Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 5/10/16
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(ACC Mentioned) The Top 10 U.S. Chemical Companies in 2015
May 10, 2016 | Chem Info
By Meagan Parrish
The shale boom has transformed manufacturing and turned the U.S. into one of the world’s leading low-cost producers of chemicals. For many of the companies on this list it has translated into bigger sales and revenue. -
(ACC Mentioned) Politics and the Slow, but Actual, Progress of TSCA
May 10, 2016 | Plastics News
By Gayle S. Putrich
If you listen very carefully during breaks in the din of the presidential race, you might hear a quiet murmur coming from Capitol Hill. What’s that? The sound of actual legislating? Could be! -
Off the Books II: More Secret Chemicals
May 10, 2016 | Environmental Working Group
By Rob Coleman, Analyst; Melanie Benesh, Legislative Attorney; David Andrews, Senior Scientist
Seven years later, federal toxics law is still protecting the chemical industry’s dirty secrets. -
TSCA, Senate Energy and Water Bill Negotiations in the Week Ahead
May 9, 2016 | Bloomberg BNA
By Alan Kovski
The Senate may finish working on a fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill for energy and water development (H.R. 2028) Tuesday or Wednesday, as indicated by remarks of Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on the Senate floor this afternoon. -
US EPA Provides Additional Data Reporting Guidance
May 10, 2016 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has issued guidance on the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule requirements for substances that are manufactured from mining activities. These include mined metals, intermediates and byproducts. -
Kan. Makes It Official: No More Work on EPA Climate Rule
May 10, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Elizabeth Harball
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) has barred state agencies from moving forward on U.S. EPA's regulation to reduce carbon emissions from power plants unless it is deemed legal. -
Salt Lake Chamber's Evans Says Businesses Moving Toward Clean Energy Despite Utah's Rule Litigation
May 10, 2016 | E&E TV
By OnPoint
As many states suspend planning on U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan pending litigation, how are businesses and local chamber of commerce chapters responding? During today's OnPoint, Ryan Evans, vice president of business and community relations at the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, explains why his organization is encouraging efficiency and clean energy investments, despite Utah's participation in the power plan lawsuit. Evans, who is also an advisory board member of the Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy, discusses local-level small-business trends on clean energy. -
Trans-Pecos Pipeline Border-Crossing Facility Gets FERC Thumbs-Up
May 9, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By David Bradley
FERC has issued a presidential permit authorizing international border-crossing facilities near the city of Presidio in Presidio County, TX, and the Mexican city of Manuel Ojinaga in the state of Chihuahua for the Trans-Pecos natural gas pipeline. -
FERC OK's Expansion of Sempra Cameron LNG Project
May 10, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
San Diego-based Sempra Energy got the organic boost it has been coveting for its gas portfolio when FERC late last week authorized the company's proposed expansion of its Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Louisiana, the first phase of which is more than 40% complete. -
Natural Gas, Mild Weather and Plant Closings Credited for CO2 Dip
May 10, 2016 | E&E Climatewire
By Daniel Cusick
The electricity sector's increased use of natural gas and other less carbon-intensive fuels helped drive a 12 percent reduction in 2015 energy-related carbon dioxide over 2005 levels, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. -
Briefs -- Texas Eastern, Iowa Utilities Board, Ohio Cracker
May 9, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By NGI Staff Reports
In its latest update about the explosion and fire on Texas Eastern pipeline’s Penn-Jersey line in the M3 Zone,Spectra Energy Corp. said work is progressing to restore capacity through the Delmont compressor station. -
Senate Approves Bill to Study Oil Train Derailment Training
May 10, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
The Senate approved Monday a bill to increase training efforts for rail car accident first responders. -
Senate Passes Rail Safety Bill
May 10, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey
The Senate passed a bipartisan bill by unanimous consent last night to boost safety along railroads used to transport hazardous materials. -
White House Launches Effort to Climate-Proof Building Codes
May 10, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly
The White House announced a push today to update standards for commercial and residential buildings to boost their resilience to climate change. -
Common Sense Oversight Needed to Halt Agency Advocacy
May 9, 2016 | The Hill - Ballot Box Blog
By Zippy Duvall
Public relations agencies and lobbying firms use many tactics to influence public opinion and public officials. Ads, guest editorials, social media campaigns, blogs, websites, roadside billboards and even bus placards; no tool of modern advocacy is off the table.
Industry and Association News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation News
Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) The Top 10 U.S. Chemical Companies in 2015
May 10, 2016 | Chem Info
By Meagan Parrish
The shale boom has transformed manufacturing and turned the U.S. into one of the world’s leading low-cost producers of chemicals. For many of the companies on this list it has translated into bigger sales and revenue.
Last year’s leading chemical manufacturer, Dow Chemical Co., saw revenues increase by 4 percent thanks to higher sales in all of its operating markets. Assuming its planned merger with DuPont goes through, the new company will not only occupy the top spot in the U.S, it will become the biggest chemicals business in the world — narrowly beating out BASF’s $90 billion in revenue from last year.
Increased revenues have also triggered an expansion boom in the industry with companies like LyondellBasell looking to expand in the Houston area.
Overall, the American Chemistry Council estimates that the industry has seen investments reach $164 billion. Nearly half of the investments, which includes 264 different projects, such as new facilities and factory restarts, are completed or underway. About 55 percent are still in the planning phase.
Despite the overall favorable economic conditions, the industry continues to have its share of struggles. A week dollar and an economic slowdown in Brazil and China have hurt sales for some companies.
And the fluctuating market for specific chemicals has also come into play.
DuPont, for example, struggled with slightly decreased sales in 2014 partially due to weakening demand for certain agricultural chemicals, which account for about one-third of the company’s business.
But one way companies can generate new growth is with mergers and acquisitions. After Ecolab, a major supplier of cleaning chemicals, acquired Nalco in 2011, it helped give the company a 74.1 percent revenue boost.
Eastman Chemical Company also saw its ranking rise after its 2014 purchase of amines maker Taminco in 2014.
