Preview Newsletter
ACC AM 10/07/16
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(ACC Blog) Flexible Plastic Packaging: New Research Shows Potential For Increased Recycling And Recovery
Oct 6, 2016 | American Chemistry Matters
By Steve Russell
Have you ever stopped in an aisle at the grocery store and noticed how many items are now sold in flexible plastic packaging? From baby food to tuna fish, laundry detergent pods to pet food, many items once sold in glass or rigid plastic packaging are now sold in lightweight flexible packaging. -
(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Industry Group Airs Ads Praising 5 Republicans
Oct 6, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Gabriel Dunsmith
The American Chemistry Council today launched a series of television advertisements lauding five Republican members of Congress — three of whom are locked in tight Senate races. -
(ACC Mentioned) Solid PS, PET Resin Prices Rise
Oct 6, 2016 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American prices for solid polystyrene resin increased for the second month in a row in September, while regional prices for PET bottle resin regained a penny they had lost. -
(ACC Mentioned) Congress To Probe Into NIH’s Funding Of WHO Cancer Agency
Oct 6, 2016 | Immortal News
By Zye Angiwan
Officials at the National Institutes of Health will be questioned by a congressional committee on the funding of a controversial World Health Organization cancer agency, an exclusive from Reuters reports. -
New Asbestos Bill Introduced to the U.S. Senate
Oct 6, 2016 | Mesothelioma.com
By Jillian Duff
Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) have introduced the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2016 to the Senate. The act would expedite a ban on asbestos imports, as well as both current and future uses of the hazardous substance. -
Chemical Trade Secrets, Contracts Require Global View
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Chemical manufacturers must be aware of ways different chemical regulatory policies worldwide can affect trade secrets and data-sharing agreements with other companies, attorneys said Oct. 6. -
EPA Urged To Extend Perchlorate Model Comment Deadline
Oct 6, 2016 | Inside EPA
A group of companies that manufacture and use the rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate is urging EPA to extend by 90 days the Nov. 14 deadline for input on a model the agency intends to use as part of its development of a Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) standard for the chemical, saying more time is necessary to review the model. -
Echa And Industry Groups Commit To Promoting Use Maps
Oct 6, 2016 | Chemical Watch
A joint statement encouraging formulator industries to produce sector use maps and urging Cefic member companies to include such information in new and updated REACH registration dossiers was signed today at Cefic's General Assembly in Florence. -
Recent REACH Developments
Oct 6, 2016 | Mondaq
By Ursula Schliessner, Edward Rose and Aleš Bartl
Regulation 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals("REACH") applies to every manufacturer or importer into the European Union ("EU") of chemical substances on their own or in a mixture. REACH also applies, to a limited extent, to finished articles involving the release of chemicals or containing certain chemicals of concern. -
Hickenlooper, FERC's Bay Press For Middle Ground On Fracking
Oct 6, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Amanda Reilly
At a gathering of environmental attorneys here today, top state and federal officials lamented the polarization of energy issues in the United States, including hydraulic fracturing. -
Forecasts Undersell Future of North American LNG, Say Terminal Backers
Oct 6, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jeremiah Shelor
North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) export developers are taking the long-term view, setting aside the pessimism that has characterized the outlook for exporting gas since the collapse of oil prices in 2014. -
Senators Urge Obama To End Atlantic, Arctic Leasing
Oct 6, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Emily Yehle
Fourteen Democratic senators today asked President Obama to permanently end U.S. drilling in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans. -
Advocates Sue EPA Over Power Plant Startup Requirements
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
Environmental advocates are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to retain emissions control requirements that apply during power plant startup activities, when emissions are generally higher than during normal operations (Chesapeake Climate Action Network v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 16-1349, 10/6/16). -
Oil, Ethanol Groups Seek To Exclude Retailers, Others From RFS Lawsuit
Oct 6, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
Oil and ethanol industry groups are seeking to exclude a small retailers association and others from participating in consolidated litigation over EPA's multi-year renewable fuel standard (RFS) volumes rule, citing the lateness of the participants' legal filings and warning that their involvement would unnecessarily complicate an already complex case. -
Energy Challenge for Next President? Let Markets Work
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Leven
The next president of the U.S. should get out of the energy market's way when it comes to transitioning to cleaner alternatives, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) said Oct. 6. -
Oil Pipeline Appeals Court Case Narrowed; Protesters Stop Construction
Oct 7, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
Contrasting action took place on the North Dakota plains and inside a federal appellate court in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, and none of it resolved the controversy surrounding the $3.8 billion, four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline project now under construction. -
Oil Spill Response Plan Should Cover More Trains, Rep. DeFazio Says
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
A Transportation Department proposal (RIN:2137-AF08) to require increased oil spill response plans and information sharing among railroads shipping large amounts of crude oil and other flammable liquids should be expanded to cover some trains carrying smaller loads, the top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee said Oct. 6. -
Two California Refinery Oil Train Projects Rejected
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Carolyn Whetzel
A California county commission rejected Phillips 66 Company's proposal for a rail project at its Santa Maria Refinery. -
Coming Soon: Environment Panel's Big Makeover
Oct 6, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Arianna Skibell and Robin Bravende
The Senate's oddest couple is about to break up. Back in 2007, Sens. Barbara Boxer and Jim Inhofe were paired for the first time as their parties' leaders on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. They represent nearly perfect opposites. -
Trillions Needed for Green Infrastructure, Report Says
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrea Vittorio
The world needs to invest an estimated $90 trillion in transportation, buildings and other forms of infrastructure over the next 15 years, according to a new report from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate. -
Industry Wins Relief On EPA's HFC Leak Prevention Rule But Doubts Legality
Oct 6, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA's recently issued rule restricting leaks of climate-warming hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants from commercial equipment has provided industry groups with some relief compared to the proposed version but industry sources continue to doubt the agency's authority to regulate the substances under the air act. -
States Sue EPA To Force Decision On OTC Expansion
Oct 6, 2016 | Inside EPA
Six Northeastern states led by New York Oct. 6 sued EPA in federal district court to force the agency to respond to their December 2013 petition asking the agency to massively expand the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) region, which currently includes all or part of 12 states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. -
Paris Climate Accord a Bad Deal, Trump Campaign Says
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Renee Schoof
The international Paris Agreement on climate change is a bad deal, Donald Trump's campaign said shortly after the agreement reached the threshold of support it needed to go into effect. -
New UN Secretary-General May Raise Climate Change Profile
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Eric J. Lyman
Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres was unanimiously nominated Oct. 6 by the United Nations Security Council to become the ninth secretary-general of the UN, likely raising the profile of the plight of refugees in future climate talks.
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Oct 6, 2016 | American Chemistry Matters
By Steve Russell
Have you ever stopped in an aisle at the grocery store and noticed how many items are now sold in flexible plastic packaging? From baby food to tuna fish, laundry detergent pods to pet food, many items once sold in glass or rigid plastic packaging are now sold in lightweight flexible packaging. And while flexible plastic packaging offers many benefits, such as increased resource efficiency, better product protection, and lower environmental impact, most flexible plastic packaging cannot be recycled – yet.
But new research shows that there could be a way to recover this packaging using technology already in place. The Materials Recovery for the Future (MRFF) collaborative developed a research program that looked at the ability to effectively recover flexible plastic packaging at a single-stream materials recovery facility (MRF). The research, conducted by Resource Recycling Systems, found that automated sorting technologies already used at MRFs today can be optimized to efficiently capture flexible plastic packaging. This could create a new stream of recovered materials while improving the quality of other recycling streams.
The MRFF collaborative – which includes brand owners, manufacturers, and packaging industry organizations – is moving into its second phase of research. The research will focus on further refinements to sorting technology, characterizing the flexible plastic packaging bale for use by downstream recyclers, and developing a recovery facility demonstration project.
To view the report and infographics, or learn how your company can get involved, visitwww.materialsrecoveryforthefuture.com.
MRFF members include Amcor, The Dow Chemical Company, LyondellBasell, Nestlé Purina PetCare andNestlé USA, PepsiCo, Plum Organics, The Procter & Gamble Company, SC Johnson, Sealed Air, and Targetas well as the Association for Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers (APR), the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association (SPI), and the American Chemistry Council.
https://blog.americanchemistry.com/2016/10/flexible-plastic-packaging-new-research-shows-potential-for-increased-recycling-and-recovery/
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(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Industry Group Airs Ads Praising 5 Republicans
Oct 6, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Gabriel Dunsmith
The American Chemistry Council today launched a series of television advertisements lauding five Republican members of Congress — three of whom are locked in tight Senate races.
The ads from the chemical industry's largest trade group are promoting Sens. Rob Portman of Ohio and Roy Blunt of Missouri, who face competitive challengers this fall, as well as Nevada Rep. Joe Heck, who is in a tossup race to replace retiring Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). The group is also running ads in support of House Majority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, and Rep. Pat Tiberi of Ohio, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, is featured in the Portman ad.
ACC's ads are technically not endorsements; rather, they are accolades that seek to bolster the public image of each member of Congress.
"Chemistry is the fourth-largest manufacturing industry in Nevada," ACC President and CEO Cal Dooley said in his praise for Heck. "Because of chemistry's impact in the state ... we want to acknowledge Rep. Heck's commitment and leadership on key issues that help our economy."
The group made similar statements for the other members.
The trade group singled out Louisiana and Ohio as vital places for chemical manufacturing: The states are the third- and sixth-largest chemical producers in the United States, respectively, and chemical producers are economic heavyweights in each state.
ACC particularly praised Scalise for his "conservative leadership" and efforts to "keep taxes low."
Click here to see the ad for Scalise, here to see the ad for Blunt, here to see the ad for Portman and Tiberi, and here to see the ad for Heck.
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2016/10/06/stories/1060043972
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(ACC Mentioned) Solid PS, PET Resin Prices Rise
Oct 6, 2016 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American prices for solid polystyrene resin increased for the second month in a row in September, while regional prices for PET bottle resin regained a penny they had lost.
