Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 2/23/2017
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(ACC Mentioned) Ocean Conservancy: 250M Metric Tons of Plastic Could Enter Oceans by 2025
Feb 23, 2017 | Waste Dive
By Kristin Musulin
Nonprofit organization Ocean Conservancy has released a new report, titled "The Next Wave: Investment Strategies for Plastic Free Seas," that highlights goals and strategies for reducing the amount of plastic waste entering oceans, as reported by Plastics Recycling Update. -
CEQ Staff Instructed to Pack Up Main Building
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
Staffers in the White House's environmental shop have been directed to move out of the building that has long served as the agency's headquarters. -
Pruitt's Lack of EPA Experience Raises Concern as His Team May Face Delay
Feb 23, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Dawn Reeves
Newly installed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt may have to wait months to have his senior leadership team in place as concern grows that he will be running a large federal agency that he does not understand -- and did not attempt to do so ahead of his Feb. 17 Senate confirmation vote, Pruitt's supporters inside and outside the agency say. -
(ACC Mentioned) EPA Limiting Asbestos Chemical Evaluation to Six Forms Under TSCA
Feb 23, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
EPA is limiting its review of asbestos under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to the definition of asbestos in the statute, agency staff announced at a recent stakeholders meeting where speakers clashed over which uses EPA should pursue. -
EPA's Final Rule on Formaldehyde Emissions to Enter into Force in Dec 2017
Feb 23, 2017 | IHB
On December 12, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule to implement the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act, which added Title VI to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). -
US CPSC Consults on Phthalate Exposure Analysis
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission wants feedback on an analysis of phthalate exposure and risk to women of childbearing age. -
Canada to Consider New US EPA Data on NMP Consumer Exposure
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Andrew Turley
A US EPA report on consumer use of the solvent NMP has raised questions about the conclusions drawn in the Canadian draft screening assessment of the substance. -
Scientists Call for Control on All PFAS Compounds
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Philip Lightowlers
A group of environmental chemists has raised awareness of the long-term 'intractable' chemical management issue presented by perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS). -
Chemical Industry Groups Criticise REACH's Costs and 'Bureaucracy'
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
There is considerable potential to reduce the 'unnecessary burden' created by excessive information in the supply chain under REACH, SME trade body Ueapme says. -
MEPs Explore Data Harmonisation Between Echa, Efsa and EMA
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Echa is open to the idea of harmonising data with the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). -
Echa Round-Up
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Echa has added 60 new substances to the list of those that might be chosen for compliance checks. -
Think Tank Close to Trump Predicts Coal, Gas Renaissance
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Evan Lehmann
President Trump could end decades of cultural discrimination against fossil fuels by unleashing energy production on public lands and by tackling climate "activism" in federal policies, according to a libertarian whose advocacy group is close to the new administration. -
Dairy Industry Rejects 'Command and Control' Methane Regs
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Debra Kahn
Renewable methane advocates are hoping a looming collision with California's greenhouse gas goals will give the nascent industry a kick in the pants. -
Peak LNG Glut is Just 2 Years Away — Moody's
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Jenny Mandel
An ongoing build-out of world capacity to liquefy natural gas will cost more than $1 trillion and will bring a growing surplus of LNG that will peak in 2019 before fading out in the early 2020s, according to a new analysis by Moody's Investors Service. -
Braskem Exports First US Ethane Cargo to Brazil
Feb 23, 2017 | Platts
By Andrea Salazar and Phillipe Craig
Braskem's first cargo of US ethane was expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday aboard the Gaschem Arctic. -
Climate Skeptics Ask Trump to Withdraw from UN Agency
Feb 23, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
A group of scientists and others skeptical of global warming are asking President Trump to withdraw the United States from the United Nations’ climate change agency. -
Governors Urge Trump to Jump-Start CCS With Pipelines
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Christa Marshall
The Trump administration should prioritize construction of large carbon dioxide pipelines in any infrastructure plan to speed up deployment of carbon capture technology, according to a new multi-state report led by two governors. -
Conservatives Predict 'Real War' with Environmentalists
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly
People who question the science of climate change today told conservative activists they were looking forward to using their bigger platform during the Trump administration to roll back U.S. EPA regulations on greenhouse gas emissions. -
EPA Extends Comment Deadline for Texas Haze Plan
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
Yielding to requests from power producers and a state regulatory agency, U.S. EPA is adding another 60 days to the public comment period on a proposed regional haze plan for Texas that would affect 14 coal- and gas-fired plants.
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Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) Ocean Conservancy: 250M Metric Tons of Plastic Could Enter Oceans by 2025
Feb 23, 2017 | Waste Dive
By Kristin Musulin
Dive Brief:
Nonprofit organization Ocean Conservancy has released a new report, titled "The Next Wave: Investment Strategies for Plastic Free Seas," that highlights goals and strategies for reducing the amount of plastic waste entering oceans, as reported by Plastics Recycling Update.
The report predicts that about 250 million metric tons of plastic will likely enter the oceans by 2025 if organizations do not team up to find a long-term solution. This marine debris can have lasting effects on health, jobs, climate and the economies of coastal regions.
Ocean Conservancy set a goal to halve the amount of plastic waste entering oceans annually within the next eight years, with a specific focus on the Asia Pacific region. Representatives from Closed Loop Fund, Procter & Gamble, Dow Chemical Co., Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., American Chemistry Council and Amcor have all taken ownership of this initiative.
Dive Insight:
Plastic marine debris has been discussed time and time again, and while the issue is complex, the industry has been slow to put long-term solutions in place. At the 2016 Our Ocean Conference hosted by the Department of State, dozens of industry organizations, countries and private institutions vowed monetary commitments toward marine protection and cleaning up pollution, however those commitments have yet to prove successful.