Most analysts are not expecting the ramped up M&A activity to cool down anytime soon.
http://www.chem.info/news/2016/05/top-10-us-chemical-companies-2015
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(ACC Mentioned) Politics and the Slow, but Actual, Progress of TSCA
May 10, 2016 | Plastics News
By Gayle S. Putrich
If you listen very carefully during breaks in the din of the presidential race, you might hear a quiet murmur coming from Capitol Hill. What’s that? The sound of actual legislating? Could be!
The top two senators leading work on theToxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Sens. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), released a joint statement saying the biggest hurdles of their disagreement on reforming the1970s-era chemical regulation law have been cleared.
“We have negotiated in good faith and are extremely pleased that we have reached an agreement on key sticking points of the TSCA reform bill,” the pair wrote. “We have an incredible team that is working tirelessly, and we look forward to finalizing the deal with House negotiators.”
Neither Boxer nor Inhofe said what changes had been agreed to in the measures that were passed by the Senate in December and the House last June.
Boxer has been the most vocal holdout against the bipartisan bill that would regulate chemical manufacture, transportation and use, pushing for more regulatory control for states and more power to act swiftly and harshly when “cancer clusters” are detected.
Negotiations with the California senator were part of a larger effort to reconcile the Senate’s 200-plus page bill with the much shorter and more limited one passed by the House.
Those leading the effort on the House side, not to be outdone but not to get too excited, either, issued a joint statement of their own.
“This is an important step forward and we’ll work through the weekend reviewing the language. We look forward to keeping the momentum going,” said the statement from Reps. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.), John Shimkus (R-Ill.), and Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.).
Industry also threw in its 2 cents on the news: “The agreement that Senator Inhofe reached with Senator Boxer builds upon the work of Senators Vitter, Udall, Markey and others and paves the way for final passage, and we greatly appreciate the commitment and hard work of the Senators and their staffs. We look forward to a swift resolution with the House and passage soon thereafter,” said the American Chemistry Council in a statement.
The reconciled bill still has to be approved by both chambers of Congress but could be on the president’s desk in a matter of weeks.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20160510/BLOG11/160519986/politics-and-slow-but-actual-progress-of-tsca
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Off the Books II: More Secret Chemicals
May 10, 2016 | Environmental Working Group
By Rob Coleman, Analyst; Melanie Benesh, Legislative Attorney; David Andrews, Senior Scientist
Seven years later, federal toxics law is still protecting the chemical industry’s dirty secrets.
Code names for untested chemicals, secret production amounts reported by unnamed companies, discharges of undisclosed amounts of pollutants – these occurrences are not the fantastical inventions of some Dr. Seuss book. These are realities currently allowed under the federal Toxic Substances Control Act, commonly referred to as TSCA, which became law in 1976.
The law has enabled the chemical industry to obscure its operations under a shroud of secrecy that ever since has hampered efforts to protect public health. Even though today’s advanced analytical chemistry techniques make it easier than ever for manufacturers to unlock the secrets of their rivals’ products through reverse engineering, the companies claim that they need to keep details about their products secret, and the law still allows them to do so.
This confidentially comes with a cost – it keeps the public in the dark about potential dangers and lets dangerous chemicals stay in the marketplace. By contrast, transparency often moves companies and regulators to take action to protect public health.
For example, EWG’s work on perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA – a toxic chemical once widely used in non-stick Teflon products – clearly demonstrates the importance of transparency and access to health and safety information. Internal DuPont safety testing documents on PFOA were only made public in 2002 as the result of a lawsuit against the company. The disclosures to the public and the Environmental Protection Agency led directly to the phase-out of the chemical.
In 2009, EWG called attention to the information black hole in TSCA that allows chemical names and production information to be claimed as trade secrets – formally “confidential business information” or CBI – and never made public. Within weeks of EWG’s report, the EPA took modest steps to control the most blatant overuse of the confidentiality stamp. Unfortunately, however, the EPA did not go far enough, and seven years later, little has changed. The lack of transparency remains a major roadblock to protecting public health from dangerous chemicals.
Updating its 2009 analysis, EWG has found that positive EPA actions have disallowed some CBI claims, but much more needs to be done. Today nearly two-thirds out of the 22,450 new chemicals manufactured since July 1979 are shrouded under cloak of secrecy. In the past six months alone, companies’ CBI claims have masked even the names of half the chemicals they reported to EPA as raising substantial safety concerns.
Congress is poised to legislate changes to TSCA this year for the first time in 40 years. Some of these changes will likely update the regulations that have permitted excessive and often unnecessary CBI claims. How meaningful these revisions will be, however, is largely dependent on the outcome of ongoing Congressional conference committee negotiations and the final language they adopt.
In the background, the chemical industry has been scrambling to protect its CBI claims. For the companies, preserving their power to use trade secret designations to cloak their products is a top priority, claiming that greater disclosure will hinder innovation. But the truth is that much greater transparency is possible without slowing research and development of new chemicals.
http://www.ewg.org/research/off-the-books-ii-more-secret-chemicals
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TSCA, Senate Energy and Water Bill Negotiations in the Week Ahead
May 9, 2016 | Bloomberg BNA
By Alan Kovski
The Senate may finish working on a fiscal year 2017 appropriations bill for energy and water development (H.R. 2028) Tuesday or Wednesday, as indicated by remarks of Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) on the Senate floor this afternoon. The problem today still was the amendment proposed by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) to bar the U.S. from buying stocks of heavy water—usable in nuclear bomb development--from Iran.
Less clear is whether House-Senate negotiators will achieve a breakthrough on legislation (H.R. 2576) to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act. Remarks by Sens. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) Friday were encouraging, saying they had “reached agreement on key sticking points,” but that was among senators, leaving for this week the prospect of reactions from House negotiators.
Reporter Pat Rizzuto reported the news in a story for Bloomberg BNA subscribers, Boxer, Inhofe Claim Agreement on TSCA Overhaul.