Solid PS prices in the region bounced up an average of 3 cents per pound in September after seeing a 2-cent hike in August. The September jump was tied into a 22-cent-per-gallon upswing in prices for benzene feedstock. Benzene prices for September closed at $2.51 per gallon — up almost 10 percent from the previous month.
Regional PS prices now are up a net of 6 cents per pound since Jan. 1. North American PS sales through August were down almost 1 percent compared to the same period in 2015, according to the American Chemistry Council. Sales of the material into food packaging and food service — its largest end market — essentially were flat, while sales into the electrical/electronic end market grew 1 percent.
Regional prices for PET bottle resin ticked up by an average of 1 cent per pound in September, after they had slipped down by that same amount in August. The move followed an increase in September contact prices for paraxylene feedstock, market sources said.
The 1-cent hike is the first increase seen by North American PET since a 2-cent jump took hold in April. Prices after that had been flat for three months before declining in August. Regional PET bottle resin prices now are up a net of 1 cent per pound so far in 2016.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20161006/NEWS/161009890/solid-ps-pet-resin-prices-rise
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(ACC Mentioned) Congress To Probe Into NIH’s Funding Of WHO Cancer Agency
Oct 6, 2016 | Immortal News
By Zye Angiwan
Officials at the National Institutes of Health will be questioned by a congressional committee on the funding of a controversial World Health Organization cancer agency, an exclusive from Reuters reports.
An aide to the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said that NIH officials will be giving the committee a briefing after lawmakers questioned why taxpayers’ money is going to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The semi-autonomous agency is a part of the WHO, based in Lyon, France and is under fire over its classification of carcinogens.
The in-person hearing will be conducted in private, between the NIH officials and committee investigators, the aide said. No date has been set, but both parties are working to schedule it soon.
The committee’s chairman expressed his concern over a growing number of lawmakers who questioned the way the IARC reviews and classifies cancer-causing substances. Experts and critics say the agency can be too quick to slap carcinogen labels on things, causing needless health scares. The IARC, for its part, maintains that its methods are based on scientific evidence.
Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz wrote a letter to NIH director Francis Collins, citing the IARC’s “record of controversy, retractions, and inconsistencies,” and wanting to know why the NIH continued to fund it. Chaffetz added,
IARC’s standards and determinations for classifying substances as carcinogenic, and therefore cancer-causing, appear inconsistent with other scientific research, and have generated much controversy and alarm.
The NIH confirmed that they received the letter and that they will address everything directly with the investigating committee.
The WHO says to refer all questions to the IARC. Chris Wild, director of the agency, wrote a letter to the NIH saying the criticisms are invalid and that the IARC’s classifications are “widely respected for their scientific rigor, standardized and transparent process and … freedom from conflicts of interest.”
Chaffetz is asking the NIH to give a full report on its guidelines for awarding grants and how the recipients are vetted, along with a disclosure of NIH funds provided to the IARC or anything spent on research or activities conducted.
The investigation could put a significant dent in the IARC’s budget, as its resources are relatively modest. In 2014, its revenue was only 30 million euros, or $33 million.
According to Chaffetz, the NIH has funneled over $1.2 million to the IARC this year and has given a total of around $40 million to the agency since 1992.
The American Chemistry Council, another critic of the IARC, welcomed the news, calling the agency’s process “fundamentally-flawed” with “questionable results.” The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), both United Nations and United States regulators have also disputed the IARC’s classification of glyphosate, a weed killer that the agency claimed is “probably carcinogenic.”
This conflict impelled Robert Aderholt, chairman of the US Congressional Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, to write to the NIH, questioning the national body’s grants to the IARC. The move has led to this congressional hearing the NIH is facing.
https://www.immortal.org/29343/congress-probe-nihs-funding-cancer-agency/
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New Asbestos Bill Introduced to the U.S. Senate
Oct 6, 2016 | Mesothelioma.com
By Jillian Duff
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senators Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.) have introduced the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2016 to the Senate. The act would expedite a ban on asbestos imports, as well as both current and future uses of the hazardous substance.
With the Alan Reinstein Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would be able to make the manufacture, processing, use, commercial distribution, and disposal of asbestos illegal after 18 months of its passing.
This act follows the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act that passed this summer. The Lautenberg Act is an overhaul to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which hadn’t been overhauled since 1976 when it was originally approved. Industry officials and public health activists agreed the law wasn’t effective being 40 years old and overseeing thousands of chemicals.
“The [Lautenberg] bill is a clear improvement over the current TSCA and represents a historic advancement for both chemical safety and environmental law,” said the White House in a statement.
The Lautenberg Act requires the EPA to evaluate new and existing chemicals against a higher safety standard than before. It also proposes clear and enforceable deadlines for the EPA to act. It limits the number of unwarranted claims of confidentiality that can be made by chemical companies. And it includes funding for the EPA to carry out the new measures.
“Well, it looks like American families will have to wait a bit longer for betterprotection from toxic chemicals,” wrote Richard Denison of the Environmental Defense Fund in a blog after the Lautenberg Act was passed.
A drawback of the Lautenberg Act is that it gives the EPA as long as 12 years to assess and regulate asbestos. The Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2016 would allow for the same actions, but in a much smaller amount of time.
“While we encourage Congress to support Senator Boxer’s bill, we continue to urge the EPA to prioritize asbestos in its first 10 high-risk chemicals evaluated under LCSA, ensuring swift regulation of this lethal toxin,” said Linda Reinstein, president of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) and widow to the bill’s namesake.
“America can’t afford to wait seven to twelve more years to end the man-made asbestos disaster,” said Reinstein.
There are a number of other asbestos regulations and laws in place and this new act isn’t the first attempt to expedite a ban on asbestos. Senator Boxer introduced a different bill named after Reinstein’s late husband in 2015. It did not pass.
“Please join me in thanking Senators Boxer and Tester, and in urging Congress to take this opportunity to show true dedication to protecting public health and our environment,” said Reinstein.
http://www.mesothelioma.com/news/2016/10/new-asbestos-bill-introduced-to-the-us-senate-.htm
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Chemical Trade Secrets, Contracts Require Global View
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Chemical manufacturers must be aware of ways different chemical regulatory policies worldwide can affect trade secrets and data-sharing agreements with other companies, attorneys said Oct. 6.
“We can't emphasize enough that companies need to manage data and data needs on a global scale,” Ruxandra Cana, a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP's Brussels office, said during a webinar the firm offered. Attorneys discussed ways toxicity and other data generated for the European Union's REACH regulations could be used domestically under the U.S. Toxic Substances Control Act.
They also discussed concerns that can arise when data used to comply with one country's or region's regulations are used for compliance in another part of the world. For example, trade secret protections could be lost because regulatory systems differ as to how they protect confidential business information, Cana said.
Companies also have to be aware of when they should assert their rights to have data protected as proprietary information, said Steptoe attorney Sara Beth Watson.
Under TSCA, companies now must assert and substantiate their need to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to have information protected, she said.
Review REACH Contracts
Chemical manufacturers from around the world have generated and submitted a tremendous amount of information to comply with REACH, Cana said, referring to the European Union's registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals regulation ((EC) No.1907/2006).
Judah Prero, an attorney with Sidley Austin LLP, told Bloomberg BNA that some of the publicly available data generated through REACH could be useful for general screening information to determine whether potential health or environmental concerns are flagged.
Access to and use of the underlying data, however, are governed by contractual data-sharing agreements companies negotiated under REACH, Cana and Prero said. To reduce animal use in testing, REACH requires companies to share vertebrate animal toxicity data and encourages them to share non-vertebrate data.
There are many variations, but data-sharing agreements typically break down into several categories, Cana said.
Consortia agreements negotiated among companies and their affiliates for newly generated toxicity data often allowed consortia members to use that information worldwide, she said.
For previously conducted studies, however, consortia agreements typically limited members’ data rights to REACH compliance, according to Cana. The extent to which a consortia member's affiliates could access that data varied, she said.
Substance Information Exchange Forum, or SIEF, arrangements typically said members could use shared data only to comply with REACH, Cana said.
She urged U.S. companies to review contracts for REACH data to determine when U.S. affiliates would have rights and how much data they could access.
Renegotiating Contracts?
Prero said changes the U.S. Congress made to TSCA could spur some companies with contractual agreements, which delineate their access to REACH data, to renegotiate those agreements. He referred to the TSCA amendments brought about through the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act (Pub. L. No. 114-182), which became law June 22.
The Lautenberg Act requires the EPA to eventually evaluate all chemicals in commerce to determine which are a high priority for risk evaluation, Prero said.
“If there is information—particularly information that indicates the safety of a chemical—companies are going to want to make sure EPA has that data for TSCA prioritization purposes,” he said. “There are more companies that will now have an interest in renegotiating.”
Chemical manufacturers that are still negotiating data-sharing arrangements as they prepare for REACH's 2018 registration deadline should make sure their agreement allows the data to be used for regulatory compliance in other regions, Prero said.
Under REACH, chemicals that are produced in or imported into the European Economic Area in volumes of 1 million to 100 million metric tons must be registered by May 31, 2018, to have continued market access. The European Economic Area consists of the European Union member states, Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.
Exposure Data
Asked whether exposure data generated for REACH could be useful for TSCA, Watson told Bloomberg BNA that Predicted No Effect Concentrations, known as PNECs, and Derived No-Effect Levels, or DNELs, are publicly available.
Predicted No Effect Concentrations are based on physical-chemical and biodegradation data and describe concentrations of a chemical in water that are not expected to harm aquatic life. Derived No-Effect Levels are similar but used for human health assessments and are typically based on laboratory animal studies.
Chemical manufacturers and consortia usually request specific exposure data be kept confidential since their disclosure could provide information about how chemicals are made or used at specific facilities, Watson said.
Even if such exposure data—which can be expensive and technically challenging to collect—were available, Prero said it might not be applicable to the ways chemicals are made or used in the U.S.
Global Variations
Watson flagged one caution for chemical makers or consultants searching for data.
Chemicals could be named differently in different parts of the world and their Chemical Abstracts Service numbers can vary, she told Bloomberg BNA following the webinar.
