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(ACC Mentioned) UK polls close on EU Brexit referendum
Jun 23, 2016 | ICIS
Voting for a UK referendum on the EU ended on Thursday, with many fearing that currency fluctuations would follow a decision to leave the union, altering trade flows between the island nation and the US. -
EPA Has Made Changes to Improve Rulemaking Process: Report
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna
Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have successfully implemented a series of recommendations from the inspector general to improve the rulemaking process, a follow up report (No. 16-P-0211) found. -
(ACC Mentioned) Prop. 65 celebrates 30 years of mounting costs and elusive benefits
Jun 24, 2016 | Orange County Register
By David Fischer
California’s chemical warning law, known as Proposition 65, turns 30 this year. I chose to mark the occasion by publishing an article in the Journal of Business & Technology Law detailing the fundamental flaws with the law’s consumer product warnings and bounty hunter provisions and by offering alternative approaches to Prop. 65. -
(ACC Mentioned) Pricing front quiet for everything but PP in May
Jun 23, 2016 | Plastic News
By By Frank Esposito
The North American commodity resin market gave peace a chance in May, with all prices flat except for polypropylene. -
(ACC Mentioend) DEEP looks to elevate plastics recycling
Jun 23, 2016 | Hartford Business
By Matt Pillon
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has aligned itself with an industry-backed effort to increase the voluntary recycling of plastic bags, films and packaging. -
Make Asbestos a Top Priority Under New Chemical Reform, Advocate says
Jun 23, 2016 | Bloomberg BNA Energy and Environment Blog
By Pat Rizutto
The Environmental Protection Agency must make asbestos one of the first 10 chemicals it evaluates under the newly amended Toxic Substances Control Act, says the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) co-founder. -
Monsanto Seeks Dismissal of Suits on S.F. Bay Pollution
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Joyce E. Cutler
Monsanto Co. will try to convince a federal district court to dismiss lawsuits filed by three California cities over polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in San Francisco Bay (San Jose v. Monsanto Co., N.D. Cal., No. 5:15-cv-03178, motion to dismiss filed 6/20/16). -
Sen. Gillibrand Calls for EPA Action On Toxic Chemical PFOA
Jun 23, 2016 | AP (News 10)
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is calling on federal regulators to use new powers under the toxic substances reform bill to determine if the industrial chemical PFOA should be restricted or banned. -
EPA Chief Rejects 'Old, Tired Argument' That Regs Hurt Economy
Jun 23, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Emily Holden
U.S. EPA chief Gina McCarthy at an industry conference today chided critics for arguing that curbing greenhouse gas emissions will damage the economy and cause job losses. -
Maryland Fracking Regulations Due by October
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Kathy Lundy Springuel
The Maryland Department of the Environment is considering changes to a prior proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing that would beef up standards for well construction while streamlining certain environmental monitoring, setback and review requirements for natural gas developers. -
EPA's McCarthy Hails Energy Efficiency for Climate Fight
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alan Kovski
The Environmental Protection Agency continues to work with states on voluntary measures including energy efficiency to help prepare for the Clean Power Plan, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told the Energy Efficiency Forum 2016. -
EU Wants Energy Diversity, Distinct Chapter in TTIP Talks
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Joyce
European Union negotiators are pushing for the insertion of energy-independence language into a landmark trade agreement to boost imports of U.S. natural gas while increasing economic independence from Russia. -
US set to become major global natgas supplier as exports soar: DOE official
Jun 23, 2016 | Platts
By Jim Magill
Demand for US natural gas for export -- including both pipeline and LNG exports -- is set to skyrocket through the next few decades, a US Department of Energy official said Thursday, adding the country was on a path to become a top supplier to the international market. -
Subsidies cover up the cost of energy, whether green or fossil fuels
Jun 23, 2016 | The Hill- Blog
By Ryan Yonk and Josh Smith
Officials from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and the European Union set a2025 deadline for ending most fossil fuel subsidies. But why wait nine more years? Subsidies for any kind of energy, whether wind, solar or fossil fuel, hide the cost of energy. -
Trump Jr. calls BLM drilling regs 'reasonable'
Jun 24, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Phil Taylor
Donald Trump Jr., who is an avid hunter, said BLM also should have some role in the regulation of hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, in spite of a federal judge's ruling this week that the agency lacks congressional authority to regulate the controversial oil and gas production technique (EnergyWire, June 22). -
A Federal Judge Just Struck Down Obama's Fracking Regulations
Jun 23, 2016 | Mother Jones
By Tim Mcdonnell
A major push by the Obama administration to curb the environmental impacts of fracking suffered a severe blow Wednesday evening, when a federal judge in Wyoming ruled that the proposed regulations overstepped the government's authority. -
Oil pipeline spills thousands of gallons near California coast
Jun 23, 2016 | The Hill- E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
An pipeline in southern California spilled up to 29,400 gallons of oil Thursday just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean. -
Firefighters Contain Pipeline Oil Spill in California
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
Firefighters in Ventura, Calif., contained a spill of an estimated 700 barrels, or 29,400 gallons, of crude oil from a pipeline, preventing it from flowing into the city and the Pacific Ocean, officials said. -
Updates: Oil spill in Ventura County; assessment of damage underway
Jun 23, 2016 | Los Angeles TImes
By Veronica Rocha
An oil spill that may have released more than 29,000 gallons of crude into a grassy canyon in Ventura County did not reach the beach or trigger evacuations, Ventura County fire officials say. -
EPA Chemical Security Overhaul Ripe for Challenge: Attorney
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed overhaul of its chemical security risk management framework is likely to get hit with a range of legal challenges, a partner at Bracewell LLP said June 22. -
AAR Files Comments Urging FRA To Withdraw Proposed Rule Mandating Two-Person Train Crews
Jun 23, 2016 | American Journal of Transportation
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today urged the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to withdraw its proposed rule mandating two-person crews on railroads -
Railroad defends safety of fasteners that failed in oil train wreck
| AP (The Oregonian)
... Spokesman Justin Jacobs' statement was in response to the Federal Railroad Administration's preliminary report on a June 3 fiery oil train derailment in the town of Mosier, Oregon. -
AGA Identifies Areas of Concern With PHMSA's Proposed Pipeline Rules
| Natural Gas Intelligence
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EPA Asked to Clarify Clean Power Plan Compliance Dates
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
More than 100 House members led by Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) asked the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify the agency's position on the Clean Power Plan compliance deadlines, given the Supreme Court's decision to halt the rule. -
Shelanski Contempt of Congress Vote Delayed in House
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee delayed a planned vote to hold the Obama administration's regulatory gatekeeper in contempt of Congress after receiving a significant number of additional documents, a committee aide told Bloomberg BNA June 23. -
EPA Sends 'Exceptional Events' Air Waiver Rule To OMB
Jun 23, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA has sent for White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review its final rule revising when and how states can claim Clean Air Act regulatory exemptions for “exceptional” episodes of air pollution, such as wind storms or wildfires, as the agency seeks to streamline implementation of the existing regulation. -
California Regulators Voice Support For Cap And Trade Program
Jun 23, 2016 | Reuters
By Rory Carrol
Staff for California's air regulator on Thursday recommended the state extend its carbon cap and trade system beyond 2020, a move supported by utilities and some environmental groups but opposed by environmental activists representing low income communities.
Industry and Association News
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(ACC Mentioned) UK polls close on EU Brexit referendum
Jun 23, 2016 | ICIS
Voting for a UK referendum on the EU ended on Thursday, with many fearing that currency fluctuations would follow a decision to leave the union, altering trade flows between the island nation and the US.
But judging from financial markets, an exit seemed unlikely, as the major indices in the US rose by well over 1%. Results from the vote are expected early Friday morning.
If the UK did vote to leave the EU, then a so-called Brexit would likely weaken the British pound against the US dollar.
The UK is a major trade partner with the US, according to statistics compiled by the American Chemistry Council (ACC).
In 2015, US chemical exports to the UK totalled $7.46bn, making it the seventh largest destination behind Brazil. Chemical imports from the UK totalled $13.3bn, the fifth largest provider for the US, behind China.
While the ACC did not break down the UK imports by chemical group, many are pharmaceuticals, said Kevin Swift, chief economist of the trade group.
Some of the products may have originally come from Ireland – the largest source of US imports – and later exported through Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, he said.
In the run-up to Thursday's vote, the British pound tended to weaken when polls showed voters favouring an exit from the EU. As such, leaving would likely cause the US dollar to strengthen against the pound, making US exports less competitive and UK imports more attractive.
This could threaten the profitability of the INEOS cracker in Grangemouth, UK, since the plant would rely on US ethane. The cracker's capacity is 700,000 tonnes/year, according to ICIS plants and projects.
Currency fluctuations are not the only fall-out from Brexit, Swift said. Financial markets also could become more volatile.
Leave champion Nigel Farage votes Thursday at Biggin Hill, Kent, UK. (Grant Falvey/LNP/REX/Shutterstock)Petrochemical market participants in Europe brought up concerns that also could be shared by those in the US.
A polycarbonate (PC) player said that several Belgian companies were worried about the UK imposing tariffs on their products if it left the EU.
The uncertainty about the vote had delayed third-quarter contract negotiations for polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), according to a distributor based in the UK.
In the US, policymakers may have to negotiate new trade agreements with the UK for products that were previously covered by deals made with the EU.
Financial and currency markets are in favour of the UK remaining in the EU, since they have risen and fallen based on polls showing voters favouring or opposing the EU.
The UK government said the country "will be stronger, safer and better off by remaining as a member of a reformed EU".
Even before Thursday's vote, uncertainty about the UK's membership in the EU caused companies to delay investments and purchases of petrochemicals, market participants said.
British polls closed at 22:00 hours London time (21:00 hours GMT). The final results are due at about 07:00 Friday.
http://www.icis.com/resources/news/2016/06/23/10010629/uk-polls-close-on-eu-brexit-referendum/
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EPA Has Made Changes to Improve Rulemaking Process: Report
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna
Officials at the Environmental Protection Agency have successfully implemented a series of recommendations from the inspector general to improve the rulemaking process, a follow up report (No. 16-P-0211) found.
Back in 2013, the inspector general recommended a series of actions to improve the efficiency and functionality of the agency's framework for tracking the development of regulatory actions, known as the Action Development Process. Those included:
• developing guidance to clarify data entry, record keeping and other responsibilities associated with the system;
• ensuring program offices have clear understanding about when to upload documents, making sure updates are timely, actively monitoring the data quality of entries and using all features available; and,
• developing and implementing procedures for tracking resource use in rulemakings.
