Preview Newsletter
ACC AM 10/10/16
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(ACC Mentioned) 3 Industrial Stocks to Own for an American Renaissance
Oct 8, 2016 | Motley Fool (In Madison.com)
By Jason Hall, Rich Smith, and Tyler Crowe
American manufacturing could expand based on what these companies are doing. -
Separating Fact From Fancy In The TSCA Inventory Reset Mandated By The Lautenberg Act
Oct 7, 2016 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Richard Denison
A key reform under the Lautenberg Act is the requirement that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) generate an accurate, up-to-date list of all chemicals in active commerce. This is to be accomplished by promulgating a rule to do a full “reset” of the TSCA Inventory that distinguishes between active and inactive chemicals. -
(ACC Mentioned) Glyphosate Critic to be Questioned by US Congressional Committee
Oct 7, 2016 | Horticulture Week
By Matthew Appleby
Officials from the US government's health research agency are to be questioned by a congressional committee about why taxpayers are funding a World Health Organization cancer agency facing criticism over how it classifies carcinogens. -
(ACC Mentioned) ACC Urges Dropping Chloroform Prop 65 Reprotox Designation
Oct 10, 2016 | Chemical Watch
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has urged delisting chloroform from the Proposition 65 list of substances known to California to cause reproductive toxicity. -
California Extends Prop 65 BPA Emergency Regulation
Oct 10, 2016 | Chemical Watch
California has extended its emergency regulations on Proposition 65 warnings for bisphenol A (BPA) in canned and bottled food and drink by 90 days. -
Animals, Costs Saved With Predictive Tools, Trade Group Says
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Cleaning product manufacturers prevented the sacrifice of more than 100,000 test animals and saved about $50 million dollars in chemical testing costs by using predictive computer and analytic tools to provide data on high production volume chemicals, a study by the American Cleaning Institute found. -
Sen. Markey Criticizes EPA's School PCB Actions
Oct 7, 2016 | Inside EPA
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) is criticizing the lack of federal requirements to test for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in schools and citing uneven EPA enforcement of existing but inadequate policy on the issue, vowing to introduce legislation in the coming months to require such testing and to offer federal aid for inspections and PCB removals. -
MEPs Call For Ban on BPA In Food Contact Materials
Oct 7, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
A large majority of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have backed an environment committee (Envi) report calling for a ban on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in all food contact materials (FCM). -
ECHA Tells Europe Chems to ‘Stop Complaining’, Get On With Registrations
Oct 7, 2016 | ICIS
By Jonathan Lopez
The European chemicals industry should “stop complaining” about Reach, the EU’s regulatory framework for the sector, get on with the job of registering their substances in structured, clear dossiers and set an example for the rest of the world... -
Correction
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
An Oct. 6 article about EPA's efforts to update the amended chemicals law inventory incorrectly described the agency's deadline to review confidential business information (CBI) requests companies make for chemical identities. -
(ACC Mentioned) Greater Production of Natural Gas Must Be Encouraged
Oct 8, 2016 | Observer-Reporter
By David Spigelmyer and Jeff Kotula
Donora is well-known for producing legendary baseball players, such as Stan Musial or the two Ken Griffeys. However, like many small Rust Belt communities across our region and especially in the Mon Valley, Donora has faced big struggles over the years. -
Appeals Court Dissolves Work Freeze On Pipeline
Oct 9, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
Construction on a contested portion of the Dakota Access pipeline can move forward after a federal court dissolved an administrative injunction and refused to grant an emergency request to continue freezing work on part of the project. -
Court Denies Tribe's Request To Halt Pipeline Construction
Oct 10, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
A federal court panel has lifted orders blocking construction on a portion of the embattled Dakota Access Pipeline project in North Dakota. -
First Nations Flex Muscles In US, Canada Pipeline Debate: Fuel For Thought
Oct 10, 2016 | Platts
By Ashok Dutta
First Nations tribes in Canada and the US have started flexing their muscles, successfully delaying pipeline projects on both sides of the border. Indications are that this effort is becoming more organized and may play a larger role in infrastructure decisions across the continent. -
EPA Seen Taking Stronger Role Voicing Concerns Over Pipeline Reviews
Oct 10, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
EPA appears to be taking an increasingly strong role voicing concerns over oil and natural gas pipelines regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with one environmentalist citing "real failings" that the agency has highlighted in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Clean Water Act (CWA) reviews. -
Pennsylvania Adopts New Fracking Regulations
Oct 7, 2016 | Reuters
By David DeKok
New regulations governing the extraction of natural gas through fracking will go into effect on Saturday in Pennsylvania, the first overhaul since the industry took off in the state more than 10 years ago. -
EPA Reconsiders Refinery Standards to Shore Up Rule
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew Childers
The Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering aspects of its recently issued toxic air pollutant standards for refineries in an effort to shore up the rule's legality, the petroleum industry said. -
EPA Agrees to Review Natural Gas Emissions Estimates
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
The Environmental Protection Agency agreed to review and update, if necessary, its estimates of the level of ozone-forming pollution emitted from natural gas wells (Air Alliance Houston v. McCarthy, D.D.C., No. 1:16-cv-1998,proposed consent decree filed 10/7/16). -
EPA Moves To Update Emission 'Factors' For Oil And Gas Drilling Sector
Oct 7, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA has agreed to update old emissions “factors” -- estimates of air pollution -- from natural gas drilling operations, moving to settle a lawsuit brought by environmentalists who charge that the factors are years out of date and result in serious underestimates of pollution that could lead to weaker emissions control strategies for the sector. -
Lost Wages Claims in Elk River Spill Cases OKed
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Eastman Chemical Co. must face lost wages claims in a class action stemming from a 2014 chemical spill in West Virginia, the Southern District of West Virginia ruled Oct. 6 (Good v. Am. Water Works Co., Inc., S.D. W.Va., No. 14-cv-01374, 10/6/16). -
Shell Suspends Bakken Crude-by-Rail Project For Puget Sound Refinery
Oct 7, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
A subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc said a proposed rail spur to deliver crude oil from the Bakken Shale to a refinery in Washington state is currently uneconomical. It has suspended the project. -
Climate Pact Transparency May Spur Collaboration: Officials
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Leven
Transparency requirements included in the Paris Agreement set to take effect in November may spur additional action and collaboration in battling climate change, federal and state officials said Oct. 7. -
After Criticism, SoCal Air Board Adds More Regulatory Teeth To Smog-Reduction Plan
Oct 7, 2016 | Los Angeles Times
By Tony Barboza
Southern California air quality officials released a proposal Friday to give more regulatory teeth to a smog-reduction plan that has faced criticism for its voluntary, industry-friendly approach.
Congressional Hearings
Industry and Association News
LCSA News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation News
Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) 3 Industrial Stocks to Own for an American Renaissance
Oct 8, 2016 | Motley Fool (In Madison.com)
By Jason Hall, Rich Smith, and Tyler Crowe
American manufacturing could expand based on what these companies are doing.
While our politicians argue over the future of the American economy, a number of the country's biggest industrial manufacturers are actually doing something about it. Whether it's helping their customers get more and better use out of their equipment, developing breakthrough technologies that could change the way the world consumes energy, or tapping into a massive opportunity based on American resources, General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE: LMT), and Chart Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLS) are all playing a role in driving an American industrial renaissance.
Keep reading to learn what these companies are doing that makes them stand out, and why they could make for great investments in years to come.
Reinventing the way we operate machinery
Tyler Crowe: For years, being smart about equipment maintenance meant doing regular checkups and replacing parts at scheduled intervals. It's better than waiting for a piece to break, but it isn't the most efficient or optimized way of going about things. One company looking to change that is General Electric, and it's part of the reason the company is at the forefront of the next industrial revolution.
Predix can increase operating uptime and decrease maintenance expense for equipment operators. Image source: GE.
General Electric is looking to change the dynamic of optimization and maintenance through remote sensing and its new data analysis platform, Predix. This will, for example, allow those using General Electric equipment -- and in some cases, other companies' equipment -- to monitor performance as well as a bunch of other different applications. In fact, the company has recently opened the platform such that developers can design apps using Predix for specific industrial applications.
One major advantage General Electric will have in the coming years in developing this platform is the fact that it has a massive installed base of GE equipment in the oil and gas, power generation, transportation, and healthcare industries. Having equipment in these various fields will produce loads of data developers can analyze to improve operations across a wide range of uses.
For General Electric, this also radically transforms the company from an industrial manufacturer with limited recurring revenue from replacement parts and equipment to one with potentially much larger recurring revenue from software licenses and subscriptions. In 2015, GE says that Predix generated $5 billion in revenue, and that's expected to grow to $15 billion by 2020. Clearly, this is a nice lever for the company to pull that should pay dividends for years to come.
