Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 1/13/2017
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(ACC Mentioned) Carteaux: Trump 'More Business Friendly,' But Also Raises Trade Policy Questions
Jan 13, 2017 | Plastics News
By Steve Toloken
President-elect Donald Trump’s policies should generally bring a lot of opportunities for plastics companies, but the industry also needs to try to block Trump’s stated plans to “unwind” trade agreements, according to the head of the U.S. plastic sector’s largest trade association. -
(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Industry Gives Cautious Praise to EPA's TSCA Inventory 'Reset'
Jan 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
Chemical industry officials are giving cautious praise to EPA's proposal for “resetting” the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) inventory of chemicals in commerce to guide potential regulatory actions under the revised toxics law, saying it includes some “welcome efficiencies” but could be made to further reduce industry burdens. -
(ACC Mentioned) US EPA Issues TSCA Inventory Reset Proposal
Jan 13, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
The US EPA has issued a proposed rule setting out how it will designate substances as active or inactive on the TSCA inventory. -
EPA Proposes Requirements for TSCA Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive)
Jan 13, 2017 | National Law Review
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish a proposed rule on January 13, 2017, that would require a retrospective electronic notification of chemical substances on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory that were manufactured (including imported) for non-exempt commercial purposes during the ten-year time period ending on June 21, 2016. -
EPA Issues New Reporting Rule for Nanoscale Materials
Jan 13, 2017 | Lexology
By Warren Lehrenbaum and Preetha Chakrabarti
On January 11, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule establishing new reporting and recordkeeping requirements for substances that are manufactured or processed as nanoscale materials. -
US EPA Proposes Prohibitions on Methylene Chloride, NMP
Jan 13, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
The US EPA has proposed prohibitions or restrictions on the use of the solvents methylene chloride (dichloromethane) and n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) in paint removal applications. -
EPA Moves to Limit Compound Linked to Dozens of Deaths
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
U.S. EPA proposed a near ban yesterday on a chemical agent used in paint strippers that has been linked to dozens of deaths. -
EPA Proposes Limits on Use of Paint Remover Chemicals
Jan 13, 2017 | Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families
By Michele Setteducato
This week, under the newly reformed Toxics Substance Control Act (TSCA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed limits on the use of two common chemicals in paint removers—methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP). -
EPA Denies Time-Worn Petitions Against Rule
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
The Obama administration yesterday denied a slew of petitions from states, industry and others that in 2015 asked U.S. EPA to reconsider or pause its landmark plan for cutting carbon emissions from the power sector. -
Ethane-Cracker Complex Gains Local Approval
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Energywire
Shell Chemicals received local approval Wednesday for its proposed ethane-cracker complex along the Ohio River. -
California: Landmark Oil, Gas Methane Rule Delayed Amid Federal Upheaval
Jan 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
Delays by California officials to finalizing landmark methane emission standards for oil and gas facilities are troubling environmentalists, amid fears that current and planned federal rules for the sector may be stymied by litigation or the incoming Trump administration. -
Toxics: EPA's TRI Highlights Declining Air Releases
Jan 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
The outgoing Obama EPA is highlighting a decade-long trend in declining air pollution driven by reduced releases of toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid from coal- and oil-fired electric utilities, and crediting a shift to other fuel sources, as well as new control technologies and environmental rules for the decrease. -
Transco Pipeline Network Funneling Record Volume to Heat the Northeast
Jan 13, 2017 | Fuel Fix Blog
By Jordan Blum
The nation’s largest natural gas pipeline system is funneling more gas than ever from Texas to help warm the Eastern Seaboard. -
Governor Says Dakota Access Pipeline Will Likely Be Built Under Trump
Jan 13, 2017 | The Hill - Briefing Room Blog
By Max Greenwood
The Dakota Access pipeline will likely be built without a hitch once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, North Dakota’s new governor says. -
Away from Protests, Crude Quietly Runs Through Great Lakes
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
The saga surrounding controversial oil pipelines is far from over. -
Trump Taps Giuliani for Role in Combating Cyberthreats
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Peter Behr and Blake Sobczak
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani describes the national cybersecurity defense initiative he'll be handling for President-elect Donald Trump as a gathering of the best ideas from companies and U.S. allies and pitting them against the rapidly morphing threats from cyber adversaries. -
PHMSA Takes 'First Step' Toward Crude Volatility Rule
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
Federal transportation officials are seeking input on whether curbing certain chemical characteristics of crude oil could help prevent major rail tank car explosions, according to an announcement this week. -
EPA Air Data Suggest 21 States Face Duty to Reduce Transport of Ozone
Jan 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA has released new air quality modeling data that suggest at least 21 states could face a Clean Air Act duty to curb transported emissions of ozone under the agency's latest strict ambient air limit for the criteria pollutant, including many of the states subject to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) emissions trading program. -
Lawmakers Eager to Extend Cap-and-Trade Program
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Debra Kahn
California lawmakers yesterday introduced a bill to extend the state's signature cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases beyond 2020, in line with Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) call to preserve the program.
Industry and Association News
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(ACC Mentioned) Carteaux: Trump 'More Business Friendly,' But Also Raises Trade Policy Questions
Jan 13, 2017 | Plastics News
By Steve Toloken
President-elect Donald Trump’s policies should generally bring a lot of opportunities for plastics companies, but the industry also needs to try to block Trump’s stated plans to “unwind” trade agreements, according to the head of the U.S. plastic sector’s largest trade association.
In a Jan. 11 industry briefing, the head of the Washington-based Plastics Industry Association, Bill Carteaux, said the Trump administration has a large potential upside for manufacturers, particularly in tax and regulatory policy.
But Carteaux also noted concern over Trump’s statements calling for big changes in trade policy, saying that the plastics industry currently has a $7.1 billion trade surplus and benefits from trade deals.
“We will continue to work on tax reform with items that benefit the industry, like enhancing the R&D tax credit we helped make permanent at the end of 2015, at the same time fighting a rear-guard action on trade issues, like doing our best to keep the White House from unwinding NAFTA or other things,” Carteaux said.
“The outlook is positive but it’s not without risks,” he said.
Carteaux spoke in a briefing to release the association’s latest economic study of the U.S. plastics industry, which presented a generally positive outlook for what is the third-largest manufacturing sector in the U.S., after the oil and gas extraction and automobiles. Carteaux’s comments are not the first from the petrochemical industry to broadly support trade, in reaction to the president-elect.
In a statement after the election, the American Chemistry Council said trade would be very important to “unlock potential” from $175 billion in new shale gas-related investments in the U.S. planned by the chemical industry, which is one of the country’s largest exporting industries.
As well, the German plastics machinery association VDMA put out an unusual statement in late November praising trade deals and decrying protectionism, which the association said was in reaction to President-elect Trump’s comments.
In broader terms, though, Carteaux said the manufacturing industry is hearing “very positive things” in Washington.
“I think from an overarching standpoint, from all indications, is this will be a much more business friendly administration,” he said. “One of the single biggest areas we should see some immediate relief is from some of the regulations that have stifled our industry and curtailed some of the growth.”
Key regulatory issues
In a statement distributed after the meeting, the association highlighted key regulatory areas it said it presented to Trump transition officials.
They include implementing revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act passed into law last year, and reviewing a variety of new rules, including for overtime, workplace safety reporting requirements, lockout/tagout machine guarding and ongoing EPA Clean Power Plant and Clean Water rulemakings.