“The EPA completed actions to address the issues raised in the OIG's 2013 report on the [Action Development Process],” the report found. “These actions should improve clarity and consistency in the EPA's implementation of the rulemaking process.”
According to the inspector general, it conducted its follow up audit between February and June 2016.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=92488136&vname=dennotallissues&fn=92488136&jd=92488136
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(ACC Mentioned) Prop. 65 celebrates 30 years of mounting costs and elusive benefits
Jun 24, 2016 | Orange County Register
By David Fischer
California’s chemical warning law, known as Proposition 65, turns 30 this year. I chose to mark the occasion by publishing an article in the Journal of Business & Technology Law detailing the fundamental flaws with the law’s consumer product warnings and bounty hunter provisions and by offering alternative approaches to Prop. 65.
By an overwhelming 63 to 37 percent margin, Californians voted to pass the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986. The law created an explosion of warnings: Hotels, restaurants, ballparks, parking garages, office buildings, amusement parks and pools, along with thousands of consumer products, warn Californians of possible exposure to carcinogens or reproductive toxins. Prop. 65’s list has grown to more than 800 chemicals, with no end in sight. And more chemicals beget more ill-informed warning labels.
The warnings lack the content necessary to ensure that the public receives useful information about potential exposures. But consumers should not assume that a warning means that they are at risk of harm. That’s because a warning may be required even if the risk is non-existent or vanishingly small. Warnings aren’t required if businesses can show that exposure to a listed chemical is below a so-called “safe harbor level.” But California’s penchant for listing chemicals has far surpassed its ability to promulgate safe harbor levels. Consequently, most chemicals listed under Prop. 65 have no safe harbor level to help businesses decide whether or not to warn. Thus, businesses often opt to over-warn by providing a warning even when consumers are exposed to few, if any, of the Prop. 65 listed chemicals.
While excessive labeling does not help consumers, it’s often necessary for businesses to ward off lawsuits.
Unlike most environmental and health statutes, Prop. 65 shifts the burden onto businesses to prove that an exposure to a listed chemical is below the safe harbor level. Exacerbating the problem, lawyers collect a portion of the civil penalties, on top of attorney fees. Thus, for many, the “bonanza for private lawyers” foreseen by those arguing against Prop. 65 in 1986 has come to fruition. Because the cost of taking a Prop. 65 lawsuit to court is expensive, time-consuming and difficult to win, most businesses opt to settle. Lawyers have collected more than $150 million in attorney fees alone since 2000.
Meaningless warnings and out-of-control litigation are serious problems that Gov. Jerry Brown has acknowledged and vowed to fix. Unfortunately, the state’s latest proposed solution to make the warnings more useful and meaningful may be worse than the status quo.
The proposed changes would make warning labels more alarming. Labels would come with a “hazard” symbol and would name at least one listed chemical, but businesses would be barred from providing consumers with factual information that puts warnings in context for consumers – even information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Consumers looking for more information will be referred to a state-run website that offers little helpful context about health risks.
After 30 years, it is time to ask whether the ubiquitous Prop. 65 warnings should remain, or whether they should be sunset to give way to a different approach. Prop. 65 emerged out of a climate of frustration that state agencies were not doing enough to enforce environmental laws and to protect the citizenry from hazardous substances. It is unclear whether this climate persists, or if Prop. 65, as currently drafted, would overwhelmingly pass again.
There are undoubtedly other approaches that could serve to redress Prop. 65’s warnings and its other infirmities. Until that occurs, however, Prop. 65’s fundamental flaws remain unaltered, bounty hunting lawyers continue to thrive, benefits remain elusive, and the costs on businesses, consumers and taxpayers continue to mount.
David Fischer is senior director at the American Chemistry Council.
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/prop-720370-warnings-businesses.html
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(ACC Mentioned) Pricing front quiet for everything but PP in May
Jun 23, 2016 | Plastic News
By By Frank Esposito
The North American commodity resin market gave peace a chance in May, with all prices flat except for polypropylene.
Plastics News in May reported an additional 2-cent decrease on North American PP resin prices to reflect price erosion that took place between March and May. The PN resin pricing chart previously showed a 3-cent PP price drop for April.
Conversations with resin buyers and other market watchers indicated that the total price drop for the March-April-May time period was 5 cents, with buyers seeing the decreases in varying amounts at various times over that period. The 5-cent decline has canceled out price gains from earlier in the year, leaving regional PP prices down a net of 1 cent per pound since Jan. 1, according to the PN chart.
PP makers ExxonMobil Chemical Co. of Houston and Formosa Plastics Corp. USA of Livingston, N.J., already have announced price decreases for June. The ExxonMobil decrease ranges from 3 to 5 cents per pound, while the Formosa downward move is 5 cents.
Domestic PP suppliers are facing competition from material imported from several regions. Import material has found a home in North America as the region’s PP production has struggled to keep up with demand. Operating rates for PP plants in North America are in the high 90s.
Through April, North American PP sales were up almost 1 percent vs. the year-ago period, according to the American Chemistry Council in Washington. Domestic growth of 2.3 percent was curbed by a 44 percent drop in export sales.
Regional polyethylene prices were flat in May after rising an average of 4 cents per pound in April. PE prices stayed the same even though crude oil prices moved up from $45 per barrel to $49 during the month. Oil is a global price setter for PE, although natural gas is the most common PE feedstock in North America.
The April PE increase was the second consecutive monthly hike for the material. Prices had dropped in the first two months of 2016. A 5-cent January/February drop had been canceled out by a 5-cent gain in March.
U.S./Canadian PE sales fared well in the first four months of 2016. Sales of high density PE surged almost 6 percent, with flat domestic sales magnified by gains of 30 percent in export sales. Linear low density PE sales were up just over 4 percent for the quarter with domestic sales gains of more than 3 percent boosted by 7 percent growth for exports. Low density PE managed first-quarter growth of just over 2 percent, as a domestic sales gain of more than 3 percent was softened by a 1.5 percent drop in export sales.
PVC suspension resin prices were flat in May, even amid increased construction activity. Prices for the material had bumped up a combined 6 cents per pound in March and April. U.S./Canadian PVC sales were off to a strong start in the first four months of 2016, growing almost 9 percent. Domestic sales growth of almost 4 percent was bolstered by a surge of more than 21 percent in the export market.
North American PET bottle resin prices also were flat in May, after ticking up 2 cents per pound in April, with warmer weather improving seasonal demand for bottled water and carbonated soft drinks. The April move was the second straight monthly price hike for that material, following a similar 2-cent move in March. Prior to those back-to-back increases, regional PET prices had fallen for six consecutive months.
In the solid polystyrene market, May prices were flat after jumping an average of 5 cents per pound in April. A 4 percent price drop for benzene feedstock wasn’t enough to move the needle for PS prices.
Benzene prices for June are expected to be down another 4 percent, which could put downward pressure on polystyrene. Solid PS prices had been flat in March after declining by an average of 2 cents per pound in February.
North American PS sales fell 1.3 percent in the first four months of 2016, even as sales of the material into the food service/food packaging end market grew almost 2 percent and sales into electrical/electronic uses grew almost 3 percent.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20160624/NEWS/160629911/pricing-front-quiet-for-everything-but-pp-in-may
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(ACC Mentioend) DEEP looks to elevate plastics recycling
Jun 23, 2016 | Hartford Business
By Matt Pillon
The Department of Energy and Environmental Protection has aligned itself with an industry-backed effort to increase the voluntary recycling of plastic bags, films and packaging.
The Wrap Action Recycling Program (WRAP), which is a public awareness and outreach campaign organized by the American Chemistry Council, announced this week that it has partnered with DEEP to help it increase the proper recycling of those materials in the state.
DEEP hopes the program will help it reach its goal of increasing the state's solid-waste diversion rate to 60 percent by 2024.
Though they aren't supposed to, many Connecticut residents still throw plastic shopping bags into their single-stream recycling bins. Bags tangle sorting machinery at area sorting facilities, often requiring workers to stop machines to clean them out.
But the materials, as long a they are dry and clean, are recyclable and even valuable. Manufacturers use recycled plastic film in outdoor lumber products and to make new packaging.
"Cleaning up our single stream recycling and making our recyclables more marketable is a very high priority," DEEP Commissioner Robert Klee said in a statement.
On its website, WRAP maintains a directory of drop-off locations for various flexible plastic films. The site lists at least several dozen Connecticut store locations, including many large retail chains.
DEEP environmental analyst Sherill Baldwin, who is coordinating the state's interaction with WRAP, said Thursday that one goal of the partnership is to grow that list, and to ensure that the information is accurate.
Baldwin said she is working to build a coalition of municipalities and retailers that want to offer plastic drop-off locations.
The partnership aims to launch a public information campaign in the fall, which will include posters, mailers and other materials provided by WRAP. Baldwin said DEEP does not have marketing dollars for the campaign.
The American Chemistry Council, which counts bag and packaging manufacturers among its membership base, has protested various proposals across the country for bag taxes and bans.
A proposed bag ban in Connecticut didn't get through Connecticut's legislature last year.
DEEP is the third state partner in the WRAP program, following Wisconsin and North Carolina.
http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20160623/NEWS01/160629958
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Make Asbestos a Top Priority Under New Chemical Reform, Advocate says
Jun 23, 2016 | Bloomberg BNA Energy and Environment Blog
By Pat Rizutto
The Environmental Protection Agency must make asbestos one of the first 10 chemicals it evaluates under the newly amended Toxic Substances Control Act, says the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) co-founder.
“The success of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act hinges on the EPA’s ability to prioritize asbestos in the first 10 hazardous chemicals and to expeditiously ban asbestos,” Linda Reinstein, ADAO co-founder and president, told Bloomberg BNA.
President Obama signed the Lautenberg Act, which amended TSCA for the first time since 1976, into law June 22.
Throughout the years that led up to TSCA reform, legislators referred to a 1991 court ruling that overturned the EPA’s asbestos ban as the best example of why the 40-year-old law had to be revamped.
In remarks prior to signing the law, Obama said: “The law placed demands on the EPA that were so tough, so onerous that it became virtually impossible to actually see if those chemicals were harming anybody.”
“The system was so complex, it was so burdensome, that our country hasn't even been able to uphold a ban on asbestos—a known carcinogen that kills as many as 10,000 Americans every year. I think a lot of Americans would be shocked by all that,” he said.
The law has been amended, Reinstein said. “The time is now to end the asbestos man-made disaster.”
Reinstein isn’t the only advocate who’ll be watchdogging the implementation of the new law.