“Knowledge of the systems used in various jurisdictions will help to facilitate the search” for information, Watson said.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98345148&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98345148&jd=98345148
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EPA Urged To Extend Perchlorate Model Comment Deadline
Oct 6, 2016 | Inside EPA
A group of companies that manufacture and use the rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate is urging EPA to extend by 90 days the Nov. 14 deadline for input on a model the agency intends to use as part of its development of a Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) standard for the chemical, saying more time is necessary to review the model.
In an Oct. 4 request to EPA, the Perchlorate Study Group (PSG) says a 90-day comment period is the “minimum necessary” to adequately review and comment on the biologically based dose-response (BBDR) model, as “[t]o fully understand and evaluate the extraordinarily complex BBDR model, it is necessary to 'deconstruct' it, including identifying and evaluating all of the scientific and policy assumptions embedded in the model.”
The PSG includes Aerojet Rocketdyne, American Pacific, Lockheed Martin and Orbital ATK, and the letter responds to EPA's Sept. 30 release of the model which set a 45-day comment period that ends Nov. 14. If the agency were to grant the request it would extend the original comment deadline to Dec. 29.
PSG further argues that the comment deadline should be extended because of issues with the software that can run the model code, and is necessary to evaluate the model. PSG says that while EPA has released the model code on two different software platforms, one is no longer manufactured or available and the second “is a free software environment, but several 'add-ins' are necessary for a BBDR model to operate on this platform.”
EPA's science advisors recommended in 2013 that EPA pursue the development of such a model to craft a perchlorate drinking water standard. But development of the model took longer than the advisors anticipated. Former Administrator Lisa Jackson's February 2011 determination that EPA should regulate perchlorate started a two-year clock for EPA to propose that standard as required by SDWA by February 2013. EPA's inability to meet that led to a lawsuit last February from the Natural Resources Defense Council.
PSG's request may further up the ante in the ongoing lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Environmentalists are working to hasten the case's progress through court.
EPA has acknowledged that it missed a February 2013 deadline to propose the rule, though the parties disagree over whether EPA also missed a statutory deadline to finalize the rule.
Most recently, the Justice Department, representing EPA in the suit, announced that the parties had tentatively reached a settlement agreement, though no details of the deal were released.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/epa-urged-extend-perchlorate-model-comment-deadline
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Echa And Industry Groups Commit To Promoting Use Maps
Oct 6, 2016 | Chemical Watch
A joint statement encouraging formulator industries to produce sector use maps and urging Cefic member companies to include such information in new and updated REACH registration dossiers was signed today at Cefic's General Assembly in Florence.
The symbolic signing by the heads of Cefic, Echa and the Downstream Users of Chemicals Coordination (Ducc) group marks a greater effort to ensure as many chemical companies and formulators use a common format for passing information on substance uses and exposure scenarios up and down the supply chain.
In June, Echa executive director Geert Dancert wrote to Cefic director general Marco Mensink to say downstream sectors needed "clear signals that registrants intend to utilise this information for their registration dossiers and the corresponding safety data sheets".
He added that "registrants need to show commitment to utilise use maps for 2018 registration and for updating existing dossiers."
And using his keynote address to Cefic's general assembly today – the first time he has addressed the CEOs of the chemical industry – Mr Dancet described registration dossiers as "assets".
If their information is good enough they would ensure Echa conducts better screening and priority setting and does not evaluate substances "unnecessarily", he said.
Speaking to Chemical Watch, he said he wanted to highlight the need to improve dossier compliance, particularly "the weak read-acrosses that are in the registration dossiers", and link this to Echa's integrated regulatory strategy.
"We want to work together with the sub-sectors of Cefic and other associations to identify which substances are of concern and which ones are not" Geert Dancet
"We want to work together with the sub-sectors of Cefic and other associations to identify which substances are of concern and which ones are not."
A cooperative approach, he said, "yields more than us digging into all dossiers."
"Our strategy includes both carrots and sticks but we haven't been clear what the carrots are ... By working together we may, in the end, need fewer compliance checks than we originally wanted if there is more voluntary updating by Cefic sub-sectors and the other associations that group the substance suppliers."
Addressing Cefic's assembly he invited companies "to inform their customers that sectoral use maps will be used to revise exposure scenarios for each use.
"Dossier evaluations take a very long time ... We are looking for a different way to collaborate, sub-sector by sub-sector.
"We would sit down and try to stop issuing compliances in these sub-sectors that work with us. This would be a much better way forward... We'd like to test this as soon as possible."
Better safety information for the whole industry "avoids costs along the supply chain". And better understanding of customer needs "gives smart companies a competitive advantage".
Mr Dancet told Chemical Watch it was clear that a firm commitment to adopt the use map and exposure scenario templates was needed, "otherwise a lot of effort will have been made for nothing".
And he stressed that using them to improve dossiers "goes beyond the 2018 deadline". They will be used to update existing dossiers for substances handled in volumes above 100 tonnes as well as for low-volume chemicals currently being registered for the first time.What's happening on the ground
According to the preliminary results of a Chemical Watch and Chemical Risk Manager poll on Enes use map tools, companies' main concerns about using them are:insufficient staff resources,integration of the tools into internal data systems; andlack of information on which sector specific use maps will be developed.
More than 50 companies have responded to the survey.
Of these, three-quarters are registering substances for the 2018 REACH deadline. A high proportion – more than 40% – will recommend that data on use and conditions of use are provided based on the Enes use map tools. Nearly 5% will insist on use of the tools; 15% mention use of other standard data tools. And just under 40% will use a combination of approaches depending on the type of use.
Of those responding, nearly half are planning to update existing dossiers, and a third are considering it. Of these over a quarter plan to require downstream users to update use information based on the Enes tools, and just under half are considering such a step.
For the 30 downstream user companies responding, over 80% have substances critical to their businesses being registered in 2018. Surprisingly, nearly 40% were unsure if their sector associations have plans to develop the relevant Enes tools. Five companies confirmed their associations are developing such tools.
Following the signing of the agreement between Echa, Cefic and Ducc, we are extending the survey https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/Enes10 until 28 October. To help companies up and downstream to communicate their intentions, we are asking companies that will be requiring the use of updated Enes tools to make themselves known via the survey. We will then consider publishing a list of such companies along with the sectors of interest.
https://chemicalwatch.com/50108/echa-and-industry-groups-commit-to-promoting-use-maps
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Oct 6, 2016 | Mondaq
By Ursula Schliessner, Edward Rose and Aleš Bartl
Regulation 1907/2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals("REACH") applies to every manufacturer or importer into the European Union ("EU") of chemical substances on their own or in a mixture. REACH also applies, to a limited extent, to finished articles involving the release of chemicals or containing certain chemicals of concern.
The purpose of this Commentary is to briefly introduce the main recent developments on REACH that are relevant for the petrochemical industry.2018: Registration for Chemicals Between 1-100 Tons
May 31, 2018 is the last REACH registration deadline that is applicable to existing low-tonnage substances (on their own or in a mixture). This deadline applies to pre-registered substances manufactured/imported into the EU in quantities of 1-100 tons per calendar year per manufacturer/importer that do not have carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotox properties. If the relevant substance is not registered by its specific manufacturer/importer by that date, it will no longer be placed on the market in the EU.
If a substance has not been pre-registered, it has to be registered immediately. Late pre-registration may still be an option until 31 May 2017, however. More information about REACH registration is available here.Continuing Identification of Substances as SVHC and REACH Authorization Process
EU authorities are continuously identifying additional chemical substances as Substances of Very High Concern ("SVHC"), which are then listed on the Candidate List held by the European Chemical Agency ("ECHA"). Substances on the Candidate List might be subject to inclusion into Annex XIV REACH ("Authorization List"), which lists the substances that are subject to the REACH authorization requirement. Such substances cannot be used in the EU after a specified date, unless a company (or an actor upstream) has received an authorization for the specific use from the European Commission. More information about the REACH authorization process and applications for authorizations are available here.
The Authorization List currently includes, among others, four phthalates (DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP), brominated flame retardants and several chromates. Substances that are on the Candidate List include coal tars, anthracene oil and other PAHs, and several aromatic hydrocarbons such as phenolphthalein. Substances for which the procedure for the identification as an SVHC is pending include several phthalates for their endocrine disruptive properties and also bisphenol A ("BPA").
The ECHA document "SVHC RoadMap to 2020 implementation" sets out as a priority further identification of SVHCs, and also an intention "to develop an approach to assess the petroleum streams".Continuing Identification of Substances Subject to REACH Restriction
Substances that are listed in Annex XVII REACH are subject to a restriction that is specified therein. For example, currently the restrictions apply to the phthalates DEHP, BBP, DBP and DIBP for indoor uses and uses with exposure; 2-naphthylamine and its salts; coal tars; anthracene oil; naphthalene oils and creosote oil. One of the pending proposed restrictions includes BPA in thermal paper. There is a planned restriction for BPA in food contact materials.Continuing Substance and Dossier Evaluation
The EU Member States are continuously identifying substances that should be subject to further evaluation, with a view to assess whether their risk is sufficiently controlled or whether there should be a proposal of EU-wide risk management measures such as restrictions, identification as SVHC, harmonised classification or other actions outside the scope of REACH. The substances that are to be evaluated over a period of three years are listed in the Community Rolling Action Plan. The Public Activities Coordination Tool, or PACT, list is an additional list of substances that are subject to an informal risk management option analysis carried out by volunteer Member States, which are also intended to identify the most appropriate instrument to address a concern.
In parallel, ECHA is evaluating the REACH registration dossiers submitted by the registrants in order to identify any potential data gaps. ECHA might request the registrants to submit additional data, including animal studies.Definition of "Endocrine Disruptors"
The European Commission has recently published its long-awaited scientific criteria to identify endocrine-disrupting chemicals. The criteria are in the form of regulations amending Regulation 1107/2009 on plant protection products and Regulation 528/2012 on biocidal products. The criteria are relevant for the potential identification as endocrine disruptors of several chemicals, such as phthalates or BPA. The European Commission shied away from establishing a safe threshold for endocrine disruptors. According to the European Commission, it is not necessary to include considerations of how "potent" an endocrine disruptor is. Potency is a question to be asked only once it has been established that a substance is an endocrine disruptor at all.
http://www.mondaq.com/x/533358/Chemicals/Recent+REACH+Developments
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Hickenlooper, FERC's Bay Press For Middle Ground On Fracking
Oct 6, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Amanda Reilly
DENVER — At a gathering of environmental attorneys here today, top state and federal officials lamented the polarization of energy issues in the United States, including hydraulic fracturing.