Free energy! (shipping and handling not included)
Rich Smith: "Free energy" through cold fusion. This has been the dream of futurists and energy investors since at least as far back as when Val Kilmer starred in The Saint -- and Dr. Lev Botvin declared the idea "rather impossible."
But over at Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) Skunk Works, scientists eat the impossible for lunch -- and two years ago, Lockheed Martin announced a breakthrough in cold fusion that promises to change the world, solve global energy needs forever, and yes, spark an American Renaissance in the process.
Lockheed Compact Fusion reactor prototype. Image source: Lockheed Martin.
According to Lockheed, it has invented a way to harness fusion nuclear energy in the form of a compact fusion reactor that is 90% smaller than past models. Within "as little as ten years," Lockheed believes it will be able to replicate the workings of the sun, fusing hydrogen atoms into helium in a reaction that produces more energy than it consumes. If Lockheed's boast comes to fruition, the company predicts a future in which it can produce "safe [...] clean power for the world," free of concerns over nuclear "proliferation," and fears of "emissions" of greenhouse gases alike.
Granted, most of us today are still burning dinosaur juice to power our automobiles and heat our homes. Despite the fact that Lockheed Martin made its boast two years ago, cold fusion is not yet a reality. That said, earlier this year, Lockheed Martin confirmed that it has created the "initial plasma" conditions needed to fuse hydrogen atoms into helium, and the company has begun making "a little bit more significant investment" in the project.
Lockheed Martin did give itself 10 years before it said it expected to have a product ready for sale.
As pie-in-the-sky as Lockheed's project still sounds, it still has the potential to change the world if it succeeds. Call me a crazy optimist, but I think that's something worth waiting another eight years for.
Building on the huge growth in demand for natural gas
Jason Hall: Since near the start of 2016, shares of Chart Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ: GTLS) have more than doubled. But even after these strong gains, Chart's stock is still far, far below its all-time high in 2013. And while there's no guarantee that Chart shares will approach those prices anytime soon, the company is in a great position to benefit from North America's huge supplies of cheap natural gas.
Chart LNG fuel tank on a class 8 tractor. Image source: Chart Industries.
According to the American Chemistry Council, the petrochemicals industry is in the midst of massive investments in expanded capacity in the U.S., with 264 projects either completed or in some stage of planning or construction already in the pipeline. These projects, valued at $164 billion, are expected to create hundreds of thousands of jobs and generate hundreds of billions in annual revenue.
For Chart, which manufactures gas processing and handling equipment that is critical to these kinds of facilities, this is an absolutely massive opportunity -- and not just to sell equipment for a one-time gain. This equipment will need to be maintained and serviced to perform at optimal levels, and Chart will be perfectly positioned to grow its recurring revenue substantially as a result of this major expansion in American manufacturing.
Bottom line: Weak global growth has slowed Chart's progress over the past couple of years, but a boom in American petrochemicals manufacturing is set to help drive the company's profits higher for years to come.
A secret billion-dollar stock opportunity
he world's biggest tech company forgot to show you something, but a few Wall Street analysts and the Fool didn't miss a beat: There's a small company that's powering their brand-new gadgets and the coming revolution in technology. And we think its stock price has nearly unlimited room to run for early, in-the-know investors! To be one of them, just click here.
Jason Hall owns shares of Chart Industries. Rich Smith has no position in any stocks mentioned. Tyler Crowe owns shares of General Electric.
http://host.madison.com/business/investment/markets-and-stocks/industrial-stocks-to-own-for-an-american-renaissance/article_a954de6b-61e5-5d8c-b9a3-c5702a550bd0.html
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Separating Fact From Fancy In The TSCA Inventory Reset Mandated By The Lautenberg Act
Oct 7, 2016 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Richard Denison
Richard Denison, Ph.D., is a Lead Senior Scientist.
A key reform under the Lautenberg Act is the requirement that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) generate an accurate, up-to-date list of all chemicals in active commerce. This is to be accomplished by promulgating a rule to do a full “reset” of the TSCA Inventory that distinguishes between active and inactive chemicals. It is necessary because the 85,000 chemicals on that Inventory represent a cumulative listing of all chemicals that have been in commerce at some point since its establishment in 1979, but no doubt includes many that are not now in commerce.
I have blogged previously about why it is important that EPA and the public know how many and which chemicals are in use today in the U.S. Among other reasons, it is essential that we understand the magnitude of the task that awaits EPA under the new TSCA, with respect to prioritization, risk evaluation, risk management, and substantiation and review of confidential business information (CBI) claims. That has implications for the pace of the program and the resources EPA will need to do its job, which extends ultimately to reviewing the safety of all chemicals in commerce.
EDF provided EPA with our comments on what should be included in EPA’s upcoming rule establishing the Inventory reset. Unfortunately, comments on that rule received from some in industry indicate that they are seeking to limit the Inventory reset in ways that are not allowed under the new law and are short-sighted or even counterproductive to the purpose of the reset. I provide a critique here of three of those proposed limitations.
Proposal to limit the Inventory reset to CDR chemicals
First, some in industry argue that EPA’s Inventory reset rule could or should start with or limit the reset to those chemicals already required to be reported under its Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) rule, which requires manufacturers to report every 4 years to EPA which chemicals they make or import, as well as other information about those chemicals. However, the CDR reaches only a fraction of chemicals in active commerce,between 7,000 and 8,000. That is because of two factors: First, the CDR rule only requires companies to report chemicals they make or import in amounts at or above 25,000 pounds per reporting site per year. Second, numerous exemptions apply that remove whole categories of chemicals (e.g., most polymers) from the reporting requirement.
All evidence points to the likelihood that the number of chemicals produced below the CDR’s 25,000-pound threshold greatly outnumbers those reported under the CDR. Experience under the European Union’s REACH Regulation’s registration process is one such line of evidence. To date, about 8,000 substances produced in amounts above 100 metric tons per year (220,000 pounds/yr) have been registered under REACH. However, REACH officials expect a total of about 35,000 chemicals to be registered when REACH is fully implemented in 2018 and includes all chemicals produced in amounts exceeding 1 metric ton (2,200 pounds) per year. Given the global nature of the chemical industry, there is every reason to expect that similar numbers will apply in the U.S.
The Lautenberg Act’s Inventory reset provision makes no allowance for EPA to impose a reporting threshold or to limit the reset to the CDR chemicals.
Here’s the provision [section 8(b)(4)(A)(i); emphasis added]:
(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the Administrator, by rule, shall require manufacturers, and may require processors, subject to the limitations under subsection (a)(5)(A), to notify the Administrator, by not later than 180 days after the date on which the final rule is published in the Federal Register, of each chemical substance on the list published under paragraph (1) that the manufacturer or processor, as applicable, has manufactured or processed for a nonexempt commercial purpose during the 10-year period ending on the day before the date of enactment of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.
The “list published under paragraph (1)” is in fact the full TSCA Inventory. Hence, EPA’s rule must require that manufacturers report “each chemical substance” on the full inventory that they make or import.
Now, to be clear, Congress did provide for EPA to use the latest list of CDR-reported chemicals as an interim list of active substances. Section 8(b)(6) states (emphases added):
(6) INTERIM LIST OF ACTIVE SUBSTANCES.—Prior to the promulgation of the rule required under paragraph (4)(A), the Administrator shall designate the chemical substances reported under part 711 of title 40, Code of Federal Regulations (as in effect on the date of enactment of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act), during the reporting period that most closely preceded the date of enactment of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, as the interim list of active substances for the purposes of section 6(b).
Had Congress intended the Inventory reset conducted pursuant to the rule to be limited to the CDR chemicals, it would not have included this provision allowing such chemicals to serve as the interim list until the rule is promulgated.
In sum, there is no basis for EPA’s rule to limit the Inventory reset to the CDR chemicals.
Proposal to allow exemptions from the Inventory reset
Some in industry are urging that EPA’s rule extend exemptions provided under other sections of the law to the Inventory reset. Here again, there simply is no basis in the new law to do so. Per section 8(b)(4)(A)(i), EPA’s rule must require manufacturers to notify EPA of each chemical substance on the list published under paragraph (1) they manufacture. There is no mention of or allowance made for any exemptions. This, together with no reporting threshold, is important to ensure that the Inventory reset yields a full list of all chemicals in active commerce.
Proposal to halt the Inventory reset process for a given chemical after receipt of the first notice
Some in industry are also arguing that receipt of a single notice for a given chemical as being active would suffice and that at that point “additional reports for the chemical need not be required.”
Here again, the law is clear this is not allowed. Let’s go back to the Inventory reset provision [section 8(b)(4)(A)(i); emphasis added]:
(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act, the Administrator, by rule, shall require manufacturers, and may require processors, subject to the limitations under subsection (a)(5)(A), to notify the Administrator, by not later than 180 days after the date on which the final rule is published in the Federal Register, of each chemical substance on the list published under paragraph (1) that the manufacturer or processor, as applicable, has manufactured or processed for a nonexempt commercial purpose during the 10-year period ending on the day before the date of enactment of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act.