House committee action during the week will include a hearing Thursday at 2 p.m. returning to the tensions between federal regulators and state and local officials who often question whether their local expertise and authorities are being given due consideration by the Interior Department. The House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations will air local and state perspectives on the Bureau of Land Management’s proposed Resource Management Planning Rule.
The Electric Power Research Institute will host a conference Tuesday and Wednesday on current and emerging issues in the electricity sector. The EPRI conference, at the Marriott Marquis hotel in the nation’s capital, will especially look at ozone regulations and the Obama administration’s Clean Power Plan.
http://www.bna.com/tsca-senate-energy-b57982070912/
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US EPA Provides Additional Data Reporting Guidance
May 10, 2016 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has issued guidance on the Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) Rule requirements for substances that are manufactured from mining activities. These include mined metals, intermediates and byproducts.
The fact sheet provides information to help companies understand when reporting is required, and when they are exempt from it.
A mined (manufactured) substance is exempt, under the CDR Rule, when it is:
not manufactured for a commercial purpose;
manufactured for a commercial purpose, but not used for such, once manufactured; and
a “naturally occurring chemical substance” as defined under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
The EPA has also provided seven training modules on the CDR reporting requirements. These cover:
new requirements in 2016;
reporting requirements;
completing form U;
registering with the Central Data Exchange (CDX);
using the eCDRweb reporting tool;
joint submissions; and
byproducts.
https://chemicalwatch.com/47282/us-epa-provides-additional-data-reporting-guidance
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Kan. Makes It Official: No More Work on EPA Climate Rule
May 10, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Elizabeth Harball
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) has barred state agencies from moving forward on U.S. EPA's regulation to reduce carbon emissions from power plants unless it is deemed legal.
Brownback, already a critic of the Clean Power Plan, signed S.B. 318 into law Friday suspending all work on the climate regulation.
"The EPA's unprecedented expansion of its regulatory power under the Clean Power Plan is an affront to our constitutional order and the rights of our citizens," Eileen Hawley, a spokeswoman for Brownback, said in an email. "We will continue to oppose these regulations in court in order to protect Kansans from unnecessary increases in energy costs."
The law states that "all state agency activities, studies and investigations in furtherance of the preparation of an initial submittal or the evaluation of any options for the submission of a final state plan ... shall be suspended until the stay is lifted."
Kansas is one of 27 states suing EPA to halt the regulation, which would require the state to reduce its emissions rate 44 percent from 2012 levels by 2030.
Before the Supreme Court stay of the Clean Power Plan in February, Kansas state agencies agreed to develop an emissions reduction compliance strategy to submit to EPA. Following the stay, however, the governor said he might reconsider this approach, and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment called off a series of public listening sessions on the rule.
Kansas environmental groups had urged lawmakers to reject S.B. 318, arguing the state could fall behind if the Clean Power Plan is upheld.
"Legislative leadership is important for anticipating future regulations and securing reliable and affordable energy future in our state," Dorothy Barnett, executive director of the Climate and Energy Project, said in a statement. "This bill takes away precious planning time needed to prepare for eventual carbon regulations like the Clean Power Plan and the opportunity to engage diverse stakeholders in the process."
However, a national environmental group was less concerned about the bill, given the state's previous position on the climate regulation.
"It's not a huge loss because the state had already suspended the process anyway," Aliya Haq, special projects director for the Natural Resources Defense Council's climate and clean air program, said of the bill in a recent blog post.
Hubbel Relat, vice president for state policy and general counsel for the American Energy Alliance, a conservative group that supports states halting work on the Clean Power Plan, said in an email the Kansas law is important even though the state drew back from planning efforts after the stay.
"While the state appears to have stopped most planning, this legislation sends a signal that elected officials in Kansas are serious about protecting their residents from this rule," Relat said.
Kan. agencies not barred from 'communicating'
S.B. 318 also states that nothing in the measure should restrict state agencies "from communicating with, or providing information to, other state agencies in furtherance of any of the agency's statutory obligations."
This language was meant "to reinforce to state agencies that they may continue to communicate with each other during their normal course of business as well as to provide support and technical information to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Attorney General's office in support of ongoing litigation in regard to the Clean Power Plan," Linda Berry, spokeswoman for the Kansas Corporation Commission, said in an email.
"They are, however, to suspend any work related to preparing an initial or final plan to meet the requirements of the Clean Power Plan while the stay is in effect," she wrote.
That language "was inserted specifically to allow [the Kansas Department of Health and Environment] and other state agencies to communicate with other parties as needed," added KDHE spokesman Ashton Rucker.
But environmental groups think this could allow Kansas agencies to continue listening to what power companies and EPA have to say about the rule.
Barnett said although Kansas agencies can't spend state funds to plan for the climate rule, this language will "allow the state agencies to speak to one another, utilities and stakeholders as well as allow them to continue to communicate with EPA and others to further their expertise."
Relat dismissed a question as to whether the language allows Kansas agencies some leeway in preparing for the Clean Power Plan.
"I read the language as ensuring the agency can continue to do what it must to fulfill its statutory obligations. But there's no reason to think this includes any CPP-related planning," he said. "This is the point of the stay -- to postpone all statutory obligations until judicial review is complete."
A 'legislative temper tantrum'
The Southwest Power Pool, a grid organization that operates in Kansas, is moving forward with its preparations for the Clean Power Plan (EnergyWire, March 10).
In addition to Kansas, Virginia and Wyoming also enacted laws restricting state work on the Clean Power Plan this year, and similar bills are under consideration in a handful of other states.
Conservative groups like the American Energy Alliance and the State Policy Network are backing this action, and Clean Power Plan boosters worry this is having a "chilling effect" on state agencies' willingness to work on the rule (ClimateWire, April 28).
Most recently, Ohio state Rep. Al Landis (R) introduced a bill that would halt his state from pursuing compliance with the Clean Power Plan.
H.B. 541 would simply "prohibit any state agency from implementing the federal 'Clean Power Plan'" and does not include language to allow the state to pursue compliance if the rule is deemed legal.