“We have some things currently pending in some of the agencies,” he said. “We have brought those forward as well and hope those will be rolled back.”
Carteaux’s comments come as lobbyists in Washington expect more focus on manufacturing, whether it’s from the president-elect’s “name and shame” tweets against specific companies and their overseas investments, or from the nomination of Wilbur Ross, financier and current chairman of plastics distribution firm Nexeo Solutions, as the new Commerce Secretary.
During a Jan. 11 panel discussion on manufacturing policy sponsored by Frost & Sullivan’s Manufacturing Leadership Council, executives including Jerry Jasinowski, former president of the National Association of Manufacturers, said spending on technology and workforce development could encourage industrial growth that is already underway.
John Bernaden, co-founder of the Smart Leadership Manufacturing Coalition and former executive at Rockwell Automation, advocated creating low-interest loan financing to help small and mid-sized companies invest in “smart manufacturing” technologies.
From a policy perspective, the panelists generally urged the Trump administration to continue funding a series of manufacturing research institutes launched by the Obama government.
And several panelists argued that the Trump government is not likely to broadly apply tariffs on imports, but instead will use them as leverage in negotiations.
Ross and another Trump appointee, economist Peter Navarro, wrote a policy paper for Trump’s campaign in September advocating a tougher line on trade, including reining in what they call mercantilist policies of China.
That paper said that half of the U.S. trade deficit comes from Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Mexico and South Korea, and said that improved trade balances are possible through “tough, smart negotiations.”
Jasinowski predicted there will be more focus on border taxes.
“The tax debate will move somewhat more toward border taxes, and that’s going to cause that discussion to interface with the tariff discussion,” he said.
The report from the plastics association argued in part that the plastics sector “has been less affected by trends in automation and globalization than its counterparts” in manufacturing but also said that “the realities of mechanization and globalization have forever changed the way that America’s Blue Collar Workers relate to the economy.
“It would be difficult, not to mention counterproductive, to turn back the clock on the American economy,” the report said, advocating more investment in education and industries that are still in demand, like plastics.
“Supporting innovation and growth in plastics should be a key part of any effort, locally or nationally, to find good work for the people and communities left behind by economic and operational trends well beyond their, or anyone else’s, control,” the report said.
Carteaux told the webinar that business groups in Washington expect a return to the 1980s in relations between government and business.
“I’ve talked to a number of people since the election and they feel like we’re going to get back into the 1980s when it comes to how things are governed from a business perspective in Washington D.C. over the next couple of years,” Carteaux said.
http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20170112/NEWS/170119948/carteaux-trump-more-business-friendly-but-also-raises-trade-policy
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(ACC Mentioned) Chemical Industry Gives Cautious Praise to EPA's TSCA Inventory 'Reset'
Jan 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
Chemical industry officials are giving cautious praise to EPA's proposal for “resetting” the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) inventory of chemicals in commerce to guide potential regulatory actions under the revised toxics law, saying it includes some “welcome efficiencies” but could be made to further reduce industry burdens.
In a Jan. 13 Federal Register notice, EPA proposes to require a retrospective electronic notification of chemical substances on the TSCA inventory that were manufactured or imported for non-exempt commercial purposes during the ten-year time period ending on June 21, 2016, the day before the new law took effect.
The proposal would also accept notifications for substances that are processed, though it is not mandatory, and would use all notifications to distinguish active substances, meaning they currently being are made, imported sold or used in commerce, from inactive substances.
EPA is also proposing to set procedures for forward-looking electronic notification of chemical substances on the TSCA inventory that are designated as inactive, if and when the manufacturing or processing of that substances is expected to resume, allowing EPA to easily change its designation from inactive to active.
The proposal would establish the procedures for how industry should manage both the retrospective “reset” and the forward-looking activity notices, including what details must be provided, who is exempt from the reporting requirements, and how confidential business information claims will be handled.
Under the updated TSCA signed into law last June, EPA must promulgate a rule to facilitate industry reporting of chemicals that have been manufactured or processed in the previous 10 years, with the goal of allowing the agency to designate active and inactive chemicals on the TSCA inventory of existing chemicals.
EPA missed an interim deadline to issue a proposed rule by mid-December, and the next administration would must then finalize the rule by mid-June 2017. The agency is taking comment on the proposed rule until March 14.
The proposed rule is winning early, measured praise from the chemical sector, with the American Chemistry Council (ACC) in a Jan. 12 statement saying it is a “foundational sorting step” of the new law that will make related proposals to establish procedures for EPA -- to prioritize chemicals and evaluate risks under the new law -- work better.
“We are pleased that EPA has released its Inventory Reset proposal first -- in advance of its prioritization and risk evaluation proposals -- to help review and consider these important framework rules together,” the statement says.
EPA plans to publish the prioritization rule in the Jan. 17 Federal Register, and on Jan. 13 also announced the pre-publication release of the risk evaluation rule.
Inventory 'Reset'
EPA's inventory “reset” proposal is aimed at giving the agency a better sense of how many thousands of chemicals are already in the marketplace, considered “grandfathered” from risk review under the previous version of TSCA passed in 1976. The new reform law gives EPA more robust authority to evaluate risks for those existing chemicals, but industry has long said the agency must have an updated inventory so it is drawing from a universe of chemicals currently active in commerce rather than those that have been phased out.
According to ACC, EPA’s proposal offers some “welcome efficiencies” by avoiding the need for industry to duplicate notifications that have been made in recent Chemical Data Reporting (CDR) cycles, using a simple notification form and using existing data reporting infrastructure. “We are also pleased that processors will have an opportunity to participate in the Reset on a voluntary basis,” the statement says.
ACC adds that it looks “forward to constructive discussion of other ways the agency might further the notification burden on affected stakeholders during the development of this rule.”
Industry had raised early concerns about the scope of the planned rulemaking, cautioning EPA to use the agency's CDR rules as a starting point for active chemicals.
In Sept. 20 comments, for example, American Petroleum Institute (API) said, "The purpose of the requirement is to designate active and inactive substances. In writing a proposed rule, EPA should think about how to accomplish this directly and should not venture into consideration of using the reporting for other purposes (e.g., gathering information beyond that required to designate active and inactive substances).”
In those comments, API urged EPA to use data from its CDR 2012 and 2016 efforts and designate all data reported in one or both periods as active, excluding those substances from the TSCA inventory reset.
In the proposal, EPA identified “definitional ambiguity” in TSCA section 8(b)(6), which governs reporting requirements, and said it has construed the “interim list of active substances” to include 2012 CDR data, which avoids delay of this proposed rule, but would allow for the 2016 CDR data to give rise to a reporting exemption as soon as they are publicly released in final form. Under the proposal, manufacturers and processors of chemical substances on the non-confidential portion of the Inventory would be exempt from reporting if the manufacture of that chemical substance was already reported (by any party) in response to 2012 or 2016 CDR.
API in its comments also urged EPA to allow companies that process, but do not manufacture, chemicals to report voluntarily but not be mandated to report their active and inactive substances. They argued that processor reporting is unnecessary and would impose significant unnecessary burden on both industry and EPA.
In the proposal, EPA says it would set a 360-day time period for processors to report only those chemical substances not already reported by manufacturers, and that they would have the option to simply not report under TSCA section 8(b)(4) and continue processing until such time when EPA has actually designated a chemical substance as inactive. At such time, any further processing of the chemical substance absent EPA notification would be prohibited by section 8(b).
