Preview Newsletter
AM ACC 10/24/2016
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(ACC Mentioned) Resin Prices Close The Summer On A High Note
Oct 21, 2016 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
North American resin makers would use that description for September 2016, as they were able to raise prices for polyethylene, polypropylene, solid polystyrene and PET bottle resin. -
EPA Urged To Use New TSCA Power To Ban Asbestos, Flame Retardants
Oct 21, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
EPA is facing calls from lawmakers, environmental groups and the motor equipment manufacturing sector to use its new regulatory authority under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to classify asbestos, flame retardants and several other controversial chemicals as the first 10 high priority chemicals to target under the law. -
California Lists Pentachlorophenol Complex Mixture Under Prop 65
Oct 24, 2016 | Chemical Watch
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) has listed pentachlorophenol and byproducts of its synthesis (complex mixture) as a carcinogen under Proposition 65. -
Judge Approves EPA Settlement For Perchlorate SDWA Rule
Oct 21, 2016 | Inside EPA
A federal district court judge has approved a consent decree between EPA and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that commits the agency to proposing by Oct. 31, 2018, a first-time Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) standard for the rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate and that sets a Dec. 19, 2019, deadline for a final rule. -
(ACC Mentioned) Pipeline Tour Brings Tribe, Agencies Together
Oct 22, 2016 | Williston Herald
By Renée Jean
A bone fragment was found on a site tour of the Dakota Access pipeline Friday arranged by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department for members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, federal agencies and representatives of North Dakota’s Congressional delegation. -
(ACC Mentioned) Industry Groups: Administration Ignoring Legal Process on Dakota Access
Oct 21, 2016 | Morning Consuilt
By Jack Fitzpatrick
Twenty-two industry groups criticized the Obama administration’s temporary block on construction of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline in a letter made public on Friday. -
(ACC Mentioned) Energy Industry Accuses Obama Of Upending The Law In Dakota Pipeline Case
Oct 21, 2016 | The Daily Caller
By Chris White
Several energy companies accused the Obama administration Friday of upending the law when it decided to halt construction on an oil pipeline that had previously been approved by the government. -
Hundreds in Los Angeles Protest Climate Change, North Dakota Pipeline
Oct 23, 2016 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
Hundreds of people gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday to protest against climate change and show support for activists demonstrating against the construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota. -
House Democrats Push EPA To Adopt SAB Fracking Advice
Oct 21, 2016 | Inside EPA
A group of 49 House Democrats is urging EPA to quickly adopt its Science Advisory Board's (SAB) recommendations for improving the agency's draft assessment of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water, noting that the board found the draft report “lacking in several critical areas.” -
Adopting EU Energy Policies Would Bring A Hefty Price Tag, U.S. Chamber Says
Oct 21, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By David Bradley
If the United States were to adopt the energy policies of the European Union (EU), it would impose a $676 billion drag on the U.S. residential sector and a $31 billion hit on the industrial sector annually, cost the average American household an additional $4,800 for energy every year, and eliminate the equivalent of nearly 8 million jobs, according to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy. -
Another U.S. Regulator Joining Utility Revives Watchdog Concerns
Oct 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jonathan N. Crawford
The list of people leaving the nation's chief energy regulator to take jobs with the industry it oversees keeps growing, raising concerns about the agency's ties to companies. -
More Than 100 Treated After Chemical Accident In Northeastern Kansas
Oct 21, 2016 | Reuters
By Dave Kaup
More than 100 people were treated for respiratory problems after a chemical spill at an MGP Ingredients Inc facility on Friday generated a chemical cloud over the northeastern Kansas city of Atchison before authorities declared the threat over. -
New Jersey Refinery Concerns Echo Safety Issues In Texas
Oct 21, 2016 | Houston Chronicle
By Mark Collette
John Pajak spends his days filling barges with gasoline, heating oil and jet fuel, while coworkers offload rail cars of flammable crude oil from the Bakken shale region. -
Schumer Seeks Federal Grant For New York PTC Installation
Oct 21, 2016 | Progressive Railroading
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made a pitch this week for a $33 million federal grant that would help fund a positive train control (PTC) system on a 94-mile stretch of track that includes the northern section of Amtrak's Rensselaer-to-New York City route. -
Los Angeles Air District Sues Over EPA Particulates Rule
Oct 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
Southern California air quality regulators are challenging a federal rule that limits the ability of areas that violate Clean Air Act standards for fine particulate matter to count pollution reductions from upwind states when demonstrating progress toward meeting the requirements (South Coast Air Quality Mgmt. Dist. v. EPA, D.C. Ct. App., No. 16-1364, 10/21/16).
Congressional Hearings - There are no relevant hearings to report at this time
Industry and Association News
LCSA News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation News
Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) Resin Prices Close The Summer On A High Note
Oct 21, 2016 | Plastics News
By Frank Esposito
September — as Earth, Wind & Fire once sang — was a time for dancing and not for cloudy days. Do you remember?
North American resin makers would use that description for September 2016, as they were able to raise prices for polyethylene, polypropylene, solid polystyrene and PET bottle resin.
Selling prices for PE in the region jumped by a nickel after being flat for four straight months. PE supplies have tightened as a result of several planned maintenance turnarounds and unplanned outages in the region. Companies that have had production issues for PE or ethylene feedstock at Gulf Coast locations in recent months include LyondellBasell Industries, ExxonMobil Chemical Co. and Westlake Chemical Corp.
Lower PE inventories also played a role in the September hike, according to Mike Burns, PE market analyst at Resin Technology Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas. He added that, without further supply disruptions, regional PE prices likely are at their peak for the year.
“PE suppliers will desperately fight to keep any margin gains and might hold on to the [September] increase through December as they did last year,” Burns said.
