states. "Congress never authorized EPA to compel the kind of massive shift in electricity generation effectively mandated in the final rule," they wrote.
Oral arguments over the Clean Power Plan are slated to be heard in early June by Judges Karen Henderson, Judith Rogers and Sri Srinivasan. The rule is currently on hold after the Supreme Court granted challengers' request to put the rule on ice as the litigation proceeds in the lower court.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/23/stories/1060034515
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US Natural Gas Pipeline Developers Facing Challenging Future
Mar 23, 2016 | Platts
By Jim Magill
Developers of US pipeline projects face a host of challenges, many more than in past years, in getting their projects certified and built, Don Santa, the president of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America said Tuesday.
The pipeline certificate process, by which the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approves new interstate pipelines "is under a lot of pressure," both in the form of legal challenges and from activists who show up at FERC meetings to protest the proceedings, Santa said at the annual Pipeline Opportunity Conference, presented by the Pipeline & Gas Journal.
"Activist groups have become very active in these certificate proceedings, in part to set them up to them for an appeal in the courts," he said.
"What they're looking for is some chink in the armor, somewhere where the commission did not cross the 'T' or did not dot the 'I' or did not establish an adequate basis to overturn the orders," Santa said.In addition, there has been an increase in public protests against pipeline projects, both along the right-of-way for the proposed pipelines and during hearings at FERC headquarters in Washington, he said.
"Its kind of become like a game of Whack-a-Mole," Santa said. "One protester stands up and makes a statement. They get escorted out and the commission hearing proceeds for another five minutes, then the next one stands up, and on and on."
'CREATED CHALLENGES'
On the sidelines of the conference, Santa praised FERC Chairman Norman Bay for the way in which he has handled such disruptions by protesters.
"He's been very strong about defending the integrity of the commission process," Santa said. "People obviously have a free speech right and the ability to protest to make their views known, but there are channels through which to do that at the commission."
The number of challenges to the pipeline certificate has "affected the pace of pipeline approvals," raising issues that FERC staff need to address in order to ensure that once the orders are issued they are able to stand up on appeal, he said.
"That also has created challenges for the pipeline companies to up their game," he said. "These projects are not being proposed unless there is a need for them, and clearly there is a need to get the shale abundance to the market."
Recent disasters involving energy infrastructure, such as the fatal explosion of a natural gas pipeline in San Bruno, California, in 2010, and the more recent methane leak at the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility, have increased public awareness of the potential hazards surrounding the construction of new infrastructure projects.
"I think the industry and the regulators are under a lot more scrutiny, but by the same token I think we have a very good record on safety," Santa said. "There's a commitment to zero incidents and I think we're doing what we can to get that next increment."
Santa also pointed to election-year rhetoric as a cause for concern for pipeline developers. Both Democratic candidates, Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders, have expressed some degree of opposition to hydraulic fracturing, which has underpinned the shale revolution in recent years.
'AFFORDABLE ENERGY'
Republican presidential candidates, although widely considered as being friendlier to the energy industry than the Democrats, have been largely silent on energy issues, Santa said.
However, despite the role that energy and climate issues are playing in the presidential campaign, "there are defenders of the industry, and of the importance of these facilities, in Congress," he said.
Despite the political rhetoric, most of the nation's leaders recognize the role that the production and transportation of gas plays in accomplishing significant national economic and environmental goals, he said.
"The delivery of this energy, of this natural gas, is important to those goals, whether it be for the economy -- providing the benefit of affordable energy -- or whether it's backing out the use of less benign fossil fuels with natural gas," he said.
"For that matter, if you look at renewables, given the fact that a lot of renewables are intermittent, it's gas fired-generators that are firming them up."
Pipeline industry leaders are beginning to recognize, and push back against, the social and political challenges they face, Santa said.
"What you're seeing on the part of the industry is the recognition that on these projects, they have got to address these issues from Day 1," he said. "You're seeing the pipeline operators do that with the recognition that this has got to be approached like a political campaign."
http://www.platts.com/latest-news/natural-gas/houston/us-natural-gas-pipeline-developers-facing-challenging-21139342 -
EPA Weighs Shifting RFS Compliance Duty From Refiners To Fuel Blenders
Mar 23, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA is considering shifting refiners' obligation to demonstrate compliance with the renewable fuel standard (RFS) to companies that blend renewable fuels such as ethanol into the fuel supply, but agency officials caution that any such change would not be done as part of EPA's annual rulemakings that set RFS fuel volume requirements.
