Preview Newsletter
AM ACC 4/28/2016
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(ACC Mentioned) A Match Made in Heaven … Or on Capitol Hill, Anyway
Apr 28, 2016 | Plastics News
By Gayle S. Putrich
Lawmakers, lobbyists, businessmen and union guys gathered in a U.S. Senate office building for lunch April 27 to announce what may seem to some an unlikely joining of forces: The Chemical Industry Labor-Management Committee (CILMC). -
Chemical Companies See Rosier Results on Low Crude Prices
Apr 27, 2016 | Reuters
By Devika Krishna Kumar and Jessica Resnick-Ault
Expectations for chemical company earnings have been boosted by a combination of lower crude oil costs during the commodity's slump along with strong demand for plastics that are used to make everything from shampoo bottles to grocery bags. -
(ACC Mentioned) TSCA Progress Rumored as Congressional Calendar Dwindles
Apr 28, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Sam Pearson
Lawmakers could unveil a compromise version of legislation to update the nation's chemical law as soon as tomorrow, although similar predictions have come and gone in the past. -
EPA Solvent Analysis Called Invalid; No Basis to Restrict
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
The Environmental Protection Agency's conclusions that a commonly used solvent could harm workers' health exaggerated exposures, a solvent manufacturers group said. -
Cobalt Expected to Cause Cancer, Final NTP Analysis Says
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Certain forms of cobalt are expected to cause human cancer, according to a final analysis and recommended classification released by the National Toxicology Program. -
ECHA Calls for Comments on REACH Authorizations
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Gardner
The European Chemicals Agency April 27 called for information on safer alternatives to a number of hazardous substances that are scheduled to be prohibited in the European Union under the bloc's REACH law... -
Wisdom, Legality of BLM Gas Flaring Rule Argued
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alan Kovski
Proposed regulations to reduce the venting, flaring and leaking of natural gas from oil and gas production areas on federal and Indian lands will have a severe and unnecessary economic impact on states, local governments, businesses and citizens in production regions... -
Reducing Methane Emissions Good for the Bottom Line -- McCabe
Apr 27, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Amanda Reilly
U.S. EPA's top air official today sought to convince stakeholders that reducing methane emissions can help oil and gas companies' bottom lines. -
Natural Gas Finds Strategic Place in Defense Bill
Apr 28, 2016 | Washington Examiner (In Real Clear Energy)
By John Siciliano
Natural gas exports found a place in a major defense spending bill Wednesday, as the legislation makes its way through the House's markup process. -
Cassidy Eyes Energy Conference for Revenue-Sharing Push
Apr 28, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Geof Koss
Sen. Bill Cassidy is looking to an upcoming House-Senate conference committee to carry a long-sought bill expanding the sharing of offshore oil and gas revenues with coastal states. -
Fracking Linked to ‘Widespread' Contamination
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew M. Ballard
Spills from hydraulic fracturing activities in North Dakota are being linked to “widespread water and soil contamination.” -
Bakken Blamed for Rise in Global Ethane Emissions
Apr 27, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
The increase in global ethane emissions is the result of increased oil and natural gas activity in the Bakken Shale, according to University of Michigan (U-M) researchers. -
Pennsylvania Governor’s Severance Tax Proposal Could Set Highest Rate in Nation
Apr 27, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jamison Cocklin
Pennsylvania's Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) said this month that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's latest proposal to enact a 6.5% severance tax on natural gas production would give the state the highest effective rate in the country. -
House Committee Passes Pipeline Safety Bill
Apr 27, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted Wednesday to pass a bill to reauthorize the federal government’s safety oversight for hazardous pipelines. -
(ACC Mentioned) States, Industry Question Defaults in Draft EPA Water Quality Metals Model
Apr 27, 2016 | InsideEPA
By Maria Hegsted
State regulators and various industries are raising concerns about EPA's proposed default inputs for a model used to estimate water quality criteria for levels of copper in water that will not harm aquatic species, with some questioning what they see as EPA... -
(ACC Mentioned) How ‘Green’ is Your State?
Apr 28, 2016 | Care2
By Diane MacEachern
How green is your state? To find out, surf on over to WalletHub.com and check out their 2016 analysis. The group compared all 50 states in terms of 17 key metrics that look at the health of the current environment as well as the environmental impact of people’s daily habits. -
How Cities Are Taking the Lead on Green Building
Apr 28, 2016 | Wall Street Journal
By Margaret Walls
Cities in the U.S. are leading the way on climate and energy policies—especially policies targeting commercial and residential buildings, which can account for up to 75% of total energy use in cities. -
'Little Miss Flint' Brings Obama To Michigan
Apr 27, 2016 | Roll Call
By Stephanie Akin
The city may not have clean tap water or aid from Congress to fix corroded water pipes. But there's one thing Flint, Mich., has had in abundant supply in recent months: politicians. -
Industries Fight Advocates' Bid to Block Amicus Filing in NPDES Lawsuit
Apr 28, 2016 | InsideEPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
Groups representing major industry sectors are fighting advocates' bid to block them filing a joint amicus brief in a suit testing whether pollutants reaching jurisdictional waters through a groundwater conduit can be subject to Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge permits... -
CBD Threatens Suit to Force NOx, SOx NAAQS Reviews
Apr 27, 2016 | InsideEPA
Environmentalists are threatening EPA with a lawsuit to force the agency to issue rules updating its national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx), after the agency missed a five-year deadline...
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(ACC Mentioned) A Match Made in Heaven … Or on Capitol Hill, Anyway
Apr 28, 2016 | Plastics News
By Gayle S. Putrich
Lawmakers, lobbyists, businessmen and union guys gathered in a U.S. Senate office building for lunch April 27 to announce what may seem to some an unlikely joining of forces: The Chemical Industry Labor-Management Committee (CILMC).
The new alliance brings together the chemical industry, with the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), the largest building and trade union interest group in the U.S. and Canada, to work on issues of interest to both sectors. Among the items on the docket include regulatory issues, environmental protection, work-place safety mandates, and educating both the public and government officials on hydraulic fracturing, known to most as fracking.
Founding members also include Albemarle Corp., Calgon Carbon Corp., Solvay Americas, the Laborers’ International Union of North America, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, and the United Association Union of Plumbers, Fitters, Welders and Service Techs.
In this meeting of the minds, plastics interests are actually present on both sides of the equation, with liquid natural gas as an important polymer feedstock and driver behind the $164 billion in new chemical industry investment so far from the shale boom and the construction industry deeply involved with a wide variety of plastics products from pipes and insulation to widows and siding. Moreover, new chemical facilities and capacity expansions are generating jobs for skilled construction professionals: Chemical companies are expected to directly or indirectly create 465,000 new jobs by 2023, thanks to the shale boom, according to ACC.
There's also plenty of cross-industry synergy to be had. The plastics industry could learn a lot from the building and trades business when it comes to closing the skills gap and training the future workforce. Recruiting and training "happens to be our sweet spot," said NABTU President Sean McGarvey. The union has 1,600 training centers across the United States and had 270,000 people moving through their programs in 2008.
The reach of the plastics industry on Capitol Hill was incredibly apparent, with the words "plastics makes it possible" actually coming directly from the mouth of Rep. Brian Babin (R-Texas) — whose home district, the Texas 36th, has the most chemical plants and refineries in the country at more than 150 — and New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell (of the powerful House Way and Means Committee) touting his bill to give a 15-cent per pound tax break for bio-based plastics producers. And, don't forget, all were eating off the finest plastic plates and cutlery the U.S. Congress has to offer.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20160427/BLOG11/160429837/a-match-made-in-heaven-or-on-capitol-hill-anyway
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Chemical Companies See Rosier Results on Low Crude Prices
Apr 27, 2016 | Reuters
By Devika Krishna Kumar and Jessica Resnick-Ault
Expectations for chemical company earnings have been boosted by a combination of lower crude oil costs during the commodity's slump along with strong demand for plastics that are used to make everything from shampoo bottles to grocery bags.
The worst oil rout in a generation has cut production costs for plastics that require oil-derived components. The price of plastics followed oil's rapid climb from 2009 to mid-2014, but on the way back down, plastic prices have not fully followed crude, keeping margins robust for petrochemical companies.
Analysts say that should help chemical names when they report results in the coming days. Last week, LyondellBasell Industries beat consensus estimates, and estimates for Westlake Chemical Corp and, to a lesser extent, the more diversified Dow Chemical Corp, have been lifted. Dow reports on Thursday and Westlake posts results on Tuesday.
"Lower oil prices led to more demand in the markets and for the person who's making plastics, their costs went down but their demand went up and they made money," said Joel Morales, director of polyolephins Americas for IHS. "It's a perfect world on the petrochemical side."