Of course there have been small-scale solutions, such as the Waste Shark autonomous water drone or the Seabin Project, both intended to clean marine debris out of residential lakes and harbors. Some apparel companies like Adidas have found ways to use recycled ocean plastics to manufacture products, and a large initiative known as The Ocean Cleanup has conducted intensive studies on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. However due to the rapid pace that debris is still entering oceans, it is clear that more needs to be done.
Figures published in Science Magazine estimate roughly 8.8 million tons of plastic are entering waterways annually, and without action (along with increased population and consumption), it is predicted that there will be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050. The industry must step up its collection efforts in coastal regions to ensure that further damage to wildlife and the environment can be prevented.
http://www.wastedive.com/news/ocean-conservancy-250m-metric-tons-of-plastic-could-enter-oceans-by-2025/436693/
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CEQ Staff Instructed to Pack Up Main Building
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
Staffers in the White House's environmental shop have been directed to move out of the building that has long served as the agency's headquarters.
Career staff in the Council on Environmental Quality were told to remove their things from 722 Jackson Place, which has been considered CEQ's public home, according to Christy Goldfuss, who led that agency during the Obama administration.
The townhouse across the street from the White House is one of several that CEQ has occupied, with staff also spread out into other buildings on Jackson Place and in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
The staff shuffle was first reported today by The Washington Post.
It's unclear whether the move has any broader implications for CEQ, but it comes as former Obama administration officials and others fear that CEQ will be marginalized in the new administration (Greenwire, Feb. 9).
The Trump team has yet to announce a nominee to lead that agency, although several top energy aides were recently hired to work in the White House. Former Texas environmental regulator Kathleen Hartnett White has been a rumored contender to become the nominee to chair CEQ.
"It is very traumatic for those of us who see 722 as the place where we greeted the public," said Goldfuss, who recently returned to work at the Center for American Progress.
"The lack of guidance toward CEQ and the interaction with the staff there — given short notice to just pack up with little alternative — is more a question about who's in charge. ... With the absence of leadership, it calls into question who's running the agency."
About 15 career CEQ staff stayed on in the environmental shop past the Obama administration, according to Goldfuss.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Tiernan Sittenfeld of the League of Conservation Voters today slammed the move. "Old habits die hard for landlord Trump. His latest eviction notice — booting the Council on Environmental Quality from its home for the past 40 years — once again exposes his disdain for protecting public health and the environment," she said.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/02/23/stories/1060050478
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Pruitt's Lack of EPA Experience Raises Concern as His Team May Face Delay
Feb 23, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Dawn Reeves
Newly installed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt may have to wait months to have his senior leadership team in place as concern grows that he will be running a large federal agency that he does not understand -- and did not attempt to do so ahead of his Feb. 17 Senate confirmation vote, Pruitt's supporters inside and outside the agency say.
His supporters fear that these deficiencies may hamper Pruitt's bid to steer EPA back to focusing on its core mission of clean air, clean water and cleaning up contaminated sites.
Among their concerns is that Pruitt is believed to have selected a chief of staff, Ryan Jackson, who similarly lacks any EPA experience and has been hostile to the agency during his tenure as staff director and chief of staff to Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), when he led the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee.
Jackson also lacks a national perspective, having focused mainly on Oklahoma issues, particularly oil and gas, and has been keeping Pruitt walled off from the rest of the agency including campaign staff on the Trump beachhead team, they say.
In addition, Pruitt has not had much contact with senior staff, including White House appointees at the agency. When Pruitt gave his first remarks to EPA employees on Feb. 21, he said he was meeting former Acting Administrator Catherine McCabe for the first time that day.
And shortly after Pruitt's speech, senior White House adviser Don Benton, who is serving as the administration's beachhead team leader at the agency, told reporters outside EPA headquarters that he was looking forward to getting to know the new administrator a bit better at an informal lunch that day.
Additionally, Pruitt had yet to meet with agency ethics officials until Feb. 21 to begin discussing what issues to include in his formal recusal letter.
While Pruitt's distance from the agency between his Dec. 8 nomination and Feb. 17 confirmation may be somewhat routine, his supporters are concerned that he is going into a hostile agency blind and will have a difficult time navigating obstacles.
EPA career staff are already highly skeptical of Pruitt, who was selected to lead an agency he has sued more than a dozen times. He has complained of its regulatory overreach, and during his Feb. 21 speech to staff he did not acknowledge the agency's core mission of protecting clean air and water, much less its climate change work that he is expected to roll back.
“Not a single reference to protect[ing] clean air, water, land. Seems more focused on serving industry than he does protecting public health. Not a very encouraging opening statement from someone who is supposed to be our top environmental steward,” said one former EPA official in response to Pruitt's speech to staff.
Reaction from current staff to the speech appears to run from tepid to “condescending,” according to several staffers.
Pruitt's reputation among the staff was likely further diminished after he was forced by an Oklahoma state judge to release emails from his tenure as Oklahoma's attorney general that detail his close ties to industry.
However, one source close to the administration expects Pruitt to proceed carefully at the agency, noting he is a lawyer and not known for doing anything rash.
'Months and Months'
Adding to this, environmentalists say they intend to encourage Senate Democrats to delay confirming any other political appointees at EPA -- meaning Pruitt's deputies and assistant administrators may not be in place for a long while.
Benton acknowledged this possibility in his scrum with reporters, saying Pruitt may have to wait “months and months” to get a team in place.
However, Benton pushed back against concerns that Pruitt will face difficulties in choosing his own team, similar to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, whose continued lack of a deputy is a growing problem.
Benton -- a former Washington state senator and former Trump campaign adviser who says he intends to stay on at EPA though his role has not been announced -- said President Donald Trump understands an executive needs to bring in people to help do their jobs, and that any delay for Pruitt would likely be due to the Senate's schedule in holding hearings and votes more than executive branch issues.
But it is unclear how many of Pruitt's picks for his own team will be approved by the White House.