U.S./Canadian PE demand growth was mixed in the first eight months of 2016, according to the American Chemistry Council in Washington. Regional sales of high density PE were up more than 4 percent, while sales of linear low density PE grew more than 1 percent and those of LDPE declined by almost 1 percent.
Domestic HDPE sales growth of almost 2 percent was boosted by export sales growth of almost 15 percent in the eight-month period. For LLDPE, a domestic sales jump of more than 2 percent was lessened somewhat by a drop of almost 2 percent in the export market. The regional LDPE field saw domestic sales growth of 2 percent wiped out by a drop of almost 10 percent in export sales.
With the 5-cent September hike, regional PE prices now are up a net of 9 cents per pounds since Jan. 1, according to the Plastics News resin pricing chart.PP on the rise
The regional PP market continued its roller coaster ride through 2016, with prices climbing 6 cents per pound in September. Regional PP prices had increased by 3.5 cents per pound in August. The combined August-September increase of 9.5 cents came after prices had declined for five consecutive months, lowering selling prices by a total of 10 cents per pound.
Tight supplies of PP resin allowed imported material from around the world to enter the North American market in the first part of 2016, which played a role in driving prices down. Market sources said that although import material remains available in the region, supplies of it have decreased, allowing PP prices to rise again. Regional PP prices now are up a net of 3.5 cents per pound since Jan. 1.
North American PP sales were up 1.3 percent in the first eight months of 2016, according to ACC. Domestic sales growth of 0.4 percent was helped out by an upsurge of almost 31 percent in export sales.
Domestic PP sales growth through August was led by the sheet market, where sales were up just over 5 percent, and injection molded rigid packaging, where sales bumped up 2.5 percent. The injection molded rigid packaging category includes cups, containers, caps and closures.Solid PS trend continues
For solid PS, a 3-cent September hike was the second straight upward move for the material. The market had seen a 2-cent hike in August. The September jump was tied into a 22-cent-per-gallon upswing in prices for benzene feedstock. Benzene prices for September closed at $2.51 per gallon — up almost 10 percent from the previous month.
Regional PS prices now are up a net of 6 cents per pound since Jan. 1. North American PS sales through August were down almost 1 percent compared to the same period in 2015, according to the ACC. Sales of the material into food packaging and food service — its largest end market — essentially were flat, while sales into the electrical/electronic end market grew 1 percent.PET edges up
Over in PET bottle resin, prices ticked up an average of 1 cent per pound in September, after they had slipped down by that same amount in August. The move followed an increase in September contact prices for paraxylene feedstock, market sources said.
The 1-cent hike is the first increase seen by North American PET since a 2-cent jump took hold in April. Prices after that had been flat for three months before declining in August. Regional PET bottle resin prices now are up a net of 1 cent per pound so far in 2016.
At a recent industry conference, PET market analyst Tison Keel of IHS Chemical in Houston said that in a recent 52-week period, U.S. consumption of carbonated soft drinks — the biggest user of PET — fell almost 3 percent, while bottled water consumption surged by 8 percent. That’s a good news/bad news scenario for PET makers, however, since water bottles use less PET per bottle than CSD bottles do.
PVC was the only major commodity resin not to see a North American price increase in September, as prices were flat for the fourth consecutive month. Prices for the material haven’t moved since rising 2 cents per pound in June. One market contact told PN that PVC’s flat pricing streak could end in October as a result of improving inventories and higher prices for ethylene feedstock.
PVC continues to be doing better than any other North American commodity resin in 2016, due in part to a rebound in the U.S. housing market. Through August, U.S./Canadian PVC sales were up almost 5 percent, with domestic sales growth of almost 5 percent augmented by a 5.4 percent surge in export sales. Sales of the material into its flagship rigid pipe and tubing sector were up 7.5 percent in that period.
The U.S. housing market is on track to record around 1.2 million housing starts this year, which would be up almost 10 percent from 2015. More than 60 percent of domestic PVC sales went into construction markets in the first eight months of 2016.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20161021/NEWS/161019840/resin-prices-close-the-summer-on-a-high-note
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EPA Urged To Use New TSCA Power To Ban Asbestos, Flame Retardants
Oct 21, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
EPA is facing calls from lawmakers, environmental groups and the motor equipment manufacturing sector to use its new regulatory authority under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to classify asbestos, flame retardants and several other controversial chemicals as the first 10 high priority chemicals to target under the law.
In recent written comments to the agency obtained this week by Inside EPA, stakeholders pitch the substances that they want EPA to include on the pending list of 10 chemicals that it will prioritize for review and determine whether to restrict or ban their use under section 6 of the chemical safety law. The updated TSCA, which took effect on June 22 when President Obama signed it into law, requires EPA to publish the list by this December.
Democratic California Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein have already called on EPA to ensure that asbestos -- a known carcinogen -- is included on the list, following the agency's prior failed attempt to regulate the substance, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit vacated in a 1991 ruling.
Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), the assistant minority leader, is now backing those calls in a Sept. 27 letter that says, “It is time for the EPA to fully protect Americans from the scourge of asbestos and flame retardant chemicals once and for all.”
He asks EPA to list both asbestos and flame retardants among the first chemicals EPA conducts risk evaluations for under the revised law, and “use your full authority to prevent any future exposures.”
Sens. Jon Tester (D-MT) also calls on EPA in an Aug. 31 letter to include asbestos among its first 10 chemicals evaluated as high-priority substances under section 6 of the new law. Tester said the revised law “removes a number of obstacles that prevented meaningful asbestos regulation for decades.”
Feinstein in her Sept. 6 letter to EPA on asbestos said, “In my view, this action would serve to reaffirm confidence in the EPA's ability to protect Americans from dangerous chemicals.”
