Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 3/29/16
-
(ACC Mentioned) US Specialty Chemicals Market Sees Small Growth
Mar 28, 2016 | Hydrocarbon Processing
The US specialty chemicals market volume index, a tool created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), progressed further during the first quarter of 2016, rising 0.1% on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis in February after a 0.1% gain in January. -
(ACC Mentioned) Industry Groups Criticise Vermont Reporting Rule Guidance
Mar 29, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
An industry coalition has voiced concern with Vermont’s chemical reporting rule guidance, saying that it runs contrary to the legislative intent not to create “unduly burdensome or inconsistent requirements”. -
Launch of California Prop 65 Website Expected Soon
Mar 29, 2016 | Chemical Watch
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) will launch its new Proposition 65 warning website “soon”. -
US EPA Issues CDR Reporting Relief for Six Biofuel Substances
Mar 29, 2016 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has reaffirmed the addition of six biodiesel substances to the list of substances partially exempt from reporting of additional information, under the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule. -
Premature Births Linked To Toxic Chemicals
Mar 29, 2016 | Environmental Working Group
By Alex Formuzis
The rate of premature births in the U.S. is among the highest in the developed world, with nearly one in 10 babies born in 2014 arriving before 37 weeks of pregnancy. -
Campbell to Stop Using BPA in Packaging
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
Campbell Soup Co. announced yesterday that it will stop using the chemical bisphenol A in its cans by the middle of 2017 as a way to reassure customers who are worried about the impacts it may have on their health. -
Obama Administration Defends Limit to Power Plant Carbon Emissions
Mar 28, 2016 | Wall Street Journal
By Amy Harder and Brent Kendall
The Obama administration on Monday offered a comprehensive legal defense of its signature climate-change regulation limiting carbon emissions from power plants, telling an appeals court that the rule is well within the bounds of its authority. -
Challengers Rely on 'Hyperbolic Mischaracterizations' -- EPA
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
The Obama administration laid out a detailed defense of its Clean Power Plan yesterday, arguing that opponents of the landmark climate rule are simply opposed to any restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions and are using "hyperbolic mischaracterizations" to get their way. -
Governor Vetoes Bill Against Clean Power Plan, Citing GOP 'Intrusion'
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Elizabeth Harball
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) vetoed a bill that would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to hold sway over the state's Clean Power Plan compliance strategy. -
Using Infrared Cameras to Control Methane Leaks
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Energywire
State and federal officials are using infrared cameras more than ever to detect methane leaks near drilling operations, and some oil and gas companies fear they'll have to follow suit. -
LNG from New US and Australia Projects Head to Middle East and South Asia
Mar 29, 2016 | Platts
By Max Gostelow
A lack of demand from buyers in North Asia, Southeast Asia, and South America has resulted in cargoes produced from Australia and the US making the long journey to markets in the Middle East and South Asia, an analysis of recent trade flows showed. -
Funding Uncertain for High-Speed Rail Project
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
Uncertainty over the availability of funding to link Los Angeles to California's planned high-speed rail system and to build the rest of the system is giving leaders angst. -
Former EPA Sleuth Links Fracking to Tainted Drinking Water
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Pamela King
A team of Stanford University scientists led by a former U.S. EPA investigator has linked hydraulic fracturing in Pavillion, Wyo., to underground drinking water contamination. -
GAO Finds EPA's SDWA Oversight Fails To Ensure Protection Of USDWs
Mar 29, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is faulting EPA's oversight of state and agency Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) permitting for some oil and gas activities by finding that EPA failed to collect adequate data to ensure the program protects underground sources of drinking water (USDW), and urging it to seek more information.
Industry and Association News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Transportation News
Environment News
-
(ACC Mentioned) US Specialty Chemicals Market Sees Small Growth
Mar 28, 2016 | Hydrocarbon Processing
The US specialty chemicals market volume index, a tool created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), progressed further during the first quarter of 2016, rising 0.1% on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis in February after a 0.1% gain in January.
Weakness during 2015 was centered in oilfield chemicals and a few other segments that, combined, weighed on overall volumes, the ACC said in a report made available on Monday.
Of the 28 specialty chemical segments included in the index, 17 expanded in February, with adhesives,construction chemicals and electronic chemicals experiencing the largest gains (1.0% and over) in market volumes.
The overall specialty chemicals volume index was off 1.5% year-over-year (Y/Y), also on a 3MMA basis. Year-earlier comparisons were generally in the 4.0% to 6.8% range during 2012 through 2014, but since February last year, they have fallen below that range as the downturn in the oil and gas sectors affected headline volumes.
In addition, the strong US dollar has adversely affected a number of export-oriented customer industries.