Dow is expected to report earnings of 83 cents a share on Thursday, and in the last 30 days, six estimates have been raised by an average of 3.7 percent. In 2015, the company reported a pre-tax profit margin of 20.4 percent, its strongest since 1989.
Westlake is expected to report earnings of 92 cents a share. In the last 30 days, estimates have seen an average increase of 6 percent. The company's pre-tax margin was 21.6 percent in 2015, though that was down slightly from the previous two years.
Even when the price of certain plastics declined slightly, the decline was partially self-correcting because corporations no longer needed to recycle waste plastic for economic reasons and demand for new plastics rose even more.
Globally, the spot prices of certain plastics components like polyethylene and polypropylene are often influenced by pricing of an oil derivative called naphtha. As a result, they are strongly correlated to crude prices, according to Platts analysts.
But while U.S. markets generally follow trends set by pricing in Asia, there is often a cost advantage for chemical companies because they are able to use natural gas liquids as feedstocks.
As a result, domestic contract pricing for one particular resin, known as HDPE, was down only 26 percent from June 2014, while crude declined more than 65 percent during the same timeframe.
"We do see periods of an increased premium for resins over crude oil during the past two years, but primarily in the U.S. domestic market," said Jim Foster, Platts' director of analysis for petrochemicals.
In addition, supply this year was particularly short in the United States as planned maintenance at petrochemical plants reduced the supply of certain plastics. While seasonal maintenance is the norm, this year's work schedule was heavier than usual, according to Charles Neivert, managing director at Cowen in New York.
Speaking to analysts on Friday, LyondellBasell CFO Thomas Aebischer said he expects the conditions to persist due to heavy maintenance schedules in both the United States and Asia.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-results-chemicals-idUSKCN0XO2LS
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(ACC Mentioned) TSCA Progress Rumored as Congressional Calendar Dwindles
Apr 28, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Sam Pearson
Lawmakers could unveil a compromise version of legislation to update the nation's chemical law as soon as tomorrow, although similar predictions have come and gone in the past.
Both the House and Senate have passed bills to update the Toxic Substances Control Act. But for months, negotiators have been struggling to merge the versions. And they are running out of time.
Lawmakers will be back in their districts next week with the House and Senate scheduled to be on recess. Three more weeks of activity follows before Memorial Day. The Senate is due to meet just nine additional weeks before the Republican National Convention begins July 18.
Some advocates have heard from congressional offices "that pencils are down Friday," said Mike McKenna, president of MWR Strategies, a Republican advocacy firm.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), ranking member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, said lawmakers were making progress on the issue.
"I don't want to put a timetable on it," Pallone told E&E Daily, "but we're working hard, and I think we're getting closer to an agreement that everyone can live with."
Jordan Haverly, a spokesman for Environment and the Economy Subcommittee Chairman Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), agreed. "As we've said from the beginning, this process is not beholden to any arbitrary timeline," Haverly wrote in an email.
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, told reporters this week she hoped for progress soon.
"I'll let you know as soon as I can have the smoke come out white," Boxer said. "Right now, it's not done, but it's moving in the right direction."
Boxer said there were "a bunch of issues on the House side and just a couple on our side."
Staff members have been meeting for weeks to discuss how to merge the two plans -- S. 697, called the "Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act," with H.R. 2576, called the "TSCA Modernization Act."
The House bill passed 398-1 in June 2015. The Senate plan was cleared by voice vote in December. While both bills attempt to fix the chemicals law, they take different approaches.
In a letter to lawmakers earlier this year, U.S. EPA said it preferred most of the Senate bill but had some concerns about certain provisions (E&E Daily, March 4).
Meanwhile, many states are interested in seeing to what extent the final version will allow them to set and enforce their own regulations on toxic chemicals (E&ENews PM, April 22).
Part of the House bill that addresses corporate liability for past production of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, has also been a topic of concern (Greenwire, April 19).
Some advocacy groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, have voicedworries that S. 697 could make it harder for EPA to control imports of products containing unsafe chemicals.
Richard Denison, a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, which has supported the Senate bill, said the group was working to preserve the legislation's existing balance between industry and consumer interests.
Crucial sections for Denison include allowing EPA, not the chemical industry, to prioritize substances for review. He also likes provisions meant to avoid precluding states from taking action against a chemical that EPA is merely studying and setting user fees to cover the costs of reviews.
The group Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families delivered 50,000 petition signatures to lawmakers working on the bill last week, said Andy Igrejas, the group's director. The petitions urge lawmakers to maintain the House bill's more limited approach while folding in a few parts of the Senate bill seen as more protective Greenwire, Feb. 1).
Industry groups are also weighing in. For the American Chemistry Council, "maintaining provisions from both the House and Senate bills that support a coherent and cohesive national regulatory system is extremely important, including Senate language that pauses states' ability to enact new restrictions on a specific chemical while EPA conducts a risk assessment," spokeswoman Anne Kolton said in an email.
Ben Dunham, an ex-aide to the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and now a senior managing director at the law firm Dentons, said he believed the combined version would be closer to the Senate legislation.
He said the Senate built consensus through negotiations with individual lawmakers. Unraveling those provisions, Dunham said, could threaten the bill's viability in the chamber.
"I think they've been able to narrow down the areas of disagreement to the point where it's manageable," Dunham said. "It won't be easy to figure out the path forward, but it seems like the universe of issues where there's disagreement has gotten down to the point where you really just need a breakthrough or two to get across the finish line and get a final agreement."
But Pallone said the bill will "be a combination of the two."
Reporter Sean Reilly contributed.
http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/stories/1060036395/search?keyword=%22american+chemistry+council%22
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EPA Solvent Analysis Called Invalid; No Basis to Restrict
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
The Environmental Protection Agency's conclusions that a commonly used solvent could harm workers' health exaggerated exposures, a solvent manufacturers group said.
The EPA also used flawed, incomplete procedures to assess the health risks of n-methlypyrrolidone (NMP; CAS No.872-50-4), said the BASF Corp. and other members of the NMP Producers Group incomments submitted April 26 to the EPA's new Chemical Safety Advisory Committee.
The final risk assessment identified concerns that the development of children born to exposed women or women of childbearing age could be harmed.
“Acute and chronic risks identified for people who use NMP for less than four hours per day may be reduced by use of specific types of chemical-resistant gloves. However, gloves and respirators do not adequately reduce risks to people who use NMP for more than four hours per day on a single day or repeatedly over a succession of days,” the EPA said.
Based on its conclusions, the agency is developing a proposed rule that would ban or otherwise restrict NMP's use in commercial and consumer paint and coating strippers (57 DEN A-2, 3/24/16).
Possible restrictions on commercial uses could include limiting NMP concentrations in paint removers and requiring workers to wear respirators, according to information obtained by Bloomberg BNA.
The agency is working to release that proposed rule by November.
Group Raises Concerns
Inappropriate science and inadequate procedures shouldn't be the foundation of a planned agency rule to restrict NMP's use in paint strippers, Kathleen Roberts, the group's manager, told Bloomberg BNA April 27.
Nor should the agency use the procedures it did in this case to assess the risks of dozens of chemicals in commerce as it plans to do, Roberts said.
The Chemical Safety Advisory Committee holds its first orientation meeting May 11. The agenda for that meeting includes time for public comments.
Labels and Liability
The final NMP risk assessment uses exposure scenarios—such as use without gloves or in poorly ventilated rooms—that run counter to specific and direct safety instructions included on safety data sheets and labels, the NMP Producers Group told the EPA's advisory committee.
“EPA's decision to rely on these inappropriate scenarios and implement risk restriction measures because of them is inappropriate and dangerous,” the group said.
The risk scenarios are dangerous, because they suggest the EPA is signaling to the public that label warnings can be ignored or dismissed, the group said.
If a government agency suggests that label restrictions don't need to be followed, companies could be sued when people don't follow those restrictions, Roberts said.
The EPA failed to follow the NMP group's recommendation that the agency analyze risks based on one scenario that assumed users would follow label directions and another that assumed potential misuse, the group's comments said.
The letter also faulted the literature search, stakeholder involvement and other aspects of the risk assessment.
Advisers' Help Sought Due to Precedent
The NMP group asked the Chemical Safety Advisory Committee to consider the group's concerns, citing the precedents they would set, Roberts said.
The EPA's NMP assessment was among the first five assessments the agency plans to conduct for dozens of chemicals under a “Work Plan” initiative announced in 2012 (41 DEN A-14, 3/2/12).
The EPA's use of its work plan assessment strategy also is embedded in both the Senate and House bills that would revise the Toxic Substances Control Act, Roberts said.
Those precedents make it critical that the advisory committee weigh in on assessments already conducted and the procedures the agency is using to prepare them, she said.
Paint Stripping, Other Uses of Solvent
The NMP Producers Group consists of companies that make the solvent, not paint strippers, Roberts said.
