Preview Newsletter
ACC AM 4/21
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(ACC Mentioned) Standards Key to Using New Chemical Data in Rules
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Regulatory scientists agreed during an April 19–20 conference to work toward developing data submission standards to spur regulatory use of information from new chemical assessment methods. -
(ACC Mentioned) California Requires BPA Warning Signs in Stores
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Carolyn Whetzel
California stores selling canned and bottled food and beverages must, by May 11, post signs at cash registers warning consumers of potential exposure to bisphenol A, under a new emergency Proposition 65 regulation. -
REACH Committee Approves Annex Amendments for Skin Sensitisation
Apr 21, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Dr Emma Davies
The REACH Committee of member state officials has approved REACH annex amendments to revise data requirements for skin sensitisation. -
Blast at Petrochemical Plant in Mexico Kills 3; Thousands Are Evacuated
Apr 20, 2016 | AP (In The New York Times)
An explosion ripped through a petrochemical plant on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, killing three people, injuring dozens and sending flames and a toxin-filled cloud into the air, officials said. -
Three Dead in Mexichem-Pemex Petrochemical Plant Blast
Apr 21, 2016 | The Wall Street Journal
By Anthony Harrup
Three people were killed and more than 100 injured Wednesday in an explosion at a petrochemical plant in southern Mexico owned by chemical company Mexichem SAB and state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos, government officials said. -
Senate Passes Legislation Tailored to a Modern Energy Landscape
Apr 20, 2016 | The New York TImes
By Coral Davenport
The Senate on Wednesday passed the first broad energy bill since the George W. Bush administration, a bipartisan measure to better align the nation’s oil, gas and electricity systems with the changing ways that power is produced in the United States. -
Senate Passes Energy Bill, Looks to Conference With House
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Ari Natter
The Senate voted 85-12 April 20 to pass what could be the first broad energy bill in nearly a decade, putting in motion what is expected to be a formal conference to work out the differences with the House version of the bill. -
Senate Begins Work on Energy, Water Spending Bill
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Ari Natter
The Senate began consideration of a $37.5 billion energy and water spending bill on April 20, and the White House said the president would veto the legislation if riders related to the environment were added. -
Energy Bill Set to Cross Senate Finish Line
Apr 20, 2016 | Politico (Morning Energy)
By Eric Wolff
...At 10 a.m. today the Senate will vote on, and likely approve, the first major piece of stand-alone energy legislation since 2007. -
Republicans Are Warming Up to Renewable Energy
Apr 21, 2016 | Bloomberg
By Joe Ryan
For decades, alternative energy was the province of activists. It was far more expensive than fossil fuels, and many remained unconvinced of humanity’s role in the globe’s rising temperature. -
Electric Power Industry Investments and Coordination Making the Grid More Resilient and Secure
Apr 21, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Scott Aaronson
Last week, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management held a hearing on a topic that’s vital to our nation’s security. -
House Panel Passes Pipeline Safety Program Bill
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven Gibb
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a measure by voice vote April 20 that would reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for four years. -
Panel Rejects Tougher Criminal Penalties for Operators
Apr 20, 2016 | E&E News PM
By George Cahlink
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today rejected a proposal to make it easier for the Justice Department to criminally prosecute pipeline operators as it approved legislation to reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. -
Senators Pick Apart EPA Water Rule
Apr 21, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Kevin Bogardus
U.S. EPA's controversial water regulation came under scrutiny from senators yesterday at a hearing that examined the federal rulemaking process. -
GOP Leader Urges 'Restraint' in Senate Energy-Water Debate
Apr 20, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Geoff Koss
The Senate this afternoon will kick off amendment votes on the $37.5 billion fiscal 2017 energy-water development spending bill, as a leading GOP senator is urging colleagues to hold back on extraneous controversial amendments. -
McCarthy Defends Dormant Clean Power Plan at Budget Hearing
Apr 21, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Sean Reilly
The Clean Power Plan may currently be frozen by an unusual Supreme Court stay, but critics remain deeply worried that it's still got life. -
Sen. Heitkamp Cites CWA Rule In Call For Congress To Define 'U.S. Waters'
Apr 20, 2016 | InsideEPA
By Bridget DiCosmo & David LaRoss
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) says ongoing controversy over EPA's Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule shows the need for Congress to move legislation defining “waters of the United States” and resolve long-running confusion over the scope of the water law, given the failure of EPA and courts to permanently address the issue. -
Senators Offer Water, Lead Bill; Flint Aid Still Pending
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Leven
Legislation that would inject more than $70 billion over the next decade into water infrastructure, including programs to address lead problems and otherwise strengthen drinking water protections, was introduced April 20 by several Senate Democrats. -
WOTUS Rider to Get Vote on Energy and Water Spending Bill Thursday
Apr 20, 2016 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Annie Snider
Opponents of the Obama administration's controversial water rule will get another shot at mustering the votes needed to block it, this time as part of an energy and water spending measure. -
‘Everyone Has the Right to Breathe’: The Most- and Least-Polluted U.S. Cities
Apr 20, 2016 | The Washington Post
By Niraj Chokshi
Residents of just four American metropolitan areas have had regular access to healthy air in recent years.
Industry and Association News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation News
Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) Standards Key to Using New Chemical Data in Rules
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Regulatory scientists agreed during an April 19–20 conference to work toward developing data submission standards to spur regulatory use of information from new chemical assessment methods.
The conference participants' call for data reporting standards and templates, approaches to validating new tests and other pragmatic issues shows a strong desire to bridge from scientists' development of new chemical assessment methodologies to regulatory use of data from such methods, according to Maurice Whelan, head of systems toxicology at the European Commission's Joint Research Center.
Standards and templates “might be boring,” but they are critical, Whelan said during a webcast from Helsinki.
Whelan was among the Australian, North American and European scientists the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) invited to a scientific workshop called New Approach Methodologies in Regulatory Science. Institutions represented included Australia's chemicals agency, ECHA, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Health Canada, American Chemistry Council , Procter & Gamble Co. and universities, including the Johns Hopkins University Center for Alternatives to Animals.
Many Technologies, Analytic Methods
ECHA used the term “new approach methodologies” or NAM, to reflect the many different approaches developed in recent years to analyze chemicals. These methodologies include:
• tests to determine whether genes are turned on or off (activated or deactivated);
• reporter gene assays that show whether a gene has gotten into a cell;
• cellular tests that show whether cells are multiplying, dying or sending out signals;
• computer modeling approaches that predict toxicity; and
• computer programs that use chemical exposure data from many different sources to estimate people's exposure to chemicals from consumer products.
Read-Across for REACH Data
Chemical manufacturers already are using these types of technologies and methodologies to justify their use of “read-across” to satisfy information required by REACH (Regulation No. 1907/2006 on the registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals).
Read-across methods, which predict unknown properties of one chemical based on known properties of similar chemicals, have been used to fill more than one-third of REACH's chemical property, health or ecological data requirements, according to a background document ECHA prepared for the conference.
Read-across “is one of the most commonly used alternative approaches for data gap filling in registrations submitted under the REACH Regulation,” ECHA said in a 2014 report.
Chemical manufacturers are expected to make even greater use of read-across methods as they prepare dossiers for REACH's 2018 deadline.
Yet the widespread acceptance by chemical manufacturers of read-across methods to fill data gaps does not mean ECHA accepts the data, the chemicals agency acknowledged in its background document.
A lack of scientists' common understanding of what the data coming from new assessment methodologies mean, a lack of training to use the methods, and lack of standards for laboratories to use to ensure that they consistently generate high-quality data are among the impediments to regulatory acceptance, said Tomasz Sobanski, a scientific officer at ECHA.
‘Chicken and Egg' Debate
At times “chicken and egg” exchanges took place during the webcast about strategies to gain more experience with the new assessment methodologies and data they produce.
Regulatory agency speakers said chemical manufacturers have to use more new methodologies in their dossiers or other regulatory submissions so that regulators can become more familiar with the new approaches.
Audience participants said companies won't do that until regulatory agencies provide companies greater certainty about what new data the agencies will accept.
Regulatory Certainty
A toxicological consultant said companies want to save money and time and they want regulatory certainty.
When REACH requires data from a 90-day toxicity study, companies know roughly how much the test will cost and how long it will take, the consultant said.
The amount of money and time spent are much less than the cost and time involved to develop a test, work with an agency to determine what the data mean and for the agency to decide whether it will accept that data, the consultant said.
Until the regulatory acceptance path is clear, companies will generate data using methods regulators already accept, the consultant said.
Case Study to Show Safety
Case studies showing how data from new assessment methodologies could be applied to different types of chemicals also were discussed during the conference.
Yet, by the end of the meeting, speakers and participants agreed the effort to develop standards would be helped by more case studies that explore the hypothetical use or rejection of data generated with new methods.
“I'm wholeheartedly for it [more case studies] and to contributing to it, but we would need time to make sure it's done right,” Whelan said.
Richard Judson, a computational toxicologist from the U.S. EPA, said a useful case study would be an example of the types of data needed to prove a chemical would be safe for its intended uses.