Priority Chemicals
At least one industry group -- the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) -- is also suggesting asbestos be on the list of 10 chemicals. In a Sept. 6 letter says that while its members do not import asbestos-containing brakes, the continued importation of asbestos-containing brakes and brake parts material present an unreasonable risk under TSCA.
The group urges EPA to list asbestos as a high-priority chemical under TSCA section 6 and include brake friction materials in the scope of the risk evaluation the agency conducts on the substance.
Asbestos is a known human carcinogen and exposure to the substance can cause major health effects including lung cancer, mesothelioma, and the non-cancer disease asbestosis, EPA says on its website.
The 5th Circuit in its 1991 ruling in Corrosion Proof Fittings v. EPA struck down the agency's 1989 regulation banning asbestos -- issued under the original 1976 TSCA authority -- as unreasonable. The court said the agency had not met its burden of proof to establish the chemical's risk could not be reduced by any other regulatory means, and since then EPA has never proposed a similar limit on a chemical already in commerce.
The new law overhauls the old TSCA and takes many steps to address the legal hurdles that hindered EPA's asbestos ban, including removing language that required the agency to promulgate the "least burdensome" alternative and clarifying that EPA should not consider costs when determining whether a chemical is safe.
Some advocates have raised questions about whether EPA would include asbestos on the list, noting that the revised TSCA does not mention the substance nor require EPA to take any action to restrict it, and sources say it is unclear whether the agency will pursue a prohibition given industry claims that the chemical is no longer widely used.
However, the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization that has long called for an outright ban on asbestos is confident that EPA will use its new authority to ban asbestos quickly.
Boxer also last month introduced a bill, S. 3427, that would require EPA to publish within 90 days of enactment an identification and assessment of the known uses of, and exposures to, all forms of asbestos.
Environmentalists' Requests
Environmental groups are also calling for EPA to ban asbestos and various types of flame retardants, among other chemicals, although the letters obtained by Inside EPA do not indicate complete consensus on which substances to include on the list.
The Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families Coalition, which is comprised of a slew of environmental and public health groups, urges EPA in Aug. 9 comments to list asbestos, lead and lead compounds, cadmium, 1-bromopropane, 1,4-dioxane, styreme, cyclic aliphatic bromides cluster of flame retardants, octamethylcyclotetrasilxane, nonylphenol and nonylphenol ethoxylates, and tetrachloroethylene.
The coalition says that the agency should focus its TSCA resources where they will make the most difference, taking into account the urgency of the threat to public health and the environment. “With so few regulatory resources available across all levels of government, it does not make sense, in our view, for EPA to 'double up' on chemicals where states or other federal agencies are taking or considering action.”
Environmental Working Group in July released a similar but not identical list of 10 chemicals the group says EPA should act on now, including asbestos, bisphenol-A (BPA), chlorinated and brominated flame retardants, 1-bromopropane, P-dichlorobenzene, phthalates, perchloroethylene, tetrabromobisphenol A, and bis(2-ethylhexyl) adipate.
The group also listed 10 additional chemicals it says EPA should target for early action, including lead, vinyl chloride, formaldehyde, bromoform, chromium-6, styrene, arsenic, ethylbenzene, cadmium, and 1,4-dioxane, though it does not specify when EPA should address those substances.
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-urged-use-new-tsca-power-ban-asbestos-flame-retardants
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California Lists Pentachlorophenol Complex Mixture Under Prop 65
Oct 24, 2016 | Chemical Watch
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) has listed pentachlorophenol and byproducts of its synthesis (complex mixture) as a carcinogen under Proposition 65.
The substance was added via the authoritative bodies listing mechanism. This was based on the report by the 2014 National Toxicology Program (NTP), published in the thirteenth edition of the Report on Carcinogens (RoC).
In comments submitted to the agency, the pentachlorophenol task force said the listing would duplicate an existing one. The substance has been listed as a carcinogen under Prop 65 since 1990.
But the agency disagreed, saying this is for a complex mixture of chemicals that co-occur with pentachlorophenol as a result of formation during its synthesis. And while some of the commonly found byproducts are named individually under Prop 65, others are not, such as five trichlorophenol isomers and three tetrachlorophenol isomers, said the agency.
The complex mixture is used as a preservative in heavy-duty wood, in such applications as construction, utility poles and fence posts. Non-wood biocidal uses have been restricted since 1987.
The listing took effect on 21 October.
https://chemicalwatch.com/50485/california-lists-pentachlorophenol-complex-mixture-under-prop-65
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Judge Approves EPA Settlement For Perchlorate SDWA Rule
Oct 21, 2016 | Inside EPA
A federal district court judge has approved a consent decree between EPA and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) that commits the agency to proposing by Oct. 31, 2018, a first-time Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) standard for the rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate and that sets a Dec. 19, 2019, deadline for a final rule.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Edgardo Ramos approved the settlement Oct. 18. NRDC had sued EPA in the court claiming that the agency's Feb. 11, 2011 determination that it should regulate perchlorate under SDWA triggered a two-year clock for issuing a proposed maximum contaminant level goal and drinking water regulation for it.
Ramos recently issued an order agreeing with NRDC that the agency had missed the deadline for proposing a standard but did not weigh in on whether it had also missed the deadline for a final rule.
The settlement resolves the suit and explains that EPA intends to complete by Oct. 18, 2017, a peer review of materials that will inform the perchlorate Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) rulemaking. EPA will then sign a proposed standard by Oct. 31, 2018, and sign the final version by Dec. 19, 2019.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/judge-approves-epa-settlement-perchlorate-sdwa-rule
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(ACC Mentioned) Pipeline Tour Brings Tribe, Agencies Together
Oct 22, 2016 | Williston Herald
By Renée Jean
Morton County Sheriff arranges site tour for tribe, state and federal officials to foster better understanding
A bone fragment was found on a site tour of the Dakota Access pipeline Friday arranged by the Morton County Sheriff’s Department for members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, federal agencies and representatives of North Dakota’s Congressional delegation.