Ashland Inc., BASF and the Lyondell Chemical Co. are other members of the group according to itswebsite.
More than 184.7 million pounds of NMP were produced in or imported into the U.S. in 2011, according to Chemical Data Reporting rule submissions companies filed in 2012.
Of that total, about 16.6 million pounds, or 9 percent, is used for paint removers, according to the EPA.
NMP also is used in petrochemical processing, circuit board manufacturing and in adhesives.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=88377588&vname=dennotallissues&fn=88377588&jd=88377588
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Cobalt Expected to Cause Cancer, Final NTP Analysis Says
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Certain forms of cobalt are expected to cause human cancer, according to a final analysis and recommended classification released by the National Toxicology Program.
Cobalt and cobalt compounds that release cobalt molecules in the body are reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens based on sufficient evidence from experimental animal studies backed by detailed biological studies showing effects such as cobalt's capacity to kill cells and inhibit the body's efforts to repair damaged DNA, according to the final monograph NTP released April 26.
The monograph's release marks another step toward the possible inclusion of this group of cobalt compounds in the Department of Health and Human Service's next Report on Carcinogens.
Officials from nine agencies that make up the NTP Executive Committee will review the recommended classification prior to its submission to the HHS for possible inclusion in the 14th Report on Carcinogens. The HHS Secretary makes the final decision.
The NTP hopes to publish the 14th report by the end of 2016.
While the congressionally mandated report isn't a regulatory document, inclusion in it can trigger safety data sheet updates and other hazard warnings.
Superalloys, Chemicals Primary U.S. Uses
Cobalt is used for many commercial, industrial and military applications. Cobalt was primarily used in the U.S. in 2012 to make high-performance metals, or superalloys, and for chemical applications such as making glass, ceramics and paint, NTP's monograph said.
NTP's conclusions are consistent with those peer reviewers made in 2015 as they critiqued an earlier iteration of the monograph (141 DEN A-17, 7/23/15).
NTP's analyses constitute the first, or hazard identification, step of a risk assessment.
Subsequent steps would examine the dose at which health hazards may occur and compare that with exposures to reach a conclusion about the risk the chemical or group of chemicals poses.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=88377570&vname=dennotallissues&fn=88377570&jd=88377570
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ECHA Calls for Comments on REACH Authorizations
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Gardner
The European Chemicals Agency April 27 called for information on safer alternatives to a number of hazardous substances that are scheduled to be prohibited in the European Union under the bloc's REACH law (Regulation No. 1907/2006 on the registration, evaluation and authorization of chemicals).
ECHA said companies had made 29 applications for authorizations covering 47 uses of the substances. Under REACH, the continued-use authorizations can be granted if there are no viable alternatives to the substances and if the risks of the substances can be adequately controlled.
The substances on which comments should be submitted are 1,2-dichloroethane, chromium VI compounds, diglyme (bis(2-methoxyethyl) ether) and technical MDA (formaldehyde, oligomeric reaction products with aniline).
The substances will be banned from use in the EU from various dates between August and November 2017, unless specific usage authorizations are granted.
Companies have applied for authorizations to use the substances in a range of applications, including chrome plating and treatment of metal surfaces, the manufacture of biocides and pesticides, petroleum refining and as solvents, according to ECHA. The call for information follows a similar call in February that concerned 39 uses of 1,2-dichloroethane, the chromium compounds and diglyme (28 DEN A-14, 2/11/16).
The call for information on alternatives to the substances is open through June 22.
Under REACH, phaseout decisions have been taken for 31 hazardous substances so far and the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has issued 41 authorizations, which apply to the use of substances in specific applications.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=88377578&vname=dennotallissues&fn=88377578&jd=88377578
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Wisdom, Legality of BLM Gas Flaring Rule Argued
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alan Kovski
Proposed regulations to reduce the venting, flaring and leaking of natural gas from oil and gas production areas on federal and Indian lands will have a severe and unnecessary economic impact on states, local governments, businesses and citizens in production regions, according to critics.
The regulations, proposed by the Bureau of Land Management in a rule released Jan. 22, are part of a “barrage of regulations coming out of Washington” threatening critical local revenues, testified Shawn Bolton, a county commissioner from Rio Blanco County, Colo., at a congressional hearing April 27.
To the extent that the regulations venture into air emission controls, they also exceed the authority of the BLM, testified Mark Watson, head of the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
Detailed criticism was offered not only through testimony to the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, which heard Bolton, Watson and others, but through comments sent to the BLM in response to its proposed rule.
State officials decried what they saw as a lack of collaboration between the Obama administration and state governments—a common refrain in the last few years that has been heard especially in arguments over hydraulic fracturing regulations, protection for wildlife and the use of monument designations or other regulatory actions restricting use of federal lands.
Democrats Defend Proposed Rule
The proposed BLM rule has many defenders. During the April 27 hearing, Democrats on the House subcommittee praised the proposed rule as a sensible effort to reduce waste and a contribution to limiting the risks of climate-warming emissions.
A similar defense was offered in testimony by Amanda Leiter, Interior deputy assistant secretary for land and minerals management, who said the rule would reduce targeted emissions by 40 percent. The BLM has been regulating gas venting and flaring for more than 30 years but not to the extent that Interior now wants, Leiter said.
The rule would reduce waste of natural gas in part through mandates on practices and technologies and would use the royalty system as a goad (RIN 1004-AE14). Venting, flaring or leaking of natural gas would be subject to royalties under stricter rules than those currently in place (18 DEN A-7, 1/28/16).
BLM Said Overstepping Bounds
Republicans on the House subcommittee, like some state and industry critics, suggested the BLM was intruding into Clean Air Act territory, which grants authority to the Environmental Protection Agency and states.
Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-Calif.), the ranking minority member of the subcommittee, was sufficiently wary of the legal criticism that he put great emphasis on the BLM's authority under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 to limit the waste of natural resources from federal and tribal lands.
At one point during the hearing, Lowenthal cut Leiter short as she spoke of the value of limiting the venting of methane in terms of its potency as a greenhouse gas. “No, but we're talking about waste now,” Lowenthal said.
Carbon, Methane Costs Cited
In public comments filed on the proposed rule, the rule's use of a social cost of carbon and a social cost of methane was praised by the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Institute for Policy Integrity, three environmental organizations filing jointly.
The American Petroleum Institute submitted comments describing regulations for air quality as the exclusive province of the EPA and the states. The Clean Air Act “grants each state, and not BLM, the discretion to decide what controls to require and on which facilities,” the trade group said.
The Sierra Club and Friends of the Earth each submitted thousands of form letters urging strong regulations on gas venting, flaring and leaking. The Friends of the Earth form letter expressed concern that the proposed rule “would still allow considerable royalty-free venting and flaring on public and tribal lands.”
BLM Underestimated Regulations' Extent
Industry groups and companies dug into the details. Noble Energy Inc. submitted comments suggesting the BLM has seriously underestimated the extent of its requirements for inspections, leak detection, storage tank controls and multiplying obligations for tracking compliance.
The potentially duplicative overlap of planned BLM and EPA regulations was mentioned repeatedly in submitted comments and debated in the subcommittee hearing.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=88377592&vname=dennotallissues&fn=88377592&jd=88377592
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Reducing Methane Emissions Good for the Bottom Line -- McCabe
Apr 27, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Amanda Reilly
U.S. EPA's top air official today sought to convince stakeholders that reducing methane emissions can help oil and gas companies' bottom lines.
Because methane is essentially a waste product -- as well as a potent greenhouse gas -- companies would be better off capturing it, EPA acting air chief Janet McCabe today told stakeholders and reporters.
"Methane that escapes from leaks or what have you -- that's product that can be sold, whatever the price is," McCabe said. "So capturing that and not letting it escape is going to be a good thing for the industry."
McCabe's remarks at an event this morning sponsored by Bloomberg Government and the Sierra Club come as EPA is finalizing a suite of measures to limit methane and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from new oil and gas equipment. EPA will issue those final regulations "soon," McCabe said.
She maintained that EPA is committed to regulating existing equipment and will also soon issue what's called an "information collection request" to start the rulemaking process.
Industry has repeatedly warned that EPA's intended actions to reduce methane emissions will come with big costs and has maintained that voluntary approaches are already achieving reductions. Industry trade groups are also disputing the data EPA is using to show that regulations over existing operations are necessary (E&ENews PM, April 19).
McCabe said today that EPA believes the methane-reduction technologies that would be required by the agency's regulations are both available and cost-effective.
"The ways of addressing these leaks are extremely cost-effective, and our proposal shows that the rule is cost-beneficial," McCabe said.
The regulations proposed in August would require the oil and gas industry to find and repair leaks in new equipment, capture natural gas from the completion of hydraulically fractured oil wells, limit emissions from new and modified pneumatic pumps on well pads, and limit emissions from several types of equipment used at natural gas transmission compressor stations.