“A lot of chemicals are going to be in that space,” Judson said.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=87836773&vname=dennotallissues&wsn=497075500&searchid=27440255&doctypeid=1&type=date&mode=doc&split=0&scm=DELNWB&pg=0
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(ACC Mentioned) California Requires BPA Warning Signs in Stores
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Carolyn Whetzel
California stores selling canned and bottled food and beverages must, by May 11, post signs at cash registers warning consumers of potential exposure to bisphenol A, under a new emergency Proposition 65 regulation.
The point-of-sale warning signs will be used until the state establishes a maximum allowable dose level for oral exposure to the chemical it identified as a reproductive toxicant in 2015, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) said in an April 19rulemaking notice.
A product-specific warning regulation, one to establish a maximum allowable dose level for oral exposure, will follow once pending scientific studies can clarify the health effects of exposure to low doses of the chemical, OEHHA said.
Bisphenol A, or BPA, is used to make polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins found in can linings and the lids of jars and bottles. Studies have linked exposure to the chemical to developmental disorders and elevated risks for cancer, heart disease and diabetes.
California and other states have legal restrictions on the use of BPA in consumer products.
Interim Regulation in 180 Days
The emergency measure stays in effect for 180 days, while OEHHA develops a temporary regulation that will require the signs until the product-specific warning is in place, a process that could take years.
“A temporary, uniform point-of-sale warning would help avoid public confusion that could result from inconsistent warning messages about these products” businesses may provide on their own to comply with the May 11 warning requirement, OEHHA said.
Proposition 65 is California's landmark right-to-know law, officially known as the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, approved by voters in 1986. Under the law, OEHHA must list chemicals identified as causing reproductive harm, birth defects and cancer.
Manufacturers of products containing unsafe levels of listed chemicals must warn consumers of health risks. Failure to comply may result in enforcement actions by public prosecutors or citizen lawsuits.
California's Office of Administrative Law approved the emergency regulation April 18.
The sign must include “warning” in all capital letters and in bold print, followed by the statement: “Many food and beverage cans have linings containing bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical known to the State of California to cause harm to the female reproductive system. Jar lids and bottle caps may also contain BPA. You can be exposed to BPA when you consume foods or beverages packaged in these containers. For more information got to: www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/BPA .”
Industry, Environmental Groups Critical
In written comments, industry groups including the Can Manufacturers Institute reiterated their opposition to the listing the chemical. The warning signs could confuse consumers and fail to tell them that several manufacturers are no longer using BPA, the groups said.
The Center for Environmental Health, an Oakland, Calif.-based advocacy group, said in its comments that the warning sign serves only to “unlawfully shield industry from complying with Proposition 65 and to withhold from California consumers information they are entitled to under the law.”
The emergency warning regulation marks the latest step in a drawn-out process to add BPA to the Propositon 65 list of reproductive toxicants.
OEHHA initially listed the chemical in 2013, via an administrative process. It de-listed BPA after the American Chemistry Council filed a lawsuit challenging the listing. Acting on a decision by its scientific advisory panel, OEHHA re-listed the chemical last May (90 DEN A-4, 5/11/15).
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=87836746&vname=dennotallissues&wsn=497076000&searchid=27440255&doctypeid=1&type=date&mode=doc&split=0&scm=DELNWB&pg=0
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REACH Committee Approves Annex Amendments for Skin Sensitisation
Apr 21, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Dr Emma Davies
The REACH Committee of member state officials has approved REACH annex amendments to revise data requirements for skin sensitisation.
At its 20 April meeting member states voted to approve the amendments "principally as proposed", according to a European Commission spokesperson.
The draft amendments to Annex VII amendments state that an in vivo study should only be conducted if in vitro and/or in chemico test methods are not applicable, or if the test results are not adequate for risk assessment. In such cases, the murine local lymph node assay (LLNA) should be used.
The amendments are highly prescriptive when it comes to in vitro/in chemico tests. They should address three key skin sensitisation events:molecular interaction with skin proteins;inflammatory response in keratinocytes; andactivation of dendritic cells
"We welcome formal inclusion of in vitro and in chemico methods in the REACH testing strategy for skin sensitisation," said Jarlath Hynes, science policy advisor at NGO Humane Society International (HSI).
However, NGOs have voiced concerns over the apparent inclusion of a potency requirement. This is described as "the strength of a sensitisation potential".
Making sensitiser potency data a new requirement under REACH "could present problems leading up to the 2018 registration deadline, since none of the validated non-animal sensitisation methods have yet been formally recommended for potency assessment", said Mr Hynes.
"Without swift intervention and prescriptive new guidance by Echa, some companies may default to the LLNA," he added.
https://chemicalwatch.com/46779/reach-committee-approves-annex-amendments-for-skin-sensitisation
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Blast at Petrochemical Plant in Mexico Kills 3; Thousands Are Evacuated
Apr 20, 2016 | AP (In The New York Times)
An explosion ripped through a petrochemical plant on the southern coast of the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, killing three people, injuring dozens and sending flames and a toxin-filled cloud into the air, officials said.
The state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said 58 people had been hurt in the midafternoon blast in the industrial port city of Coatzacoalcos. Gov. Javier Duarte of Veracruz State told Radio Formula that three people had lost their lives.
The blast was felt as far as six miles away, Mr. Duarte said, adding that more than 2,000 people were evacuated from the area as a precaution.
By early evening, the fire was reported to be under control, but Pemex still urged people to stay away from the area. Officials canceled Thursday’s classes at area schools.
“The cloud that emanated from the PMV plant in Coatzacoalcos is dissipating rapidly, which means it is losing its toxic effects,” the company said on its Twitter account.
The plant produces vinyl chloride, a hazardous industrial chemical that is used to make PVC pipes and for other purposes.
In early February, a fire killed a worker at the same plant.
Pemex said in a statement that the explosion happened at 3:15 p.m. at the Clorados 3 plant of Petroquímica Mexicana de Vinilo. It said the plant was operated by another company, Mexichem, in partnership with Pemex.
Pemex said that 20 of the injured were treated in a company clinic in Coatzacoalcos and that 38 were taken to nearby hospitals.
There have been a number of accidents in recent years at facilities owned by Pemex or where it operates. Also in February, the company reported that two people were killed and eight injured in a fire on an offshore platform in the Gulf of Mexico.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/world/americas/mexico-veracruz-pemex.html?_r=0
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Three Dead in Mexichem-Pemex Petrochemical Plant Blast
Apr 21, 2016 | The Wall Street Journal
By Anthony Harrup
Three people were killed and more than 100 injured Wednesday in an explosion at a petrochemical plant in southern Mexico owned by chemical company Mexichem SAB and state oil company Petróleos Mexicanos, government officials said.
Veracruz state authorities said three workers died in the blast at the joint-venture plant in Coatzacoalcos, located on the Gulf Coast near Mexico’s main oil region. They said 136 people were admitted to local hospitals, of whom 13 were in serious condition. Forty-eight were treated and released.
The companies didn’t give the cause of the explosion, which sent a cloud of black smoke billowing above the plant.
Petróleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said its firefighting teams brought the fire under control within hours of the explosion, which occurred around 3:15 p.m. local time. The smoke cloud was dissipating rapidly, the company said, and local residents were advised to stay away from the petrochemical complex.
Mexichem, a major plastic-pipe maker that operates the plant located within Pemex’s Pajaritos petrochemical complex, confirmed the explosion in a filing to the Mexican stock exchange. The plant produces vinyl chloride, a raw material for making PVC plastic.
Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte and Pemex Chief Executive José Antonio González Anaya held a news conference late Wednesday in Coatzacoalcos, where they said the situation at the plant was under control and that it no longer represented a threat to the population.
Luis Felipe Puente, the national head of civil protection, said more than 2,000 workers were evacuated from the complex. Veracruz state authorities ordered schools closed Thursday in six municipalities.
Corrections & Amplifications:
The explosion occurred around 3:15 p.m. local time. An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the time of the blast as 5:15 p.m. (April 21, 2016)http://www.wsj.com/articles/30-workers-injured-in-mexichem-pemex-petrochemical-plant-blast-1461196772?mg=id-wsj
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Senate Passes Legislation Tailored to a Modern Energy Landscape
Apr 20, 2016 | The New York TImes
By Coral Davenport
The Senate on Wednesday passed the first broad energy bill since the George W. Bush administration, a bipartisan measure to better align the nation’s oil, gas and electricity systems with the changing ways that power is produced in the United States.
The bill, approved 85 to 12, united Republicans and Democrats around a traditionally divisive issue — energy policy — largely by avoiding the hot-button topics of climate change and oil and gas exploration that have thwarted other measures.
Its authors, Senators Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, chairwoman of the Senate Energy Committee, and Maria Cantwell of Washington, the panel’s ranking Democrat, purposely stepped away from any sweeping efforts to solve or fundamentally change the nation’s core energy challenges.
Still, the measure, known as the Energy Policy Modernization Act, would respond to the rapidly transforming energy landscape. It includes provisions to promote renewable energy, improve the energy efficiency of buildings, and to cut some planet-warming greenhouse gas pollution.