David Goldston, director of government affairs for the Natural Resources Defense Council, told Bloomberg BNA the council will participate in the many implementation requirements of the law.
NRDC is prepared to challenge, legally if necessary, decisions the agency makes and delayed deadlines, he said.
http://www.bna.com/asbestos-top-priority-b57982074697/
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Monsanto Seeks Dismissal of Suits on S.F. Bay Pollution
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Joyce E. Cutler
Monsanto Co. will try to convince a federal district court to dismiss lawsuits filed by three California cities over polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contamination in San Francisco Bay (San Jose v. Monsanto Co., N.D. Cal., No. 5:15-cv-03178, motion to dismiss filed 6/20/16).
The motion dismissal hearing is scheduled Aug. 9 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California regarding the suits filed by San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley.
The “super tort” lawsuits are part of a recent flurry of suits by West Coast cities seeking to hold Monsanto liable for allegedly polluting public waterways with PCBs it made decades ago. Seattle and Spokane, Wash., and San Diego, San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley and Long Beach, Calif., have sued Monsanto in the past year under a public nuisance theory.
“The Cities have filed a ‘super tort' test case against a former product manufacturer alleging public nuisance and equitable indemnity claims that, put simply, have no basis in California law,” Monsanto's dismissal motion in the litigation said.
Monsanto argued the cities lack standing with no facts for a causal relationship. The company said the public nuisance allegations hinge upon an “overwhelmingly rejected theory that a manufacturer of a legal and useful product can be held liable under public nuisance for the actions decades ago of its customers (and in turn, their customers).”
Monsanto also alleged improper and unprecedented shifting of permit compliance costs to a non-discharging third-party manufacturer; no court has sanctioned recovery of permit compliance costs as damages; the cities are technically liable to no one here; and two of the cities’ prayers for relief are improper.
“Liability cannot attach based on Old Monsanto's mere manufacture of PCBs,” the motion said.
San Diego First in Fight
The three “related” San Francisco Bay cases follow the first-filed test case pertaining to San Diego Bay, where the first motion to dismiss was heard May 25, Monsanto's motions said (San Diego Unified Port Dist. v. Monsanto Co., S.D. Cal., No. 15-CV-578, objection filed 6/14/16).
Monsanto spokeswoman Charla Lord said in a June 23 e-mail to Bloomberg BNA: “We all share an interest in clean water, but this lawsuit is a self-serving attempt by those who are largely responsible for discharging PCBs into the Bay—the cities of San Jose, Oakland and Berkeley and users of their stormwater systems—to pass off those liabilities to old Monsanto, a company that stopped making PCBs 40 years ago, never had a PCB manufacturing facility in California and thus never spilled, dumped or discharged a single PCB molecule into those waters during and from its manufacturing.”
Oakland City Attorney Barbara Parker declined to comment, spokesman Alex Katz said June 23.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=92488162&vname=dennotallissues&fn=92488162&jd=92488162
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Sen. Gillibrand Calls for EPA Action On Toxic Chemical PFOA
Jun 23, 2016 | AP (News 10)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) – Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand is calling on federal regulators to use new powers under the toxic substances reform bill to determine if the industrial chemical PFOA should be restricted or banned.
The New York Democrat says in a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday that health concerns about the chemical have been heightened by the recent discovery of drinking water contamination in upstate New York, Vermont and New Hampshire.
Gillibrand said an EPA assessment would give a better understanding of the long-term effects of PFOA exposure and ensure communities are better protected.
PFOA, long used to make Teflon and numerous other products, has been linked to cancer and thyroid issues.
EPA has been considering regulation of PFOA under the Toxic Substances Control Act since 2010.
http://news10.com/2016/06/23/sen-gillibrand-calls-for-epa-action-on-toxic-chemical-pfoa/
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EPA Chief Rejects 'Old, Tired Argument' That Regs Hurt Economy
Jun 23, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Emily Holden
U.S. EPA chief Gina McCarthy at an industry conference today chided critics for arguing that curbing greenhouse gas emissions will damage the economy and cause job losses.
"If someone's making that old, tired argument that what's good for the environment is bad for the economy, can you remind them that that's so yesterday?" McCarthy said to laughter at the annual Energy Efficiency Forum in Washington, D.C.
She lauded energy efficiency as both an economic growth policy and an environmental protection strategy and thanked a ballroom full of industry experts at the National Press Club for "making negawatts the new megawatts."
EPA points to advances in energy savings as a main way to limit costs and bolster employment while states reduce power-sector carbon levels under the Clean Power Plan. But opponents say EPA is overestimating how much energy efficiency could help.
Republicans in Congress have been citing reports from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that EPA's rosy estimates of electricity prices under the rule are inconsistent with the 3 percent higher prices the U.S. Energy Information Administration projects, for example (ClimateWire, June 23).
But McCarthy cited the rapid growth of energy efficiency and renewable power and emphasized that the regulation is flexible enough for states to find ways to implement it without tanking their economies.
"Innovative local projects can make a tremendous difference, especially in low-income communities," McCarthy added.Clean energy growth outpaces projections
An increasing number of studies show the United States is largely on track to comply with the rule, although regions that are dependent on coal power could feel the greatest impacts.
At a separate Washington conference yesterday, Sarah Dunham, director of EPA's Office of Atmospheric Programs, noted that clean energy and power-saving programs are growing faster than projected -- bringing down carbon levels years before the Clean Power Plan is even set to begin. That's because of technological improvements, renewable power tax incentives and other reasons "separate and apart" from the Clean Power Plan, she said.
But David Terry, executive director of the National Association of State Energy Officials, said although the energy markets writ large are telling a positive story, consumers and businesses in coal-producing states are still being profoundly affected -- mostly by a shift from coal to cheaper natural gas that has little to do with environmental regulations.
McCarthy said energy efficiency is one way to help those communities. She applauded the 23 states that have mandatory energy efficiency requirements and said a handful more also allow efficiency to count toward clean energy goals.
"It's even more amazing when you consider that states aren't taking these steps because they have to," McCarthy said. "They are taking these steps because it's smart to do, and EPA agrees. That's why energy efficiency is such a crucial part of our Clean Power Plan to cut carbon pollution from the U.S. power sector."
The agency recently released additional details about its Clean Energy Incentive Program -- a part of the Clean Power Plan meant to spur early renewable power development and investments in energy efficiency in low-income communities.
Opponents of the rule have criticized EPA for continuing to offer assistance to states that are voluntarily still planning for the rule, despite a Supreme Court stay on its implementation.
Fourteen states wrote a letter to EPA asking for specific information (EnergyWire, April 29).
"Many states are in this boat. They have asked us to provide the tools so they can continue to move forward, and that is exactly what we're doing," McCarthy said.
She said the work is "consistent with the court stay" and will allow EPA to make sure that when the stay is lifted -- which she is confident will happen -- states will "have an ability to start running as soon as the race starts again."Planning on track
McCarthy insisted Clean Power Plan planning has not stalled, adding that much of it is happening at the regional level -- where states must work together to sort out interstate electricity issues.
She repeatedly emphasized that she is sure the Clean Power Plan will survive legal challenges.
"There are many issues that have been raised, as you can guess because it's a complicated, large rule," she said. "We fully expected that it would be litigated. We've had some unexpected turns as well, but I think we feel pretty confident about it."
She also added that because the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decided to skip straight to hearing the challenge en banc -- with all the participating judges -- litigation could be resolved two to four months sooner than originally anticipated.
"We're hopeful that it will be resolved next year," she said.
Regardless, because the Clean Power Plan requirements would not begin until 2022, the temporary stay should not be a problem, she said. "We did give ourselves plenty of lead time," McCarthy said.
McCarthy stressed that the next EPA administrator -- whomever "she" might be, she joked -- will need to continue the momentum necessary to get greenhouse gas levels under control.
She said her advice would be to "just continue to make sure that you're following the science and the law."
"We have seen the transition here in the energy world. The path is actually very much set. You just need to continue to make sure that you're moving the momentum forward," McCarthy said. "We need to recognize we're on the right path. We all know that Paris is great, but we've got to keep the momentum, and we've got to set ourselves the ability for the next generation of technology that is going to continue the progress moving forward."
The power industry is increasingly concerned as market forces push nuclear power plants offline while the need for zero-carbon electricity grows.
Asked how the United States will achieve carbon goals if many large nuclear plants retire, McCarthy said Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz is "sort of bullish" in his belief that the next generation of nuclear power is key to climate goals.
"I don't have to pick and choose," McCarthy said. "There's been a lot of concern about making sure that people know if they shift away from nuclear that there will be a makeup that's necessary. You've got to get more zero-carbon systems in the process. But it's my job to make sure that the flexibility is there that you can get there a zillion different ways."
That way, McCarthy said, she meets her goals but she lets the markets and states decide how to achieve carbon cuts.
Noting that environmental and energy concerns are increasingly converging, McCarthy said, "Hopefully, we're headed to federal agencies working together so that we're aligning our missions and instead of asking people whether they want to breathe clean air or have good electricity -- reliable and affordable -- you do both."
"That is exactly what people want, and I think that is finally what the federal government's finally figuring out how to deliver," she said, adding that she thinks President Obama has done a "remarkable" job pulling agencies together to collaborate.Boosting efficiency
Energy efficiency has been a central plank of the Obama administration's climate strategy, particularly through the Department of Energy's efficiency standards on appliances and buildings. To date, the administration has released more efficiency rules than the previous two administrations combined, covering equipment ranging from dishwashers to air conditioners (Greenwire, April 8).
Separately, Johnson Controls Inc., a co-sponsor of the event today, released a survey of efficiency investments from 1,000 executives in the United States, Brazil, China, Germany and India.
Fifty percent of respondents in the survey said their organizations are paying more attention to energy efficiency than a year ago, with 72 percent anticipating increased investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy over the next year. The company noted that in 2013, 37 percent of respondents said they were paying attention to the issue, with 42 percent planning to increase investments.
Similarly, the report found that 64 percent of U.S. organizations have a carbon reduction goal, compared with 41 percent three years ago.
"As in the past, respondents report lack of funding, insufficient payback, savings uncertainty and a lack of technical expertise as the most significant barriers to investment," the survey found.
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2016/06/23/stories/1060039338
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Maryland Fracking Regulations Due by October
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Kathy Lundy Springuel
The Maryland Department of the Environment is considering changes to a prior proposal to regulate hydraulic fracturing that would beef up standards for well construction while streamlining certain environmental monitoring, setback and review requirements for natural gas developers.