EPA has additionally put forth a proposed rule to require gas wellheads that also produce oil to use so-called green completion technology, and a measure to tighten restrictions for wellheads in ozone nonattainment areas. A fourth proposal would limit emissions from operations on American Indian lands.
In a regulatory impact analysis last year, EPA estimated that limiting methane emissions from new sources would have a net monetized benefit of $43 million in 2020 and $160 million in 2025.
"When you reduce methane, many of the measures are industry using methane more efficiently," said Drew Shindell, a climate sciences professor at Duke University, "so there's an extra cost incentive that you don't get typically" from controlling other types of greenhouse gases.
When it comes to addressing emissions from existing sources, McCabe today said EPA will use its information collection request to find out how to design methane control approaches that are cost-effective across the wide range of activities in the natural gas sector.
"Facilities that are already out there, they have various constraints that new sources don't have, and so there's a lot of information that we need," she said.
EPA is considering issuing an initial broad information request and then following it up with one targeted at specific areas, the air chief said.
"We're looking across the industry, and there's a lot of pieces of equipment that you find at different places along the value chain," McCabe said. "And so if you can cost-effectively deal with controllers and compressors in one part of the industry, you probably can in the other."
Environmentalists today said that industry concerns about the cost of addressing methane emissions were overblown.
"We can make incredible progress on this issue and it doesn't materially impact the ability of the industry to produce the product," said Mark Brownstein, vice president of the Environmental Defense Fund's climate and energy program. "So if you believe that this is a strategy that's going to shut down oil and gas development -- it's not."
Mark Boling, president of V+ Development Solutions at Texas-based Southwestern Energy, said natural gas companies are looking at the issue as a way of increasing the efficiency of energy delivery. Southwestern is a founder of a voluntary industry methane-reduction effort called the ONE Future Coalition.
But while Southwestern made money the first year and broke even the second year it operated a leak detection and repair program, Boling warned that smaller companies would have difficulty affording the same equipment if required by EPA.
"It obviously stings quite a bit, especially in the environment we're in right now," Boling said. "In any capital-extreme environments, right now is very difficult."
Boling said attacks on the oil and gas industry have made some companies feel reluctant to even discuss regulatory options.
"When any industry, whether it's the oil and gas industry, or whatever, has the kind of attacks that this industry had, starting out with flaming faucets," Boling said, "... they become very defensive. That defensive posture then kind of modifies itself into a hesitancy to acknowledge legitimate risks."
EPA received 900,000 comments on the new-source regulations, McCabe said. A lot of those comments concerned the frequency of leak detection and exempting low-producing wells.
McCabe declined to talk specifics about the final suite of measures for new sources but said she's "never encountered or dealt with an EPA rule that didn't get better between proposal and the final rule because of the input we got."
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2016/04/27/stories/1060036365
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Natural Gas Finds Strategic Place in Defense Bill
Apr 28, 2016 | Washington Examiner (In Real Clear Energy)
By John Siciliano
Natural gas exports found a place in a major defense spending bill Wednesday, as the legislation makes its way through the House's markup process.
The amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2017 would set a strict 30-day deadline for the Energy Department to approve liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals.
The amendment was framed as a hedge against Russia and others that would look to use natural gas as a weapon to impose their will over U.S. allies in Europe.
Reps. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., who proposed the amendment, told the story of how Lithuania used LNG to overcome dependence on Russian energy imports. Russia had repeatedly used the threat of shutting off the spigot to impose its will, he said. "One LNG import terminal changed the game," he said. "Let's help repeat that story. LNG exports are a win-win for our allies, a win for our partners and a win for the American economy."
The amendment would stop the Energy Department from prolonging the export terminal approval process so billions of dollars of investment are not stranded due to agency foot-dragging and prolonged court fights, Bridenstine said. The agency must conduct an environmental review and a national interest determination before issuing a permit to allow the export of LNG. The amendment would not interfere with the agency's ability to conduct the reviews, but will establish firm deadlines for each review to ensure the process cannot be prolonged beyond what is practical for the industry.
A similar measure was approved in a comprehensive energy bill passed last week on the Senate floor. The energy bill's provision would require the energy secretary to make a final decision on an LNG export application no more than 45 days after project review have been published. It also provides for expedited judicial review of legal challenges to LNG export projects, according to a summary.
The U.S. has become a major oil and gas producer due to the shale drilling boom, which has encouraged companies to begin building export terminals and seek permit approvals from the government to begin shipping natural gas abroad. The permit approval process has been long and drawn out. Many activist groups have sought to oppose the permits through litigation as part of a campaign to keep fossil fuels in the ground in order to combat climate change.
Nevertheless, the Energy Department has begun approving the permits, resulting in some of the first shipments of LNG leaving U.S. destined for Latin America and, for the first time this month, Europe.
"The House Armed Services Committee's passage of LNG exports legislation is the latest example of bipartisan recognition by Congress that the U.S. is an energy superpower," American Petroleum Institute Executive Vice President Louis Finkel said. "U.S. LNG exports not only provide international consumers with greater choice, but also help them break dependence on nations that use their energy resources as a diplomatic and political weapon."
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/natural-gas-finds-strategic-place-in-defense-bill/article/2589720
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Cassidy Eyes Energy Conference for Revenue-Sharing Push
Apr 28, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Geof Koss
Sen. Bill Cassidy is looking to an upcoming House-Senate conference committee to carry a long-sought bill expanding the sharing of offshore oil and gas revenues with coastal states.
The Louisiana Republican pushed the issue during the three terms he served in the House but was stymied in his effort to attach a revenue-sharing amendment to the Senate energy bill (S. 2012) after Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) refused to support a deal that would have set up a vote on Cassidy's amendment (E&E Daily, April 14).
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) promised Cassidy a floor vote on his proposal, and the freshman senator said yesterday he intends to make the most of the opportunity (E&ENews PM, April 14).
"We feel pretty good about it," Cassidy said in an interview yesterday, adding he believes it's possible to get 60 votes for the plan. "We may add a provision or two that we think would be of interest to others -- we're working through that process now. But if not, I am positive that there will be a bipartisan majority of senators who vote for it."
The amendment, sponsored by fellow Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R), Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Virginia Democratic Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, would lift the $500 million revenue cap for Gulf Coast states under a 2006 law to $999 million from 2027 to 2031.
Additionally, it would establish revenue sharing for Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, with Alaska also qualifying for 37.5 percent of the revenues generated off its coasts.
Under the scenario Cassidy envisions, the House in the coming weeks will pass its own revenue-sharing bill, which will be included in the final report that would result from the conference that will iron out the differences between the Senate's energy package and the House version (H.R. 8) passed in December.
"We've mapped this out, and we can't swear it's going to happen, but we're cautiously optimistic that in some way the House will vote on a revenue-sharing bill, which will be included in the conference" report, he said.
Cassidy said he's hoping to see the Senate vote on his own amendment next month or in June, and even if the bill falls short of 60 votes, he expects to be able to demonstrate that a majority of senators back the plan.
"It's not like this is a one-off," he explained. "This is something that a majority of the House and a majority of the Senate, bipartisan, have supported. And so therefore, if you will, it deserves to be included in that package which returns."
Cassidy said he's spoken to "key legislators" in the House about revenue sharing, noting that similar measures have passed the lower chamber multiple times in recent years.
In a brief interview yesterday, House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) was noncommittal about House plans but said he supports opening up more of the outer continental shelf to drilling, including in the Mid-Atlantic region, "in states that have asked for the ability to explore for energy, and then let them share revenue, as well."
Scalise added that he opposes the $500 million cap on shared revenues. "We do want to increase that cap so you encourage more exploration in the outer continental shelf," he said.
He also denounced the Obama administration's budget proposal to repeal the 2006 law that created the revenue-sharing system as "dead on arrival."
"It's not going to happen," Scalise said.
Despite the administration's proposal to cancel the revenue-sharing program, Cassidy said he doesn't think the inclusion of his amendment would necessarily trigger a veto. He recalled an exchange with President Obama last year in New Orleans, when during an event marking the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, he said the president appeared sympathetic when Cassidy bent his ear on revenue sharing (E&E Daily, March 10).
"I pointed out to him that there could be another terrible hurricane hitting the coast of Louisiana, and the way to prevent that would be to take this money, which we were to receive through revenue sharing, to rebuild our coastline so that the natural wetland protection against another terrible hurricane would be provided for," Cassidy said.
Cassidy also noted that his amendment would only allow revenue sharing for additional states if the administration decides to allow additional leasing -- an option the Interior Department recently rejected.
"It's all contingent upon him for the Mid-Atlantic and Alaska, opening up those lease sales," he said.
