Preview Newsletter
AM ACC 11/16/2016
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(ACC Mentioned) America Recycles Day: LEED for Waste Management, ACC, Coca-Cola, Cox
Nov 16, 2016 | Environmental Leader
By Jessica Lyons Hardcastle
The recycling industry in the US last year transformed more than 130 million metric tons of scrap metal, paper, plastic, glass, textiles, rubber and electronics into commodities for use in new products, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, a recycling industry trade group. -
(ACC Mentioned) Creating A Loop Of Recyclers Throughout North America
Nov 15, 2016 | Plastics News
By Jim Johnson
There’s a group — of groups — formed to increase plastic recycling in the United States, Canada and Mexico. -
EPA's McCarthy Touts 'Safer Choice' Link To New TSCA
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is touting a connection between the agency's “Safer Choice” safe chemicals labeling program for products and ongoing EPA efforts to write rules implementing the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), saying that Safer Choice is an important part of new efforts to address the safety of chemicals. -
EPA Reschedules Glyphosate SAP Meeting For December
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA has rescheduled for Dec. 13-16 its Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) review of whether the nation's most commonly-used herbicide glyphosate poses a human cancer risk, and says it will issue draft human health and ecological risk reviews of the substance next year. -
Safer Choice Lowers Brand Risk: Former Staples Scientist
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Many consumer companies have tarnished their brands by not paying close enough attention to the chemicals in the products they make, a former senior scientist at Staples Inc. said. -
NGO Alleges Prop 65 Violations From BPA In Thermal Paper
Nov 16, 2016 | Chemical Watch
California pressure group, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), has submitted a notice of intent to sue five companies over failure to provide Proposition 65 warning, for alleged exposure to BPA in thermal paper. -
EPA Floats Plan To Require TRI Reports On Nonylphenol
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA is advancing its long-awaited proposal to require a host of industry sectors to report their releases of nonylphenol, a widely used chemical that has contaminated public drinking water supplies, though the rulemaking's fate is uncertain given the incoming Trump administration's expected hostility to agency regulations. -
Wal-Mart Is First, Amazon Is Worst in New Ranking on Chemicals
Nov 15, 2016 | Bloomberg Technology
By Lauren Coleman-Lochner
Here’s one area where Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is handily beating Amazon.com Inc.: telling shoppers what ingredients are in the products they’re buying. -
Member States Approve Tighter Limits For BPA And Phenol In Toys
Nov 15, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Geraint Roberts
Member state officials have voted through a European Commission proposal to lower the migration limit for bisphenol A (BPA) in toys for children under three, from 0.1mg/l to 0.04mg/l. -
Swedish Researchers Call For More Data Transparency In REACH
Nov 15, 2016 | Chemical Watch
Echa could do more to improve transparency, to allow full scrutiny of hazard and risk assessment conclusions, say Swedish researchers. -
BFRs Considered For RoHS Restriction 'Not Used In EEE'
Nov 16, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
Industry responses to a substance assessment for a group of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) say they are not used in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). -
Top Conferees To Huddle Tomorrow; Drought Bill Push Still On
Nov 16, 2016 | E&E News Daily
By Geof Koss and Tiffany Stecker
Top negotiators on the energy bill will meet tomorrow, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) told reporters yesterday, as conference Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) signaled she'll keep pushing to finish the bill before the end of the year. -
Energy Negotiators Likely to Meet in Coming Days: Cantwell
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
The fate of months of legislative work on a potentially sprawling energy package will be determined in the coming weeks, and key negotiators are signaling arguably different impressions of the likelihood a deal this session. -
Obama’s Government Just Released A New Oil And Gas Rule — And Trump’s May Not Like It Much
Nov 15, 2016 | The Washington Post
By Chris Mooney
The Interior Department on Tuesday finalized a much anticipated new regulation aimed at the oil and gas industry, one that seeks to capture flared natural gas and corral “fugitive” emissions of methane that are escaping drilling operations on public and Native American lands. -
Citing 'Compliance Risks,' Industry Renews Push To Split Methane NSPS Suit
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
Energy industry groups are renewing their calls for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to bifurcate their suit challenging EPA's methane rule for new oil and gas sources, charging that severing implementation-based issues from questions of the agency's statutory authority may help avoid “compliance risks.” -
Central and Eastern European Ambassadors Call on Congress to Fast Track LNG Exports
Nov 15, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jeremiah Shelor
A group of Central and Eastern European ambassadors to the United States on Monday urged congressional leaders to greenlight U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe. -
House Democrats Call for Permanent Halt at Dakota Access
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
The Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to continue consultations with local tribal leaders over the Dakota Access Pipeline isn't placating a group of House Democrats. -
Lawmakers Join Anti-Pipeline Protests
Nov 16, 2016 | E&E News Daily
By Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder
Some lawmakers yesterday joined protesters in Washington, D.C., in urging the Obama administration to put an end to the Dakota Access oil pipeline project. -
Houston Fire Department: Cause Of Massive Spring Branch Warehouse Fire Undetermined
Nov 15, 2016 | Houston Chronicle
By Mark Collette and Matt Dempse
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No ‘Short Cut’ Seen for Trump Environmental Rollback
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By John Herzfeld
There is no “short cut” for President-elect Donald Trump to roll back environmental regulations but the incoming administration still could target Obama era rules, a former Justice Department official said Nov. 15. -
Environmentalists Reiterate Claim Of Ozone Rule 'Backsliding'
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
Environmentalists are reiterating their claim that EPA's rule for how states should implement the agency's 2008 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) -- which includes a provision revoking an older 1997 ozone limit -- will allow “backsliding,” or removal of pollution controls and a worsening of air quality. -
Advocates Challenge ‘Do-Nothing’ Brick Kiln Air Standards
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Patrick Ambrosio
The Environmental Protection Agency's standards for acid gas emissions from brick and ceramics kilns are illegally weak, a pair of environmental advocacy organizations argued in a court filing -
Some Republicans See Targeting UN Climate Treaty as Extreme
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Dean Scott
The prospect of President-elect Donald Trump going beyond his campaign promise to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate pact to actually targeting the Senate-ratified UN deal that made it possible may be a step too far—even for some Republicans.
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(ACC Mentioned) America Recycles Day: LEED for Waste Management, ACC, Coca-Cola, Cox
Nov 16, 2016 | Environmental Leader
By Jessica Lyons Hardcastle
The recycling industry in the US last year transformed more than 130 million metric tons of scrap metal, paper, plastic, glass, textiles, rubber and electronics into commodities for use in new products, according to the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, a recycling industry trade group.
Recycling conserves limited natural resources and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by saving the amount of energy needed to manufacture every-day products. It also contributes to the nation’s economy.
America’s recycling and reuse activities accounted for 757,000 jobs, produced $36.6 billion in wages and generated $6.7 billion in tax revenues in 2007, based on the most recent census data. This equates to 1.57 jobs for every 1,000 tons of materials recycled.
Yesterday was America Recycles Day, an initiative of Keep America Beautiful that happens every year on Nov. 15. As such, businesses and industry groups are teaming up and announcing new efforts to increase recycling. Here are some of them.
LEED green building certification founder Rob Watson has founded a new standard for the waste industry, Waste Dive reports. The Solid Waste Environmental Excellence Protocol (SWEEP) is still in the early stages of development but it aims to “provide a set of comprehensive performance standards to support the efforts of communities and the waste industry to promote continuous improvement towards a zero waste society,” according to the SWEEP website. The Northeast Resource Recovery Association and a steering committee with members from Waste Management, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, Austin Resource Recovery, Waste Business Journal and BlueGreen Alliance are working on the details.
The EPA and the American Chemistry Council have partnered to promote sustainable materials management for plastics to reduce environmental impacts and waste. The EPA and the ACC say they will work to:Decrease disposal rates by tracking and lowering the overall amount of plastics disposed through activities that enable source reduction, reuse, recycling and prevention.Reduce environmental impacts — including greenhouse gas emissions, water and energy use — of plastics throughout their life cycles.Increase stakeholder capacity to implement sustainable materials management through technical assistance and raising the per capita quantity of plastic recyclables recovered.
Through the partnership, the EPA also joins the Wrap Recycling Action Program (WRAP) campaign, a public-private initiative with the goal of increasing the volume of plastic film through public education and sharing tools and best practices such as store drop-off programs.
In a related effort to increase plastics recycling in the US and Canada, a group of trade associations and nonprofits have formed the North American Plastics Recycling Alliance (NAPRA). NAPRA represents the full plastics and recycling value chain from resin manufacturers and processors to brand owners and recyclers. The founding organizations are: American Chemistry Council, American Institute for Packaging and the Environment, Association of Plastic Recyclers, Canadian Plastics Industry Association, Asociación Nacional de Industrias del Plástico, Carpet America Recovery Effort, Foodservice Packaging Institute, Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries, Keep America Beautiful, National Association for PET Container Resources, National Waste and Recycling Association, Packaging Consortium (PAC), Recycling Partnership, SPI – The Plastics Industry Trade Association, Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) and Vinyl Institute (VI).
