Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 3/25/2016
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(ACC Mentioned) February Brings Some Calm to the Resin Pricing Market
Mar 25, 2016 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
February was a relatively quiet month in North American commodity plastics markets, with only polyethylene and solid polystyrene showing any change in prices. -
Consumer Advocates Question TSCA Reform
Mar 25, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Whether passage of a reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) will better protect the public from potentially harmful chemicals remains questionable for several NGOs and consumer protection advocates. -
Companies Chafe Under EPA’s Proposed Nanomaterials Reporting Rule
Mar 24, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Catherine Cooney
Organisations ranging from NGOs to business groups have unanimously requested that the EPA better define the terms in its proposed reporting rule on nanomaterials, says the agency. -
What Bedazzling Easter Dresses Can Tell Us About Chemical Reform
Mar 25, 2016 | Environmental Working Group
By Melanie Benesh
It’s the time of year for pretty Easter dresses, and for many kids, the frillier and shinier, the better. Parents, however, should beware of dresses packaged with metal jewelry. -
U.S. NatGas Exports Forecast to Upend European Pricing Dynamics
Mar 25, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
The potential geopolitical implications from exporting domestic natural gas overseas have been noted, but U.S. gas may already be capping the commodity price in the UK, long before cargoes arrive at European terminals, according to Jefferies LLC. -
Natural Gas Production Reached Highest Level Ever During Winter
Mar 25, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
As natural gas prices have sunk by nearly 25 percent this year, U.S. production reached its highest level ever over the winter. -
Power of Local Voices: Keeping the Atlantic Oil Free
Mar 25, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Frank Knapp and Sierra Weaver
We love living on the Southeast coast for the same reason so many Americans travel here: to enjoy the natural beauty, small-town charm, and unique local business scene – not to mention the great fishing. But for the past year, everything we know and love about coastal towns from Virginia to Georgia was at risk. A pending decision about oil and gas drilling off of our coasts jeopardized our economies and communities. -
Workers Breathe Easier Over Silica Dust Rules as Construction Industry Winces
Mar 25, 2016 | Chicago Tribune
By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
The Labor Department on Thursday finalized new rules to reduce workers' exposure to silica dust, a common mineral in construction materials that, when breathed in over time, can cause lung disease and increase the risk of cancer. -
Program That Could Help Flint May Be Out of Reach -- Advocates
Mar 25, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Tiffany Stecker
An advocacy group is warning senators about the potential pitfalls of a novel water infrastructure program that has been touted as a funding solution for the water crisis in Flint, Mich.
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(ACC Mentioned) February Brings Some Calm to the Resin Pricing Market
Mar 25, 2016 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
February was a relatively quiet month in North American commodity plastics markets, with only polyethylene and solid polystyrene showing any change in prices.
Prices for all grades of PE as well as those for solid PS each fell an average of 2 cents per pound for the month. The declines resulted mainly from lower feedstock costs. The PE drop is the second consecutive monthly price drop for the material after a three-month stretch in which prices were flat. The January price drop was 3 cents.
U.S./Canadian PE markets got off to a good start in 2016, with sales of high and low linear density PE each up almost 6 percent in January, according to the American Chemistry Council. HDPE export sales surged almost 40 percent for the month, overcoming a 1 percent drop in domestic sales.
The story was somewhat similar in LLDPE, where a 26 percent gain in export sales boosted a 1 percent uptick in sales into the domestic market. In LDPE, sales slipped 3 percent, with domestic sales down almost 3 percent and export sales sliding almost 5 percent.
Regional PE makers remain focused on building the export market in order to handle large volumes of new capacity that are scheduled to come on line beginning this year. Increased availability of low-priced natural gas from shale formations has led to a wave of new PE capacity expansions throughout North America. The Braskem Idesa joint venture expects to be shipping new PE from a plant in Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, by the end of April.
Crude oil prices remain a global price setter for PE, even though most North American PE uses natural gas as a feedstock. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) oil prices started the year around $39 per barrel but soon declined, falling under $30 on two occasions before recovering to just under $38 in late trading March 16.