Cassidy said he is working to clear up confusion over the amendment that will receive a vote, which he noted is different from a broader revenue-sharing bill that would also dictate lease sales off Alaska and the Mid-Atlantic region. That bill was roundly criticized by Nelson after it cleared the Senate Energy Committee last summer (Greenwire, July 31, 2015).
"It doesn't involve Florida," Cassidy said. "I would say the Floridians should be more worried about China drilling off the coast of Cuba than they should be about somebody drilling off the coast of Alaska."
http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2016/04/28/stories/1060036394
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Fracking Linked to ‘Widespread' Contamination
Apr 28, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew M. Ballard
Spills from hydraulic fracturing activities in North Dakota are being linked to “widespread water and soil contamination.”
In a study published April 27, Duke University researchers said they have found elevated concentrations of contaminants associated with brine spills from fracking wells in the Bakken region of the state. High levels of ammonium, selenium, lead and salts were measured in wastewater and radium contamination was found in the soil downstream from spill sites, according to the study.
A study author said the research provides “clear evidence of direct water contamination from fracking,” while a state regulator said the findings were a bit overstated and, except for the radium issue, not particularly revealing.
Duke Study Finds ‘Clear Evidence.'
The study, “Brine Spills Associated with Unconventional Oil Development in North Dakota,” was authored by Avner Vengosh, a professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke University in Durham, N.C., and Nancy E. Lauer and Jennifer S. Harkness, two of his graduate students. Funding for the study, which was published in the April 27 edition of Environmental Science & Technology, was provided by the National Science Foundation and the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy organization.
According to Vengosh, previous research around the U.S. has shown contamination from fracking to be generally sporadic and inconsistent. “In North Dakota, however, we find it is widespread and persistent, with clear evidence of direct water contamination from fracking,” he said in an April 27 statement.
The researchers said in the report that about 9,700 “unconventional” wells have been drilled in western North Dakota since 2007, producing more than a million barrels of oil per day. Vengosh said that more than 3,900 brine spills have occurred from that activity, mostly from faulty wastewater pipes.
Samples were taken at four spill sites in the Bakken region and, in addition to elevated salt levels, the researchers said they measured high levels of ammonium, selenium, lead and other contamination in wastewater as well as radium contamination in the soil downstream from those sites.
‘Overstatement' Seen
Dave Glatt, head of the North Dakota Department of Health's Environmental Health Section, told Bloomberg BNA April 27 that his agency is aware of the contamination cited by the report and said most spills are cleaned up in a matter of days. “I think ‘widespread' is an overstatement,” he said.
“Is produced water a challenge to clean up?” Glatt added. “You bet.”
That's why his agency requires immediate reporting and action to address the spill and “the vast majority are handled very quickly,” he said.
Although most of the study's findings were not particularly revealing, the radium concentrations its authors found are interesting and “something we'll look at” to see if there are potential health and environmental implications, Glatt told Bloomberg BNA.
Radium poses a challenge to wastewater processing facilities that are not designed to filter it out of their treatment trains.
Lisa McClain-Vanderpool, a representative for EPA Region 8, told Bloomberg BNA in an April 27 e-mail that the agency “will review all applicable peer-reviewed scientific literature that has been published since the release of the draft assessment for consideration in the final Hydraulic Fracturing Drinking Water Assessment.” The EPA's draft of that assessment was released last June (108 DEN A-1, 6/5/15)
Tessa Sandstrom, a representative for the North Dakota Petroleum Council, told Bloomberg BNA April 27 that her group needed to spend time looking at the report and the methodology the researchers used before commenting on its findings.
Don Morrison, executive director of the Dakota Resource Council, a local conservation group based in Bismarck, told Bloomberg BNA April 27 that “this is really new stuff.”
He said the Duke University study is “the first documentation that there really is a problem in North Dakota.”
—With assistance from Trip Baltz in Denver
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=88377565&vname=dennotallissues&fn=88377565&jd=88377565
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Bakken Blamed for Rise in Global Ethane Emissions
Apr 27, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
The increase in global ethane emissions is the result of increased oil and natural gas activity in the Bakken Shale, according to University of Michigan (U-M) researchers.
While methane emissions receive most of the attention, researchers said their work shows ethane needs its share. Fugitive emissions with heavy natural gas composition, such as ethane, also impact methane assessments, according to the study published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
Bakken emissions observed in North Dakota and part of Montana were "10 to 100 times larger" than the reported inventories of the escaping gas, said the nine co-authors.
"Fugitive emissions from the Bakken shale illustrate [the] role of shale production in global ethane shift,” said the report, which was published online Tuesday.
Based on sampling for 12 days in May 2014, conducted via flyovers of the Bakken in a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) aircraft, the research team's calculations put the Bakken ethane emission at about 250,000 tons/year, or 2% of the world’s ethane releases.
"The very heavy composition of raw gas in the Bakken Shale (42%) helps explain the relatively high emissions," the authors noted. "Other shale plays in the United States have notably lower ratios."
Considering other basins' relative production and raw gas composition, "it is reasonable to suspect" that ethane emissions from the Eagle Ford Shale and Bakken represent a large fraction of the recent global shift in fugitive emissions, whereas drygas formations, such as Haynesville and Fayetteville shales, "likely play a modest role" in spite of their large gas production.
From 1984 through 2009, ethane levels in the atmosphere were steadily dropping, according to U-M’s Eric Kort, lead author and assistant professor of climate/space sciences and engineering. However, in 2010 a mountaintop sensor in Europe registered an ethane uptick in the atmosphere, causing researchers to take a closer look.
"Ethane concentrations have been on the rise ever since," Kort said.
The co-authors, who included a NOAA scientist, said ethane is the globe's second most abundant atmospheric hydrocarbon, exerting a strong influence on the Earth’s "tropospheric ozone" and reducing the atmosphere's oxidative capacity.
While not directly related to the fugitive emissions issues, the distribution and sale of ethane has been a sub-set of the now profound commodity price slump gripping the oil and gas industry, with analyses of what this may or may not do to the U.S. ethane market (see Shale Daily, March 31, 2015). Many also are tracking the appetite for building more U.S. ethane production facilities (see Shale Daily, May 2, 2014).
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/106210-bakken-blamed-for-rise-in-global-ethane-emissions
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Pennsylvania Governor’s Severance Tax Proposal Could Set Highest Rate in Nation
Apr 27, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jamison Cocklin
Pennsylvania's Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) said this month that Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's latest proposal to enact a 6.5% severance tax on natural gas production would give the state the highest effective rate in the country.
In an analysis of the 2016-2017 executive budget proposal released last week, the IFO said Wolf's plan to impose a 6.5% rate at projected regional prices ranging from $1.37/Mcf to $3.71/Mcf from 2016 through 2021 would lead to an effective rate of 8.5%. Wolf wants to keep the state's impact fee and allow producers a credit for those fees that would reduce their severance tax payments. But the IFO said keeping the impact fee would push the effective rate higher.
The impact fee is charged for all unconventional wells during their first 15 years in operation, regardless of how much they produce. IFO said its market value, or tax base, was estimated by multiplying forecasted unconventional gas well production by the spot price at regional hubs such as Leidy and Dominion South. Wolf's proposal would not allow a deduction for post-production costs. Projected tax collections included in the analysis were determined by applying the 6.5% rate to the tax base and deducting the impact fee credit.
If passed, only Oklahoma would have an effective rate anywhere near comparable at 5.4%, according to the IFO's calculations.
"The most recent IFO report further demonstrates that Gov. Wolf's energy tax increase proposal would make Pennsylvania the highest natural gas taxed state in the country, with a tax rate at a whopping 54% higher than top gas producing states -- Texas and Louisiana," said Marcellus Shale Coalition (MSC) President Dave Spigelmyer. "Given the ongoing market challenges that have led to deeply painful job and investment cuts that are impacting countless Pennsylvanians, there couldn't be a worse time for new and even higher energy taxes."
The MSC said that according to the IFO's estimated market prices, Pennsylvania producers receive only 61% of what their competitors are receiving in other basins across the country. Wolf unveiled his latest severance tax proposal in February, when he released his $32.7 billion budget for 2016-2017 (seeShale Daily, Feb. 9). In 2015, he had proposed a 5% severance tax plus a 4.7 cent/Mcf volumetric fee. He later scaled that plan back to 3.5%, including the volumetric fee, in an effort to increase support for the proposal (see Shale Daily, Oct. 7, 2015).
It was only in March that the state passed its 2015-2016 budget after a nine-month impasse marked by early gridlock over the severance tax proposal, which was strongly opposed by the industry and Republican lawmakers (see Shale Daily, March 23). But Wolf has said it is imperative that the state generate new revenue streams to cover mandatory costs and fill a $2 billion budget deficit that he inherited.
“The Independent Fiscal Office’s calculations create an inaccurate picture of the tax burden on natural gas drillers by failing to include other taxes paid elsewhere, which are not paid in Pennsylvania,” said Wolf spokesman Jeffrey Sheridan.