Benton and others say that Pruitt has already sent over a slate of nominees -- names he declined to share -- to the Presidential Personnel Office, though it is also unclear how many have been OK'd.
In addition to Benton, other members of the Trump campaign and EPA beachhead team are expected to win prime political and other spots at EPA, and many of those people similarly lack any substantive agency experience. There is not thought to be a lot of overlap between Trump campaign staff and Pruitt's picks.
One Trump administration source told Inside EPA last week that Pruitt should not expect to have all of his choices approved because campaign officials serving on the beachhead team “will come first, over Scott's people.”
Chief of Staff
Meanwhile, Jackson -- who is not yet listed in EPA's employee directory though many sources say he is Pruitt's chief of staff -- has worked for Inhofe since 2003, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that he was an assistant district attorney in Tulsa, and earned his bachelor's and law degrees at Oklahoma universities.
Neither Jackson nor EPA's press office responded to questions from Inside EPA about concerns over his preparedness for the job.
Jackson came on board to help guide Pruitt through the confirmation process in the Senate, according to a Jan. 27 E&E article, that adds Jackson also worked in Inhofe's Senate office in 1999 as a case worker. The article quoted industry attorney Scott Segal as saying Jackson would make a “good chief of staff” if he took the job.
But one former Hill staffer questions Jackson's ability to shepherd Pruitt through what is expected to be a thorny tenure at EPA. “Ryan is an Inhofe guy, through and through,” the source says, noting he started his career on the Oklahoma senator's campaign team when he won his first term in 1994.
And while this source believes Jackson has done a good job for Inhofe focusing on Oklahoma issues -- and noting this is how he knows Pruitt, who served as the state's top lawyer since 2010 -- he questions his ability to come into a federal agency without having worked beyond Capitol Hill, especially never having dealt with career agency officials. That is “a difficult shift. I don't know if it will be a good fit.”
Jackson is “likeable enough. . . . He's got a good personality but Pruitt is going into change things [at EPA], and that's going to be tough.” Pruitt's arrival signals a “culture change for everybody,” particularly because of the administrator's own lack of familiarity with the agency. “Ryan has been more focused on one part of the country and he is just an unknown quantity.”
The Trump administration source says another hurdle for Jackson is the need to learn to create a well-functioning EPA team to work with the White House policy people, who will dictate the agenda. “And the big question is how long will it take him to figure this out?”
Another Inhofe alumnus, Andrew Wheeler, is said to be under consideration for a top post, possibly deputy administrator. The former Hill staffer believes he would be able to better maneuver at EPA because of his familiarity with it and the statutes it implements, as does Mike Catanzero who has worked both for Inhofe and at EPA, and was just named to Trump's National Economic Council as an energy adviser.
A third former Inhofe staffer, George Sugiyama, is also on the EPA beachhead team.
It remains unclear whether Wheeler -- now an attorney at Faegre Baker Daniels Consulting and leader of the group's energy and natural resources practice -- will get the nod from the White House if Pruitt wants to tap him. The other rumored top deputy administrator contender is former North Carolina environment chief Don van der Vaart. Names floated as possible air office chief include former Bush-era acting chief Bill Wehrum and beachhead team member and former longtime EPA attorney David Schnare, according to several sources.
Delay Tactics
Meanwhile, environmentalists say they intend to seek to delay Senate confirmation of other EPA posts in a bid to seek to stop Pruitt's de-regulatory agenda. “We will do everything we can to fight back,” one source says, adding that “delay is definitely the hope” though it is unclear how successful that strategy will ultimately be.
But the plan is to delay confirmations of political appointees, “probably anyone that has to get an approval. It depends on who they select.”
The source says environmentalists are wistfully hoping that career staff “inside will be trying to do stuff counter to what” the people in charge want them to do, and will be able to do so in a way that it is not immediately realized.
A delay strategy could leave several particularly key offices with acting officials in place -- including Sarah Dunham as acting air chief who moved into the role from directing the agency's Office of Atmospheric Programs, and Kevin Minoli who is acting general counsel.
The administration source says proponents of delay may believe some of these officials will slow-walk orders and may be willing to be disciplined or worse, and then file employment complaints that would serve to distract resources away from advancing the Trump agenda.
The administration source would not comment on the likely success of such a strategy, but suggests it is a concern.
Finally, environmentalists and others continue to brace for Trump to sign EPA-related executive orders as soon as this week that could tell Pruitt to scale back agency rules, particularly its climate work, and that one of the orders may go so far as to seek to undo the greenhouse gas endangerment finding that is the underpinning of all of the agency's GHG regulations.
However, the source close to the administration says the orders -- which may be come in the form of presidential memorandums -- will not touch the endangerment finding.
What the orders will address and whether Trump will come to EPA to sign them remains to be seen. Benton said the timing of the orders is a question for Pruitt or the White House. EPA's press office referred questions to the White House, which did not respond.
“They certainly went hugely bold on immigration, and see where it got them,” the environmentalist says.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/pruitts-lack-epa-experience-raises-concern-his-team-may-face-delay
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(ACC Mentioned) EPA Limiting Asbestos Chemical Evaluation to Six Forms Under TSCA
Feb 23, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
EPA is limiting its review of asbestos under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to the definition of asbestos in the statute, agency staff announced at a recent stakeholders meeting where speakers clashed over which uses EPA should pursue.
TSCA Title II, Section 202, defines six forms of asbestos: chrysotile, crocidolite, amosite, anthophyllite, tremolite, and actinolite. And EPA staff at a Feb. 14 stakeholders meeting seeking comment on which uses of asbestos and nine other existing chemical substances should be included in agency risk evaluations under TSCA said EPA would limit its asbestos review to those six forms.
"So first off, I just want to denote we're defining asbestos as its defined currently under statute under Title II, and that is the 6 fiber types historically regulated since Title II was passed," Brian Symmes, acting director of the National Program Chemicals Division in EPA's toxics office, said during a presentation at the Washington, D.C., meeting.