The Coca-Cola Foundation and Keep America Beautiful said they will award 62 grants to communities in 30 states to make recycling bins more readily available and convenient. In total, the program will provide 3,522 recycling bins to colleges and universities, along with 996 bins to local governments and nonprofit organizations. The recycling bins are funded through a grant from the Coca-Cola Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Coca-Cola Company.
Seven Cox Enterprises’ locations have achieved zero waste to landfill status through a variety of different waste management efforts. In Arizona, for example, Cox Communications implemented Project TWIG (turning waste into growth) to sell its used materials and donate the funds to local youth-focused nonprofits. Cox’s corporate campus in Atlanta repurposes food and paper products from the dining facility into a soil amendment, which is used for landscaping to improve plant growth. And earlier this year, Cox announced it is constructing the Golden Isles Conservation Center in Nahunta, Georgia. The facility will remove tires from the waste stream, repurpose them and generate clean energy.
The seven zero waste to landfill locations are: Cox Communications in Harahan, Louisiana; Cox Communications in Phoenix, Arizona; Cox Media Group’s Print Technology Center in Franklin, Ohio; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s N. Fulton Distribution Center in Alpharetta, Georgia; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Printing Facility in Norcross, Georgia; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Stone Mountain Distribution Center in Stone Mountain, Georgia; and Xtime’s Headquarters in Redwood City, California.
http://www.environmentalleader.com/2016/11/16/america-recycles-day-leed-for-waste-management-acc-coca-cola-cox/
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(ACC Mentioned) Creating A Loop Of Recyclers Throughout North America
Nov 15, 2016 | Plastics News
By Jim Johnson
There’s a group — of groups — formed to increase plastic recycling in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Called the North American Plastics Recycling Alliance, the coalition brings together trade associations and non-profit groups that represent the entire “plastics and recycling value chain from resin manufacturers and processors to brand owners and recyclers,” the alliance states.
Jay Gardiner is secretary of the group and views himself as a facilitator at NAPRA.
“We hope to engender collaboration between the leading groups in the recycling arena and the full supply chain. In other words, from the resin all the way through to the home collection of recycling,” Gardiner said during a Nov. 15 interview.
The group selected that date, America Recycles Day, to promote its existence for the first time.
NAPRA has actually been around and gaining steam for the past couple of years as the different associations and groups have come together. Quarterly meetings are usually held in Washington, Gardiner explained.
“We like to engender cooperation and collaboration between all these groups. That’s important. We’re looking at education. We’re looking at communications. And, basically, the end game would be to advance plastics recycling,” he said.
Gathering member groups together face-to-face allows the sharing of information and ideas and helps ensure that different groups are not duplicating efforts.
“There needs to be a forum for all of these groups to communicate with each other so that they can work collectively. It doesn’t have to be as a whole group, but that they can talk about what their latest initiatives are. And where there’s common ground, we can get two, three, four groups working together.”
Membership in NAPRA is a who’s who of plastics and recycling. Members, in alphabetical order, include: American Chemistry Council; American Institute for Packaging and the Environment; Association of Plastic Recyclers; Canadian Plastics Industry Association; Asociación Nacional de Industrias del Plástico; Carpet America Recovery Effort; Foodservice Packaging Institute; and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc.
Other members are: Keep America Beautiful; National Association for PET Container Resources; National Waste and Recycling Association; PAC, Packaging Consortium; Recycling Partnership; Society of the Plastics Industry; Sustainable Packaging Coalition; and Vinyl Institute.
“The group has been together now for a while. But we basically have come out today,” said Gardiner, who is a resin supplier and plastics industry consultant. “The best part of NAPRA that I have seen is the parts of the meeting where the organizations share their recent initiatives. ... It’s a big part of the meeting and everybody learns what is going on and can take ideas and communicate with each other and collaborate.”
Gardiner credits APR Executive Director Steve Alexander and SPI Senior Director of Recycling & Diversion Kim Holmes for having the original idea for NAPRA.
“It was just a matter of getting some groundswell,” Gardiner said.
“Collaboration is the key to accelerating our progress towards a more sustainable society. The opportunity for effective improvement in plastics recycling can be greatly enhanced by the collaboration of NAPRA participates,” said Nina Goodrich, executive director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, in a statement.
“Collectively, we can make a significant impact,” she continued.
“In today’s world, collaboration is key,” Gardiner said. “It’s just easier for everybody to get together in this venue and talk.”
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20161115/NEWS/161119895/creating-a-loop-of-recyclers-throughout-north-america
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EPA's McCarthy Touts 'Safer Choice' Link To New TSCA
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy is touting a connection between the agency's “Safer Choice” safe chemicals labeling program for products and ongoing EPA efforts to write rules implementing the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), saying that Safer Choice is an important part of new efforts to address the safety of chemicals.
In Nov. 15 remarks to the annual Safer Choice Partner and Stakeholder Summit in Washington, D.C., McCarthy described “a world of difference in the toxics world” since the enactment of the updated TSCA.
“That law really will take care of some of the flaws that became so blatant and became more of a hindrance over time. It's really going to require us to evaluate chemicals truly on the basis of the health risks they pose, and then take steps to eliminate any risks we can find,” she said in her remarks at the summit.
“That is a mission we can all get behind and Safer Choice will be more [important] than ever when this becomes the standard that people want to embrace," McCarthy said. “We need to continue to build Safer Choice as we build out all of the structure of EPA's new toxics world. . . . We will not leave Safer Choice behind. We think it will rise in its profile, be more important than ever and lead to an expansion of greener and safer products.”
Safer Choice is a voluntary program where interested companies can submit their chemicals or products to the EPA program for review. Products that meet the Safer Choice program's standards can add its logo to their labels. The program started with cleaning products, but is beginning to consider other sectors.
EPA speakers at the summit touted data from a consumer survey conducted last February promoting the benefits of Safer Choice, such as 76 percent of respondents saying the presence of the logo would influence their purchasing decisions. Speakers touted the data as showing the value of the logo to businesses.
Supporters of Safer Choice should “demand” that it continue to grow,” McCarthy said in her remarks at the summit. “Think about ways that your business . . . can be profitable because you make products that are more efficient, more effective and also safer.”
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/epas-mccarthy-touts-safer-choice-link-new-tsca
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EPA Reschedules Glyphosate SAP Meeting For December
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA has rescheduled for Dec. 13-16 its Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel (SAP) review of whether the nation's most commonly-used herbicide glyphosate poses a human cancer risk, and says it will issue draft human health and ecological risk reviews of the substance next year.
In a Nov. 15 statement announcing the rescheduled review, EPA reiterates its finding in a September issue paper that glyphosate is not likely to cause human cancers at relevant doses. The agency also says that the SAP will have 90 days following the review to provide a report to EPA.
“Once EPA has reviewed the SAP report and made any appropriate changes to our risk assessment, we intend to release all the components of our full human health and ecological risk assessments for a 60-day public comment period,” EPA says. “We are currently scheduled to publish the human health and ecological risk assessments in spring 2017.”
EPA is convening the FIFRA SAP meeting to inform its ongoing FIFRA registration review of glyphosate, a substance commonly-used with genetically-modified (GM) crops.
Environmentalists have long sought stricter EPA oversight of glyphosate, arguing heavy use with GM crops poses significant ecological risks, including increasing weed resistance.
But opposition to glyphosate broadened to human health concerns in March 2015 when the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) found glyphosate probably causes cancer.
In announcing plans for an SAP review, EPA noted that recent reviews of glyphosate's potential cancer risks have yielded conflicting results. The agency cited the March 2015 IARC finding, as well as other studies that concluded glyphosate is unlikely to pose a risk of human cancers through diet.
EPA's handling of glyphosate's cancer potential has faced criticism from House Republicans and the pesticide industry. In April, the agency posted its "Cancer Assessment Document: Evaluation of the Carcinogenic Potential of Glyphosate" finding the substance is unlikely to cause cancer. But EPA subsequently withdrew that document May 2, saying it was released inadvertently.
EPA eventually announced the finding that glyphosate is not likely to cause human cancers in a September issue paper supporting the SAP review.
In October, EPA postponed the SAP review days before it was scheduled to take place, citing changes in experts' availability. “Given the importance of epidemiology in the review of glyphosate’s carcinogenic potential, the Agency believes that additional expertise in epidemiology will benefit the panel and allow for a more robust review of the data,” the agency said in postponing the review.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/epa-reschedules-glyphosate-sap-meeting-december
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Safer Choice Lowers Brand Risk: Former Staples Scientist
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Many consumer companies have tarnished their brands by not paying close enough attention to the chemicals in the products they make, a former senior scientist at Staples Inc. said.
“Brand risk is huge in the world of chemicals and consumer products,” Roger McFadden, who left Staples as vice president and senior scientist in February, and formed McFadden and Associates LLC., a consulting business based in Portland, Ore.
“Consumers are seeking greater accountability in the products they buy,” he said at the Environmental Protection Agency's 2016 Safer Choice Partner and Stakeholder Summit in Washington.
Creating the cleaning, car care, paints and other products that go into Safer Choice products and making the chemicals that qualify to be used in these products is a way to assure customers about the health and environmental safety of the products they buy, McFadden said.