Some refiners such as Valero Energy and Monroe Energy are petitioning the agency to shift the compliance obligation from refiners and importers to fuel blenders at fuel terminals. Monroe Energy also has a lawsuit pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that is trying to use a challenge to the agency's recent multi-year RFS as grounds to re-open for litigation a 2010 rule establishing the compliance burden.
Under the 2010 rule, refiners and importers must demonstrate compliance by obtaining and retiring credits, called renewable identification numbers (RINs), showing that blenders have blended required quantities of renewable fuels into transportation fuel. Some refiners argue that it is unfair to place the compliance burden on them for ensuring adequate blending of renewable fuel, though sources say other refiners do not oppose the existing rule.
At a March 16 House Oversight & Government Reform Committee health care, benefits and administrative rules panel hearing on the RFS, lawmakers brought up the question of changing the compliance burden.
Chris Grundler, head of EPA's Office of Transportation and Air Quality, told lawmakers "we are analyzing the question. . . . We are considering it," though he cautioned -- echoing previous comments from EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy -- that any change would not be part of the annual RFS renewable volume obligations rulemaking process. The agency considers the question "outside the scope" of such a rule, Grundler said.
EPA is required by statute to set renewable fuel volume requirements annually by Nov. 30 for the coming year under the RFS, but has frequently failed to do so on time. After refiners sued the agency to get the program back on track, EPA under a settlement agreement deadline on Nov. 30 issued a rule setting volumes for compliance years 2014, 2015 and 2016 for total renewable fuels, and also for 2017 for biomass-based diesel.
In that rule, EPA used its waiver authority set the volumes lower than the levels mandated by Congress in the program's governing statute, the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act. EPA justified the waiver on the grounds of "inadequate domestic supply," but biofuels advocates claim the real problem is not "supply," as ample quantities of ethanol exist. They say the problem is fuel distribution bottlenecks caused by infrastructure problems.
Refiners such as Monroe Energy, however, say the multi-year RFS rulemaking shows the flaw in placing the compliance burden on refiners, and that it should instead be placed on fuel blenders.
Waiver Authority
Monroe Energy in a Jan. 29 filing in its pending D.C. Circuit lawsuit claims that the agency in the multi-year RFS rule acknowledged "for the first time that its regulation of refiners and importers as obligated parties could no longer ensure that transportation fuel, on an annual average basis, would contain the applicable biofuels volumes set by Congress. Therefore, for the first time in the program's history, EPA determined that it must exercise its waiver authority to reduce the total annual requirements below the volumes set by Congress."
EPA in reaching the waiver decision in the volumes rule "reversed its earlier position that it could meaningfully impact the annual supply of biofuels in transportation fuel in the near term by increasing the price that refiners and importers pay for" RINs, Monroe argued. "This finding was predicated on a research paper EPA had not previously endorsed and which was not released to the public prior to the publication of the final rule."
Therefore, "As a result of the novel findings made by EPA in the 2014-2016 Rule, as well as the novel analyses not released to the public until that rule was published, EPA's decision in 2010 to impose the compliance obligation on refiners and importers rather than blenders can no longer be defended as a reasonable exercise of EPA's discretion," the company says, urging the D.C. Circuit to review the 2010 rulemaking.
Sources say that refining sector companies appear to be evenly split on the compliance issue, depending on how they are structured. Some refiners are more accepting of the current burden because they blend their own biofuels, while those that cannot blend are entirely dependent on the RIN market.
Energy policy consultant Ron Minsk, a former White House advisor on the RFS, explained the rationale for such a shift at a Feb. 24 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing. In his written testimony, Minsk said the RFS could be made to work better by correcting "a misalignment between the parties obligated to ensure that blending occurs and the parties that are situated in the supply chain to blend."
Minsk said, "moving the point of obligation to blenders can better align the obligation and the ability to blend. Moreover, moving the point of obligation to the blender more evenly distributes the cost of obligation across the obligated parties and likely reduces cost of the program to consumers. Rather than incentivizing major obligated parties to hoard [RINs] and withhold from infrastructure investments, obligated parties would now be able to compete on an even playing field as the RFS drafters envisioned."