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/chemical-industry-gives-cautious-praise-epas-tsca-inventory-reset
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(ACC Mentioned) US EPA Issues TSCA Inventory Reset Proposal
Jan 13, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
The US EPA has issued a proposed rule setting out how it will designate substances as active or inactive on the TSCA inventory.
Commonly referred to as the 'inventory reset' rule, it is the first of four framework rules the agency will issue for the newly reformed TSCA. These are set to be finalised by 22 June - one year after the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act's passage.
As laid out in the statute, the rule requires companies to report which substances have been manufactured, imported and processed within the past ten years. The EPA intends to use the data to get a clear picture of the substances active in commerce to better focus its existing chemicals programme under section 6 of TSCA.
Although legal experts raised some concerns with implementation of the law's provision, the agency indicated last year its interest in keeping the rule "as simple as possible".
Michael Boucher, a partner at law firm Dentons, told Chemical Watch he does not expect the proposal to be controversial.
"It looks entirely within my expectations. It's all relatively simple, and pretty consistent with the statutory language," he said.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) also lauded the proposal's publication in advance of the prioritisation and risk evaluation rules as it will help organisations "review and consider these important framework rules together".
Rule details
The proposed rule would require manufacturers and importers to electronically report to the agency substances manufactured for nonexempt commercial uses within the ten years preceding 22 January 2016. The reporting period would run for 180 days, as required by the Lautenberg Act.
Processors – whose role in the reset process was unclear prior to the proposal – will have the option to report for a 360-day period. The EPA intends to issue a draft inventory list based on initial manufacturer reporting. Processors may notify any remaining substances not already reported.
Data on substances reported during the 2012 and 2016 chemical data reporting (CDR) exercises would serve as an interim active substance list. Non-confidential substances listed on the interim list would not require reporting.
Exemptions from reporting largely align with those under the CDR. These include those for R&D substances, naturally occurring chemicals, and impurities and byproducts with no commercial purpose.
But unlike the CDR, information to be reported would be relatively limited. Notice of activity (NOA) forms would include chemical identity, type of commercial activity (manufacture / import), date range of manufacture during the ten-year period, and whether the submitter is seeking to maintain a confidential business information (CBI) claim.
Although the new TSCA law requires the EPA to develop a CBI review plan for substantiating existing chemical confidentiality claims, such provisions are largely absent from the proposal as the agency will conduct a separate rulemaking for these.
‘Welcome efficiencies’
The ACC says the proposal offers "some welcome efficiencies". These include using CDR data to avoid duplicative reporting, employing a simple notification form and using the EPA's existing Central Data Exchange (CDX) reporting infrastructure. It is also pleased that processors will have an opportunity to participate in the reset on a voluntary basis.
The ACC says it looks forward to discussing "other ways the agency might further reduce the notification burden on affected stakeholders during the development of this rule".
Comments on the proposed rule will be accepted through 14 March.
https://chemicalwatch.com/52144/us-epa-issues-tsca-inventory-reset-proposal
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EPA Proposes Requirements for TSCA Inventory Notification (Active-Inactive)
Jan 13, 2017 | National Law Review
By Lynn L. Bergeson and Carla N. Hutton
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to publish a proposed rule on January 13, 2017, that would require a retrospective electronic notification of chemical substances on the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Inventory that were manufactured (including imported) for non-exempt commercial purposes during the ten-year time period ending on June 21, 2016. EPA would also accept such notices for chemical substances that were processed. The recent TSCA amendments require EPA to designate chemical substances on the TSCA Inventory as either “active” or “inactive” in U.S. commerce. EPA states in the pre-publication version of the proposed rule that it would use these notifications to distinguish active substances from inactive substances. EPA would include the active and inactive designations on the TSCA Inventory and as part of its regular publications of the Inventory. EPA also proposes to establish procedures for forward-looking electronic notification of chemical substances on the TSCA Inventory that are designated as inactive, if and when the manufacturing or processing of such chemical substances for non-exempt commercial purposes is expected to resume. According to the proposed rule, upon receipt of a valid notice, EPA would change the designation of the pertinent chemical substance on the TSCA Inventory from inactive to active. The proposed rule includes the procedures to submit retrospective and forward-looking activity notifications, the details of the notification requirements, exemptions from such requirements, and procedures for handling claims of confidentiality. Publication of the proposed rule will begin a 60-day comment period.
http://www.natlawreview.com/article/epa-proposes-requirements-tsca-inventory-notification-active-inactive
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EPA Issues New Reporting Rule for Nanoscale Materials
Jan 13, 2017 | Lexology
By Warren Lehrenbaum and Preetha Chakrabarti
On January 11, 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a final rule establishing new reporting and recordkeeping requirements for substances that are manufactured or processed as nanoscale materials. The rule, which will take effect on May 12, 2017, is unique in several respects:
This is the first instance of EPA exercising its authority under Section 8(a) of the new Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to require reporting by processors of covered materials.
This is the first time that EPA is using its authority under TSCA to require submission of health and safety data on nanoscale materials already in commerce in the US.
The rule applies to persons who manufacture or process nanoscale materials, either alone or as a component of a formulated product or polymer matrix.
Who is subject to the rule
Manufacturers, importers, and processers of nanoscale materials, as described below, are required to report certain information to EPA and maintain corresponding records.
What materials are covered by the rule
Materials will be subject to the rule if they satisfy all of the following criteria: (i) they are solids at 25˚C; (ii) they have particles (including aggregates and agglomerates) that are 1-100 nanometers (nm) in size, in at least one dimension; and (iii) they exhibit novel properties because of their size and those properties are the reason why the substance is manufactured or processed in that form or size.
Importantly, separate reporting is required for each “discrete form” of a nanoscale material that an entity manufactures or processes. For purposes of the new rule, a “discrete form” is defined as a substance that, when compared to another form of the same substance, (a) has a different morphology or shape; or (b) has a different coating; or (c) satisfies all of the following criteria:
Is subjected to a change in process to affect a change in either the size or properties of the substance.
Has a difference in mean particle size that is greater than seven times the standard deviation of particle size of the other form of the substance.
Has a measured change in either zeta potential, specific surface area, dispersion stability, or surface reactivity that is greater than seven times the standard deviation of that property in the other (comparative) form of the substance.
What materials are excluded from reporting
The following categories of materials are excluded from reporting under the new rule:
Materials manufactured or processed in a form in which particles that are 1-100 nm in size comprise less than one percent (by weight) of the substance.
Certain biological materials such as DNA, RNA proteins and microbes.
Substances that completely dissociate in water to form ions smaller than one nm.
Substances formed at the nanoscale in situ, as part of a film on a surface.
Substances that are not on the Inventory (these substances are subject to the premanufacture notification (PMN) requirements of TSCA Section 5).
The rule also includes exemptions for certain R&D activities as well as for small manufactures and processors (which are newly defined to mean businesses with combined sales of less than $11 million per year).
What information must be reported to EPA
Persons subject to the rule are required to report the following information for each “discrete form” of a nanoscale material that they manufacture or process, to the extent such information is known to or reasonably ascertainable by the reporting entity:
Specific chemical identity and molecular structure.
Material characteristics including particle size, morphology, and surface modifications.
Physical and chemical properties.
Maximum weight percentage of impurities and byproducts resulting from the manufacture, processing, use, or disposal of the substance.