The department faces a legislative mandate to finalize regulations by Oct. 1 and have them take effect one year later, thus ending a six-year moratorium in October 2017 and clearing the way for issuance of the state's first-ever “fracking” permits.
The agency used as its starting point stringent regulations proposed in January 2015 by former Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) just days before he left office.
O'Malley's successor, Gov. Larry Hogan (R), took no immediate steps to finalize the proposal, but the General Assembly's passage of H.B. 449 in April 2015 required the department to move forward, which agency officials chose to do by tweaking the former governor's regulatory plan instead of starting from scratch.
MDE gave a preview June 22 of the changes under consideration in a report containing four issue papers, each addressing areas where the official rulemaking soon to be published in the Maryland Register is likely to depart from O'Malley's 2015 proposal.
2015 Proposal Set ‘Solid Foundation.'
The 35-page report said that the 2015 proposal “laid a solid foundation” and many of the standards set forth there “are both reasonable and necessary to provide adequate protection” and will be retained.
But in some areas, the department “is considering changes that would maintain or improve the level of environmental protection, introduce flexibility where needed, address considerations that were not addressed in the 2015 proposal, and adjust the focus toward preventing problems at the well site through design standards, rather than overreliance on setbacks and location restrictions.”
Maryland Department of the Environment Secretary Ben Grumbles said in an e-mail statement to Bloomberg BNA that the agency is “striving for reasonable and balanced regulations with stringent but achievable requirements.”
“No group, whether environmental advocates or energy advocates, will be pleased with every restriction or safeguard in our comprehensive proposal. If no one is entirely happy with the balance we're seeking, we are probably on the right track,” Grumbles said.
Monitoring, Wells Addressed
Among the revisions outlined, MDE suggested requiring that only one year of surface and groundwater baseline monitoring data, instead of two, be submitted when permit applications are filed.
It also recommended relying on regional air quality monitoring data instead of requiring applicants to perform baseline and ongoing air monitoring at each well pad.
The department backed the requirement that well operators file comprehensive development plans that spell out intentions for five years of operation, but it suggested a streamlined process for reviewing such plans.
While proposing to lessen some requirements, the department recommended stricter practices in the areas of well planning, construction and testing, which it deemed “the most important provisions” in the regulations.
“Best practices that ensure the integrity of the well prevent problems before they occur,” the report said.
Mixed Reactions
In response to the proposal, Josh Tulkin, director of the Maryland Sierra Club, called the proposed revisions “weak and disappointing.”
“Almost every provision in the earlier proposal was scaled back, showing clearly that protecting the environment and public health is not the priority,” he told Bloomberg BNA.
However, Drew Cobbs, executive director of the Maryland Petroleum Council, told Bloomberg BNA that many of the revisions were welcomed, including those that would streamline timeframes for monitoring and document review.
“But even with the revisions, these would still be the strictest regulations in the country” for shale gas production, Cobbs said.
To date, no fracking for natural gas production has been allowed in Maryland, which has two western counties that sit atop a small portion of the gas-rich Marcellus Shale formation.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=92488148&vname=dennotallissues&fn=92488148&jd=92488148
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EPA's McCarthy Hails Energy Efficiency for Climate Fight
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alan Kovski
The Environmental Protection Agency continues to work with states on voluntary measures including energy efficiency to help prepare for the Clean Power Plan, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told the Energy Efficiency Forum 2016.
“It's still consistent with the court stay,” McCarthy said June 23 at the forum, sponsored by Johnson Controls Inc. and the United States Energy Association.
She was referring to the stay imposed by the Supreme Court on the EPA's carbon dioxide standards for existing power plants. The stay was imposed even before argument could be heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, which has scheduled argument before the entire court Sept. 27.
Rosy Outlook
McCarthy said it was just as well that the circuit court will handle the case through an en banc panel rather than taking the extra three or four months that would have been required for a three-judge panel decision followed by an en banc review.
“We're hopeful that it will be resolved next year. The exact timing I'm not sure,” McCarthy said. She expressed absolute confidence that the plan will survive the court fight.
Compliance does not begin until 2022, “so we gave ourselves a lot of lead time,” she added.
Numbers Behind Effort
Energy efficiency is “central to our fight against climate change,” McCarthy said.
McCarthy acknowledged that she was preaching to the choir in such a forum. She offered some numbers to arm the choir against any skepticism about the practicality of energy efficiency.
The market for energy efficiency in buildings was $63.6 billion in 2015, she said. The government's Energy Star program to promote efficient equipment now has 16,000 partners, including more than half of the Fortune 500 companies, she said. Twenty-three states now have mandatory energy efficiency requirements, she said.
She said energy efficiency work would lead to an estimated 250,000 new hires in 2016 alone.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=92488141&vname=dennotallissues&fn=92488141&jd=92488141
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EU Wants Energy Diversity, Distinct Chapter in TTIP Talks
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Joyce
European Union negotiators are pushing for the insertion of energy-independence language into a landmark trade agreement to boost imports of U.S. natural gas while increasing economic independence from Russia.
The 14th round of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) talks between the U.S. and EU is scheduled to begin July 11 in Brussels, according to a source close to the talks.
While energy isn't seen as a disputed topic that could delay or complicate negotiations, some EU members' dependence on Russian energy and much-needed popular support for TTIP have increased the importance of how energy is treated in the agreement.
EU Priorities
A European Commission trade specialist told Bloomberg BNA that EU negotiators have two stated goals regarding TTIP's energy language:
• Eliminate hindrances restricting the sale by the U.S. to the EU of natural gas to ensure a more stable, diversified and sustainable source of energy and raw material.
• Develop a template that would establish standards concerning energy and raw materials that could then be used in additional trade deals.
The Natural Gas Act prohibits the export or import of natural gas from the U.S. to a foreign country without a Department of Energy license. While obtaining licenses is achievable, it can take months or even years for a company to acquire the requisite approvals, sources in the U.S. and Europe said.
European negotiators also prefer to have the ability to buy U.S. energy products enshrined in a trade agreement rather than rely on a statute that could be changed by Congress, they said.
EU negotiators are also pushing to include language to prohibit countries from charging one price for energy to domestic consumers while charging another, higher price to international customers. While this is not a problem with the U.S., European negotiators want the language inserted into the trade deal because it could be used as part of a template for future trade deals, a European Commission trade specialist said.
Politics of Energy
A chief reason the EU is working to eliminate trade-in-energy restrictions with the U.S. is to diversify's Europe's dependence on Russian fuels, sources said. Many European nations, particularly those close to the Russian border, not only are overly dependant on Russian oil and natural gas but pay more for that energy compared with European countries hugging the Atlantic coast due to their dependence on the fuel, they said. Diversifying energy sources, thus, has economic as well as national security implications, according to the sources.
Diversification also has its competitive advantages. Residents of Lithuania were paying some of the highest natural-gas rates in Europe until 2014, when the country began utilizing a ship-based liquefied natural gas terminal in the Lithuanian coastal city of Klaipeda. The presence of that floating terminal plus a negotiated deal for natural gas from Norway helped to cut the price of gas to Lithuanian households by 30 percent by June 1 compared with 2012 prices, Mantas Bartuska, chief executive officer of Lithuanian terminal operator Klaipdos Nafta AB, said in an e-mail statement.
Meantime, a terminal in Swinoujscie, Poland, is expected to receive its first shipment of liquified natural gas in July; when fully operational the plant is expected to facilitate delivery of one-third of Poland's natural-gas needs.
A $1.1 trillion omnibus signed by President Barack Obama Dec. 18 included language lifting a 40 year-old prohibition on the U.S.'s ability to export crude oil. An EU trade specialist said while the move hasn't resulted in material amounts of imported crude oil to Europe, eliminating the ban served to promote the principle of removing barriers to freer trade.
EU imports of fuels from the U.S. in 2012 totaled 19.7 billion euros and in 2015 totaled 12.2 billion euros, according to European Union data.
Separate Chapter?
An ongoing negotiation issue is if the agreement will include a separate chapter on energy or deal with the issue in a more horizontal fashion, with several different TTIP chapters including discrete passages affecting the trade in energy and raw materials.
Some analysts and EU legislators have suggested the trade agreement will be an easier sell to the European Parliament and some EU state legislators if there is a separate chapter on energy, Garrett Workman, U.S. Chamber of Commerce director of European Affairs, said.
“The EU has a history in its trade agreements of having more discrete chapters—there has even been talk about a wine chapter—because I suppose it makes them feel more secure that an industry's interests are protected,” Workman said in an e-mail statement.
A separate chapter articulating the facilitation of EU energy diversification could also help build political support for the trade agreement with EU members in central and eastern Europe where dependence on Russian energy products is acute, sources said.
Spokesmen for the Office of U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Uncertainty Cited
The U.S. is not opposed to a separate chapter on energy but its negotiators haven't reached an agreement on what precisely might populate the chapter, Geneva-based King & Spalding LLP counsel Charles Julien told Bloomberg BNA.
“I think there is a significant possibility there will be an energy chapter. What it will include, that's still very, very uncertain,” he said.
The U.S. may be resisting a separate energy chapter because it doesn't want to deal with U.S. domestic energy policy in an international trade agreement. The policy, for instance, could affect U.S. tax policy and domestic environmental-related subsidies, Julien said.
If a separate energy chapter is not included in the agreement, boosting natural gas exports to EU markets could be dealt with in TTIP chapters on services or investments, Julien said.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=92488157&vname=dennotallissues&fn=92488157&jd=92488157
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US set to become major global natgas supplier as exports soar: DOE official
Jun 23, 2016 | Platts
By Jim Magill
Demand for US natural gas for export -- including both pipeline and LNG exports -- is set to skyrocket through the next few decades, a US Department of Energy official said Thursday, adding the country was on a path to become a top supplier to the international market. "We're going to have substantial increase in pipeline exports to Mexico and LNG exports are going to explode," Carmine Difiglio, DOE deputy director for energy security, said at Hart Energy's DUG East Conference in Pittsburgh.
US gas production peeked last year at an average of around 80 Bcf/d before beginning to decline somewhat. However, the production drop-off is expected to be short-lived as demand for gas for export increases, Difiglio said.
"We expect the growth will resume on a fairly steady basis and reach 83 Bcf/d by the end of 2017," he said.
Difiglio noted that the dramatic increase in shale gas production over the last decade and a half is responsible for growing gas supplies beyond what is needed to meet US demand. Shale gas has grown from being less than 5% of total US gas supplies in 2000 to 56% of supplies today, he said."The Marcellus and Utica shale basins continue to be the most productive for natural gas and especially impressive is the increase between last July and now," Difiglio said.