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-weighs-shifting-rfs-compliance-duty-refiners-fuel-blenders
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RFS Critics Outline Opposing Attacks In Suit Over Multi-Year Fuel Targets
Mar 23, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
Refiners, renewable fuel producers and other critics of EPA's rule setting renewable fuel standard (RFS) blending targets for 2014 through 2016 are outlining opposing arguments they intend to raise in consolidated litigation over the rule, with refiners arguing the targets are too high while renewable fuel advocates say they are too low.
Suits over the Nov. 30 rule that sets the three years of targets for renewable fuel production, as well as a 2017 blending target for biomass-based diesel, have been consolidated as Americans for Clean Energy, et al. v. EPA, et al., now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. In addition to challenging the fuel targets, some refiners are also using the suit to try and shift their compliance burden under the RFS.
Ahead of full briefing in the case, the various petitioners recently filed non-binding statements of issues that outline the attacks on the rule that they intend to raise in their challenges.
The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) in its March 11 statement of issues says it intends to challenge whether EPA acted in an "arbitrary and capricious" manner when it set the volumes. Under the RFS, EPA sets an overall "total renewable fuel" volume, within which are included smaller volumes earmarked for cellulosic and advanced biofuels, and also biomass-based diesel. Biomass-based diesel volumes are set separately from the advanced and cellulosic categories.
The bulk of total renewable fuel is still largely supplied by corn ethanol, despite the intention of the RFS program as crafted by Congress to shift toward greater volumes of advanced and cellulosic biofuels, which are rated by EPA as having significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions.
AFPM will also question EPA's action when it set the overarching 2016 renewable fuel standard "at a level that would require the consumption of more renewable fuel than can feasibly be consumed in transportation fuel." This refers to the refining sector's central contention that by setting the total volume requirement higher than the "blend wall" in 2016, EPA is risking a sharp increase in fuel prices as obligated parties seek sufficient RFS compliance credits -- known as renewable identification numbers (RINs) -- to cover their obligations.
Refiners say EPA wrongly assumes that consumers will buy more fuels that use a higher blend of ethanol than the 10 percent blend (E10) that is now standard nationally, while ethanol groups say the blend wall is the artificial product of oil sector control of fuel retail infrastructure that limits the availability of higher ethanol blends such as E15 and E85.
AFPM will also question whether EPA violated the Clean Air Act "by using a flawed methodology that overestimates the volume of cellulosic biofuel available," and whether EPA violated the air law's 14-month statutory lead time required for changes to the biomass-based diesel standard when it made changes to biodiesel volumes.
AFPM further says it intends to raise whether EPA acted unlawfully "when it failed to adequately respond and address the point of obligation" under the RFS.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) in its March 14 statement of issues says it intends to question the legality of both EPA's cellulosic and biomass-based diesel volumes.
Fuel Projections
Meanwhile, refiner Monroe Energy in its March 11 statement of issues says it will question whether EPA's "total renewable and advanced biofuels requirements for 2016 must be set aside because they rely upon projections of biodiesel and renewable diesel supply that are arbitrary and capricious, inadequately explained, and unsupported by substantial evidence."
Monroe Energy is also using its challenge to try and re-open for litigation a 2010 EPA rule that imposed a burden on refiners to demonstrate compliance with the RFS. Monroe Energy as well as Valero Energy have also petitioned the agency to shift the burden from refiners to fuel blending companies.
The companies argue that the terminal "rack" is the logical place for the obligation, and that EPA's need to invoke waivers from statutory volumes underscores this point and in effect reopens the litigation window for the underlying regulations. Fuel blenders disagree, sources say.
Refiner Alon Refining Krotz Springs, Inc. in March 14 and March 18 statements of issues raises the same point, and further questions the legality of the fuel volumes set by EPA in November.
Waiver Authority
Meanwhile, the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) in a March 18 statement of issues echoes arguments flagged in earlier filings by biofuel interests that EPA unlawfully invoked its air law waiver authority to reduce fuel volume requirements from statutory levels.
Supporters of higher fuel volumes say EPA cannot invoke "inadequate domestic supply" when in fact supply is abundant and the real problem is distribution infrastructure.
NBB also questions EPA's following of proper procedure -- and possible violation of public notice-and-comment requirements -- in setting biodiesel volumes.