Still, on a year-on-year basis, gains are fairly widespread among most market and functional specialty chemical segments. With few exceptions, however, year-earlier comparisons have been moderating.
Specialty chemicals are materials manufactured on the basis of the unique performance or function and provide a wide variety of effects on which many other sectors and end-use products rely. They can be individual molecules or mixtures of molecules, known as formulations.
The physical and chemical characteristics of the single molecule or mixtures along with the composition of the mixtures influence the performance end product. Individual market sectors that rely on such products include automobile, aerospace, agriculture, cosmetics and food, among others.
Specialty chemicals differ from commodity chemicals. They may only have one or two uses, while commodities may have multiple or different applications for each chemical. Commodity chemicals make up most of the production volume in the global marketplace, while specialty chemicals make up most of the diversity in commerce at any given time, and are relatively high value with greater market growth rates.
Some areas where specialty chemicals are used include adhesives, cleaning materials, cosmetic additives,construction materials, food additives, fragrances and detergents.
This data is the only timely source of market trends for 28 market and functional specialty chemical segments, the ACC says. Chemistry directly touches over 96% of all manufactured goods, and trends in these specialty chemical segments provide a detailed view of trends in manufacturing. The data also sheds light on how various consumer end-use markets are performing compared to others in the marketplace.http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/Article/3540921/Latest-News/US-specialty-chemicals-market-sees-small-growth.html
-
(ACC Mentioned) Industry Groups Criticise Vermont Reporting Rule Guidance
Mar 29, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
An industry coalition has voiced concern with Vermont’s chemical reporting rule guidance, saying that it runs contrary to the legislative intent not to create “unduly burdensome or inconsistent requirements”.
Some 11 trade groups – including the American Chemistry Council, the Toy Industry Association, and the National Council of Textile Organizations – signed the letter directed to the Vermont Department of Health (DoH). Their comments were issued in response to the agency’s request for feedback on its draft guidance on how to comply with rules recently adopted under its chemical disclosure programme for children's products.
Unlike reporting rules in other states, Vermont’s will require manufacturers to submit data on a product-by-product basis. According to the coalition, Vermont’s rule is “the most significant data development requirement for children’s products of any state in the country”.
In its letter, the coalition expressed concern with a lack of clarity around the specific brand name and product model reporting requirements. “If the Department continues to intend to require such a level of reporting...extensive examples must be provided here to ensure consistency and adequacy in reporting,” it said.
Other issues with the guidance raised by the coalition include:
a lack of clarity around who is responsible for submitting reports;
confusion around the deadlines for when reporting is required as new products are brought to market;
the “unfeasible” requirement that companies include in their initial reports those products that are planned to be offered for sale through 31 December 2017; and
that the absence of data-sharing with other states “runs contrary to clear legislative intent”.
The letter also says the agency’s suggestion that manufacturers report chemical control programme details and certificates of compliance is “not supported by statute” and is “inappropriate” in a guidance document.
A spokesperson for the DoH said a new version of the guidance is expected in the “coming weeks”, following review of comments received.
Broader questions remain
A slightly larger coalition of 15 industry groups sent a separate letter to the DoH requesting a “clear explanation of the authority” that the agency intends to exercise to waive the rule’s 1 July 2016 required reporting deadline.
The programme’s implementing rules, which took effect in December, had set a 1 July reporting deadline. But “unforeseen circumstances” have delayed the launch of the state’s online reporting tool.
The DoH has said it will not require reports to be submitted until six months after the tool becomes available. A new date for its launch has not been announced.
The coalition also sought information regarding how the DoH “ intend[s] manufacturers to submit required reports, how these reports will be processed and data stored and made public, and when manufacturers will be able to begin making filings.”
Several questions about how the agency plans to manage the volume of reports it will receive under the rule, and what contingencies it has developed should additional issues arise in the implementation of the rule, were also raised.
Both letters were made public by coalition member the American Apparel and Footwear Association. The DoH will not be publishing comments it has received to the public.
https://chemicalwatch.com/45938/industry-groups-criticise-vermont-reporting-rule-guidance
-
Launch of California Prop 65 Website Expected Soon
Mar 29, 2016 | Chemical Watch
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) will launch its new Proposition 65 warning website “soon”.
The agency-run site will provide further details to the public on exposure to chemicals that require disclosure under Prop 65. Earlier this year, Oehha adopted a regulation to create a “Lead Agency website”, despite protest from a coalition of more than 170 businesses and trade groups.
Although the regulation takes effect from 1 April, Sam Delson, deputy director for external and legislative affairs at Oehha, tells Chemical Watch that a specific date for the site’s launch has not yet been set.
“However, we expect it will be soon,” he says.