"Year-on-year growth from 2015 to 2016 was greatest in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Oklahoma and North Dakota, but production was declining in the rest of the United States."
While natural gas prices, which over the past several years have declined substantially in line with oil prices, are starting to come back up, Difiglio said there were signs that the increase would be gradual over the span of several years.
"As production has been maintained and prices have been coming down, our storage now is very high and this will be a factor going forward in price recovery," he said.
Difiglio said that as pipeline imports from Canada decline, the US is poised to become a major gas exporter.
"A number of important LNG export projects are underway," he said, predicting that US gas exports would reach 10 Bcf/d by 2022 and double that volume to 20 Bcf/d by 2040.
"We're expected to become one of the biggest gas exporters by 2022, only second to Qatar."
By comparison, the US in 2015 exported 1.78 Tcf (4.88 Bcf/d), according to the Energy Information Administration.
Difiglio warned, however, that even as US LNG export capacity begins to come online it will do so in a softening international LNG market.
"In Asia, gas prices, the Japanese contract, has come down since the post-Fukushima spreads and now is very similar to European gas prices, but considerably higher than US prices, of course," Difiglio said.
"We expect the spread will come back to more normal levels, with the Asian prices being the highest, Europe in middle and the US prices being lowest, but we're not going to see the kind of spread we saw after the Fukushima [nuclear] accident."
Nonetheless, US exports will be very competitive, he predicted, as US LNG enjoys several advantages over global rivals.
"US LNG projects are brownfield projects; they already have pipeline connections to gas supply, they have marine terminals, relatively efficient transition from regasification facilities to liquefaction," he said.
He noted that in Australia, gas projects are "extremely expensive."
"In Australia they have to have new offshore fields," he said. "They have to have pipelines coming from those fields. They have to have greenfield construction of the LNG facilities."
So although US Henry Hub gas prices are expected to increase from their current levels, prices are still expected to remain very competitive compared with other potential LNG exporting countries, he said.
In addition, the US enjoys a high elasticity of supply, something not found in much of the rest of the world.
"If gas prices rise, production increases, so as we export more LNG the gas to supply the LNG terminals is coming from new production. It's not taking away from new consumption," Difiglio said.
Difiglio also said that despite the substantial decline in international gas prices that is expected to impact the US LNG export market just as it begins to get underway, the global supply/demand picture still favors US LNG exports.
This is reflected in the way that US LNG export contracts are written, which works to the benefit of the customer.
"Firms that decline to take LNG deliveries have to take the tolling cost, the liquefaction cost of the facilities themselves. They're not obligated to pay for the natural gas," he said. -
Subsidies cover up the cost of energy, whether green or fossil fuels
Jun 23, 2016 | The Hill- Blog
By Ryan Yonk and Josh Smith
Officials from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Canada and the European Union set a2025 deadline for ending most fossil fuel subsidies. But why wait nine more years? Subsidies for any kind of energy, whether wind, solar or fossil fuel, hide the cost of energy.
Government support for the energy industry forces consumers to pay for energy twice — first in higher prices for more expensive sources of electricity and a second time in higher taxes to fund the support.
Subsidies for energy sources are unseen costs of generating electricity that drive up the actual cost. Consumers may only see the price on their bill, but they also pay a second time in their taxes that fund energy industry favorites. Fossil fuels receive billions in subsidies from governments. The International Energy Agency estimated that in 2014 alone, fossil fuel consumption subsidies totaled about $493 billion. All of these government programs for fossil fuels are eventually paid for by taxpayers and ending them is a good start towards a better energy market.
About two weeks ago, the Center for American Progress highlighted just nine programs where the U.S. government serves oil and gas interests instead of the welfare of the average citizen. Largely citing figures from the Joint Committee on Taxation, the Center estimates that ending just those nine subsidies "would, at minimum, save the U.S. Treasury $37.7 billion over 10 years."
But these policies of government favoritism are endemic in the energy industry. Everyone gets something, not just fossil fuels. Wind and solar farms in the United States, for example, are often only profitable because of the subsidies they collect. For wind, that is the production tax credit (PTC), which provides about a $23 per megawatt-hour subsidy to producers of wind energy. Each time renewing the PTC is up for debate in Congress, the number of planned wind projects plummets. As even the American Wind Energy Association, a group paid to represent the interests of the wind industry, noted in 2013, the most dramatic decline was from 2012 to 2013, when there was a 92 percent drop in installations of wind turbines.
Unfortunately, solar energy isn't any different. The Government Accountability Office lists 345 programs available to solar energy producers and the influence of these subsidies is immense. In 2017, for example, the Solar Energy Industries Association expects a 57 percent decrease in installed solar capacity if the Investment Tax Credit, just one of the many programs available, is not renewed by Congress.
Even though European countries are often pointed to as evidence that renewable sources can provide the electricity consumers need, just as often the additional cost of those sources is unmentioned. It's true that European countries generally use more electricity generated from renewable sources, but government mandates, not consumer choice, are often the cause. Still, European consumers bear the brunt of the costs, paying higher prices in addition to funding the subsidies and tax breaks that energy corporations collect.
Germany is a great example of subsidy-driven renewable energy. Its recent record-setting day where renewables delivered 95 percent of the country's electricity from renewable sources deserves a litany of qualifiers along with any praise. First, it was a notably windy and sunny day, so the usually sporadic nature of renewable energy sources was mitigated. Second, since it was Sunday, many large, industrial power users were not consuming much power, meaning there was less demand overall. Finally, Germany's renewable market is driven by a feed-in tariff that guarantees favorable prices for electricity generated with renewables. As Umair Irfan, a reporter for ClimateWire, concludes, the costs of the tariff and the renewable energy are ultimately "borne by German utility ratepayers."
It's difficult to understate the importance of Irfan's statement. Subsidies for energy sources burden taxpayers and electricity consumers with extra costs. If you pay for it, you can get the kind of results seen in Germany on Sunday, but don't think that subsidies actually make energy sources cheaper; they just change who pays the price. Policymakers shouldn't only end fossil fuel subsidies, they should stop all government support for the energy industry and let consumers choose for themselves.
http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/energy-environment/284603-subsidies-cover-up-the-cost-of-energy-whether-green-or
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Trump Jr. calls BLM drilling regs 'reasonable'
Jun 24, 2016 | E&E Daily
By Phil Taylor
FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- The Bureau of Land Management has taken sensible steps to balance oil and gas leasing with conservation in the West, the son of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said yesterday.
Donald Trump Jr., who is an avid hunter, said BLM also should have some role in the regulation of hydraulic fracturing on federal lands, in spite of a federal judge's ruling this week that the agency lacks congressional authority to regulate the controversial oil and gas production technique (EnergyWire, June 22).
The younger Trump was speaking before the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership's annual media summit in Fort Collins, Colo., a day after fishing the Cache La Poudre River with the conservation group's CEO.
Speaking as a surrogate for his father, Trump addressed a host of natural resource policy issues including the Endangered Species Act, the Land and Water Conservation Fund and Hillary Clinton's duck hunting experience.
His remarks on BLM's oil and gas program seemed to contrast with the Republican establishment.
In May 2010, the Obama administration introduced sweeping oil and gas leasing reforms designed to keep drilling further from national parks, recreation areas and wildlife habitat. The policy was enthusiastically supported by sportsmen's conservation groups including TRCP but widely criticized by industry groups that argued it curbed drilling opportunities on public lands.
Trump, who is a key adviser to his father on natural resource issues, appeared supportive of BLM's policy (E&E Daily, May 12).
"Of the ones that I'm aware of, I think, you know, certainly protecting high value areas, protecting the national parks, I mean, I think all of that makes a lot of sense," Trump said. "I'm not aware of anything that's, you know, very flagrant in there that we'd want to roll back."
That's a far cry from the position of many Republicans on Capitol Hill who have advanced legislation to block or weaken the BLM reforms.
"We do have to preserve those lands, and I think what I've seen thus far has been very reasonable," he said. "I think we've worked, you know, pretty well to ensure we have the ability to ... drill and frack, you know, where it makes sense and to take advantage of the, you know, the great natural resources that we have."
When asked about BLM's hydraulic fracturing rule, which on Tuesday was struck down by a federal judge in Cheyenne, Wyo., less than an hour's drive north of here, Trump said the rule was outside of his expertise.
But he did say BLM "should be involved" in regulating fracking, which occurs at roughly 90 percent of wells drilled on public lands.
"I think they have to be involved certainly as it pertains to the lands that they are overseeing," he said.
His remarks came just a day after Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), an energy adviser to the Trump campaign, called BLM's rule an "egregious federal overreach" and praised Judge Scott Skavdahl's ruling.
"His opinion made very clear when in 2005 Congress specifically removed the authority of the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate hydraulic fracturing, it did not intend for the BLM to instead have this authority," Cramer said.
Just a month ago, the elder Trump lambasted Democratic presidential primary contenders Clinton and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders for their public rejection of hydraulic fracturing, saying he would curtail "policies that impose unwarranted restrictions on new drilling technologies" (E&E Daily, May 27).
Some saw that as a reference to BLM's hydraulic fracturing rule, which would regulate well construction, wastewater management and chemical disclosure for fracking on public and tribal lands.
Yet his 38-year-old son appears to have a softer position. Or it's possible the BLM leasing and fracking rules haven't risen on his radar.
Trump Jr. reiterated yesterday that he'll be a "very, very loud voice" in his father's ear if he wins the White House. While he has expressed interest in being Interior secretary in a Trump administration, he said yesterday he's not sure if he's "qualified" to do it.
The Trump campaign's position on the ownership of federal lands and its lack of specificity on drilling access continue to worry some Republicans and energy industry officials.
"The Trump campaign needs to get better advice about Western public lands issues," said Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government and public affairs for the Denver-based Western Energy Alliance, a regional trade group that advocates for public lands drilling. "Hunting and fishing, while an important part of the West, is just one aspect of complex public lands issues."
Sgamma criticized the younger Trump's decision to speak at TRCP, a group she accused of pushing a "liberal environmental agenda."
"The comments about the BLM fracking rule also show he needs to spend more time with energy leaders and Rep. Kevin Cramer, who is advising the campaign," she said. "If he did so, he would understand that Western states have been successfully regulating fracking for years, without a single incident on public lands."
But Whit Fosburgh, CEO at TRCP, said Trump took a reasonable stance on BLM's leasing reforms, which place more scrutiny on where it's appropriate to drill.
The pace of federal leasing in the West has fallen to record lows under the Obama administration as companies flocked to unconventional drilling plays on private lands and as the price of oil and gas has plummeted.