Giving Safety Marketplace Value
More than 2,000 consumer and institutional products already carry one of the family of Safer Choice labels that the EPA launched in March 2015, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told the audience.
EPA's Safer Choice labels designate products made with chemicals that meet rigorous environmental and health standards, she said.
The Safer Choice program delivers environmental, health and safety benefits into the marketplace, McCarthy said.
“It translates these benefits into markets for our businesses, because that's what it's all about: jobs and keeping our families safe,” she said.
Chemical manufacturers, such as Akzo Nobel N.V., BASF SE, the Dow Chemical Co. and Novozymes joined product manufacturers including the Clorox Co., Earth Friendly Products and Seventh Generation Inc., retailers and nongovernmental organizations to discuss changes the EPA has made to improve efficiencies within its Safer Choice program and additional changes participants recommended.
Suggestions for EPA, Companies
Among the improvements, participants urged the EPA to:
• host webinars or other training opportunities to help companies understand how to participate in the Safer Choice program and use its website;
• reduce duplicative information collections as different parties within the program—product manufacturers; third-party profilers that gather and review information prior to submitting it to the EPA, and the EPA staff—all seek similar information from chemical manufacturers; and
• document the number of products that incorporate chemicals that met the program's biodegradability, low toxicity and other criteria.
Company participants also could help the program work better, summit participants said, through actions including:• Designating specific individuals who are responsible within the business for addressing questions arising during the process of determining whether a product can carry a Safer Choice label;
• Submitting more chemicals and chemical mixtures to the EPA program and the related private sector initiative called CleanGredients; and
• Drawing in-store attention to products that qualify for a Safer Choice label.
The summit will discuss opportunities to expand the Safer Choice program when it continues Nov. 16.http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=100541939&vname=dennotallissues&fn=100541939&jd=100541939
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NGO Alleges Prop 65 Violations From BPA In Thermal Paper
Nov 16, 2016 | Chemical Watch
California pressure group, the Center for Environmental Health (CEH), has submitted a notice of intent to sue five companies over failure to provide Proposition 65 warning, for alleged exposure to BPA in thermal paper.
A frequent Prop 65 plaintiff, the CEH says it tested cash register receipts from more than 100 California businesses, by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR).
It says it identified five companies using BPA-based thermal paper. It has submitted notice of its intent to bring legal action against each for “exposing consumers without required warnings”.
The companies, named in the NGO’s notice of violation, are:H&M (return receipt);Neiman Marcus (receipt);Nordstrom (two receipts);Southwest Airlines (boarding passes); andCornerstone Apparel – Papaya (receipt).
The findings were reported by the CEH in a recent report, No clean bill of health: toxic chemicals in cash register receipts. In it, the group voiced concern that the 98 till receipts used BPS, which it contends is a chemical cousin that research shows is “no safer than BPA”.
CEH’s 60-day notice against the five companies is among the 13 that have been filed by private enforcers with California’s Office of the Attorney General (OAG), over failure to warn of BPA exposure. Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot and Sears are among retailers that have been named in these, related to the sale of an array of home products.
BPA was listed under Prop 65 as a substance known to the state to cause reproductive toxicity on 11 May 2015. Warning requirements took effect one year later.
In the intervening 12 months, California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) promulgated an emergency regulation, allowing for point-of-sale warnings as an alternative compliance option for canned and bottled food and drinks containing BPA.
As of 15 November, no 60-day notices had been filed for violations linked to canned or bottled consumables.
https://chemicalwatch.com/51041/ngo-alleges-prop-65-violations-from-bpa-in-thermal-paper
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EPA Floats Plan To Require TRI Reports On Nonylphenol
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
EPA is advancing its long-awaited proposal to require a host of industry sectors to report their releases of nonylphenol, a widely used chemical that has contaminated public drinking water supplies, though the rulemaking's fate is uncertain given the incoming Trump administration's expected hostility to agency regulations.
According to a notice slated for publication in the Federal Register Nov. 16, EPA is proposing to list nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPE) as a regulated substance under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and section 6607 of the Pollution Prevention Act (PPA).
If finalized, that would require chemical, utility and other industrial sectors to report their releases of the substance under EPA's Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) program.
“EPA is proposing to add this chemical category to the EPCRA section 313 list because EPA believes NPEs meet the EPCRA section 313(d)(2)(C) toxicity criteria. Specifically, EPA believes that longer chain NPEs can break down in the environment to short-chain NPEs and nonylphenol, both of which are highly toxic to aquatic organisms. Based on a review of the available production and use information, members of the NPEs category are expected to be manufactured, processed, or otherwise used in quantities that would exceed EPCRA section 313 reporting thresholds,” the proposed rule says.
EPA launched the TRI rulemaking for NPE last December, alongside a separate rulemaking aimed at subjecting natural gas facilities to TRI reporting requirements. But so far the agency has not yet unveiled a proposed rule subjecting natural gas facilities to TRI.
EPA has long sought to regulate NPE, both under TRI and other environmental statutes. For example, EPA in 2015 proposed listing NPE on a list of contaminants that are not currently subject to drinking water standards but should be considered for further regulation. And in 2014, EPA proposed regulating NPE under the Toxic Substances Control Act.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/epa-floats-plan-require-tri-reports-nonylphenol
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Wal-Mart Is First, Amazon Is Worst in New Ranking on Chemicals
Nov 15, 2016 | Bloomberg Technology
By Lauren Coleman-Lochner
Here’s one area where Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is handily beating Amazon.com Inc.: telling shoppers what ingredients are in the products they’re buying.
That’s the conclusion of a scorecard that ranks major retailers’ policies on harmful chemicals. Wal-Mart holds the top spot, followed by Target Corp. Amazon occupies last place in the study, which is scheduled to be released Wednesday.
The report by Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, a Washington-based coalition that advocates the use of more healthful products, ranked the 11 biggest merchants on a 130-point scale. The scores are based on 13 metrics, including ingredient disclosure, credible safety screening and efforts to find safer alternatives
“Our policy is really to encourage a race to the top among leading retailers,” said Mike Schade, who leads the group’s retail campaign and co-wrote the report. “It’s more critical now than ever for big retailers, companies like Amazon and Costco, to use their multibillion-dollar purchasing power to drive toxic chemicals out of consumer products.”
Consumers, retailers and manufacturers are all taking a closer look at what goes into the products they buy, sell and make as evolving science points to harm even from small exposures of some chemicals and techniques. That’s prompted the two largest U.S. retailers, Wal-Mart and Target, to introduce programs in the past three years to minimize the use of toxic ingredients in the products they offer.
“We are excited about the progress we’ve made in the chemicals space,” Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner said. “To date, our suppliers have successfully removed 95 percent of high-priority chemicals by volume weight from products we sell in Wal-Mart’s U.S. stores that are in the scope of our policy.”
The retailer will continue to work with its suppliers and groups such as Safer Chemicals “to advance sustainable chemistry,” Gardner said.
Read more: what Wal-Mart asked its suppliers to stop doing
Wal-Mart, Target and CVS Health Corp. were commended for “making meaningful progress toward adopting policies for safer chemicals and products.” Wal-Mart scored a B, with 78.5 points, closely followed by Target at 76.5. CVS was graded C, with a score of 53.
“We continue to apply a rigorous process in identifying chemicals of concern,” said Eileen Howard Boone, a senior vice president at CVS Health. “Our goal is to ensure we meet consumer demand for safe, effective and environmentally preferred ingredients and provide sufficient information to educate our customers.”
Costco holds the penultimate spot on the list, with an F grade and 9.5 points, while the Internet giant Amazon ranked last with 7.5.
In July, Wal-Mart released a list of eight high-priority chemical groups it’s asked suppliers to eliminate, elaborating on a policy announced in 2013 to offer cleaning and personal-care products with safer ingredients.‘Greater Transparency’
Target, meanwhile, has expanded its own three-year-old program that rewards suppliers that list ingredients and choose safer substances. It added the cosmetics category and increased the number of substances it wants vendors to avoid.
Concern about harmful substances in the products they come into close contact with “is very much top-of-mind” for its customers, said Jennifer Silberman, Target’s vice president of wellness and sustainability. “We know that our guests are asking for greater transparency.”
Best Buy Co. and Walgreens Boots Alliance have both promised to develop written safer chemical policies, the report said. They ranked fourth and seventh, respectively.
Costco and Walgreens didn’t respond to a request for comment on the report, while Amazon had no immediate comment. Best Buy confirmed that it is working on a written policy but declined to comment further.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-15/wal-mart-target-rate-highest-on-chemical-disclosure-report-card
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Member States Approve Tighter Limits For BPA And Phenol In Toys
Nov 15, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Geraint Roberts
Member state officials have voted through a European Commission proposal to lower the migration limit for bisphenol A (BPA) in toys for children under three, from 0.1mg/l to 0.04mg/l. This took place at yesterday’s meeting of the EU Safety of Toys Committee.
The new limit is set out in a proposed Commission Directive, which will amend appendix C of Annex II of the toy safety Directive. It follows last year’s decision by the European Food Safety Authority to tighten its tolerable daily intake for BPA. This is pending the outcome of a long-term study in rats involving prenatal and postnatal exposure, currently being conducted by the US government’s National Toxicology Programme.