The group further indicates it intends to question EPA's use of RINs left from prior compliance years in setting biofuel quotas. Proponents argue that the bank of "carryover" RINs can be relied on to set higher volume requirements, yet EPA declined to set volumes based on these RINs.
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/rfs-critics-outline-opposing-attacks-suit-over-multi-year-fuel-targets
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Venezuela Has a Thirst for U.S. Crude
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Energywire
Venezuela's crude oil reserves, the largest in the world, aren't enough to keep it from importing more from the United States.
State-owned oil company Petróleos de Venezuela SA uses lighter crude from abroad to mix with its bountiful amounts of heavier oil and is now turning to the United States after a recently lifted embargo.
PDVSA ordered million of barrels of crude this year, purchasing 500,000 barrels Monday alone through PetroChina Co. Ltd., according to Reuters.
PDVSA also ordered 5.4 million barrels of benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude on top of at least 1 million barrels it's shipping to a refinery in Curaçao.
Just last year, the roles were reversed, with the United States importing about 800,000 barrels of Venezuelan crude, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Francisco Monaldi, a Latin American energy policy fellow at Rice University, said PDVSA's light oil sank with prices and the country's economy, forcing the country to look north.
"It's much easier and cheaper and closer to import crude from the U.S.," Monaldi said. "[Venezuelan officials] are clearly pursuing a strategy that is focused on the economics and commercial issues and not on politics".
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/03/23/stories/1060034444
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House Hears Pitch for Cyberattack Database
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
Risk analysts have struggled to account for the potential fallout from a cyberattack on industrial control systems: Would it look like the aftermath of a nasty fire? Would hackers knock out swaths of infrastructure like a hurricane?
Now cyber insurers and regulators may take a page from the way airlines study plane accidents and "near misses."
Like cyberattacks on physical infrastructure, plane safety problems often involve sensitive or proprietary information. But the aviation industry has managed to establish an online database that offers a window into many glitches and narrowly avoided disasters.
Many thought such an information-sharing portal couldn't be built, but "lo and behold, they did, and they were able to create that environment," said Tom Finan, chief strategy officer at Ark Network Security Solutions and a former Homeland Security official.
"We need to dispel the notion that a [cyber] repository would somehow be impossible," he told lawmakers yesterday at the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection and Security Technologies.
While at DHS, Finan spearheaded efforts to set up a data repository for cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Such a central, anonymized library of actual attacks could help insurance companies get a handle on the threat and offer better cyber policies. It would also help academics and regulators understand the breadth of computer vulnerabilities, experts say.
There may be naysayers or those who worry about disclosing too much data, Finan said, but when facing a "shared business problem" such as cybersecurity, "the fear ultimately has to relent to some kind of sharing."
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have seen room for legislation on cybersecurity information sharing. Last year, lawmakers passed a sweeping measure that freed companies -- including energy utilities -- to trade technical data on cyberthreats (EnergyWire, Dec. 18, 2015).
Representatives at yesterday's hearing were receptive to the idea of a central cyber incident repository, but Republicans such as Rep. Curt Clawson of Florida warned about tackling a "moving target that is beyond complex and that we in government do not understand."
"Be careful on what we try to do here, or we'll make a very difficult situation already worse," he said.
Other witnesses at yesterday's hearing spoke to how that "moving target" could hinder progress for the budding cybersecurity insurance market.
"We're not facing a fire here -- we're facing an adversarial relationship that changes tactics and techniques," said Matthew McCabe, senior vice president for network security and data privacy at the insurance broker and risk management firm Marsh. "Just how valuable are actuarial data if the threat is going to change each time you change your security?"
McCabe noted that insurance policies could strengthen cyber preparedness by incentivizing would-be policyholders to improve their security. Those who can answer underwriters' questions about cybersecurity plans and awareness of critical assets may be rewarded with cheaper premiums, he said.
"Responses to those questions will yield data, and that data should inform every aspect of risk management," McCabe said.
DHS is hosting a workshop next month to brainstorm about where to store that data and how to control access to it.
Another panelist at the hearing, North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm, said he just wants to make sure more cyberthreat information is available in case there are "companies that are selling these sort of [insurance] products that may not fully understand the risks they're taking on."