Meanwhile, 22 prominent organizations representing various businesses and labor organizations from across the country have sent a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Army Secretary Eric Fanning that slams the Obama administration’s intervention in the legal process for the 1,172-mile Dakota Access pipeline, infrastructure oil and gas industry leaders have said is vital to the Bakken and the nation.
The labor and business coalition includes such agencies as the American Chemistry Council, Independent Petroleum Association of America, the National Association of Manufacturers and Edison Electric Institute, all urging the agencies to allow the pipeline’s completion without delay.
If the rule of law does not prevail in the Dakota Access case, it will create too much uncertainty for future multi-million dollar investments in infrastructure around the country, needed to suit the demands of a 21st century, the group says.
“When your agencies upend or modify the results of a full and fair regulatory process for an infrastructure project, these actions do not merely impact a single company,” the coalition’s letter reads. “The industries that manufacture and develop the infrastructure, the labor that builds it and the American consumers that depend on it all suffer.”
The Dakota Access site tour on Friday included about 30 individuals, including representatives of the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Chief State Archeologist Paul Picha, members of the environmental team from Dakota Access, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman David Archambault II and Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Historic Preservation Officer John Eagle, Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and representatives from offices for both Sen. John Hoeven (R-N.D.) and Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier helped arrange the tour, whose purpose was to walk the Dakota Access pipeline route and evaluate specific locations identified by former tribal historic preservation officer, Tim Mentz Sr.
The bone fragment was found at the base of a dirt berm along the edge of the route in an area that has served as rangeland and has also been identified by Mentz as a sacred prayer and burial site, about 50 to 100 feet away from where the pipeline is to be laid. The fragment was collected by Picha and delivered it to the Morton County Sheriff’s Department, which sent it on to the state medical examiner’s office for testing. Preliminary results indicate the bone fragment is not human. A report by North Dakota Department of Health forensic examiner William Masello concludes it is a carpal bone from a large mammal, either horse, cow or deer. The bones could be decades old.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was emailed for comment on the matter, but had not returned the email by Friday evening. In a report in the Grand Forks Herald, Archambault said the find warranted an immediate halt to construction and full investigation. The tribe is suing in federal court to try and stop construction of the $3.8 billion pipeline. The company does not yet have the final easement it needs to cross under Lake Oahe, which is less than a mile north of the Standing Rock reservation.
“I met with Col. John Henderson after the site visit,” Sen. Hoeven said. “The state, tribe and company will bring in a third-party archeologist to determine if anything found on the site visit is archaeologically significant. If so, it can be properly dealt with in the construction process. Again, we need to get this situation resolved so the project can be completed.”
Cramer said the company is still miles away from the site where the bone was found, and disagreed that the find should trigger a work stoppage.
In a news release, which did not mention the bone fragment, the legislator said the site tour was an invaluable relationship-building experience that helped everyone better understand the state’s cultural landscape.
“I believe those of us on all sides of the Dakota Access Pipeline issue benefitted from walking together and sharing our expertise, experiences and expectations,” he said. “I hope this can help us establish a better understanding going forward. And I am certain that after today the Corps of Engineers will feel confident it has adequate affirmation to issue the final easement to complete the pipeline construction across the Missouri River at Lake Oahe.”
“We have been making an effort to bring representatives from the tribe, DAPL and the state historical society together for weeks,” he said. “This is very positive to see that all interested parties could together look at the sites in which they have had differing opinions of the historical significance. While there may be differences, the conversation was positive and allows all parties to better understand each other.”
Joey Mahmound, Dakota Access executive vice president, said he was pleased with the results of the site tour and called it a success.
“We hope that this concludes the analysis being conducted by the Departments of Justice, Interior and Army and leads to the prompt issuance of the easement on federal lands adjacent to Lake Oahe,” he said.
http://www.willistonherald.com/news/pipeline-tour-brings-tribe-agencies-together/article_57feba52-97f9-11e6-999a-cbfdbedcb0fa.html
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(ACC Mentioned) Industry Groups: Administration Ignoring Legal Process on Dakota Access
Oct 21, 2016 | Morning Consuilt
By Jack Fitzpatrick
Twenty-two industry groups criticized the Obama administration’s temporary block on construction of the controversial Dakota Access pipeline in a letter made public on Friday.
In September, the administration called for a pause in construction on federal land as it reconsiders its process of soliciting input from Native American tribes. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe opposes the pipeline for environmental and historical reasons.
The temporary ban, after the Army Corps of Engineers had previously approved the project, was a decision “to effectively ignore the rule of law in an attempt to halt infrastructure development,” the letter says.
“The previous decisions now being ‘reconsidered’ were properly considered and made through a fair and thorough process on which the company and others are entitled to rely,” the letter says. “In our ‘nation of laws,’ when an established legal process is complete, it is just that — complete.”
The letter was sent to U.S. Army Secretary Eric Fanning, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, and U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch. It was signed by the American Chemistry Council, American Gas Association, American Petroleum Institute, National Association of Manufacturers, and others.
https://morningconsult.com/alert/industry-groups-admin-ignoring-legal-process-dakota-access/
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(ACC Mentioned) Energy Industry Accuses Obama Of Upending The Law In Dakota Pipeline Case
Oct 21, 2016 | The Daily Caller
By Chris White
Several energy companies accused the Obama administration Friday of upending the law when it decided to halt construction on an oil pipeline that had previously been approved by the government.