Use information describing the category of each use by function.
Detailed methods of manufacturing or processing.
Exposure and release information.
Risk management practices.
Existing data concerning environmental and health effects.
Production volume information.
Reporting must be done electronically, through EPA’s “CDX” web portal.
Deadlines for reporting
Any person who has manufactured or processed a covered nanoscale material during the three years prior to the effective date of the final rule must report to EPA within one year of the effective date.
In addition, any person who proposes to manufacture or process a covered material after the effective date of the rule must provide the required information to EPA at least 135 days before commencing manufacture or processing of a discrete form of the reportable substance or within 30 days of forming the intent to manufacture or process a covered material, whichever is later.
Cautionary Note
Unlike most requirements under TSCA Section 8(a), the new rule imposes reporting obligations on processors of nanoscale materials – including processors of nanoscale materials as a component of formulations or polymer matrices. This aspect of the rule has the potential to sweep in companies in the manufacturing sector that might not ordinarily consider themselves as being subject to regulation under TSCA.
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=cf22113c-fcaa-4c35-9df3-1e256389846c
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US EPA Proposes Prohibitions on Methylene Chloride, NMP
Jan 13, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
The US EPA has proposed prohibitions or restrictions on the use of the solvents methylene chloride (dichloromethane) and n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) in paint removal applications.
The announcement comes a day after the agency issued a separate proposal under section 6 of TSCA to prohibit trichloroethylene (TCE) in vapour degreasing – a clear change in events since the EPA has not used this mechanism to restrict a substance since a court overturned its 1989 rule banning asbestos.
The proposal calls for a prohibition on the manufacture (including import), processing and distribution of methylene chloride when used as a paint stripper. Commercial furniture refinishing uses are exempt, but will be addressed in a separate proposal.
The proposal would also restrict the sale of small-volume products and require businesses to notify retailers and others in the supply chain of the prohibitions.
With regard to NMP, the EPA is soliciting feedback on two co-proposed approaches.
The first calls for a prohibition on the manufacture, processing and distribution of NMP in paint stripping, with downstream user notification requirements.
The second would instead put in place a set of restrictions to address the risks the substance poses, including:
limiting the amount of NMP used in paint remover products;
consumer warning labels; and
workplace personal protective equipment (PPE) requirements.
During inter-agency review, the proposal was the subject of half a dozen stakeholder meetings from NGOs and industry groups. A 90-day comment period will begin from the date it is published in the Federal Register.
‘Unreasonable risks’
Like TCE, NMP and methylene chloride are among the first ten substances subject to risk evaluation under the new TSCA. They were previously the subject of TSCA work plan chemical risk assessments that identified unreasonable risks.
A 2015 assessment of NMP identified risks – particularly to pregnant women – from exposure during paint or coating removal, including neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and reproductive toxicity.
In a 2014 assessment, the EPA concluded that methylene chloride can cause a range of adverse health effects or death in workers and consumers, including harm to the central nervous system, liver and kidney toxicity, and cancer.
According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha), exposure to the substance during bathtub refinishing has been linked to the death of at least 14 workers between 2000-15.
And earlier this month, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Iarc) assigned methylene chloride a Group 2A, "probably carcinogenic to humans" categorisation, up from group 2B "possibly carcinogenic to humans".
Global regulatory action
In the EU, NMP has shown how confusion can arise where rulemaking covering the use of chemicals in products, on the one hand, and worker protection, on the other, overlap.
NMP is on the REACH candidate list for authorisation, owing to a mandatory reproductive toxicant category 1B classification. But the Netherlands proposed a restriction of the substance in 2013, and in 2014 the Echa Risk Assessment Committee (Rac) adopted an opinion on the proposal, endorsing restriction. The committee agreed long-term derived no effect levels (Dnels) of:
10mg/m³ for inhalation; and
4.8mg/kg/day for dermal exposure.
These would apply to NMP on its own or in mixtures in which it amounted to 0.3% or more.
But in 2015, the Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits (Scoel), which advises the European Commission, reconfirmed an earlier recommendation of an indicative occupational exposure limit (OEL) of 40mg/m3 for inhalation (10ppm), as an eight-hour time weighted average.
The Commission asked Scoel to work with the Rac "to solve the apparent diverging views or to clarify the scientific points resulting in the apparent diverging view". This resulted in a 2016 opinion in which the Scoel reconfirmed, once more, the 40mg/m3 OEL, but provided an explanation of how the two committees reached their opinions.
The use of methylene chloride in paint strippers is restricted in the EU under REACH. Additionally, an evaluation of the substance by the Italian competent authority is set to end on 22 March.
Under the EU CLP Regulation, methylene chloride has a mandatory carcinogen category 2 classification (suspected human carcinogen).
Osha has set the permissible exposure limit (Pel) for methylene chloride at an eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA) of 25ppm and a 15-minute short-term exposure limit (Stel) of 125ppm.
Paint strippers containing methylene chloride have been named a potential priority product under California’s Safer Consumer Products programme. The substance is listed as a carcinogen and reproductive toxicant under Proposition 65.
This past autumn, the Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance petitioned the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to expand its existing labelling policy to address acute hazards from inhalation of the substance.
https://chemicalwatch.com/52154/us-epa-proposes-prohibitions-on-methylene-chloride-nmp
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EPA Moves to Limit Compound Linked to Dozens of Deaths
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
U.S. EPA proposed a near ban yesterday on a chemical agent used in paint strippers that has been linked to dozens of deaths.
When used in enclosed spaces, strippers containing methylene chloride release fumes that can cause death by asphyxiation or heart attack. Until 2016, product labels did not include warnings about risks of death.
Methylene chloride fumes have killed people in bathrooms, basements, tanks and even a squash court.
A 2015 investigation by the Center for Public Integrity found that over 50 people have died due to exposure since 1980. The center said its count was conservative.
Last year, EPA named methylene chloride as one of its 10 priority chemicals to address under the recently reformed Toxic Substances Control Act (E&E News PM, Nov. 29, 2016).
The compound is also linked to cancer as well as liver and kidney damage.
The regulation would mandate that products containing methylene chloride be distributed in 55-gallon drums to prevent them from ending up on store shelves.
"There are many cases of people who have become ill or even died as a result of exposure to methylene chloride-containing paint removers," EPA said. "Today's action, when finalized, will save lives and protect people from other serious health risks."
The proposal marks EPA's third suggested chemical restriction since Congress reformed TSCA last year. On Wednesday, the agency proposed banning certain uses of the carcinogenic solvent trichloroethylene, or TCE (Greenwire, Jan. 12).
The Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, a trade group, had fought against the paint stripper rule.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/13/stories/1060048370
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EPA Proposes Limits on Use of Paint Remover Chemicals
Jan 13, 2017 | Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families
By Michele Setteducato
This week, under the newly reformed Toxics Substance Control Act (TSCA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed limits on the use of two common chemicals in paint removers—methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP). In response, Liz Hitchcock, Legislative Director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, issued the following statement:
“We applaud EPA for today’s proposal to protect workers and consumers by phasing out two hazardous chemicals used in paint removers in favor of safer alternatives. These chemicals expose millions of workers and consumers to unnecessary dangerous health risks including liver and central nervous system damage, cancers and even death.”