Symmes' announcement answers one in a series of questions about the asbestos review raised by J. Michael Showalter, a partner with the Chicago-headquartered law firm of Schiff Hardin, in blog shortly after EPA announced that asbestos would be among the first 10 substances reviewed as part of the new TSCA process last November. In the November 2016 posting on the firm's site, Showalter asked which asbestos substances EPA would be assessing, given that the TSCA definition of "asbestos" applies to six forms of the mineral fiber while courts have accepted a broader definition from the agency.
Further, Showalter asked how EPA will regulate a naturally occurring substance, and whether the extensive product liability litigation over asbestos will complicate the agency's efforts.
In a Feb. 15 phone interview, Showalter explained that TSCA's definition of asbestos, including just the six specified forms, "was always under-inclusive, at least back to the W.R. Grace case."
In that case, EPA sued W.R. Grace for cleanup costs at its Libby, MT, mine and surrounding community, where the company mined for decades vermiculite contaminated with a form of asbestos known as Libby amphibole. Grace's sales of the vermiculite, processed into insulation and fertilizer, spread the asbestos across the country. Grace ceased mining operations in Libby in 1990, and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2001 after a 1999 series of news reports publicized respiratory illnesses in workers. The company emerged from bankruptcy in 2014. EPA finalized its cleanup plan for the Libby, MT, area, now a Superfund site, last year.
The problem in the legal case, Showalter said, is that the Libby form of asbestos is "a similar fiber but not in the six-fiber definition" as outlined in TSCA Section 202. During the course of the case, "Grace had experts in" who raised this issue, Showalter said, adding that "natural substances don't fit neatly into boxes."
In the W.R. Grace criminal enforcement suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in 2007 rejected defense arguments that the two substances at issue in the case -- winchite and richterite, also known as "Libby vermiculite" -- were not "asbestos" because they fell outside the TSCA definition.
While the TSCA definition can be under-inclusive, in a sense, it is also over-inclusive, Showalter said, noting that it is not practical nor economically viable to perform repeated mineralogy tests on large amounts of natural materials, such as gravel removed from a quarry.
Asked whether EPA is limited by the TSCA definition of asbestos, Showalter said EPA would "not be constrained by the old part of TSCA" because "anything outside of the 'six fiber' definition could be viewed as a new chemical. EPA could then evaluate it like any other substance" through its TSCA Section 5 premanufacturing notice review process.
"Using the 'six-fiber' definition in the short term is conservative if only because those terms have been around for years, people understand what falls within them, and there is precedent as to how to evaluate whether something is or is not one of them," Showalter said.
An EPA spokesperson did not answer questions about whether EPA is bound to use the Title II definition of asbestos or if the agency could look more broadly at asbestos forms. "EPA is in a period of public comment on uses of asbestos," an agency spokesperson responded in an email. "These comments will help inform the scope of EPA's risk evaluation for the chemical."
A key component to EPA's new TSCA reviews revolves around the chemical substances' uses or "reasonably foreseen uses," as directed in the statute. EPA recently released preliminary documents for each of the first 10 substances identifying what it believes to be current uses of those substances, and is seeking comment on them. Symmes also sought to clarify that the asbestos review will consider only current industrial uses of asbestos, not historical uses.
"We have looked at a variety of sources to try and determine what uses are currently ongoing," Symmes said. "I should note that these uses are uses that have been identified as currently in commerce. This does not reflect the vast number of uses and applications that occurred historically, or the asbestos that is continuing to be managed in place in buildings, schools and homes across the U.S."
Symmes identified the largest use of imported asbestos in the United States as "chlor-alkali plants and the use of asbestos diaphragms -- according to the U.S. Geological Survey this remains the major use of imported asbestos. Current estimates indicate that nearly 100 percent of imported raw asbestos goes into chlor-alkali facilitates." These facilities separate and produce chlorine and caustic soda, according to Symmes' presentation slides.
Symmes outlined a number of other uses of asbestos which the agency believes are ongoing, such as roof coatings, brake blocks, imported brakes, gaskets and building materials. "We are of course soliciting information on whether these uses are continuing to be ongoing, and whether there are other uses we have not discovered in our search as we move forward," Symmes added.
One concerned industry representative, Christina Franz of the chemical trade association American Chemistry Council (ACC), argued that EPA should not evaluate the risks of chlor-alkali uses of asbestos. The "use of asbestos in chlor-alkali production was not part of the 1989 risk management rule on asbestos because [they] were very well controlled," Franz said. "EPA should make clear in its scoping document that this is a particular condition of use that does not need a full risk evaluation since the agency has already concluded that this particular use does not present an unreasonable risk."
Franz further called for EPA in its releases of the risk evaluations to provide disclaimers. "The public needs to know that not all of the uses mentioned in the use dossiers pose a risk. The use dossiers need disclaimers to this effect so that the public is not misled about what the information means. For example, not all conditions of use of asbestos need a full blown risk assessment. EPA, you do have discretion to focus on certain conditions of use in these risk evaluations, and EPA should use that discretion."
By contrast, advocacy groups called on EPA to quickly move to ban asbestos, with one representative arguing that EPA should speed a ban by skipping risk evaluation of asbestos entirely and moving directly to a risk reduction rule. Linda Reinstein, with the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, reminded EPA staff that the agency "spent decades on research to ban asbestos in 1989. You're well armed with the facts to move this forward. . . . In fact in the new TSCA, there's actually section 7, where you can actually skip the evaluation and go straight to rulemaking."
TSCA Section 7 allows the EPA administrator to file a civil suit in any U.S. district court "for seizure of an imminently hazardous chemical substance" or "for relief . . . against any person who manufacturers, processes, distributes in commerce or uses or disposes of, an imminent hazardous chemical substance . . ." It does not mention asbestos specifically.