It would also speed the export of domestically produced natural gas.
House and Senate negotiators will now try to forge a compromise between the Senate bill and a similar measure that passed the House last year.
Passage would represent the first time since 2007 that a significant energy bill reached the White House for the president’s signature.
“What we’ll be moving now is what was achievable in the Senate,” Ms. Murkowski said in an interview. “Most people thought we couldn’t achieve anything, but we have demonstrated that we can legislate — and we can even legislate, oh my gosh, in an election year.”
Since passage of the last major energy law, the United States has gone from fearing oil and gas shortages to becoming the world’s leading producer of both fuels. The use of wind and solar power is accelerating as those sources become cheaper than fossil fuels in some parts of the country. And President Obama’s environmental regulations are reshaping power systems as electric utilities close coal-fired power plants and replace them with alternative sources.
But the nation’s energy infrastructure has not kept pace with those changes.
The bill would promote renewable energy by requiring operators of electricity lines, transformers, and other elements of the electrical grid to upgrade the system, with a focus on large-scale storage systems for electricity to better accommodate the expanding production of wind and solar power. The bill would create and strengthen several programs devoted to improving energy efficiency in buildings.
It would also deliver a long-sought victory to conservationists by permanently authorizing the national Land and Water Conservation Fund, a program for protecting and maintaining national parks and wilderness sites.
It would give a victory to fossil fuel producers by requiring the Energy Department to accelerate approval of permits to build coastal terminals for shipping American natural gas abroad.
And it includes provisions to address the threat of cyberattacks on the nation’s electrical grid.
“There’s so much change going on in the energy sector now, we need to have an energy bill every year,” Ms. Cantwell said. “The speed of the transition in energy now is like telecom in the ’90s.”
The bill has drawn support from a wide range of business and environmental groups, including the United States Chamber of Commerce, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, the Alliance to Save Energy and the Pew Charitable Trusts.
But some environmental groups offered only grudging responses to the measure.
“This bill is the V.H.S. tape of climate policy: tolerable in the ’80s or ’90s, but not in tune with the scientific realities of 2016,” said Jason Kowalski, the policy director for 350.org, an environmental advocacy group that led protests against the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline between Canada and the United States.
“We need Congress to get with the times and stop writing bills that prop up the fossil fuel industry that’s wrecking our climate,” he added.
Ms. Murkowski acknowledged that almost no one is completely happy with the measure.
“To have a bill that everybody likes is not only unusual, it’s just not going to happen,” she said.
The measure came to the Senate floor in January, but it stalled for three months after Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat of Michigan, sought an amendment to provide $600 million to aid the victims of lead poisoning in Flint. Mich., and deal with the ongoing water crisis there. Republicans opposed her.
Last week, Ms. Stabenow and a handful of other senators relented and lifted their blockade of the energy bill.
Ms. Stabenow said that she would continue to push for a vote on the Flint aid.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/us/politics/senate-passes-broad-bill-to-modernize-energy-infrastructure.html
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Senate Passes Energy Bill, Looks to Conference With House
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Ari Natter
The Senate voted 85-12 April 20 to pass what could be the first broad energy bill in nearly a decade, putting in motion what is expected to be a formal conference to work out the differences with the House version of the bill.
The 424-page bill (S. 2012) includes a wide range of provisions, including measures to expedite the federal approval process for liquefied natural gas exports, streamline the approval process for electric transmission lines, increase cybersecurity protections for the electricity grid and expedite the licensing process for hydropower projects.
The five-part Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015, also incorporates the bulk of long-stalled energy efficiency legislation (S. 720). That bill would authorize funding for measures to increase energy conservation in the federal data centers, establish voluntary national model building codes and boost energy efficiency in the manufacturing and commercial sectors, among other things. In addition, it contains amendments to boost funding for brownfields remediation grants, establish a task force to analyze and assess the natural gas leak at Southern California Gas Co.'s Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility in Los Angeles County and authorize billions in funding for a coal carbon capture technology research program.
“I think the vote you see reflected this morning is indicative of the need to update and modernize our energy policies,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the bill's author, told reporters. If enacted the bill would be the first comprehensive energy bill since the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
Formal Conference Ahead
Murkowski, speaking during a press conference following the bill's passage, told reporters she expected a formal conference to occur to work out the differences between the House's version (H.R. 8), which was approved in December despite objections from congressional Democrats and a White House veto threat.
“The last time there was a conference on an energy bill was in 2005. We've kind of forgotten how to do a conference around here,” Murkowski said. “I think it's time we get back to that. It is my hope that it will be a full and a formal conference.”
Similar to the Senate's version, the House bill would expedite the Energy Department's consideration of licenses to export liquefied natural gas, but it also includes controversial provisions that would speed up the review time for federal permitting of natural gas pipelines and expedite the permitting process for cross-border energy projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline (233 DEN A-4, 12/4/15).
“Our newfound energy abundance has completely flipped the script, and it's time our energy laws caught up to the 21st century,” Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich), the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said in a statement. “I look forward to conferencing with our counterparts in the Senate as we work to advance H.R. 8 into law and keep energy prices affordable for all Americans.”
The Senate bill is supported by groups representing companies ranging from liquefied natural gas exporters Cheniere Energy Inc. and Devon Energy Corp. to utilities such as National Grid.
Environmental Groups Oppose Bill
At the same time, environmental groups such as the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club oppose the bill because of provisions requiring federal land management agencies to develop expedited review processes for new mining permits and language creating a pilot program designed to expedite oil and gas permitting and drilling.
The bill also would subsidize the conversion of coal to other products like transportation fuels and would delay new energy efficiency standards for furnaces being crafted by the Energy Department, according to the environmental groups.
“The Senate has missed a chance to make progress on energy policy, passing a bill that has gotten worse over time,” Marc Boom, associate government affairs director at the NRDC, said in a statement. “The positive steps the bill would encourage are far outweighed by provisions that would delay movement to a clean energy economy and undermine action on climate change.”
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=87836753&vname=dennotallissues&fn=87836753&jd=87836753
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Senate Begins Work on Energy, Water Spending Bill
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Ari Natter
The Senate began consideration of a $37.5 billion energy and water spending bill on April 20, and the White House said the president would veto the legislation if riders related to the environment were added.
The bill (H.R. 2028) would appropriate funds for the Department of Energy, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation. The White House criticized it for not providing enough funding to achieve an Obama administration goal of doubling clean energy research and development by fiscal 2021.
In addition, the Office of Management and Budget said it “strongly objects to the inclusion of problematic ideological provisions” in the bill.
“If the final bill that is presented to the President includes such provisions, the President's senior advisors would recommend that he veto the bill,” the OMB said in a statement of administration policy.
WOTUS Vote Seen
Still, the White House also offered praise for the bill, saying it “welcomes the bill's investments in improving resilience against current and ongoing climate impacts” and supports the legislation's spending on restoring the nation's aquatic ecosystems, improving commercial navigation and helping local communities reduce the risk of floods.
The White House statement came as Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) told Bloomberg BNA he had been given word that he would get a vote on an amendment that would block the Army Corps of Engineers from moving forward with the Clean Water Rule (RIN 2040-AF30) and prevent the Army Corps and the Environmental Protection Agency from using the rule to “undermine the existing ag exemption for Clean Water Act permits,” according to a summary of the amendment obtained by Bloomberg BNA.
The amendment will be subject to a 60-vote threshold, which Hoeven said would be a challenge to reach, particularly after the White House statement. The House's $37.4 billion version of the legislation, approved by the House Appropriations Committee April 18, includes a similar rider in the base text of the bill. Both bills also include language sought by mining companies that prohibits any changes to the definition of “fill material” and “discharge of fill material” under the Clean Water Act. Mining groups fear a revised definition could force mountaintop removal mining activities to be permitted under the Clean Water Act's Section 402, which governs discharge of pollutants, rather than the act's less stringent Section 404, which governs “fill material” (76 DEN A-18, 4/20/16).
Department of Energy Programs
Other highlights of the Senate bill include $2 billion for renewable projects and energy efficiency programs within the DOE, $632 million for the DOE's fossil energy research and development programs and $293 million for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). An amendment by Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) that would increase funding for ARPA-E to $325 million was approved by a vote of 70-26.
The legislation also would authorize interim nuclear storage sites including private sites approved by the department.
Under current law, the DOE is prohibited from developing an interim storage site for commercial nuclear waste until the proposed permanent waste repository at Yucca Mountain is fully licensed.
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Energy Bill Set to Cross Senate Finish Line
Apr 20, 2016 | Politico (Morning Energy)
By Eric Wolff
ENERGY BILL READY TO POWER THROUGH SENATE: At 10 a.m. today the Senate will vote on, and likely approve, the first major piece of stand-alone energy legislation since 2007. The bill, S. 2012, advances modest energy goals, including facilitating the permitting of LNG terminals and new energy efficiency measures, and avoids aggressive clean energy targets or a sweeping repeal of environmental rules, as Pro's Nick Juliano, Andrew Restuccia, and Elana Schor report. By focusing on areas they could agree, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Maria Cantwell held their bill together to most likely push it over the finish line. While the bill's accomplishments are substantial, it is not a major course change for energy policy. "It's a good step," Cantwell said. “I think getting one bill done shows you can get another one done."
