Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 10/14/16
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(ACC Mentioned) US Modifies Plans to Crack Down on Tax Inversions
Oct 14, 2016 | Financial Times
By Barney Jopson
The Obama administration has revised a proposed crackdown on US companies moving overseas to cut their tax bills in an effort to protect other businesses from collateral damage. -
(ACC Mentioned) States Call on EPA to Ensure Broad Data Sharing in TSCA CBI Regulation
Oct 14, 2016 | Inside EPA
By David LaRoss
States are calling on EPA to ensure it will broadly share with them data on chemicals it will gather as part of a confidential business information (CBI) rule required by the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), while also suggesting states and local authorities could similarly have useful data for EPA. -
EPA Aims to Reduce Exposure to Toxic Chemicals
Oct 14, 2016 | Legal News Line
By Mark Iandolo
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced efforts to carry out requirements of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act and reduce exposure to certain persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals. -
Judge Rules Eastman Chemical Not Bound by Safety Initiative in Water Case
Oct 14, 2016 | Charleston Gazette Mail
By Ken Ward Jr.
A voluntary industry safety initiative does not set up formal standards binding Eastman Chemical, a federal judge ruled Thursday in another decision that helps frame the upcoming trial of a class-action lawsuit over the January 2014 chemical spill on the Elk River, a federal judge ruled Thursday. -
Kids' Halloween Makeup Laced with Heavy Metals — Study
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Gabriel Dunsmith
Heavy metals taint a variety of children's makeup products, according to a study published yesterday by the Breast Cancer Fund. -
Emails — McCarthy Feared Rule was 'Not Going the Way She Hoped'
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Climatewire
By Emily Holden
U.S. EPA chief Gina McCarthy has projected nothing but unwavering confidence in her agency's landmark climate rule. -
Protesters Under Watch as Pipeline Inches Closer
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
These days, Cory Bryson feels like the hills have eyes. "Somebody's always watching," he said while navigating dirt roads near the contentious Dakota Access pipeline route. From highways and hilltops, somebody is always on the lookout. -
Rotterdam Eyed for Waste-to-Chemicals Plant
Oct 14, 2016 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Melody M. Bomgardner
A group of companies calling itself the Waste-to-Chemicals Consortium has chosen the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as the proposed site of a methanol plant that will use waste as feedstock. -
U.S. Set to Double LNG Shipments
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Energywire
Cheniere Energy Inc. has received approval from regulators to double the volume of U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas exports from its Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana. -
A Smart Approach to Renewable Energy Development on Our Public Lands
Oct 14, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By General Paul Eaton
For over four decades, I’ve committed myself to serving and protecting my community and my country. I was in the U.S. Army for 33 years serving alongside our men and women in uniform committed to securing our freedoms and protecting our nation. -
Will Obama's Legacy Be Clouded by His Failure to Make Chemical Plants Safer
Oct 14, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Christine Todd Whitman
Fifteen years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the United States has made considerable progress in reducing the nation’s vulnerability to many of the methods terrorists have used to take the lives of innocent men, women, and children. Yet one of the most attractive targets to terrorists seeking to cause mass casualties and create panic remains far too vulnerable: America’s chemical facilities. -
(ACC Blog) The Key to Building Energy Efficiency? A Sound Building Envelope
Oct 14, 2016 | American Chemistry Matters
By Justin Koscher
Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation can increase the energy-efficiency of a home by creating a sound building envelope, which shields the home’s living areas from the outdoor environment. -
(ACC Mentioned) Developing Countries' Demand for Plastics Will Drive GHGs — Exxon
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Climatewire
The burgeoning energy and plastic markets in the developing world will continue to push up global greenhouse gas emissions, according to an official from Exxon Mobil Corp. -
OTC Study Shows Declining Threat to Air Quality from Diesel Generators
Oct 14, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
A new draft study by an Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) working group indicates a declining threat to air quality in the OTC region of Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states from diesel generators, as a result of state and federal efforts to curb emissions, even though uncertainty lingers on the units' actual air quality impacts.
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Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) US Modifies Plans to Crack Down on Tax Inversions
Oct 14, 2016 | Financial Times
By Barney Jopson
The Obama administration has revised a proposed crackdown on US companies moving overseas to cut their tax bills in an effort to protect other businesses from collateral damage.
Jack Lew, the US Treasury secretary, said on Thursday he was modifying the plans designed to deter deals known as inversions that scuppered Pfizer’s $160bn takeover of Allergan when they were unveiled in April.
The administration had been struggling to stop US companies merging with smaller foreign rivals to shift their domicile to low-tax jurisdictions — often in Europe — and therefore reduce their American tax bills.
Aggressive measures announced in April triggered an outcry from businesses that had nothing to do with inversions and complained that their ability to manage their finances via internal loans would be impaired.
Mr Lew told reporters on Thursday the Treasury had been told by companies its proposals “could unduly constrain ordinary business practices”.
“After carefully considering this feedback, we have addressed stakeholder concerns by more narrowly focusing the final regulations on aggressive tax avoidance tactics and providing certain limited exemptions,” he said.
At issue is the way companies lend money between their subsidiaries using what are known as intra-company loans or related-party debt.
The Treasury wanted to make inversions less profitable by stopping companies from making loans from foreign subsidiaries to the US and deducting the interest payments from their US tax bills, a practice known as earnings stripping.