Trump's response was "a very pragmatic answer to ... a pretty pragmatic policy, which is really sort of trying to figure out in advance how we do this better and minimize conflicts," Fosburgh said.Wolves, climate change, rifles
Trump yesterday also addressed questions about Endangered Species Act, BLM's management of sage grouse and Clinton's qualifications as a hunter.
He said it's time to have a "conversation" about whether Congress should intervene to remove ESA protections for the gray wolf in Wyoming and the Great Lakes states.
House and Senate appropriators included policy riders in their fiscal 2017 Interior spending bills mandating the delisting of wolves, though Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe last week said the administration remains opposed to congressional intervention in listing decisions.
FWS delisted wolves in the Great Lakes in 2011 and Wyoming in 2012, but a pair of federal district court rulings invalidated both rules. FWS has appealed both decisions.
Trump said wolves are fully recovered and are having harmful effect on species sportsmen hunt like elk and moose. He said he's worried federal judges lack the expertise to render decisions on wildlife issues.
"There's a time you have to revisit it," he said. "And it if takes Congress to do that because nobody else is doing it, or people are influenced by one extreme side's agenda, I think it's time to have that conversation."
On climate change, Trump said he was skeptical whether human activities are to blame.
"You certainly see weather patterns that are shifting," he said. "Whether that's caused by industry or whether it's caused by, you know, whatever, over time, I think has probably yet to be shown to me."
Trump said he supports the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a top priority for sportsmen of all political stripes. The 50-year-old program that facilitates the purchase of new federal lands to enhance recreational access has come under fire from fiscal conservatives in Congress who say the federal lands agencies are doing a poor job maintaining the lands they already have.
The Trump campaign remains committed to keeping federal lands in federal ownership, Trump said -- though he added that states need a more active role in managing them and said state ownership might make sense in certain circumstances if public access could be guaranteed.
Trump said he's also encouraged that Interior was able to garner "bipartisan" support from Western states to avert an ESA listing for the greater sage grouse.
FWS last September found the charismatic bird did not warrant protections thanks to new conservation plans crafted by BLM and the Forest Service, which manage most of the bird's remaining habitat, and significant new federal funding to preserve privately owned habitat.
But the federal land-use plans are being challenged in court by oil and gas, mining and grazing groups, Western counties and the states of Idaho and Utah, which have argued they are too restrictive.
Trump said he supports a "happy medium" that saves the bird and enables energy independence, though he refrained from criticizing the federal land-use plans.
ESA does not have to be dismantled, Trump said, though he didn't rule out the need for changes.
"I think the Endangered Species Act has done some great things," he said. "But I also think that at times it's been used as a Trojan horse to [advance] other agendas that probably don't have as much to do with the species in question as the people pushing their agendas would like everyone else to believe."
He took a parting shot at Clinton's hunting credentials.
"The other candidate... talks about her great experiences growing up duck hunting with a rifle," he said. "Now, I'm a pretty good shot, but I'm not shooting ducks with a rifle. So maybe she's a lot better than me."
Ducks are hunted with shotguns.
It's not clear whether Clinton ever claimed to hunt ducks with a rifle. During the 2008 presidential race, Clinton spoke about a duck hunting trip in Arkansas where she shot a banded duck. A CBS News article referred to Clinton holding a rifle, though it's unclear if those were Clinton's words.
Regardless, Trump Jr. said he takes issue with candidates posing as hunters in hopes of courting the hook-and-bullet crowd. He pledged to stock the federal wildlife agencies with sportsmen or their allies.
"It's the phoniness, the pandering to a voter bloc pretending to be something you're not to try to get their vote," he said. "You know, that's not what this is about to me. Hunting and fishing is my lifestyle."
Clinton's surrogate to the TRCP media summit, Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.), will get his chance to respond to Trump's remarks and other policy issues this morning.
http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2016/06/24/stories/1060039360
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A Federal Judge Just Struck Down Obama's Fracking Regulations
Jun 23, 2016 | Mother Jones
By Tim Mcdonnell
Obama’s attempt to crack down on the oil and gas industry just hit a major roadblock.
A major push by the Obama administration to curb the environmental impacts of fracking suffered a severe blow Wednesday evening, when a federal judge in Wyoming ruled that the proposed regulations overstepped the government's authority. The decision could mean that President Barack Obama will leave office without delivering on one of environmentalists' biggest demands: Clamping down on air and water pollution from the chemicals used in fracking, a controversial oil and gas drilling technique that has driven the country's oil and gas boom during Obama's tenure.
The Interior Department had sought to require inspections of fracked oil and gas wells on public land, and also to require that companies publicly disclose the chemicals used in those wells. (Fracking entails injecting a high-pressure cocktail of water, sand, and chemicals into underground shale formations.) The proposal was contested by the state of Wyoming, a major producer of natural gas, and by a group of oil industry trade groups. According to the ruling by Judge Scott Skavdahl, an Obama appointee, "Congress has not delegated to the Department of Interior the authority to regulate hydraulic fracturing. The [Bureau of Land Management]'s effort to do so through the Fracking Rule is in excess of its statutory authority and contrary to law."
Only about 10 percent of the nation's fracking operations take place on federal land,according to the New York Times—the rest happens on state, local, or private land that would not have been subject to the federal regulations. Still, the rules would have given Obama a significant environmental victory and would help counter the argument put forth by many activists that his legacy on climate change has been muddied by the fracking boom.
Another regulation that could restrict fracking, focused on methane emissions from oil and gas wells, was released by the Environmental Protection Agency in May and is likely to face a similar slate of litigation that could unfold after Obama leaves office.
In any case, the ruling "is not the final word," as the Times explains:
While the regulation will be temporarily halted, the federal Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit is also reviewing the rule. Obama administration officials characterized Judge Skavdahl's ruling as a delay, and said they were waiting for the decision by the appeals court.
"It's unfortunate that implementation of the rule continues to be delayed, because it prevents regulators from using 21st century standards to ensure that oil and gas operations are conducted safely and responsibly on public and tribal lands," the Interior Department said in a statement from the agency's spokeswoman, Jessica Kershaw.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2016/06/obamas-plan-crack-down-fracking-just-took-major-blow
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Oil pipeline spills thousands of gallons near California coast
Jun 23, 2016 | The Hill- E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
An pipeline in southern California spilled up to 29,400 gallons of oil Thursday just a short distance from the Pacific Ocean.
The leak spurred a hurried emergency response; firefighters were able to stop the oil before it reached the ocean, the Los Angeles Times reports.
The spill happened on the northern edge of Ventura in the Hall Canyon area, and was originally estimated at up to 210,000 gallons after it was reported at 5:30 a.m. Thursday.
It flowed into a ravine that leads to the ocean, but it was far enough inland that it would have taken a while to reach the Pacific, the Times said.
The oil left a black sludge on the ground and over plants in the canyon.
The line is owned by Crimson Pipeline, which has about 1,000 miles of pipeline in California and more in Louisiana. It was carrying oil for Aera Energy.
Crimson shut off the pipeline quickly after the breach, but gravity pushed more oil out of the pipe.
The spill happened just over a year after a pipeline owned by Plains All American spilled about 143,000 gallons of oil onto a beach in Santa Barbara County.
That oil went into the ocean and reached as far as Los Angeles.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/284672-oil-pipeline-spills-thousands-of-gallons-near-california-coast
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Firefighters Contain Pipeline Oil Spill in California
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
Firefighters in Ventura, Calif., contained a spill of an estimated 700 barrels, or 29,400 gallons, of crude oil from a pipeline, preventing it from flowing into the city and the Pacific Ocean, officials said.
The June 23 spill involved an underground pipeline operated by Crimson Pipeline LLC of Long Beach. Responders dammed and diked the area to contain the spill. “We initiated a rapid hazardous materials response and got ahead of the incident as much as possible,” the city of Ventura Fire Department said at a news conference.
A maintenance worker reported the spill, which appears to involve a valve, Crimson spokeswoman Kendall Kingler said. The pipeline runs from Ventura County to Los Angeles and had been shut down for maintenance, she said.
Initial reports estimated the spill at 5,000 barrels, but it was later adjusted. California Department of Fish and Wildlife Spill Prevention and Response officials are investigating potential harm to wildlife.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=92488147&vname=dennotallissues&fn=92488147&jd=92488147
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Updates: Oil spill in Ventura County; assessment of damage underway
Jun 23, 2016 | Los Angeles TImes
By Veronica Rocha
An oil spill that may have released more than 29,000 gallons of crude into a grassy canyon in Ventura County did not reach the beach or trigger evacuations, Ventura County fire officials say.
Assessments of damage and air quality are underway.
The pipeline in question has a history of spills.“The pump has been shut down," a firefighter said.
"There’s no way it can get to the ocean.”
Emergency responders are working to determine whether oil from a spill Thursday was flowing to any other areas, officials said.
The pipeline leak was spotted about 5:30 a.m. in a gorge called Prince Barranca and was estimated to involve up to 700 barrels of crude, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Mike Lindbery said. The leak originated in a pump station, which has been shut down.
"Any flow at this point is residual," city officials said in a statement.
The cause of the leak is under investigation and has not been determined.
The oil is from Ventura County, and the 10-inch pipeline delivers crude to the Los Angeles Basin, including Exxon Mobil’s Torrance refinery.
Authorities issued the following message to area residents about the spill:
“The oil spill in Hall Canyon is currently contained in the Prince Barranca. Crews will be working around the area and residents are advised to avoid contact with the oil and take safeguards to protect pets and property. Residents may smell strong odors and at this time air quality monitoring is taking place."
http://www.latimes.com/la-me-live-updates-oil-spill-ventura-county-20160623-htmlstory.html
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EPA Chemical Security Overhaul Ripe for Challenge: Attorney
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed overhaul of its chemical security risk management framework is likely to get hit with a range of legal challenges, a partner at Bracewell LLP said June 22.
The American Petroleum Institute and other industry groups will likely challenge the proposal, known as the Accidental Release Prevention Requirements: Risk Management Programs Under the Clean Air Act (RIN:2050-AG82), immediately following finalization, said Matt Paulson, who represents companies in the chemical manufacturing sector.
Those groups are poised to litigate against what they see as statutory overreach and unauthorized enforcement authority on EPA's part, he said.
The Obama administration's Spring Unified Agenda projected the release of a final rule in December, but Paulson suggested that could come sooner. He spoke at the Air and Waste Management Association conference in New Orleans.
‘Lock This Down.'