Story Continued Below
Campaign in poetry, govern in prose: The unassuming, bipartisan bill stands in stark contrast to the campaign positions staked out by presidential contenders Sens. Ted Cruz and Bernie Sanders (neither of whom did as well as they hoped in the New York primaries Tuesday). Cruz introduced legislation last year that would make it substantially easier to develop, sell, and burn coal, oil, and natural gas. A spokesman for Sanders' Senate office criticized the energy bill, and Sanders himself introduced legislation that would create a rising carbon tax to move the country off of fossil fuels. "It's very rare that the Congress can appear to be the adult in the room, but in the case of energy legislation, Congress has shown this is how you do it," said Scott Segal, director of the industry-backed Electric Reliability Coordinating Council.
On to conference! The House passed its own energy legislation, H.R. 8, with mostly Republican support. Murkowski has been in contact with House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton. "We’re both eager to go,” she told POLITICO. Her hope is to get the bill completed before the long summer recess. "I think we all know that daylight’s a wastin’ when it comes to legislation," she said. "So the sooner we get moving the better.”
MURKOWSKI MAYBE WANTS GARLAND OF ROSES? A giddy Murkowski broke up the Senate on Tuesday as the lone dissenter on a voice vote for an amendment to the energy bill related to managing wild horses. When Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who was presiding over the chamber, asked for the nays, Murkowski answered, "Nee-ee-eee-eigh!" Murkowski is also the starring voice on an energy-related video the Republican Conference will promote today over its social media channels.
WELCOME TO WEDNESDAY! I'm your host Eric Wolff, and maybe next time we could break up the energy legislation and appropriations over two weeks? Whaddaya say, Senators? Send your tips, quips, and comments toewolff@politico.com, or follow us on Twitter @ericwolff, @Morning_Energy, and @POLITICOPro.
LEADING OFF APPROPRIATIONS SEASON, ENERGY & WATER: Following today's energy bill votes, the Senate will move on to energy and water appropriations. The $37.5 billion bill has relatively few riders attached, but senatorspreviewed items they hope to offer on the floor during a committee hearing last week, including an amendment from Sen. John Hoeven targeting the administration's Waters of the U.S. rule.
Around the league: The House Appropriations Committee approved its own $37.4 billion Energy and Water bill on Tuesday, but, as Pro's Annie Snider reports, its bill has plenty of extra provisions, including approaches for dealing with California's drought, and funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste depository.
A Senate Appropriations subcommittee will kick off the EPA and Interior appropriation today with a hearing featuring EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy.
LANDRIEU EAGER TO SEE HOW STATES USE SPILL SETTLEMENT: Ahead of today's sixth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon spill, Elana sat down with former Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu. The former three-term legislator said the next few years will be pivotal for determining how $20.8 billion in BP fines from the spill will be spent. "The proof will be in the pudding once this money starts hitting the ground. That’s going to happen over the next five years." Landrieu was in the Senate when the spill happened, and she worked with Republican colleagues to pass the RESTORE Act, which redirects cash from fines to gulf coast restoration. "This was a real precedent-setting, first-of-its-kind redirection of those fines. And the cooperation between those four states is something that’s new. ... So it’s too early to tell right now, but the next 24 months will be really telling." she said.
More from the Q&A: Landrieu, who supports Hillary Clinton, says the Democratic front-runner "has made some comments that, in some ways, have been misinterpreted about her position on fracking — which is, she doesn't support a fracking ban. She supports fracking to be safe and secure. And so do I." And she suggested energy politics aren't as polarized as they may seem. Landrieu said, "I know from my vast experience that the majority of Americans understand that climate change is real, that it’s caused by human activity, that there’s no doubt that carbon is contributing — but we have to take reasonable and responsible steps, and just ending fossil fuels in the next five years is pie-in-the-sky."
** Presented by Chevron: Girls are doing remarkable things with STEM. And through Chevron’s partnerships with organizations like Project Lead The Way and FabLab, girls are getting the hands-on experience they need to make a difference in the world. Learn more http://tinyurl.com/h2mhuzj **
CRIMINAL CHARGES OVER FLINT LEAD CRISIS COMING TODAY: Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette will announce criminal charges today against at least two but possibly as many as four city and state officials in connection with the water crisis in Flint, Mich., the Detroit Free Press reports, citing sources familiar with the probe. The charges are expected to include both felonies and misdemeanors.
INHOFE CHECKS TSCA OPTIMISM: Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman Jim Inhofe, who had staked a rather optimistic view at an EPA budget hearing Tuesday morning that they were within “hopefully hours” of a bicameral deal on updating the 40-year-old TSCA chemical law, walked back from that assessment, well, hours later that afternoon. “Well, no, I’m not going to stick with hours,” he told reporters. “They’re still trying to work out the details.” Negotiators were trying to finalize several key areas, including preempting state law, a particularly thorny issue for those like EPW ranking member Barbara Boxer. “It’s moving in the right direction for sure, so we’re hopeful it keeps going,” she told ME Tuesday afternoon. The aim is to have the full Congress approve a deal next week before heading home in early May over concern that increased focus on appropriations bills and fighting over Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland could sink chances later.
Join POLITICO on the eve of the Paris Agreement Earth Day signing ceremony for America’s Energy Agenda: New Prices, New Policies? an event examining the future of energy. How will fluctuating energy costs change the calculus for Washington regulators and impact innovation? What are the new strategic priorities for building energy infrastructure post-Paris and could this agenda change with a new administration? Thursday, April 21 – 8am; The W Hotel - 515 15th St. NW. RSVP: http://bit.ly/1Nxk4jX.
AS IF LEGISLATION WASN'T ENOUGH, HOW 'BOUT SOME COMMITTEE HEARINGS? If a final vote on the energy bill and the start of energy and water approps aren't enough for you, Capitol Hill has plenty of energy- and environment-related hearings on tap.
In the House, the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will mark up its Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration reauthorization bill today, bringing Congress’s complicated three-step pipeline-legislating process one step closer to completion. The four Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners will visit with two subcommittees of the House Energy and Commerce to discuss their budget, their fourth such appearance this year. And a subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is tackling the challenge delisting species under the Endangered species Act, the first of a multi-parter.
On the Senate side, the Environment and Public Works Committee is this morning looking at ways of boosting water supplies, as California remains gripped by an entrenched drought and lawmakers prepare to take up a major water resources measure as soon as this month.
NO $$ FOR WOTUS ON SOCIAL MEDIA: EPA hasn’t found any major funding that was used for the Waters of the U.S. social media campaign condemned last year by the Government Accountability Office last year as “covert propaganda,” Administrator Gina McCarthy said at a Senate EPW hearing on the agency's budget Tuesday. EPA's response to the issue under the Antideficiency Act — which is meant to protect against spending federal money in unlawful ways and could mean sanctions like suspension, fines or imprisonment — is at the White House Office of Management and Budget for review, McCarthy added. “We haven’t really identified significant funding that went into either of those two actions,” she said.
ART OF THE DEAL: NEW YORK STRIKES NET METERING COMPROMISE: While Nevada and other states get into bare-knuckle brawls over their net metering policies, New York's solar companies and utilities reached an agreement that should bring industry peace and the much-touted regulatory certainty to the state. As POLITICO New York's David Giambusso reports, the two sides agreed to leave net metering in place, allowing rooftop solar customers to sell excess generation to the grid at retail rates. Large-scale solar farms, however, will now pay a fee to utilities for grid maintenance. Solar firms and utilities praised the deal. "The deep institutional knowledge of these six utilities, and the creative approach they are taking to the evolution of electricity, is inspiring," SolarCity CEO Lyndon Rive said in a statement.
FAMED CLIMATE SCIENTIST GOES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE ROOM AT BUFFETT’S CONFAB: James Hansen, the former NASA climatologist who’s become something of a godfather to the climate change activism movement, will be pulling double duty later this month at Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholder meeting in Omaha. Expect to see Hansen grab for headlines inside the meeting, as he speaks in favor of a resolution from the activist shareholder Nebraska Peace Foundation that would nudge billionaire Warren Buffett’s insurance giant towards more transparency on its global warming-related risks. Hansen will also appear at a rally organized by Bold Nebraska, the state’s anti-Keystone XL advocacy group, aimed at forcing Buffett’s empire to take stronger action on climate.
NYU STUDENTS CRACK, COLUMBIA SIT-IN PERSISTS: NYU students gave up their occupation of a library elevator on Tuesday after just 25 hours of their effort to force the university to divest from fossil fuels. The group won a meeting with the NYU Board's Investment Committee. Columbia students are still disrupting their university with a sit-in that began Thursday.