Reinstein also urged EPA not to exempt the chlor-alkali industry from future rulemakings. "Chlor-alkaline industry submitted a letter in August of 2016 to you folks, talking about how they work to ensure the safe use of asbestos. Safe use is impossible."
Reinstein pointed to EPA's latest Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) information, which EPA collects from a number of required industry sectors, who must report to the agency on total releases of specified chemicals and substances over specified thresholds. Reinstein noted that in total, TRI reported "nearly 13 tons of asbestos releases ... Generally related to building renovation, abatement work and the production of chlorine and caustic soda."
She continued, "It's apparent, its abundantly apparent, that the chlor-alkailine industry wants another exemption, just like they had in 1989. That's wrong. There are safer substitutes, and they know that."
https://insideepa.com/inside-epa/epa-limiting-asbestos-chemical-evaluation-six-forms-under-tsca
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EPA's Final Rule on Formaldehyde Emissions to Enter into Force in Dec 2017
Feb 23, 2017 | IHB
On December 12, 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a final rule to implement the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood Products Act, which added Title VI to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The compliance date for most aspects of the rule is December 12, 2017, reports the U.S. Government Publishing Office.
The purpose of TSCA Title VI is to reduce formaldehyde emissions from composite wood products, which will reduce exposures to formaldehyde and result in benefits from avoided adverse health effects.
The final rule includes formaldehyde emission standards applicable to hardwood plywood, medium-density fiberboard, and particleboard, and finished goods containing these products, that are sold, supplied, offered for sale, or manufactured (including imported) in the United States.
It includes provisions relating to, among other things, laminated products, products made with no-added formaldehyde resins or ultra lowemitting formaldehyde resins, testing requirements, product labeling, chain of custody documentation and other recordkeeping requirements, enforcement, import certification, and product inventory sell-through provisions, including a product stockpiling prohibition.
This final rule also establishes a third-party certification program for hardwood plywood, medium-density fiberboard, and particleboard and includes procedures for the accreditation of third-party certifiers and general requirements for accreditation bodies and third-party certifiers.
It will reduce exposures to formaldehyde, resulting in benefits from avoided adverse health effects. For the subset of health effects where the results were quantified, the estimated annualized benefits (due to avoided incidence of eye irritation and nasopharyngeal cancer) are $64 million to $186 million per year using a 3% discount rate, and $26 million to $79 million per year using a 7% discount rate. There are additional unquantified benefits due to other avoided health effects.
The annualized costs of this rule are estimated at $38 million to $83 million per year using a 3% discount rate, and $43 million to $78 million per year using a 7% discount rate.
This rule would impact approximately 922,000 small businesses: almost 910,000 have costs impacts less than 1% of revenues, over 6,000 have impacts between 1% and 3%, and over 5,000 have impacts greater than 3% of revenues. Approximately 99% of firms with impacts over 1% have annualized costs of less than $250 per year.
The full text of the final rule published by the U.S. Government Publishing Office can be viewed here.
http://www.ihb.de/wood/news/EPA_formaldehyde_emissions_wood_composite_50968.html
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US CPSC Consults on Phthalate Exposure Analysis
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission wants feedback on an analysis of phthalate exposure and risk to women of childbearing age. The document relies on biomonitoring data from the 2013/14 National Human Health and Nutrition Survey (Nhanes).
In June 2015, the CPSC released a similar exposure document based on four Nhanes data sets from 2005 to 2012.
Comments on the document, Estimated Phthalate Exposure and Risk to Women of Reproductive Age as Assessed Using 2013/2014 NHANES Biomonitoring Data, will be accepted until 24 March.
https://chemicalwatch.com/53798/us-cpsc-consults-on-phthalate-exposure-analysis
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Canada to Consider New US EPA Data on NMP Consumer Exposure
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Andrew Turley
A US EPA report on consumer use of the solvent NMP has raised questions about the conclusions drawn in the Canadian draft screening assessment of the substance.
The Canadian government assessment, published earlier this month, says the general public's exposure to the substance is not a concern at current levels, and that NMP is not 'toxic', as defined by section 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (Cepa).
But it makes no reference to a supplemental EPA technical report on consumer exposure and risk estimation for the use of NMP to remove paints and coatings. This contains data and analysis suggesting the risk to consumers can be significant.
The omission is striking because the Canadian assessment of consumer risk is based on US EPA data and analysis. Specifically, it uses the consumer exposure data in the 2015 US EPA TSCA work plan assessment of NMP.
Robin Churchill, a senior scientific evaluator at Health Canada, told Chemical Watch that the team behind the Canadian assessment was aware of the supplemental report, but did not include it because it did not become available until close to its publication.
The supplemental report was posted to the US government's site for public dissemination of official documents on 19 January; the Canadian assessment was published on 4 February.
"These updated findings will be considered as the Government of Canada finalises the NMP and NEP risk assessment," Mr Churchill said.
The draft screening assessment of NMP is currently in its 60-day public comment period. Interested parties have until 5 April to submit comments.
Margin of exposure
In the 2015 risk assessment, the EPA calculated margins of exposure (MOEs) for consumer exposure scenarios and compared them with a benchmark MOE of 30. Values below 30 indicated the presence of risks while those of 30 or above indicated 'negligible concerns'. All of the consumer exposure scenarios analysed yielded MOEs of 30 or above.
But the supplemental report introduced new exposure scenarios, and in contrast many of those yielded MOEs below 30.
"EPA conducted supplemental analysis to inform the evaluation of regulatory options under section 6 of TSCA," says an EPA memo accompanying the report. "This technical support continued the exposure modelling and risk analysis carried out the NMP risk assessment to account for exposure parameters that were not included in that risk assessment."
https://chemicalwatch.com/53788/canada-to-consider-new-us-epa-data-on-nmp-consumer-exposure
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Scientists Call for Control on All PFAS Compounds
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Philip Lightowlers
A group of environmental chemists has raised awareness of the long-term 'intractable' chemical management issue presented by perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS).