The proposed Directive’s preamble states that “while it may be necessary to review the migration limit if relevant new scientific information becomes available in the future, the limit reflecting current scientific knowledge should be laid down in order to ensure adequate protection of children.”
It is due to come into force, 18 months after the amending Directive is published in the EU Official Journal.
The committee also approved a second proposed Directive that will introduce a migration limit for phenol in toys, for children under three, of 5mg/l and a content limit for its use as a preservative of 10mg/kg.
Phenol is used as a monomer for phenolic resins in the manufacture of plywood for toys, while the degradation of phenolic antioxidants in polymers can be another source of the substance in the products. It was identified in emissions from game consoles, in tents or tunnels for children, and in packaging film, the proposal's preamble says. The substance has also been found in bath and other inflatable toys, is sometimes found in PVC and can be used as a preservative in water-based liquid toys, such as bubble-blowing products, or water-based liquid inks for products such as felt-tipped marker pens, it says.
The limits will also take effect, 18 months after the Directive is published in the Official Journal.
https://chemicalwatch.com/51028/member-states-approve-tighter-limits-for-bpa-and-phenol-in-toys
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Swedish Researchers Call For More Data Transparency In REACH
Nov 15, 2016 | Chemical Watch
Echa could do more to improve transparency, to allow full scrutiny of hazard and risk assessment conclusions, say Swedish researchers.
A team, led by Ellen Ingre-Khans at Stockholm University, studied information on 60 substances registered under REACH. The researchers used Echa's database to extract information on repeated dose toxicity and hazard assessment conclusions. They also asked the agency for five chemical safety reports (CSRs).
Transparency is “limited”, report the researchers. This is partly because confidentiality prevents users from identifying the data source for most supporting studies, they say. “Since registrants are only required to summarise studies, it cannot be verified whether all relevant information from non-public industry reports has been reported,” they add.
The researchers suggest that it is currently difficult to follow steps in a chemical's hazard and risk assessment, which "limits the possibility for a third party to evaluate the assessment".
In particular, they draw attention to Echa's automatic filtering system, which removes information considered confidential. They suggest that the system also frequently hides non-confidential information as a precaution.
“We suggest that Echa review the filtering step so that only information that is truly claimed, or always considered to be, confidential is removed,” writes the team in Environmental Science: processes and impacts.
Echa has taken steps to improve transparency. In June, it launched new, simpler pages for displaying data. It also now indicates which information has been removed for confidentiality.
The researchers acknowledge the improvement but say that more could still be done. For example, "transparency would be further enhanced if the justification for claiming the information as confidential, as well as the Echa decision approving the claim, were to be published,” they suggest.
Finally, the article points out that some information from registation dossiers is only available in CSRs. The researchers describe the current system for retrieving the reports as “work-intensive and time-consuming”.
Instead, registrants could be asked to submit a non-confidential version of a CSR, they suggest.
https://chemicalwatch.com/51025/swedish-researchers-call-for-more-data-transparency-in-reach
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BFRs Considered For RoHS Restriction 'Not Used In EEE'
Nov 16, 2016 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
Industry responses to a substance assessment for a group of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) say they are not used in electrical and electronic equipment (EEE).
The Danish EPA commissioned the Öko Institut to conduct a consultation into adding a new restriction on 61 small brominated alkyl alcohols (SBAAs) to the EU Directive on the restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS) in electrical and electronic equipment. SBAAs are commonly added to polymers and resins.
But three of the four responses to the consultation said that the substances were not used in EEE.
Industry lobby group, the Bromine Science Environment Forum (BSEF), the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers Association (ZVEI) and the Japan Business Council in Europe (JBCE) all said they had no evidence of this.
The JBCE also advised “that only consideration should be given to those substances which are contained in the finished EEE and cause particular concern during the waste phase.”
A joint response was given by Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA), Communications and Information Network Association of Japan (CIAJ), Japan Business Machine and Information System Industries Association (JBMIA) and Japan Electrical Manufacturers’ Association (JEMA).
The organisations said they had consulted with their members, and Japanese suppliers’ industrial associations, and had “not heard of any cases where an EEE manufacturer uses, or requires for its suppliers to use, SBAA in its products”.
They added that one of the substances included, 2,3-dibromo-1-propanol (dibromo-propanol), which it believes triggered the consultation, is mainly used as an intermediate in the production of flame retardants, insecticides, and pharmaceuticals, and has not been registered under REACH.
The response concluded that there was “serious doubt” whether regulating such substances under RoHS “could reduce the environmental load” as the substances “are hardly present in finished EEE” and any hazards “will not occur”.
It added that a restriction would “incur costs on the world industry in spite of its doubtful environmental benefit”.
And it called for the issue to be assessed from the socio-economic point of view, according to Article 6(2)(g) of the RoHS Directive.
The Test and Measurement Coalition (TMC), which represents producers of monitoring and control instruments, said the complexity of its members’ products and supply chains made it “impossible” to gather the information within the timeline of the consultation.
Following the consultation responses, Dorte Bjerregaard Lerche, technical adviser at the Danish EPA, said the agency was awaiting the final report from the Öko Institut before deciding the next steps. This is due in December.
The agency originally became concerned about SBAAs, following a study exploring the possibility of grouping BFRs, carried out by researchers from the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark (DTU) earlier this year.
Qsar predictions indicated that 61 SBAAs have carcinogenic potential, with a possible mutagenic/genotoxic mode of action.
https://chemicalwatch.com/51036/bfrs-considered-for-rohs-restriction-not-used-in-eee
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Top Conferees To Huddle Tomorrow; Drought Bill Push Still On
Nov 16, 2016 | E&E News Daily
By Geof Koss and Tiffany Stecker
Top negotiators on the energy bill will meet tomorrow, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) told reporters yesterday, as conference Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) signaled she'll keep pushing to finish the bill before the end of the year.
Cantwell struck an upbeat tone on negotiations, noting the nearly two years that staff on both sides of the Capitol have labored on the competing bills.
"I think there's a lot that members want to get done," she said, noting that more than half of the Senate has contributed to that chamber's package (S. 2012). "I'm sure they'd like to see something happen."
Murkowski, who came straight from the airport to vote last night after meeting with the Conference of Parliamentarians of the Arctic Region in Ottawa, Canada, said she remained committed to finishing the energy bill.
"I'd like to get the energy bill behind us so it's not a carryover to next year," she said as she headed to meet with staff on the legislation. "Right now what I'm doing is making sure that we are on track to kind of finish the accomplishments and hard work that we're dealing with in this point in time."
Still, she acknowledged that she had not yet discussed the energy bill with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) — also a conferee — told E&E News yesterday that there had been no decision made on whether to push ahead with the conference process. However, he echoed a point made by other GOP members this week — that Republicans will have far more legislative leverage after Donald Trump becomes president.
"I would hope we would continue but given the fact that Mr. Trump got elected, I think people may figure our negotiating hand has been improved," he said. "I would be happy for us to do it. I'm particularly interested in the shot clock for LNG export permitting — that's really important — but apparently that's one of the issues that's in contention in the conference now so it's uncertain."Drought progress seen
Cantwell described a meeting last week with House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) in his state to negotiate on drought, forest and land issues as positive.
"A lot of great work has been done," said Cantwell. "I think that if we can just get it over the goal line then I think that's what people would like," she continued, adding that the United States needs to make a "major investment" in recharging aquifers to adapt to climate change.
"We're definitely going to be pushing that concept in general," said Cantwell, whose S. 1694 to address drought in the Yakima River Basin, would be included in the energy package. Her measure would, among other things, provide aquifer storage of up to 100,000 acre-feet across the basin.
Cantwell has raised concerns with another Westwide drought bill, S. 2902 from Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), for containing "veto bait," as she said in a recent hearing. The bill contains language to streamline National Environmental Policy Act reviews for logging, and a provision to stop the Interior and Agriculture departments from acquiring private water rights in exchange for land-use permits (E&ENews PM, July 13).
Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) has asked that the bill be included in the energy legislation (E&E Daily, Sept. 20).
http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2016/11/16/stories/1060045812
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Energy Negotiators Likely to Meet in Coming Days: Cantwell
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
The fate of months of legislative work on a potentially sprawling energy package will be determined in the coming weeks, and key negotiators are signaling arguably different impressions of the likelihood a deal this session.
Negotiators are set to meet Nov. 17 to gauge the possibilities of progress, Senate Energy Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) told Bloomberg BNA Nov. 15.
Yet House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) said the night before the package will “likely” fail to reach President Barack Obama's desk before his tenure expires. Upton's staff declined to comment on the meeting.
Wide gaps still exist between the two versions of the bill (S. 2012/H.R. 8), and President-elect Donald Trump's surprise victory at the polls paves the way for a limited and unproductive lame-duck session, lawmakers said, indicating appropriations is the sole must-pass bill.
Cross-Capitol Dialogue
Upton said, as of late Nov. 14, he had not spoken with Senate Energy Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) about prospects for the legislation.
But Cantwell relayed hope for reconciliation.