CBO: FEE AND AUCTION CHANGES COULD ADD 1% TO FEDERAL LEASING REVENUE: Changes to the way the government auctions off new natural gas and oil leases and the way it charges companies to develop those properties could increase gross revenue to the federal government by $1.2 billion over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office said in a report released Tuesday. The new fees would make up an increase of 1 percent over the $110 billion in gross revenues the government received from royalties and rental fees between 2005 and 2014. Charging a new $6 an acre fee for non-producing parcels would generate over half of the new revenue. “This report simply proves what we’ve been saying for a long time — the oil and gas industry is not paying their fair share to the American people for the development of public resources on public land,” Rep. Raúl Grijalva, ranking member of the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement.
FRACKING REVOLUTION FREES U.S. TO TAKE TOUGH LINE WITH SAUDIS: The Senate could move forward with legislation opposed by the White House that would hold Saudi Arabia legally liable for involvement with the 9/11 attacks, the New York Times is reporting. Some legislators may feel more comfortable going after a long-time ally now that the U.S. can produce a great deal of its own oil. “Very bluntly, they no longer have us in an energy straight jacket,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal.
BINGAMAN TO INFRASTRUCTURE BOARD: President Barack Obama will appoint former Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman to the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, a panel of outside advisers run through the Department of Homeland Security that provides advice on "critical infrastructure sectors and their information systems." Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, retired in 2013.
http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-energy/2016/04/morningenergy-wolff-213865
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Republicans Are Warming Up to Renewable Energy
Apr 21, 2016 | Bloomberg
By Joe Ryan
For decades, alternative energy was the province of activists. It was far more expensive than fossil fuels, and many remained unconvinced of humanity’s role in the globe’s rising temperature.
When world leaders gather in New York on Friday to sign the Paris climate accord, they will do so against a changing backdrop. As the cost of wind and solar power has plummeted, the solid consensus against alternative energy in the U.S. Republican Party has begun to crack.
The leading Republican candidates for president, Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz, reject any role of humans in global warming, as do most party leaders. But a small and growing number of once-skeptical Republicans is embracing wind and solar. They see them as ways to generate cheap electricity, bolster America’s energy independence and fuel economic development in impoverished rural areas.
In turn, renewables have emerged as potent sources of jobs in North Carolina, Georgia and Texas and other conservative states, creating a formidable clean-energy constituency in a party whose energy mantra was “drill, baby drill.”
“This is going to change the discussion,’’ said Bob Inglis, a former six-term Republican congressman from South Carolina who now runs an organization promoting free-market solutions to climate change. “What I sense among Republicans is there is some belief that, yes, this does sound like a song we could sing.’’
The shift comes as at least 130 countries are due to sign the Paris accord at Friday’s United Nations ceremony, a record for the most countries to sign a UN agreement on the opening day. The deal, brokered in December, calls for nations to reduce pollution in hopes of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above temperatures at the outset of the industrial revolution.
It won’t be easy. Even with the falling prices of clean power, it will cost an estimated $12.1 trillion over the next 25 years for all 195 nations that have said they will sign the agreement to meet their targets, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance.Past Support
Support for clean energy is not entirely new for U.S. Republicans. Some conservative state lawmakers in Iowa, Texas and elsewhere have long promoted it. When he was governor of Texas, George W. Bush pushed through legislation requiring utilities to buy renewable power, leading to widespread development of wind farms.
Republican enthusiasm is based largely on economics, not climate science, and does not necessarily translate into support for the Paris agreement or other efforts to curb greenhouse gases.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, has warned that President Barack Obama’s plan for cutting power-plant emissions would eliminate as many as 250,000 jobs and raise costs in more than 40 states. Trump has derided wind farms. Cruz wants to remove barriers to oil and natural gas drilling.
Still, there is a kind of confluence of interests since clean energy has been an economic boon for many Republican districts.
Wind and solar farms are regularly built on farmland, which is typically flat, cheap and treeless. That has provided rental income for farmers and created a groundswell of construction jobs. Wind and solar companies employed nearly 300,000 people in the U.S. in 2015, roughly four times more than the coal industry. All of the top 10 wind-energy producing congressional districts are represented by Republicans, according to The American Wind Energy Association.
“It gives us a real leg up on economic development,” said Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican whose state ranks third nationally in wind energy.
A push for renewables, meanwhile, is bubbling up in noticeable ways from within party ranks.Rising Seas
The congressional Climate Solutions Caucus, with both Democratic and Republican members, held its first meeting at the Capitol this week. “From rising sea levels to ocean acidification, it is evident that South Florida is at the frontline of climate change,” Carlos Curbelo, a Florida Republican, said in a statement. "We need to prepare for sea level rise and advocate for clean energy solutions that can compete in a free market.”
In Arizona and Georgia, grassroots organizations – including one founded by Barry Goldwater Jr., son of the 1964 presidential candidate – have advocated for solar to counter what they see as the monopoly power of traditional utilities. Conservative groups in Michigan, North Carolina and Ohio have emerged to promote clean energy. Conservative entrepreneur and philanthropist Jay Faison launched a super-PAC and plans to raise $5 million this year to support Republicans in congressional races who favor renewables.
"The left has owned the clean energy debate for too long," Faison said in March. His foundation, ClearPath, found in a poll last year that 72 percent of Republican voters support increased development of renewables.
Republicans like to say they don’t object to clean energy but to propping up an industry at tax-payer expense. Spencer Abraham, a former Republican U.S. Senator from Michigan who served as Bush’s first energy secretary, refuted the notion that his party’s view on clean energy was changing.
“Republicans have always been an all-of-the-above party when it comes to energy while the Democrats have been only about renewables,” Abraham said in an interview.Government Subsidies
Meanwhile, clean energy has become less reliant on the government subsidies that fueled its growth, making it a less problematic issue for Republicans.
The average long-term contract price for wind power paid by utilities has dropped 60 percent since 2009, falling in some instances below $20 per megawatt hour. Those prices, which include subsidies, are on par with off-peak power prices in some regions, BNEF analyst Nathan Serota said. The solar price drop has been even steeper, falling 65 percent with contracts as low as $37 per megawatt hour, Serota said.A Texas Believer
Drew Darby, a Texas state Republican representative whose district encompasses nine counties at the edge of oil country, said the proliferation of cheap wind power since the state spent more than $7 billion on new transmission lines has made him a believer.
“Republicans all over the country ought to be paying attention to what Texas did,” Darby said in an interview.
Inglis, the former congressman from South Carolina, said Republicans have long assumed that moving away from fossil fuels would entail drastic economic pain and “sitting in sackcloth and ashes.” That’s changing with the falling prices, he said and views on global warming may follow.
“The problem with climate change is that the conversation started on the left," he said. “It was facilitated by the UN. And the key players are godless scientists and government bureaucrats. But now the cost crashes in clean energy are making it a very attractive move.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-20/party-of-drill-baby-drill-slowly-warming-to-wind-solar-power
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Electric Power Industry Investments and Coordination Making the Grid More Resilient and Secure
Apr 21, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Scott Aaronson
Last week, the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management held a hearing on a topic that’s vital to our nation’s security.
The hearing was on protecting our country’s critical infrastructure from cyber and physical threats, and it provided electric power companies an opportunity to share how they are enhancing the reliability and resiliency of the energy grid. Importantly, we underscored how electric power companies are committed to protecting the grid from threats of all types.
First, it must be acknowledged that this commitment did not arise in the wake of the new threats we face today. This is a commitment that is deeply rooted in our industry. As a result, we’ve made significant investments in the tools, technology and people that we need to strengthen our defensive capabilities.
At the same time, we recognize that cyber threats are constantly evolving. So, even as we enhance our capabilities to meet these threats, there is no way to fully guarantee a breach will not occur, and we recognize that we can never rest. In addition to preventing attacks, we always are planning for contingencies for rapid response and recovery should an incident arise. Along these lines, below are just a few of the ways we are working to protect the nation’s energy grid.
The highest security standards and regulations
Electric power companies are subject to mandatory North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) Reliability Standards. These include both cyber and physical security requirements with penalties of up to $1 million per violation per day for failure to comply.
While regulations and standards provide a solid foundation for strengthening the industry’s security posture, standards alone are insufficient. As the threat environment evolves, so must the industry’s security efforts.
Government and industry partnership
Protecting the energy grid is a responsibility shared by both industry and government. Electric power companies own and operate most of the grid, while the government has law enforcement and intelligence gathering capabilities and is responsible for national security. Industry and government must partner together to protect our nation’s infrastructure and the health and safety of Americans.
The Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council (ESCC) brings industry, along with Administration officials from the White House; Departments of Energy, Homeland Security, and Defense; the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, together to improve sector-wide resilience against all hazards and potential threats. This endeavor has been lauded as a model for how partnerships can lead to improved security for the industry and, by extension, the nation.
Incident response and recovery efforts
Power grid operators manage risk, but do not eliminate it. Therefore, a strong approach to security must include contingency planning.
Electric power companies are constantly managing risk by understanding that something could go wrong and planning for the worst-case scenario. The energy grid is one big, interconnected machine with thousands of owners and operators; all of these players must work together. Through storm preparation and mutual assistance networks, electric power companies have decades of experience doing so to respond to major incidents.
For example, the industry’s response to Superstorm Sandy had electric power companies from as far away as California, Texas and Canada sending equipment and crews into the affected regions to restore power. More than 80 companies and tens of thousands of mutual assistance crews responded. In short, mutual assistance is not just a program, it is in our DNA.