Landis leads the Ohio House of Representatives' Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Brian Kaiser, spokesman for the Ohio Environmental Council, called the bill "a legislative temper tantrum."
"The language would prevent the Ohio EPA from implementing the [Clean Power Plan] which ... would simply result in the Federal EPA from doing it," Kaiser wrote in an email. "This has always been a puzzling position for small government Republicans since it puts control in the hands of the Feds instead of empowering Ohio to build a plan that works best for us."
Landis' office did not return a call seeking comment on the bill.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/05/10/stories/1060036966
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Salt Lake Chamber's Evans Says Businesses Moving Toward Clean Energy Despite Utah's Rule Litigation
May 10, 2016 | E&E TV
By OnPoint
As many states suspend planning on U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan pending litigation, how are businesses and local chamber of commerce chapters responding? During today's OnPoint, Ryan Evans, vice president of business and community relations at the Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce, explains why his organization is encouraging efficiency and clean energy investments, despite Utah's participation in the power plan lawsuit. Evans, who is also an advisory board member of the Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy, discusses local-level small-business trends on clean energy.
Transcript
Monica Trauzzi: Hello, and welcome to OnPoint, I'm Monica Trauzzi. With me today is Ryan Evans, vice president of business and community relations at the Salt Lake Chamber. Ryan is also an advisory board member of the Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy. Ryan, thank you so much for coming on the show.
Ryan Evans: Thank you for having me.
Monica Trauzzi: Ryan, the Chambers for Innovation and Clean Energy recently released a series of videos highlighting a broad range of Chamber of Commerce CEOs speaking about how clean energy is benefiting small businesses. What is your chamber doing to encourage clean energy?
Ryan Evans: For probably about eight years, we've been heavily involved in more on the energy efficiency side and then lately more on the clean energy side and it really started around the issue of air quality in Utah. In Utah, we have about 90 percent of the days that are beautiful sunshiny days, but about 15 to 30 days a year we have some air quality challenges, and to help address that, we got into the space of looking at how energy efficiency and smarter energy use could be good for businesses as well as the economy and really what that meant to the bottom line of their business and to the Utah economy as a whole.
Monica Trauzzi: You come from a conservative chamber, why the involvement in the chamber's renovation and clean energy? Kind of interesting.
Ryan Evans: It makes sense. Utah has not only just some unique environmental issues that we do tackle and clean energy is one of those solutions, but at the same time, clean energy's bringing a lot of jobs to the state of Utah. In Utah, we actually have the all-of-the-above mentality. Therefore, we're looking at all and any energy production. Yes, there's still a very vibrant coal and fossil fuel industry in Utah; however, renewables and energy efficiency are part of the solution going forward.
Monica Trauzzi: To that end, Utah has suspended planning on the Clean Power Plan. Your state is also one of the states involved in the lawsuit against EPA. You represent more than 8,000 businesses in Utah. Are the business views you are presenting being represented on the state level? Seems like there might be a bit of a disparity.
Ryan Evans: I think in Utah it just comes down to the actual implementation. I think that's where the -- maybe where the gray area is. I think that overall our state is headed towards what the Clean Power Plan hopes to actually achieve. We've been on this course for a long time of phasing out coal due to market conditions. Natural gas is easily supplanting what we have in coal in terms of our electric production from power plants, but then at the same time, our local utility, Rocky Mountain Power, which is a PacifiCorp company, projects to use about or to meet about 86 percent of our future goals for energy needs, via energy efficiency programs. We've got that focus already on renewables. Renewables is on the rise; energy efficiency is definitely a huge part of that state plan.
Monica Trauzzi: Then with what seems like a natural shift towards clean energy and with this new dynamic in many cases is a broad costly policy like the Clean Power Plan then needed?
Ryan Evans: I think that in a lot of ways, it will help push other states maybe that aren't doing this. Again, it's one of those challenges that I think you have to look at from a state-by-state issue, but again, I think the most important thing about that Clean Power Plan is the realism that probably across the country, a vast majority of utilities are already moving towards electric generation via natural gas over coal regardless. I think -- that's kind of the -- what I see the trend being regardless and I think it just comes down to what each state needs on an individual state basis.
Monica Trauzzi: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has come out in strong opposition to the Clean Power Plan. Do you believe that they are fairly representing the broad range of interests that they oversee?
Ryan Evans: I think where they're coming from is on that regulatory side and maybe some of the challenges that it would impose and some of the economic hardships that could impose on some states in some regions and some businesses. They are a very large business -- broad-based business organization. They have to look at what really matters to their members, and they probably have a very strong contingent of members that would be challenged by this and that's understandable. Not everybody will see eye to eye on a huge plan like this.
Monica Trauzzi: All right, we will end it right there. Thank you so much for your time. Thanks for coming on the show.
Ryan Evans: My pleasure. Thank you very much.
Monica Trauzzi: Thanks for watching. We'll see you back here tomorrow.
http://www.eenews.net/tv/videos/2128/transcript
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Trans-Pecos Pipeline Border-Crossing Facility Gets FERC Thumbs-Up
May 9, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By David Bradley
FERC has issued a presidential permit authorizing international border-crossing facilities near the city of Presidio in Presidio County, TX, and the Mexican city of Manuel Ojinaga in the state of Chihuahua for the Trans-Pecos natural gas pipeline.
The Presidio Crossing would enable the transport of gas for export and/or import between the United States and Mexico to meet the needs of the expanding electric generation and industrial markets in Mexico, Trans-Pecos said when it applied for the permit last year [CP15-500] (see Daily GPI, June 9, 2015). "The ability to import, as well as export, natural gas on the project facilities will enhance the reliability of services on both sides of the border. As such, the Presidio Crossing Project facilities will expand the market for domestically produced gas."
The Presidio Crossing would consist of 1,093 feet of 42-inch diameter pipeline to be installed by a horizontal directional drill (HDD) from a meter facility on the north side of the Rio Grande and under the Rio Grande to the middle of the river bed at the boundary with Mexico. The pipeline portion of the HDD and other facilities to be built on the Mexico side of the boundary would be subject to the jurisdiction of the Republic of Mexico and constructed by an affiliate of Trans-Pecos.