For PS, the 2-cent drop ended a streak of four consecutive months in which prices for the material had been flat. PS maker Americas Styrenics LLC had pre-announced the price decrease in early February, and the broader market held to that amount.
The PS decline was driven in part by lower selling prices for benzene feedstock, which is used to make styrene monomer. Benzene prices for February averaged $1.84 per gallon, down 13 percent from the January price. Some market watchers believe that the benzene market now has reached bottom and could begin heading up again.
North American PS sales notched a moderate sales gain of 1.2 percent in January, according to ACC. Much of that growth came from the electrical/electronic end market, where January sales surged more than 13 percent.
Regional prices for polypropylene, PVC and PET bottle resins were flat with January levels. The lack of pricing activity in the PP and PET markets surprised some market watchers.
PP supplies have been tight because of strong demand and some production outages, leading to four straight months of price increases through January. PP makers in February were expected to push through the second half of a 6-cent move that had been nominated for January, but PP buyers were able to hold their ground. The first half of that 6-cent move came through in January.
North American PP sales grew 1.4 percent in January, according to ACC, with domestic growth of 3.3 percent softened by a plunge of almost 60 percent in export sales, when compared with the same month in 2015.
Flat PET prices in February ended a streak of six straight months in which bottle resin prices had declined. Prices for the material tumbled a total of 13 cents per pound in that six-month period. PET demand may be improving as the market moves into warmer weather, which serves to boost demand for both carbonated soft drinks and bottled water — PET’s two main end markets.
PVC’s mysterious journey continued in February, with prices flat for the third time in the last four months. Prices for the material in January had declined by an average of 1 cent per pound. PVC demand was expected to solidify, as warmer weather bumped up demand for construction-related PVC products.
U.S./Canadian PVC sales surged 7.2 percent in January, with export sales growth of almost 21 percent improving a modest 1.4 percent domestic growth rate. Among domestic end markets, PVC’s flagship rigid pipe and tubing category jumped almost 9 percent in January. That sector accounted for more than 46 percent of total domestic sales for the month.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20160325/NEWS/160329849/february-brings-some-calm-to-the-resin-pricing-market
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Consumer Advocates Question TSCA Reform
Mar 25, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Whether passage of a reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) will better protect the public from potentially harmful chemicals remains questionable for several NGOs and consumer protection advocates.
US House and Senate staff, from both sides of the aisle, have been negotiating a final TSCA bill that merges the House (HR 2576) and Senate (S 697) versions that passed last year.
The Administration, industry and several NGOs have been encouraged by the progress made on the decades-old legislation, but others are concerned the reform effort will fall short.
In an opinion published recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association, Professor Leonardo Trasande of New York University’s School of Medicine says several "flaws" in the proposed legislation "have dampened enthusiasm by medical and public health organisations".
According to Professor Trasande, whose previous work includes a study linking bisphenol A to childhood obesity, the legislation currently being considered "could undermine recent efforts by states to protect human health", which have been effective in restricting "the use of chemicals for which the greatest evidence of causation in disease has emerged".
These include Washington state’s work to ban certain flame retardants, and states’ bans on BPA in children’s bottles.
Another concern he raises is the requirement, in both bills, that the EPA test only five chemicals per year. "Even if there are only 500 potentially hazardous substances, among the thousands of chemicals already in use, that lack toxicity testing data, it would take 100 years to complete their review," says Dr Trasande.
Moreover, he says, $25m of funding per year for chemical testing "seems inadequate and potentially dangerous".
Richard Denison, lead senior scientist at Environment Defense Fund, points out that the $25m figure referenced in the Senate bill "is only the amount of industry fees that EPA can initially collect, and those fees supplement EPA’s appropriated budget for this work, which is several-fold larger."
He adds that "those fees are contingent on Congress not reducing EPA’s funding below current levels, and the fees can be raised over time to match the pace of EPA’s activity." But the NGO – which supports the current TSCA reform effort – shares the desire to see more resources dedicated to chemical reviews.