They point to the large number of these highly persistent substances. A 2015 report by the Swedish Chemicals Agency (Kemi) estimated that more than 3,000 were being manufactured. An even greater number, the authors say, are being discovered in the environment.
The paper, published in Environmental Science and Technology, is written by four European and US researchers led by Professor Ian Cousins from Stockholm University. It points to the lack of effective controls to prevent, reduce or mitigate the risks that these compounds pose to humans and wildlife.
In particular, the authors say there is little understanding of PFAS exposure routes. The compounds are transported to remote locations, including the polar regions, and their persistence means that exposure is hardly reversible. Their water solubility and protein-binding characteristics also challenge conventional bioaccumulation assessments.
The compounds' persistence and accumulation in the environment will mean increasing levels of exposure, the authors say, and the industrial practice of phasing out one PFAS product and replacing with another increases the number of compounds and the complexity of exposure. Inventing alternatives based on non-PFAS technologies is more difficult but environmentally necessary, they add.
The authors believe that greater regulation and replacement of PFAS products is needed. They conclude: "We recommend prompt global actions to assess the hazards, exposure and risks associated with the many PFASs on the market, as the basis for effective control measures to limit the production and use of many, if not all, of these substances and their replacement PFASs."
But, the paper recognises it is not possible or feasible to risk assess all PFASs within a reasonable time frame. It outlines a research strategy including:
constructing an inventory of currently used and legacy PFASs, including chemical identity, production volumes and uses, regulatory status and alternatives;
more work on the fate, transport and accumulation of PFASs in the environment;
improved understanding of molecular structure of PFASs and their behaviour, protein binding and toxicology; and
developing more effective control and remediation methods and alternative technologies.
To bring about the international cooperation needed for this strategy, the authors suggest it could be supported by the OECD/UN Environment Programme Global PFC group. This brings together government, industry, academic and NGO interests.
The paper's content echoes concerns in a resolution made by scientists in the 2014 Madrid Statement. This called for a system of internationally recognised essential uses, enforced labelling of products and the gathering of statistics on PFASs' production and use.
https://chemicalwatch.com/53768/scientists-call-for-control-on-all-pfas-compounds
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Chemical Industry Groups Criticise REACH's Costs and 'Bureaucracy'
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
There is considerable potential to reduce the 'unnecessary burden' created by excessive information in the supply chain under REACH, SME trade body Ueapme says.
While REACH has improved the quality and availability of data, communication in the supply chain is "in urgent need of optimisation", it says.
Along with many other industry groups, NGOs and public sector bodies, Ueapme recently submitted comments to the European Commission's consultation on the second review of REACH. The review's findings are expected later this year.
Extended safety data sheets, Ueapme says, are increasingly complex and often essential aspects "get lost in a pile of information". As a result, their value is "fundamentally threatened".
The same issue is raised by Fecc, the European Association of Chemical Distributors. It says distributors typically receive six different SDSs for the same registered substance, each with different information and formats. Thus identifying differences and consolidating information into one SDS for communication down the supply chain "remains a challenge". Distributors also face the complex task of consolidating more exposure scenarios for the same registered substance.
However, Echa's Exchange Network on Exposure Scenarios (Enes) and the roadmap for chemical safety assessment and exposure scenarios (CSR/ES) will help to harmonise exposure scenarios. Last November, Echa said it would extend both projects.
In some sectors, Ueapme says, there is "no understanding that downstream users are entitled to get a correct and useful SDS". And translations and general rules about permitted uses, and their conditions, are also unclear.
The quality of SDSs is now the target of the fifth REACH enforcement project (Ref-5).
Cost challenges
Another issue, says Ueapme, is that the costs of REACH "clearly exceed" the benefits of citizens having access to more substance information, and a stronger focus on how such information can be better used by citizens is needed.
Cefic has yet to publish its comments on the review. But speaking to Chemical Watch at a UN chemicals meeting earlier this month, its director general, Marco Mensink, said the cost of registration for big companies is "already huge", and for small companies the cost can "significantly affect profits".
Cefic has discussed the issue of support for SMEs with Echa executive director Geert Dancet, said Mr Mensink, and the two organisations may take their experts around Europe to "ease the implementation" of companies registering in time.
Similarly, the UK Chemical Industry Association (CIA) told the Commission that complying with REACH has proved very challenging and "a drain on resources" for companies of all sizes that had been "way above what had been anticipated". The Commission and authorities should, it said, focus on preventing any "additional financial burden and unnecessary bureaucracy" for businesses.
Controls on imports
To put the EU on a 'level playing field', Fecc, Ueapme and Cefic all say more controls are needed on the import of articles.
"Enforcing REACH and then allowing articles into the EU that do not comply puts European industry at a competitive disadvantage," said Mr Mensink.
Ueapme says the lack of proper enforcement is a "prominent negative" effect as it weakens confidence in the strategic approach of REACH.
https://chemicalwatch.com/53796/chemical-industry-groups-criticise-reachs-costs-and-bureaucracy
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MEPs Explore Data Harmonisation Between Echa, Efsa and EMA
Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Echa is open to the idea of harmonising data with the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The chemicals agency is already "closely cooperating" with the other two agencies on data sharing and will have a video conference with them at the beginning of March on the topic of harmonisation.
At a hearing of the European Parliament's Environment Committee on 7 November, MEP Julie Girling proposed an informal hearing with Echa, Efsa and the EMA to discuss data harmonisation.
Information availability is a "particular issue which has been brought to me, both by industry and NGOs", she said. "The issue really is that we have a number of agencies … who are gathering similar types of information.
"It could be that the agencies provide a harmonised approach to data – particularly safety data – where there is a huge public concern around animal testing."
Ms Girling said the committee should take the lead by organising a hearing "where we could have all three agencies in place in a relatively informal format."