“I think there's a lot that members want to get done,” she told Bloomberg BNA. “In the Senate we have such a robust package, so like more than half the Senate have provisions in there.”
House and Senate lawmakers convened the first session of the conference—the process to reconcile differences between two companion bills—in early September. The energy bills address myriad issues, from revised Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval procedures for liquefied natural gas to vehicle innovation tied to clean energy.
Meanwhile, House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) said he envisioned a “path forward” in the lame-duck, according to Bloomberg Government.
Congressional staffers confirmed a remaining possibility for legislative movement. “If it's dead, I don't think a meeting would be taking place,” said a Senate staffer.
‘New Chapter’
A compromise may, however, ultimately prove elusive, Upton said.
“With what happened last week, I think we regroup and come back next year,” Upton said. “We were committed to work on a bill that President Obama could sign. Now that he's not going to be there in a couple of weeks, there's a new chapter.”
Other conferees and energy-focused lawmakers appeared undecided on whether to delay the deliberations.
“I think we could do a bill, but we could also wait for the Trump administration,” Joe Barton (R-Texas), one of the lead House Republican conferees, told Bloomberg BNA. “If [Upton and Murkowski] want to move ahead, I support that.”
Despite modest Democratic gains in congressional elections, Republicans retained majorities in both chambers. Murkowski will remain head of her committee, while Upton faces a term limit.
“Chairman Murkowski is evaluating next steps for the energy bill,” committee spokeswoman Nicole Daigle told Bloomberg BNA. “She intends to do that in partnership with Alaskans and colleagues in Congress that she's worked with throughout this process.”
Incentive Under Trump?
The Obama administration hasn't meddled substantially in energy bill negotiations, and therefore there isn't a clear incentive to push legislative work into next session, Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), a conferee and leading contender to replace Upton, told Bloomberg BNA.
Barton said a Republican administration inherently boosts a conservative agenda, pointing to the possibility that the White House pressured Senate Democrats to include certain provisions. For example, House Republicans have bitterly opposed permanent authorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a provision in the Senate bill. The fund, a National Park Service utility, absorbs revenue from offshore energy leasing for conservation management.
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), a House Democratic conferee, told Bloomberg BNA he may be able to convince a Trump administration to sign off on the fund's permanency. DeFazio is the lead Democrat on the House Transportation Committee, and his support may prove critical in advancing Trump's infrastructure campaign pledges.
A lack of Obama administration input, in fact, could be a reason for a derailed conference, Upton said.
“I'm not casting stones at the White House,” said Upton. But “I don't think that we really heard a lot from the White House other than their statement of administration policy nearly a year ago. No one was pounding on my door, asking for this or that.”
The administration's statement of policy tentatively supported the Senate legislation but strongly opposed the House bill.
With assistance from Rachel Leven.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=100541943&vname=dennotallissues&fn=100541943&jd=100541943
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Obama’s Government Just Released A New Oil And Gas Rule — And Trump’s May Not Like It Much
Nov 15, 2016 | The Washington Post
By Chris Mooney
The Interior Department on Tuesday finalized a much anticipated new regulation aimed at the oil and gas industry, one that seeks to capture flared natural gas and corral “fugitive” emissions of methane that are escaping drilling operations on public and Native American lands.
The agency argues that large volumes of gas are being lost through practices such as venting and flaring — burning off some of the gas as it arises from a well — as well as inadvertent leaks. And given that these fossil fuel resources are being gathered from public lands, the department says it’s incumbent on companies to take precautions not to lose them — especially since methane released into the atmosphere also worsens climate change. (Natural gas is mostly methane.)
The Interior Department and its Bureau of Land Management, which will implement the rule, argues such “waste” actually deprives taxpayers of royalty revenue gathered from oil and gas operations. The agency says the policy, which requires cutbacks in gas flaring, more inspections for leaks, and in some cases the installation of new equipment, will reduce methane emissions by 175,000 to 180,000 tons annually.
“We are proving that we can cut harmful methane emissions that contribute to climate change, while putting in place standards that make good economic sense for the nation,” said Interior department secretary Sally Jewell in a statement. “Not only will we save more natural gas to power our nation, but we will modernize decades-old standards to keep pace with industry and to ensure a fair return to the American taxpayers for use of a valuable resource that belongs to all of us.”
[Trump could roll back Obama rules on methane, a potent greenhouse gas]
The new rule lands just weeks before a Trump administration takes over with plans to deregulate much of the energy industry.
“We will lift the restrictions on American energy, and allow this wealth to pour into our communities,” pledges the Trump transition website. “It’s all upside: more jobs, more revenues, more wealth, higher wages, and lower energy prices.”
When a draft version was released earlier this year, the American Petroleum Institute chargedthat the Bureau of Land Management’s “unnecessary proposed rules for venting and flaring could stifle energy development on federal lands with few benefits.”
The group, which represents the interests of the oil and gas industry, was also quick to criticize the final rules Tuesday as overkill, saying they ignore the industry’s independent efforts to reduce greenhouse gas leaks.
“The BLM’s rush to regulate something already being regulated at the state and federal level is an example of poor government policy and a left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing,” Erik Milito, API’s Director of Upstream and Industry Operations, said in a statement. “BLM’s new regulations are unnecessary, redundant, technically flawed and could stifle the innovations that have led to our nation’s environmental successes.
Milito said that new technologies and increased industry focus have led to lower overall methane emissions, even as America leads the world in oil and natural gas production.
“If the goal is to prevent emissions, not impede U.S. energy production, then the BLM should focus on fixing permitting, infrastructure and pipeline delays that slow our nation’s ability to capture more natural gas and deliver affordable energy to consumers,” he said.
From the Republican Congress, the criticism was even sharper.
“This purely political move by the Obama administration is a last ditch effort to save the president’s crumbling climate legacy,” Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), said in a statement. “BLM’s rule on methane and the oil and gas industry is unnecessary and duplicative. Congress has many tools with which to rescind this rule and I look forward to working with the incoming Trump Administration to ensure economic expansion prevails over misguided bureaucratic interference.”
Inhofe may have been referring to the 1996 Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to pass a resolution disapproving of a regulatory action taken within 60 legislative days of the end of a congressional session in the first 75 days in the next session, explains Scott Segal, an attorney and partner at Bracewell LLP who works on energy regulations. The president can then veto, or not veto, such a resolution.
With Congress and the Presidency set to be controlled by Republicans in January, it appears conceivable that these forces could combine to reverse some of Obama’s rules, since a President Trump would presumably not veto these resolutions if they arise.
“During a presidential transition when we’re transferring from one party to another party, that’s the only time when it really makes a difference,” said Segal. It appears this is one of those times.
Jessica Kershaw, press secretary for the Interior Department, defended the timing of the release so close to the transition, noting that the rule “has been under development for several years, has benefited from the input of stakeholders, tribes, and the public, and was initially requested by the [Government Accountability Office, the Office of Inspector General] and members of Congress. We believe the next administration will recognize the benefits of reducing waste, boosting natural gas supplies, and obtaining fair returns for public resources, which are associated with this rule.”
The new regulation is slated to be phased in, meaning that if it stands, it is the Trump administration doing the phasing.
The new rule is one in a trio of methane regulations planned by the Obama administration, which are in various states of completion, and are all geared toward the president’s goal of reducing U.S. methane emissions from the oil and gas sector 40 to 45 percent below 2012 levels by 2025. The current regulation only applies to federal lands, but according to the Interior Department, these supply 11 percent of U.S. natural gas and 5 percent of domestic oil production.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas that is far more potent than carbon dioxide, the principal warming agent, over short time periods. However, since it does not last nearly as long in the atmosphere, many scientists have argued that cutting methane emissions helps to buy time, and lower the amount of warming that the planet experiences, while more difficult carbon dioxide reduction policies come into place.
According to the Interior Department, between 2009 and 2015, oil and gas companies operating on public and Native American lands flared, vented, or otherwise lost enough natural gas to serve the needs of 6.2 million U.S. homes in a year.
Environmental groups praised the move Tuesday, saying it will set an important precedent for reducing waste and pollution on federal lands.
“Natural gas is a valuable American resource, but when wasted into the air it causes dangerous pollution,” Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund, said in a statement. “Reducing the amount of gas that oil and gas operators release will conserve an important domestic resource, improve air quality, lower asthma attacks, and slow climate change.”
Krupp noted that the BLM rule had garnered bipartisan support in Congress, as well as in communities throughout the West. He agreed that advancements in drilling technology have allowed the oil and gas industry to reduce methane waste, and said the BLM’s regulation “will help ensure leading practice becomes the standard practice for any company operating on federal leases.”
Brady Dennis contributed to this report.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2016/11/15/obama-administration-releases-new-oil-and-gas-rule-in-the-face-of-an-incoming-trump-administration/?utm_term=.c48141601497
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Citing 'Compliance Risks,' Industry Renews Push To Split Methane NSPS Suit
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
Energy industry groups are renewing their calls for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to bifurcate their suit challenging EPA's methane rule for new oil and gas sources, charging that severing implementation-based issues from questions of the agency's statutory authority may help avoid “compliance risks.”