Clearly this provision requires each manufacturer of a substance on the Inventory to notify EPA if it is manufacturing it. Nothing in this language allows a subset of such manufacturers to file notices.
Nor would the industry’s proposal work in practice or necessarily be desirable even to them. Part of the notice a manufacturer must file is a reassertion of any existing claim to protect from disclosure the identity of a chemical the company wishes to maintain; see section 8(b)(4)(B)(ii). Such CBI claims and the basis for them are, of course, specific to the company asserting the claim. If the Inventory reset process for a chemical could stop after the first notice is received, that could well mean that only that first notifier’s CBI claim would be asserted – and even then only if that notifier had an existing claim and wished to reassert it. Under this scenario, requests to maintain existing CBI claims originating with other manufacturers of that same chemical might well not be received by EPA.
In this context, the new law is clear that the identity of any active chemical for which no requests are received through the Inventory reset process to extend an existing CBI claim must be disclosed to the public [section 8(b)(4)(B)(iv); emphasis added]:
(B) CONFIDENTIAL CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES.—In promulgating a rule under subparagraph (A), the Administrator shall—
(iv) move any active chemical substance for which no request was received to maintain an existing claim for protection against disclosure of the specific chemical identity of the chemical substance as confidential from the confidential portion of the list published under paragraph (1) to the nonconfidential portion of that list.
I suspect that is not an outcome those in industry urging EPA to stop the process for a chemical after receipt of the first notice would be pleased with.
In sum, the new law is clear that all manufacturers must notify EPA of their active manufacture of a chemical, and that, unless any existing CBI claims are asserted at that time (and later reviewed and found to be warranted), the identity of that chemical is to be made public.
http://blogs.edf.org/health/2016/10/07/separating-fact-from-fancy-in-the-tsca-inventory-reset-mandated-by-the-lautenberg-act/
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(ACC Mentioned) Glyphosate Critic to be Questioned by US Congressional Committee
Oct 7, 2016 | Horticulture Week
By Matthew Appleby
Officials from the US government's health research agency are to be questioned by a congressional committee about why taxpayers are funding a World Health Organization cancer agency facing criticism over how it classifies carcinogens.
n aide to the US House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform told Reuters that National Institutes of Health officials have agreed to attend a hearing after questions were raised by lawmakers over its grants to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The letter on IARC from the US Congess is here.
IARC's monograph findings on glyphosate have come under scrutiny in recent times, with the NIH, which is among IARC's funders, among critics. The IARC website lists current UK funders as The Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK and The University of Kent.
Glyphosate manufacturer Monsanto and other critics such as Syngenta have pointed out how IARC's findings appear inconsistent with other scientific research. European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and United States regulators have cleared glyphosate.
The American Chemistry Council also criticised the IARC monograph.
Monsnto told HW: "Monsanto has no comment to make on the steps taken by legislators, or on IARC’s funding or constitution and governance in general. Monsanto’s interest is in the science and we would like it be perfectly clear where the overwhelming weight of scientific evidence sits.
"We strongly believe that IARC’s opinion on glyphosate was wrong and does not contribute to public understanding of the substantial body of scientific evidence on glyphosate safety.
We agree with the peer reviewed findings of the expert panel. This alongside the ever growing list of independent government regulators who also disagree with IARC and are making public statements to that."
In Australia: "The APVMA has completed its assessment of the IARC report and other recent assessments of glyphosate and has concluded that glyphosate does not pose a cancer risk to humans"
New Zealand: "The EPA commissioned Dr Wayne Temple, a toxicologist and former Director of the New Zealand National Poisons Centre, to undertake a scientific review of glyphosate. The overall conclusion of report Review of the Evidence Relating to Glyphosate and Carcinogenicity is that glyphosate is unlikely to be genotoxic or carcinogenic to humans and does not require classification under HSNO as a carcinogen or mutagen."
http://www.hortweek.com/glyphosate-critic-questioned-us-congressional-committee/plant-health/article/1411450
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(ACC Mentioned) ACC Urges Dropping Chloroform Prop 65 Reprotox Designation
Oct 10, 2016 | Chemical Watch
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has urged delisting chloroform from the Proposition 65 list of substances known to California to cause reproductive toxicity.
California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) has said it will be considering the substance's status. This is because the federal regulations that served as the basis for its listing have changed.
In its comments, the ACC says the weight of evidence does not merit its retention on the list.
Chloroform is a byproduct of chlorine disinfection in water. It has been listed as a carcinogen under Prop 65 since 1987.
The Developmental and Reproductive Toxicant Identification Committee (Dartic) will consider its status as a reproductive toxicant at its 27 October meeting.
The agency has extended the public comment period on its notice of intent to list perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) under Prop 65.
Comments are due by 16 November.
https://chemicalwatch.com/50194/acc-urges-dropping-chloroform-prop-65-reprotox-designation
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California Extends Prop 65 BPA Emergency Regulation
Oct 10, 2016 | Chemical Watch
California has extended its emergency regulations on Proposition 65 warnings for bisphenol A (BPA) in canned and bottled food and drink by 90 days.
The existing emergency regulations had been set to expire on 17 October. But the state's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) sought an extension while it develops a regular rule.
California's Office of Administrative Law has now agreed the emergency regulations will be in place until 17 January.
https://chemicalwatch.com/50194/acc-urges-dropping-chloroform-prop-65-reprotox-designation
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Animals, Costs Saved With Predictive Tools, Trade Group Says
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Cleaning product manufacturers prevented the sacrifice of more than 100,000 test animals and saved about $50 million dollars in chemical testing costs by using predictive computer and analytic tools to provide data on high production volume chemicals, a study by the American Cleaning Institute found.
“Research methods that used innovative non-animal techniques for filling hazard data gaps for 261 high production volume chemicals eliminated the need for over 1,200 animal research studies that would have sacrificed 115,000 to 150,000 animals,” the institute said Oct. 4 as it announced publication of a study summarizing its analysis.
The research also showed companies saved between $50 million and $70 million through testing costs avoided. The institute's scientists that prepared the analysis said it was the first published quantification of benefits resulting from avoided tests through the use of:
• read-across approaches, a well-established method of using data from one or more chemical studies to predict the same outcome for a structurally similar chemical; and
• in silico methods, which use of computer models to predict, in this case, hazard characteristics.
Institute scientists calculated the animal and financial savings based on toxicity and physico-chemical data that the trade association's members provided the Environmental Protection Agency and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Beginning in the late 1990s, the agency and international organization began to collect basic information about chemicals produced in volumes of one million pounds or more.The Dow Chemical Co. makes a wide variety of commercial chemicals. It uses read-across strategies and alternative toxicity tests to support chemical registrations globally when scientifically justified, spokesman Jarrod Erpelding told Bloomberg BNA Oct. 7.
Dow has not quantified its cost savings or animal use reductions resulting from alternative tests, but maintains these approaches “would result in a significant increase in the number of animals used and our costs,” he said.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98367438&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98367438&jd=98367438
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Sen. Markey Criticizes EPA's School PCB Actions
Oct 7, 2016 | Inside EPA
Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA) is criticizing the lack of federal requirements to test for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in schools and citing uneven EPA enforcement of existing but inadequate policy on the issue, vowing to introduce legislation in the coming months to require such testing and to offer federal aid for inspections and PCB removals.
Markey, who is the ranking Democrat on the Environment & Public Works Superfund and waste subcommittee, Oct. 5 released a new report, "The ABC's of PCBs: A Toxic Threat to America's Schools," which found nearly 30 percent of students in U.S. schools may be exposed PCBs.
Banned since 1976, PCBs are regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). They are a probable human carcinogen and may lead to various non-cancer health effects, EPA says. They were used in a variety of commercial products such as caulk, electronics, fluorescent lighting and other building materials.
"We need to know the full extent of this toxic threat in our classrooms so that we can test for PCBs, remediate it and inform families that their students may be at risk of exposure to these dangerous chemicals," Markey said in a statement.
But Markey's emphasis on testing runs counter to the direction EPA took a year ago when it updated guidance on addressing PCBs in schools and emphasized risk reduction measures such as best management practices (BMPs) to avoid exposures, while refraining from directly calling for air or materials testing for PCBs. If testing finds PCBs in materials above the legal limit of 50 parts per million, regulations require immediate removal. About 60,000 schools fall under the time period in which PCBs were used in buildings, according to an EPA source.
Instead, the guidance frequently defers to school administrators consulting with EPA regional PCB coordinators on such matters. During development of the guidance, there were disagreements within EPA over how much testing and cleanup the agency should recommend or require in schools, the EPA source said last year. The agency considered whether resources should be spent on removal upfront rather than testing, the source said.
But Markey and the report are critical of EPA's efforts on PCBs in schools, and call for changes. The report found that without a federal requirement to inspect schools for PCB hazards, "schools often appear to learn of PCB hazards by chance, and it is likely that additional cases of PCB hazards remain undetected.”