To learn more, please see our fact sheets about methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone.
http://saferchemicals.org/newsroom/epa-proposes-limits-on-use-of-paint-remover-chemicals/
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EPA Denies Time-Worn Petitions Against Rule
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
The Obama administration yesterday denied a slew of petitions from states, industry and others that in 2015 asked U.S. EPA to reconsider or pause its landmark plan for cutting carbon emissions from the power sector.
Challengers to the Clean Power Plan filed the requests after the rule was finalized in 2015 but before the Supreme Court froze implementation in February 2016.
The 38 reconsideration petitions from states, electric utilities and interest groups raise a variety of concerns about the climate plan. They included complaints that the final rule is too different from the proposed rule, that EPA's interpretation of the "best system of emission reduction" under the Clean Air Act is overly broad, and that the plan doesn't properly account for waste-to-energy and biomass.
Another 22 administrative stay petitions asked EPA to simply pause the rule.
EPA denied all the requests except a handful of reconsideration petitions focused on waste-to-energy and biomass issues. The agency is deferring action on those issues, noting yesterday that the agency is engaged in a separate investigation of scientific and technical issues related to biomass that "may result in further clarification of the appropriate treatment" of the fuel source.
In a document outlining its decision, the agency said the remaining issues in the reconsideration petitions had already been adequately considered through public comment, and the administrative stay petitions were moot because of the Supreme Court stay.
"Over the past year, EPA considered the variety of technical and legal issues that petitioners raised and has determined that the petitions failed to satisfy one or both of the legal conditions necessary to grant reconsideration," the agency said on its website.
Legal impact
The then-pending petitions featured prominently in marathon oral arguments over the Clean Power Plan last September at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
Crowell & Moring attorney Tom Lorenzen, representing electric cooperatives, argued that the final version of the rule was so different from the draft that EPA should have opened it back up for comment. Several of the petitions focused on that issue.
But under D.C. Circuit precedent, the pending nature of the petitions would have precluded judicial review. In other words, the court could not consider that argument until EPA responded to the petitions. Lorenzen urged the court to reconsider its practice (Energywire, Sept. 28, 2016).
"That certainly puts to rest any questions about whether the issue is ripe for judicial resolution," Lorenzen said yesterday after the agency denied the petitions.
Sean Donahue, an environmental lawyer defending the Clean Power Plan, said opponents of the rule could now file new challenges that focus on the petition denials.
"Certainly challengers to this rule haven't been shy about filing challenges, so it wouldn't surprise me if there were some," he said.
But, Donahue added, broader questions of constitutionality and Clean Air Act compliance are already "squarely" before the court, which could issue a ruling any day, so challengers may opt not to file new challenges to the petition denials.
"I think there's an understanding on both sides that the core issues in the case were squarely presented and were argued and are poised for a decision," he said.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/13/stories/1060048345
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Ethane-Cracker Complex Gains Local Approval
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Energywire
Shell Chemicals received local approval Wednesday for its proposed ethane-cracker complex along the Ohio River.
At a contentious meeting Wednesday night, the township of Potter, Pa., unanimously voted to approve the drafting of a conditional use application, which would allow Shell to move forward with construction of the complex.
Several Potter residents attended the meeting to express their disapproval of the complex. About 20 people held signs that read "Deficient: DENY," a reference to their desire to deny Shell's application for the plant.
Wednesday's meeting came after a 10-hour-long hearing in December on the application. The hearing was adjourned to allow time for gathering more information on noise, traffic and light pollution from the plant.
Township supervisors also requested more information at the hearing on the ethane pipeline that would carry the product to the plant. The 12-inch-wide pipeline would pass through three counties in Ohio and one county in West Virginia.
Construction on the multibillion-dollar complex is expected to start in two years. Once fully operational, the plant would employ around 600 people.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/13/stories/1060048310
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California: Landmark Oil, Gas Methane Rule Delayed Amid Federal Upheaval
Jan 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
Delays by California officials to finalizing landmark methane emission standards for oil and gas facilities are troubling environmentalists, amid fears that current and planned federal rules for the sector may be stymied by litigation or the incoming Trump administration.
As Inside Cal/EPA's Curt Barry reports, the advocates are nevertheless confident that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will soon release a final regulation that will be the nation's toughest state-level rules limiting the potent GHG methane from oil and gas operations. Sources expect the board to adopt it in March or April.
"Any further delay will raise eyebrows . . . especially once we see what the federal government does with the [Bureau of Land Management] and federal methane rules," says one environmentalist, citing a final rule curbing venting and flaring of "wasted" natural gas from drilling operations on federal land.
"I expect [a CARB] announcement to be made soon with the final draft of the rule attached. As one would expect, there is going to be a lot of noise made once California passes this rule -- as it will be the first/one of the first significant actions by any state on the environment post-federal government turnover," the environmentalist adds.
An industry source says part of the reason CARB has delayed the final rule -- by more than six months -- is that staff are making late changes to a May proposal to respond to industry concerns.
CARB's proposed rule seeks to reduce fugitive and vented emissions from new and existing crude oil and gas facilities at both onshore and offshore operations.
The environmentalists are eagerly anticipating California's rule in part because of significant uncertainty over federal methane limits. For example, advocates and California are helping the outgoing Obama administration defend BLM's recently finalized rule that limits natural gas releases on federal land.
The BLM's rule effectively bans venting, which directly releases methane into the atmosphere, while also curbing flaring, which burns excess gas and releases CO2.
But the industry groups Western Energy Alliance and Independent Petroleum Association of America, as well as several states including Wyoming, Montana and North Dakota, are challenging the rule in federal district court in Wyoming.
An additional federal methane effort by EPA also faces significant uncertainty. After adopting first-time methane limits for new oil and gas facilities in June, the agency launched an information collection request (ICR) to gather data on potential regulation of existing sources.
While CARB's rule had been seen as a potential model for EPA's planned rule, the incoming Trump administration is not expected to quickly move to issue such regulations, if at all. Some observers say that the Trump EPA might argue that the results of the ICR suggest no need for any new rules.
https://insideepa.com/the-daily-feed
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Toxics: EPA's TRI Highlights Declining Air Releases
Jan 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
The outgoing Obama EPA is highlighting a decade-long trend in declining air pollution driven by reduced releases of toxic chemicals such as hydrochloric acid and sulfuric acid from coal- and oil-fired electric utilities, and crediting a shift to other fuel sources, as well as new control technologies and environmental rules for the decrease.
EPA's 2015 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) National Analysis, issued Jan. 12, shows that releases of toxic chemicals to air decreased 56 percent, or by 850 million pounds between 2005 and 2015. EPA's TRI program tracks releases of specified chemicals by air, land and water disposal, recycling and other releases.
The declining air pollution is driven by reduced emissions from coal and oil-fired electric utilities. EPA says such facilities accounted for a more than 90 percent reduction in air emissions nationwide of hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid and mercury over the past decade, noting the pollutants pose risks to developing nervous systems and for respiratory irritation.
“Today’s report shows action by EPA, state and tribal regulators and the regulated community has helped dramatically lower toxic air emissions over the past 10 years,” said Jim Jones, EPA assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. “The TRI report provides citizens access to information about what toxic chemicals are being released in their neighborhoods and what companies are doing to prevent pollution.”
In a statement, EPA says that 21,849 facilities reported managing nearly 26 billion pounds of toxic chemical waste in 2015, though the facilities released only 8 percent of that to the environment, diverting the other 92 percent through waste management practices, including recycling, energy recovery and treatment.