Geert Dancet, Echa's executive director, pointed out that his agency has already worked on "seeking harmonised format", particularly in its work with Efsa on pesticides.
"We have also made progress in agreeing that the Iuclid structure of presentation of data is the best way of being able to extract harmonised information from the robust summary studies," he said.
"So yes, we are interested in participating and seeing even further progress in this regard and are open to an initiative on your side."
The Parliament has yet to organise the hearing. "We are happy to contribute should such a hearing be organised, especially with a view to our mandate to develop and maintain Iuclid, an international standard for all chemical substances. For the moment we are waiting for further news from the European Parliament," said an Echa spokesperson.
There are two aspects to data harmonisation, he added: scientific and safety data, study summaries, and toxicological endpoints available on its dissemination portal; and, in the "context of industry submissions", using the same formats and datasets for different regulatory purposes.
Last year, the Centre for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) submitted a proposal to the Parliament for a "common dissemination format" for the three agencies. It expects to participate in the proposed joint hearing with the agencies.
https://chemicalwatch.com/53797/meps-explore-data-harmonisation-between-echa-efsa-and-ema
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Feb 23, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Compliance checking substances
Echa has added 60 new substances to the list of those that might be chosen for compliance checks. And to ensure it is checking the most up-to-date information, the agency is advising registrants of these substances to update their dossiers by 28 April. They should include the chemical safety report and tonnage band. Echa has published this list since January 2015. It gives registrants the chance to make updates before a compliance check starts.
Harmonised classification and labelling intentionEcha has added a harmonised classification and labelling (CLH) intention to its registry for hexane. Germany is proposing a future entry in Annex IV of CLP of flammable liquid 2, skin irritability 2, reprotoxicity 2, STOT SE 3, STOT RE 1, aspiration toxicity 1 and aquatic chronic toxicity 2. The dossier is expected by 31 March.
Translations available for REACH-IT integrated support
REACH-IT now includes integrated support material in 23 EU languages, Echa has announced. It says the aim is to help companies registering chemicals.
To introduce companies to the central IT system, the short guide Discover REACH-IT is also available in 23 languages.
Interactive guide feedback
Echa has thanked those who gave feedback on its interactive guide on safety data sheets and exposure scenarios. It has updated the English version of the guide and says versions in other languages will be available in March.
https://chemicalwatch.com/53786/echa-round-up
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Think Tank Close to Trump Predicts Coal, Gas Renaissance
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Evan Lehmann
President Trump could end decades of cultural discrimination against fossil fuels by unleashing energy production on public lands and by tackling climate "activism" in federal policies, according to a libertarian whose advocacy group is close to the new administration.
Robert Bradley, who founded the Institute for Energy Research, spoke optimistically about the prospects that Trump could oversee a "major reset" of domestic and international approaches to climate change. Bradley said he doesn't lose sleep over rising temperatures, the risks of which he said are overblown by environmentalists.
"I would say that Trump free-market energy policy has great promise," he said yesterday at an event exploring the president's approach to fossil fuels, renewable energy and greenhouse gas emissions.
The event comes as the administration is preparing to release several executive actions aimed at dismantling climate-related orders by former President Obama. Upcoming actions target the Clean Power Plan, a moratorium on federal coal leases and Obama's Climate Action Plan.
To Bradley, it's possible that Trump could lead the nation into a renaissance in which coal, oil and gas seize market share from energy sources like wind and solar. He believes decrepit wind turbines pose "one of the major environmental problems" of the future.
Trump campaigned on opening vast federal lands in the West to new fossil fuel development. And Bradley holds hope that Trump will deliver a cultural shift with such a move. It could lead to increasing supply of oil and gas and declining prices along the way, he said. The revenue from selling leases for public resources could help end the national debt.
Jettisoning public policy assumptions about pricing carbon in the future could drive up the value of those fossil resources and erode the economic arguments for renewables, Bradley added. Indeed, if tax credits and other subsidies are taken away from wind and solar, those industries would "go bust," he said.
The event, hosted by the Cato Institute, focused on the "promise or peril" of Trump's energy policies. Another speaker saw some risks.
Adele Morris, an economist with the Brookings Institution, argued against opening public lands for fossil fuel development. The coal industry in Appalachia is reeling from layoffs and declining production largely because of low natural gas prices. So she challenged the notion that energy companies will flock to buy public leases when existing coal mines with established rail lines and other infrastructure molder.
"To me, that just defies economic logic," Morris said.
Last week, the president signed legislation killing the Stream Protection Rule, a regulation loathed by Appalachian coal companies because it would have further prevented them from polluting valley streams below mountaintop mines.
When signing the bill, Trump described it as a victory that would blossom into new mining jobs for an industry that has seen tens of thousands of workers displaced over the last decade. But it stands to have a small effect on employment. An analysis performed for the Department of the Interior estimates that the rule would have ended 124 jobs annually and reduced overall coal production by 0.08 percent a year.
The administration's anticipated executive action on the Clean Power Plan is part of a broader order requiring U.S. EPA and other agencies to "review" processes that curtail domestic energy production, according to a source. That the order won't repeal the Clean Power Plan outright points to the potential challenges the administration faces in rolling back Obama-era policies. New rulemakings can be time-consuming.
At the event, Morris and Catrina Rorke, a senior fellow at the libertarian R Street Institute, argued for a national carbon tax. Both of them criticized the Clean Power Plan as economically inefficient.
Rorke, who believes Republicans should talk more about the risks of climate change, said Trump doesn't pose a "mortal peril" to people facing the impacts of climbing temperatures.
"I think this administration is so far unpacking some of the more problematic aspects of Obama's Climate Action Plan and will put us on the right track," she said.
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/02/23/stories/1060050447
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Dairy Industry Rejects 'Command and Control' Methane Regs
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Debra Kahn
Renewable methane advocates are hoping a looming collision with California's greenhouse gas goals will give the nascent industry a kick in the pants.