"From my perch as a regulator, I don't really much care where the repository of that data is," he said. "What matters is that the data that's actually being gathered is useful and it's being shared with me so I can do my job."
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/03/23/stories/1060034467
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FRA Rule Gives Us Chance to Bar Most One-Person Crew Trains
Mar 23, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By John Previsich and Ed Wytkind
The freight railroads would have the public believe that operating massive freight trains with a single crew member is perfectly safe. We know those claims are not true and fortunately so does our government which just issued proposed regulations establishing a two-person crew minimum on most trains. We applaud those rules and will push to make them as tough and rigid as possible.
If former Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan was alive today, he would probably tell the railroads, “you’re entitled to your opinion, but not your own facts.” Despite erroneous claims by the industry lobby that there is a lack of “conclusive statistical data” to support a two-person crew standard, we know from data gleaned from reports on accidents, crashes and fatalities as well as the real-life experiences of frontline employees, that the arguments in favor of a two-person crew standard are compelling.
The railroads rely on skewed statistical analysis to argue that a lack of accidents from the use of one-person crews means that this two-person train crew rule isn’t needed. The reality is that almost all trains in America operate with two crew members and thankfully, one-person crew operations are still the rare exception. Of course there is not a great deal of data available. More to the point, the safety statistics in today’s industry are a product of the skill and professionalism of the two-person and three-person crews that operate trains across America today.
Federal regulators’ own research underscores the necessity of having at a minimum a federally certified engineer and a federally certified conductor on trains. These employees support each other’s decision-making process. They work together to combat fatigue, especially in the real-world of train crews defined by mandated long shifts and unpredictable work schedules. They support safe operations in the event of emergencies or if one of the crew members becomes incapacitated, a fact that is also recognized by the Federal Aviation Administration as it prohibits cockpit crews of fewer than two pilots.
Conveniently, the railroads also fail to mention what happened three years ago in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic. A runaway train carrying 72 cars of crude oil killed 47 people and leveled most of the town. This train was under the control of a single crew member who failed to properly secure the train (because he lacked a co-crew member to assist and support him) ending in a fiery and deadly crash.
The industry’s assertion that mandates to implement Positive Train Control (PTC) technology in the rail industry are somehow in conflict with the FRA’s crew size rule is absurd. In case facts matter, PTC is simply one more redundant safety tool in rail operations that requires a great deal of train crew interaction in order for it to work. In fact, a fully operational PTC system puts more demands on the attention of the crew because of the distractions it causes. While advancement in transportation technology can provide essential safety support and save lives, it is not, and never will be, a replacement for highly trained, experienced and adequately staffed crews.
By the way, the public has spoken loudly on the subject. In states across America, both red and blue, an overwhelming majority of Americans strongly support a two-person train crew standard. The numbers are consistently strong cross all political and ideological lines with up to 91 percent of Democrats and 82 percent of Republicans favoring federal action to bar one-person train operations.
The safety arguments support a two-person crew standard. The public supports a two-person crew standard. Now it is time for our government to bar most one-person train operations.
Previsich jprevisich@smart-union.org is president of SMART Transportation Division and Wytkind edw@ttd.org is president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/labor/273916-fra-rule-gives-us-chance-to-bar-most-one-person-crew-trains
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EPA Sends Final Utility MACT Cost Review To OMB
Mar 23, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA has sent for White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) pre-publication review the final version of its supplemental consideration of costs as part of its determination that the agency's utility maximum achievable control technology (MACT) air toxics rule was “appropriate and necessary” under the Clean Air Act.
According to OMB's website, EPA submitted the final cost analysis for review on March 22 and intends to publish the final version in the Federal Register sometime in May.
The final rule responds to the Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling from June last year in Michigan v. EPA that faulted the agency for not considering costs in its initial appropriate and necessary finding that justified development of the MACT. EPA argued that the air law is ambiguous on when the agency must consider costs in the process and that it weighed costs when it set the rule's emissions limits -- but the justices rejected EPA's arguments.
The high court remanded litigation over the rule back to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which then sought input from EPA and others on how it should proceed.
States opposed to the MACT and utility industry groups urged the court to vacate the rule entirely, saying theMichigan ruling undermined the entire basis for the rule. But EPA countered that it was developing a supplemental cost review as required by the justices, and had issued a proposed version in December.