Separately, a recent blog post from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has raised concern with the reform’s proposals on whether chemical reformulations should trigger EPA review, as outlined in the Senate bill’s "nomenclature" section.
According to the post’s author, Daniel Rosenberg, several sections of the nomenclature section "clearly point to broader and more encompassing [TSCA] inventory listings, which would lead to fewer [pre-manufacturing notices] (PMNs)".
"There's been alarmingly little discussion or even explanation of [the section’s] purpose and impact on the TSCA new chemical programme, even though it is clearly designed, at least in part, to make it easier for chemical companies to avoid having to submit their new chemicals to EPA for a review of their safety," he adds.
Meanwhile, NGO the Environmental Working Group says weaknesses of both bills include:the absence of a tougher "reasonable certainty of no harm" safety standard;confidential business information (CBI) protections, which could leave the public "in the dark on the true nature of these chemicals for decades"; andinadequate federal funding, together with provisions that would allow manufacturers "to pay to fast-track reviews of their favourite chemical".
The US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), Health Care Without Harm, the American Sustainable Business Council, and Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families were among the organisations which spoke out, following the passage of the Senate’s bill, to caution that the conference process not undermine consumer protections.
Informal discussion to reconcile the House and Senate bills have been underway since the start of the year, amid a flurry of stakeholder advocacy.
An agreement to reconcile the bills was not reached before Congress’s March recess. But a spokesperson for Senator Tom Udall (D-New Mexico), co-author of the Senate bill, said "talks are continuing, and we're optimistic that we'll keep making progress."
https://chemicalwatch.com/45849/consumer-advocates-question-tsca-reform
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Companies Chafe Under EPA’s Proposed Nanomaterials Reporting Rule
Mar 24, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Catherine Cooney
Organisations ranging from NGOs to business groups have unanimously requested that the EPA better define the terms in its proposed reporting rule on nanomaterials, says the agency.
Speaking at the GlobalChem industry conference in Washington DC this week, Jim Alwood of the EPA's chemicals office, said all of the comments the agency has received on the proposal asked it to improve its definitions of unique and novel properties and trace amounts.
“I have never seen complete agreement like this” while working at EPA, he said. The agency will clarify these definitions in the Final Rule.
The EPA has proposed reporting rules for nanomaterials under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). These would apply to companies that manufacture, import or process the substances, and require that they electronically report a variety of factors, such as production volume and manufacturing methods.
The proposal would also ask manufacturers and processors of nanomaterials to notify EPA 135 days before they begin to manufacture the product. Several audience members said they believe this 135 period would require them to stop manufacturing while they wait to hear from the agency as to whether it wants more information on the substance.
“What does EPA plan to do during the 135 days while it keeps products off the market?” asked MarthaMarrapese of law firm, Keller and Heckman. She urged the agency to let the companies continue manufacturing while it reviews the data.
Mr Alwood said the EPA will use the 135 days to analyse the data to decide if it needs to take action or not, which could include a request for more specific information.
He added that the agency had wanted to propose a period of longer than 135 days, but decided againstthat. “This is just one time reporting” of existing data, he said.
The EPA doesn’t intend to establish an inventory of nanomaterials, he added.
Also speaking at the conference, Brad Fisher, manager of the nanotechnology sector at Environment Canada, said his agency’s calls for data under Canada’s chemical management plan are useful to help the agency winnow down the vast number of chemicals under its review, including nanomaterials.
This is so that the agency can identify those substances that do not need regulatory attention. Chemicalsthat are new, or that appear to need scrutiny, can then be prioritised using the information companies provide, he added.
“We aren’t presuming these [substances] are guilty. We are really trying not to put the cart before the horse,” Mr Fisher said.
https://chemicalwatch.com/45934/companies-chafe-under-epas-proposed-nanomaterials-reporting-rule
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What Bedazzling Easter Dresses Can Tell Us About Chemical Reform
Mar 25, 2016 | Environmental Working Group
By Melanie Benesh
It’s the time of year for pretty Easter dresses, and for many kids, the frillier and shinier, the better. Parents, however, should beware of dresses packaged with metal jewelry.