Additionally, EPA says that between 2014 and 2015 total production waste, which includes both toxic releases as well as waste that is recycled or otherwise diverted decreased 3 percent. Total disposal or other releases decreased 14.6 percent between 2014 and 2015, the agency says.
Congress created TRI in 1986 with the passage of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, in response to a pair of accidents at chemical-producing facilities in Bhopal, India, in 1984 and in West Virginia in 1985. TRI requires industrial facilities in certain sectors, including manufacturing, electricity generation, metals mining and others to report environmental releases of a specified set of more than 650 chemicals.
https://insideepa.com/the-daily-feed
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Transco Pipeline Network Funneling Record Volume to Heat the Northeast
Jan 13, 2017 | Fuel Fix Blog
By Jordan Blum
The nation’s largest natural gas pipeline system is funneling more gas than ever from Texas to help warm the Eastern Seaboard.
Oklahoma-based Williams said its crown jewel Transco interstate pipeline network is delivered record-setting natural gas volumes to meet demand driven by recent cold weather conditions. A new single-day delivery record was set on Jan. 8, as well as a new three-day record from Jan. 7-9.
The 10,200-mile Transco system stretches from the Texas Gulf Coast, where cheap and abundant Texas shale gas is collected, and piped through the Southeast and up the Eastern Seaboard all the way up to New York.
While the winter overall is proving milder than expected, much of the country, including Houston, dealt with sub-freezing temperatures throughout this past Jan. 7 weekend. The Transco system has completed recent expansions with more on the way.
Williams said it delivered a record-breaking 13.7 million dekatherms of natural gas on Jan. 8, breaking the previous high of 13.5 dekatherms on Jan. 5, 2015. One dekatherm is equal to 1 million British thermal units.
Natural gas prices are on a current upswing with greater demand during the winter months, but 2016 still saw the lowest natural gas prices in nearly 20 years. Natural gas production continues to exceed demand in the U.S. However, more liquefied natural gas export facilities and petrochemical plants are coming online later this year to consume more of that production, as well as more pipelines exporting natural gas to Mexico.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2017/01/13/transco-pipeline-network-funneling-record-volume-to-heat-the-northeast/
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Governor Says Dakota Access Pipeline Will Likely Be Built Under Trump
Jan 13, 2017 | The Hill - Briefing Room Blog
By Max Greenwood
The Dakota Access pipeline will likely be built without a hitch once President-elect Donald Trump takes office, North Dakota’s new governor says.
"I expect the world's going to change dramatically on that day relative to finding resolution on this issue," Gov. Doug Burgum (R) told Reuters in an interview published Friday. "I would expect that [Energy Transfer Partners] will get its easement and it will go through."
President Obama denied ETP a permit needed to complete construction on the pipeline last month. Trump, however, has said he would review that decision.
The controversial pipeline, which is intended to transfer oil from North Dakota to a shipping point in Illinois, has been the subject of protests by the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and activist groups, who argue that it threatens a local water supply and Native American cultural sites.
The Army Corps of Engineers announced last month that it would explore other routes for the massive $3.8 billion pipeline. But Trump has expressed his support for the oil project as originally envisioned, meaning he could revisit the Obama administration’s decision.
Burgum was elected last year on promises of streamlining state government. He has also accused the Obama administration of stalling the project for political purposes, urging the president to issue the necessary easement to complete the pipeline.
“If the current administration will not act, then I will ask the Trump administration to do the same thing,” Burgum said in a video statement in December.
http://www.thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/314141-nd-governor-says-dakota-access-pipeline-will-likely-be-built
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Away from Protests, Crude Quietly Runs Through Great Lakes
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
The saga surrounding controversial oil pipelines is far from over.
Even as Native American tribes and environmentalists ostensibly won their battles against two pipelines — Dakota Access and Keystone XL — in the past few years, companies have been quietly shuttling enormous volumes of oil through the Great Lakes region, potentially imperiling the world's largest freshwater ecosystem.
Though President Obama rejected Keystone XL in 2015, Enbridge Inc. lines with three times KXL's capacity already run from Alberta into Wisconsin.
"The Enbridge Mainline system is the largest in the country," said Paul Blackburn`, a lawyer who has represented environmental groups in court battles. "A lot of oil goes through there. Much more than people understand."
Enbridge's current capacity equals 20 percent of total U.S. oil imports. And the corporation is already planning another pipe that would span 1,000 miles and carry 370,000 barrels per day from Alberta to Superior.
The line would balloon total capacity to 3 million barrels of oil per day into Wisconsin alone.
Environmental groups have raised concerns that all these pipelines could leak and lead to ecological disasters and that burning so much fossil fuel could have dire climate impacts.
But fossil fuel interests and many politicians argue the pipelines create jobs.
"Enbridge has taken a different approach [to building pipes], which is sort of piecing together a whole network based on incremental pipeline expansions and really avoiding the scrutiny some of these other big pipelines are getting," said Doug Hayes, an attorney with the Sierra Club Environmental Law Program.
Over the past 10 years, Enbridge has suffered around 70 spills annually. Some are minuscule, while others have been catastrophic. A 2010 rupture unleashed over 1 million gallons of oil into a stream feeding Michigan's Kalamazoo River.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/01/13/stories/1060048364
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Trump Taps Giuliani for Role in Combating Cyberthreats
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Peter Behr and Blake Sobczak
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani describes the national cybersecurity defense initiative he'll be handling for President-elect Donald Trump as a gathering of the best ideas from companies and U.S. allies and pitting them against the rapidly morphing threats from cyber adversaries.
Giuliani, in the new role Trump handed him yesterday, will face stubborn challenges that have kept the U.S. government and the private sector on their heels as they battle cyberthreats, experts said yesterday.
Federal agencies already coordinate extensive cyberdefense communication among the electric power, finance and communications sectors. But one unresolved issue cuts the other direction: the willingness of federal intelligence services to share sensitive cyberthreat information in real time with the private sector.
A second issue is the sheer complexity of sophisticated cyberdefense tools. They often require expertise midsized and smaller companies usually don't have.
New defense tools already flow from U.S. cybertechnology firms, which now have an annual revenue exceeding $35 billion a year, according to an estimate by the Ponemon Institute. Asking firms like Cisco Corp. and Microsoft Corp. at one end of the spectrum, and high-tech startups on the other, to volunteer their best cybertechnologies strikes at their fundamental competitive advantages.
Some of the most persistent threats involve human factors, not cutting-edge technology. That begins with careless employees in cyber-sensitive jobs who allow hackers into their networks — the avenue exploited by hackers who penetrated the Democratic National Committee this year and Ukraine electric utilities a year ago.
History documents the challenges
Some cybersecurity experts emphasized that Giuliani and the Trump administration will pick up a policy book already filled with programs and history, not blank pages, and the history documents the challenges.
As Trump was announcing Giuliani's appointment yesterday, for example, committee leaders in the House announced a new agreement to collaborate on authorization legislation for the Department of Homeland Security. It would consolidate the department's wide-ranging programs that include leadership on civilian cyberdefense.
Eight House committee leaders signed the memorandum of understanding. The consolidation could be a key to rationalizing DHS's diverse cyber programs.
Rep. Mike McCaul (R-Texas), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, noted that DHS has not been reauthorized since its creation in 2002, following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"Since that time, the threat environment has evolved, but DHS has not kept pace," he said. "Further, the sprawling nature of DHS jurisdiction in the House has meant that opportunities to fix it have not been fully realized."