The Trans-Pecos intrastate system would consist of 143 miles of 42-inch diameter pipeline and related facilities in Texas that would be regulated by the Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC). It would transport gas from the Waha Hub in Pecos County to the international border crossing.
The pipeline would have capacity of 1.3 Bcf/d. Trans-Pecos said it anticipates installing interconnects with other intrastate pipelines and processing plants at or near the Waha Hub and in the surrounding area and ultimately with interstate pipelines in the area. The pipeline would traverse the Texas counties of Pecos, Brewster and Presidio with potential interconnects with towns and municipalities before terminating at the border. Some area resident.
Related facilities on the Mexican side of the border are to include 907 feet of a 42-inch diameter pipeline to be built from the boundary in the middle of the Rio Grande to a point southwest in Mexico, as well as a short stub pipeline from the HDD exit point to an interconnect with the pipeline grid in Mexico. All non-jurisdictional pipeline facilities built by Trans-Pecos on the Mexico side of the boundary, and in the State of Chihuahua would be initially owned by an affiliate of Trans-Pecos.
The principal use for the natural gas transported through the border crossing would be to fuel natural gas-fired electric generation plants and supply potential industrial customers in northern Mexico, Trans-Pecos said. The pipeline is expected to transport predominantly Texas-sourced gas pursuant to the jurisdiction of the RRC, but it may also transport non-Texas-sourced gas in interstate service pursuant to Natural Gas Policy Act Section 311(a)(2) to the Presidio Crossing and to other future in-state delivery options, Trans Pecos said.
In early January, FERC staff released favorable environmental assessments (EA) of the Texas-Mexico border crossing facilities associated with both the Trans-Pecos Pipeline project and the proposed Comanche Trail Pipeline, which would also enable Texas gas to flow to Mexico to meet power generation and industrial demand (see Daily GPI, Jan. 4). Project opponents had appealed to the Commission to produce a more rigorous environmental impact statement for the entire pipeline, not just an EA for the jurisdictional border crossing (see Daily GPI, July 27, 2015).
Critics had asserted that the Trans-Pecos facilities, in conjunction with the facilities proposed for Comanche Trail near San Elizario, TX, "are part of a bigger project, and that separate review of those facilities constitutes impermissible segmentation," FERC said in an order issued last week. But the two projects "are not connected, cumulative, or similar actions that would require consideration in a single NEPA [National Environmental Policy Act] analysis."
Some commenters also suggested "without elaborating," that the Presidio border crossing project might promote production and hydraulic fracturing "of shale gas generally and specifically in the Marfa Basin and the Big Bend region, which will, in turn, result in adverse environmental consequences," FERC said. But "the fact that the easement for the intrastate pipeline is near the Barnett/Woodford shale play in the Marfa Basin by itself does not establish that the region will be opened to hydraulic fracturing or that development of those shale reserves will result from the border-crossing project."
The Commission concluded that the pipeline would transport natural gas produced in the Permian Basin and elsewhere, would not facilitate additional production from any particular region, and, "in any event, unconventional production will likely continue regardless of whether the Presidio Border Crossing Project is approved, because multiple existing and proposed transportation alternatives are available for regional production."
Trans-Pecos is expected to be in service by the end of first quarter 2017.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/106358-trans-pecos-pipeline-border-crossing-facility-gets-ferc-thumbs-up
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FERC OK's Expansion of Sempra Cameron LNG Project
May 10, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
San Diego-based Sempra Energy got the organic boost it has been coveting for its gas portfolio when FERC late last week authorized the company's proposed expansion of its Cameron liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project in Louisiana, the first phase of which is more than 40% complete.
The federal approval to build added LNG export capacity within the existing site on the west side of the Calcasieu Ship Channel covers a fifth 160,000-cubic meter LNG storage tank and two additional liquefaction trains (4 and 5), each train with nearly 5 million metric tonnes-per-annum (mtpa) of capacity, along with other related equipment and facilities with the capacity to export an added 515 Bcf of LNG annually.
In its environmental assessment filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last September (see Daily GPI, Sept. 8, 2015), Sempra said the Cameron expansion would add 9.97 million mtpa of production capacity, or the equivalent of 1.41 Bcf/d, pushing Cameron LNG's overall export capacity to 24.92 million mtpa, or 3.53 Bcf/d.
On an earnings conference call last week, Sempra CEO Debra Reed cited the Cameron expansion as one of the company's major organic growth opportunities that could spur other growth in the pipeline and storage sector. "We would anticipate having agreements in place [for the added Cameron volumes] by the end of the year based on conversations we have been having with the parties now," Reed said.
"This is a good growth project for us, but we also think when you have such huge demand for gas [more than 3.5 Bcf/d], there will be new opportunities to develop pipelines and storage to serve those loads as another great opportunity for us."
In giving its green light to the project, FERC said the expansion will result in "minimal environmental impacts and can be constructed and operated safety." It called expansion "not inconsistent with the public interest."
Reed and senior Sempra executives outlined the expansion 18 months ago, calling for adding trains 4 and 5 if there was enough support from the market and regulators (see Daily GPI, Nov. 5, 2014). At the same time, the executives said Sempra will also consider whether to develop its 2,900-acre, three-mile-long waterfront property in Port Arthur, TX, for a deepwater port that could be used to export LNG and/or natural gas liquids, along with whether to convert to an export facility the Energia Costa Azul (ECA) LNG receiving terminal on the Pacific Coast in Baja California, Mexico.
At the conference call last Wednesday, President Mark Snell reiterated his long-held contention that the Cameron expansion offers what he thinks is the lowest-priced North American LNG option for the second phase of U.S. LNG exports. "That is why we continue to have pretty good interest from people looking at securing this [low-cost] option early, maybe even in advance of when world demand will require it," Snell said.