“They are probably going to try to lock this down within the next two weeks in order to have six months before the new administration takes over, which makes it much harder for the next administration to change this rule in the seemingly unlikely hypothetical where there is a Republican administration taking over,” Paulson said.
EPA officials, however, wrapped up the comment period for the proposal only six weeks ago, and the agency hasn't yet submitted the tentative final rule to the Office of Management and Budget for final review. The budget office typically takes months to finalize their review.
The proposal requires chemical facilities to conduct analyses of inherently safer technologies and coordinate third-party audits, while revising language on emergency preparedness, public access to information on the facilities and disaster response coordination.
Industry Auditing Complaints
Christine Kurtz, environmental regulatory assurance manager at 3M, outlined a laundry list of industry complaints, echoing those issued during the comment period and an EPA hearing on the proposal.
They say the rule requires too stringent competency and independency qualifications for potential auditors, which would limit the pool of available personnel, Kurtz said.
“The third-party auditor could not have worked for your facility in the past three years and then won't be able to work at your facility for the next three years after,” she said. “It might make some consultants say ‘I'm not going to be an auditor' because probably the work is more valuable than just that single audit, and also it's probably going to mean that, well let's say a person hasn't worked at your facility in three years, than how can they be really all that familiar with your process?”
Industry also criticizes the proposal for including safer technology language, which it says would unreasonably burden industry. The public disclosure mandates, meanwhile, would elevate the risk of terrorism, industry critics have argued.
‘Unauthorized Enforcement Authority.'
The rule has legal “vulnerabilities,” but judicial annulment is no guarantee, Paulson said.
The proposal's certification mandates, however, may mark a breach of enforcement authority, he said.
“EPA does not have the resources to do a full Risk Management Plan inspection program and enforce it, and so what they've done here is they've outsourced it and forced industry to pay for it,” Paulson said. “That's what's going on here; that's what this rule is. It's brilliant. They're not stupid.”
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is expected to field the litigation because of the air regulation statute's national applicability language.
Further, the existing statute requires the EPA to consult with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, but the agency neglected to meet that obligation, Paulson said.
The 2013 West, Texas, fertilizer explosion, which killed 15 people including 12 first responders, precipitated a chemical security Executive Order directing the EPA, along with occupational health and homeland security agencies, to reexamine the risk management program.
Changes Unlikely
EPA officials have repeatedly pointed to two-and-a-half years of industry outreach on the proposal as justification for the 60-day comment period they allowed.
“The truth is they're not going to change a single thing about this rule. It is a legacy issue for the administration,” Paulson said.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=92488126&vname=dennotallissues&fn=92488126&jd=92488126
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AAR Files Comments Urging FRA To Withdraw Proposed Rule Mandating Two-Person Train Crews
Jun 23, 2016 | American Journal of Transportation
Proposed Crew Size Mandate Is Unsupported By Data, As Safety Agency Itself Acknowledges
AAR: Rule Could Undermine Efforts to Enhance Freight Rail Safety
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Association of American Railroads (AAR) today urged the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to withdraw its proposed rule mandating two-person crews on railroads. In comments filed with the FRA, the AAR said that the proposal not only lacks any data-driven justification but could also undermine efforts to improve freight rail safety.
“There is no greater priority for the freight rail industry than safety, but this proposed rule offers no safety benefit to railroads, their employees or the public,” said Edward R. Hamberger, President and CEO of the AAR. “There is absolutely no data to support the view that a second crewmember enhances safety. This regulation is trying to solve a problem that does not exist.”
In its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published on March 15, the FRA acknowledged that it lacks any data to support the assertion that two-person crews are safer than one-person crews. In fact, the FRA notes that “it is possible that one-person crews have contributed to the improving safety record” of the rail industry. The NPRM also largely ignored studies provided by AAR in January 2015 that quantify the strong safety record of single-person operations, which are used all over the world.
“With no evidence that one-person operations are less safe, there is simply no basis for enacting a general prohibition on crew size reductions,” Hamberger said.
Historically, the FRA has treated crew size as a labor issue to be addressed through the collective bargaining process rather than as a safety issue. By mandating crew sizes, the FRA would be creating a new economic burden for rail operators that already operate with only one crewmember, as well as those that would be prevented from reducing crew sizes in the future. The FRA’s move is ironic because it comes just as the Class I railroads are in the process of implementing Positive Train Control (PTC) technology, which is designed to override human error in the cab.
The AAR also emphasized that unnecessary rules like this may stifle future technological innovations that could make the freight rail network safer and more efficient. New safety technologies often also provide productivity and efficiency gains to the railroads that implement them, and smart regulatory policy should be designed to encourage — not inhibit — railroads from investing in those technologies.
“This proposed rule is a textbook example of unnecessary regulation, and, if implemented, would have a chilling effect on the development of new technologies that could make the world’s safest transportation network even safer,” Hamberger said. “While the Department of Transportation is throwing its full support behind the development of autonomous vehicles as a way to improve safety on our roadways, it is doing the opposite with our railroads.”
https://www.ajot.com/news/aar-files-comments-urging-fra-to-withdraw-proposed-rule-mandating-two-perso
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Railroad defends safety of fasteners that failed in oil train wreck
| AP (The Oregonian)
The Latest on the investigation into a June 3 fiery oil train derailment in Oregon (all times local):
12:40 a.m.
A spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad says the company's rail fastening system has an outstanding safety history.
Spokesman Justin Jacobs' statement was in response to the Federal Railroad Administration's preliminary report on a June 3 fiery oil train derailment in the town of Mosier, Oregon. The report blamed Union Pacific for not properly maintaining its tracks and missing problems with bolts that fasten the rail ties to the rails.
Jacobs says the company will replace all the lag bolts with rail spikes, which will make problems easier to detect on inspections.
He also says an upgraded braking system called for by the Federal Railroad Administration wouldn't have made a difference in the severity of the derailment.
___
8:45 a.m.
The mayor in a town where an oil train derailed says she is alarmed by a preliminary report blaming Union Pacific Railroad for not properly maintaining its track.
The Federal Railroad Administration said in the report obtained Thursday by the AP that inspections should have caught weakened or broken bolts that hold the rail ties to the rails.
Mayor Arlene Burns says the report on the June 3 wreck in Mosier raises questions about why Union Pacific didn't find the problem when it inspected the tracks three days before the derailment.
Officials say Union Pacific faces potential penalties for safety violations.
The derailment released 42,000 gallons of crude oil and sparked a massive fire that burned for 14 hours.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2016/06/railroad_defends_safety_of_fas.html
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AGA Identifies Areas of Concern With PHMSA's Proposed Pipeline Rules
| Natural Gas Intelligence
As the clock runs out to respond to more than 700 pages of documents over proposed rules governing natural gas pipelines by the Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), the American Gas Association (AGA) said it has identified several areas of concern.
The trade association added that the rules are "very prescriptive and convoluted" and said it is difficult to determine the regulatory agency's intent in several areas.
In a 549-page notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) issued last March, PHMSA proposed adding thousands of miles of gathering lines to its purview, requiring pipeline inspections after extreme weather events such as floods, earthquakes and hurricanes, and more frequent inspections of pipelines in rural areas (seeDaily GPI, March 21). Two months later, it granted the oil and gas industry an additional 30 days to submit comments on the NPRM, half of what was requested (see Daily GPI, May 10).
During a conference call Thursday, Erin Kurilla, AGA director for operations and engineering services, said her association and others also had to pore over more than 200 pages of an environmental assessment related to the proposed rules.
"The heart of this rulemaking was around addressing Congressional mandates and NTSB [National Transportation Safety Board] recommendations," Kurilla said. "We at AGA have not dismissed PHMSA's goals of achieving those mandates and recommendations but instead offered alternative code language."
Christine Wyman, AGA senior counsel, added that the association "came across several areas where there were inconsistent statements, or possibly unintended consequences, of very prescriptive and convoluted regulations."
Definition of a transmission line
An example is the definition of a transmission line, something Wyman said has not changed much since the beginning of pipeline safety regulations.
"PHMSA has proposed to revise it slightly, so that it would incorporate additional pipeline mileage," Wyman said. "This is an area where we've had extensive conversations with our members about how this would impact them, the possible safety benefits and the unintended consequences. We have really worked with our members to figure out what our position should be."
But Wyman said that task is made more difficult because PHMSA hasn't offered any justification or explanation for the change, nor has it provided an assessment of potential impact from changing it.
"Ironically, in their response to the comments on the advance NPRM, PHMSA responded that the definition is actually outside the scope of this rulemaking," Wyman said. "So with that context, we're left to have conversations with our members that are really speculating as to what PHMSA's concerns are. As we approach what our position is going to be and how we're trying to address those concerns, it's really all just based on speculation as to why PHMSA's doing this."
Maximum allowable operating pressure
Kurilla said a second area of concern to the AGA relates to maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP), an important subject as regulators and the industry try to avoid another disaster such as the pipeline rupture and explosion in San Bruno, CA, in 2010 (see Daily GPI, Sept. 15, 2010).
Under the proposed rules, grandfathered pipelines, or those constructed before 1970, face a Congressional mandate to perform some form of MAOP verification. PHMSA has provided six different methods to do so, but Kurilla said that creates a problem with the rules' applicability.
"A pipeline that is grandfathered -- and therefore has no record of a pressure test but is using historical pressures to verify their MAOP -- would be required to verify their MAOP through one of these six new methods offered PHMSA, five of which are not pressure tests," Kurilla said. "Therefore, if they choose any of those five, they would still be required to perform a pressure test in order to meet all of the requirements within that new section of code.
"If it sounds complicated, that's because it is. It took a lot people that are arguably very smart to realize that this is a circular reference that really forces operators' hands versus providing the flexibility that Congress asked PHMSA to provide."
Distribution lines also impacted
Although PHMSA has repeatedly stated the proposed rules are to cover transmission and gathering lines, Wyman said revisions to the agency's safety code would also impact distribution lines.
"We've found numerous places where PHMSA is proposing new requirements or revising requirements that aren't limited in applicability to just transmission lines," Wyman said. "There are significant distinctions between transmission and distribution lines that need to be taken into account. This changes the tone of our comments and how we need to respond to PHMSA because it seems in their documentation that they're focused solely on transmission.
"We're trying to identify all of these areas where distribution is included as well, provide comments as to the appropriateness of this, provide solutions for dealing with distinctions between transmission and distribution, and just remind PHMSA of the unintended consequences of generally revising some of these regulations that have pretty broad applicability."
Problems with material verification, hydrostatic testing
Kurilla said the material verification section of the proposed rule appears to be based on outdated technologies and standards.