The country has an "instinct" to "leap at any opportunity for potential conflict," Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) said during the opening of a two-day conference on environment and energy law.
"Every chance I think we get, we're trying to escalate any discussion into climate change, and there are the doubters and the supporters," Hickenlooper said.
Hickenlooper and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Norman Bay said they hoped the next president could set a "new tone" by focusing on factors driving the United States to be a net exporter of energy.
Bay, whose term will extend two years into the next administration, called the current atmosphere "unfortunate."
"There has to be a better way," he said. "There has to be a way for Republicans and Democrats to come together to reach an agreement on certain important public policies."
Both leaders pointed to protests over hydraulic fracturing as an example of the deep divides in the country on energy issues.
Hickenlooper recalled "placards beating on my car" in protests over ballot measures, oil and gas leases, and local fracking restrictions, and what he called "paranoia" several years ago over chemicals used in drilling.
"They have the total right to respect that industrial activity a half-mile away from their home is not going to degrade the air or the water that they're used to," Hickenlooper said.
"The good thing is," he added, "that the oil and gas industry recognizes that they have a social contract and that they are part of the responsibility, not just to make sure it is clean and safe, but to communicate that."
FERC, too, has seen its public meetings disrupted by anti-fracking protesters over the last two years. In May, the anti-fracking group Beyond Extreme Energy planned a week of protests outside FERC headquarters and at commissioners' homes.
Fracking supporters have pointed to its role in efforts to address climate change. Bay encouraged federal and state agencies with control over the technology to home in on capturing fugitive emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, from operations, rather than halt the practice.
"If there is a problem with fugitive methane emissions, that problem has to be addressed," Bay said. "That's where I think the emphasis should be first, as opposed to shutting it down completely."
Despite the polarization, Bay said that the new president — whether Democrat Hillary Clinton or Republican Donald Trump — will be jumping into the energy debate at an opportune time in the country's history.
Since the Obama administration took office eight years ago, the United States has become a leading oil and gas producer in the world, renewable energy capacity has increased and electricity demand has stagnated, he noted.
"One of the most important things the next president can do is to not blow it," Bay said, "because there's been a lot of good things happening out there."
The next president has the opportunity to "guide" the United States into becoming a net energy exporter, Hickenlooper said.
"Part of his or her greatest opportunities will be around changing the tone of how we talk about energy," he said, adding, "Without a moment's hesitation, everyone should be able to rally around the notion we're going to get dramatically cleaner energy without sacrificing economic growth."
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2016/10/06/stories/1060043976
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Forecasts Undersell Future of North American LNG, Say Terminal Backers
Oct 6, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jeremiah Shelor
North American liquefied natural gas (LNG) export developers are taking the long-term view, setting aside the pessimism that has characterized the outlook for exporting gas since the collapse of oil prices in 2014.
According to a panel of LNG executives presenting at the North American Gas Forum in Washington, DC, Monday, analysts have understated the future growth opportunities for LNG exports given the fundamentals. If anything, they said, more investment will be needed as early as next year to avoid a supply gap in the next decade.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the headlines,” said Golden Pass Products project executive Bill Davis. “You’ve got this revolution in the upstream making gas really abundant, making it low cost. You’ve got a whole bunch of projects in the pipeline. You’ve got global underperformance economically, and you bring all those together the outcome’s pretty easy to discern.
“Near term, you’ve got a low price environment situation where you have a bunch of projects coming online bringing big chunks of volume into the market, and the market’s going to take some time to absorb that. But I think the lesson for all of us here is you can’t run the LNG business on near-term headlines alone.”
Golden Pass LNG Terminal near Sabine Pass, TX, is a joint venture formed by affiliates of Qatar Petroleum (70%), ExxonMobil Corp. (17.6%) and ConocoPhillips (12.4%). Originally designed as an import terminal, Golden Pass received a favorable environmental impact statement in July for an expansion that would add export capabilities to the facility (see Daily GPI, July 29). That expansion would include three liquefaction trains, each having a nominal throughput of 5.2 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). Permitting is expected to be completed in 2017, at which time a final investment decision would be made. It is expected to cost about $10 billion over five years to build the liquefaction facilities.
Davis used ExxonMobil’s Outlook for Energy to 2040, which was issued in January, to demonstrate his point about LNG (see Daily GPI, Jan. 16). ExxonMobil forecasts “see LNG demand tripling out to 2040, up to 100 Bcf/d,” Davis said. “We’re bringing a lot of volume into this market, but when you look at that demand curve you realize that by 2030 you’re still going to need another 175 mtpa of additional” supply “to avoid a boom/bust cycle…”
“It means some of these projects are going to have to get greenlighted now in tough times, so look beyond those headlines to the long-term.”
Davis’s views reflected the consensus from Monday’s panel.
“Some argue that the LNG demand is weak,” said Sempra LNG & Midstream President Octavio Simoes. “Actually, I think the opposite is true, but prices are weak for a number of reasons.” Simoes referred to forecasts from Wood Mackenzie that show “a lot of pessimism about the ability of natural gas to replace coal” in markets such as China and the Indian subcontinent. “There’s practically no demand growth [forecast] in the residential/commercial sector except in China. We believe the growth in gas demand is underestimated.”
Sempra is involved in three LNG projects, including Cameron LNG, Port Arthur LNG and Costa Azul LNG, a potential partnership with Mexico’s Petroleos Mexicanos that officials began evaluating last year (see Daily GPI, Feb. 19, 2015).
This summer, DOE authorized Cameron LNG in Louisiana to export an additional 1.41 Bcf/d of LNG, allowing it to export up to 3.53 Bcf/d, or 24.92 mtpa. Construction of the first phase of the $10 billion project (trains No. 1-3) began this year, and the facility is expected to begin initial operations during 2018 (see Daily GPI, July 18).
Earlier this year, executives were aggressively seeking long-term contracts beginning after 2020 for Port Arthur LNG, a proposed joint venture export facility to be sited along the Houston Ship Channel (see Daily GPI, Feb. 29).
LNG Ltd. CEO Greg Vesey said the world-class gas reserves in North America would help limit price volatility in the long-term and help reassure overseas customers. Assuming the U.S. regulatory climate doesn’t get in the way, he said for customers “looking to invest in LNG exports from North America...it’s a very, very comfortable resource to look at.”
He pointed to recent estimates of roughly 800 Tcf of gas recoverable at a $3/MMBtu breakeven price, with another 500 Tcf recoverable at breakevens of $3-3.50. That kind of supply resource means “there’s kind of a natural ceiling on things that’s going to keep that price band very tight as we go forward,” Vesey said. “I think that’s huge for customers to look at and gives them a lot of comfort.”
Vesey added, “We view the window of demand exceeding supply in that 2021-2025 timeframe, so if you work the math backwards...you really need to be making a decision” to invest in LNG exports next year.
Australia-based LNG Ltd. is backing the Magnolia LNG and Bear Head LNG export projects. Magnolia LNG proposes to construct and operate up to four liquefaction production trains in Lake Charles, LA, each with a capacity of 2 mtpa or more. Construction and operation is to include two 160,000 cubic meter full containment storage tanks, ship, barge and truck loading facilities, and supporting infrastructure (see Daily GPI, April 18).
Meanwhile, Bear Head LNG Corp. and Bear Head LNG (USA) LLC want to export 440 Bcf per year (1.2 Bcf/d) from the United States to Canada via pipeline. They also want to export 8 mtpa of LNG from a planned terminal in Nova Scotia (see Daily GPI, March 2, 2015).
Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Anatol Feygin, senior vice president of strategy and corporate development, said his company, which has been the U.S. LNG export pioneer, has “had absolutely no issue” placing the volumes it has brought online to date at its Sabine Pass LNG terminal.
“Now, are they at prices that we saw in 2014? Of course not. Are they at prices that are sufficient to underwrite incremental liquefaction? Unlikely, but they are still healthy margins, and we believe will remain so as long as the fundamental premise...that North American gas prices will remain moderately priced and less volatile, as long as that fundamental premise is true, we think there’s a very attractive home and certainly agree...that the forecasts for gas and LNG demand are conservative today.”
Earlier this year, Cheniere’s Sabine Pass terminal became the first to ship LNG from the Lower 48 states (see Daily GPI, Feb. 24). As of the end of 2Q2016, Cheniere reported that it had exported a total of 22 cargoes from Sabine Pass, with LNG delivered to destinations including South America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East (see Daily GPI, Aug. 10).
GHG Reductions And Coal-to-Gas Switching
According to Simoes, coal-to-gas switching in overseas markets represents a major growth opportunity for North American LNG not reflected in today’s projections. Continued pressure on countries to curb carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions would be “positive for gas demand.” He also noted the benefits of gas generation in helping to bring renewables into the grid.
“...In the areas that are growing in population and demand, coal is still projected to have a huge role, and we think we have an opportunity to replace that with gas. It’s not captured in just about any forecast, but the commitment the United States can make in maintaining production and allowing exports...is required so that our counterparties can rely on U.S. supply for their energy demands going forward,” he said.
If North America can sustain LNG exports on a low-cost basis, then it can sell other nations on the opportunity to lower their greenhouse gas emissions economically through coal-to-gas switching, as the United States has done in recent years, Simoes said.
“Coal-to-gas substitution is one of the fastest and most economic ways of reducing carbon. We proved it in this country by being the only country that met the Kyoto Protocol, even though we didn’t sign it, just because the price of gas is low...It’s the kind of thing we need to promote,” he said. “We need to really talk about it. We need to create a single voice...because our experience shows how powerful it can be to reduce carbon emissions simply by switching to gas.”