But American businesses and foreign companies with US subsidiaries said the proposed rules restricting the types of financial instrument that can be classified as debt would interfere with day to day financial management.
One corporate lobbyist has told the Financial Times that some companies feared their subsidiaries in emerging markets would have to borrow from local banks because access to intra-company loans would be cut off.
There were signs that corporate America was not entirely happy with the Treasury’s revisions on Thursday.
The American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical companies, said: “We are deeply concerned by [the] rushed review of Treasury’s debt-equity regulations. The proposed rules touched many segments of the American economy, and we are disappointed that the administration moved too quickly to conduct a meaningful review of the rules’ impacts.”
The revisions include exempting from its crackdown the “cash pools” companies use to manage cash. It is also exempting transactions where it deems the risk of earnings stripping is low, and between banks that use related-party loans in their roles as financial intermediaries.
Kevin Brady, the Republican chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, which oversees tax issues, said: “It appears that the Obama administration has ignored the real concerns of people who will be most impacted by these far-reaching rules.”
https://www.ft.com/content/87d30dc4-9190-11e6-a72e-b428cb934b78
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(ACC Mentioned) States Call on EPA to Ensure Broad Data Sharing in TSCA CBI Regulation
Oct 14, 2016 | Inside EPA
By David LaRoss
States are calling on EPA to ensure it will broadly share with them data on chemicals it will gather as part of a confidential business information (CBI) rule required by the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), while also suggesting states and local authorities could similarly have useful data for EPA.
Speaking to Inside EPA on Sept. 27 during the Environmental Council of the States' (ECOS) fall meeting here, Washington Department of Ecology toxics chief Ken Zarker said the states are hoping the revised toxics law will lead to a more robust "give and take" between federal and state chemical regulators on CBI.
"In the past, EPA was restricted -- they couldn't share data with the states under TSCA. They changed it so now we can share the data . . . we want to have a conversation about what we can have access to," Zarker said. He has spearheaded TSCA efforts for ECOS, which represents many state environment agencies.
EPA has already pledged to involve states when it develops rules implementing the new TSCA statute's CBI provisions. Agency toxics chief Jim Jones said during a Sept. 27 TSCA panel at the conference here that his office will seek input from ECOS on a CBI rule.
"I think that is a topic that deserves an ECOS dialogue. . . . We're hoping in December, after we get some of these requirements a little more down the road, that we'll be able to put more energy into a state-federal dialogue," he said.
Zarker told Inside EPA that Jones' promise is encouraging but added that he and other state regulators are hoping the dialogue develops into a broad information-sharing rule that would allow states access to federal CBI databases moving forward, and could also let EPA draw on data states have gathered through their own toxics programs.
He continued that states have long sought more effective ways to build databases of hazardous chemicals that could be released to the environment in an accident or spill, citing the 2014 Elk River chemical spill in West Virginia as an example of when such information would have been useful.
"It was very difficult for emergency responders to get information on what was in that chemical that got into the river. . . . They didn't know what they were dealing with for quite a few hours," he said.
Data Sharing
Zarker added that data sharing could also benefit EPA because it would gain access to information states have gathered through their own chemicals programs during the years when TSCA was weaker and state regulators were thus encouraged to pursue their own regulations of hazardous substances, such as California's "green chemistry" program.
It would also allow regulators to share data gathered if states deliberately pursue regulating chemicals EPA has not scrutinized, in order to avoid the new law's complex regime for preempting states' existing rules for a chemical that the agency targets for review.
"We'd be more than happy to share information on what kind of chemicals are involved in products or uses we've looked at, or what kinds of products a certain chemical is used in. That might be especially helpful if they're looking at a particular use of a chemical," Zarker said.
Data on individual uses of chemicals could be particularly important if EPA sides with industry groups such as the American Chemistry Council and implements "fit for purpose" reviews of substances' environmental and health risks, which would be targeted to inform specific regulatory decisions rather than covering a broader general assessment.
EPA's Tala Henry, director of the agency's risk assessment division within its Office of Pollution Prevention & Toxics may have signaled that TSCA implementation will go in that direction during an Aug. 9 presentation to a Washington, D.C., meeting. There, according to comments, Henry indicated that the agency intends to conduct "fit for purpose" risk evaluations.
But environmentalists have cautioned that risk reviews tailored to inform potential regulation of chemicals, rather than a general review of a substance's risks, would violate the reformed TSCA.
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/states-call-epa-ensure-broad-data-sharing-tsca-cbi-regulation
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EPA Aims to Reduce Exposure to Toxic Chemicals
Oct 14, 2016 | Legal News Line
By Mark Iandolo
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced efforts to carry out requirements of the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act and reduce exposure to certain persistent, bio-accumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals.
“The threats from persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic chemicals are well-documented,” said Jim Jones, assistant administrator in the EPA’s office of chemical safety and pollution prevention. “The new law directs us to expedite action to reduce risks for these chemicals, rather than spending more time evaluating them. We are working to ensure the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act signed in June of this year delivers on the promise of better protecting the environment and public health as quickly as possible.”