Snell said the project should be wrapped up by the end of this year, and the financing arrangements will follow the first part of 2017.
However, Reed acknowledged that the global LNG market has slowed, and today's market is "a very challenging environment in which to get agreements signed, so even if the agreements are not signed until January or February next year, I'll still be happy."
Cameron's ongoing first phase construction is 43% complete and "going very well," Reed said. "We're on schedule, expecting train 1 to come online in March of 2018, with trains 2 and 3 to following in July and November, respectively, that year."
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/106367
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Natural Gas, Mild Weather and Plant Closings Credited for CO2 Dip
May 10, 2016 | E&E Climatewire
By Daniel Cusick
The electricity sector's increased use of natural gas and other less carbon-intensive fuels helped drive a 12 percent reduction in 2015 energy-related carbon dioxide over 2005 levels, according to data released yesterday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
The findings, published in a "Today in Energy" brief, show that energy-sector CO2 last year fell to its lowest levels since 2012, at roughly 5.25 billion metric tons. That compares with 6 billion metric tons of energy-sector emissions in 2005, according to the data.
While the reductions in CO2 were varied and cut across various energy sectors -- including power production, direct heating, industrial consumption and transportation -- EIA determined that fuel switching by electric utilities accounted for 68 percent of all energy-related CO2 reductions from 2005 to 2015.
"Energy-related CO2 emissions can be reduced by consuming less petroleum, coal, and natural gas, or by switching from more carbon-intensive fuels to less carbon-intensive fuels," EIA said. "Many of the changes in energy-related CO2 emissions in recent history have occurred in the electric power sector because of the decreased use of coal and the increased use of natural gas for electricity generation."
DOE also noted that the U.S. economy has grown even as energy-related CO2 has fallen. The largest year-over-year decline in energy-related CO2 emissions occurred in 2008-09, at the beginning of the Great Recession, analysts found. The downward trend continued through 2012 but began ticking upward again in 2013 and 2014 as economy gained strength.
Adjusted for inflation, the economy was 15 percent larger in 2015 than a decade ago. But U.S. energy and carbon intensities both declined, according to EIA data. The United States produced 23 percent less energy-related CO2 emissions per unit of gross domestic product compared with 2005 levels.
Not enough to meet Paris goals
Colleen Regan, head of environmental markets for Bloomberg New Energy Finance, attributed the downward trend in CO2 emissions to a convergence of factors, including milder weather and the lowest domestic natural gas prices since 1999.
Last year was also a record year for coal-fired power plant retirements and for consumption of natural gas by electricity producers, Regan noted.
"We haven't built any coal-fired power plants since 2012, and the biggest additions we had to the power generation fleet in 2015 were wind power, followed by solar and then natural gas," she said. "With these kinds of longer-term, structural changes to the fleet, it seems unlikely we'll see power-sector emissions return to where they were in 2005 or 2006."
One sector that has seen a slowing pace of CO2 reduction -- though not an increase -- was the auto transport sector, Regan said.
A dramatic drop in oil prices over 2015 saw Americans ease back into traditional gasoline-burning vehicles while also putting more miles on vehicles overall, resulting in higher tailpipe emissions. That trend may continue through 2016 if oil prices remain low for the rest of the year.
"It does make it more difficult to see where we're going to be on the transport side if vehicle miles traveled is still increasing a year from now," Regan said.
It also remains unclear whether the United States will be able to achieve its CO2 reduction targets relying solely on existing and pending regulatory programs such as vehicle fuel efficiency standards and the Clean Power Plan targeting utility-sector emissions.
Going beyond fuel standards
Tim Cheung, vice president and research analyst at ClearView Energy Partners LLC in Washington, D.C., said in an email that while fuel switching and efficiency gains have led to lower greenhouse gas emissions, "those trends would need to continue -- and likely need to accelerate -- in order to meet the U.S. 2025 Paris agreement reduction targets."
"When we add up the emissions reduction potential from pending to finalized rules, we think the U.S. could fall short of its climate pledge," he said.
Technological innovations would be needed to ensure sustained carbon reductions in the future, David Livingston, associate at the Energy and Climate Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said in an email.
The cost of deploying renewable energy, particularly solar, has continued to drop. But once renewables make up at least 50 percent of the electricity supply mix, more advanced technologies would be needed to overcome integration and market challenges, he said.
Innovations in the transport sector, beyond more stringent fuel efficiency standards, would also be needed, Livingston said.
"Given the multitude of hybrid and full-electric options being offered by legacy automakers as well as new entrants, such as Tesla, the bet on electrification is as compelling as it ever has been," he said. "With oil prices so low, however, electric vehicles will have to prove not only that they are cleaner, but that they are simply better in every way that drivers care about."
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/05/10/stories/1060036953
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Briefs -- Texas Eastern, Iowa Utilities Board, Ohio Cracker
May 9, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By NGI Staff Reports
In its latest update about the explosion and fire on Texas Eastern pipeline’s Penn-Jersey line in the M3 Zone,Spectra Energy Corp. said work is progressing to restore capacity through the Delmont compressor station. The blast in Southwest Pennsylvania caused serious property damage and sent one resident to the hospital (see Shale Daily, April 29). After the explosion, flows beginning at the Delmont compressor -- the western boundary of the M3 zone -- were cut to zero, with flows affected eastward. About 1 Bcf/d of natural gas flows on the system have been cut (see Shale Daily,May 2). Spectra said in an update that some capacity through the compressor could be available this week. The company said it continues to work with federal regulators investigating the incident. ThePipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued a corrective action order to the company requiring it to determine the cause of the incident and ensure the safety of three pipelines that run parallel to the one that ruptured. The cause remains unclear, but PHMSA indicated in its order that corrosion was the likely cause (see Shale Daily, May 4). According to the order, the blast left a crater 30 feet wide, 50 feet long and 12 feet deep. The explosion, the order said, launched about 25 feet of the 30-inch pipeline 100 feet from the site of the explosion.