A shocking investigation by the Washington state Department of Ecology found horrifying levels of toxic heavy metals in costume jewelry that came with several young children’s dresses, including brooches, charms and necklaces.
Of the 27 pieces tested, five contained unsafe levels of cadmium or lead. As reported by the Seattle Times, one necklace was 98 percent cadmium – equivalent to 98,400 parts per million or nearly 2,500 times the legal maximum of 40 parts per millionunder Washington state law Another piece contained lead at 50,100 parts per million. That’s 500 times the federal legal limit of 100 parts per million for lead for children’s products.
Both cadmium and lead are associated with serious health risks and are considered toxic even at very low doses. A spokesperson for the state Department of Ecology said some of the jewelry had such high levels of toxic metals that it would be best disposed of as hazardous waste, not in household trash. The agency also tested 132 pieces of costume jewelry sold separately from the dresses and found them all to be safe.
These outrageous findings come as Congress is trying to reconcile two chemical reform laws passed last year to replace the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act. These dresses can tell us a lot about what that reform should look like. In particular:State laws must be preserved. The existing federal chemical law is so weak that the Environmental Protection Agency infamously was unable to use it toban asbestos. In the absence of meaningful federal authority to regulate chemicals, states have been leading the way for decades. Washington state’s own 2008 Children’s Safe Products Act, which sets limits on metals in children’s jewelry, is a prime example. At least 10 other states have laws restricting or banning metals such as cadmium and lead. By contrast, the federal limits for cadmium in jewelry are voluntary. Any federal reform should fully preserve these existing state laws and allow states to continue regulating chemicals at least until a federal rule goes into effect. Even if the federal government has acted, restrictions on states should be narrowly limited to the same products and risks that are federally regulated. States should also be able to continue regulating chemicals under their clean air, water and waste disposal laws and should be able impose reporting and monitoring requirements.
States need broad enforcement authority. The Washington investigation highlights the key enforcement role that states play in keeping consumers safe. EPA has limited resources and capacity to test products and to make sure that industry is complying with chemical regulations. State authorities can help monitor compliance with both state and federal regulations and take action when companies break the law. Federal chemical reform should allow and encourage states to take their own enforcement actions and impose their own penalties, especially when federal action is inadequate.
EPA should review toxic metals quickly, without exception. Federal chemical reform efforts must ensure that the one thousand most concerning chemicals in commerce are assessed and regulated as quickly as possible. While neither bill would ensure that all these chemicals are evaluated within a century, the Senate bill at least takes steps to give priority for safety review to chemicals on EPA’s current “Work Plan.” Nine metals are currently on the Work Plan, including cadmium and lead. The House bill also has an expedited timeline for EPA to regulate so-called PBTs – chemicals that persist in the environment and build up in our bodies. Unfortunately, the House bill specifically exempts metals from this expedited timeline even though many, including cadmium and lead, have these very properties. The Washington state investigation demonstrates why that exclusion is a bad idea.
No special treatment for imports. It’s likely that at least some, if not all, of the dresses and jewelry tested in Washington state were imported. The episode shows that regulations for imported products need to be just as stringent as they are for domestically manufactured goods. However, that’s not the case for some imported products in the pending Senate bill. One provision would require EPA to first make a new finding that there was a “reasonable potential for exposure” before it could require companies to tell the agency about a new use for a chemical in an imported product. EPA should not have to jump over unnecessary hurdles to make sure that chemicals in imported products are safe.
http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2016/03/what-bedazzling-easter-dresses-can-tell-us-about-chemical-reform
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U.S. NatGas Exports Forecast to Upend European Pricing Dynamics
Mar 25, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Carolyn Davis
The potential geopolitical implications from exporting domestic natural gas overseas have been noted, but U.S. gas may already be capping the commodity price in the UK, long before cargoes arrive at European terminals, according to Jefferies LLC.