According to the administration, an analysis by the state Department of Revenue found that in 2013 -- the most recent year for which full data is available -- oil and gas producers paid only $36.6 million in Pennsylvania taxes. Sheridan said in Texas, for example, the industry paid nearly $14 billion in total taxes in 2014.
“By ignoring the actual taxes which will be paid by the industry, the IFO presents an incomplete picture of the relative tax burden under the governor’s proposed severance tax,” he said.
The IFO said new consumption, sales, severance and personal income taxes, among others, would lead to a $3.6 billion general fund revenue increase by 2020-2021 under Wolf's plan. It estimated that the severance tax, if enacted, would generate $517 million of net tax revenue in 2017-2018, its first full year in effect. That would grow to $968.5 million by 2020-2021.
The Wolf administration has estimated that the 6.5% rate would generate $350.9 million in revenue if enacted in 2016-2017, with a projected $133.1 million credit for the impact fee. That would bring estimated revenue in at $217.8 million during the first partial year of collections, according to the administration.
By law, the state must pass a budget by July 1. The IFO based its calculations on a July 1 effective date, with collections beginning in November.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/106201-pennsylvania-governors-severance-tax-proposal-could-set-highest-rate-in-nation
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House Committee Passes Pipeline Safety Bill
Apr 27, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
The House Energy and Commerce Committee voted Wednesday to pass a bill to reauthorize the federal government’s safety oversight for hazardous pipelines.
The panel unanimously passed the bipartisan bill, which makes reforms to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration’s (PHMSA) programs in response to several high-profile breaches.
The bill represents a compromise after Democrats complained at an earlier energy and power subcommittee meeting that the bill was too deferential to the oil and natural gas industry.
Republicans agreed to some of the requested changes, including attempts to add transparency to PHMSA’s regulatory process, which some Democrats think it is too slow and bogged down.
“We’ve tightened provisions allowing PHMSA to issue emergency orders, we’ve included new sections to bring transparency to interagency reviews and the regulatory process, and study ways to protect pipelines from corrosion damage,” Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said. “Additionally, the bill will speed up the completion of overdue safety regulations, tighten standards for underground natural gas storage facilities and increase inspections for some underwater oil pipelines.”
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the panel, said he was pleased with the changes, though he would have liked it to go farther.
“The legislation before us is a reasonable compromise that makes incremental progress in pipeline safety,” he said.
“The amendment addresses a number of concerns raised by Democratic members during the energy and power subcommittee’s consideration of the bill. It also addresses concerns raised by Republican members during that markup.”
The bill for the first time gives the Department of Transportation authority to issue emergency orders to shut down pipelines, and to issue emergency regulations.
That was one of the largest points of contention in negotiations, since some Republicans wanted more protections for companies whose pipelines get shut down.
“We do have some issues relating to the emergency order. I think we made significant progress there,” said Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) “We’re working on checks and balances. But there are still a few changes that need to be made to clarify our intent.”
It also mandates a study on whether pipeline companies’ integrity management plans are sufficient, expands the definition of “high-consequence areas” for regulatory purposes and makes some changes to the way PHMSA makes grants.
The committee made some moves to align its bill with one passed by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. But there are still some differences that must be hammered out before the bill goes to the House floor.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/277888-house-committee-passes-pipeline-safety-bill
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(ACC Mentioned) States, Industry Question Defaults in Draft EPA Water Quality Metals Model
Apr 27, 2016 | InsideEPA
By Maria Hegsted
State regulators and various industries are raising concerns about EPA's proposed default inputs for a model used to estimate water quality criteria for levels of copper in water that will not harm aquatic species, with some questioning what they see as EPA overstepping states' responsibilities to set water quality criteria.
The agency released its "Draft Technical Support Document: Recommended Estimates for Missing Water Quality Parameters for Application in EPA's Biotic Ligand Model (BLM)," in February. The BLM is an ecological risk model designed to calculate site-specific copper water quality criteria and requires the use of 10 water quality input parameters. It could also accelerate the agency's delayed oversight of states' criteria for copper and potentially be used for water quality modeling for other metals.
EPA has proposed defaults for as many as eight of 10 inputs required to run the BLM model. These inputs describe the water's qualities, such as temperature, pH, and levels of seven geochemical ions like calcium, sodium and potassium among others.
But commenters are criticizing the stringency of EPA's default approach as well as raising concerns that the technical support document (TSD) has the potential to dictate how states must develop criteria rather than providing guidance that allows states to take into account state-specific concerns, and questioning the need for the document.
The Oregon Association of Clean Water Agencies (ORACWA), which represents stormwater and wastewater management agencies in the state, says in its April 18 comments that the TSD goes beyond guidance and "in reality, establishes a policy by directing the process for determining water quality standards. Oregon ACWA believes that such implementation procedures should be determined by the States," which "may have more objective, effective and scientifically accurate implementation strategies" than EPA. Relevant documents are available on InsideEPA.com. (Doc. ID: 190800)
Oregon is under pressure to establish EPA-approved water quality criteria for copper, after EPA in 2013 rejected that state's 2003 copper and cadmium criteria as insufficiently protective to meet the Clean Water Act (CWA). Due to the state's delay in developing new criteria, EPA in April proposed its own copper and cadmium criteria for Oregon but has said it will stop work on the EPA-developed criteria if Oregon finalizes new, EPA-approved criteria first.
Under the CWA, EPA reviews state-crafted water quality standards and can reject any rule changes that it finds to be insufficiently protective. Should EPA do so, the rule must be quickly replaced with stricter federal or state-crafted standards.
Oregon "ACWA recommends that the EPA provide a technical support document that emphasizes the importance of available data to apply the BLM and provides guidance on how states may elect to estimate data as needed," the group urges.
Meanwhile, Oregon's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) presses EPA for clarification that the document is not a requirement and that the agency will accept other scientifically appropriate approaches. The state explains in its April 18 comments that "one of Oregon DEQ's primary concerns is that EPA recognize other valid, defensible, and technically sound methods for estimating missing parameters for input to the biotic ligand model in addition to the approaches outlined in EPA's TSD. As you may be aware, DEQ has recently published our own technical support document evaluating the application of the biotic ligand model to copper standards in Oregon."
Oregon DEQ outlines the efforts its staff has undertaken to advance the BLM's use in its criteria, noting their similarity to EPA's approach, and that EPA staff were among the peer reviewers of Oregon's document. "However, DEQ evaluated additional methodologies to estimate missing parameters with data specific to local conditions ... In several situations, DEQ determined that the conservative assumptions used by EPA to estimate missing parameters, especially when multiple parameters are estimated, and in the likely situation where copper data must be evaluated without the benefit of measured parameter data to generate criteria using the BLM, were so stringent as to be impractical to many applications for [CWA] purposes," the state concludes.
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality writes in its March 17 comments that it is also crafting its own water quality criteria, but notes that because its "negotiated rulemaking" has a May 17 deadline, "it is highly unlikely that the final version of [the TSD] will be finalized in time for us to reference it in our rule . . . [which] will be in final form by November of this year."
The Gem State, like Oregon, also criticizes the stringency of EPA's approach, writing that using the 10th percentile "for each parameter is overly conservative and undermines the site-specific benefits of the modeled approach to criteria development." Idaho also argues that this approach "ignores the natural seasonable variability of these parameters" and that doing so "targets a condition that would not occur in nature."
And the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation in its undated comments writes that it will be unable to use the defaults because it isn't confident that the data underlying EPA's default values reflect features unique to Alaska, such as permafrost. The state concludes, "without reference to data that support its use for Alaska-specific conditions, [we] cannot adopt the [EPA's] defaults' for estimating BLM inputs."
National groups representing CWA-permitted dischargers also criticize the TSD's stringency, with the Federal Water Quality Coalition saying that the recommended use of the 10th percentile of data sets for certain parameters "is far too conservative." The coalition represents trade associations, municipal groups and agriculture associations including the American Chemistry Council, the American Coke and Coal Chemicals Institute, the American Forest & Paper Association, the Association of Idaho Cities, General Electric Company, Johnson & Johnson and others.
"Site-specific criteria are typically derived assuming critical low-flow conditions, so are intended to be protective of aquatic life during minimal dilution conditions," says the coalition. "Many of the BLM water quality parameters would be expected to be elevated in concentration during such conditions. By choosing to use the 10th percentile default values in the Draft TSD, EPA is applying values that occur in moderate to high flow conditions, in a situation where low-flow values should be used instead."
The coalition argues that EPA should look to examples set by states that have crafted numeric biological criteria, and uses Ohio as an example. The group writes that the Buckeye State "set the minimal biological condition expectation at the 25th percentile of reference stream biological conditions. This recognizes that a significant percentage of all reference stream sites will not attain the ecoregion-based biological criteria in lowflow conditions, regardless of the causes."