The agreement, which House staff said was unprecedented, allows the Homeland Security Committee to coordinate legislation to reorganize, reform and strengthen the department, McCaul said in a statement.
Speaking to news reporters yesterday, Giuliani said that the offensive capabilities of U.S. adversaries have "gotten way ahead" of defensive measures.
"The president-elect is very much aware of this," he said. "It is something we talked about quite a bit during the campaign; and what he wants to make sure of is that we now spend time having our defense, our cyberdefense, catch up to our offense."
Giuliani, serving as an unpaid, private-sector consultant, will organize meetings between Trump and "the top corporate executives and top thought leaders" who face cyberthreats and are trying to develop solutions.
In another interview yesterday, Giuliani said he would second the views of Exxon Mobil Corp. CEO Rex Tillerson, Trump's pick to lead the State Department, expressed at a confirmation hearing Tuesday. "He said we basically don't have a cyber defense," Giuliani said. "That's ridiculous, we should have a cyber defense."
'Political rhetoric'
Herb Lin, senior research scholar for cyber policy and security at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation, said of Giuliani's comment, "I take that as political rhetoric. I don't take that very seriously."
Lin was a member of the President's Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, an expert group appointed by President Obama to propose a blueprint for future cybersecurity policy and actions. It reported its conclusions in December.
Is there nothing happening on cybersecurity? That is obviously wrong, Lin said. "Is there not enough? Everybody on the commission would agree with that statement." He said he hoped the Trump administration would closely consider the commission's report.
Larry Ponemon, founder and chairman of the Ponemon Institute, a security think tank, said he concludes that leadership in the incoming administration "definitely have their eye on cybersecurity. I'm very glad to see that." But he warned that expecting private-sector technology alone to win the day is not the answer. "The whole issue of getting government to work together and pull in the same direction is a real challenge," he said.
"For the most part, it's not a political issue," Ponemon said. "I agree with what President Obama has done. No question it's become a much more important issue."
U.S. intelligence services, whose information on state-based hacking attacks could be far ahead of industry or consultant information, have a built-in conflict in sharing information that would compromise intelligence sources, he said.
"You don't want to act too quickly and let bad guys know you have them on radar screen," he said. And the same impulse may restrain well-equipped companies from sharing, if they have good vision on adversaries who are trying to penetrate their systems — sharing that information with others might tip off hackers, who could then launch a new attack from an undetected direction, he said.
Ponemon said he had confidence that Giuliani would bring value to the cyberdefense front in his new role. "I know he can get a lot done," Ponemon said.
But Trump's plans did not fare as well with another cyber expert, Richard Clarke, speaking at the S4x17 industrial control system security conference yesterday in Miami Beach.
"President-elect Trump yesterday said the cyber is defenseless, and 'I'm going to get the plan to fix it in 90 days.' I think his plan is to use his 10-year-old son," Clarke said as many in the audience laughed.
Clarke said that the evidence of potential attackers' capabilities constantly becomes more ominous, including last year's attack on the Ukrainian power grid. But it is hard to pull together best solutions for government and the private sector on threats to critical infrastructure because a crippling attack has not yet happened in the United States, he added.
"You've never really had a big cyberattack on an industrial control system," he said. "And you can't put a probability, you can't say it's going to happen and guarantee it will happen. You can't make probabilistic statements about things that occur randomly, that have never happened before."
Clarke said mandatory regulations on cyberdefense were the only real answer, and he questioned whether the incoming Trump administration and a Republican-led Congress would take that route.
"Now the chances of all of that happening are really remote, really, really remote," Clarke concluded.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/13/stories/1060048346
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PHMSA Takes 'First Step' Toward Crude Volatility Rule
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
Federal transportation officials are seeking input on whether curbing certain chemical characteristics of crude oil could help prevent major rail tank car explosions, according to an announcement this week.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration issued a rulemaking notice Wednesday to examine the "volatility of unrefined petroleum products" such as crude from North Dakota's Bakken Shale play.
The advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) came partly in response to a 2015 petition from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D) and does not include any binding regulations. But the document offers a clear signal that PHMSA will explore imposing a cap on crude oil's "vapor pressure," which some experts say may have worsened the impact of a series of fiery oil train derailments in recent years.
"The American energy landscape is constantly evolving and we need to understand the full scope of safety risks involved with moving energy products in new ways," PHMSA Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez said in a statement yesterday.
Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), whose state was roiled by an oil train derailment near the town of Mosier, Ore., in 2016, welcomed PHMSA's move in a statement yesterday.
She called it an "important step to regulate the dangerous and volatile crude oil being transported through communities across Washington state and the nation," though the ANPRM falls short of her longstanding requests for the Department of Transportation to issue an emergency rule to limit crude oil volatility.
"The volatility of crude oil must be regulated by the federal government, not private corporations," Cantwell added.
The oil industry has pushed back against imposing volatility restrictions in past statements and federal filings, challenging whether the "Reid Vapor Pressure" model for testing crude oil's "volatility" would result in any measurable safety improvements.
PHMSA noted that New York's request for a 9-pounds-per-square-inch cap on oil's vapor pressure would need to quantifiably "reduce the risk of death or damage from fire or explosion in the event of an accident" in order for the agency to follow through with a rulemaking.
"If 9.0 psi is chosen, PHMSA would need to show that 9.0 psi is preferable to some other potential limits, such as 8.0 or 11.0," the agency noted — a process that could take years. "This would include considering whether there is a 'safe' level of [Reid Vapor Pressure] below which risks are minimal."
For now, interested parties will have until mid-March to comment on PHMSA's notice. The regulatory effort will also be backed by a separate, ongoing study of Bakken crude oil volatility still underway at PHMSA and the Department of Energy.
"Nationwide, Americans are experiencing the movement of energy products in new ways and looking to government to safeguard their communities and neighborhoods," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement yesterday. "Improving crude oil transportation safety by rail and other modes is a top priority for the Department of Transportation and this ANPRM is an important first step in that undertaking."
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/01/13/stories/1060048343
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EPA Air Data Suggest 21 States Face Duty to Reduce Transport of Ozone
Jan 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA has released new air quality modeling data that suggest at least 21 states could face a Clean Air Act duty to curb transported emissions of ozone under the agency's latest strict ambient air limit for the criteria pollutant, including many of the states subject to the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) emissions trading program.
In a notice of data availability (NODA) published in the Jan. 6 Federal Register, EPA provides its preliminary estimates of which upwind states will have "linkages" to downwind states experiencing ozone levels at or exceeding the 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) of 70 parts per billion (ppb). The agency is taking comment on the information through April 6.
The data show which states EPA projects -- based on their ozone levels -- are likely to be subject to the air law's "good neighbor" provision that requires states to mitigate air pollution that causes or significantly contributes to a downwind state's ability to attain the NAAQS, or in maintaining their attainment with the standard. Several are Eastern states covered by CSAPR, but others such as California and Utah were not included in that rule.
The air law requires states to craft state implementation plans (SIPs) containing measures they will take to meet the good neighbor obligation, which are included in "infrastructure" SIPs outlining the general terms of a state's air program.
"EPA believes that states may rely on this or other appropriate modeling, data or analyses to develop approvable Good Neighbor SIPs," which are due with EPA on October 26, 2018, according to the NODA.