The EPA is currently working to reduce five chemicals: decabromodiphenyl ethers (DecaBDE), which are used as a flame retardant in certain products; hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD), which is used in the manufacture of rubber compounds and lubricants, and as a solvent; pentachlorothio-phenol (PCTP), which is used as an agent to make rubber more pliable; tris (4-isopropylphenyl) phosphate, which is used as a flame retardant in certain consumer products; and 2,4,6-tris(tert-butyl)phenol, which is used as an oil additive.
http://legalnewsline.com/stories/511018327-epa-aims-to-reduce-exposure-to-toxic-chemicals
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Judge Rules Eastman Chemical Not Bound by Safety Initiative in Water Case
Oct 14, 2016 | Charleston Gazette Mail
By Ken Ward Jr.
A voluntary industry safety initiative does not set up formal standards binding Eastman Chemical, a federal judge ruled Thursday in another decision that helps frame the upcoming trial of a class-action lawsuit over the January 2014 chemical spill on the Elk River, a federal judge ruled Thursday.
U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver Jr. granted a motion from Eastman, which argued that the “Responsible Care” program — a much-touted effort by a chemical industry lobby group — did not independently create some duty that Eastman owed to residents and businesses who are suing over the company’s role in selling to Freedom Industries Crude MCHM, the primary chemical involved in the spill that contaminated the region’s drinking water supply.
The ruling is the latest in a series of decisions that Copenhaver has made in the weeks prior to the scheduled start on Oct. 25 of jury selection in the case against Eastman and West Virginia American Water Co. over the water crisis the occurred following the contamination of the area’s drinking water after the spill.
The lawsuit alleges that West Virginia American did not adequately plan for or respond to the spill, and that Eastman did not properly caution Freedom about the potential dangers of Crude MCHM. Last year, Copenhaver approved the case being pursued as a class-action over the liability, or fault, of the water company and Eastman. The judge did not certify a damages class, meaning damages would be determined later, on some case-by-case basis that has yet to be fully defined.
In their case against Eastman, lawyers for residents and businesses argue the Eastman is liable for failing to instruct Freedom about the proper storage of Crude MCHM and not warning of the chemical’s potential dangers. Eastman had wanted to block any evidence about whether the Responsible Care program constituted a set of industry standards that the company should have followed in its handling of MCHM matters and dealings with Freedom.
Copenhaver ruled that there was no “foundation to conclude that the broad principles of Responsible Care translated into specific practices or actions of companies that are well known and commonly accepted within the industry.”
In another ruling this week, Copenhaver on Wednesday ruled with Eastman on the company’s argument that it had not violated the federal Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, in its handling of MCHM issues.
The TSCA issue was not scheduled to be part of the trial, because the parties had agreed to have Copenhaver rule on it as a matter of law. The only issue was that the plaintiffs sought a court injunction to force Eastman to stop the TSCA violations alleged in the lawsuit.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs had argued that Eastman violated the law by not reporting certain information about Crude MCHM to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A former top EPA official, Robert Sussman, hired as an expert for the plaintiffs, had said that if Eastman had provided EPA with more information it “may well have led” to additional studies of the chemical and “to great controls on environmental release at coal preparation and related facilities, and these could have prevented the spill from occurring.”
Copenhaver, though, ruled that such “conjectural or hypothetical” arguments are exactly the sort that the U.S. Supreme Court has dismissed as insufficient to show a legal standing to bring suit.
“That is, the plaintiffs cannot show that it would be ‘likely’ as opposed to merely ‘speculative,’ that the injury will be redressed by a favorable decision,” the judge wrote. Copenhaver said that the injuctive relief sough by the plaintiffs in the TSCA part of their case — requiring Eastman to correct its failure to report certain MCHM information to EPA’s TSCA office and begin keeping records about adverse health effects relating to the chemical — would not ameliorate any future potential to exposure to MCHM.
http://www.wvgazettemail.com/news-cops-and-courts/20161013/judge-rules-eastman-chemical-not-bound-by-safety-initiative-in-water-case
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Kids' Halloween Makeup Laced with Heavy Metals — Study
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Greenwire
By Gabriel Dunsmith
Heavy metals taint a variety of children's makeup products, according to a study published yesterday by the Breast Cancer Fund.
The group, a nonprofit that advocates for eliminating exposure to toxins that cause breast cancer, found lead, chromium, cadmium, arsenic and mercury in a variety of Halloween face paints marketed to children.
Lead is a potent neurotoxin, while mercury impairs the immune system, brain, heart, kidneys and lungs, according to U.S. EPA. Arsenic is a human carcinogen, and cadmium and hexavalent chromium have also been shown to impair health.
"Toxic chemicals in kids' face paints and makeup is pretty scary," said Janet Nudelman, director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, in a statement. She called on Congress to take action.
Almost half of the 48 products the Breast Cancer Fund mailed to an independent laboratory showed at least one heavy metal, the group said, while some paints contained up to four. The highest levels were detected in darkly pigmented paints.
The organization warned parents to undertake "careful inspection" of products, especially during the Halloween season — though it added that labels often fail to provide proper warning.
"Heavy metals, carcinogens, and endocrine disrupting chemicals should not be in kids' face paint and makeup," said Sharima Rasanayagam, the Breast Cancer Fund's science director, in a statement. "Our report reveals chemicals of concern in a wide variety of products, in most cases with no indication on the label. Even as a scientist working in this area, I am not able to tell what is in the products I buy for my children without lab testing. Parents shouldn't have to be organic chemists to make safe choices for their family — manufacturers can and should do better."