An analysis found that summer gas prices at the UK’s National Balancing Point are “in line” with the estimated cost to export gas to Europe. That could mean the United States has become the price-setter for the overseas market before actual cargoes arrive.
“If this apparent convergence becomes established, it would represent one of the most significant developments in the UK -- and wider European -- energy market for more than a decade,” said the Jefferies analysts. In effect, it would mean the UK gas price is set by the United States, “and therefore a direct pricing link would be established between U.S. shale gas production and the UK market.”
New research by the Deloitte Center for Energy Solutions and Deloitte MarketPoint LLC also is forecasting the pricing dynamics to change as U.S. LNG makes its way to European destinations. Using an export calculation of 6 Bcf/d, Deloitte said the growth of gas supplies in overseas markets would speed up the transition from oil price indexation.
“Decoupling from oil-indexed prices is already occurring in some European markets and might happen in Asian markets, especially with the projected growth in Australian LNG,” researchers said. “If Asian markets decouple from oil-indexed prices, their prices could drop sharply over the next several years.”
U.S. exports are expected to be pegged to Henry Hub prices rather than oil prices, which means the “incremental volumes could result in global gas markets transitioning more rapidly to prices set by gas-on-gas market competition,” Deloitte said.
Gas prices are projected to fall sharply in regions that import U.S. gas, while domestic prices would increase only marginally.
“The projected increase of average U.S. prices from 2016 to 2030 is about 15 cents/MMBtu, while the corresponding price decrease in importing countries could be several times higher,” Deloitte researchers said. In addition, the interconnectivity of gas markets would cause price impacts to be felt globally and not only in the countries importing gas.
“U.S. LNG exports are projected to narrow the price difference between the U.S. and export markets and hence, the market will likely limit the volume of economically viable U.S. LNG exports,” according to Deloitte.
As U.S. prices firm while prices in export markets soften, the margins between the U.S. and global markets “will narrow and limit the LNG export volumes even without government intervention.”
For example, Deloitte is projecting the spread to be reduced by 84 cents/MMBtu if 6 Bcfd of exports are sent to Europe under the “business-as-usual scenario,” which researchers calculated a 15 cents/MMBtu average increase in the U.S. price and a 69-cent decrease in European prices.
The price impact in the United States is expected to be minimal because of the large size of the North American gas resource base and the “responsiveness” of the domestic market to price signals. The global impact, however, could be more than what the relative size of 6 Bcfd of exports might indicate.
“Because of the embedded take-or-pay volumes in long-term gas supply contracts and limited regional production in many parts of the world, U.S. LNG exports could reduce global prices and cost of supplies for gas importers,” Deloitte said.
There also could be trade revenue declines in the countries importing gas. Even if gas supplies in a region were not directly displaced by U.S. LNG exports, its producers could suffer a revenue decrease because of lower prices impacting the region. In addition, gas importing countries may face pressure to adopt market-based gas prices over oil-indexed prices.
“As the world’s largest gas exporter by both volume and revenue and a high cost gas provider into Europe, Russia appears to be particularly vulnerable, especially if U.S. LNG exports are sent to Europe,” said Deloitte researchers. U.S. exports also could displace some oil consumption as power generation tilts toward more gas-fired consumption.
Australia is only beginning to step up its gas exports, but Deloitte is projecting it will become the global LNG export leader over the coming decade -- which could limit the power of the U.S. exports.
There are other LNG competitors also lurking as new Australia and Africa operators and established exporters prowl for market share.
For instance, Qatargas, the largest LNG supplier in the world, is said to be eyeing the UK and the Netherlands to expand its European presence and to counter U.S. and Australian export growth. According to Bloomberg, Qatargas wants to expand access to the Dragon LNG import terminal in Wales and the Gate terminal in Rotterdam. Import capacity at Gate and other northwestern European terminals has become more valuable in response to the start of U.S. LNG exports.