Feygin agreed. The fundamentals are in place for what happened in the United States in 2012 to happen overseas, he said.
“When the right price signal was sent, a grossly underutilized natural gas-powered fleet in the U.S. turned on, displaced a massive amount of coal-fired generation...What opening up this constraint allows is for the rest of the world to avail itself of this lower carbon intensity fuel at attractive prices, and we very clearly see this playing out,” Feygin said, pointing to carbon pricing in the UK as an example.
“We’re very optimistic about the flexibility of the U.S. model supplying this very large demand function that’s starting to grow...Without the world’s ability to access these attractively priced molecules, it would have a very tough time meeting [climate] goals,” Feygin said. “But if we are right on the fundamentals of North American gas and Henry Hub, this is a tool that will continue to challenge coal dispatch globally...further enabling the absorption of renewables as those tools start to be largely adopted by economies that have rapidly growing energy demands.”
Regulatory Uncertainty
To fully capture LNG export opportunities, FERC and the Department of Energy (DOE) will need to play their part, according to the panelists.
An application for Jordan Cove LNG’s export project out of Coos Bay, OR, was rejected by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission earlier this year based on problems with its Pacific Connector pipeline and a lack of contracts (see Daily GPI, March 14). CEO Elizabeth Spomer said she would like policymakers to understand “that LNG’s hard. It’s got long lead times. The development costs are incredibly expensive...we wouldn’t be spending tens of millions of dollars a quarter if we weren’t highly confident that we had a commercial project.
“So to arbitrarily limit the timeframe under which that determination was made without notice, we suggested, is not appropriate for this space. Historically, FERC has always allowed the market to pick winners. We all remember the mad real estate dash for import terminals. We think that’s still the appropriate model, but maybe a little more time needs to be given, especially in the face of today’s weak market.”
Spomer said “one of the big selling points for U.S. exports had been regulatory certainty, and this really put a wobble in a lot of people’s thinking about this space.” She suggested “some kind of construct that recognizes global markets as distinct from domestic markets, that global markets function differently and may lag FERC’s environmental review process.”
Calgary-based Veresen Inc., backers of Jordan Cove, have continued to move forward with new contracts and agreements for the facility while petitioning FERC for a rehearing (see Daily GPI, Aug. 5).
Davis, meanwhile, criticized FERC and DOE for taking too long to approve LNG export terminals.
“Though the United States is trying to outpace foreign competitors to market opportunities, we’ve become a veritable case study in regulatory burden and continued uncertainty, so projects are enduring years of costly permitting at FERC with no meaningful way to improve upon the pace that the agency sets,” Davis said.
The application for Golden Pass “has sat at the DOE for almost four years now, and we’re still waiting on our license to chill. We’re waiting even though we had the final [environmental impact statement] come out a couple months ago...so this is clearly a process that takes an eternity, but the DOE won’t even guarantee it’ll be that fast.”
Davis welcomed provisions in a Congressional energy bill currently in conference that would impose “a shot clock” on terminal review decisions, saying a clearly defined timeframe would send “a much-needed signal to markets around the world that U.S. LNG can be part of their future.”
Global LNG Pricing And The U.S. Model
The panelists also offered their thoughts on how the emergence of U.S. LNG is likely to change the way the market prices natural gas on the world stage. Feygin said global LNG would move toward “destination flexibility...catalyzed by the U.S. model.
“We think now that the genie’s out of the bottle, it will be very hard to put back in...spot and short-term volumes become a lot of truly spot and truly liquid volumes with a fair amount of price discovery. Now, that will help trade,” he said. “That will help clients get comfortable with what this North American hydrocarbon renaissance means for them. But ultimately...we will need term contracts in order to finance these very large projects. We think the market will see the best of both worlds.”
Davis said “with the amount of ships being built, the way the trading world is comfortable with a liquid universal market, I’m one of those who feels like you’re going to see a global LNG market where at some point in the future you’ll have a hub or hubs, and you’ll be able to risk manage and trade around them. I just think we’re headed in that direction.”
For his part, Simoes suggested that move away from oil indexation is besides the point.
“To me the competition is not what oil linkage is going to be...that’s not the competition that the gas industry’s facing around the world,” he said. “When we’re visiting places that are looking for additional demand, the competition is coal, and that’s something as industry we have not grasped and dealt with.
“If we cannot work through the value of gas that emits 60% less greenhouse gases than coal, if we cannot work through what Europe has done with certain carbon costs or a carbon tax or whatever you want to put in place, we’re not going to compete with coal, and you’re going to continue to see places like India and Pakistan and even Japan” burn coal instead of gas.
“That is where I think the gas industry needs to focus on, not whether the price is going to be oil linked or Henry Hub,” he said. “Because the price will be what it is. There’s a price that the market will produce, and there could be a ceiling or a floor depending on the circumstances, but I think it’s a stable price dictated by the U.S. model.”
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/108001-forecasts-undersell-future-of-north-american-lng-say-terminal-backers
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Senators Urge Obama To End Atlantic, Arctic Leasing
Oct 6, 2016 | E&E News PM
By Emily Yehle
Fourteen Democratic senators today asked President Obama to permanently end U.S. drilling in the Atlantic and Arctic oceans.
Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), along with 12 of their colleagues, sent aletter to Obama to urge his use of Section 12(a) of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA). They join major environmental groups and more than 70 House lawmakers in supporting the move.
"Using this authority to permanently protect these areas would ensure that important industries in our coastal states such as fishing and tourism are protected, that we do not despoil our beaches and coastlines or the sensitive ecosystem of the Arctic Ocean, and that we align our long-term federal energy decisions with a climate-safe future," they wrote.
In addition to Markey and Booker, the letter is signed by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).
Section 12(a) is an obscure provision in OCSLA that only a handful of presidents have used for permanent protection of waters. Obama is one of them: In 2014, he set aside Alaska's Bristol Bay (EnergyWire, Dec. 17, 2014).
The provision allows Obama to withdraw U.S. waters from future oil and gas leasing, but it does not specifically give future presidents the ability to undo the withdrawal (Greenwire, Sept. 27). Environmental groups argue that it's time to close the Atlantic and Arctic to drilling to ensure the United States adheres to the Paris climate agreement to keep global temperatures from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius.
The senators' letter comes two days after an oil company announced it had discovered 6 billion barrels of oil reserves in an untapped region of Alaska's North Slope (EnergyWire, Oct. 5). Dallas-based Caelus Energy Alaska LLC made the discovery on its Alaska state leases, not federal, but the news has drawn concerns from environmentalists. The Center for Biological Diversity asserted that development of the site would impede the Paris Agreement.
Alaska officials have also met with the Obama administration to encourage it to include Arctic lease sales in the Interior Department's 2017-22 offshore drilling plan. Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) traveled to Washington, D.C., last week to stress the importance of new energy development at a time when crude production in declining in the state (EnergyWire, Oct. 3).
http://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2016/10/06/stories/1060043970
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Advocates Sue EPA Over Power Plant Startup Requirements
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
Environmental advocates are challenging the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to retain emissions control requirements that apply during power plant startup activities, when emissions are generally higher than during normal operations (Chesapeake Climate Action Network v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 16-1349, 10/6/16).
The EPA in August rejected petitions filed by industry and environmental organizations, which both sought to change alternative work practice standards for power plants under the agency's Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, which sets limits on toxic pollution from utilities. The agency decided to retain alternative standards that allow coal- and oil-fired power plants to meet their regulatory requirements by initiating startup using clean fuels and continuing to use the maximum amount of clean fuels during the startup process.
An Oct. 6 lawsuit challenging that decision was filed by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, Sierra Club and the Environmental Integrity Project. The Sierra Club has received funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg L.P., parent of Bloomberg BNA.
The environmental advocacy organizations are represented by Patton Dycus and Eric Schaeffer of the Environmental Integrity Project, as well as Earthjustice attorneys James Pew and Neil Gormley.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98345146&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98345146&jd=98345146
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Oil, Ethanol Groups Seek To Exclude Retailers, Others From RFS Lawsuit
Oct 6, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
Oil and ethanol industry groups are seeking to exclude a small retailers association and others from participating in consolidated litigation over EPA's multi-year renewable fuel standard (RFS) volumes rule, citing the lateness of the participants' legal filings and warning that their involvement would unnecessarily complicate an already complex case.
EPA's contested rule creates fuel blending mandates for renewable fuels, biomass-based diesel and other fuels for compliance years 2014 through 2016, drawing competing attacks from industry groups.
In Americans for Clean Energy, et al, v. EPA, et al, oil sector groups are asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to scrap biofuels blending requirements they claim are excessive, while their ethanol sector opponents are also attacking the RFS mandate, but for not requiring enough ethanol.
While multiple oil sector and ethanol sector groups are already involved in the suit, several groups with different agendas are seeking to participate as amici, such as the Small Retailers Coalition (SRC). The recently-formed group is pushing for EPA to move the RFS' “point of obligation” from refiners to fuel blenders.
Under the RFS, obligated parties must surrender renewable identification numbers (RINs) sufficient to cover their blending obligations. RINs are credits generated by producing renewable fuel, and while some large oil companies generate their own RINs, smaller refiners lacking blending abilities must buy them from others.
The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM), representing the refining sector, has said the burden on smaller refiners warrants shifting this “point of obligation” from refiners and importers to companies that blend alternative fuels -- though the American Petroleum Institute (API) opposes such a change.
SRC says that large fuel retailers, often part of the same groups as large refiners, benefit from those groups' ability to generate and sell RINs, putting small, independent fuel retailers at a serious competitive disadvantage.
Small refiner CVR Energy, Inc. in an Oct. 6 filing in support of its bid to file as an amicus party in the suit notes the competitive disadvantage suffered by non-blending refiners. The company seeks to “assist the Court in understanding the connection between the misplaced point of obligation and the market manipulation, speculation, and fraud in the credit trading program.”
'Significant Interest'
Meanwhile, groups producing feedstocks for renewable fuel production, led by the American Soybean Association, are also looking to participate as amici.