"States that act now to address their planning obligation pursuant to the Good Neighbor provision would benefit from improved ozone air quality both within the state and with respect to other states," the agency says.
For previous NAAQS, many states have either filed their good neighbor SIPs late, or in some cases not at all. That led EPA to craft several emissions trading programs for power plants, which can be large sources of ozone-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx), including CSAPR, which capped NOx as well as sulfur dioxide emissions.
CSAPR as introduced in 2011 aimed to help states attain the 1997 ozone NAAQS expressed as 84 ppb, and EPA recently issued an update to the rule's NOx limits to help with attaining the 2008 ozone limit of 75 ppb.
The original rule has survived extensive litigation with several of its core principles and methods intact, including a Supreme Court hearing, but the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has remanded several state emissions caps, or "budgets," to the agency. The October 2016 update responds to that remand, but no CSAPR-type rule is in place to meet the latest ozone standard on 70 ppb EPA finalized in 2015.
Stricter NAAQS
EPA's decision to tighten the ozone limit faces litigation in the D.C. Circuit case Murray Energy Corp. v. EPA, where some states and industry groups are suing to scrap the rule, and environmentalists are suing to strengthen it.
In the NODA, EPA publishes its projections of which states will have good neighbor obligations under the 2015 ozone NAAQS, based on its threshold "significant contribution" of 1 percent of the NAAQS, or 0.7 ppb, under the method established in CSAPR. EPA cautions, however, that meeting or exceeding the significance threshold does not necessarily translate into control obligations, as other factors may be taken into account.
For example, for western states, "there may be geographically specific factors to consider in determining whether the 1 percent screening threshold is appropriate. For certain receptors, where the collective contribution of emissions from one or more upwind states may not be a considerable portion of the ozone concentration at the downwind receptor, the EPA and states have considered, and could continue to consider, other factors to evaluate those states' planning obligation," EPA says.
EPA's analysis indicates that 21 states and the District of Columbia could meet the significance threshold in 2023 with respect to either an air quality monitor downwind indicating a NAAQS violation, or a monitor in an area categorized as "maintenance" for the 2015 NAAQS.
The states EPA estimates will reach the 1 percent significance threshold include many already included in the CSAPR program for NOx, which covers 22 Eastern states. However, it also includes some western states excluded from the CSAPR system, such as California, Wyoming and Utah.
CSAPR Approach
Acting EPA air chief Janet McCabe told Inside EPA in an exclusive Jan. 5 interview that establishing the CSAPR framework is one of her proudest accomplishments during her tenure.
The "beauty of the CSAPR approach," is that "EPA develops information that is broadly available to the states and potentially affected sources, we get that out there in a prompt manner, so that the states can start thinking about what their obligations might be," McCabe said.
McCabe added, "clearly there continues to be interstate transport, ozone levels in downwind states are affected by interstate transport, and so the states will have an obligation going forward. So this NODA that we put out is really the first step, to start the process of folks being able to look at what future air quality would be like and what the implications might be."
EPA in the NODA says it selected 2023 as it projection year because that is when areas in "moderate" nonattainment of the ozone NAAQS must attain, EPA says. Areas classified in "moderate" or worse nonattainment must submit SIPs outlining measures to comply with the standards, while less-serious "marginal" areas can avoid imposing new controls on industry unless they are later reclassified as "moderate."
Attainment designations for the 2015 standard are not yet complete, however, and are due to be finalized by EPA in October. Good neighbor SIPs are due in October 2018.
If states do not supply SIPs sufficient to satisfy the good neighbor requirement, it will now fall to the Trump EPA to disapprove those plans and replace them with federal implementation plans (FIPs) instead.
CSAPR imposed FIPs directly on states under a "FIP-first" approach that ultimately survived legal scrutiny despite opposition from many upwind states.
The incoming Trump administration, however, is widely expected to take a much more deferential approach to the states' air law obligations, and a deregulatory approach to environmental policy in general.
Despite this, sources in downwind states note that the air law's good neighbor provision is mandatory, barring a change in the law to remove it, meaning that should states and EPA fail to craft adequate pollutant transport plans, environmentalists or downwind states could bring suit to force agency action.
Emissions Inventory
EPA's modeling is based on a 2011 source inventory of emissions, similar to the CSAPR update rule but with revisions and altered assumptions that some may challenge.
The "2011 base year emissions and projection methodologies used here to create emissions for 2023 are similar to what was used in the final CSAPR Update," EPA says. "The key differences between the 2011 inventories used for the final CSAPR Update and the 2011 inventories used for the 2015 ozone NAAQS preliminary interstate transport modeling include updates to mobile source and electric generating unit (EGU) emissions, the inclusion of fire emissions in Canada and Mexico, and updated estimates of anthropogenic emissions for Mexico."
Further, "key differences in methodologies for projecting non-EGU sector emissions (e.g., onroad and nonroad mobile, oil and gas, non-EGU point sources) to 2023 as compared to the methods used in the final CSAPR Update to project emissions to 2017 include (1) the use of data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration Annual Energy Outlook 2016 . . . to project activity data for onroad mobile sources and the growth in oil and gas emissions, (2) additional general refinements to the projection of oil and gas emissions, (3) incorporation of data from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association (MARAMA) for projection of non-EGU emissions for states in that region, and (4) updated mobile source emissions for California."
In the EGU sector, EPA says it has adjusted for continued low natural gas prices, reduced electric demand growth, downward trends in the costs of renewable power, and the application of the agency's Clean Power Plan (CPP) to reduced greenhouse gases (GHGs) from power plants. The CPP is currently stayed by the courts pending the resolution of litigation, and is considered a top priority for the Trump administration to scrap.
One eastern state source says, however, that EPA's assumptions may in fact lean toward too little ozone transport because of mistaken assumptions over meteorology. The NODA "seems overly simplistic and optimistic. For example, by late 2016 it has been a common scientific understanding that not one, but rather several, meteorological regimes are indicative of precursor and ozone transport. To ignore this is to oversimplify the problem and limit the scope of contributors," the source says.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-air-data-suggest-21-states-face-duty-reduce-transport-ozone
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Lawmakers Eager to Extend Cap-and-Trade Program
Jan 13, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Debra Kahn
California lawmakers yesterday introduced a bill to extend the state's signature cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases beyond 2020, in line with Gov. Jerry Brown's (D) call to preserve the program.
A.B. 151, by Assemblymembers Autumn Burke (D), Jim Cooper (D), Evan Low (D) and Blanca Rubio (D), is aimed at relieving market jitters that have hurt demand for emissions allowances.
"Cap and trade is an important tool to help disadvantaged communities participate in efforts to improve air quality," Cooper said. "A.B. 151 will help ensure California continues to invest cap-and-trade revenues in areas of the state with the greatest need."
Brown asked the Legislature on Wednesday to approve the extension of the program past 2020 in order to insulate it from legal challenges. He introduced a budget proposal for 2017-18 that included $2.2 billion in auction proceeds but made the funding contingent on the extension (Climatewire, Jan. 11).
State law requires a two-thirds vote to approve taxes and fees; industry groups have challenged the program, approved in 2006 by majority vote, on the grounds that it constitutes an illegal tax.
A.B. 151 would authorize the state to use cap and trade to meet the 2030 target of 40 percent below 1990 emissions levels.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/01/13/stories/1060048350
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