"As more people are looking to Europe the capacity value has increased, whereas in other areas it's quite the contrary,” a Gate official told Bloomberg. “Everybody was hoping for Asia demand but there demand was slower so I think capacity value has decreased there.”
Qatargas, which has seven LNG trains, has production capacity of 42 million metric tons/year.
Whether Europe becomes a bigger destination for gas supply is questionable, according to Pira Energy Group. Turning up gas demand in Europe is going to be an uphill battle, said researchers.
“As we hunt for new demand to consume all the new LNG coming to Europe, we may be losing sight of the slow but steady and accumulating impact of efficiency gains across the Continent,” Pira said. “While the focus these days is on natural gas trying to reclaim demand from coal in the power sector, that is not the only sector where gas demand has eroded.
“None of the five biggest industrial demand sectors have experienced growth in gas demand in the last 10 years. Overall, these sectors have lost over 16% of their demand. However, the story here is not necessarily the economic weakness of European industry, but the growth in its energy efficiency across all parts of the economy.”
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/105823-us-natgas-exports-forecast-to-upend-european-pricing-dynamics
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Natural Gas Production Reached Highest Level Ever During Winter
Mar 25, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
As natural gas prices have sunk by nearly 25 percent this year, U.S. production reached its highest level ever over the winter.
Companies have sharply cut back on drilling as a result of the low prices, but they are still pumping intensely from their most productive wells (E&ENews PM, March 11).
Average daily output reached 73.3 billion cubic feet in February in the continental United States, which is a record, according to Platts Bentek.
There was nearly 2.5 trillion cubic feet of gas in storage on March 18, which is about 51 percent more than the five-year average for this time of year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Along with aggressive pumping, a mild winter led to less-than-average use of gas for heating.
"Going into summer, producers know it's going to be a massacre," said analyst Sami Yahya.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/25/stories/1060034611
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Power of Local Voices: Keeping the Atlantic Oil Free
Mar 25, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Frank Knapp and Sierra Weaver
We love living on the Southeast coast for the same reason so many Americans travel here: to enjoy the natural beauty, small-town charm, and unique local business scene – not to mention the great fishing. But for the past year, everything we know and love about coastal towns from Virginia to Georgia was at risk. A pending decision about oil and gas drilling off of our coasts jeopardized our economies and communities.
But all of that concern was relieved last week when the Obama administration announced it was removing the Atlantic from consideration for drilling entirely. This is not just a victory for those who love our coastal communities, beaches, and wildlife. This is a victory for bipartisan efforts that bring people together from diverse backgrounds and perspectives to fight for a common goal.
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As representatives of the business and environmental communities, we both understood that offshore drilling was simply not worth the risk. And we’re not alone. The Administration clearly heard the overwhelming opposition from coastal communities, business owners, and local elected officials from across the political spectrum.
More than 100 coastal communities passed anti-drilling resolutions, including major cities like Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Savannah, and Wilmington. Meanwhile, leading tourism and business associations like the Virginia Beach Restaurant, Lodging and Travel Association, the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, and the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce have united hundreds of local businesses in opposing the plan.
We couldn’t be more pleased with the final outcome. The coastal economies all of us depend on won’t be threatened anymore.
Take South Carolina’s beaches as an example. As some of the country’s most beloved vacation spots, tens of thousands of families have spent their happiest times building sandcastles and taking in the gorgeous view of lapping water. The local South Carolina economies depends on tourism, and it’s hard to imagine those coastal communities having the same appeal with refineries, pipelines, tankers, and the inevitable oil on their beaches.
The same could be said for hundreds of other beloved spots along the Southeast coast, such as the Outer Banks, Virginia Beach, Savannah, and countless small beach towns that were on the front line to stop this plan.
Certainly, the oil and gas industry hasn’t been shy about touting the supposed economic benefits of this plan for Southeastern states, but independent analyses have raised questions about the industry’s faulty assumptions and outdated data.