Providing safe, reliable and affordable electricity is our top priority. In fact, we invested more than $103 billion in energy infrastructure in 2015 alone — investments that included modernizing and better securing the nation’s energy grid. In addition, the industry made significant investments in preparedness to ensure we can respond quickly and effectively should a physical or cyberattack affect grid operations. These sustained investments are making the energy grid more resilient and more secure every day and we look forward to continuing to protect the American people through these efforts.http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/276718-electric-power-industry-investments-and-coordination
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House Panel Passes Pipeline Safety Program Bill
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven Gibb
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved a measure by voice vote April 20 that would reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for four years.
A manager's amendment passed that made technical corrections to the bill and included new language granting the Secretary of Transportation emergency powers.
“If the Secretary determines that an unsafe condition or practice, or a combination of unsafe conditions and practices, constitutes or is causing an imminent hazard, the Secretary may issue an emergency order described in paragraph (3) imposing emergency restrictions, prohibitions, and safety measures on owners and operators of gas or hazardous liquid pipeline facilities without prior notice or an opportunity for a hearing, but only to the extent necessary to abate the imminent hazard,” the amendment reads.
The bill also requires PHMSA to undertake a rulemaking for underground natural gas storage facilities such as the one in Aliso Canyon near Los Angeles that belched methane for months (69 DEN A-3, 4/11/16).
The mark up of the legislation (H.R. 4937) included consideration of four amendments, two of which called for further health and safety studies of pipeline spills by the Government Accountability Office or the National Academy of Sciences. Both of those were defeated.
The other approved amendment was offered by Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) which changed the Department of Transportation's reporting requirements on the unfulfilled mandates of a 2011 pipeline law (Pub. L. No. 112-90) that have not been implemented. The amendment changes the DOT's reporting interval from every 60 to 90 days.
The Secretary of Transportation would have to detail what's been done to meet those 2011 mandates in reports to three House committees.
The measure now goes to the full house for consideration where Transportation and Infrastructure Committee ranking member Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) has pledged to support the bill.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=87836780&vname=dennotallissues&fn=87836780&jd=87836780
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Panel Rejects Tougher Criminal Penalties for Operators
Apr 20, 2016 | E&E News PM
By George Cahlink
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee today rejected a proposal to make it easier for the Justice Department to criminally prosecute pipeline operators as it approved legislation to reauthorize the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
An amendment by Rep. Janice Hahn (D-Calif.) would have added a provision to the PHMSA bill to lower the threshold for prosecutions to include a "person who acts recklessly" in a pipeline incident.
Current law is more narrowly tailored to allow criminal charges only against pipeline operators who "knowingly and willfully" act in regards to the accident.
"We should not wait for another accident with mass casualties to act," said Hahn, who said too often operators only face civil fines that "have become the cost of doing business for these companies."
The Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General recommended the change last month in response to a letter from Rep. Mike Capuano of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials (E&E Daily, April 19).
Rep. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.) said the change would match criminal provisions already in place for hazardous material accidents.
But House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-Pa.) opposed the measure, saying "reckless" was too subjective a standard. He and other Republicans turned down the provision on a voice vote.
Lawmakers gave bipartisan backing to the broader four-year reauthorization, H.R. 4937, that would set new federal standards for underground natural gas storage facilities, streamline PHMSA rulemaking, and promote better data and technology to ensure pipeline safety. It is one of three pipeline safety bills now moving through Congress.
The panel also adopted a manager's amendment to expand the current definition of a pipeline as either active or abandoned to take into account those that are idle. Hahn, who proposed the language, said it would help PHMSA keep better tabs on pipelines not in use that might still contain some oil or natural gas.
The panel rejected two separate "Buy America" amendments from Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) in largely party-line roll call votes. The first would have required all pipelines in the United State to be made with domestic steel and iron ore. The other would have required PHMSA to conduct an inventory of materials used in making existing pipelines and publish it online.
"American tubular steel is clearly the best," said Nolan, who said pipeline ruptures have risen in recent decades because of lines made from cheaper, substandard steel from overseas. Nolan is a strong backer of his state's iron mining industry.
Shuster said he "strongly opposed" what he called an unprecedented move to try to push "Buy America" requirements on private-sector companies regulated by the federal government.
The committee also defeated, by voice vote, two provisions from Rep. Sean Maloney (D-N.Y.) to require separate Government Accountability Office studies -- one on the impact of methane emission on climate change and the other on the health impact of emissions for employees at natural gas compressor stations.
Republican opponents said the studies would be duplicative because similar efforts are already underway by U.S. EPA.
Rep. Andre Carson (D-Ind.) offered an amendment, rejected by voice vote, to have the National Academy of Sciences conduct a survey of the health and ecological effects of oil spills. Shuster said such a mandate would be outside the committee's jurisdiction.
Industry groups, including the American Petroleum Institute, Association of Oil Pipe Lines and Interstate National Gas Association of America, supported the reauthorization.
The legislation "allows operators to continue their own valuable pursuits to achieve the industry-wide goal of zero incidents and addresses areas of improvements for PHMSA," API and AOPL leaders wrote in a letter today to committee leaders.
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2016/04/20/stories/1060035959
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Senators Pick Apart EPA Water Rule
Apr 21, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Kevin Bogardus
U.S. EPA's controversial water regulation came under scrutiny from senators yesterday at a hearing that examined the federal rulemaking process.
The Waters of the U.S. rule, which was crafted by EPA as well as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was one of several regulations that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee discussed at its hearing. Since it was finalized last year, the water rule has been wrapped up in litigation, leading to a nationwide stay on its implementation, as well as subject to lawmakers' attempts to void the rule through legislation.
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the committee, compared EPA's water rule to two other major regulations proposed by the Obama administration that have also sparked a backlash on Capitol Hill and in the courts: the Federal Communications Commission's net neutrality rule as well as the Labor Department's fiduciary rule.
"These are three significant rules that are going to have a significant impact on our economy," Johnson said.
William Kovacs, senior vice president for the environment, technology and regulatory affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, was one of several witnesses to testify at yesterday's hearing. He has been one of the more vocal critics of the water rule and the regulatory process behind it.
The business group executive warned that agencies' rulemaking had morphed beyond congressional intent to craft expansive regulations that had little to do with their authorizing legislation.
"Legislating is hard work, but agencies can legislate with little work," Kovacs said.
With the new water regulation, Kovacs said, "in essence, EPA turned itself into a national zoning board."
Others on the witness panel sought to defend regulations, arguing that government rules help protect the public and the environment.
"I think that we really should have as a starting point a recognition that regulation has made our country stronger, safer, more secure, cleaner and healthier," said Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, a public interest group.
Weissman said federal rules often have weak enforcement and questioned the use of cost-benefit analysis during the regulatory process, which can undermine proposed regulations. He also pointed to agencies' delays in implementing rules, which can lead to years of public safety protections not being put in place.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) noted that agencies are often stepping into a power vacuum left by Congress. Lawmakers pass legislation that calls for federal rules to be put in place with little or no guidance on how to craft those regulations.
"We own this problem," Heitkamp said, noting that regulation is done at the direction of Capitol Hill.
"We way too often criticize regulatory agencies when the criticism really should be back at Congress for the failure to respond," Heitkamp said. The North Dakota senator said lawmakers need to keep pushing forward on legislation to fix the growing regulatory apparatus, including bills aimed at specific rules.
"We are going to continue to work on legislating the Waters of the United States [rule]," said Heitkamp, who has sponsored legislation to overturn it.
As an overall fix to the regulatory process, Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) touted his bill, S. 2006, known as the "Regulatory Accountability Act of 2015." The legislation would amend the Administrative Procedure Act, adding tough new requirements for agencies to meet before proposing and finalizing any regulations.
Portman also took aim at the water rule, recounting a story from a dairy farmer in his state wondering whether he will have to alter a ditch on his property to comply with the regulation. The Ohio senator said the average cost to be in line with the water rule is $150,000.
"He doesn't have that $150,000," Portman said about the dairy farmer.
http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2016/04/21/stories/1060035995
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GOP Leader Urges 'Restraint' in Senate Energy-Water Debate
Apr 20, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Geoff Koss
The Senate this afternoon will kick off amendment votes on the $37.5 billion fiscal 2017 energy-water development spending bill, as a leading GOP senator is urging colleagues to hold back on extraneous controversial amendments.
Lamenting the omnibus spending bills that have been a hallmark of the appropriations process in recent years, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) took to the floor to call on senators to forgo amendment fights that could bog down the process.
"This is going to take a little bit of cooperation and maybe even a little bit of restraint, something that Washington isn't necessarily known for," he said.
Noting broad desire to return the appropriations process to regular order, Cornyn called the energy-water bill the "first test" for the Senate.
"Believe me, people are watching to see how we proceed," he said.
Cornyn later told E&ENews PM that his comments were intended to discourage senators from filing nongermane amendments.