The agency has the authority under the regulation to mandate a manufacturer, producer, distributor or importer of a product, giving a Prop 65 warning, to provide "reasonably available" information for the site, with the exception of certain confidential business information. Oehha will also populate the site with data it has collected itself.
The agency did not comment on how soon it may begin requesting information from businesses.
Under the regulation, Oehha must provide a process to request a correction of inaccurate material on the website. With regard to this, Mr Delson says: “The website will have a ‘contact us’ function that will allow for a person or persons to request a correction.”
https://chemicalwatch.com/45954/launch-of-california-prop-65-website-expected-soon
-
US EPA Issues CDR Reporting Relief for Six Biofuel Substances
Mar 29, 2016 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has reaffirmed the addition of six biodiesel substances to the list of substances partially exempt from reporting of additional information, under the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule.
The EPA has determined there is “low current interest” in the substances’ processing and use information. Manufacturers and importers will, therefore, be exempt from reporting this additional information in the quadrennial CDR, which runs from 1 June to 30 September this year.
The six substances are:
fatty acids, C14-18 and C16-18 unsaturated, methyl esters (CASRN 67762-26-9);
fatty acids, C16-18 and C-18 unsaturated, methyl esters (CASRN 67762-38-3);
fatty acids, canola oil, methyl esters (CASRN 129828-16-6);
fatty acids, corn oil, methyl esters (CASRN 515152-40-6);
fatty acids, tallow, methyl esters (CASRN 61788-61-2); and
soybean oil, methyl esters (CASRN 67784-80-9).
The agency had issued a direct final rule, last year, to partially exempt these substances. But on receiving an adverse comment, withdrew it and implemented a new rulemaking in July.
According to the notice in the Federal Register, a commenter stated that methyl esters can degrade to methanol, and questioned how this can be ignored as “a hazard for human health and the environment”.
The EPA responded that the methanol from these substances “rapidly degrade[s]” in aerobic and anaerobic environments, and it “does not expect exposure to methanol from use of the six biofuels”.
It estimates that this partial exemption will result in a total burden saving of approximately 4,300 hours, or $266,387 in future reporting cycles.
https://chemicalwatch.com/45951/us-epa-issues-cdr-reporting-relief-for-six-biofuel-substances
-
Premature Births Linked To Toxic Chemicals
Mar 29, 2016 | Environmental Working Group
By Alex Formuzis
The rate of premature births in the U.S. is among the highest in the developed world, with nearly one in 10 babies born in 2014 arriving before 37 weeks of pregnancy.
It’s also the number one cause of infant mortality. Very premature babies who do survive often endure serious problems for the rest of their lives, including diabetes, cerebral palsy, intellectual disabilities and breathing and vision problems, among other issues.
It’s difficult to pinpoint what causes pre-term birth, but many obstetricians as well asfederal health authorities strongly urge pregnant women to avoid smoking, alcohol and illicit drugs. Poor nutrition, infection and carrying twins or triplets can also trigger early births. But research indicates the cause of roughly half of all premature births is unknown.
An emerging body of research is connecting pre-term birth to in utero exposure to toxic chemicals. You can learn more in this terrific video, Little Things Matter: The Impact of Toxins on Preterm Birth, by Bruce Lanphear, M.D., Ph.D, one of the world’s leading experts in children’s environmental health.
EWG was a pioneer in investigating industrial pollution in the womb, documenting the presence of toxic chemicals in the bodies of newborns.
EWG co-founder and president, Ken Cook, brought the findings of this landmark research to tens of thousands of people through a widely seen presentation titled 10 Americans. It’s a little over 20 minutes long – worth every second of your time if you’re worried about the impacts of toxic chemicals on our children’s health.
http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2016/03/premature-births-linked-toxic-chemicals
-
Campbell to Stop Using BPA in Packaging
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
Campbell Soup Co. announced yesterday that it will stop using the chemical bisphenol A in its cans by the middle of 2017 as a way to reassure customers who are worried about the impacts it may have on their health.
The move is a response to growing public concern that the chemical, commonly known as BPA, raises the risk of cancer, brain damage and hormonal problems.
Despite a wave of opposition to the chemical, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration maintains that BPA is safe at current levels used in food products.
Campbell says it still believes that BPA is among the world's safest packaging options, although it began studying alternatives in 2012.
After a long testing period, Campbell says all of its products will switch to containers without BPA linings. The company states about 75 percent of its products will be sold in non-BPA cans by the end of the year.
The company is replacing BPA with acrylic and polyester options.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/29/stories/1060034735
-
Obama Administration Defends Limit to Power Plant Carbon Emissions
Mar 28, 2016 | Wall Street Journal
By Amy Harder and Brent Kendall
The Obama administration on Monday offered a comprehensive legal defense of its signature climate-change regulation limiting carbon emissions from power plants, telling an appeals court that the rule is well within the bounds of its authority.