The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) cited the Dakota Access oil pipeline project for allegedly engaging in construction related activities without properly notifying county authorities. The IUB warned that if it happens again, the project, which is backed by Energy Transfer Partners, would be subject to civil penalties. Early this month, the Dakota Access Pipeline LLC unit began construction on the four-state, 1,154-mile project to ship Bakken crude oil to markets along the East, West and Gulf coasts, pointing toward a completion by the end of the year (see Shale Daily, May 2). Dakota Access is required later this month to file with the IUB a list of all of its pre-construction notifications sites in Iowa.
Thailand state-owned petrochemical and refining company PTT Global Chemical pcl said it would not make a final investment decision (FID) about the ethane cracker it has planned for Belmont County, OH, until next year, according to foreign news media reports. PTT announced the facility last year (see Shale Daily,April 23, 2015). It is expected to cost nearly $6 billion. At the time the project was announced, PTT said an FID would be made in late 2016. But according to the Bangkok Post, the company plans to delay a final decision until 2017 because of low global commodity prices. Work to clear and prepare the site in Mead Township, where a coal plant was once located, is ongoing (seeShale Daily, Jan. 8). PTT announced in September 2015 that it would invest $100 million for the facility's preliminary design work.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/106363-briefs----texas-eastern-iowa-utilities-board-ohio-cracker
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Senate Approves Bill to Study Oil Train Derailment Training
May 10, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
The Senate approved Monday a bill to increase training efforts for rail car accident first responders.
The legislation, from Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), would create a committee within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) designed to research new training methods and expanded resources for emergency officials who respond to “railroad hazmat incidents,” including oil car derailments.
The bill would require the committee — which would be made up of federal officials, local agencies and the private sector — report to FEMA within one year on ways to improve first responder training.
Heitkamp introduced the bill in February after an oil train derailment in West Virginia. North Dakota has seen its share of derailments as well, including one in 2013 that spilled 400,000 gallons of oil near a city outside Fargo. Local officials were the first ones to respond to each accident.
Oil by rail safety has been a major issue for lawmakers and regulators.
Last year, the Department of Transportation released a set of reforms deigned to reduce accidents, including phasing out or retrofitting every railcar carrying ethanol and crude oil. A handful of Senate Democrats had previously introduced a bill to regulate not only the rail cars but the content of the oil itself.
Heitkamp’s bill passed out of committee in March, and a version of the legislation has been introduced in the House.
“To truly help communities throughout North Dakota and our country remain safe places for families to live, grow, and work, all of our nation’s first responders need to be able to get the training and resources they need to protect us when responding to hazardous incidents,” Heitkamp said in a statement in March.
“Just as our first responders protect our communities, it’s also our responsibility to make sure training programs throughout the country meet the needs of the brave men and women who help keep our communities strong and safe, and my [bill] is a key part of achieving that goal.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/279351-senate-approves-bill-to-study-oil-train-derailment-training
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Senate Passes Rail Safety Bill
May 10, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey
The Senate passed a bipartisan bill by unanimous consent last night to boost safety along railroads used to transport hazardous materials.
Sponsored by Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), S. 546 would amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the Federal Emergency Management Agency to establish the Railroad Emergency Services Preparedness, Operational Needs and Safety Evaluation (RESPONSE) Subcommittee of the National Advisory Council.
Co-sponsors of the bill include Democratic Sens. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Chuck Schumer of New York, as well as Republican Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa and independent Sen. Angus King of Maine.
The "RESPONSE Act" would require the subcommittee to review how well local emergency first responders are trained in dealing with hazardous materials incidents, the effectiveness of funding levels, and how to better integrate and circulate critical data among emergency responders.
The bill would clear the way for FEMA to play a more active role in preparing local first responders for train derailments involving hazardous materials such as crude oil and ethanol. The RESPONSE Act tasks the agency to head a subcommittee bringing together representatives from the energy and rail industries, as well as hazmat regulators from the Department of Transportation. The group would have to report back to Congress with recommendations on crude-by-rail safety within 12 months after its formation.
Heitkamp first raised the idea of setting up a FEMA-led rail safety panel in February 2014, two months after a fiery BNSF Railway oil train derailment near Casselton, N.D. Since then, several high-profile oil train accidents have grabbed headlines in the United States and Canada, though none matched the devastation of the July 6, 2013, derailment in Quebec that killed 47 people.
The panel would also review the need for emergency response plans for rail, similar to existing law related to maritime and stationary facility emergency hazmat response plans.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/05/10/stories/1060036988
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White House Launches Effort to Climate-Proof Building Codes
May 10, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly
The White House announced a push today to update standards for commercial and residential buildings to boost their resilience to climate change.
As part of the effort, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will review existing construction requirements and U.S. EPA will prepare a guide to help communities strengthen building codes.
Alice Hill, special assistant to President Obama and senior director for resilience policy at the National Security Council, said codes haven't kept pace with threats posed by the changing climate.
"We are learning that what has guided our decisions in the past -- average temperatures, return intervals of heavy precipitation events and stationary sea levels -- can no longer safely guide us in our building choices," Hill said at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
While scientists are still studying how climate change will affect thunderstorms, ice storms and tornadoes, a warmer world will most likely mean more intense rainfall and flooding, said Kenneth Kunkel of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites in North Carolina.
The problem is that building designs today still take into account rain and flooding data from yesterday, he said.
"We can state with virtual certainty," Kunkel said, "that current design values based on just historical data are underestimates of the actual future risk."
Roy Wright, deputy associate administrator for insurance and mitigation at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said the administration is particularly concerned about flooding in heavily populated areas. Recent flooding in Houston shows hazard areas are likely to expand, he said.
"The past is not a reliable indicator of the future," said Jennifer Jacobs, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire. "And so planning for our future based on the past in a changing, nonstationary climate is like driving down the road looking in a rearview mirror. Probably not a good idea."
Lack of federal guidance on how to incorporate climate change into building and infrastructure projects is a barrier for cities, Kunkel said. He said he's been approached by representatives from major cities asking how to add future changes in rainfall into their design plans.