Further, it says there is inconsistent communication and a lack of transparency among schools, EPA, states and those who may be impacted. Also, EPA regions are inconsistent in handling enforcement and communication activities, with some schools failing to fully remediate PCB hazards even when identified. Many states and localities lack the funding to test or clean up PCBs in schools, it says, estimating that remediation costs to address caulk nationally would be between $26 billion and $52 billion.
The report recommends that EPA survey schools nationwide to better determine the scope of PCB hazards in schools, and that inspections and testing be made mandatory, possibly through an amendment to the Asbestos Hazard Emergency Response Act. "In the meantime, and at a minimum, the EPA should update its testing guidance to encourage inspections of all schools built or retrofitted between 1950 and 1979, and improve its efforts to communicate testing guidance" to states and schools.
It calls on EPA to immediately develop guidance on notifying parents, teachers and school employees of potential PCB hazards, and to develop guidance to improve consistency in recordkeeping, enforcement and outreach to states and school districts.
It also calls on EPA to update its 2015 PCBs in schools guidance to add in lessons learned from past remediation projects and best available science. EPA should update TSCA regulations to bar the continued use of PCB-containing fluorescent light ballast and require its removal from schools, it adds.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/sen-markey-criticizes-epas-school-pcb-actions
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MEPs Call For Ban on BPA In Food Contact Materials
Oct 7, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
A large majority of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have backed an environment committee (Envi) report calling for a ban on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in all food contact materials (FCM).
The report criticises the major gaps in EU legislation and calls for harmonised regulation for all FCMs. And it wants priority given to paper and board due to its high market penetration.
The call to ban BPA in FCMs was introduced as an amendment to the report at a meeting of MEPs earlier this month. The report, with the new BPA amendment, was then voted on by 616 MEPs. Ninety one per cent supported the report, 5% were against and 4% abstained.
The report and vote do not force the Commission to act, but do apply pressure.
Earlier this year the European Commission issued a draft Regulation to set a tighter migration limit of 0.05mg of BPA per kg of food to plastic materials as well as articles and varnishes and coatings found in canned foods. The current limit is set at 0.6mg of BPA per kg of food.
MEPs say this is not good enough. In their amendment to the Envi report, they referred to new evidence from the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). This says the current tolerable daily intake (TDI) does not protect foetuses or infants from the effects of BPA on the immune system.
A Danish study also suggests the TDI is too high to protect people from BPA's endocrine-disrupting effects.
And the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) set up a working group to evaluate the new scientific evidence on the potential effects of BPA on the immune system.
Then in September the French authorities submitted a proposal for adding BPA to the REACH candidate list of SVHCs on the grounds that it is an endocrine disruptor and a CMR.
A Joint Research Centre (JRC) study on the need for more EU measures to regulate non-plastic food contact materials (FCMs) expected to publish its results early this year, but it has been delayed.Industry response
PlasticsEurope says the position of MEPs on BPA is "misleading" and "undermines" established risk assessment-based consumer protection principles.
"The request for a ban contradicts the recent Efsa evaluation from January 2015, which concluded there is no consumer health risk from BPA exposure, with reference to exposure via foodstuffs," says Jasmin Bird, of PlasticsEurope's PC/BPA-group.
This conclusion, Ms Bird says, was based on a thorough evaluation of the entire scientific database on BPA. "Against this background, the position to ban BPA from all FCMs appears unjustified."
But the Confederation of European Paper Industries (Cepi) supports the development of a measure specific to paper and board materials. In the absence of common EU rules, it says, diverging national measures are "seriously hampering the internal market, creating legal uncertainty."
Meanwhile, Michael Warhurst, executive director of NGO CHEM Trust, says the vote sends a clear signal to the Commission and EU governments that it is not acceptable to have "inadequate safety regulations" on the use of chemicals in FCMs.
"It is shocking how long it is taking for BPA use to be properly regulated. A ban across all food contact uses – including paper and card – would be an important step forward in public protection."
In the US, a bill was recently introduced that would ban BPA from food containers.
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ECHA Tells Europe Chems to ‘Stop Complaining’, Get On With Registrations
Oct 7, 2016 | ICIS
By Jonathan Lopez
The European chemicals industry should “stop complaining” about Reach, the EU’s regulatory framework for the sector, get on with the job of registering their substances in structured, clear dossiers and set an example for the rest of the world, the executive director at the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) told an industry event late on Thursday.
Geert Dancet, invited by the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic), warned delegates ECHA does not make the regulations but only implements them, and defended the results Reach has brought since 2007 when it was first implemented.
ECHA’s chief, however, warned there is still a lot of work to do, and added that the Helsinki-based agency will collaborate with the industry in ensuring that communication on safe uses in the chemical supply chain is comprehensive, effective and easy to understand.
As a proof of its commitment, ECHA signed publicly, together with Cefic’s director general Marco Mensink, a statement supporting that policy.
However, Dancet did not come to the industry’s event to tell delegates what they wanted to hear. From dossiers filed to ECHA on substances which were “incomplete” or unstructured, the agency chief also said Reach is here to stay and advised companies to stop complaining about a piece of legislation which will set an international example for years to come.
“We’d like to you [companies] to consider dossier registration are an asset [which will be] read by many people around the world [by] disseminating that information publicly on our web,” said Dancet.
“[Therefore, we need you] to provide high quality data, which is compliant [with Reach and] proactively update your dossier, and create new ways of stimulating that. Be proactive in relation to nanoforms and animal testing.”
In May, the Agency issued 56 recommendations on how Reach might work better and on what more needs to be done to improve chemicals safety.
One of ECHA’s new battles to register chemicals used in the EU will come from nanoforms. Dancet highlighted that only 18 dossiers on substances submitted to the agency are flagged as nanoforms, and announced that additional information requirements for those products will be put in place.
Equally, he told delegates that “better documentation and consistency” is needed on alternatives to vertebrate animal testing.
“[There is a] considerable delay on [these aspects], perhaps to your liking, but urgent action is coming,” Dancet told delegates.
Regarding the upcoming 2018 Reach deadline, which will involve the registration of substances produced in quantities between 1 and 100 tonnes, the ECHA chief was understanding of the challenges ahead, as it will involve many small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) which might find the cost of regulation rocketing as a result.
Although many voices within the European chemical industry have said the deadline could put many SMEs out of business, in an interview with ICIS on Thursday Dancet said that a solution could come from focusing in a few products, having to submit less registration dossiers.
His message to delegates was less harsh. With collaboration and communication among all players, some companies could avoid registering their products, simply because they might have already been registered, he said.
“We all know this [2018 deadline] is complicated. We have converted all our guidance, and [provide] support [by dividing] information into six different phases on how to prepare a dossier. Phase 5 has just been launched and in December phase 6, on how to submit your dossier, [will be launched],” said Dancet.
“[Some] industry action required: Spread information on the deadline and make sure the critical substances for the users are all registered, and that they are not withdrawn unexpectedly from the market.”
Another issue ECHA will concentrate on in coming years are substances under the umbrellas of carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic for reproduction (CMR) products, persistent bioaccumulative toxics (PBT) and endocrine disruptor chemicals (EDC), the “substances that matter to regulators and governments.”
In June, the European Commission – the EU’s executive body – disappointed chemical companies by adopting the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) criteria for EDCs, arguing it lacked “scientific criteria” suitable for the purposes of regulatory decision making, said Cefic at the time.
Dancet said, however, companies should not fear to apply for authorisations of substances, arguing ECHA does approve many of them, trying to put a more positive spin to his speech.
“Authorisations and restrictions [of substances] are the best stimuli for substitution. Don’t be afraid, innovate instead. [Many] applications are receiving authorisation [so] help us [and] stop complaining. We are making authorisations all the time easier, cheaper and more practical and it’s not a drama to have an authorisation,” he said.
“Many people [who] complain have never gone through the process [of application].”
As an example, he said the EU now forbids the use of chromium VI in the manufacturing of leather goods, which was replaced by titanium technologies. The change caused a surge in sales as consumers felt more confident about leather products, he said.
Dancet said: “The experience so far: [we have had] insufficient and unstructured communications up and down the supply chain. Some exposure information poorly represents the actual uses of a substance [and] information down the supply chain [is] perceived as difficult to use by downstream users.
“Aspects to be improved: companies should actively seek convergence of the same classification for the same substance [because] citizens need more reliable information on dangerous substances in the products they buy. Innovate, innovate, innovate – the [Reach] journey continues,” he added.
Dancet also asked companies to maintain the investments made so far for the implementation of Reach, arguing it was in the interest of “everyone in the planet”, while ECHA will continue encouraging the progressive substitution of chemicals of high concern from the manufacturing process.
“Reach is not over in 2018 [and] if [registration are] done by 2020, we’ll have a good reputation – once out there, it [EU dossiers] become a source of any other legislation.”