In a Nov. 14 reply brief, petitioners in State of North Dakota, et al., v. EPA, et al., say their Oct. 21 motion seeking to bifurcate the suit into one immediate case focused on “fundamental legal issues” and another on implementation issues and to set separate briefing schedules for each is “simple” and “aimed at promoting efficiency for the Court by deferring from litigation issues that have the potential to be resolved among the parties.”
The groups are asking the court to consolidate the litigation, which challenges EPA's June 3 new source performance standards (NSPS) setting methane controls for the oil and gas industry, with litigation over a 2012 NSPS for volatile organic compounds from the sector and a related 2014 reconsideration rule.
But the groups are also urging the court to bifurcate the suit into two briefing schedules: one that would immediately address fundamental legal issues and one that would hold the implementation issues in abeyance pending settlement talks between the parties on implementation issues.
“Failure to bifurcate the implementation-based issues from the core issues would require multiple, lengthy briefs to address issues that may be more appropriately resolved through informal discussions,” the brief says. The brief was jointly filed by North Dakota and a host of groups, including American Petroleum Institute, Illinois Oil and Gas Association, Independent Oil and Gas Association of West Virginia, Inc., Independent Petroleum Association of America, Indiana Oil and Gas Association, Kentucky Oil and Gas Association, Ohio Oil and Gas Association, Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association and others.
The state and industry groups argue that while they strongly believe EPA lacks legal authority under the Clean Air Act to promulgate the rule absent a formal endangerment finding on the sector's methane emissions, “in the interim, the Rule is currently in effect and Petitioners are concerned that certain implementation-based issues create compliance risks” that they hope could be addressed in informal discussions.
“Severing these implementation-based issues and assigning them to a separate briefing schedule will facilitate the parties’ efforts to quickly resolve to these immediate compliance issues without necessarily needing to engage in litigation.”
'Piecemeal Litigation'
The industry brief comes in response to separate briefs from EPA and environmentalists opposing bifurcation. Justice Department (DOJ) attorneys on EPA's behalf in a Nov. 3 brief said that federal policy goes against “piecemeal litigation of appeals,” to avoid unnecessary delays and to promote judicial efficiency, citing a 1999 Supreme Court ruling, Cunningham v. Hamilton County.
And a coalition of environmental groups in a separate Nov. 3 response said that “Petitioners provide no compelling rationale to bifurcate the briefing along the artificial lines they propose -- an approach that is unworkable and, far from creating efficiencies, would likely substantially increase the time it takes for this Court to review” the rules.
Responding to those criticisms, the opponents' Nov. 14 reply brief says that the argument that bifurcation would delay resolution of the petitions for review is “completely wrong and it overlooks the purposes behind Petitioners' request for bifurcation.” The brief argues, “EPA’s decision to regulate methane presents novel and significant legal issues that can--and should--be resolved expeditiously” and that decisions on those issues could result in the rule being vacated.
The brief argues that the bifurcation approach will conserve the resources of the Court and the parties by deferring briefing on the fact-based individual issues relating to implementation and that the D.C. Circuit has exercised such discretion in the past, often to “manage judicial review in highly complex environmental cases.” As precedent, the brief cites National Alliance of Forest Owners v. EPA, a Jan. 21 ruling in which the court severed compliance-based issues related to biomass energy from main legal challenges in the Clean Power Plan; U.S. Sugar Corp. v. EPA, an Oct. 13 ruling in which the court severed reconsideration issues; and API v. EPA, an April 3, 2013 decision of the court to sever challenges to EPA's 2012 NSPS from suits over its air toxics rules issued for the same sector.
http://insideepa.com/daily-news/citing-compliance-risks-industry-renews-push-split-methane-nsps-suit
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Central and Eastern European Ambassadors Call on Congress to Fast Track LNG Exports
Nov 15, 2016 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jeremiah Shelor
A group of Central and Eastern European ambassadors to the United States on Monday urged congressional leaders to greenlight U.S. exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe.
In a letter Monday to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), ambassadors from the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovakia pointed to U.S. shale gas exports as an opportunity to improve diversity and security of supply to Europe.
The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in a statement Monday alluded to the geopolitical implications of reducing dependence on Russian gas supply.
“Central and Eastern European States inherited from the Cold War a gas pipeline system dominated by a single supplier who did not hesitate to use its privileged position in the region to dictate terms of cooperation. Those countries have, however, made great progress in recent years in creating conditions for alternative supply routes, investing heavily in infrastructure,” the embassy said.
“Operational LNG terminals in Klaipeda, Lithuania, and Swinoujscie, Poland, have created a real opportunity to import LNG from any direction, including the [United States]...Nonetheless to make LNG imports possible, the development of export infrastructure in the United States is necessary.”
The ambassadors praised recent efforts in both the House and Senate to speed up U.S. Department of Energy approvals of LNG exports to non-free trade agreement countries.
Monday’s letter echoes a 2014 letter to Congress from ambassadors of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland, which called for expedited U.S. LNG exports to Europe following the political crisis in Ukraine.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/108447-central-and-eastern-european-ambassadors-call-on-congress-to-fast-track-lng-exports
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House Democrats Call for Permanent Halt at Dakota Access
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Dabbs
The Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to continue consultations with local tribal leaders over the Dakota Access Pipeline isn't placating a group of House Democrats.
Those lawmakers, who have urged more scrutiny on the project, called on President Barack Obama in a Nov. 14 letter to send Justice Department observers to the construction and protest sites in order to ensure the protection of civil rights.
Reps. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) and 21 other Democrats also pushed the administration to permanently reject construction under Lake Oahe, the epicenter of weeks of protests involving the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other activists.
The Corps decided Nov. 14 to temporarily continue the construction halt for that leg of the pipeline, adding that further consultation with the tribal community is “warranted.” The nearly 1,200-mile pipeline project would connect North Dakota crude oil production to refineries in Patoka, Ill.
Proponents Lash Out
Energy Transfer Partners LP and Sunoco Logistics Partners LP, the two construction firms tied to the project, pressured a Washington state district court for relief from the Corps's decision Nov. 14, contending the project is lawful.
The Association of Oil Pipelines, the National Association of Manufacturers and other industry groups backed up the Energy Transfer complaint, while Capitol Hill allies also voiced their disapproval.
“From the beginning of this controversy, the Obama administration exploited Native Americans to advance an obstructionist and radical environmental agenda,” said House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) Nov. 14.
“The route was approved the first time around after an exhaustive permitting process under the established regulatory framework, including the Mineral Leasing Act,” he said. “The president's increasingly autocratic interventions create massive uncertainty that jeopardizes future infrastructure investment and development.”
Bishop said the incoming Trump administration would restore “professionalism” to the federal permitting process.
Democratic Clamor
Meanwhile, the Democratic signatories to the Nov. 14 letter pointed to abuse by the North Dakota and Macon County authorities, while railing against the state's request and receipt of additional law enforcement resources under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact.
That aid agreement passed Congress in order to provide a lifeline for areas hit by natural crises, the letter said.
The lawmakers condemned potential state interest in federal reimbursement.
“The state of North Dakota will reportedly be requesting federal reimbursement to cover the estimated $10 million it has expended in protecting the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline,” the letter said. “We would strongly oppose the use of federal funds to bail out North Dakota for its decision to expedite the construction of this controversial $3.8 billion pipeline project by pushing aside and jailing demonstrators.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) tried but failed to tack an amendment to stop the construction on a water development bill in September.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=100541932&vname=dennotallissues&fn=100541932&jd=100541932
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Lawmakers Join Anti-Pipeline Protests
Nov 16, 2016 | E&E News Daily
By Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder
Some lawmakers yesterday joined protesters in Washington, D.C., in urging the Obama administration to put an end to the Dakota Access oil pipeline project.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) promised the crowd gathered at the Army Corps of Engineers headquarters that he and his fellow Democrats in Congress were ready to fight.
Huffman, ranking member on the House Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee, told protesters they would be seeing more action in Congress if the committee was not Republican-run.
"That's the subcommittee that under Democratic leadership would be having hearings on this pipeline," he said. "But that's not happening."
Huffman urged everyone who is still reeling from the presidential election results to be ready to dust themselves off and "gird for the fight ahead."
He warned the crowd to prepare to push back against President-elect Donald Trump, who has invested in the company developing Dakota Access, Energy Transfer Partners LP (Greenwire, Oct. 26).
"He will threaten our fight against climate change, and he will threaten tribal rights," Huffman said of Trump.
Yesterday Huffman along with Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.) led 21 other Democrats in asking President Obama to de-escalate the situation in North Dakota by denying an easement for the pipeline (Greenwire, Nov. 15).
Activists planned more than 300 demonstration across the country yesterday. The D.C. one involved a march from the National Portrait Gallery to the Army Corps headquarters and ended at the White House, where Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) joined the crowd.
Also protesting in D.C. were 350.org founder Bill McKibben, actress and activist Shailene Woodley and Indigenous Environmental Network activist Tom Goldtooth.
"People are trying to keep Energy Transfer Partners from sticking this pipeline where is doesn't belong," McKibben said.