The Environmental Protection Agency, writing in a 175-page brief submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, said the regulation was critical to addressing what it said was the most important environmental challenge facing the U.S.
The Clean Air Act provides the agency “well-established authority to abate threats to public health and welfare by limiting the amount of air pollution that power plants pump into the atmosphere,” the EPA said.
The agency said its opponents “seek to thwart any federal limitation” of power plant emissions of heat trapping gases, “or at least limit the scope to negligible requirements that would fail to address the threats presented.”
More than two dozen states and an array of industry challengers have filed lawsuitschallenging the EPA’s first-ever federal rule cutting power-plant carbon emissions, called the Clean Power Plan, alleging it far exceeds the agency’s legal powers.
The coalition, led by coal-dependent West Virginia, won an early victory when the Supreme Court unexpectedly blocked the rule in early February while the litigation wears on.
The D.C. Circuit will hear oral arguments on the legality of the regulation in June. Whichever side loses is expected to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The regulation, which the EPA completed last August, would require a 32% cut in power-plant carbon emissions by 2030, based on emissions levels of 2005, by calling on states to shift their power sources from coal-fired plants, traditionally the most common form of U.S. electricity, to cleaner sources, including renewable sources and natural gas.
The Supreme Court’s move to stay the regulation during court proceedings has cast a cloud of uncertainty over EPA’s efforts, including whether or to what extent states are working toward complying with the rule’s requirements.
The regulation doesn’t go into effect until 2022 but had initial deadlines as early as this September. Many states have opted to halt work to comply with the rule until the litigation is over.
Challengers are mounting several lines of legal attacks against the regulation. They argued in legal briefs filed earlier this year that the EPA is attempting to transform the electric sector without clear permission from Congress, and they say the agency’s approach isn’t allowed under the text of the Clean Air Act.
In its brief, EPA sought to categorically dismiss all of them.
“Petitioners’ assorted attacks on EPA’s interpretations and analyses lack merit,” the agency wrote.
The more than two dozen states suing the EPA also argue the regulation violates their sovereignty, intruding on their traditional powers to regulate utilities at the state level.
EPA argued otherwise, saying that decades of earlier environmental rules prove the agency is acting in cooperation with states and not exceeding its federal authority.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-administration-defends-limit-to-power-plant-carbon-emissions-1459203570
-
Challengers Rely on 'Hyperbolic Mischaracterizations' -- EPA
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
The Obama administration laid out a detailed defense of its Clean Power Plan yesterday, arguing that opponents of the landmark climate rule are simply opposed to any restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions and are using "hyperbolic mischaracterizations" to get their way.
In an opening brief before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, lawyers for U.S. EPA wrote that states, utilities and industry groups challenging the rule were relying on weak legal analysis and strained interpretations of the Clean Air Act to try to duck "eminently reasonable" regulation.
"Petitioners seek to thwart any federal limitation of power plants' voluminous CO2 emissions," the agency said in its brief, "or at least limit the scope to negligible requirements that would fail to address the threats presented and fall far short of what is cost-effectively achievable."
The agency's filing is in response to arguments made by more than 150 petitioners who have slammed the rule as a federal overreach. The challengers argued in dual filings last month that EPA lacked authority to enforce the Clean Power Plan and had not followed proper administrative procedures when crafting the rule (EnergyWire, Feb. 22).
The agency struck back at the allegations yesterday, countering that the rule is well within EPA's authority and is crucial to combatting public health and environmental impacts from power plant pollution.
Digging into details
Specifically, Justice Department lawyers representing EPA defended the agency's approach to cutting emissions across the power plant sector.
Under the "best system of emission reduction" standard in the Clean Air Act, EPA determined that the best option for cutting greenhouse gas emissions was to address the electricity sector and push for increased generation from cleaner sources. While challengers say the approach is unprecedented, EPA says it's both tested and effective.
"Petitioners' core legal arguments largely rest on hyperbolic mischaracterizations of this Rule as broadly regulating energy markets and generation," the agency said. "This Rule is an air-pollution rule specifically authorized by the CAA. It is not an energy rule. The Rule limits emissions of an exceptionally important air pollutant that is emitted in huge quantities by power plants, but it does not regulate any other aspect of energy generation, distribution, or sale."
The brief noted other EPA regulations that have successfully used "generation-shifting" to meet their goals, including the agency's acid rain program and cross-state air pollution rule.
The agency also rejected states' argument that the Clean Power Plan treads on their regulatory turf by compelling state agencies to rebalance energy portfolios.
"This rule is a textbook example of cooperative federalism," the agency said, adding that state officials would remain free to regulate intrastate electricity sales and license new power facilities. Plus, EPA said, if a state does not want to craft a compliance plan to meet the rule's standards, it can simply adopt a federal implementation plan.