“When your agencies upend or modify the results of a full and fair regulatory process for an infrastructure project, these actions do not merely impact a single company,” they wrote in a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch.
“The industries that manufacture and develop the infrastructure, the labor that builds it, and the American consumers that depend on it all suffer” from President Barack Obama’s decision to temporarily halt the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
American Chemistry Council, Independent Petroleum Association of America, National Association of Manufacturers and Edison Electric Institute were among those signing the letter.
The pipeline will shuttle nearly 600,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil per day from western North Dakota to southern Illinois, among other states, and will create an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 jobs, according to reports.
Obama temporarily scuttled the project in September after members of the Standing Rock Sioux attempted file an injunction against the $3.8 billion project, arguing the pipeline will damage the group’s sacred ground.
The tribe haggled with the oil pipeline developers over whether the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) can and should be used to prevent construction on the pipeline. The NHPA is legislation intended to allow the government to preserve historical and archaeological sites.
Obama’s decision was made only after a judge on the U.S. District Court denied the motion for a preliminary injunction to the tribe, arguing it could not show how the pipeline would damage the group’s sacred ground.
The government decided to rescind approval for the project despite court documents showing the regulatory agencies had gone through great lengths to discuss the hotly contested oil pipeline with members of the Standing Rock Sioux.
The Army Corps of Engineers, in fact, attempted more than 15 times between 2014 and 2016 to discuss the Dakota Access pipeline route with the tribe. But the tribe either failed to respond to requests for consultation or dragged its feet during the process, even after the Corps continued to badger the group.
Energy Transfer Partners, the company overlooking the pipeline, even worked with the Sioux to reroute the pipeline around 91 various sites the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe considered sacred.
http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/21/energy-industry-accuses-obama-of-upending-the-law-in-dakota-pipeline-case/
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Hundreds in Los Angeles Protest Climate Change, North Dakota Pipeline
Oct 23, 2016 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
Hundreds of people gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday to protest against climate change and show support for activists demonstrating against the construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota.
Several Hollywood stars, including Mark Ruffalo and Susan Sarandon, were among the more than 800 people who attended the climate rally in MacArthur Park. Rallygoers carried signs urging to "shut it all down now" and chanted slogans like "water is life."
"Not only is it an environmental, but it's a problem in terms of social justice," Sarandon told the rally. "We can do it. We can stop fracking. We can stop the pipeline. But really it's only because of great numbers of people."
Also among celebrity attendees was actress Shailene Woodley, who earlier this month was arrested in North Dakota while protesting the planned pipeline in an incident that was live-streamed on Facebook.
In North Dakota, more than 80 protesters were arrested on Saturday after clashing with police near a pipeline construction site, according to the local sheriff's department, which pepper sprayed demonstrators.
The Standing Rock Sioux tribe and environmental activists have been protesting construction of the 1,100-mile (1,886-km) pipeline in North Dakota for several months, saying it threatens the water supply and sacred sites.
The pipeline, being built by a group of companies led by Energy Transfer Partners LP, would be the first to bring Bakken shale from North Dakota directly to refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Supporters say the pipeline would provide a safer and more cost-effective way to transport Bakken shale to the U.S. Gulf than by road or rail.
There were no reports of arrests at the Los Angeles rally, where demonstrators assembled into the evening decrying climate change, hydraulic fracturing and oil pipelines as a threat to the safety of future generations.
"I'd rather walk miles today to protest the building of the pipeline than have my children walk miles to get clean water in the future," 22-year-old college student Steffany Urrea said.
(Reporting by Olga Grigoryants; Writing by Curtis Skinner; Editing by Sandra Maler)
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/10/23/arts/23reuters-usa-pipeline-climatechange.html?mtrref=query.nytimes.com&gwh=F9E8211F43518AA8F363BD23EC8E1ABF&gwt=pay&_r=0
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House Democrats Push EPA To Adopt SAB Fracking Advice
Oct 21, 2016 | Inside EPA
A group of 49 House Democrats is urging EPA to quickly adopt its Science Advisory Board's (SAB) recommendations for improving the agency's draft assessment of the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water, noting that the board found the draft report “lacking in several critical areas.”
The lawmakers sent an Oct. 20 letter to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy saying the final fracking report should be “consistent” with SAB's advice. The board previously faulted the agency for its draft conclusion that “We did not find evidence that these mechanisms have led to widespread, systemic impacts on drinking water resources int eh United States,” and urged it to better explain this finding in the final report.
SAB's Aug. 11 final recommendations said that EPA did not support the conclusion with quantitative data, and did not clearly describe the systems, the scale of impacts, nor the definitions of “systemic and widespread.”
The SAB is recommending that if the agency retains its draft conclusion, it should also provide additional quantitative analysis to support the finding, though four members of the SAB panel that reviewed the draft assessment say in a dissent from that recommendation that the conclusion is “clear, concise, and accurate.”
The House Democrats say the final assessment “should clarify the statement to be consistent with the SAB recommendation to justify or delete it,” according to the letter signed by House Natural Resources Committee ranking member Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and other House Democrats including Reps. Jared Polis (CO), Jan Schakowsky (IL), Barbara Lee (CA), Jim Langevin (RI), and others.
Grijalva's office in an Oct. 20 press release said the total number of lawmakers signing the letter was 49 members, but environmentalists later said the support had grown to at least 51 members.
The letter says that SAB pointed out “numerous additional critical areas” where the draft report could be improved, such as clarifying the relationships between the fracking water lifecycle and reported impacts to public and private water wells in three high profile Texas, Pennsylvania and Wyoming groundwater investigations, including more toxicological information on fracking chemicals and other suggestions.