In Thursday's interview, the ECHA chief also said the departure of the UK from the EU, known as Brexit and caused by a national referendum on membership in June, would have effects on how the country's chemicals apply Reach and other legislations, arguing if UK firms are willing to continue trading with the EU in the same terms, all aspects of EU chemical legislation should apply.
http://www.icis.com/resources/news/2016/10/07/10041814/echa-tells-europe-chems-to-stop-complaining-get-on-with-registrations/
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Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
An Oct. 6 article about EPA's efforts to update the amended chemicals law inventory incorrectly described the agency's deadline to review confidential business information (CBI) requests companies make for chemical identities. The EPA must review all company claims that a chemical's identity is CBI within five years of publishing its updated inventory of chemicals active in commerce. The number of chemicals reported under the Chemical Data Reporting rule in 2005 and 2011 failed to mention that chemical manufacturers generally are required to report only those chemicals made in volumes of 25,000 pounds or more.
The article also mischaracterized the Environmental Defense Funds’ position on chemical processors and the inventory update. According to the environmental organization, if a processor fails to notify the EPA that a chemical it uses should be on the active inventory, that chemical may not be listed on the active inventory and the processor would forgo its opportunity to claim the chemical's identity as confidential. The processor may later be able to ask the EPA to move a chemical from inactive to active status and assert a confidentiality claim provided it substantiates its need for such trade secret protection, EDF said.
The online version has been corrected.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98367446&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98367446&jd=98367446
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(ACC Mentioned) Greater Production of Natural Gas Must Be Encouraged
Oct 8, 2016 | Observer-Reporter
By David Spigelmyer and Jeff Kotula
Donora is well-known for producing legendary baseball players, such as Stan Musial or the two Ken Griffeys. However, like many small Rust Belt communities across our region and especially in the Mon Valley, Donora has faced big struggles over the years. But the tide is starting to turn, and manufacturing jobs – once the heartbeat of our region’s economy – are coming back.
In fact, an international plastics manufacturer recently announced that its new regional headquarters and production center will be in Donora, which will support nearly 100 good-paying local jobs.
But why select this small community on the banks of the Monongahela River? The “ample supply of reliable, low-cost natural gas for fuel; and soon, in-region production of polyethylene” served as a key factor in the company’s decision, according to Pittsburgh Regional Alliance president David Ruppersberger.
That’s right – Donora, Washington County, and our broader region’s access to affordable homegrown natural gas is creating a competitive edge for manufacturers that’s spurring new investment and good-paying jobs.
Donora’s positive progress and the many other regional Marcellus Shale-related manufacturing comeback stories are worth celebrating as we mark the recent national Manufacturing Day.
Hardworking families in the Mon Valley know the all too familiar, and deeply painful, story of America’s manufacturing struggles. It wasn’t too long ago we watched plants gradually close and local jobs shipped elsewhere. America’s manufacturing obituary has been written time and time again, and the cuts were especially deep for our region’s middle class.
But thanks to America’s natural gas revolution, led in large part by Washington County and our commonwealth, we are now witnessing a domestic manufacturing rebirth that almost no one could have projected even a few years ago. In fact, Pennsylvania’s rich manufacturing heritage is making a roaring comeback.
As the nation’s second largest natural gas producer, Pennsylvania is at the tip of the spear of America’s energy revolution, enabling consumers and manufacturers throughout the commonwealth and beyond to directly benefit. Manufacturers, especially in the chemical and plastics space, require reliable, affordable natural gas supplies to make any number of products that improve our daily lives in countless ways.
Thanks to Pennsylvania’s record-breaking natural gas production, manufacturers have access to these energy supplies – as well as a second-to-none skilled workforce – and are eyeing Western Pennsylvania to expand and grow jobs.
Consider Shell’s $6 billion ethane cracker investment in Beaver County. This project, representing the largest investment made in the commonwealth since World War II, is projected to create 6,000 construction jobs and 600 permanent jobs – mostly for local residents and union construction members.
Union halls, training centers, and educational institutions are already establishing programs to prepare for the wave of workers from the region needed to construct and operate this world-class facility.
These are family-supporting careers, as plastics manufacturing employees, on average, earn a wage 73 percent higher than the typical American, according to American Chemistry Council data.
Thanks to the Marcellus Shale, Western Pennsylvania has the unique opportunity to re-emerge as a national – rather, an international – energy and manufacturing powerhouse. That’s exactly why it’s critical policymakers must focus on policies that encourage greater production of our local, abundant natural gas resources.
David Spigelmyer is president of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, and Jeff Kotula is president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce.
http://www.observer-reporter.com/20161008/greater_production_of_natural_gas_must_be_encouraged
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Appeals Court Dissolves Work Freeze On Pipeline
Oct 9, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
Construction on a contested portion of the Dakota Access pipeline can move forward after a federal court dissolved an administrative injunction and refused to grant an emergency request to continue freezing work on part of the project.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit today issued a short order denying a request from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, joined by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, to continue a pause on the oil pipeline.
The order also dissolved an existing temporary work freeze, meaning Dakota Access LLC can continue work on a section of the pipeline west of Lake Oahe in North Dakota (Greenwire, Sept. 16).
But the judges appeared sympathetic on the merits of the case, noting that their denial was a narrow decision and "not the final word" on the tribe's complaints about consultation.
Lake Oahe and its shorelines remain off-limits while the Army Corps of Engineers considers whether to issue an easement there.
The appeals court now will consider whether to uphold an order from a lower court that denied a broader injunction on the length of the pipeline. The tribe says the corps failed to adequately consider their concerns when it approved water crossings for the project.
In its order today, the three-judge panel of the appeals court seemed to take the tribe's complaints to heart.
"Although the tribe has not met the narrow and stringent standard governing this extraordinary form of relief, we recognize Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act was intended to mediate precisely the disparate perspectives involved in a case such as this one," the order said.
"Its consultative process — designed to be inclusive and facilitate consensus — ensures competing interests are appropriately considered and adequately addressed," it continued. "But ours is not the final word. A necessary easement still awaits government approval — a decision corps' counsel predicts is likely weeks away; meanwhile, intervenor DAPL has rights of access to the limited portion of pipeline corridor not yet cleared — where the tribe alleges additional historic sites are at risk. We can only hope the spirit of Section 106 may yet prevail."
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/stories/1060044031
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Court Denies Tribe's Request To Halt Pipeline Construction
Oct 10, 2016 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
A federal court panel has lifted orders blocking construction on a portion of the embattled Dakota Access Pipeline project in North Dakota.
In a two-page ruling issued Sunday night, the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request for an injunction against construction on the project along a small stretch of land while its lawsuit over the pipeline moves forward.
The court also lifted an administrative injunction against work on the stretch of land around North Dakota’s Lake Oahe, an order issued when the tribe appealed its case to the court last month.
Construction on federal land near Lake Oahe remains on hold, however; the federal government has not yet granted Dakota Access’s developers the easement necessary for constriction to move forward there.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has sued over the 1,170-mile, $3.8 billion pipeline project, saying it threatens sacred and environmental sites in the region and arguing the federal government didn’t do proper historical assessment work before issuing the permits necessary for the project.
A lower court denied the tribe’s first injunction request in September; the tribe took its case to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit last week. Dakota Access lawyers said last Wednesday that the company would move forward with work if the court ruled against the injunction request.
The three-judge panel ruled Sunday that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe did not meet the conditions necessary for securing an injunction against the project.
The judges acknowledged that federal law is designed to “mediate” disputes regarding historic preservation concerns like those at the heart of this conflict.
“[The law’s] consultative process — designed to be inclusive and facilitate consensus — ensures competing interests are appropriately considered and adequately addressed,” the judges wrote.
“A necessary easement still awaits government approval … where the Tribe alleges additional historic sites are at risk. We can only hope the spirit of [the law] may yet prevail.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/300121-court-denies-tribes-request-to-halt-pipeline-construction
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First Nations Flex Muscles In US, Canada Pipeline Debate: Fuel For Thought
Oct 10, 2016 | Platts
By Ashok Dutta
First Nations tribes in Canada and the US have started flexing their muscles, successfully delaying pipeline projects on both sides of the border. Indications are that this effort is becoming more organized and may play a larger role in infrastructure decisions across the continent.
Tribal action is behind the delays encountered by Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. Tribes are demanding more consultation and, in some cases, opposing expansion of energy infrastructure altogether.
That effort reached a new level in late September, when First Nations and tribal chiefs gathered simultaneously at Musqueam in Vancouver and Mohawk in Montreal to sign a new continent-wide treaty and form an alliance committing nearly 50 other bands in Canada and the US to stop all proposed oil sands pipeline, tanker and rail projects in their territorial lands and waters.