Finally, the agency responded to allegations that seemingly conflicting versions of a 1990 amendment to the Clean Air Act bar the agency from using Section 111(d) of the law to regulate a source that is already regulated by Section 112. Existing power plants -- targeted by the Clean Power Plan -- fall into that category.
EPA has previously relied on a different version of the amendment that bars duplicative regulation of a pollutant. In any case, the brief says, the agency is entitled to deference in interpreting the amendments. Under a legal standard known as Chevron deference, courts typically defer to agencies' interpretations of ambiguous laws, so long as they are reasonable.
"Section 111(d) is ambiguous, and EPA reasonably resolved those ambiguities -- and avoided creating unnecessary conflict in enacted statutory text -- by concluding that Congress did not intend to bar regulation of different pollutants under different programs," the agency said in its brief.
Support from green groups
Environmental groups supporting the Clean Power Plan cheered the agency's defense, calling it a powerful reminder of the agency's authority and mission.
"EPA's brief forcefully demonstrates that the Clean Power Plan complies with our nation's clean air laws and is anchored in a robust factual record," Environmental Defense Fund attorney Tomás Carbonell said in a statement. "The Clean Power Plan is vital to protecting public health and providing a safer climate for our children, and it will make our economy stronger."
EDF and a coalition of other environmental groups and states supporting the rule will file their own brief at the D.C. Circuit today. Friends of the court supporting EPA will file theirs Friday.
Opponents will have a chance to respond in mid-April, and oral arguments are scheduled for June.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/03/29/stories/1060034720
-
Governor Vetoes Bill Against Clean Power Plan, Citing GOP 'Intrusion'
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Elizabeth Harball
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) vetoed a bill that would have allowed the Republican-controlled Legislature to hold sway over the state's Clean Power Plan compliance strategy.
H.B. 1327, which was passed by lawmakers with the state budget earlier this month, included language granting either chamber of the General Assembly the ability to disapprove of the state Department of Environmental Protection's efforts to meet federally required emissions cuts in the power sector.
The climate language is one reason the bill was vetoed, the governor stated in a letter sent to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on Friday. Other concerns included its impacts on education funding and oil and gas regulations.
"This procedure not only permits an improper one-house veto, but also calls for an unwarranted intrusion upon executive authority, and I will not assent to these legislative decisions," Wolf wrote of the bill's Clean Power Plan requirements.
Wolf was locked in a fight with lawmakers over the state budget for close to nine months, an impasse that affected a wide range of government programs in the state. The governor allowed the budget to become law last week.
Republican leaders in the state Senate condemned Wolf's veto, saying the measure is a needed "instruction manual" for how state funds are spent.
"After nine months of failing to sign a complete budget -- we are once again seeing the Governor play games with Pennsylvanian's hard-earned tax dollars," state Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati (R) said in a statement.
Should U.S. EPA's climate rule survive legal challenges, Pennsylvania is one of the few states where the law requires lawmakers to review the state's Clean Power Plan compliance plan before it is submitted to EPA (ClimateWire, Dec. 9, 2014).
But that law, Act 175, was signed by the state's former Republican governor before the Clean Power Plan was finalized and includes specific dates that no longer apply to the federal regulation. The Clean Power Plan language in the bill vetoed by Wolf was seen as an update to Act 175 (ClimateWire, Dec. 14, 2015). It was supported by the coal lobby and condemned by environmentalists.
Before the U.S. Supreme Court decision to stay the Clean Power Plan, DEP Secretary John Quigley was preparing to draft Pennsylvania's full Clean Power Plan compliance strategy to submit to EPA this September, even though the majority of states were expected to wait until 2018. Quigley insisted that he would be able to do so while still adhering to Act 175's requirements (ClimateWire, Dec. 4, 2015).
Following the stay, Quigley announced that Pennsylvania would continue drafting a Clean Power Plan compliance strategy. At a recent budget hearing before the Pennsylvania Legislature, Quigley told lawmakers the state is continuing its planning and outreach efforts in order to prepare for the climate regulation in case it survives legal challenges. But Quigley added that the state is no longer pushing to craft a final compliance plan until the regulation is deemed legal.
"It is highly unlikely that we would be in a position to submit a final plan while the stay is still pending," Quigley said.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/03/29/stories/1060034725
-
Using Infrared Cameras to Control Methane Leaks
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Energywire
State and federal officials are using infrared cameras more than ever to detect methane leaks near drilling operations, and some oil and gas companies fear they'll have to follow suit.
The Obama administration is working to cut emissions to limit the effects of climate change. Part of those efforts is larger work to limit methane emissions, which have 25 times the global warming impact of carbon dioxide but a much shorter atmospheric lifetime.