It follows a Sept. 26 letter to EPA signed by Food & Water Watch, WildEarth Guardians, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace, Earthjustice, and more than 200 other environmental and public health groups urging the agency to quickly incorporate the SAB advice into the final report.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/house-democrats-push-epa-adopt-sab-fracking-advice
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Adopting EU Energy Policies Would Bring A Hefty Price Tag, U.S. Chamber Says
Oct 21, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By David Bradley
If the United States were to adopt the energy policies of the European Union (EU), it would impose a $676 billion drag on the U.S. residential sector and a $31 billion hit on the industrial sector annually, cost the average American household an additional $4,800 for energy every year, and eliminate the equivalent of nearly 8 million jobs, according to a report by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for 21st Century Energy.
"As a result of the policies imposed by European governments, residents of EU member countries pay significantly higher prices than U.S. consumers for every type of energy they consume," according to the 53-page report, "What If The United States Was Forced to Pay EU Energy Prices?"
Lost labor income tied to increased residential energy prices would total $364 billion, in addition to a $17 billion loss on the industrial side, if EU policies were adopted in the United States, the Energy Institute said.
The Energy Institute identified four key factors that make energy more costly to consume and harder to produced in Europe relative to the United States:Wholesale restrictions that inhibit access to low-cost, existing electricity supply and potentially abundant upstream oil and natural gas supplies;More generous subsidies for otherwise uneconomic alternative technologies (the EU invest $750 billion on renewable energy 2005-2015, compared with $330 billion in the United States);Policies that impose a tax or fee on carbon emissions; andMuch higher taxes on energy consumption.
"Saying that the U.S. should become more like Europe when it comes to energy policies has become a common refrain in some circles, so our report takes these politicians and interest groups at their word and presents the facts about what that would actually mean for our economy," said Karen Harbert, CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy. "The types of policies being advocated by leading candidates, such as restricting energy production and imposing new mandates, would drive up energy prices and reduce America's global competitiveness."
The report also provides state-level analyses of seven key states. Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Florida, Ohio, and Wisconsin would all see state gross domestic product (GDP) losses and less employment with EU energy prices. Florida would see the highest number of job losses (377,400) and annual GDP reduction ($28.5 billion), while Indiana households would see the biggest annual increases in energy prices ($5,450 per household).
The report is the third in a series by the Chamber's Institute for 21st Century Energy. The second report, which was issued last month, concluded that the economy would be "much weaker" if the energy renaissance had not occurred (see Daily GPI, Sept. 22). The first report, issued in August, found that the United States would lose billions in royalties and hundreds of thousands of jobs if policies inspired by "Keep it in the Ground" and other anti-fossil fuel movements lead to a ban on energy production from federal lands and waters (see Daily GPI, Aug. 24).
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/108190-adopting-eu-energy-policies-would-bring-a-hefty-price-tag-us-chamber-says
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Another U.S. Regulator Joining Utility Revives Watchdog Concerns
Oct 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jonathan N. Crawford
The list of people leaving the nation's chief energy regulator to take jobs with the industry it oversees keeps growing, raising concerns about the agency's ties to companies.
Larry Gasteiger, chief of staff at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission--which decides on everything from utility mergers to multibillion-dollar natural gas pipeline projects--is joining Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. as its chief of federal regulatory policy, the Newark, N.J.-based power and gas utility owner said Oct. 20.
Gasteiger's move follows that of ex-commissioner Philip Moeller in February to the Edison Electric Institute, a trade group that lobbies for investor-owned utilities. More recently, David Applebaum joined the energy team at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP in July after six years at the commission where he ended up as director of investigations.
“There's been a very common revolving door between top FERC staff and commissioners with the industry the commission regulates,” Tyson Slocum, a director of energy at consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, said by phone Oct. 20. “Larry's move is not unprecedented. It's part of a larger revolving-door problem.”
20 Years
Gasteiger, who joined the commission in 1997, served as deputy associate general counsel, a director of the office of enforcement, and most recently as Chairman Norman Bay's chief of staff.
“Larry's career at FERC spanned close to 20 years and in total, he has 27 years working in federal service -- a tenure that hardly constitutes a revolving door,” Katherine Vossen, a spokeswoman for PSEG, said by e-mail.
A spokeswoman for the commission declined to comment in an e-mail. Gasteiger couldn't immediately be reached for comment.
Others at the commission have also found employment in the private sector. Jon Wellinghoff, who was chairman from 2009 to 2013, was hired as chief policy officer of SolarCity Corp., the biggest U.S. rooftop installer, in April. And Pat Wood, who served as chairman from 2001 to 2005, is currently chairman of the board of Houston-based power generator Dynegy Inc.
New Chief
Prior to joining the commission, Gasteiger was an attorney at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Jamie Simler, director of the agency's office of energy market regulation, has been tapped to become the chairman's next chief of staff, Bay told a public meeting in Washington on Oct. 21.
The commission is an independent agency within the Energy Department responsible for regulating pipelines, liquefied natural gas terminals, hydroelectric dams and wholesale power markets. It also reviews mergers and acquisitions and corporate transactions by electricity companies.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=99248202&vname=dennotallissues&fn=99248202&jd=99248202
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More Than 100 Treated After Chemical Accident In Northeastern Kansas
Oct 21, 2016 | Reuters
By Dave Kaup
More than 100 people were treated for respiratory problems after a chemical spill at an MGP Ingredients Inc facility on Friday generated a chemical cloud over the northeastern Kansas city of Atchison before authorities declared the threat over.
Authorities evacuated children from local schools, urged residents to remain in their homes and advised people not to enter the city of about 11,000 people located about 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Kansas City, Kansas. They later said the cloud had dissipated and the danger had passed.