The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), which represents municipal wastewater utilities and stormwater agencies, also raises concerns in its April 18 comments about the stringency in the defaults, due to their use of 10th percentile data. Additionally, the group questions the need for the guidance. "NACWA is not aware of any utilities or states using the BLM that have requested guidance on the use of default parameters," adding that states and permit-seekers have worked together to collect any needed data. The group suggests that the defaults be used as a screen to determine where data collection is needed.
NACWA warns that from a permitting perspective, use of stringent defaults are concerning because anti-backsliding measures in the CWA "would make it difficult if not impossible to change . . . should more site-specific information become available."
The group adds that "in at least one EPA region, the Agency is pushing strongly for states to use defaults in developing permit limits and in making listing determinations in addition to incorporating use of the defaults for state standards," and argues that "EPA should not attempt to impose its policy preferences on the states."
But while NACWA and others question the need for EPA's defaults, a coalition of metals associations thanks EPA for providing the document, suggesting that it will make it easier for states to craft criteria where they lack local data.
"First and foremost, we would like to acknowledge and thank the US EPA for their willingness to develop the draft TSD and for its recognition that it is germane to metals beyond just copper," the groups write in their April 15 comments. "[T]he development of a scientifically supported method for generating estimated BLM parameter values is a practical approach that will enable regulatory agencies, permittees, and other stakeholders to achieve the benefits of the BLM that could not be possible in cases where measured data are insufficient or nonexistent."
http://insideepa.com/inside-epa/states-industry-question-defaults-draft-epa-water-quality-metals-model
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(ACC Mentioned) How ‘Green’ is Your State?
Apr 28, 2016 | Care2
By Diane MacEachern
How green is your state?
To find out, surf on over to WalletHub.com and check out their 2016 analysis. The group compared all 50 states in terms of 17 key metrics that look at the health of the current environment as well as the environmental impact of people’s daily habits.
They grouped the metrics into three specific categories:
Environmental Quality: Researchers took stock of how much solid waste was generated per capita as well as the quality of the air, soil and water.
Eco-Friendly Behaviors: WalletHub measured the number of LEED-certified green buildings per capita, as well as the state’s transportation infrastructure and number of alternatively-fueled vehicles, as well as consumption of energy, gasoline and water.
Climate Change Contributions: This category focused on the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per capita, along with emissions of other greenhouse gases, including methane, nitrous oxide and fluorinated greenhouse gases.
The research team then crunched data from a variety of sources, including the U.S. Census Bureau, American Chemistry Council, County Health Rankings, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, the U.S. Green Buildings Council, the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey and the World Resources Institute.
Their findings?
The ten greenest states were primarily in the Northeast, with the exception of one midwestern outlier and two states in the Pacific Northwest. Interestingly, California did not make the top ten greenest states list, coming in at number 12. On the other end of the spectrum, you might have expected a state like Texas to be the least green, but it was ranked #36—in the lower half of the country, definitely, but not the worst.
Greenest States
Vermont (greenest overall)
Washington
Massachusetts
Oregon
Minnesota
Maine
Connecticut
New York
New Hampshire
New JerseyLeast Green States
Idaho
Arkansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Oklahoma
Nebraska
West Virginia
Montana
North Dakota
Wyoming (least green overall)Perhaps not surprisingly, states considered politically “blue” are almost three times more environmentally responsible than red states.
Citizens of Missouri throw away the least amount of trash while Hawaii citizens throw away the most! And Maine recycles the most at 48 percent while Louisiana recycles only 1 percent, the least.
What value is this if you’re trying to improve the environmental quality of your own state? You can use WalletHub’s approach to compare counties in your own state and identify opportunities for improvement. (Cities might be too difficult to compare because they share so many county services, whereas county services do vary quite a bit.)
Of the 17 metrics WalletHub used, these five might be a good starting point for more specific analysis in your state:
Municipal Solid Waste: How much trash are citizens in each of your state’s counties throwing away? What enables people in a particular county to throw away less trash and recycle more? Are there plastic bag fees that encourage people to take reusable bags to the grocery store? Do curbside recycling programs make it easier for citizens to divert trash from the landfill? Have bans been put in place to prohibit use of polystyrene foam at fast food restaurants?
Gasoline Consumption: The amount of gas citizens use may vary widely from county to county. In WalletHub’s study, people living in New York consumed the least amount of gas of any state, which should be no surprise, given how densely people in the 5 boroughs of New York City live and how comprehensive the mass transit system is there. On the other hand, people in North Dakota consumed the most gasoline per capita, a reflection of the long distances folks drive from one part of the state to the next. Comparisons may be similar in rural vs urban counties in one state.
Energy Consumption: This comparison could be highly informative and might indicate the level of awareness people have one county to another when it comes to using electricity and natural gas. For example, some electric utilities might be particularly aggressive in educating consumers about the importance of energy conservation. The utility might also offer a package of incentives to get its customers to replace energy-wasting appliances with newer models. Knowing what strategies encourage residents of one county to save energy could be very valuable to managers of other counties as they strive to cut energy consumption and the carbon dioxide emissions that go along with it.
Water Consumption: The WalletHub analysis examined water quality, not consumption. But like energy consumption, analyzing the amount of water consumed in some counties compared to others in the same state could provide valuable insights into how to motivate people statewide to use water more wisely.
Number of LEED-Certified Buildings: Any time a new building is built, it should be able to meet at least the basic criteria for saving energy as established by the U.S. Green Building Council. Once a tally is made of all LEED-Certified buildings in a county, counties could start a friendly competition to see which ones build the most new LEED buildings over a certain period of time.
If these categories don’t correspond to the most pressing environmental challenges your state faces, choose some other categories that are more relevant. The key is to use comparisons both to take stock of where things stand, and to use those comparisons to make things better. The comparisons will create useful benchmarks to measure its own progress over time, making both the planet and the people happier and healthier.
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/how-green-is-your-state.html
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How Cities Are Taking the Lead on Green Building
Apr 28, 2016 | Wall Street Journal
By Margaret Walls
Cities in the U.S. are leading the way on climate and energy policies—especially policies targeting commercial and residential buildings, which can account for up to 75% of total energy use in cities.
Fifteen cities now have benchmarking and disclosure laws, which require building owners to report their buildings’ annual energy use to the local government. These include the early adopters of Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas, and New York, which passed their laws in 2008 and 2009, and Portland, Ore., Atlanta, and Kansas City, Mo., all of which adopted them in 2015. Some cities have also adopted “stretch” building energy codes, which require that new buildings achieve higher energy efficiency than set in the base code. For example, Boston has a stretch code that requires buildings be 20% more efficient than the code established in the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Others are looking to creative financing programs, such as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs that allow building owners to pay back low-interest energy efficiency loans through property taxes. And many cities have established renewable energy requirements. Complementing these programs are often an array of utility or state government rebates and other incentives.
The benchmarking and disclosure laws may be having the greatest impact. They require commercial, and in some cities, multi-family residential property owners to report annual energy use and use the Energy Star software program to benchmark that energy use relative to other buildings. The laws are intended to make building energy information more widely available to the marketplace, thereby allowing tenants, buyers and lenders to consider energy more carefully in their decision making. The thinking is that this will, in turn, provide feedback effects to property owners who will then make changes to improve energy efficiency.
These are still early days for some of the programs, so it’s too soon to know the extent to which these feedback effects are occurring. But so far the laws seem to be making building owners in cities where the laws have passed more attentive to energy use—in other words, just the mere fact that they have to report seems to be leading to change. Inrecent research with my colleague Karen Palmer at Resources for the Future, we estimated that utility bills dropped by about 3%, on average, in office buildings covered by the laws in four cities (Austin, New York, Seattle, and San Francisco).
So what are building owners doing to achieve these efficiency gains? Most of the early advances have come from use of “big data.” New companies have sprung up to provide real-time, energy-use data—often at 15-minute intervals—to building owners to help them better understand daily patterns of energy use, identify anomalies when and where they occur, and optimize operational improvements. In the future, innovation is likely to come from the “Internet of Things,” the connection of sensors, software and electronics in physical objects (such as equipment and buildings) to wired and wireless networks. Some companies have already developed thermostats that work with wireless remote sensors that sense temperature and occupancy in different rooms.
Other innovations just starting to penetrate the market are automated window shades and a new type of window glass that electronically senses sunlight and heat and changes its tint throughout the day. More and more buildings are also relying on renewable energy and a few trendsetters are “net zero energy”—i.e., they produce as much energy as they use. Finally, nature is also playing a part via green roofs. These not only reduce building energy use but provide community benefits by reducing stormwater runoff, lowering the urban heat island effect, and providing green spaces that will become increasingly valuable as urban populations grow. Green roofs might even be available for “farm”-to-table dining; at least one restaurant in the D.C. suburbs is working with its building owner and farming on the rooftop.