In an Oct. 6 filing the coalition says, “As sources of and investors in feedstocks used to support the growth of advanced biofuels, Movants have a significant interest in this case. They offer another and unique perspective to this Court, and can explain the broader, adverse ramifications to their business models of EPA’s decision to limit the growth of advanced biofuels.”
But neither API nor the coalition of pro-ethanol groups Americans for Clean Energy (ACEI) are willing to accept the participation of the proposed amici.
In a Sept. 28 filing, API says the prospective amici filed their motions to participate too late, and that they would not add significantly different perspectives on the case that would warrant their participation.
“Movants seek leave to file three amicus briefs long after this Court issued a detailed briefing order for these consolidated cases, and after petitioners filed opening briefs subject to word limits established by the Court’s briefing order. Movants have not established that their filings are desirable or that the matters asserted in the briefs are relevant to resolution of this appeal. Accordingly, the motions should be denied,” API says.
In a Sept. 29 filing ACEI says, “permitting amicus briefs in these circumstances would subvert this Court’s calibrated briefing order and impair the process for defining equitable and predictable briefing formats in future cases involving many interested parties (particularly associations).” The group calls CVR Energy's motion to file an amicus brief “particularly egregious in this regard,” and accuses it of trying to circumvent word limits in AFPM's brief. CVR Energy is a member company of AFPM, but claims its arguments are distinct from AFPM's.
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/oil-ethanol-groups-seek-exclude-retailers-others-rfs-lawsuit
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Energy Challenge for Next President? Let Markets Work
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Leven
The next president of the U.S. should get out of the energy market's way when it comes to transitioning to cleaner alternatives, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) said Oct. 6.
The market—not federal regulations—is already shifting the country away from coal and toward renewables and will continue to do so, Hickenlooper said. That being said, the president could work to accelerate the existing market trend to address climate change, he said at the American Bar Association energy and environment conference in Denver.
“I agree,” Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Norman Bay said on the same panel, pointing to the shift toward cleaner generation that has been occurring since 2008. “One of the most important challenges for the next president is to not blow it,” he said.
The discussion comes roughly a month before the presidential election, where the candidates’ energy and environment approaches have starkly diverged. While Republican nominee Donald Trump would dismantle President Barack Obama's landmark climate initiatives in favor of less regulation and more energy production, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton would build on Obama's legacy and invest heavily in clean energy.
Implementation Challenges
Just because markets are moving in the clean energy direction doesn't mean the next president is off the hook for energy and environment issues, Hickenlooper and Bay said.
For example, the next president should help find common ground between political or other opponents rather than harping on their differences like the politically charged issue of climate change, Hickenlooper and Bay said. There are actions that can address climate change that would be broadly supported, and they could be implemented anywhere from the U.S. Congress to individual ranches and farms, they said.
Bay pointed to a Pew Research Center survey released Oct. 4 that showed 89 percent of U.S. adults are in favor of adding solar panel farms and 83 percent support wind turbine farms—a clear area ripe for compromise and action, Bay said. Meanwhile, Hickenlooper said it is important for federal, state and local governments to reach solutions, whether regulations with less “red tape” or voluntary actions, together with industry and environmentalists in good faith.
The next president will also need to provide a path forward for coal miners who may lose work, strengthen cybersecurity concerns related to energy distribution and modernize the energy grid, they said.
“Personally I don't see how anyone can doubt climate change. But I've come to recognize … that that is not a universal assumption,” Hickenlooper said. But he also said, “Everyone should be able to rally around the notion that we're going to get dramatically cleaner energy without hurting economic growth.”
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98345143&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98345143&jd=98345143
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Oil Pipeline Appeals Court Case Narrowed; Protesters Stop Construction
Oct 7, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
Contrasting action took place on the North Dakota plains and inside a federal appellate court in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, and none of it resolved the controversy surrounding the $3.8 billion, four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline project now under construction.
During oral arguments, which took less than two hours, judges and plaintiff Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's attorney attempted to narrow the scope of the injunction against the nearly 1,200-mile pipeline project, but there were no conclusions reached by the courts. Meanwhile in North Dakota, Native American protesters shut down six construction sites along the pipeline route.
An attorney for the tribe, Jan Hasselman, told the three-judge appellate court panel that the injunction being requested has been narrowed to a small piece of the pipeline route, which he described as an "undeniably special place of great historical, ceremonial and religious importance to the Standing Rock Sioux."
Outside the court, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II called the protesters "water protectors" and defended their shutting down construction sites as trying to block pipeline construction that "threatens the lives of more than 17 million people who rely on the Missouri River for their water."
Spurring a protest encampment in south-central North Dakota near the Sioux reservation that is being called the largest gathering of Native American tribes in a century, protesters now vow not to leave until the "pipeline is defeated," and they plan to stay all winter.
In the Washington, DC, courtroom, judges Cornelia T.L. Pillard, Janice Rogers Brown and Thomas Griffith spent most of the session peppering attorneys from the tribe, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Dakota Access Pipeline LLC with questions about whether the Native Americans should have raised their objections earlier, why the USACE didn't do more to reach out to the tribe, and why the pipeline company insists on building right up to the river crossing, which is still in need of an easement currently being reassessed by the federal agency.
Both the U.S. government and the pipeline's backers oppose the tribe's request for a continuation of the work stoppage. The pipeline is otherwise nearly complete and its backers have spent $2.5 billion already. However, government agencies last month announced that they wouldn't allow construction on government land bordering or under Lake Oahe until completing a reassessment of their own decision-making surrounding the pipeline, which is expected to take weeks.
In Wednesday's oral argument, Pillard sought answers about the required USACE consultation with the tribe, along with a clearer definition of the boundaries for where the tribe wants work stopped. "If we're going to issue an injunction we need to say where it stops," said Pillard, noting that she was "flummoxed" trying to understand some of the tribe lawyer's arguments.
Brown suggested that the tribe should have filed its underlying lawsuit before July, although Hasselman argued that the tribe had to wait until the project was fully permitted before it could file its legal objections.
Griffith questioned Dakota Access about why it wouldn't halt work near the lake until it gets the federal government's permission to continue construction on government land bordering and under the lake.
Various industry-backed organizations weighed in Wednesday on the pipeline project being pursued by a unit of Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners.
"Even the appellate court pointed out that the Standing Rock Sioux tribe refused to engage several times with the Army Corps and Dakota Access LLC," said a Midwest Alliance for Infrastructure Now coalition spokesperson.
Robin Rorick, midstream group director for the American Petroleum Institute, said "shovel-ready" major infrastructure projects, such as Dakota Access "are essential to accommodating our country's demands for energy and creating jobs."
Energy Equipment and Infrastructure Alliance CEO Toby Mack in a letter signed by 18 national trade associations and labor unions urged President Obama to direct his federal agencies to release the easement needed for Dakota Access to complete the water crossing under Lake Oahe in the Missouri River.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/108006-oil-pipeline-appeals-court-case-narrowed-protesters-stop-construction
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Oil Spill Response Plan Should Cover More Trains, Rep. DeFazio Says
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
A Transportation Department proposal (RIN:2137-AF08) to require increased oil spill response plans and information sharing among railroads shipping large amounts of crude oil and other flammable liquids should be expanded to cover some trains carrying smaller loads, the top Democrat on the House Transportation Committee said Oct. 6.
The proposal, announced in July, applies to crude oil tank cars transporting 42,000 gallons or more of flammable liquids, as well as high-hazard flammable trains (HHFT).
Most rail tank cars only carry 30,000 gallons, however, so the rule largely applies only to high-hazard trains, said Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), ranking member of the House Transportation Committee, in a letter commenting on the proposal.
“This threshold is far too limiting,” he said in a letter to the department. “We have seen numerous rail incidents in the recent past where only one or two tank cars were punctured and the release caused substantial damage to surrounding areas, including environmentally sensitive areas. That can easily occur on a non-HHFT.”
High-hazard trains include a continuous block of 20 or more tank cars loaded with a flammable liquid or 35 or more tank cars loaded with a flammable liquid dispersed throughout a train, according to the department's classification.
“I urge you to consider requiring a comprehensive oil spill response plan for railroads that transport 42,000 gallons or more of crude oil in any train [combined] not just in a single tank car,” he said.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98345157&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98345157&jd=98345157
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Two California Refinery Oil Train Projects Rejected
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Carolyn Whetzel
A California county commission rejected Phillips 66 Company's proposal for a rail project at its Santa Maria Refinery.
The 3-2 vote by the San Luis Obispo Planning County Commission was on an effort to extend an existing rail spur and build an unloading facility for out-of-state crude oil.
The Oct. 5 vote came one day after the Benicia City Council affirmed its Sept. 20 vote denying Valero Refining Company a permit for a similar rail project.
Both votes signal the challenges crude-by-rail projects face in an era of well-organized opposition campaigns by environmental advocates and the communities located along rail lines and near refineries.
Explosive accidents are a key concern for local residents in both communities.
Phillips 66 Weighing Options
“We presented a strong proposal,” Phillips 66 told Bloomberg BNA in an e-mail.
The company said it would review the concerns raised about the project and consider its options, “including the right to appeal” to county supervisors.
County planning staff had recommended that the commissioners deny Phillips 66 a permit to build the 1.3 mile extension to a main rail line, an unloading facility, new pipelines and make additional improvements.
As proposed, the project would have allowed three 80 rail car trains a week, each carrying about 2.2 million gallons of crude oil.
With California crude production slowing down, Phillips 66 said it needs an alternative source of crude to process.
The company said the project was safe and would create about 200 local jobs.
While fears of a possible derailment were the predominant issue, local residents and some commissioners cited increased air pollution and the need to reduce reliance on fossil fuels as the reasons why the proposal should be rejected.
“We can all breathe a huge sigh of relief that, at least for now, Phillips 66 will not be allowed to put communities, water and wildlife at risk from oil train explosions and fires and toxic air pollution,” Valerie Love, a clean energy campaigner for the Center of Biological Diversity, said in a written statement.