Rather than banking on promises from the oil industry, the Administration listened to the broad coalitions standing up for their communities and ultimately agreed that drilling for oil simply wasn’t worth the risk. Offshore drilling would have jeopardize existing businesses like those in tourism and fishing that today provide billions in revenue and good jobs to many Southeast residents.
The oil and gas industry didn’t anticipate the response this plan received from communities along the Southeast coast. They didn’t anticipate that we would recognize the threat drilling poses to our way of life. And they certainly weren’t expecting us to take action and win.
But that’s exactly what’s happened.
All too often in these debates, the oil and gas industry is able to influence and fund itself to a victory. But we hope this win represents a shift in that story we know all too well. We hope this will be an example and inspiration to local communities to fight back when their economy and way of life is at stake.
Knapp is the president and CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce and Weaver is the leader of the Coast and Wetlands Program at the Southern Environmental Law Center.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/274200-power-of-local-voices-keeping-the-atlantic-oil-free
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Workers Breathe Easier Over Silica Dust Rules as Construction Industry Winces
Mar 25, 2016 | Chicago Tribune
By Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz
The Labor Department on Thursday finalized new rules to reduce workers' exposure to silica dust, a common mineral in construction materials that, when breathed in over time, can cause lung disease and increase the risk of cancer.
The long-awaited rules, which update 45-year-old standards, are drawing criticism from some industry employer groups that say they are costly, time-consuming and irrelevant, given steep drops in silica-related disease.
But worker representatives applaud the move.
"It's probably about 10 years overdue," said Ralph Affrunti, president of the Chicago and Cook County Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents the area's building trade unions and their 100,000 members. "It should save a lot of lives, stop a lot of diseases."
About 2.3 million people in the U.S., including 2 million construction workers, are exposed to silica dust while working, according to the Labor Department. About 676,000 workplaces are expected to be affected by the new rule.
In addition to construction, industries that expose workers to silica include brick and glass manufacturing, dental laboratories, jewelry production and hydraulic fracturing, often called fracking.
Inhaling the dust — known as crystalline silica particles and commonly found in sand, stone, concrete and mortar — can lead to silicosis, an incurable and sometimes fatal lung disease, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It also puts people at risk for developing lung cancer, kidney disease or other respiratory disease.
OSHA estimates the new standards, which will be phased in over five years, will save more than 600 lives a year and prevent more than 900 silicosis cases each year.
The rules, first proposed in 2013 and then subjected to a period of review and public comment, slash the allowable limit for exposure to respirable crystalline silica to 50 micrograms per cubic meter of air over an eight-hour shift, down from 250 micrograms currently.
Employers will be required to use engineering controls, such as water or ventilation, to limit worker exposure; provide respirators when engineering controls don't suffice; and limit worker access to high exposure areas, among other requirements.
The construction industry has until June 2017 to comply. The general and maritime industries have until June 2018, and the fracking industry has until 2021 to allow it to take advantage of emerging technologies, as engineering controls for the industry are still in development, the department said.
To Brad Sant, senior vice president for safety at the American Road and Transportation Builders Association, the rules will burden employers while doing little to improve safety. Silicosis cases have plummeted more than 90 percent since the 1960s, he said, thanks to advancements in technology and protections.
"We're just not convinced that this is a big hazard today that couldn't have been addressed by stronger enforcement of the existing standard," Sant said.
He worries that complying with the new rule will force employers to divert resources from more common safety hazards — the leading risk for road construction workers is getting run over by cars or construction equipment — and could create new health problems.
Because road construction crews are constantly moving, workers will likely be at a new location and drilling into new materials by the time a lab sends the results of an air sample. Workers may have to wear respirators, which raises the risk of heat stress and stroke, Sant said.
But Tim Porter, a partner at personal injury firm Porter and Malouf in Ridgeland, Miss., said silica exposure remains a problem, though it is showing up differently than it once did.
Years ago most of the cases he saw involved sandblasters. Now more construction workers are reporting health issues, particularly those who work jackhammers. He also sees cases of quarry miners, countertop manufacturers and people who carve tombstones.