The Breast Cancer Fund also found volatile organic compounds — a class of toxins that may disrupt the endocrine system — in 20 percent of other children's makeup it tested, including nail polish, lotion and lip balm.
Such compounds pose particularly adverse health risks to children, the group claimed, due to children's still-developing bodies.
Meanwhile, the Personal Care Products Council — the largest trade group for the cosmetics industry — issued a statement dismissing the concerns raised in the study.
"American consumers should not be concerned by this report as it is speculative, misleading and contradicts the uniform conclusions of worldwide experts who conclude that these ingredients are used safely in these products," said Beth Jonas, the group's chief scientist. "Consumers are often confused by scary-sounding claims about chemical risks that may sound science-based, but do not reveal anything about actual risk levels. These ingredients have a long and well documented history of safe use."
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2016/10/14/stories/1060044300
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Emails — McCarthy Feared Rule was 'Not Going the Way She Hoped'
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Climatewire
By Emily Holden
U.S. EPA chief Gina McCarthy has projected nothing but unwavering confidence in her agency's landmark climate rule.
But an email allegedly from the account of longtime climate strategist John Podesta suggests she had problems with the Clean Power Plan just over a month before its release in August 2015.
A note from Eryn Sepp, an assistant to Podesta, listed voicemails received while he was out of town on June 24, 2015.
McCarthy's cryptic message, from 10:55 p.m., was starred as one of the "most pressing," according to an email released by WikiLeaks.
Knows you're traveling and doesn't want to bother you, but she needs your help on 111D. It's not going the way she hoped. She's down to the wire and will be talking to POTUS soon (did not say when).
"111D" is the section of the Clean Air Act that EPA used to write the Clean Power Plan, and it is often used to refer to the rule. Podesta had been a senior adviser to President Obama but by that summer had transitioned to leading Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.
According to McCarthy's schedule, which E&E News obtained via a public records request, the day before she left the voicemail, she had an hourlong general discussion with senior air office staff and lawyers, including Joe Goffman, Janet McCabe and Avi Garbow.
On the day she called Podesta, she had a 30-minute meeting on the Climate Action Plan, the Obama administration effort that includes the Clean Power Plan. Top air staff attended, as well as Mark Rupp, deputy associate administrator of EPA's Office of Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations, and Brian Bond, from the office of public engagement.
That afternoon, McCarthy had a 10-minute call with Brian Deese, climate adviser to Obama.
That evening, she attended a Washington Nationals baseball game with Deputy Administrator Stan Meiberg before phoning Podesta at almost 11 p.m.
McCarthy's schedule shows multiple brief phone calls with Deese in the following days. On June 29, she had a 30-minute preparation session with senior staff for a "POTUS meeting."
That afternoon, she and other top climate officials met in the White House Roosevelt Room with the AFL-CIO and affiliate unions on the Clean Power Plan.
From 4:45 to 5:15 p.m., McCarthy was scheduled with the president and Deese.
Podesta also had calls from White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, President Bill Clinton's Chief of Staff Tina Flournoy, Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay Henry and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer, who "just wanted to check in and say hi."
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2016/10/14/stories/1060044252
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Protesters Under Watch as Pipeline Inches Closer
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
These days, Cory Bryson feels like the hills have eyes.
"Somebody's always watching," he said while navigating dirt roads near the contentious Dakota Access pipeline route. From highways and hilltops, somebody is always on the lookout.
It's a sunny morning in October with temperatures stubbornly in the 20s, and Bryson is checking on work sites along the route — some of them just reopened this week after a federal court lifted an injunction.
Bryson is on the workers' side. As a business representative for the local office of the Laborers' International Union of North America, he has about 150 members whose paychecks depend on this embattled oil pipeline getting in the ground.
The eyes in the hills are law enforcement officers and private security forces looking out for convoys of protesters intent on disrupting construction. After previous protests ended in violent altercations, local law enforcement enlisted help from departments as far away as Wisconsin.
The Dakota Access pipeline, backed by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, would move as much as 570,000 barrels of oil a day some 1,100 miles from North Dakota to Illinois.
The project has become the target of a massive opposition effort from American Indian tribes, environmentalists and various allies. More than a thousand are camped out here near the confluence of the Missouri and Cannonball rivers, and many plan to stick around for winter (EnergyWire, Oct. 13).
If a large group of vehicles is seen leaving the makeshift protesters' village, security forces warn workers to go to their cars or evacuate construction sites, and sheriff's deputies get positioned to try to de-escalate any conflict.
"We let the law enforcement do their job," Bryson said. "Anywhere from a half-hour to an hour later, our guys are back on the job site working."
But state Sen. Donald Schaible (R) says neighbors, schools and law enforcement are fatigued by the constant conflict.
"There's no clear path for resolution," said Schaible, whose district includes the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which kicked off the pipeline opposition. "How do you get from where we are to getting this solved and getting back to your lives?"
Many in the community are worried that the worst may be yet to come.
"That's the question all of us have," Bryson said. "This hasn't even peaked yet to what's going to happen. The only thing you can hope for is that no one seriously gets hurt, from either side."