Valero Decision Challenged
Meanwhile, Valero's attorney John J. Flynn III of Irvine California-based Nossaman LLP, told Benicia the city council lacked legal grounds to deny the company's permit application.
Benicia's decision came just hours after the federal Surface Transportation Board issued an order upholding the city authority's to deny the Valero project.
In an Oct. 3 letter, Flynn said the city violated state and federal law. Flynn cited procedural concerns, such as failure to give Valero time to review the Surface Transportation Board order, and the city's failure to link the denial to the evidence in the record.
“The transcript of the September 20 hearing will no doubt clearly establish for a Court that the only grounds invoked by the Council for denying Valero's application were rail-related grounds, and that any other grounds invoked in the written findings proposed by staff” and the city's outside counsel “are no more than baseless afterthoughts, in a desperate bid to deny Valero's permit application, despite the lack of any legal or factual bases for such a denial,” Flynn said in the letter.
Valero's projects calls for hauling as much as 70,000 barrels of North American crude oil to its Benicia refinery, the amount it currently receives via marine vessels.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98345155&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98345155&jd=98345155
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Coming Soon: Environment Panel's Big Makeover
Oct 6, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Arianna Skibell and Robin Bravende
The Senate's oddest couple is about to break up.
Back in 2007, Sens. Barbara Boxer and Jim Inhofe were paired for the first time as their parties' leaders on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. They represent nearly perfect opposites.
She's a liberal Democrat born in Brooklyn and representing California, with a passion for combating climate change. He's an oil patch Republican from Oklahoma who penned a book calling global warming "the greatest hoax."
Since then, they've been known for their public sparring on environmental issues, although they've forged an unlikely friendship over the years. They've been the EPW Committee's leaders ever since (apart from a two-year stint from 2013 until 2015 when Republican Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana was the ranking member), and they've set the tone for the Senate's often-contentious environmental showdowns.
"Their relationship has been the fulcrum of the committee for so long," said Jeremy Symons, associate vice president of climate political affairs at the Environmental Defense Fund and a former EPW Democratic staffer.
That's all about to change.
The EPW Committee promises to have new leadership next year with Boxer retiring and Inhofe up against GOP term limits on his time as both chairman and ranking member. How the leadership shakeup will play out is still uncertain. The final committee roster will depend on which party wins control of the Senate in November as well as where lawmakers want to exert their seniority. But every possible scenario will mean a very different committee starting in 2017.
For some, the Boxer-Inhofe era will be something to look back on nostalgically. But others welcome the change.
"While they will be missed to some extent, I think people will be happy with a new regime," said a former Republican EPW staffer.
Boxer and Inhofe butting heads "has frozen the committee for years," and new leadership "may promise an ability to try to tackle those harder issues," said Tim Profeta, director of Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions and a onetime aide to former Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent.New regime: Carper-Capito? Barrasso-Sanders?
Next up in the Democrats' line of succession: Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.). It's possible that he would want to keep the top Democratic post on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, but many sources suspect he'll opt for the EPW slot.
When asked recently about his options for next year, Carper offered E&E News a lengthy story about the dangers of "spiking the football."
He said, "I'm a big believer in don't spike the football. I'm also a big believer, don't hold the ball up before you're in the end zone. So when the elections are over, we'll settle down, we'll make some serious decisions. I think it's still just a little bit early."
Carper noted that he's been chairman of two EPW subcommittees. "I have a lot of interest," he said. "I love being chairman and ranking member of Homeland Security. ... It's actually two good choices, so I'm lucky."
If Carper doesn't take the EPW seat, Maryland Sen. Ben Cardin is next in line, although he has the top Democratic spot on the Foreign Relations Committee (at least while New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez is still facing bribery and corruption charges). If Carper and Cardin were out of the running, it could pave the way for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) to take the Democrats' top EPW position.
On the Republican side, Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) appears poised to become EPW chairman if the GOP controls the chamber. If Republicans lose Senate control, Barrasso is expected to become the ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where the current chairwoman, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), is facing term limits as ranking member. If Murkowski loses her re-election bid in November, however, Barrasso could also potentially become chairman of that committee. Murkowski is, however, strongly favored for re-election.
Barrasso, who is now the chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, said he'd be interested in the EPW gavel.
"My goal is to make sure we maintain the majority, so we maintain the chairmanships, so by the way it's set out, I'd be in the situation where I could consider that or Indian Affairs Committee chairman," he said. "But I'm very interested in Environment and Public Works, it has a big impact on our state."
If the Democrats take the Senate majority and Barrasso becomes ranking member of the Energy panel, Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia is expected to be the top Republican on EPW.
While Inhofe is vacating his post as top dog, he plans to stick around as a subcommittee chairman if Republicans maintain Senate control. Which subcommittee remains unknown, as a new chairman could create different subcommittees from those currently in place. Sources expect any subcommittee Inhofe might head to reflect some of his priorities like infrastructure and U.S. EPA oversight.'World War III'
EPW members have praised the partnership of Boxer and Inhofe on the committee, noting in particular the productive stint they've had in shepherding through a highway bill, a massive chemical safety overhaul and a $9 billion water projects measure.
Recently, it's "been the most productive legislative committee in the Senate," said Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a member of the panel.
But when it comes to polarizing environmental issues, it's a different story.
Members are often able to work across the aisle on infrastructure issues, said EDF's Symons. "Then there's the environmental side, which is World War III. ... The chance of moving thoughtful environmental legislation through the committee is very challenging."
Former lawmakers and committee aides point to major battles over climate change legislation early in the Obama administration, air pollution policy fights during the George W. Bush administration and brawls over agency nominees as some of the most heated disputes the EPW Committee has endured in recent years.
Former Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, who is now a Democrat but was a Republican until he left the Senate in 2007, served on the EPW Committee when Inhofe was chairman. He said in a recent interview that it's likely the most polarized panel in the chamber. Before Inhofe took the gavel in 2003, EPW was led by Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords, who flipped from Republican to independent in 2001 and then caucused with the Democrats. Prior to that, former Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) and Chafee's father, former Sen. John Chafee (R-R.I.) — both environmental moderates — had been chairmen.
"Having Sen. Inhofe probably dug in, deepened the divide," Lincoln Chafee said.
Some also attribute the committee's divisions to geography.
"Every Democrat is from a coastal state," said John Stoody, a former aide to ex-Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) who now works at the Association of Oil Pipe Lines. "All the Republicans are from the heartland." That means their constituents have different ideas about energy and land-use management, he added.
Among conservatives, Boxer has a reputation as a hard-line environmentalist who can be reluctant to compromise or listen to industry's perspective.
She enraged her critics on the right, for example, when she plowed ahead in 2009 with a committee vote on climate legislation despite a Republican boycott. But Republicans followed suit under Inhofe's leadership in 2015, holding a vote on legislation to pull the plug on EPA climate policies after the committee's Democrats walked out of the markup (E&ENews PM, Aug. 5, 2015).
Under Boxer's EPW leadership, there was a working assumption that any Republican bill was "not going to get a hearing," said the former Republican staffer.
Meanwhile, many on the left hail Boxer as an environmental champion who has worked behind the scenes to fend off legislative attacks on environmental efforts.
Something that "people aren't aware of is how much work Sen. Boxer and committee staff have done over the years to head off the onslaught of Republican attacks on the EPA," Symons said. "It was a role that Sen. Boxer filled uniquely well, and somebody needs to step up to that. Whoever the chairman is, that will be a key part of their responsibility."Return to 'bipartisan roots'?
Some lawmakers say the issues are so divisive, it won't matter much who's in charge.
"Some of the debate gets pretty heated. But these are big issues, so I don't expect it to change," said Capito.
Whitehouse said the committee's divisions "have a lot to do with the political clout of the fossil fuel industry, and the things that they're demanding are unreasonable. I think that's kind of a fundamental fault that doesn't go away. There may be different approaches to how you try to negotiate across that, but that's a pretty significant fault line."
Still, Whitehouse said, "I think every time you get a change in chairs and ranking members, it influences the committee."
Along with new members in charge will come a spate of new staffers working beneath them. Boxer's top committee aide, Bettina Poirier, has been a stalwart on the EPW staff for years, having started as Boxer's senior counsel as 2005 (after a previous stint on the California Democrat's staff from 2001 until 2002).
The biggest possible change on EPW could come from Carper replacing Boxer in the top Democratic slot, said a number of sources on both sides of the aisle.
On the Republican side, Barrasso or Capito taking over for Inhofe isn't seen as likely to shift the tone much on the right.
Barrasso, for instance, is "very, very conservative, so anyone expecting much of a change there is going to be disappointed," said Jim Manley, a former spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.).
Inhofe has a 5 percent lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters; Barrasso's score is 9 percent and Capito's is 18 percent. Barrasso and Capito are "both pretty much in lockstep on the issues," said another former EPW Republican staffer.
Carper, on the other hand, is viewed as more moderate on environmental issues than Boxer. And while he's still seen as far to the left of Republicans on the committee, there's a sense he's more willing to compromise.
Carper has an 81 percent lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters, compared with Boxer's 91 percent.
An EPW headed by Carper could allow the committee to "return to its bipartisan roots," said Profeta at Duke University. "His approach is much more one of trying to find a compromise space than Sen. Boxer's has been."
Carper and Boxer bring two "very different personalities" to the table, said Advanced Energy Economy Vice President Arvin Ganesan, a former EPA official and onetime aide to the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.). "Sen. Carper, I think, is always interested in hearing a lot of different perspectives and is always looking for a deal, for a collaboration across the aisle." Boxer "has a very strong alignment with the environmental community, but she has also shown the ability to work across the aisle."
A Boxer-to-Carper shift "might not change all the substance ... but certainly changes the tone of the committee and how the committee itself would approach some of these thornier issues," Ganesan said.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/10/06/stories/1060043940
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Trillions Needed for Green Infrastructure, Report Says
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrea Vittorio
The world needs to invest an estimated $90 trillion in transportation, buildings and other forms of infrastructure over the next 15 years, according to a new report from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.
The question is whether it is green or brown.