These emissions are invisible, but infrared cameras can show where heated air is escaping, possibly carrying emissions with it.
"The infrared camera does not quantify emissions, but you can say that's a small leak versus a big leak, and these were big leaks," said Cindy Beeler, a U.S. EPA energy adviser, talking about pollution inspections involving Noble Energy Inc. in Colorado.
Using infrared images to find leaks, EPA discovered that Noble's emissions control systems violated federal air pollution laws. EPA and Noble came to an agreement last year that included $5 million in fines and $60 million in repairs and upgrades.
To limit emissions, some speculate that EPA will require infrared devices, which cost about $100,000 each. Industry officials are pushing for cheaper, more specific devices like methane sensors, but the technology is still in development.
"The results of the camera, the 'pictures,' are difficult to interpret and subject to misinterpretation, e.g., what appears to be a leak could simply be a heat plume," a memo from the Independent Petroleum Association of America stated.
However, not all oil and gas companies are opposed to the pricey tech. Norway-based Statoil ASA already uses the infrared cameras and implemented them into employees' core duties, according to company spokesperson Nate Teti.
EPA also runs a voluntary methane emission-reduction program with partner companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, but EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said, "Those efforts have not been as successful as they have with other industries".
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/03/29/stories/1060034699
-
LNG from New US and Australia Projects Head to Middle East and South Asia
Mar 29, 2016 | Platts
By Max Gostelow
A lack of demand from buyers in North Asia, Southeast Asia, and South America has resulted in cargoes produced from Australia and the US making the long journey to markets in the Middle East and South Asia, an analysis of recent trade flows showed.
These trade flows are unusual given the longer shipping distances involved, and the supply length still available from the Middle East.
Faced with weak demand from North Asian buyers, who have already had the bulk of their downstream demand locked in by long-term contracts, the additional ramp-up of new production facilities on Australia's East Coast have had to find alternative markets.
The Cool Runner, under charter to Brazil's Petrobras was on its way to South Asia or the Middle East on Tuesday, cFlow, Platts trade flow software, showed.The vessel had previously loaded a cargo from Gladstone LNG before sailing west. Petrobras had earlier said that it was open to the idea of trading the cargo rather than bringing it back to Brazil.
It was unclear who Petrobras had sold the cargo to, with a source close to the company declining to comment. But the cargo was most likely sold to a South Asian buyer, a trader said.
Similarly, the US' first export project, Sabine Pass, has also had to send its first uncommitted commissioning LNG cargoes to non-Asian markets.
The first cargo shipped from the project was delivered to Petrobras' floating, storage and regasification unit at Rio de Janeiro, Platts cFlow showed.
The third cargo loaded aboard the Gaslog Salem was also going to Petrobras, to the Pecem terminal, shipping data showed.
However, the second cargo loaded aboard the Clean Ocean appeared to be heading to the Middle East and South Asia.
"Demand is mainly coming from the Middle East and India these days," a Singapore-based trader said.
However, Qatari producers were also long in LNG and had been offering competitive prices to their term buyers as well. So if other sellers were trying to compete for South Asian demand, they would have to lower their prices as well, the trader added.
Demand from South Asia and the Middle East was not limitless, a second trader said.
Eventually, the oversupply situation would force more volumes, especially from the US, to be sold into Europe, the trader said.http://www.platts.com/latest-news/natural-gas/singapore/lng-from-new-us-and-australia-projects-head-to-27403453
-
Funding Uncertain for High-Speed Rail Project
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
Uncertainty over the availability of funding to link Los Angeles to California's planned high-speed rail system and to build the rest of the system is giving leaders angst.
Earlier this month, a judge approved the state's plan to shorten its initial segment of the rail line from San Jose to the Central Valley. It was originally set to run from Burbank to the Central Valley and open in 2022 but is now set to open in 2025.
That initial segment would use up all existing funds, and there's no clear source for the remaining money. Southern California supporters worry that their region will be left out of the system if it can't be extended.
"You can't say you can do something without saying how you are going to pay for it," said Hasan Ikhrata, executive director of the Southern California Association of Governments. "This is a must. If you don't have the money in the bank, I understand that. But you can't assume the money is going to fall from the sky. You have to have a path. You can't be silent totally."
Ikhrata added, "If they build a system that fails to connect Los Angeles, this will be the biggest failure of an infrastructure project we have ever had in the state of California. It will be sad for future generations" (Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times, March 28).
Even for that shortened initial segment, about half of the needed $21 billion comes from uncertain sources, analysts told a California State Assembly hearing yesterday.
Critics are particularly worried about the cap-and-trade fees that officials plan to use for the project. Rail officials are budgeting around $500 million a year in payments from California's program, but the greenhouse gas market could shrink in the coming decades.