Though some employers are not providing safe work sites, Porter said, most of the lawsuits he has brought are against manufacturers of protective respiratory equipment that did not properly protect the people using them.
"It's a good reminder that this is one of the oldest occupational lung diseases known. Even before asbestos, you had silicosis," Porter said.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety first recommended the 50 microgram limit 40 years ago.
One Chicago-area construction contractor thinks the added cost is worth protecting workers' safety.
"I think it affects the industry in a positive way," Chuck Taylor, director of operations at Lemont-based Englewood Construction, said of the new standard. "Too often we think about the hazards that are immediately in front of us — fall hazards, scaffold hazards — and we have to continue the conversations about the long-term exposure."
He expects the industry will have to be more cognizant of breathing protections, including introducing respirators in some cases, and dust control.
"That's not just good for the construction workers but also good for the general public," he said.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-silica-dust-rules-0325-biz-20160324-story.html
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Program That Could Help Flint May Be Out of Reach -- Advocates
Mar 25, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Tiffany Stecker
An advocacy group is warning senators about the potential pitfalls of a novel water infrastructure program that has been touted as a funding solution for the water crisis in Flint, Mich.
Food & Water Watch sent a letter to 17 Democratic senators and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), asking the lawmakers to consider alternatives to the Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program, a pilot initiative that leverages dollars through Treasury bonds for drinking water and wastewater projects costing more than $20 million.
"WIFIA does not prioritize public health, water quality or affordability," wrote the group, adding that the program prioritizes loans to communities with a favorable investment rating. This could affect financially insecure cities like Flint.
The senators wrote a letter earlier this month to the leaders of the Senate Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, requesting $70 million for the program in the fiscal 2017 appropriations bill.
"Our concern with the request for the appropriation for WIFIA was that it very specifically isn't going to help Flint, given the way that WIFIA was structured when it was passed," said Mitch Jones, a senior policy advocate for Food & Water Watch. A better option for helping rebuild infrastructure would be to boost funding for U.S. EPA's Clean Water and Drinking Water state revolving funds, which require that communities adhere to public health and environmental standards to be eligible for the loans.
The water crisis in Flint has left the city of 100,000 without potable drinking water after a failure to properly treat the Flint River source led to corrosion in lead pipes. The corrosion leached the neurotoxin in tap water, creating lead levels thousands of times higher than the legal limit. The city is now struggling to find the funds to replace the pipes.
In Washington, D.C., the crisis shone a light on the chronic underfunding of water infrastructure across the country, sparking calls for more money for programs to loan money to communities. The country will need more than $600 billion in the next 20 years to repair water infrastructure, according to EPA estimates.
The 2014 Water Resources Reform and Development Act created WIFIA. President Obama's fiscal 2017 budget proposal would set aside $15 million for EPA to kick off the program.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy promoted WIFIA during a speech on Monday, saying the nation's water laws lack the technology-spurring requirements that would inject extra funding for infrastructure.
"I love the Safe Drinking Water Act and the Clean Water Act, but it doesn't have technology drivers in it," said McCarthy at the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies' water policy conference (Greenwire, March 21).
Jones said the laws should be amended to include those drivers.
"If there is a legitimate concern, the laws can be changed," he said.
The Food & Water Watch letter also warns that WIFIA would favor private projects, encouraging public municipalities to privatize. This "increases costs, worsens service quality and allows infrastructure assets to deteriorate," said the group in the letter. Most water utilities in the country are public.
Tommy Holmes, legislative director for the American Water Works Association, took issue with the claim that the program would push privatization on communities.
"WIFIA was designed from the first to do things beyond the size and scope of what the SRFs are able to do. It will complement, not replace the SRFs. [Its] leveraging feature means dollars appropriated will go much further than SRF dollars ever could," he wrote in an email.
"The SRF will continue to exist and take care of the more challenged communities. WIFIA will help replace aging infrastructure -- on larger-scale projects -- to PREVENT utilities from getting into compliance and services problems," Holmes added.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/25/stories/1060034640
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