The D.C. Circuit ultimately remanded the MACT to the agency without vacatur, and EPA pledged to issue a final version of the cost review in April, around the time of the rule's extended compliance deadline. EPA could still issue a signed version of the rule that month ahead of its slated May publication in the Register.
In comments on the proposed version of the cost analysis, some states are backing the review while others say the study is based on a flawed analysis that undermines the air rule.
Meanwhile, a coalition of 20 states is urging the Supreme Court to overturn the D.C. Circuit ruling leaving EPA's utility air toxics rule in place even after the justices found the agency violated the Clean Air Act by not considering costs in deciding to craft the rule. If the high court takes the appeal, it would give the eight justices the chance to weigh in on when courts can leave rules in place on remand.
http://insideepa.com/the-inside-story
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EPA Legal Maneuvers Seek to Blunt Haze Plan Lawsuits
Mar 23, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
U.S. EPA has fired its first shot in the widening legal battle over its regional haze plan for Texas and Oklahoma, asking the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to either throw out a slew of lawsuits or transfer jurisdiction to Washington, D.C.
Under the Clean Air Act, regulations that carry a national impact fall under the purview of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, agency lawyers wrote in a motionfiled yesterday. "EPA properly made and published a determination of nationwide scope or effect here, and that ends the inquiry," they continued. "Dismissal or transfer is therefore required."
Taking the contrary view is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R). In filing the initial lawsuit against the haze plan early this month, Paxton argued that it isn't nationally applicable and should therefore be reviewed by the 5th Circuit, which covers Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. He's since been joined by power producers that face higher pollution control costs under the plan, which is intended to improve visibility in two Texas national parks and an Oklahoma national wildlife refuge by cutting sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants. All of the suits have been consolidated.
Paxton and the other plaintiffs have asked the 5th Circuit to stay the regulations; in yesterday's filing, EPA said the court should leave that decision to the D.C. Circuit. The plaintiffs filed the stay motion shortly after launching their initial lawsuits, the agency said, and the 5th Circuit "has no greater familiarity with the case than would the D.C. Circuit." A transfer would let D.C. Circuit judges "consider the stay motions promptly" with no harm to the plaintiffs, they added.
EPA's court stance echoes its position in previously responding to comments on the final plan, published in January in the Federal Register.
The jurisdictional question is not necessary a legal abstraction. The 5th Circuit, based in New Orleans, is typically ranked among the most conservative appeals courts in the nation, meaning Paxton and the power companies could have better odds of winning their case there (EnergyWire, March 1).
Under EPA's regional haze rule, states have to reduce emissions-related haze to return national parks and other "Class I airsheds" to their natural condition by 2064. But the blueprint turned in by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality-- which is also challenging EPA in the litigation -- would have taken until 2155 to reach that goal. Instead, EPA regulators partially substituted their own plan. In making the argument yesterday that the plan has nationwide import, the agency's lawyers said it extends to states covered by two appellate courts: the 5th Circuit and the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which includes Oklahoma. In addition, they cited the applicability of "EPA's interpretation of complex statutory and regulatory requirements in this rulemaking to all states, not just Texas and Oklahoma."
Entwined with the legal standoff are complaints that federal regulators are usurping decisions better left to the states. The topic got a wider airing this morning at a previously scheduled hearing on the regional haze program by the House Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Environment.
Before the Obama administration took office, EPA did not object to state regional haze plans, subcommittee Chairman Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) said at the outset. Since then, he said, the agency has imposed 14 "federal implementation plans," with two more underway.
Besides carrying "huge" implementation costs, Bridenstine said, those plans will force coal-fired power plants to shut down and make electricity generation more expensive. In Oklahoma, initial rate increases at two major utilities are expected to be about 11 percent higher than they would have been under a state plan proposed in 2010, said Thomas Schroedter, executive director of Oklahoma Industrial Energy Consumers.
But Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), the panel's ranking member, said reduced haze leads national parks visitors to prolong their stays and thus pump more money into local economies. While critics of EPA's regional haze rule said that its purpose is aesthetic, as opposed to protecting public health, Bruce Polkowsky, a consultant who formerly worked at EPA and the National Park Service, called that a false choice.
"We live in one atmosphere, and we should be striving to get that atmosphere as clean as we can," Polkowsky said.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/23/stories/1060034526
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