“What this treaty means is that from Quebec, we will work with our First Nation allies in BC [British Columbia] to make sure that the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline does not pass and we will also work with our tribal allies in Minnesota as they take on Enbridge’s Line 3 expansion, and we know they’ll help us do the same against Energy East,” Kanesatake Grand Chief Serge Simon said in a statement.
The collective stance will have a major impact on the Liberal Party government, which was voted into power last November on the promise of granting a larger say for stakeholders and particularly First Nation bands in British Columbia in any oil pipeline approval and building process.
“This whole issue in relative. They have always been bold and we will see that happening in the future,” Chris Bloomer, president of the Canadian Energy Pipelines Association, told Platts.
“Compared with the previous Conservative Party government, First Nations feel they have an ally in the Liberals now and feel their voices will be heard more clearly.”
Canadian projects in doubt
Building new crude oil pipelines and the relentless debates about such pursuits have in the past several years proved to be a comprehensively futile exercise in Canada. In fact, there is little public memory of when an export pipeline was last built from land-locked Alberta—the nerve center of Canada’s oil production.
The debate is raging once again, and will have long-term implications for the future of Western Canada’s ailing oil industry, including the potential of barrels being left in the ground, Canadian pipeline companies increasing their investments in Mexico and the US rather than on their home turf and lastly for the country to lose its market share over the medium to longer term.
In the shorter term, Enbridge is working diligently to provide an additional 60,000 b/d to 80,000 b/d of additional capacity on its Mainline through a combination of debottlenecking and installing high-pressure pumps. But come 2020 and with some 700,000 b/d of new production capacity being started up, crunch time will inevitably dawn on producers.
With a second-quarter throughput of 2.2 million b/d, the 2,366-mile Mainline system that runs from Edmonton, Alberta to Illinois in the US Midcontinent, is a prime source of pipeline takeaway capacity for producers in Alberta and Saskatchewan that have a combined output of just over 3 million b/d.
Four new pipeline projects have been mounted on the drawing board in the past decade with a targeted in service date of 2018/19. Starting off with the 525,000 b/d Northern Gateway that already received regulatory approval, the others are the 1.1 million b/d Energy East, the 590,000 b/d expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline and the 830,000 b/d Keystone XL system.
All the pipelines have not only missed their targeted timeline for start up, but it is still anybody’s guess when the first line pipe will be laid underground.
The Northern Gateway pipeline is also in a limbo, as a decision was due by September 22 from Ottawa after a Federal Court of Appeal this summer overturned an NEB approval granted in late 2013 to Enbridge to build the pipeline. The court’s objection was primarily focused on the lack of stakeholder consultations.
Without a pipeline breakthrough, Western Canadian production could be capped at about 4.4 million b/d. In the US, further Bakken crude production is at risk if Dakota Access doesn’t come to fruition. Since the pan-continental movement is just getting underway, and collecting additional allies, producers could have difficulty making longer term plans.
http://blogs.platts.com/2016/10/10/first-nations-us-canada-pipeline-debate/
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EPA Seen Taking Stronger Role Voicing Concerns Over Pipeline Reviews
Oct 10, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
EPA appears to be taking an increasingly strong role voicing concerns over oil and natural gas pipelines regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), with one environmentalist citing "real failings" that the agency has highlighted in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Clean Water Act (CWA) reviews.
For example, the agency has flagged concerns with the controversial Dakota Access crude oil pipeline. The Army Corps of Engineers recently halted approval for parts of the pipeline following protests from a tribe and others about inadequate consultation. EPA has also forwarded concerns to FERC about other projects, including a letter last month questioning the completeness of a review of a proposed pipeline project in the Northeast.
EPA does not directly have oversight for pipelines, which are generally governed by FERC with approval under the CWA by the Corps. which is the permitting authority under section 404 of the water law. However, EPA does submit comments under NEPA on environmental impacts of projects, and shares an oversight role with the Corps under section 404 -- and it has power under CWA section 404 to veto permitted sites the Corps has approved.
"EPA has pointed out some real failings," the environmentalist says, pointing to several recent EPA comment lettersto FERC.
For example, EPA Environmental Assessment and Innovation Division director John Pomponio in a Sept. 12 letter to FERC deputy secretary Nathaniel Davis, Sr., is flagging concerns about FERC's draft environmental impact statement (EIS) under NEPA for the PennEast LLC Pipeline Project. The project proposes to construct and operate about 118.8 miles of natural gas pipeline extending from Luzerne County, PA to Mercer County, NJ.
"EPA has significant concerns regarding the alternatives analysis, a number of important topics for which information is incomplete, and the direct, indirect and cumulative impacts of the proposed action on the environment and public health, including impacts to terrestrial resources, including interior forests, aquatic resources, and rare, threatened and endangered species," the letter says.
EPA says impact estimates in the draft EIS include direct removal or fragmentation of 633 acres of forest, with no quantitative analysis of "high valued interior forests" and an estimated 56 acres of temporary impacts to wetlands, 35 acres of permanent impacts, and 255 water crossings. Moreover, the project proposes a 1,056 foot dry crossing of the Susquehanna River, which would divert flow of the river during low flow conditions.
"EPA recommends that the potential on site and downstream effects of these flow perturbations be quantified," the letter says. FERC should also evaluate potential impacts related to mining subsidence, landslides and flash flooding, potential "blasting" impacts to water wells, springs and wetlands, and that FERC better consider the project's potential to induce movement of naturally occurring arsenic into groundwater, EPA says.
The letter also raises concerns on FERC's cumulative impact assessment, saying it narrowly identified past, present, and reasonably foreseeable actions and geographic and temporal scope in assessing impacts.
"EPA recommends that FERC describe the inter-related network of existing and proposed pipelines and associated impacts," the letter says, including a more comprehensive consideration of impacts from natural gas production, transmission and use. EPA has rated the letter "environmental objections, insufficient information," which means it identified significant environmental impacts that should be avoided in order to adequately protect the environment.
EPA's Concerns
In a separate letter from Keith Hayden, EPA Region 6 special projects chief, to FERC Secretary Kimberly Bose, the agency says a final EIS for the Lake Charles Expansion Project to reconfigure Kinder Morgan's existing pipeline network to accommodate the Magnolia Liquified Natural Gas and Lake Charles Expansion Project addressed some concerns EPA raised earlier in the NEPA process. However, the letter adds that, "EPA continues to have concerns regarding analysis of indirect effects and greenhouse gas emissions."
EPA says that the EIS did not "fully consider" the potential for increased natural gas production as a result of the project, and urges FERC to consider the Energy Department's draft study, "Addendum to Environmental Review Documents Concerning Exports of Natural gas from the United States."
Additionally, FERC should include estimates of the GHG emissions anticipated annually from the production, transport and combustion of the natural gas expected to be exported from the facility, the letter says.
EPA's Christopher Militscher, in an Oct. 26, 2015, letter to Bose, also highlighted concerns with FERC's proposal to allow construction of natural gas transmission pipelines and associated facilities consisting of three separate pipeline projects -- including the Sabal Trail project of 515 miles of new pipeline and easements from central Alabama to Osceola County, FL.
The letter highlights a number of concerns with the project, including that FERC's compensatory mitigation plan under the CWA had not been finalized and included at the time the draft EIS was issued, and that the DEIS did not fully identify avoidance and minimization measures for the project's impacts to jurisdictional waters.
The Sabal Trail pipeline project is also the subject of Aug. 17 litigation filed by several environmental groups in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in which the groups argue in Gulf Restoration Network, et al., v. Army Corps of Engineers similarly that the Corps failed to give adequate notice of how the companies would mitigate loss of wetlands ahead of issuing a final permit, consequently failing to provide an appropriate opportunity for public comment.
Pipeline Review
EPA also raised concerns over the Corps' NEPA review of the Dakota Access crude oil pipeline, where it echoed environmentalists' longstanding claims that the Corps often narrowly reviews "segments" of a pipeline in isolation rather than considering the cumulative impacts of the overall project.
The Corps announced Sept. 9 that it would suspend approval for construction of two sections of DAPL that would be built on Corps-owned land under or near Lake Oahe in North Dakota. Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others have argued, in litigation and public protests, that the administration failed to adequately consider the potential that the pipeline's construction along the Missouri River waterbodies threatens their drinking water supply.
That decision came soon after District Judge James Boasberg, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, denied tribes' request for a preliminary injunction against the construction of the entire pipeline -- not just the Lake Oahe reaches -- in their suit seeking to halt the project permanently.
The Corps' brief in the litigation at press time was due Oct. 11 and the Corps has until Nov. 10 to file its administrative record, with a status hearing scheduled the same day.
During an Oct. 5 press call, American Petroleum Institute's Robin Rorick, midstream group director, said "the process is in place" to take into account the tribal concerns, and that the group is advocating that the agencies follow the process.