The Army Corps says it needs more time to review Dakota Access. Trump has promised to speed up energy projects as a way of boosting the economy.
http://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2016/11/16/stories/1060045819
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Houston Fire Department: Cause Of Massive Spring Branch Warehouse Fire Undetermined
Nov 15, 2016 | Houston Chronicle
By Mark Collette and Matt Dempse
HFD chief says scant evidence cannot pinpoint source of Spring Branch blaze
It's unclear what started a fire that destroyed a chemical warehouse in Spring Branch, prompting explosions, fumes and deadly runoff, the Houston fire chief said.
The May blaze underscored a Houston Chronicle investigation that found hazardous chemical stockpiles peppered across the city near homes and schools are poorly understood, even by the government officials tasked with protecting the public.
The fire began in a garage at a home on Laverne Street, adjacent to the warehouse, but it didn't leave enough evidence for investigators to pinpoint the cause, Interim Chief Rodney West said. The homeowner worked on cars in the garage.
Custom Packaging & Filling had more than 40,000 pounds of hazardous chemicals on site when it burned down, West told a City Council committee this week.
"I grew up on the street of the explosion," council member Brenda Stardig said. "I drove by it all the time. I never suspected it had that amount of chemicals."
Stardig's homeland security committee is overseeing the fire department's response to the Chronicle investigation, including efforts to survey thousands of businesses with chemicals on site, increase inspections and enforcement, and offer ordinances that could give the city more authority to police hazardous materials.
Chemicals show up everywhere from beauty salons to manufacturing plants. But it's places like the Spring Branch warehouse that worry the committee, because they have large stockpiles and aren't obvious to the public.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality said the warehouse failed to file a chemical inventory, required under federal law, that could have alerted the fire department to the materials on site before it arrived. The commission proposed a penalty of $5,000. Custom Packaging & Filling has denied it broke the law.
The warehouse also was out of compliance with city hazmat rules, West said. It should have lowered its inventory, he said.
Warehouse owner Traci Willis has said city officials never informed her of the required change. Records show she paid for and received annual permits at least seven times since the last fire inspection in 2008.
Chemical fires are particularly challenging for firefighters, who must decide whether to use water or foam so as not to make the situation worse.
Even if the Houston department had known about the amount or type of chemicals at Custom Packaging & Filling, firefighters may not have responded differently, West said.
They couldn't let the structure burn because of the proximity to homes and schools, he said.
Foam and water exacerbated the runoff of fuel additives and pesticides from ruptured containers into a nearby creek, where it killed wildlife.
The city may bill the company for cleanup costs, but it could be complicated. Custom Packaging & Filling already disputed an attempt by the Coast Guard to recoup the costs of its spill response team. The company went out of business. A spokeswoman for Mayor Sylvester Turner's office didn't immediately respond to a request for details about the cleanup costs.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Houston-Fire-Department-Cause-of-massive-Spring-10616967.php
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No ‘Short Cut’ Seen for Trump Environmental Rollback
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By John Herzfeld
There is no “short cut” for President-elect Donald Trump to roll back environmental regulations but the incoming administration still could target Obama era rules, a former Justice Department official said Nov. 15.
“The beauty of the administrative process is that the agency can change its mind, but it has to support its decision-making with an appropriate administrative record. It has to be rational and reasonable and in accordance with the law,” said Ignacia Moreno, who was assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division from 2009 to 2013 and is the principal of the iMoreno Group PLC in McLean, Va.
Congress, however, could overturn Obama administration rules or pursue revisions to laws like the National Environmental Policy Act that could weaken environmental protections. Meanwhile, the Trump administration could place a freeze on any rulemakings the outgoing Obama administration has not yet completed, Moreno said at a conference on environmental policy under the new administration hosted by the New York University Law School's Institute for Policy Integrity.
Repeal Unlikely
Though Republicans will control both Congress and the White House, David Hayes, a Stanford University law professor who was deputy secretary of the Interior Department from 2009 to 2013, said repealing environmental laws is unlikely.
“I'd be surprised if that happened,” he said. “These laws have endured and typically have been the classic statutes for being broad and leaving room underneath for administrative tweaking.”
He added: “I think the ballgame will be in the regulatory sphere,” with the possible exception of any attempts to amend the Endangered Species Act over California water rights issues.
NEPA Exemptions Ahead?
Similarly, Moreno said applying the National Environmental Policy Act will bear watching, but the fate of the law itself isn't likely to be in question. But legislative attempts might be made to provide exemptions from the NEPA, for example, or expedited review for infrastructure projects, she said.
On natural resources policy, Hayes said, based on campaign rhetoric and public positions, “we'll be back to ‘Drill, baby, drill’ ” with the Trump administration.
The Obama administration's “common-sense regulatory responses” to the “renaissance of domestic energy production” will be met with “overall skepticism and antipathy toward environmental rules in general,” Hayes said.
Possible areas of opportunity for environmental protection would include building climate resilience planning into Trump-proposed infrastructure projects, as well as mounting bipartisan efforts in such areas as clean energy or outdoor recreation, Hayes said.
Other Venues Eyed
With the executive branch and Congress controlled by one party, “people will look to other venues” to achieve environmental goals, said Michael LeVine, Pacific senior counsel at the Oceana advocacy group based in Juneau, Alaska. He pointed to actions by states, companies and the marketplace as alternatives to federal regulation.
States were active in opposing environmental policies of the George W. Bush administration, in an example of “living federalism,” said Peter Lehner, a senior attorney with Earthjustice in New York who helped mount legal challenges as chief environmental lawyer in the state attorney general's office from 1999 to 2006.
“I think we'll see important actions by the states to resist the rollbacks in environmental protection,” he said of the outlook for the Trump administration.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=100541936&vname=dennotallissues&fn=100541936&jd=100541936
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Environmentalists Reiterate Claim Of Ozone Rule 'Backsliding'
Nov 15, 2016 | Inside EPA
Environmentalists are reiterating their claim that EPA's rule for how states should implement the agency's 2008 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) -- which includes a provision revoking an older 1997 ozone limit -- will allow “backsliding,” or removal of pollution controls and a worsening of air quality.
In a reply brief filed Nov. 14 in South Coast Air Quality Management District v. EPA, et al., before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Sierra Club, Conservation Law Foundation, Downwinders at Risk, and Physicians for Social Responsibility again assert the harmfulness of EPA's implementation rule. EPA in the rule set out implementation requirements for states to meet its 2008 ozone NAAQS, set at 75 parts per billion (ppb), and also revoked the 1997 ozone NAAQS, expressed as 84 ppb.
“EPA’s actions delaying and weakening ozone cleanup requirements are irreconcilable with the Clean Air Act and the agency’s own decision in 2008 to strengthen the national ambient air quality standard for ozone because ozone is more harmful to public health than EPA previously acknowledged,” the groups say.
“EPA’s brief and the Act as construed by this Court and EPA itself confirm the illegality and irrationality of EPA’s decision to allow areas to weaken controls against ozone pollution even if they still have or may develop dangerous ozone levels. Initial designation as attainment under the 2008 standard provides no assurance of continued maintenance of that or prior standards: that designation rests only on a snapshot of air quality, not on any showing that clean air will be maintained,” the environmentalists argue.
Addressing the part of the rule revoking the 1997 NAAQS, the brief says, “Millions of people live in communities that have yet to attain the 1997 ozone standard. By revoking that standard before it has been attained, EPA eviscerates Congress’ carefully-constructed framework to ensure ozone polluted areas timely achieve healthy air. EPA’s choice to vitiate Congress’ protective measures to attain the 1997 standard is irrational where EPA has strengthened the ozone standard because ozone is even more harmful than previously recognized.”
EPA in its Nov. 2 proposed implementation rule for its 2015 ozone NAAQS, set at 70 ppb, has already floated an alternative approach to revoking the 2008 standard that would take into account environmentalists' objections expressed in South Coast. The approach would revoke the 2008 ozone NAAQS in areas designated attainment for that NAAQS one year after the effective date of the designations for each area for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
Under this option, the 2008 ozone NAAQS would continue to apply in any area designated nonattainment for the 2008 standards until that area is redesignated to attainment. This option would follow the approach established most recently for the fine particulate matter NAAQS.
In their South Coast brief, environmentalists again contest EPA's authority to allow states to select their own baseline years from which to demonstrate the “reasonable further progress” in air quality required by the Clean Air Act, and also again reject emissions trading as a means for pollution sources to satisfy air law requirements to install reasonably available control technology.
http://insideepa.com/news-briefs/environmentalists-reiterate-claim-ozone-rule-backsliding
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Advocates Challenge ‘Do-Nothing’ Brick Kiln Air Standards
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Patrick Ambrosio
The Environmental Protection Agency's standards for acid gas emissions from brick and ceramics kilns are illegally weak, a pair of environmental advocacy organizations argued in a court filing (Sierra Club v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 15-1487, briefs filed 11/14/16).
The standards for hydrogen chloride, hydrogen fluoride and chlorine were set in an October 2015 final rule that the EPA projected to reduce hazardous air pollutant emissions by about 375 tons per year. The EPA opted to set health-based standards—rather than technology-based standards—for those pollutants, a decision the agency said was justified under Section 112(d)(4) of the Clean Air Act.
However, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Sierra Club, in a brief filed late Nov. 14, told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that the EPA violated the law by setting “do-nothing standards” that won't adequately protect public health. Sierra Club has received funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael Bloomberg, the majority owner of Bloomberg L.P., parent of Bloomberg BNA.
“The acid gas standards EPA adopted are so weak that of the more than 80 major source brick kiln facilities, EPA expects only one will need to install pollution controls to comply with the limits, and that facility can meet the standards by controlling emissions from only 3 of its 10 kiln stacks,” the environmental advocates said.
Establishing maximum achievable control technology limits, commonly known as MACT standards, would have forced higher-polluting brick and ceramics kilns to reduce their emissions to the levels already being achieved by competing facilities that pollute less, the advocates said.
The environmental advocates also alleged that the EPA illegally relied on the upper prediction limit, a statistical tool used to predict the level of emissions that the “best-performing” facilities in a source category are expected to meet, to set standards on emissions of mercury and non-mercury metals. The D.C. Circuit previously upheld the EPA's use of the upper prediction limit to set emissions standards for industrial boilers (U.S. Sugar Corp. v. EPA, 830 F.3d 579, 82 ERC 2107, 2016 BL 245584 (D.C. Cir. 2016)).
Industry Wants Some Standards Vacated
While environmental advocates are challenging the Brick MACT standards are being too weak, the EPA also faces a number of legal challenges from industry petitioners, which outlined their arguments in a joint brief filed Nov. 14.
The EPA projected that the Brick MACT rule would impose capital costs of $64.6 million, along with annual compliance obligations of $24.6 million, on the industry. However, industry organizations alleged that those projections underestimate the true cost of compliance, especially on small businesses that may not have access to the capital needed to install required pollution controls. The House of Representatives in March passed a bill (H.R. 4557) that would stay the regulation pending the outcome of litigation, but that bill was subject to a veto threat from the White House and hasn't been brought up for consideration in the Senate.
The Brick Industry Association, which represents clay brick manufacturers that are regulated under the EPA's emissions rule, asked the D.C. Circuit to vacate emissions limits for particulate matter and mercury. Vacatur is warranted because the EPA illegally relied on emissions data from brick plants that do not qualify as major sources under the Clean Air Act, according to the trade association.
The brick industry organization also alleged that the EPA's mercury limits represent a violation of Congress's directive in the 1990 amendments to the air law that EPA cannot require “raw material substitution” under MACT standards for mineral processing sources. The mercury limits established under the Brick MACT rule are so stringent that they effectively require brick plants to switch to clay with lower mercury content in order to comply, according to the Brick Industry Association.
The EPA also faces a challenge from Kohler Co. and the Tile Council of North America. Kohler Co. is challenging EPA's use of non-representative emissions data to set limits on emissions from existing sanitaryware units, while the Tile Council raised an argument against major source emissions standards for the ceramic tile industry.
The Tile Council argued that because there are no ceramic tile manufacturing facilities that qualify as major sources under the Clean Air Act, the EPA does not have justification to set such standards.
The EPA's response brief, which will address both the environmental and industry arguments, is due to the court Jan. 19.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=100541927&vname=dennotallissues&fn=100541927&jd=100541927
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Some Republicans See Targeting UN Climate Treaty as Extreme
Nov 16, 2016 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Dean Scott
The prospect of President-elect Donald Trump going beyond his campaign promise to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris climate pact to actually targeting the Senate-ratified UN deal that made it possible may be a step too far—even for some Republicans.
Talk of withdrawing the U.S. from the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which Trump advisers and congressional Republicans are mulling because it would mean a speedier withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, has been met with dismay by environmental groups at the UN climate talks in Morocco.
Withdrawing from the 2015 Paris Agreement, which President Barack Obama signed onto using his executive authority, would take four years. Withdrawal from the UNFCCC would only take one year.
But several Senate Republican aides told Bloomberg BNA in recent days that while all options are under discussion, they recognize that putting the UN convention in the crosshairs might be overreaching and perhaps unnecessary.
“That's extreme,” one Republican committee aide familiar with congressional strategy said, adding “that's extreme” again for emphasis.
“It's unclear” whether that approach has any advantage over other options that also would derail Obama's climate agenda, the aide said, which range from simply zeroing out international climate funding or withdrawing the Environmental Protection Agency's power plant limits.
The EPA limits are the centerpiece of the U.S. pledge made in the run-up to the Paris talks to cut its greenhouse gas emissions as much as 28 percent by 2025 from 2005.
Senate Vote Necessary?
Also unclear is whether withdrawal from the UNFCCC would require a Senate ratification vote, a second Republican aide said.
“There's still this question of how we get out of treaties” and whether a Senate showdown—which would invite a firestorm from Senate Democrats—is necessary, that aide said.
Targeting Obama's international climate agenda is high on the list for the senior Republican ready to take the gavel at the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso. Like the outgoing chairman, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Barrasso is a fierce opponent of what both senators see as an overzealous pro-environmental agenda under Obama.
It is also unclear whether pulling the U.S. out of the UNFCCC altogether would be embraced by Republicans seen as more accommodating on climate issues, even if they too have complained of Obama regulatory overreach. One to watch, congressional aides said, is Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who is to stay on in the 115th Congress as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Corker on the Senate floor in 2008 said he accepted “the fact that we as a country, and we as a world, need to address this issue.” But his spokesman told Bloomberg BNA Nov. 14 that the senator had no comment on the strategy.
Obama Calls for Caution
Speaking in Washington Nov. 14, Obama made a spirited defense of his environmental agenda and said fighting climate change can be pro-business.
“There's been a lot of talk about the possibility of undoing this international agreement,” Obama said. “Now, you've got 200 countries that have signed up for this thing, and the good news is that what we've been able to show over the last five, six, eight years is that it's possible to grow the economy really fast and possible to bring down carbon emissions as well.
“It's not just a bunch of rules that we've set up. You have got utilities that are putting in solar panels and creating jobs. You've got the big three automakers, who have seen record sales and are overachieving on the fuel efficiency standards that we set. Turns out that people like not having to fill up as often and then save money at the pump, even if it's good for the environment,” he said, speaking at a news conference.
Obama also indicated that the Trump administration might not go so far as to pull the U.S. out of the Paris pact.
“Do I think that the new administration will make some changes? Absolutely,” Obama said. “But these international agreements, the tradition has been that you carry them forward across administrations, particularly if, once you actually examine them, it turns out that they are doing good for us and binding other countries into behavior that will help us.”
U.S. Envoy Sees Treaty Advantages
The Obama administration's outgoing climate envoy, Jonathan Pershing, deflected questions on what actions Trump might take. Speaking to reporters Nov. 14 at the UN climate talks in Marrakech, the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change said the UN framework convention offers several benefits to the U.S. beyond having a seat at climate negotiations.
More than two decades of talks under the UNFCCC have expanded to include a far broader array of issues than climate he said, including sustainable development.
“Are there issues beyond climate? Of course there are; climate is deeply tied in a broad way to interests of sustainable development,” Pershing said.
“As we think about what that means, if we don't avoid some of the damages and risks” from climate change but also unsustainable development, there are likely to be consequences to the U.S. economy that will only be exacerbated by increasingly fierce storms and other weather events worsened by climate change, he said.
“So for me it's not so much the individual institution” of the 1992 UN climate treaty, Pershing said. “It's the question of the damages we are trying to avoid [and] a question of how we collectively as a global community take these next steps,” Pershing said.
“And I believe the U.S. economic community and business community, state and local governments, communities, and civil society will move in this direction and think that it's going to be imperative” for global action to continue in the decades ahead, he said.
Seat at the Table
Daniel Bodansky, a law professor at Arizona State University's Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, acknowledged that a full treaty withdrawal is a possible route for Trump. But Bodansky, who a year ago viewed President Obama to be on “relatively firm legal ground” in using his executive power to negotiate the Paris pact without congressional approval, called targeting the UNFCCC “a very extreme step.”
Such a move “would both signal that the U.S. is not interested in international cooperation to address climate change, and would mean the U.S. doesn't have a seat at the table,” Bodansky told Bloomberg BNA Nov. 14. To withdraw from the UN treaty, Bodansky says, a president-elect could move under Article 25.1 of the UNFCCC, which allows withdrawing with one year's notice.
That pullout from the UN framework convention would scuttle U.S. participation in the Paris Agreement because of a related section, Article 28.3, which was included in the Paris deal, he said. It states that “any party that withdraws from the Convention shall be considered as also having withdrawn” from the Paris Agreement.
“Although this method of withdrawal is clearly permitted internationally, there is some question whether the president may withdraw from the UNFCCC without Senate approval as a matter of U.S. constitutional law,” Bodanksy wrote in an October article for C2ES, a group which advocates for climate and renewable energy policies.
The article--written weeks before the Nov. 8 election and at a time when many were predicting a narrow win by Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton--was titled “Could a Future President Reverse U.S. Approval of the Paris Agreement?”
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=100541917&vname=dennotallissues&fn=100541917&jd=100541917
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