'Stand in solidarity'
Over at the Sacred Stone Camp, the tent and teepee village where thousands have cycled through in recent months, the scene is starkly different.
While a contingent of campers participate in the "direct actions" to stop construction, many others stay at camp to participate in ceremonies, help with daily chores or simply get to know their neighbors.
"This community that has come together is what the world needs to see," said Mario Moreno, a 23-year-old Apache descendant from New Mexico who was a "full-on" video gamer before joining the camp this week. "It's great to see communities come together to make one big family. This is a home."
It was that sense of kinship that attracted Craig Wood, a Minneapolis resident who is part of the Veterans for Peace organization.
"I love the heart and determination of these people," Wood said. "I'm just here for a few days to stand in solidarity."
This is Wood's second visit to the Sacred Stone Camp, and he and other members of Veterans for Peace plan to return.
For New Mexican Eloisa Silva, it's a personal experience, too. While she doesn't participate in the construction protests, she sees the camp as "a smaller version of that."
"Every time you wake up, you know what you're doing," she said. "You know that even waking up here is part of a protest. It's just revolutionary to just be able to do that."
Still, the more confrontational elements of the camp are evident. Daily meetings are held to work out direct action plans, and campers worry about "infiltrators" spying to get information about construction protests.
A helicopter sweeps overhead frequently, and the National Guard and highway patrol have set up a checkpoint down the road. One camper in his 20s, who declined to give his name, swears the government turned off his cellphone to keep him from communicating.
'Bad core'
Schaible, the state senator, said the anti-pipeline demonstrations are becoming unmanageable because nobody is in charge at Sacred Stone.
"We've got three or four factions of different types of attitudes of what their mission is," he said. "People are committed to protest their cause, and that's fine. The thing is, it seems like it's slowly escalating into more conflicts.
"That's the scary part of it," he added.
Brian Kalk, part of the state's three-member Public Service Commission, which approved the pipeline route, said much of the more aggressive opposition seems to have overshadowed the Sioux's original complaints about the pipeline.
"I think the backdrop of this protest is there's a group of individuals who are anti-fossil fuel, and they have melded a relationship with the tribes who have a legitimate concern about pipeline safety, which we all do," the commissioner said from his office in Bismarck. "And now we've got the protesters down there, and they say no matter what the courts do, they're going to stop this thing."
Bryson said that in his experience, competing approaches are almost inevitable in large protests.
"Unions exercise their right to protest, lawfully protest," he said. "The bigger crowd you have, you're always going to have that bad core in there, and that's what's happened. Except, unfortunately their core of bad people is more than a few people."
Sheriffs handling the situation have called on Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II to assert leadership over the camp and denounce any violent actions from protesters. At camp, though, the attitude is communal, with no clear chain of command.
The laborers group has requested a meeting with Archambault and the tribal council to discuss a path forward.
"This isn't a fight between the workers and the tribe," Bryson said. "This is a fight between [Energy Transfer Partners], the higher-ups in the tribe and the courts. It's turned into a war on workers."
So far, the meeting hasn't happened.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/10/14/stories/1060044265
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Rotterdam Eyed for Waste-to-Chemicals Plant
Oct 14, 2016 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Melody M. Bomgardner
A group of companies calling itself the Waste-to-Chemicals Consortium has chosen the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands, as the proposed site of a methanol plant that will use waste as feedstock.
The consortium, which includes Enerkem, AkzoNobel, and Air Liquide, will use technology developed by Montreal-based Enerkem to process municipal and other waste, gasify it, clean the resulting synthesis gas, and catalytically convert it to chemicals and fuels.
Enerkem built its first commercial-scale facility in Edmonton, Alberta, to take in municipal solid waste from the city. The Edmonton plant is currently making methanol, but Enerkem plans to produce ethanol there in 2017.
The Rotterdam project is specifically targeting methanol, which the consortium bills as a renewable building block that can be converted into chemicals including acetic acid and dimethyl ether, used in propellant gases.
Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, has invested in other circular economy projects with the help of an executive of the recycling firm Van Gansewinkel, which is also a member of the Waste-to -Chemicals Consortium. For example, the port is studying a facility to turn used plastic back into oil to make new plastics.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Enerkem proposed building a $200 million waste-to-ethanol facility in Rosemount, Minn., with partner SKB Environmental, a St. Paul-based waste-handling firm.
http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i41/Rotterdam-eyed-wastechemicals-plant.html
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U.S. Set to Double LNG Shipments
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Energywire
Cheniere Energy Inc. has received approval from regulators to double the volume of U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas exports from its Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana.
Cheniere will start loading tankers with LNG from the terminal's new plant, known as Train 2. The company shipped out its first cargo from the Lower 48 states in February, making it the nation's first and only exporter of shale gas.
Analysts say the additional volume of U.S. LNG comes at a testing time for the global gas market, which has been reeling from oversupply and weakened demand.
"There will be big questions about where all of this gas is going to go and what it's going to do to European gas prices and power prices, in Asia as well," said Ted Michael, an LNG analyst with Genscape Inc.
The company plans to bring a third plant online next year and to commission a fourth.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2016/10/14/stories/1060044249
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A Smart Approach to Renewable Energy Development on Our Public Lands
Oct 14, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By General Paul Eaton
For over four decades, I’ve committed myself to serving and protecting my community and my country. I was in the U.S. Army for 33 years serving alongside our men and women in uniform committed to securing our freedoms and protecting our nation. Now, I am seeking to protect the same lands I fought for by championing smart energy and environmental policies that will enhance our national security and address climate change. By ramping up wind and solar energy production on our public lands, we will be able to do just that.