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-seen-taking-stronger-role-voicing-concerns-over-pipeline-reviews
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Pennsylvania Adopts New Fracking Regulations
Oct 7, 2016 | Reuters
By David DeKok
New regulations governing the extraction of natural gas through fracking will go into effect on Saturday in Pennsylvania, the first overhaul since the industry took off in the state more than 10 years ago.
The new rules allow the state's department of environmental protection to require additional measures if fracking is taking place near public resources, and requires drillers to restore water supply that is degraded or damaged through fracking, according to the statement.
Environmental groups hailed the new rules. An oil and gas industry group blasted the regulations, with a spokesman saying he expected legal challenges.
The rules have been in development since 2011, and faced opposition from the oil and gas industry and their allies in the state legislature, where the regulations were rejected earlier this year.
Since then, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf has reached a compromise that gave traditional oil and gas wells different rules than “unconventional” wells developed through fracking.
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into rock to extract natural gas or other products. Opposition has mounted as the run-off from fracking has been blamed for polluting water supplies in parts of the United States.
In March, residents near Dimock in the northeast corner of the state won $4.2 million in damages from Cabot Oil & Gas for the contamination of well water. The verdict is being appealed.
Thomas Au of the Sierra Club in Harrisburg said one of the biggest changes in the new regulations involves industry reporting of spills and contamination. “It’s much more thorough,” he said.
Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association president Daniel Weaver blasted the new regulations in a statement, saying they grew out of a “flawed, pre-determined and antagonistic development process.”
Industries cannot challenge state regulations in court until they go into effect. Au said he expects there will be litigation over some of the new rules.
(Reporting By David DeKok in Harrisburg; Editing by David Gregorio)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-pennsylvania-fracking-idUSKCN1272B3
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EPA Reconsiders Refinery Standards to Shore Up Rule
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew Childers
The Environmental Protection Agency is reconsidering aspects of its recently issued toxic air pollutant standards for refineries in an effort to shore up the rule's legality, the petroleum industry said.
The agency is not expected to revise the toxic pollutant standards, said Matthew Todd, a senior policy adviser at the American Petroleum Institute, one of the groups that petitioned the EPA for reconsideration of the refinery rule, which was issued in December 2015.
Instead, the decision to grant reconsideration (RIN:2060-AT18), announced Oct. 7, and take an additional round of public comment should address concerns that the industry and public did not get an opportunity to review and comment on provisions that were included in the final rule, Todd told Bloomberg BNA.
“We're supportive of the conclusions the agency arrived at by the final rule,” Todd said.
However, the petitioners had said provisions of the final rule were not properly put out for comment when the toxic pollutant standards were first proposed, which could make them vulnerable to legal challenges.
“The agency agreed they had a notice and comment issue. Did the public have an opportunity to provide comment?” Todd said. “That's what's being afforded here.”
The American Petroleum Institute, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers and a coalition of environmental groups all had petitioned the EPA to reconsider portions of the updated toxic pollutant standards (RIN:2060-AQ75), which require petroleum refineries to install monitors to measure fenceline concentrations of benzene. The rule also updated standards for flaring excess gas and set new emissions standards for delayed cokers at refineries which use heat to break apart molecules of thick residual oil.
Representatives of the other petitioners could not be reached for comment.
The issues being reconsidered include:
• work practice standards for pressure relief devices,
• work practice standards for emergency flaring, and
• provisions to reduce frequency of fenceline monitoring at sites that continually show low levels of benzene exposure.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98367442&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98367442&jd=98367442
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EPA Agrees to Review Natural Gas Emissions Estimates
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
The Environmental Protection Agency agreed to review and update, if necessary, its estimates of the level of ozone-forming pollution emitted from natural gas wells (Air Alliance Houston v. McCarthy, D.D.C., No. 1:16-cv-1998,proposed consent decree filed 10/7/16).
The agency, in a proposed consent decree filed Oct. 7, agreed to a Feb. 5, 2018, deadline to issue a final decision on whether it will revise or retain its “emission factor” for flaring at natural gas production facilities, which is used to estimate the amount of volatile organic compounds emitted from those pollution sources. Volatile organic compounds are a precursor to the formation of ground-level ozone.
Environmental advocates, led by Air Alliance Houston, sued the agency over an alleged failure to meet a Clean Air Act requirement that the emission factor, which was set in 1985, be reviewed every three years.
Emissions factors are a “foundational aspect” of many important Clean Air Act programs, including permitting and compliance determinations, according to Environmental Integrity Project attorney Sparsh Khandeshi.
Khandeshi, who is representing the plaintiffs, told Bloomberg BNA that the 1985 emission factor at issue in the litigation is likely inaccurate. If the EPA were to review and update that tool, it likely would lead to more facilities being subject to stricter Clean Air Act regulatory requirements, including New Source Review permitting requirements for new and modified natural gas production facilities, Khandeshi said.
Under the terms of the proposed consent decree, the EPA would issue a proposed decision on retaining or revising the emission factor by June 5, 2017, with a final decision to be made in early 2018.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98367435&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98367435&jd=98367435
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EPA Moves To Update Emission 'Factors' For Oil And Gas Drilling Sector
Oct 7, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA has agreed to update old emissions “factors” -- estimates of air pollution -- from natural gas drilling operations, moving to settle a lawsuit brought by environmentalists who charge that the factors are years out of date and result in serious underestimates of pollution that could lead to weaker emissions control strategies for the sector.
In a proposed consent decree lodged Oct. 7 with U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Air Alliance Houston, Community In-Power and Development Association, Louisiana Bucket Brigade and Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services propose to settle a lawsuit they filed only a day earlier over the issue.
The decree sets a deadline of June 5, 2017, for EPA to propose a rule either revising the factors for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by gas drilling operations in flares, or leaving them unchanged, and a deadline of February 5, 2018, to finalize the rule. Drillers use flares to dispose of waste gas and toxics emitted by gas wells, but combustion in flares is not always complete and some air pollution still results.
In their lawsuit filed Oct. 6, the groups said, “Industry uses emission factors to report air pollution to EPA and state regulatory agencies. EPA and state agencies rely on this data to develop national, regional, state, and local emissions inventories. These emission inventories are the primary tool that EPA and state agencies use to develop emissions control strategies and make air quality management and permitting decisions.”
The Clean Air Act requires EPA to review and if necessary revise its emission factors every three years, but the suit claimed the agency has not reviewed the gas drilling factors for more than 30 years.
Incorrect emissions factors can lead to flawed estimates of pollution and inappropriate regulatory action. Advocates have sued EPA previously, alleging that its emission factors greatly underestimate pollution. A suit over a May 2015 final agency rule setting new emission factors for VOCs emitted by refineries and petrochemical plants is currently in abeyance in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
A prior lawsuit, filed in 2013 in the D.C. district court, claimed the agency was unlawfully delaying review of its emissions factors, and that suit resulted in a consent decree that led to the May 2015 rule.
EPA has admitted that its emissions factors for flares at refineries are outdated, but some legal issues remain to be resolved, such as whether EPA can use total hydrocarbons as a “surrogate” for VOCs.
In the new district court case now being settled, environmentalists allege that the VOC emissions factors from flaring significantly underestimate emissions. Specifically, the existing factors “are outdated and based on unrepresentative data. The emission factors are based on assumptions that flares at natural gas production facilities achieve 98% control efficiency and that the gas burned at these flares is the same or similar to the gas burned to power heaters at petroleum refineries. Both of these assumptions are incorrect,” according to the complaint.
EPA and the federal Bureau of Land Management recently finalized rules setting control requirements for flares used in gas drilling, assuming that flares achieve only 95 percent control. Also, natural gas emissions differ from those of gas burned in refineries, petitioners say.
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-moves-update-emission-factors-oil-and-gas-drilling-sector
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Lost Wages Claims in Elk River Spill Cases OKed
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Eastman Chemical Co. must face lost wages claims in a class action stemming from a 2014 chemical spill in West Virginia, the Southern District of West Virginia ruled Oct. 6 (Good v. Am. Water Works Co., Inc., S.D. W.Va., No. 14-cv-01374, 10/6/16).
The ruling allowed the economic loss claims against Eastman for a spill of its coal-cleaning solution that fouled the Elk River and interrupted the water supply of Charleston, W. Va. But the court rejected similar claims against water companies that supplied the drinking water (31 TXLR 901, 9/29/16).
West Virginia law typically bars claims for purely economic losses in negligence cases. Here, however, evidence that Eastman's chemical tainted the plaintiffs’ water—damaging pipes, water filters and bathtubs—was sufficient to proceed along with the plaintiffs’ personal injury claims, the U.S District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia said.
Similar claims against water company defendants American Water Works Service Co. Inc., American Water Works Co. Inc. and West Virginia-American Water Co. were rejected. Those loss claims lack the “close nexus” between defendant and plaintiff required to bypass the economic loss doctrine, the court said.
U.S. District Judge John T. Copenhaver Jr. wrote the opinion.