"These are people who are responsible for making decisions on billions of dollars of infrastructure," Kunkel said. "We have no consensus on how to do that."
Federal officials are still grappling with their role, given that building oversight rests with local and state governments. And only 65 percent of the U.S. population is covered by existing codes, according to Wright.
Many people live in houses that were built before climate change was on anyone's radar.
"I live in a Sears bungalow in Arlington, Virginia. It was built in 1925," Wright said. "And I hazard a guess that the mothers and fathers of Arlington, Virginia, didn't quite imagine that 91 years later, we would still be using those same facilities."
Stronger codes, lower emissions
White House officials said they hope the series of actions announced today will start a "dialogue" on how to incorporate climate change into new construction and retrofits of old buildings.
"It's not as simple as saying we will mandate a code that will be used in every community across America," Wright said.
FEMA said it will support the National Institute of Building Sciences' update to a 2005 study that measures the money saved per dollar spent on hazard mitigation. FEMA said it will also explore incentives for adopting building codes at the state and local levels during the Public Assistance Program.
The General Services Administration also committed to incorporating climate change into government supply-chain decisions, while the National Institute of Standards and Technology will develop tornado hazard maps. The Army Corps of Engineers today launched a website for planners on resilience.
Other activities announced today include the development of a resilience kit for communities and other reviews of federal agency construction requirements.
As the White House rolled out the initiatives, several building industry and architecture associations, many of which had representatives at today's conference, pledged to better incorporate climate change into building decisions.
Forty building industry and architecture associations issued a joint statement committing to research materials and design techniques with an eye toward resilience.
The American Institute of Architects also said it would create a curriculum for professional architects on resilient design.
"It does not make sense to place buildings in harm's way if we can avoid doing so," said Robert Ivy, the institute's CEO.
Stronger building codes will also reduce electricity and gas consumption and lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, said the Alliance to Save Energy, a nonprofit coalition that advocates for greater energy efficiency.
"Strong building energy codes lead to lower emissions -- which will mitigate global climate change and have a positive effect on reducing extreme weather events," Kateri Callahan, the alliance's president, said in a statement. "And more efficient buildings are more productive and better equipped to handle extreme heat and cold."
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/05/10/stories/1060036992
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Common Sense Oversight Needed to Halt Agency Advocacy
May 9, 2016 | The Hill - Ballot Box Blog
By Zippy Duvall
Public relations agencies and lobbying firms use many tactics to influence public opinion and public officials. Ads, guest editorials, social media campaigns, blogs, websites, roadside billboards and even bus placards; no tool of modern advocacy is off the table.
Judging from the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent pattern of using and funding these advocacy tools, without transparency, one might believe the agency is opening an office along New York’s famed Madison Avenue or Washington, D.C.’s K Street.
It was recently reported by Capital Press, an agricultural publication based in Salem, Ore., that EPA grant funds were used to pay for billboards in Washington State advocating greater regulation of farmers. The billboards shouted, “Unregulated agriculture is putting our waterways at risk,” and directed viewers to an advocacy website blaming “unregulated agriculture” for a litany of environmental problems and urging them to “take action” through a form letter to state legislators seeking increased regulation of farm lands.
The billboard neglected to inform the public that it was funded through an EPA grant—your tax dollars and mine.
Dating back to colonial America, when Thomas Paine distributed his Common Sense pamphlet and other revolutionaries made the case for independence, public advocacy has always played a major role in empowering citizens to take action. But to protect citizens from undue influence by government, federal agencies are barred by law from activities such as “grassroots lobbying” and “covert propaganda”—both of which seem to be at play in the Washington billboards and other EPA advocacy actions.
The situation in Washington State is even more troubling in light of the fact that the Justice Department has repeatedly warned federal agencies such as the EPA to refrain from grassroots lobbying. Even a government intern should be able to identify a roadside billboard directing the public to a “take action” website as a grassroots advocacy tactic. The EPA’s move has not gone unnoticed. Senators Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) and Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) have rightfully asked the EPA’s inspector general to investigate the matter.
The incident in Washington State only adds to the EPA’s pattern of advocacy abuse to drum up support for its ill-conceived Waters of the U.S. rule. EPA has relentlessly campaigned with superficial tweets and blog posts aimed at influencing the public to advocate for the rule. That is exactly what the Anti-Lobbying Act is meant to prevent.
EPA’s inappropriate advocacy work on WOTUS was thoroughly documented last May in an investigative story published by the New York Times. EPA objected to the story, but the Times stood behind its work. The suspicions aired in the Times story were vindicated by the Government Accountability Office’s findings last December that EPA did, in fact, violate anti-lobbying restrictions and engaged in illegal “covert propaganda” in connection with the WOTUS rule.
As an advocacy organization that works for America’s farm and ranch families, we use a range of advocacy tools from social media campaigns to published commentaries, billboards and others. That’s our job. We know there will be other advocacy organizations lined up with similar tools in opposition to our positions. That is healthy civil discourse—it’s how the system is supposed to work.
What we do not expect is that those opposition advocacy groups will be aided by collaboration and even cold, hard cash from our own government. By tradition and statute, government agencies are expected to be honest, objective brokers of public discourse and allow public opinion to influence government policy—not the other way around.
EPA’s actions, yet again, are coming into question. In the latest case in Washington State, EPA’s tactics are aimed at recruiting the public to lobby state lawmakers. This is an agency that truly respects no boundaries.
Thomas Paine had it right when he wrote in Common Sense that “…government even in its best state is but a necessary evil; in its worst state an intolerable one.”
Whether the topic is state legislation or a federal proposal, it is clear to us that EPA is flouting the rules and must be held accountable. This appears to be an intolerable pattern of bad behavior, and top EPA leadership is ultimately responsible. Enforcement of limits within the law makes common sense, and we will continue our vigilance to ensure that government agencies play by the rules.
Zippy Duvall is president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/278960-common-sense-oversight-needed-to-halt-agency-advocacy
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