The two chemicals involved in the spill were identified by a city official as sulfuric acid and sodium hypochlorite, which mixed to create a chlorine cloud. MGP Ingredients makes bourbon and rye whiskeys, gins and vodkas, according to its website.
"The cloud was massive," Atchison Fire Department Chief Ted Graf said. "I'm not even sure how to describe it."
Seventy-two people were treated locally for respiratory discomfort and an additional 30 received treatment at regional medical facilities, although the injuries were minor, said Trey Cocking, Atchison city manager. Cocking described the effects of the chemical cloud as being like mustard gas, a chemical weapon.
Cocking said on Friday evening that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had declared the area clear after completing air-quality tests.
"I honestly couldn't tell if it was fog or the chemical cloud," said Megan Laflin, 24, of Atchison, who shot a video of the cloud from her parents' house. "I couldn't see two feet in front of me."
The incident occurred at around 8 a.m. when the two chemicals were mistakenly mixed at the MGP Ingredients facility after one was brought in by a semi-tractor tanker, Cocking said.
Founded in 1941, MGP Ingredients employs 320 people, according to the company's website.
"MGP Ingredients has reported the event to the EPA and Kansas and local authorities, and is cooperating fully to investigate and ensure that all appropriate response actions are taken. MGP has also engaged outside experts to assist the investigation and response," the company said in a statement.
"There was no significant damage to its Atchison plant as a result of this incident," it added.
Cocking said cleanup work was under way at MGP on Friday evening.
(Additional reporting by Timothy Mclaughlin in Chicago and Ben Klayman in Detroit and Melissa Fares in New York; Editing by Will Dunham and Cynthia Osterman)
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kansas-chemicalspill-idUSKCN12L1ZG
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New Jersey Refinery Concerns Echo Safety Issues In Texas
Oct 21, 2016 | Houston Chronicle
By Mark Collette
John Pajak spends his days filling barges with gasoline, heating oil and jet fuel, while coworkers offload rail cars of flammable crude oil from the Bakken shale region.
The Phillips 66 Bayway refinery where he works in Linden, N.J., is the second largest on the East Coast and 12 miles from the 9/11 Memorial in Manhattan. A disaster there could disrupt energy supplies for millions in the Northeast. In a worst-case scenario, the explosion of 5.2 million pounds of a flammable mixture would put 18,000 residents in danger, according to company documents filed with the government.
But if something happens, Pajak has no idea who is coming to help.
This month, a New Jersey advocacy group, the Work Environment Council, and the local Teamsters union said they intend to sue the city of Linden because it will not disclose its emergency response plan. It must be released under the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. Pajak is a board member on the council and president of the local union, which represents Phillips 66 workers.
The public's right to information about chemical hazards and the plans that address them, mandated by Congress in 1986, has since been undermined by sweeping anti-terrorism laws enacted by states across the nation.
A Houston Chronicle investigation found the Obama administration's plan to prevent and prepare for chemical disasters is already failing because it's based on the public's supposed right to know. The findings drew largely on the dysfunction of hundreds of local emergency planning committees in Texas, especially around the petrochemical hub of Houston.
But Pajak's experience in the dense industrial complexes of New Jersey's Chemical Coast shows that other heavily populated regions replete with dangerous substances are making just as little progress.
Pajak began asking to see the plan two years ago when, he said, the plant cut back on its emergency response staff.
It was around the time the National Transportation Safety Board released its report on a 2012 Conrail train derailment 80 miles away in Paulsboro, just across the Delaware River from Philadelphia International Airport.
New Jersey disaster
Three tank cars fell off a bridge and into a creek, releasing about 20,000 gallons of vinyl chloride, used to make PVC plastics. It formed a dense, swampy fog over the area. Seventy-two people sought medical treatment - most in the emergency room - and the train crew and emergency responders also were exposed. Most of the people who sought help could smell or taste the chemical. That means the concentration in the air was at least 600 times greater than the amount the government considers permissible for workplace exposure over 15 minutes.
The cloud hovered over the town for hours.
Both Conrail and emergency workers bungled the response, according to the NTSB. Initial reports wrongly declared a leak of liquefied petroleum gas. The train crew didn't get a manifest to fire officials for three hours. The deputy fire chief established an incident command 50 yards from the ruptured tank car, exposing himself, and others, to levels of vinyl chloride expected to cause irreversible health problems.
Instructions to residents flip-flopped between evacuations and shelter-in-place, the NTSB said.
Some people wandered into the cloud, thinking it was just a foggy morning, only to have it singe their lungs. About 680 people were eventually displaced for up to two weeks. A dozen Washington Township firefighters later quit the hazmat team over the incident, claiming faulty and insufficient equipment.
Damage, emergency work and cleanup cost $30.5 million. Vinyl chloride was still in the groundwater months later. Conrail settled thousands of claims for lost business and health.
The city's emergency operations plan was two years overdue for an update, had vital information wrong and didn't address an event of that magnitude, the NTSB found.
Pajak figured that if the company and local officials next to a major airport could be that unprepared, he ought to see whether Linden was ready.
Under federal law, each local emergency planning committee has to write and update an emergency plan, which outlines hazmat facilities and routes, emergency procedures, notification, how to determine who will be affected by a release, evacuation plans and training - basically all the details Paulsboro got wrong.
The federal law says citizens get access to the plans. But Linden rejected Pajak's request, citing an executive order under former New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey. Issued less than a year after 9/11, it put broad restrictions on information. Anything that could be argued to increase the risk of terrorism essentially became a state secret.
'Solution isn't working'
The same thing has happened in Texas and dozens of other states.