The law offices of Thompson Barney and the Caldwell Practice represented named plaintiff Crystal Good and other plaintiffs.
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, as well as Blank Rome represented Eastman Chemical Co.
Jackson Kelly and Baker Botts represented American Water Works Co. Inc., American Water Works Service Co. Inc. and West Virginia-American Water Co.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98367440&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98367440&jd=98367440
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Shell Suspends Bakken Crude-by-Rail Project For Puget Sound Refinery
Oct 7, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
A subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc said a proposed rail spur to deliver crude oil from the Bakken Shale to a refinery in Washington state is currently uneconomical. It has suspended the project.
Shell Oil Products USA said its Puget Sound Refinery -- located on March Point, near the town of Anacortes -- would continue to receive crude oil via tankers at its dock and through a pipeline connected to Canadian oil fields. Shell had planned to tap into new crude supplies from the Bakken (see Shale Daily, Aug. 19, 2014), but the company said low commodity prices and abundant production elsewhere made other sources of crude more attractive.
"When we look at current crude oil supplies, prices and markets globally, and the cost of the project, it just doesn't make economic sense to move forward at this time," Shirley Yap, the refinery's general manager, said in a statement Thursday. "We are committed to investing in this facility and there will be other ways to do that."
The Puget Sound Refinery has 145,000 b/d of processing capacity and produces about 25% of the Pacific Northwest's fuel. It is one of the largest employers in Skagit County, WA.
Shell's announcement came just two days after officials with the Washington State Department of Ecology and Skagit County Planning and Development Services released a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the proposed oil-by-rail project. The company said it "remains confident that the project could be built and operated in a way that protects our employees, our community and the environment."
According to county records, the project called for the construction of a rail spur from an existing BNSF rail line to the refinery, and the installation of equipment to pump oil from rail cars into the facility. Unit trains serving the refinery would have had four locomotives and approximately 102 oil tank cars. The rail spur was designed to receive six unit trains per week, for a total of approximately 612 oil tank cars per week.
About 8,000 feet of unloading tracks, with a concrete unloading pad, also would have been built for the project. It was also to include about 1,300 feet of track for temporary storage of rail cars taken out of service for repair and maintenance, and about 7,200 feet of train-staging track.
In February 2015, after concluding that the rail spur could have a major impact on the environment, a Skagit County hearing examiner ordered the county to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the project and held key permits in abeyance. Shell immediately appealed the decision to the Skagit County Board of Commissioners.
Environmental groups were pleased by the news.
In a Facebook post Thursday, the group Friends of the San Juans, based in Friday Harbor, WA, said it and others "have been working toward this victory for the past two years to require Skagit County to complete an EIS for this controversial project. We did so out of concern for public health and safety on land and sea. This is a huge victory for our environment and preserving the economy of the Salish Sea.”
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/108026-shell-suspends-bakken-crude-by-rail-project-for-puget-sound-refinery
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Climate Pact Transparency May Spur Collaboration: Officials
Oct 10, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Leven
Transparency requirements included in the Paris Agreement set to take effect in November may spur additional action and collaboration in battling climate change, federal and state officials said Oct. 7.
Reporting on efforts to tackle climate change will enable countries to learn from one another about what measures are most effective, officials agreed at the American Bar Association's environment and energy fall conference in Denver.
“I think it's going to improve the current system of greenhouse gas inventorying,” said Conor Linehan, a partner at William Fry in Dublin. “Ideally it would be a very vigorous system of greenhouse gas accounting that, I agree, could achieve a lot.”
Janet McCabe, assistant administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Air and Radiation, noted transparency also prompts action.
The blockbuster international climate agreement is aimed at keeping global temperatures from increasing by more than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) later this century compared to the pre-industrial era. On Oct. 5. it topped the necessary ratification benchmark—55 countries representing 55 percent of the world's emissions—and will enter into force Nov. 5.
Data Transparency's Domestic Success
McCabe and Matthew Rodriguez, California Secretary for Environmental Protection, said they have seen the success of environment pollution reporting and transparency while in their own agencies, separate from the Paris Agreement.
McCabe pointed to the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory, which requires certain industries’ facilities to report releases and management of more than 650 toxic chemicals annually, as a tool where transparent data has helped.
“It's not just if you can't measure it, you can't manage it,” McCabe said. “It's if you measure it, and it's made public, then you're going to want to do something about it.”
Rodriguez, on the other hand, said people use public California environment information to make investment decisions. He also said meetings with Chinese officials showed him how making the state's data public allowed other entities to learn about emission reduction strategies.
“Some of them knew more about what was going on in California in terms of greenhouse gas emissions than I did,” Rodriguez said. “I think there will just be a tremendous interest in getting the information out.”
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=98367436&vname=dennotallissues&fn=98367436&jd=98367436
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After Criticism, SoCal Air Board Adds More Regulatory Teeth To Smog-Reduction Plan
Oct 7, 2016 | Los Angeles Times
By Tony Barboza
Southern California air quality officials released a proposal Friday to give more regulatory teeth to a smog-reduction plan that has faced criticism for its voluntary, industry-friendly approach.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District has revised a plan, originally released in June, to include additional regulations to cut emissions from diesel backup generators, water heaters, furnaces and other appliances. Among other changes, the agency also added a commitment to identify and consider new measures targeting oil refineries, ports, warehouses and other large facilities that are responsible for much of the pollution in the nation’s smoggiest region.
The changes come in response to what regulators acknowledge was a skeptical reaction to their first draft of the plan, which relies heavily on voluntary, “nonregulatory” measures that encourage, rather than force, polluters to adopt cleaner technology. The document, which will guide efforts to reduce pollution levels in Southern California over the next 15 years, calls for finding $1 billion a year for emissions-cutting incentive programs — a 10- to 20-fold increase over what is spent today.
Though the overall approach remains similar, language in the revised plan emphasizes that the agency “will make full use of its legal authorities to seek a cleaner air future” and will give priority to “maximizing emissions reductions” using battery, fuel cell and other zero-emissions technologies where possible.
The new plan also proposes giving “serious consideration” to ending a cap-and-trade program for smog-forming emissions from the region’s largest facilities and adopting traditional regulations in its place. The current program requires polluters to buy credits to cover their emissions, which is intended to provide a financial incentive to clean up their operations.
The Regional Clean Air Incentives Market, or RECLAIM program, has come under fire recently for failing to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions to the extent promised. Partly to blame is an oversupply of credits, which has allowed oil refineries and other large polluters to delay installing costly pollution controls.
Last December the AQMD board adopted oil industry-backed changes to the program that will cut less pollution and more slowly than agency staff had proposed. That decision has faced harsh criticism from state regulators and environmentalists, who say it violated state law and will hurt public health.
The AQMD proposal released Friday acknowledges that “many of the program’s original advantages appear to be diminishing and generating increased scrutiny” and suggests that an “orderly sunset” of the program may be the best way to reduce burdens on businesses while achieving greater emissions reductions.
The changes to the plan, presented at a governing board meeting in a ballroom at the Mission Inn Hotel & Spa in Riverside, were greeted with skepticism and protest from environmentalists. They urged stronger measures to reduce smog-forming pollution, particularly from ports, rail yards, warehouses and other hubs of the bustling goods movement and logistics industry.
Outside the meeting, Sierra Club activists from the Inland Empire, some in ghoulish masks and costumes, staged a Halloween-themed demonstration to demand tougher action against the “deadliest air in the nation.”
The inland region suffers from the nation’s highest levels of ozone, the lung-damaging gas in smog.
“We want a strong plan that is very regulatory and not just asking folks to volunteer to clean up the air,” said Mary Valdemar, a Sierra Club member from San Bernardino. “We're past the point of being nice.”
Southern California’s polluted air is linked to thousands of premature deaths, emergency room visits and missed school days a year from asthma, heart disease and other illnesses. A recent analysis by the South Coast district found that the health benefits of meeting federal pollution-reduction deadlines would far outweigh the billions in costs to industry, the government and consumers.
Driving the plan is a 2031 federal deadline to reduce ozone pollution. Achieving that will require massive reductions in smog-forming nitrogen oxides, largely from trucks, trains, cargo ships and other transportation-related sources that release the bulk of the pollution in the South Coast region, which includes 17 million people across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
Expected later this month is a proposal that will detail how smog-reduction projects outlined in the agency’s plan would be paid for. One funding source under considerationby air district officials is an increase in vehicle registration fees of as much as $30 to $60 a year.
But any attempt to raise fees on millions of drivers faces serious obstacles, including a requirement that it be approved on a two-thirds vote in the state Legislature. State Senate Leader Kevin De León (D-Los Angeles) opposes the idea and has called it “a cynical attempt by polluters to shift the burden of cleaning up after themselves to middle- and working-class families.”
A final version of the smog-reduction plan is expected to go to the air-quality board for adoption by February 2017.
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-aqmd-regulations-20161007-snap-story.html
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