Right now, there are buildings on the leading edge and some behind the curve. But city policies—especially benchmarking and disclosure laws—are pulling those lagging buildings forward. In the future, the built environment is likely to become greener and more energy efficient.
Margaret Walls (@margaretwalls1) is research director and senior fellow at Resources for the Future, an independent nonprofit research organization in Washington, D.C.
http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2016/04/28/how-cities-are-taking-the-lead-on-green-building/
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'Little Miss Flint' Brings Obama To Michigan
Apr 27, 2016 | Roll Call
By Stephanie Akin
The city may not have clean tap water or aid from Congress to fix corroded water pipes. But there's one thing Flint, Mich., has had in abundant supply in recent months: politicians.
On Wednesday, President Obama said he would add his name to a long roster of elected officials making the trek from D.C. to visit the city, which has become a national symbol of crumbling infrastructure and environmental crimes against minority communities since the discovery that tens of thousands of people drank lead-tainted tap water.
[Related: Flint's Katrina Runs Deeper Than Corroded Pipes]
Obama announced his May 4 visit in a letter to an 8-year-old Flint resident that the administration published on the on-line platform Medium.
"I want to make sure people like you and your family are receiving the help you need and deserve." Obama wrote. "Like you, I’ll use my voice to call for change and help lift up your community."
Mari Copeny wrote to Obama in March as she was preparing to travel to the Capitol to watch Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder testify at a Congressional hearing.
"I am one of the children that is affected by this water," she wrote. "And I’ve been doing my best to march in protest and to speak out for all the kids that live here in Flint."
Copeny said she had worked so hard to speak out for her community that her neighbors had started calling her, "Little Miss Flint." She asked Obama if he could meet with her group, which was among hundreds of Flint residents to attend the three House committee hearings on the water crisis.
"My mom said chances are you will be too busy with more important things, but there is a lot of people coming on these buses and even just a meeting from you or your wife would really lift people’s spirits," she wrote.
Mistakes by state and federal regulators when the city switched its water supplier in April of 2014 left residents exposed to undisclosed lead contamination in their drinking water for months.
Separate proposals to send hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid have been stalled for months in both the House and Senate, limiting congressional action to a series of fact-finding hearings and official visits.
Flint residents, meanwhile, were told this month by a research team from Virginia Tech that their tap water is still not safe for drinking or cooking. Scientists and students from the university have been conducting tests of the city's water since the first reports that it was making people sick.
President Obama will highlight the administration's commitment to responding to the water crisis during his visit, Press Secretary Josh Earnest said. The president also will discuss the administration's desire to prevent a similar situation from occurring elsewhere.
Obama's message in Flint will be one directly to citizens there: "We haven't forgotten you," Earnest said.
He described Obama and other officials as "beside themselves" that children have been drinking toxic water "for months if not years."
"There is a role for the federal government to play in a situation like this," Earnest said. Obama will tell Flint residents that "we will continue to follow through on those commitments."
Federal assistance has included a $15 million Department of Labor grant to Michigan “to assist with humanitarian and recovery efforts” by providing temporary work and career and training services, as well as an expansion of Medicaid coverage and Head Start programs for children and families exposed to lead.
Earnest also jabbed Republican lawmakers, criticizing them for what he described as blocking additional federal aid to the beleaguered Michigan city.
Michigan House and Senate members who have been pressing for Congressional aid for Flint praised the president's attention to the issue.
"He's been extremely engaged and the administration's been engaged," said Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich. "He's had folks at all levels of the federal government engaged."
“All Americans should be focused on the ongoing public health emergency," Rep. Dan Kildee, D-Mich., said in a statement. "A city of 100,000 people continues to not have safe drinking water and has been exposed to high levels of lead. As a nation, and as Americans, we must come together to help Flint families recover from this terrible tragedy.”
Other politicians who visited Flint include House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. Flint also hosted a Democratic presidential debate between Vermont Sen. Bernard Sanders and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in March.
John Bennett and Bridget Bowman contributed.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/policy/obama-visit-flint-responding-8-year-old-girl
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Industries Fight Advocates' Bid to Block Amicus Filing in NPDES Lawsuit
Apr 28, 2016 | InsideEPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
Groups representing major industry sectors are fighting advocates' bid to block them filing a joint amicus brief in a suit testing whether pollutants reaching jurisdictional waters through a groundwater conduit can be subject to Clean Water Act (CWA) discharge permits, with the industries saying they will advance “unique” arguments.
The Association of American Railroads, American Farm Bureau, National Mining Association, and five other major industry groups in an April 21 reply brief say that they plan to advance their novel claims if they are allowed to file an amicus brief in the suit County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, et al., pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
In the litigation, the Maui County wastewater utility is asking the court overturn a lower court ruling it says “upends” the CWA by relying on the theory that injection wells permitted under the Safe Drinking Water Act that released effluent which was carried to the ocean through subsurface springs violated the CWA because they were not operated under CWA section 402 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) discharge permits.
The industry groups argued in their March 28 motion to file an amicus brief that the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii's “interpretation could potentially expand the scope of the Section 402 permitting program to encompass nonpoint sources of pollution that Congress never intended to be subject to Section 402 requirements.” They said that could have “significant practical” implications for NPDES permitting going forward.
Earthjustice attorney David Henkin then wrote in an April 11 brief opposing the industry groups' motion seekingamicus status that the groups' request would burden the court with duplicative arguments and that industry has failed to identify an interest in any other case that may be affected by the appellate decision.
'Unique' Arguments
In the April 21 response brief, industry attorneys counter that the groups plan to “supplement the County’s arguments on important legal issues arising” under the CWA and would add unique statutory interpretation arguments in a case of significant public interest, thereby fulfilling the “classic” role of amici.
“Amici advance three unique arguments on statutory interpretation: (i) the Clean Water Act’s structure and legislative history confirm that the “conduit theory” has no basis in the statute; (ii) the rule of lenity requires rejection of the 'conduit theory'; and (iii) the 'conduit theory' warrants rejection because it could lead to impracticable and absurd results for governmental entities and the regulated community alike,” says their brief.
Industry also seeks to counter the environmentalists' argument that while the industry motion notes pending cases in various district courts in another circuit involving that “general topic,” that they fail to identify any case within the 9th Circuit that deals with the same issue.
“In any event, at least one of amici’s members is litigating a case within this Circuit involving the alleged migration of pollutants through groundwater,” the attorneys write. They cite a complaint filed March 9 in San Francisco Herring Association v. Pacific Gas & Electric Company. “Because amici’s members are currently litigating cases both in this Circuit and elsewhere that may be affected by the Court’s decision in this case,amici’s participation is warranted.”
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/industries-fight-advocates-bid-block-amicus-filing-npdes-lawsuit
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CBD Threatens Suit to Force NOx, SOx NAAQS Reviews
Apr 27, 2016 | InsideEPA
Environmentalists are threatening EPA with a lawsuit to force the agency to issue rules updating its national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx), after the agency missed a five-year deadline mandated by the Clean Air Act to review the limits.
In a notice of intent to sue (NOI) letter sent April 27, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) says it will sue EPA in 60 days or soon thereafter over the agency's failure to update its primary NAAQS for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulfur dioxide (SO2), which serve as the “indicators” for NOx and SOx.
Primary NAAQS are set to protect public health with an “adequate margin of safety,” while secondary NAAQS are intended to protect the environment.
EPA last set primary NAAQS for both SO2 and NO2 in 2010, setting first-time one-hour limits for both.
EPA set the one-hour limit for NO2 at 100 parts per billion (ppb), and retained the prior annual limit of 53 ppb, which also serves as the secondary NAAQS. In a separate rulemaking in 2012, EPA retained the secondary NO2 limit at 53 ppb.
For SO2, EPA in 2010 set a first-time one-hour limit of 75 ppb, revoking prior annual and 24-hour limits. In 2012, EPA retained the secondary SO2 NAAQS of 50 ppb averaged over three hours.
The agency has once already considered, and rejected, setting a novel joint NOx-SOx secondary NAAQS, but is again evaluating this approach, which would be based on deposition of the pollutants in waterbodies, rather than concentrations in ambient air -- but this effort is only in the early stages.
Meanwhile, EPA is already beyond its deadline to review the primary NO2 and SO2 standards, which passed in 2015, and also the health quality criteria document for SOx, which evaluates health impacts.
“EPA's last review of the air quality criteria document, which EPA now calls an integrated science assessment, for SOx was completed no later than September 12, 2008,” the NOI says.
EPA is years behind schedule implementing the 2010 SO2 NAAQS, due to air monitoring constraints, and will not complete implementation until 2020.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/cbd-threatens-suit-force-nox-sox-naaqs-reviews
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