"You're not supposed to legislate on an appropriations bill as a general rule," he said, while noting that there are occasional exceptions. "But what happens if people try to use the appropriations process to make policy over and above funding? Then it creates procedural problems that could land us in an omnibus or continuing resolution. That's what everybody says they don't want."
However, the "restraint" plea does not apply to germane amendments, he said. While the White House today reiterated its opposition to controversial riders, Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) has already filed his promised amendment to block the joint U.S. EPA-Army Corps of Engineers Waters of the U.S. rule.
A coalition of environmental groups today urged senators to oppose the amendment.
Cornyn said the chamber will vote later today on an amendment from Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) that would increase funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy to $325 million, more than $30 million above the amount originally called for in the bill. It also comes close to the Obama administration's request of $350 million. The agency was funded at $291 million last year.
In a statement of administration policy this morning, the White House specifically cited "low funding" levels in the energy and water bill for ARPA-E and the Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (Greenwire, April 20).
ARPA-E -- which funds cutting-edge technologies outside the reach of the private sector -- is a key component of President Obama's Mission Innovation plan, partly because of its ability to link with outside investors like Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates.
At climate talks in Paris last year, the United States joined 19 countries in calling for a doubling of clean energy research and development within five years in conjunction with a group led by Gates. In the United States, most of the proposed funding increase would have to occur in ARPA-E, the national labs and DOE's clean energy, renewable and efficiency programs.
Cornyn said the Senate will also vote on an amendment by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to strike funding in the bill for the Appalachian Regional Commission, Delta Regional Authority, Denali Commission and Northern Border Regional Commission.
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2016/04/20/stories/1060035969
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McCarthy Defends Dormant Clean Power Plan at Budget Hearing
Apr 21, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Sean Reilly
The Clean Power Plan may currently be frozen by an unusual Supreme Court stay, but critics remain deeply worried that it's still got life.
The latest evidence: a Senate appropriations panel hearing yesterday, where U.S. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy fielded prolonged questioning about the plan's impact on states dependent on coal-fired power plants. In response, she repeatedly sounded variations on a theme.
Flexibility.
"I think there's many ways in which Montana could achieve these standards," McCarthy told Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) after he predicted that the plan will cost the state 7,000 jobs and close all four units of the almost 2,100-megawatt Colstrip Generating Station.
Rural electric cooperatives will have a chance to look beyond their borders "that could provide them significant economic opportunities," McCarthy said after Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) voiced concern about the potential effect on electric rates.
EPA is trying to work with utilities, she added a little later when Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) asked about options besides closing coal-fired plants. One principle of the Clean Power Plan is "to follow the sector that we're regulating in a way that we don't limit the flexibility that is already in the system," McCarthy said.
Those questions about the plan -- launched last year by the Obama administration with a goal of making big long-term cuts to power plant carbon emissions -- made up a persistent thread at the approximately 90-minute hearing of the Senate Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee on EPA's 2017 budget request.
The hearing marked McCarthy's second Capitol Hill appearance in two days to discuss EPA's almost $8.3 billion proposal. While the subcommittee's chairwoman, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), led off by labeling the administration's choices "troubling," the tone was generally more cordial than at Tuesday's session before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee (E&E Daily, April 20).
Other questions covered EPA's proposed methane regulations on oil and gas wells, water project funding and fish-grinding from Alaskan seafood processing ships. Murkowski did not discuss a timetable for a markup.
McCarthy was also grilled by the subcommittee's ranking member, Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), over EPA's handling of the aftermath of last August's Gold King mine spill, which dumped 3 million gallons of tainted wastewater into two Colorado rivers.
Although McCarthy immediately shouldered responsibility for the accident, caused by an EPA contractor, Udall said yesterday that he was "very disappointed" at the agency's slowness to reimburse people living downstream who were affected.
Among them are residents of the Navajo Nation reservation in the Four Corners region; the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, whose members include Udall, has scheduled an Arizona field hearing tomorrow on the spill.
"Those impacted deserve compensation," Udall said. EPA, however, must still make a legal finding of "tort responsibility" that would allow claims to go forward.
The agency has already reimbursed the state of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation almost a half-million dollars for expenses, McCarthy said. While she said she expects a decision on the tort issue soon, McCarthy said that it rests with a "claims individual" working with the Justice Department. About 57 tort claims have been received so far, she said, adding that "we certainly want to get information out to people as soon as we can."
Despite the Clean Power Plan stay, EPA's proposed budget includes about $25 million to allow states to go ahead with preparatory work on implementation.
In a lengthy exchange with Daines, McCarthy called the plan's expected net benefits "very large" and added that it's also intended to foster more domestic and international cooperation on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
Daines cited a conclusion by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, that the plan would have almost no effect on global temperatures by the end of the century. "Why are we doing this?" he asked.
The Colstrip station is the second-largest coal-fired plant west of the Mississippi. Although the Clean Power Plan would require a 47 percent cut in Montana's carbon emissions rate by 2030, a more immediate threat may be moves by Washington state and Oregon -- the destinations for much of Colstrip's electricity -- to substitute renewable energy sources (ClimateWire, April 12).
The plant's owners include Puget Sound Energy, a utility based in the Seattle area. Earlier this month, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) signed legislation to set a financial path to decommission Colstrip's two older coal-fired units. In a news release, Inslee's office called the new law an important step toward "transitioning to cleaner energy sources."
http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2016/04/21/stories/1060036006
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Sen. Heitkamp Cites CWA Rule In Call For Congress To Define 'U.S. Waters'
Apr 20, 2016 | InsideEPA
By Bridget DiCosmo & David LaRoss
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND) says ongoing controversy over EPA's Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule shows the need for Congress to move legislation defining “waters of the United States” and resolve long-running confusion over the scope of the water law, given the failure of EPA and courts to permanently address the issue.
The “failure of judicial review to provide clear guidance” on when smaller waters are subject to the CWA “means, if I'm going to solve it, I'm going to legislate,” Heitkamp said at an April 20 Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs hearing on “The Administrative State: An Examination of Federal Rulemaking.”
Later in the hearing, the senator said she will “continue to work on legislation” to define U.S. waters. “I think after at least 20 years of Supreme Court [review] we should take some responsibility for the definition.”
Her remarks are a reference to high court rulings that created competing tests for how to define waters that are jurisdictional under the CWA. The competing decisions ultimately led the Obama EPA and Army Corps of Engineers to craft their rule defining waters subject to the law. Supporters say it resolves confusion over the CWA's reach, but critics argue it vastly expands the law's scope to waters Congress never intended the agencies to regulate.
Heitkamp signed onto S. 1140, a bill sponsored by Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), which would force EPA to scrap CWA rule and develop a new version after undergoing an extensive round of consultation with states and other stakeholders, but that measure failed to clear a cloture vote to proceed to consideration on Nov. 3.
That bill would have set specific parameters on how EPA and the Corps may define jurisdictional waters, such as considering wetlands to be jurisdiction inasmuch as they are situated next to a jurisdictional water that, in a normal year, protect the water quality of a navigable water by preventing the movement of pollutants to a navigable water.
In response to a question from Heitkamp asking what 10 regulatory issues Congress should consider legislating, chairman of the committee, William Kovacs, senior vice president of environment, technology and regulatory affairs for the Chamber of Commerce listed the CWA rule and EPA's Clean Power Plan climate utility rules.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) similarly asked “Shouldn't we be looking at tighter drafting” of laws aimed at giving federal agencies key statutory authorities, to which Randolph May, president of the Free State Foundation, said “Congress can't legislate every detail of regulations but it can be more specific in drafting.”
In remarks that echoed those made by Heitkamp, during recent oral argument before the Supreme Court inArmy Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. -- a suit testing pre-enforcement judicial review of jurisdictional findings under the law -- Justice Anthony Kennedy raised the inherent ambiguity of the CWA, which asserts jurisdiction over “waters of the United States” and “traditionally navigable waters” without clearly defining either term as the reason why a jurisdictional determination could be more open to abuse than other agencies' statutory interpretations.
“[T]he Clean Water Act is unique in both being quite vague in its reach, arguably unconstitutionally vague, and certainly harsh in the civil and criminal sanctions it puts into practice. What's the closest analogous statute that gives the affected party so little guidance at the front end?” Kennedy asked Deputy Solicitor General Malcolm Stewart, who represented the Corps during oral argument, and who argued that in most cases CWA jurisdiction is clear.
Pending Litigation
EPA and the Corps' CWA rule has prompted litigation in federal district and appellate courts, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has halted the regulation's implementation nationwide until the suits are resolved.
At an April 20 Senate Appropriations Committee interior panel hearing on EPA's fiscal year 2017 budget request, Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) cited the ongoing litigation over the rule -- which some call the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule but EPA calls the Clean Water Rule -- when he asked agency Administrator Gina McCarthy. "What are you doing to address the concerns that WOTUS has created?"
McCarthy said, "I think we tried very hard to try to address their concerns in the Clean Water Rule that we put forward. . . . In the meantime I think we need to continue to work with agriculture to provide the certainty they're looking for,” referencing that sector's confusion about the CWA's reach.