The Chronicle's investigation found that local emergency planning committees in Texas are largely nonexistent or inactive. Some are unfunded and ill-equipped to deal with complicated hazmat disasters. The government isn't inspecting most plants, and its regulations ignore entire categories of risk, like the possibility of inadvertent chemical reactions. That leaves accountability to the public, but the public now has no information to go on.
"This is just as relevant today as it was in 1986," said Debra Coyle McFadden, assistant director of the Work Environment Council. "The problem hasn't changed. The solution isn't working."
McFadden, Pajak and the council surveyed 78 localities with the most hazardous facilities in New Jersey. About two out of three denied the request for the emergency plan, either by not responding or citing the executive order - results similar to the Chronicle's survey of emergency planning committees in Texas, where most weren't responsive.
At the council's urging, the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management tried a different approach. It selected 10 municipalities and, among other training, told them to disclose emergency plans. Months later, Linden and six other towns that got the training denied new requests, again citing the security law.
Pajak said that, without access to the Linden plan, neither workers nor the community can be assured it even exists.
City attorney Dan Antonelli said he couldn't comment because of the threat of litigation. A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, which shares responsibility over local emergency planners, declined to comment. The other responsible agency, the New Jersey State Police, did not respond.
A right to know
Phillips 66 said it submitted security-sensitive information on product locations and movements, and other confidential company data, to the city for use in developing its emergency plan. Publicizing it would put the facility and the public at risk of terrorism, spokesman Dennis Nuss said in an email.
The refinery has seven dedicated emergency responders and more than 100 volunteer firefighters, and conducts a litany of specialized training with surrounding police, fire and hazmat teams, plus state and federal officials, Nuss said.
"The Bayway refinery is fully prepared to respond to any emergency and is very confident in the preparedness of our local emergency responders in Linden and surrounding towns," he said.
Former New Jersey Gov. James Florio said that when he was a congressman, he crafted the right-to-know law so that an informed public could force companies to use inherently safer materials and processes, and pressure officials to prepare for accidents or terrorism.
"You can't fix the problem if you don't know about it," Florio said.
A would-be terrorist wouldn't need operational details to target a facility.
For anyone wanting to do harm, Pajak noted, the refinery straddles the New Jersey Turnpike, impossible to miss.
There has never been a publicly reported terrorist attack on a U.S. chemical plant or refinery, according to reviews by the Council on Foreign Relations and the Government Accountability Office.
Preventable accidents happen every day but usually don't make the news. In the past two years in Houston, explosions and releases that were big enough, or hurt enough people for the public to take notice, happened once every five weeks.
Accidental gas releases and fires have been a repeat occurrence at the Phillips 66 refinery, Pajak said.
"We're very lucky at Bayway, though," he said. "We've always been able to put it out."
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/New-Jersey-refinery-concerns-echo-safety-issues-10031769.php
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Schumer Seeks Federal Grant For New York PTC Installation
Oct 21, 2016 | Progressive Railroading
U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) made a pitch this week for a $33 million federal grant that would help fund a positive train control (PTC) system on a 94-mile stretch of track that includes the northern section of Amtrak's Rensselaer-to-New York City route.
Schumer on Wednesday visited the aging Amtrak station in Schenectady, N.Y., to state his case to the Federal Railroad Administration for the grant, which would be funded by a PTC implementation fund included in the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg accompanied Schumer on the visit.
The senator wants the grant to help pay for PTC installation on the track, which New York State leases from CSX between Poughkeepsie and Amsterdam.
"Once put into action, PTC can help prevent fatal crashes and derailments — and so it's of the utmost importance that all of our rail lines have this life-saving technology installed as soon as possible," said Schumer in a press release.
Schumer was among lawmakers that pushed for the creation of the PTC Implementation Funding Program as part of last year's FAST Act.
Under the federal Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, Congress required PTC to be installed on many of the nation's tracks, including the Amtrak Empire Corridor's Hudson Line. That line runs from New York City through the Hudson Valley into the state's Capital Region, where it turns west and proceeds to Buffalo and beyond. MTA Metro-North Railroad, which operates the New York City to Poughkeepsie section, has its own PTC implementation plan.
In addition, CSX, which operates the track from Amsterdam to western New York, has plans to implement PTC for that track section. However, the state is responsible for PTC implementation on the portion from Poughkeepsie to the area between Schenectady and Amsterdam, according to Schumer.
Schumer noted that PTC installation on that section of track is even more critical considering it's a federally designated high-speed rail corridor.http://www.progressiverailroading.com/ptc/news/Schumer-seeks-federal-grant-for-New-York-PTC-installation--49867
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Los Angeles Air District Sues Over EPA Particulates Rule
Oct 24, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
Southern California air quality regulators are challenging a federal rule that limits the ability of areas that violate Clean Air Act standards for fine particulate matter to count pollution reductions from upwind states when demonstrating progress toward meeting the requirements (South Coast Air Quality Mgmt. Dist. v. EPA, D.C. Ct. App., No. 16-1364, 10/21/16).
The petition filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District Columbia involves a newly published Environmental Protection Agency final rule establishing requirements for states to develop plans to meet the national ambient air quality standards for fine particulate matter.
Filed Oct. 21, the lawsuit is related to a petition the South Coast Air Quality Management District filed in April 2015 challenging the EPA's ozone implementation rule, air district spokesman Sam Atwood told Bloomberg BNA.
Under both new rules “downwind non-attainment areas cannot use emissions reductions from upwind areas for demonstration of reasonable further progress” towards attainment, Atwood said.
The South Coast air district oversees air quality in the Los Angeles air basin, but also the Coachella Valley, which may need to rely on emission reductions in the upwind area, Atwood said.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=99248224&vname=dennotallissues&fn=99248224&jd=99248224
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