“Either we can invest all of that $90 trillion in the dirty and unsustainable infrastructure of the past or leap forward to the clean and efficient infrastructure of the future,” Felipe Calderón, former president of Mexico and chair of the commission that wrote the report, said on a press call.
Meeting that need will require a combination of public and private investment.
“Sustainable infrastructure as an asset class has to be developed,” Caio Koch-Weser, commission member and former vice chairman of Deutsche Bank, said on the call.
Before that can happen, governments and investors need to agree on common standards for green bonds and other financing tools, the commission said.
Narrow Window
Keeping up with aging infrastructure in developed countries and rapid urbanization in developing countries means the pace of infrastructure investment must nearly double to an average of $6 trillion per year by 2030, the commission said.
The commission said the window for planning is “uncomfortably narrow.”
“If we're going to make those changes and really change infrastructure in the next 20 years,” Nicholas Stern, a leading economist and co-chair of the commission, said, “then we have to change our ways in the next two or three because infrastructure takes time to build.”
The report was sponsored in part by Bloomberg Philanthropies.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98345126&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98345126&jd=98345126
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Industry Wins Relief On EPA's HFC Leak Prevention Rule But Doubts Legality
Oct 6, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA's recently issued rule restricting leaks of climate-warming hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants from commercial equipment has provided industry groups with some relief compared to the proposed version but industry sources continue to doubt the agency's authority to regulate the substances under the air act.
The agency softened provisions in the final rule, such as the leak mitigation provisions, after meeting Sept. 8 with representatives of the National Environmental Development Association's Clean Air Project (NEDA/CAP) -- a group whose members include Boeing Company, BP America, Koch Industries, Inc., Eli Lilly, Proctor & Gamble and others -- that argued that the proposed version of the rule was overly stringent and EPA lacks authority to regulate the substances.
In their comments on the proposed version of the section 608 rule, NEDA/CAP called the leak detection and prevention provisions both "punitive" because of their stringency, and "arbitrary."
For example, the coalition challenged EPA's proposal to require facilities to retire equipment if it loses 75 percent of its charge in two years. However, in the final rule, EPA climbed down on this issue, and finalized instead a requirement that owners or operators of appliances that leak 125 percent of their full charge in a calendar year must submit a report to EPA detailing their repair efforts.
EPA's rule, issued Sept. 26, updated requirements to avoid refrigerants leaks under Clean Air Act section 608, alongside a second rule removing several HFCs with high global warming potential (GWP) from its list of acceptable substances under the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program.
The section 608 rule updates refrigerant management rules and extends them to non-ozone depleting refrigerants such as HFCs.
"Updates include strengthened leak repair requirements, recordkeeping requirements for the disposal of appliances containing more than five and less than 50 pounds of refrigerant, revisions to the technician certification program, and revisions for improved readability and compliance," according to the final rule.
The agency issued the rule package ahead of a scheduled Oct. 8-14 meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, where negotiators hope to reach an agreement to amend the Montreal Protocol, which currently addresses ozone depleting substances (ODS), so that it also phases out refrigerants that have high GWP.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said the rule package was intended in part to bolster administration efforts to reach an ambitious phaseout deal in Kigali.
"We are reducing emissions of HFCs that are harmful to the climate system and showing the world that we can do this responsibly and thoughtfully by working with businesses and environmental groups. I'm especially excited that we have taken these actions ahead of next month's Montreal Protocol negotiations," she said in a statement.
Regulating HFCs
The agency has long used section 608 and other air act provisions to regulate hydrofluorochlorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerants, which are both ozone-depleting and climate-warming, under the Montreal Protocol.
But administration efforts to address HFCs -- their intended replacements, which do not harm the stratospheric ozone layer but have high GWP -- under the air act due to their adverse climate impacts are facing legal challenges.
Several industry groups, including NEDA/CAP charge that the air act only provides the agency with authority to address substances' adverse ozone impacts, not their GWP. Fundamentally, they dispute that EPA has the legal authority to extend section 608 requirements, which are intended to cover ODS, to non ODS.
For example, several industry groups are challenging a 2015 EPA SNAP rule that phased out HFCs due to their GWP. The suit, Mexichem Fluor v. EPA, is pending in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where it is fully briefed but not yet scheduled for oral argument.
In its comments on the proposed version of the HFC leak prevention rule, NEDA/CAP argued similarly that the agency lacks authority to address HFCs under section 608 due to their adverse climate impacts.
"We find the argument that regulating non-ODS is effective at eliminating emissions of ODS unpersuasive and frankly at odds with the statutory directive to eliminate/phase out the production and use of ODS as refrigerants in favor of the very substitutes that EPA now seeks to regulate," NEDA/CAP said in its comments on the proposed rule.
"NEDA/CAP submits that the statutory language makes absolutely clear that the regulations required by Section 608(a) to 'reduce use and emissions … to the lowest achievable level,' to 'minimize use' and to 'maximize" recovery of refrigerants apply only to Class I and Class II [ODS] substances, and not to 'alternative substances,' 'safe alternatives,' or 'substitutes,'" the group said. The group does not raise Montreal Protocol ratification in its comments.
The coalition's representatives reiterated this point during their Sept. 8 meeting with EPA. "The refrigeration management rulemaking and the upcoming expected amendment to the Montreal Protocol were part of a free-ranging discussion. EPA cannot discuss the 608 rulemaking itself because the comment period is over. But whether ratification of the expected amendments of the Montreal Protocol is required certainly bears on the legality of that rulemaking," a NEDA/CAP source says.
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/industry-wins-relief-epas-hfc-leak-prevention-rule-doubts-legality
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States Sue EPA To Force Decision On OTC Expansion
Oct 6, 2016 | Inside EPA
Six Northeastern states led by New York Oct. 6 sued EPA in federal district court to force the agency to respond to their December 2013 petition asking the agency to massively expand the Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) region, which currently includes all or part of 12 states in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
“Our coalition has waited almost three years for EPA to decide on whether it will use its legal authority to require upwind states to stem their contribution to the smog pollution. As we have waited, the health of millions of New Yorkers has continued to be threatened. Today, we are suing to force long-overdue action by EPA on this important petition,” said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in a statement on the suit.
The states -- New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont -- want the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to impose a legally binding deadline for EPA to respond to the petition, which would subject more states to the strict ozone controls that apply in the OTC. Those controls could in turn help cut interstate pollution of ozone-forming pollutants and help states attain federal ozone standards.
The petition asked EPA to expand the OTC region in order to abate interstate pollution that compromises Eastern states' efforts to attain federal air quality standards.
Original signatories to the petition were Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont, later joined by Pennsylvania.
Currently, the OTC includes Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, the northern part of Virginia, and Washington, D.C. The petition asked for an expansion under Clean Air Act section 176 (A) to include Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, and the remainder of Virginia.
Under the law, EPA has 18 months to respond to such a petition, but has failed to do so. The petitioning states ask EPA to not only respond, but to provide an opportunity for public notice-and-comment on its response.
Seeking to exclude itself from the outset from any OTC expansion, North Carolina sued EPA in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina in Donald van der Vaart v. Gina McCarthy to force a response to the petition.
The state is now in settlement talks with EPA, and in a possible indication of the outcome of those talks, the agency has already excluded North Carolina from its recently released “update” to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) emissions trading program for power plants. The North Carolina case is currently stayed until Oct. 12.
CSAPR aims to help states mitigate interstate pollution to meet national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) for ozone and particulate matter. The Sept. 7 update rule tightens nitrogen oxides limits to help states meet the agency's 2015 ozone NAAQS of 70 parts per billion (ppb), tougher than the prior 2008 limit of 75 ppb.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/states-sue-epa-force-decision-otc-expansion
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Paris Climate Accord a Bad Deal, Trump Campaign Says
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Renee Schoof
The international Paris Agreement on climate change is a bad deal, Donald Trump's campaign said shortly after the agreement reached the threshold of support it needed to go into effect.
“Politicians like Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton continue to make bad deals that undermine the interests of the American people. The Paris Accord is just the latest example,” the Trump campaign's deputy policy director, Dan Kowalski, said in a statement late Oct. 5.
The Republican presidential nominee's campaign said the agreement among the world's nations would cost the U.S. trillions of dollars, raise electricity costs and give China an unfair advantage because its emissions can continue to increase in the near term.
Climate Comments
Trump has called climate change a hoax, but his campaign recently has shifted its tone on the subject. Trump and his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, “appreciate that many scientists are concerned about greenhouse gas emissions,” his campaign statement said.
U.S. scientists should “continue studying the scientific issues but without political agendas getting in the way,” the statement said and added: “We also need to be vigilant to defend the interests of the American people in any efforts taken on this front.”
Trump's campaign also said that he would “refocus EPA on its core mission: clean air and water.”
The Paris climate agreement crossed the finish line Oct. 5 when the European Union fast-tracked ratification documents to the United Nations. The move meant the pact had ratification by 72 countries representing 56.75 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. To go into effect, it needed ratification by at least 55 countries representing 55 percent of emissions. The agreement reached by nearly 200 nations is expected to go into force on Nov. 5.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98345147&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98345147&jd=98345147
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New UN Secretary-General May Raise Climate Change Profile
Oct 7, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Eric J. Lyman
Former Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres was unanimiously nominated Oct. 6 by the United Nations Security Council to become the ninth secretary-general of the UN, likely raising the profile of the plight of refugees in future climate talks.
Climate change was a central issue in the selection process. Outgoing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon pushed so hard for climate action, and Christiana Figueres, former head of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, was one of the 13 declared candidates for the job.
The 67-year-old Guterres, if approved by the General Assembly as expected next week, will become the first Western European to head the UN.
He ended a 10-year stint last year as the UN's high commissioner for refugees. In that role, he was a strong advocate of action to confront climate change, though usually from the perspective of how a changing climate is driving some of the world's poor from their homes.
In recent climate negotiations, this development has taken a back seat to environmental, energy, and economic aspects of the problem.
Guterres will officially take over as secretary-general Jan. 1, 2017. But the UN official said he is likely to appear at the Nov. 8–17 UN climate summit in Morocco in an informal capacity.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98345130&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98345130&jd=98345130
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