The rail authority has also been tied up in litigation over its bond authority, potentially jeopardizing that stream of revenue.
"We have to go into this with our eyes wide open," said Transportation Chairman Jim Frazier, a Democratic assembly member. "Proceeding with this project will not be for the faint-hearted".
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/29/stories/1060034740
-
Former EPA Sleuth Links Fracking to Tainted Drinking Water
Mar 29, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Pamela King
A team of Stanford University scientists led by a former U.S. EPA investigator has linked hydraulic fracturing in Pavillion, Wyo., to underground drinking water contamination.
Lead author Dominic DiGiulio, who wrote the 2011 EPA draft report on Pavillion's water, is now a visiting scholar at the Stanford School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences.
The team's conclusions, published yesterday in the journal Environmental Science & Technology, are based on an analysis of public records and documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
"This is a wake-up call," DiGiulio said in a statement.
Oil and gas activity in the Pavillion field has been documented by U.S. EPA, but its potential impact remains uncertain, the Stanford researchers said. In 2008, Pavillion residents reported an unpleasant taste and odor in their drinking water. Three years later, EPA issued a preliminary report connecting fracking to the occurrence of toxins in Wyoming wells (Greenwire, Nov. 18, 2011).
"Hydraulic fracturing in the United States is legal," DiGiulio said. "That can translate into impact of water resources. It's not clear whether impact is legal. Certainly the process itself is legal."
Encana Corp., a Pavillion operator, criticized EPA's findings, saying the chemicals were not found in residential water wells (Greenwire, Dec. 21, 2011). The company later provided a grant to the state of Wyoming to continue the groundwater contamination investigation after it was abandoned by EPA (EnergyWire, June 21, 2013).
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality determined last year that it was "unlikely" frack fluids had reached water wells.
For the Stanford report, "the researchers didn't take any samples, but just reinterpreted EPA's old data," Katie Brown, spokeswoman for the industry group Energy in Depth, wrote in an email. "These are the same data that the U.S. Geological Survey, the Bureau of Land Management and Wyoming regulators said were faulty, because EPA's own flawed monitoring could have introduced 'bias in the samples.' ... This new study is just the same tired refrain we've heard over and over from drilling critics, whose claims have been repeatedly debunked."
An official from the Wyoming DEQ declined to comment on the report.
Food & Water Watch Executive Director Wenonah Hauter wrote in an email that the Stanford researchers are demonstrating the need for the federal government to revive its probe.
"This study reaffirms that contamination has happened in Pavillion, and it has reached the level of groundwater," Hauter wrote. "This review of available science is welcome, but the EPA needs to reopen an official investigation into the contamination in Pavillion -- as well as in Dimock, Pa., and Parker County, Texas -- and revisit the findings of its controversial drinking water study that there have been no 'widespread, systemic' effects from fracking, as its own science advisory board has asked it to do."
Unlike a tight shale formation, Pavillion's environment was shaped by the flow of a river, and it lacks the confining layers that can protect underground drinking water sources from contamination, DiGiulio said. But it's not a special case.
"Geologic and groundwater conditions at Pavillion are not unique in the Rocky Mountain region," he said. "This suggests there may be widespread impact to underground sources of drinking water as a result of unconventional oil and gas extraction."
To address regional concerns, DiGiulio and his colleagues recommended further investigation and tighter state-level regulations over fracking and protective well casings.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/03/29/stories/1060034746
-
GAO Finds EPA's SDWA Oversight Fails To Ensure Protection Of USDWs
Mar 29, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is faulting EPA's oversight of state and agency Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) permitting for some oil and gas activities by finding that EPA failed to collect adequate data to ensure the program protects underground sources of drinking water (USDW), and urging it to seek more information.
EPA in response to GAO's findings declines to adopt the call to gather additional data, saying that while it is working to expand its inventory of specific well data it does not think requiring states to submit that information now is necessary -- but GAO reiterates that such data is needed to better assess protection of USDWs.
GAO highlighted the data shortfall in a report requested by members of Congress and publicly released March 28. “EPA has not collected inspection and enforcement information, or consistently conducted specific oversight activities, to assess whether state and EPA-managed programs are protecting underground sources of drinking water,” GAO says. “GAO recommends that, among other things, EPA require programs to report well-specific inspections data, clarify guidance on enforcement data reporting, and analyze the resources needed to oversee programs.”
A summary of the report, which is dated February, says that the agency “generally agreed with GAO’s findings, but does not plan to require well-specific data and analyze needed resources. GAO continues to believe that EPA should take both actions to better assess if programs protect underground sources of drinking water.”