In a May 27 statement on the release of the final jurisdiction rule, Heitkamp noted the concerns from the agricultural sector, saying the final version “unfortunately still considers many prairie potholes as waters that it will regulate, which doesn’t address all of the serious concerns of farmers and ranchers.”
At the April 20 Senate appropriations hearing, interior subcommittee Chairman Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) raised reports from her constituents when she said, "I have heard from some that there's concern that EPA regional officers may be trying to implement parts of the WOTUS rule in spite of the fact that it is stayed."
In response, McCarthy said, "We're not doing anything to implement the rule” and said EPA is respecting the stay.
Meanwhile, Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) queried the status of EPA's formal response to the Government Accountability Office's conclusion that the agency violated Antideficiency Act prohibitions on using federal funds to promote the CWA rule.In response, McCarthy said, “We didn't agree with the GAO's findings but that doesn't mean we aren't going to respect the process.”
To deal with potential confusion on whether linked pages for a rulemaking on the agency's website represent a government position, McCarthy said that EPA is adding a warning on links to outside sites that say the viewer is leaving EPA's website and going to a private party's page.
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/sen-heitkamp-cites-cwa-rule-call-congress-define-us-waters
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Senators Offer Water, Lead Bill; Flint Aid Still Pending
Apr 21, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Leven
Legislation that would inject more than $70 billion over the next decade into water infrastructure, including programs to address lead problems and otherwise strengthen drinking water protections, was introduced April 20 by several Senate Democrats.
However, still unresolved is the issue of securing specific federal aid for Flint, Mich., the city of 100,000 that has become the poster child for lead-contaminated drinking water and spurred the introduction of the bill. But one senior Democrat said she hoped that Flint aid could be attached to another piece of legislation.
“They're going to get it done—my prediction, not theirs,” Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said April 20 of Michigan Democratic Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters at a press conference announcing the bill. “I know they will because they have tenacity, and they have the facts of their side.”
The bill, not yet numbered, is called the Testing, Removal and Updated Evaluations of Lead Everywhere in America for Dramatic Enhancements that Restore Safety to Homes, Infrastructure and Pipes Act of 2016 (TRUE LEADership Act).
Also April 20, House Democrats urged Republicans to write a supplemental appropriations bill that would include Flint funding, and the first criminal charges related to the Flint crisis were announced (see related story in this issue). The crisis centers on an April 2014 switch of the city's drinking water source to the Flint River that was executed without corrosion controls and exposed city residents to high levels of lead in their water.
TRUE LEADership Act
The TRUE LEADership Act would make the pilot Water Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program permanent and authorize it for fiscal year 2017 through 2029 at nearly $1.4 billion annually.
It would ramp up funding for the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds for the next five years. The drinking water fund would be funded at between $3.1 billion to $5.5 billion for fiscal year 2017 through 2021, and the clean water fund would be funded at between $5.2 billion and $9.1 billion for the same time range.
The 112-page bill also would require the Environmental Protection Agency to promulgate within six months an updated lead and copper rule, would allow disaster relief funds to be used in instances of lead-contaminated drinking water and would address other lead exposure issues. For example, the bill would require the EPA to update within 120 days its regulations on lead-contaminated dust and lead-contaminated soil.
It would also require states to report quarterly to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the number of residents under 2 years of age who have elevated blood lead levels.
Flint Aid Separate
But even at the conference introducing the bill, cosponsors Peters and Stabenow said they are looking for another vehicle beyond that specific legislation to help aid Flint.
Flint aid provisions inserted into a major Senate energy bill (S. 2012) delayed passage of that legislation, and financial assistance for the city has been an issue in search of a major bill to link it to. Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) has previously said that Flint aid has struggled to get around the earmark ban (71 DEN A-14, 4/13/16).
“But as Sen. Stabenow and I support this legislation, let me be very clear that this doesn't take the place of what we are trying to do for the city of Flint right now,” Peters said. “We are working right now to make sure that Flint infrastructure can be improved and that there are public health programs for Flint, as well as other communities across the country and as we are working on this comprehensive legislation to get this passed, the people of Flint can't wait any longer. We need to have more immediate action for Flint.”
Democrats are working on a variety of fronts to get aid for Flint through Congress.
Vehicle Options
Boxer, also a co-sponsor of the TRUE LEADership Act, said she hopes that issues involving lead contaminated water in general would be addressed in the water resources bill that is set to be marked up next week (see related story).
“It would seem to be to be nonsensical to look away from lead poisoning” in the water resources bill, Boxer said.
Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) urged the Republican Congress to write and pass a supplemental appropriations bill to fund programs to address health and environmental problems arising out of lead contaminated pipes in Flint, the public health crisis posed to pregnant women by the Zika virus, and the student debt loan crisis facing young people (73 DEN A-2, 4/15/16).
Pelosi said the Republicans are busy “grandstanding” on bills that will go nowhere, instead of heeding the pleas of pregnant mothers and poisoned children.
“We still have no action on Flint or Zika,” Pelosi said at the separate news conference where she was joined by Reps. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) and Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.). Also present were Democratic Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra (D-Calif.) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.).
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=87836783&vname=dennotallissues&fn=87836783&jd=87836783
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WOTUS Rider to Get Vote on Energy and Water Spending Bill Thursday
Apr 20, 2016 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Annie Snider
Opponents of the Obama administration's controversial water rule will get another shot at mustering the votes needed to block it, this time as part of an energy and water spending measure.
North Dakota Republican John Hoeven's amendment to block funding for the rule is slated to get a vote just before noon Thursday, Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander said.
The amendment is unlikely to garner the 60 votes necessary for inclusion on the energy and water spending bill. A stand-alone bill that would have scrapped and rewritten the Waters of the U.S. rule from Sens. John Barrasso and Joe Donnelly last year fell two votes shy of the 60 needed to avoid a Democratic filibuster, and senators' positions are considered unchanged at this point.
But where Congress has failed to block the rule, courts have succeeded. The rule, also called the Clean Water Rule, is on hold nationwide thanks to an appellate court injunction.
Alexander said this evening he is working to hoping to wrap up work on the pending energy and water spending measure at about 2 p.m. tomorrow.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy
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‘Everyone Has the Right to Breathe’: The Most- and Least-Polluted U.S. Cities
Apr 20, 2016 | The Washington Post
By Niraj Chokshi
Residents of just four American metropolitan areas have had regular access to healthy air in recent years.
Those four places — Burlington-South Burlington, Vt.; Honolulu; Elmira-Corning, N.Y.; and Salinas, Calif. — had the pleasure of breathing air consistently free of unhealthy ozone, short-term particle and year-round particle pollution from 2012 to 2014, according to a new national air quality report card from the American Lung Association.
The air everywhere else was less consistently clean.
“Everyone has the right to breathe healthy air,” American Lung Association President and CEO Harold P. Wimmer said in a news release announcing the group’s annual rankings. “We simply must do more to protect the health of Americans,” he added.
The rankings are based on three measures: ozone pollution and particle pollution over the short-term (24 hours) and longer-term (annual averages).
Overall, stronger federal standards have contributed to a reduction in air pollution, even as the population, economy, energy use and miles driven by the American populace rise, as shown in the Environmental Protection Agency chart below.
Air pollution emissions have dropped steadily since 1970, even as the population, economy, miles traveled, and energy consumed have grown. (EPA)The American Lung Association credits the overall pollution decline to the 1970 Clean Air Act, as well as updates to such standards over time. The clean-up of power plants drove down year-round particle and ozone pollution, particularly in states in the middle and eastern portions of the country, the American Lung Association reports. Retiring old, dirty diesel engines helped, too.
And it shows. Of the 20 most-polluted cities, all but four had their lowest year-round particle pollution levels in the history of the 16-year-old report.
Los Angeles saw historically low levels of ozone pollution, though that still wasn’t enough to knock it from its spot atop the list of cities suffering from the highest such pollution levels, a place it has claimed in all but one of 16 such reports. Bakersfield, Calif., claimed the top spot on both lists of particle pollution.
Cities made the most progress in levels of year-round particle pollution. Seventeen of the most-polluted cities reduced such pollution levels since last year. Still, seven metropolitan areas saw increases. They included Bakersfield, Visalia-Porterville-Hanford, San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland in California, along with Harrisburg-York-Lebanon in Pennsylvania and Louisville, Ky.
Previous progress on short-term particle pollution, however, was undone. Bakersfield topped the list with the highest number of days with unhealthy particle pollution levels, while 11 other metro areas also saw more unhealthy days than in the last report. For that, the authors blame climate change, at least in part. Major changes in drought and rainfall levels affect the short-term particle pollution of the air, contributing to high numbers of days with unhealthy particle levels from 2012 to 2014.
Most cities improved their ozone pollution levels. Of the cities with the highest levels in the report.
To continue reducing pollution levels, the American Lung Association advocates for a strengthening of the Clean Air Act against political attacks. It also advocates for further regulation of power plants, oil and gas operations and diesel vehicles and heavy equipment. It also calls for a stronger response to air pollution that blows across state lines and a better national pollution monitoring network.
“We can and must do more to save lives and fight climate change,” Wimmer said.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/04/20/everyone-has-the-right-to-breathe-americas-most-and-least-polluted-cities/
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