Investing in new energy sources decreases our dependence on fossil fuels and lessens our impact on the environment. Our nation's public lands have tremendous potential for renewable energy development, but we need to make sure these resources are developed responsibly without compromising the special places we treasure as Americans, and seek out as veterans.
Until relatively recently, there were no solar projects on public lands. But the landscape has changed as the demand for renewable energy has increased. That is why the Obama Administration is working on new rules to govern renewable energy development on public lands that will ensure that development is done responsibly in appropriate places and delivers a fair return to taxpayers. The new guidelines, collectively called the “Wind and Solar Leasing Rule,” are essential to the long-term stewardship of our public lands and balancing energy development with other uses like outdoor recreation.
The rule will accomplish these goals with thoughtful guidelines that establish stability and consistency across the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) field offices that are tasked with reviewing and approving renewable energy projects on public lands. The leasing process seeks to ensure a fair return to taxpayers on the use of public land by private companies and makes sure energy development is done well from the beginning. It’s also important to note that the process for developing the rule has not occurred in a vacuum: in the years since the rule was originally proposed, BLM has engaged in an ongoing public dialogue with a diverse array of stakeholders – including industry, the outdoor recreation community, veterans, small business owners, and many others – whose perspectives will help shape the final product.
Unfortunately, some in the solar and wind industry are opposing this common sense rule out of fear that it will delay or add costs to energy development on public lands. While I believe strongly that we must transition to renewable energy as quickly as we can, and am heartened by the boom in these industries which has helped us forge a path towards a clean energy economy, I also believe that development must not occur at the expense of taxpayers or our land and water. We must not squander our chance, at the birth of this new frontier in American energy, to take a “smart from the start” approach by establishing a sound process to guide future development.
Veterans have sacrificed a lot to protect our nation’s breathtaking open spaces and shared resources; we must ensure that they remain safe and continue to benefit each and every one of us. 21st century energy deserves a 21st century approach. We don’t go into conflict today with muskets; as the times have evolved, so has our understanding of innovative conservation measures that strike the balance needed for preservation and progress. And so we urge the BLM and the Obama Administration to continue to prioritize the development of renewable resources to meet our climate goals while protecting public lands. We can -- and must -- do both, and this rule provides a road map to get us there.
Paul D. Eaton is a retired Major General in the US Army and Managing Director of the Vet Voice Foundation
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/300816-a-smart-approach-to-renewable-energy-development-on
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Will Obama's Legacy Be Clouded by His Failure to Make Chemical Plants Safer
Oct 14, 2016 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Christine Todd Whitman
Fifteen years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks the United States has made considerable progress in reducing the nation’s vulnerability to many of the methods terrorists have used to take the lives of innocent men, women, and children. Yet one of the most attractive targets to terrorists seeking to cause mass casualties and create panic remains far too vulnerable: America’s chemical facilities.
This matter is of particular interest to me stretching back to my time as head of the United States Environmental Protection Agency at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks. The attack’s aftermath created multiple challenges for our government, and one in particular for the EPA was concern about the vulnerabilities of America’s industrial chemical facilities.These chemical plants – everything from fertilizer factories to water treatment plants – had long been vulnerable to a catastrophic accident or natural disaster. A gas leak in 1984 at a U.S.-owned Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, led to the deaths of some 20,000 people.
Sept. 11 heightened concerns that a deliberate attack, perhaps by a terrorist group, could unleash similar or even worse violence.
I received classified briefings on the potential consequences of an attack on a chemical facility -- making me determined to address this glaring vulnerability.
Working with the White House Office of Homeland Security and other agencies, EPA drafted legislation to require those chemical facilities that posed the greatest danger to public health in the event of an accidental or deliberate release to evaluate whether they could reduce their hazards by switching to safer chemicals and processes, and to make the switch if feasible.
We concluded at the time that EPA had the authority under the Clean Air Act to achieve this result through regulations, rather than passage of a new law. But because we did not want a new regulation to be tied up in the courts for years – since it was likely to be challenged -- we choose to draft a law. Unfortunately, after gaining consensus among the relevant departments and agencies, the White House ultimately refused to deliver our proposed legislation to the Congress.
More than a decade ago, many members of Congress, including two who are now the president and vice president of the United States, recognized the need for further action to reduce the vulnerability of these plants. Yet here in the eighth year of the Obama Administration, and the 15th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, this vulnerability remains.
In the wake of a 2013 explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, which killed 15 people, President Obama finally took some action by issuing an executive order to reduce chemical plant dangers. But the verdict is still out on whether that order will result in meaningful action.
Today, more than 100 million Americans live close enough to one of the more than 460 chemical facilities across the country that could put 100,000 people at risk if there were a deliberate or accidental release of chemicals at those sites. And because Federal investigators recently concluded that the West explosion was no accident, but was set deliberately, concern is only growing.
While many high-risk chemical facilities around the country already have moved to safer technologies, demonstrating that it is feasible to do, many other facilities have carried on their business as usual, needlessly putting communities across the country at risk.