"This is a new section of code that would force operators who do not have reliable, traceable, verifiable and complete material property records to then go and verify those material properties," Kurilla said. "PHMSA has introduced very prescriptive sampling frequencies and testing frequencies on pipelines and their components.
"[But] AGA believes those sampling and testing frequencies are based off very dated technologies. When you see our comments, you will see a drive to bring these prescriptive requirements up to modern understanding and the tools that are available to operators today."
Kurilla said there were also issues with hydrostatic testing, especially for AGA's members who operate intrastate pipelines embedded within distribution systems.
"Whenever you introduce water, you're introducing an unknown element into a pipeline system that's not intended to be there," Kurilla said. "When you perform hydrostatic testing in a new construction environment, you're able to dry that system out completely and thus not expose the pipeline to potential internal corrosion. But in doing it for in-service pipelines, not only do you have to bring that pipeline out of service -- which could thus impact the ability for that company to maintain service to their customers -- but also you're introducing an element that's not meant to be there: water.
Hydrostatic testing also costs a lot more. "It costs significantly more to hydrostatically test a pipeline than to in-line inspect that pipeline," Kurilla said. "In-line inspection is one of the methodologies that PHMSA cites as an option for MAOP verification, although that flexibility seems to be taken away due to the way in which the code requirements are written."
Loss of regulatory flexibility
Wyman added that AGA was concerned about the loss of such regulatory flexibility.
"PHMSA has gone to great lengths to tout the proposed regulations in offering operators flexibility in meeting these Congressional mandates," Wyman said. "We appreciate that because our pipelines are more unique and can be challenging to perform these methods on.
"But the way the regulatory text is drafted, it eliminates flexibility. That's inconsistent with what PHMSA is saying about the rule. It's not reflected in their impact assessment, which actually suggests that most pipelines, including intrastate transmission, are going to use a combination of in-line inspection technology as well as the engineering critical assessment. This is where we're struggling."
Expected tone of AGA's comments
Kurilla said the AGA "won't necessarily introduce alternate methodologies, but instead provide clarity and updates to the methodologies that PHMSA has introduced, and cleaning up the regulatory language such that these loops don't exist anymore. Again, we're basing a lot of this off speculation. Not a lot of it is discussed at length in the proposed rule, so we're speculating a bit on PHMSA's intent."
But Kurilla added that the AGA will suggest that issues related to distribution lines be addressed in a separate rulemaking. "Even PHMSA states that was the intent in the preamble language," she said. "PHMSA makes it pretty clear that was their intent, but in the actual code text they bring in distribution. We have to assume that was not their intent.
"We're going to ask them to make sure that that's clear in the final rule, and if they have any concerns about distribution this needs to be addressed in a separate rulemaking."
AGA spokesman Jake Rubin said the association expects to file its comments in a couple weeks. PHMSA has set a July 7 deadline for comments [PHMSA-2011-0023].
PHMSA said its proposed regulations would meet four congressional mandates from the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty and Job Creation Act of 2011, one recommendation by the Government Accountability Office, and six recommendations from the NTSB, including one requiring that more modern testing be performed on pipelines built before 1970. PHMSA officials told NGI that approximately 57% of all onshore gas transmission pipelines were constructed before 1970.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/106863-aga-identifies-areas-of-concern-with-phmsas-proposed-pipeline-rules
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EPA Asked to Clarify Clean Power Plan Compliance Dates
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
More than 100 House members led by Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-Texas) asked the Environmental Protection Agency to clarify the agency's position on the Clean Power Plan compliance deadlines, given the Supreme Court's decision to halt the rule.
The June 23 letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy argues that the court stay necessarily delays compliance deadlines, in contrast to a recent statement by McCarthy that the ruling didn't address the issue.
The letter, signed by 112 lawmakers, expressed concern that McCarthy's statements could undermine the certainty the Supreme Court “was seeking to provide when it granted applications to stay” the rule to control carbon dioxide emissions from fossil-fuel-fired power plants.
The lone Democrat to sign the letter was Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.).
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=92488160&vname=dennotallissues&fn=92488160&jd=92488160
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Shelanski Contempt of Congress Vote Delayed in House
Jun 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee delayed a planned vote to hold the Obama administration's regulatory gatekeeper in contempt of Congress after receiving a significant number of additional documents, a committee aide told Bloomberg BNA June 23.
Republicans on the panel postponed indefinitely a planned June 23 vote on whether to hold Howard Shelanski, administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, in contempt of Congress over his response to a subpoena seeking records related to the Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' controversial Clean Water Act jurisdictional rule (RIN:2040-AF30).
The delay came as “more progress has been made in the last seven days than in the last 15 months,” according to the aide, and was announced before House Republicans adjourned the chamber until July 5 in response to a Democratic sit-in on the House floor over gun control legislation.
Those records included 13,000 pages of documents submitted on June 15 and 17,000 additional pages turned over on June 21, according to a spokeswoman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Many of the documents sent to the committee are fully or partially redacted, according to the aide, and require further explanation. In its June 16 report outlining the contempt of Congress charge, committee Republicans said Shelanski “refused to provide basic information” about the number of responsive documents and failed to show “a modicum of good faith” in responding to the subpoena.
After turning over the latest round of documents, “OMB has produced over 50,000 pages of documents to the committee and has advised the committee that we have not withheld any of the documents identified as responsive,” according to a spokeswoman.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=92488140&vname=dennotallissues&fn=92488140&jd=92488140
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EPA Sends 'Exceptional Events' Air Waiver Rule To OMB
Jun 23, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA has sent for White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review its final rule revising when and how states can claim Clean Air Act regulatory exemptions for “exceptional” episodes of air pollution, such as wind storms or wildfires, as the agency seeks to streamline implementation of the existing regulation.
The final rule sent to OMB June 22 seeks to simplify the process for states to claim exceptional events, clarifying definitions of key regulatory terms, according to the White House's website. EPA also sent a guidance document on implementation of the exceptional events for OMB review the same day.
OMB review typically takes up to 90 days, but can be shorter or longer depending on the circumstances. OMB's website lists the projected release date of the final rule as September.
Under the exceptional events policy, states can exclude air monitoring data from determinations of whether they meet federal air standards if the data were gathered during unplanned events that can lead to spikes in air pollution, such as wildfires.
States and federal agencies are placing a growing focus on improving estimates of air pollution associated with wildfires to address an increasing number of fires due to climate change, and potentially higher estimates could affect EPA rules including boosting demand for exemptions from ambient air limits due to wildfire pollution.
Historically, the existing exceptional events rule that EPA finalized in 2007 has proved cumbersome and slow for states, who faced a backlog of exceptional events claims accumulated at EPA regional offices, especially Region VI that covers California and other areas of the West.
However, the rule could be crucial to Western states' efforts to comply with EPA's Oct. 1 national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone of 70 parts per billion (ppb), tougher than the previous limit of 75 ppb. This is because Western states experience higher levels of naturally occurring background ozone than other states. The rule could be important for these states so they can exclude air monitoring data gathered during high-ozone events and therefore avoid a “nonattainment” designation that would trigger costly pollution control mandates.
EPA's proposed version of the exceptional events rule update issued last year aims to structure the rule around three Clean Air Act provisions that the agency says are fundamental: That the event affected air quality in such a way that there exists a clear causal relationship between the specific event and the monitored NAAQS exceedance or violation; the event was not reasonably controllable or preventable; and that the event was a human activity that is unlikely to recur at a particular location or was a natural event.
The agency proposes significant changes to the existing rule, such as revising the definition of exceptional event by allowing states to consider the combined effects of an event and the resulting emissions, a new concept.
EPA further proposes to eliminate a current requirement that states show they would have complied with a NAAQS “but for” the exceptional event causing high levels of pollution, which states have complained is too difficult to prove.
The agency is also proposing to find that states automatically meet the requirement that the event was “not reasonably controllable or preventable” if they have in place measures to prevent pollution from the affected sources under an EPA-approved state implementation plan (SIP) for NAAQS attainment or maintenance. SIPs are blueprints demonstrating how states will comply with Clean Air Act requirements.
EPA proposes to subsume an existing rule requirement that an event “affected air quality” under the “clear causal relationship” requirement, on the basis that affecting air quality is evidence of a causal relationship.
States in their comments on the proposal asked EPA to ensure that its pending final rule treats areas attaining NAAQS in the same manner as areas out of attainment for purposes of making exceptional events claims.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/epa-sends-exceptional-events-air-waiver-rule-omb
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California Regulators Voice Support For Cap And Trade Program
Jun 23, 2016 | Reuters
By Rory Carrol
Staff for California's air regulator on Thursday recommended the state extend its carbon cap and trade system beyond 2020, a move supported by utilities and some environmental groups but opposed by environmental activists representing low income communities.
The show of support comes after the state failed to sell any permits covering 2016 emissions at a recent state-run auction and market participants await the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the program.
Market regulators maintained that selling the permits, the proceeds of which fund low carbon programs like the state's bullet train, is not the primary point of the program – cutting carbon emissions is.
"The fact that there were allowances that were offered at auction but weren't sold doesn't say anything about the overall success of the program," said Mary Nichols, chair of the California Air Resources Board (ARB), suggesting industries were keeping a lid on carbon emissions rather than buying permits to emit more.
ARB staff on Thursday said the state is on track to meet its 2020 emissions reduction target of returning to 1990 levels and signaled its support for an extension of the carbon pricing program out to 2030, when cuts will have to be much deeper.
Legislation that would pave the way for the program to continue into the future has yet to come up to a vote and the exact level of support by lawmakers is unclear. The legislature also has yet to appropriate about $3 billion in cap and trade revenues.
Katie Valenzuela Garcia, an activist who sits on the board's Environmental Justice Advisory Committee, said the program should not continue without significant changes.
"I'm concerned by preliminary data from the adaptive management tool that show that the gross numbers for cap and trade facilities are going up," she said, arguing that industries are buying carbon permits so they can maintain or increase emissions from plants.
She and others on the committee worry that carbon markets give companies the flexibility to keep their most polluting refineries and factories open and said those facilities are often located in low income communities of color.
An ARB staff member on Thursday said Washington state intends to allow businesses there to use California permits to meet that state's emission reduction goal, a move that could boost demand for California carbon permits.
The fact that Washington wants to include California permits in its program is a testament to the state's leadership on environmental issues, Nichols said.
California will release a draft of its plan to cut emissions 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 later this summer. The plan is expected to include cap and trade.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-california-carbonregulations-idUSKCN0ZA076
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