GAO in a prior July 2014 report found that EPA had not been adequately undertaking annual on-site SDWA compliance evaluations of state programs for "Class II" well permits that cover oil and gas activities, an issue that the agency said at the time it would evaluate to address some of the concerns.
Under the Class II rules of the federal underground injection control (UIC) program, EPA and states with delegated authority establish monitoring, mechanical integrity and other requirements for permitting of underground injection activities for oil and gas disposal wells, enhanced oil recovery wells and other operations related to oil and gas. The goal of the permitting process is to protect USDWs from adverse impacts from such activities.
GAO's new report could exacerbate concerns about oil and gas drilling's potential to impact USDWs, as it highlights a series of deficiencies in EPA's ability to ensure protection of the water supplies.
For example, GAO says that the agency does not collect specific inspection information but rather programmatic summaries. This does not allow the agency to assess whether states are meeting inspection goals and that enforcement data collected is often incomplete, the report says.
Additionally, GAO found that the agency has not consistently incorporated state UIC program requirements or revisions into federal regulations, nor has it maintained and final records of reviews of aquifer exemption approvals or conducted on-site annual site evaluations to ensure protection of USDWs.
“EPA is also responsible for the final review, approval, and recordkeeping for all aquifer exemption applications, but the agency does not have the location or supporting documentation necessary to identify the size and location of all aquifers for which it has approved exemptions from protection under the act,” the report says.
California's Program
As a recent example, GAO cites a 2011 EPA audit and 2012 review of California's Class II program, which found numerous deficiencies, including that state officials may have allowed drillers to inject wastewater into "non-exempt aquifers," or USDWs, potentially posing a threat to valuable drinking water supplies.
“If EPA had maintained an updated database on aquifer exemptions, then EPA Region 9 may have had the information it needed to review injection well permits to determine whether injections were being made into exempted aquifers in California,” the report says, referencing the EPA region that oversees California and other Pacific Coast states.
On the aquifer exemptions, GAO recommends that the agency complete an aquifer exemption database and establish a way to update it.
In its Feb. 10 response to an earlier draft of the report, EPA said it will adopt the recommendation but objected to GAO's finding that EPA did not have adequate data to oversee aquifer exemptions.
“EPA said that our statement that the agency does not have sufficient information to oversee state and EPA-managed programs is incorrect because its regions have the most comprehensive and current data on aquifer exemptions as they conduct the final review of exemption requests and must approve all exemptions,” the report says.
SDWA generally prohibits waste disposal, mining, energy production or other activities which involve injection from occurring within USDWs, and requires permits for such underground injection activities to ensure USDWs are adequately protected to reduce risk to water supplies.
But EPA in a 1980 rulemaking established regulatory criteria for granting exemptions under SDWA for instances where an aquifer, which may otherwise be considered a USDW, does not currently serve as a source of drinking water and cannot do so in the future. EPA's regulations also require that the aquifer contain less than 10,000 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids (TDS).
Wyoming Study
Environmentalists have long warned that oil and gas activities including hydraulic fracturing have the potential to pollute USDWs, and have urged EPA to impose strict regulations on the sector.
EPA has done some research on the issue, including a December, 2011 draft report documenting its investigation of the alleged groundwater contamination near Pavillion, WY, which represented the agency's first public acknowledgment that reported pollution of an aquifer was "likely" due to fracking operations.
The agency in June 2014 announced it would drop its own study and instead support the state's efforts to conduct an investigation. Wyoming's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) in December released its draft report, saying it is “unlikely” that the contamination is due to fracking wells.
EPA in undated technical comments to DEQ notes that the draft findings indicate that Wyoming classifies water suitable for domestic, irrigation, and livestock use as having less than 5,000 milligrams per liter of TDS, which the agency says it did not approve in the state's SDWA regulations evaluated in the early 1980s.
“EPA could not, through approval of a state’s primacy program, change the regulatory definition of USDW,” the comments say. The remarks potentially reflect another example where a state has possibly adopted their own less-protective definition of USDW without adequate agency oversight, which environmentalists say endangers groundwater.
USGS Analysis
Meanwhile, the U.S. Geological Survey on March 28 released an earthquake hazard study showing that “much more of the nation faces a significant chance of having damaging earthquakes over the next year, whether natural or human-induced” including those linked to Class II wastewater disposal wells.
In response to the report, the Sierra Club's Our Wild America Campaign Director Dan Chu said the study “once again highlights the dangers the fracking cycle poses to our communities.
“The world is already experiencing deadly storms, droughts, and erratic climate and weather extremes due to climate change, and the rapid increase in earthquakes caused by wastewater injections from the oil and gas industry only raises the threat to communities across the country.”
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/gao-finds-epas-sdwa-oversight-fails-ensure-protection-usdws
Industry and Association News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Transportation News
Environment News
Add recipients
Suggested