This March, the process that started with the President’s executive order produced a proposed EPA regulation on chemical plant security. Although I am encouraged that the EPA proposes that certain high-risk chemical plants consider moving to safer technologies, I believe the Administration must strengthen this rule significantly in order to protect our country.
In particular, a wider range of chemical facilities, such as water treatment and chlorine plants, should be required to consider safer technologies and to submit promptly those analyses to the EPA. Most important, high-risk facilities should be required to actually move to safer technologies where economically and technologically feasible, and to do so on a reasonable schedule.
More than 100 organizations representing communities, workers, and others have called on the Administration to move ahead with this critical reform. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazardous Investigation Board, which is charged with investigating hazardous materials
incidents, also is asking for broader implementation of safer materials requirements.
It would be most regrettable if in its closing months, the Obama Administration did not use this opportunity to expand the use of safer technologies, when feasible, to reduce the vulnerability of chemical plants from accident or deliberate attack. The President and his team should seize this opportunity before it slips away. We should not allow another anniversary of the attack pass without tough measures in place to address this serious vulnerability.Christine Todd Whitman served as EPA Administrator from 2001-2003.
http://www.thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/300900-will-obamas-legacy-be-clouded-by-his-failure-to-make
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(ACC Blog) The Key to Building Energy Efficiency? A Sound Building Envelope
Oct 14, 2016 | American Chemistry Matters
By Justin Koscher
Spray polyurethane foam (SPF) insulation can increase the energy-efficiency of a home by creating a sound building envelope, which shields the home’s living areas from the outdoor environment. Homes can lose as much as 40 percent of heating and cooling energy through cracks and gaps in the building envelope. SPF acts as an effective barrier against air leaks in common spots including walls, attics, floors, rim joists, crawl spaces and areas around doors and windows. Sealing such common air leaks and improving the building envelope can help reduce a home’s energy consumption, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions and consumers’ utility bills.*
Utilizing building envelope measures like SPF helps the home use less energy, regardless of the generation source, and allows builders and homeowners to use smaller HVAC systems. SPF is also valued for delivering consistent performance and savings and for being easily incorporated into a home or building during construction. Code officials can inspect the building envelope to give consumers confidence that the home is built to comply with code requirements and will perform as designed.
An efficient building envelope provides numerous benefits that extend beyond energy savings. Protecting the home from the outdoor environment can improve the building structure’s durability. Certain types of SPF insulation have been shown to improve the strength of walls and roofs and also guard against moisture intrusion, which helps protect indoor environments from mold growth.
SPF is an effective and valuable way to provide long-lasting thermal protection and improve the building envelope. To learn more about SPF insulation and its wide-ranging benefits, drop by the Spray Foam Coalition’s booth 720 at the ICC’s Building Safety & Design Expo!
*Savings vary. Find out why in the seller’s fact sheet on R-values. Higher R-values mean greater insulating power. See 16 CFR 460.19.
https://blog.americanchemistry.com/2016/10/the-key-to-building-energy-efficiency-a-sound-building-envelope/
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(ACC Mentioned) Developing Countries' Demand for Plastics Will Drive GHGs — Exxon
Oct 14, 2016 | E&E Climatewire
The burgeoning energy and plastic markets in the developing world will continue to push up global greenhouse gas emissions, according to an official from Exxon Mobil Corp.
The company is in the midst of its first large chemical project in the United States and is focusing on manufacturing plastic materials like ethylene and polyethylene.
"Climate change is an issue we have to address as a society. But, at the same time, there's 1 billion people without electricity in the world," said Neil Chapman, president of ExxonMobil Chemical.
According to Chapman, demand for plastics from the middle class in India and China is slated to increase at 4 percent a year, largely because higher disposable incomes are pushing up consumption and consequently the packaging industry.
Some experts think that industries on the natural-gas-rich Gulf Coast could cater to this demand. There are currently 275 petrochemical facilities that are planned or being constructed in the United States, at a cost of $170 billion — with around $55 billion of that based in Texas — according to the American Chemistry Council.
Chapman called Houston the "epicenter of this revolution," noting that nearly half of U.S.-based chemical facilities are in the region.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/stories/1060044262/search?keyword=%22American+Chemistry+Council%22
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OTC Study Shows Declining Threat to Air Quality from Diesel Generators
Oct 14, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
A new draft study by an Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) working group indicates a declining threat to air quality in the OTC region of Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern states from diesel generators, as a result of state and federal efforts to curb emissions, even though uncertainty lingers on the units' actual air quality impacts.
The preliminary draft paper, marked "Do Not Cite Or Quote," examines the impact of generator emissions during high electric demand days (HEDD) when ozone levels spike across the 12-state OTC region. The group plans to take comment on the draft through Oct. 21, and will use that input to inform a final version.
While levels of nitrogen oxides (NOx), the primary precursor of ozone, are declining across the Eastern United States, OTC states remain concerned about spikes in NOx caused by surges in electric generation on hot summer days that are already conducive to ozone formation.
The paper assesses the additional NOx produced by diesel back-up generators (BUGs) operating to meet peak electric demand, in addition to "peaking" power plants that lack modern pollution controls and operate infrequently, and also "intermediate" power plants that run more often, but sometimes do not run pollution controls.
Diesel generators operating without restrictions as part of a "demand response" program could increase ozone in the OTC region by as much as one part per billion (ppb), the report finds, a crucial margin in areas that have ozone levels close to EPA's 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) of 70 ppb.
However, "the workgroup's survey of state regulations has shown that, for the most part, states are doing an admirable job of regulating these units' participation in such programs. States should continue to maintain or improve such regulations, as applicable," according to the draft. Further, participation of BUGs in demand-response programs, designed to help meet peak electric demand, is falling in the OTC region.
EPA has already promulgated rules restricting the operation of "emergency" backup diesel generators during demand-response events. The courts have partially remanded the agency's rules, which remain subject to litigation pending the result of the agency's revision of the standards. EPA sought to allow uncontrolled use of emergency diesel engines in demand-response programs for either 50 hours or 100 hours per year, depending on the circumstances, after companies operating such programs sued the agency, claiming prior rules were unduly restrictive.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, in a May 1, 2015, ruling in Delaware Department of Natural Resources, et al. v. EPA vacated the 100-hour exemption, and in a separate Sept. 23, 2015, order inConservation Law Foundation, et al. v. EPA remanded the 50-hour exemption to EPA at the agency's own request. That case is in abeyance pending EPA's rework of the rule.
OTC Report
The OTC workgroup found that, "most states prohibit the participation of emergency engines in voluntary or incentive-based [demand response] programs. In most states, those engines that do participate in such programs must be permitted and/or are subject to notification and recordkeeping requirements. In many of these instances, the applicable engines must also meet strict emissions limits."
The draft paper notes that participation of BUGs in demand-response programs in the OTC region increased tenfold from 2011 to 2015, notably in the PJM power market that covers much of the Mid-Atlantic. However, after EPA issued new guidance on diesel generators' participation in demand-response programs in 2015, and PJM itself issued new guidance as a result in 2016, the trend has reversed itself, the paper finds.
The paper cites PJM data showing that reported BUGs participating in PJM's generating capacity auction fell in number from 19,351 in 2015 to 15,974 in 2016, with a resulting drop of participating generating capacity from 12,866 megawatts (MW) in 2015 to 9,654 MW in 2016. From 2015 to 2016, BUGs' share of demand-response capacity in PJM fell from 23 percent to 12 percent. "This would potentially have a significant impact on the NOx emissions expected from this segment," the paper says.
One OTC-area regulator, however, cautions that the potential remains for damaging NOx emissions from diesel generators, which are covered by EPA's rules on reciprocating international combustion engines (RICE), and the harm would be far worse had a federal court not remanded those rules in part.
"We are far from being ready to hang a Mission Accomplished banner for the generators," the source says. "EPA rules if left intact would have snowballed the use of back-up generators in the demand response market. There is still a 50 hour allowance for the generators to do mischief which is under litigation. The outcome will dictate how much future work we have on this front."
The source also cautions that "the world of back-up generators has been a veiled one," and that OTC has had "very limited success getting data" from the demand-response operators [aggregators] or electric grid operators such as PJM. There is "a good bit of assumptions in the analysis," the source says.
A second OTC-area regulator notes that in part of the region, diesel RICE were not a factor anyway -- but that the engines may still pose problems, and the white paper makes several recommendations to mitigate their impact.
"Note that in the New England states, diesel [generators] in emergency demand response programs haven't been running at all anyway for about the past 10 years, so no change here. That's not because the New England state rules prohibited it -- it's because they haven't been needed.
"In the eastern PJM region, such as around Baltimore, it did appear that these types of generators were getting regularly called upon several years ago. To the extent they were certified only as emergency engines, they should no longer be able participate in the PJM program as a result of the revised RICE" EPA rule, the source says.
Further Analysis
The white paper recommends that OTC conduct more analysis and discussion on several issues associated with generators, including engines installed without permits that are operated for non-emergency reasons where the owner/operator does not know that those operations are not permitted; and engines installed with permits, but not enrolled with a Curtailment Service Provider (CSP) -- another term for demand-response program operators -- that are operated for non-emergency reasons, where the owner/operator does not know that those operations are not permitted.
It also suggests review of engines installed with permits and enrolled with a CSP that are operated for non-emergency reasons outside of those times that they are called upon by a CSP, where the owner/operator does not know that those operations are not permitted; engines knowingly operated illegally; and the increasing use of micro-grids, their operation and permitting, and their effect on air quality.
The paper also finds that although peaking plants can have a significant adverse effect on air quality on HEDD, mitigating only their emissions would be unlikely to produce sufficiently deep emissions cuts to avoid ozone spikes.
The work group found that "peaking units can contribute over 30% of total" OTC-area power plant NOx mass on the episode days that were analyzed, and "where they have not already done so, states should adopt NOx [reasonably available control technology, or RACT] for gas and oil-fired combustion turbines." RACT is a level of emissions control required in the OTC and also in areas in "nonattainment" of EPA's NAAQS.
However, "the recommendation of RACT for peaking units will not have as large an impact without also addressing coal-fired units that do not fully optimize their NOx controls," the paper finds. EPA's recent "update" to its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, an emissions trading program for 22 eastern states, aims to motivate power plants with controls to run them, by further reducing state emissions caps, or "budgets."
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/otc-study-shows-declining-threat-air-quality-diesel-generators
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