California has had an economywide carbon cap since 2006 but is just now tackling the biggest sources of methane, a gas that is one of the most potent contributors to global warming.
As the state pursues ever-deeper emissions cuts, new business opportunities are coming into focus, but so are the political and technological barriers to cutting methane. Regulators are grappling with how to limit emissions from the sector while preserving the state's dairy industry, which produces half of the state's methane but also 20 percent of the country's milk.
The state has had regulations for landfill methane since 2009 but is only beginning to regulate emissions from dairy cows and cattle. A 2016 bill, S.B. 1383, set a target of a 40 percent reduction in methane by 2030 but stopped short of mandates for the dairy industry due to strong industry opposition. California's 1,400 dairies currently have just 16 digesters — devices that siphon methane from covered manure pits and use it to generate electricity on-site or turn it into biogas for specially equipped vehicles (Climatewire, Dec. 9, 2016).
Dairy industry representatives took a defiant stance at a methane conference in Sacramento on Tuesday.
"Command and control won't work with this industry," said Michael Boccadoro, executive director of the industry trade group Dairy Cares, which represents 98 percent of the state's milk producers. "If dairies are required to put in digesters and they're not economically feasible, dairies will simply leave the state and produce milk elsewhere."
The California Air Resources Board is set to vote next month on a plan to reduce short-lived climate pollutants, including methane. While S.B. 1383 prohibits the state from regulating the dairy and cattle industries until 2024, it also directs agencies to "significantly" increase the amount of renewable gas. Backers are hoping that gives agencies enough wiggle room to achieve the necessary reductions.
"It is our sincere hope ... that it be taken very, very seriously," said Tina Andolina, a senior policy consultant for state Sen. Ben Allen (D), who sponsored previous attempts to set a renewable gas standard, similar to the state's renewable portfolio standard for electricity. "Without that, I think California misses the mark on our climate goals."
In the meantime, dairy reductions will be voluntary and funded by various sources, including state agency grants, pilot projects by utilities and the sale of credits under the state's low-carbon fuel standard. Renewable natural gas has gained traction as a substitute for heavy-duty diesel engines, in particular, because large trucks are particularly difficult to convert to electric vehicles and because they are responsible for most of the conventional air pollution that plagues the Los Angeles and Central Valley regions.
Boccadoro estimated that California needs 100 to 200 digesters to meet its 40 percent reduction goal. "We're going to have to get infusions of additional dollars," he said.
The industry cannot count on utilities to foot the bill for renewable-gas-fueled electricity, said California Public Utilities Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves. "We have to be very cognizant of an increase in investment coming from ratepayers that will impact an already highly impacted bill," she said.
More money could be forthcoming from the state's auction of greenhouse gas allowances under its cap-and-trade system. ARB also plans to develop a pilot "financial mechanism" to increase investors' confidence in the value of credits from the state's low-carbon fuel standard, which allows producers of alternative fuel to generate and sell credits to fossil fuel companies.
Project developers said LCFS tweaks would go a long way toward stimulating the market.
"If they can get me higher pricing on the low-carbon fuel standard, that's enough," said Evan Williams, chairman of the Coalition for Renewable Natural Gas and president of Cambrian Energy, which develops projects that capture methane from landfills.
At the same time, the gas industry as a whole faces an uphill battle for public support, in part due to the methane leak in 2015 from the Aliso Canyon storage field in Southern California — equal to about 12 percent of the dairy industry's annual emissions.
A state lawmaker who represents the region has sponsored a bill to keep Aliso Canyon shut until the root cause of the leak is determined (Energywire, Feb. 10). He warned the industry that opposition would erode political will to help it. "It's a very hard thing to try to seek a partnership at the same time you're just being pummeled," said Sen. Henry Stern (D), a first-term lawmaker who occupies the seat vacated by former Sen. Fran Pavley (D), who co-authored the bills setting statewide greenhouse gas targets for 2020 and 2030. "The future of the gas industry in California is on you."
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/02/23/stories/1060050448
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Peak LNG Glut is Just 2 Years Away — Moody's
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Jenny Mandel
An ongoing build-out of world capacity to liquefy natural gas will cost more than $1 trillion and will bring a growing surplus of LNG that will peak in 2019 before fading out in the early 2020s, according to a new analysis by Moody's Investors Service.
The United States and Australia are the key players in the upswing in global LNG supply, with each country counting five major export projects under construction or commissioning. Last year, 34 million metric tons per year (mtpa) of new LNG capacity came online around the world, in the kickoff to a surge that will bring an additional 105 mtpa of new U.S. LNG supply online by 2020 by Moody's tally.
Japan and South Korea, the world's top LNG importers, were once expected to soak up much of the new supply that's on the way, but the baton has now passed to emerging buyers of the commodity, according to the company's analysis.
Japan, which accounts for about a third of world LNG demand, saw its imports peak in 2014 as the country struggled to restart its nuclear power fleet after a 2011 meltdown. But consumption has fallen slightly in each of the past two years, and Moody's forecasts it will fall about 1 percent per year through 2020 as reactors come back online and push out pricey natural gas imports.
South Korea, the second largest LNG import market, saw a 6 percent bump in LNG demand last year thanks to its own nuclear reactor troubles. But Moody predicts that its LNG demand will be flat over the next few years as heating demand for natural gas makes up for an edging out of LNG in the power sector.
That leaves China and India — long seen as important future markets for LNG but which have seen lower-than-expected demand growth over the past several years — to take on a bigger role in the market.
Unlike Japan and South Korea, China has the prospect for pipeline gas from Russia, as well as possible domestic production, as potential natural gas sources that could compete with LNG imports. Moody's sees total Chinese natural gas consumption growing by a massive 11 percent per year through 2020, supported by government policies geared to reducing pollution from dirtier coal. Growth in pipeline deliveries would dominate the import picture, with LNG making up a high-end estimate of 38 mtpa by 2020.
In India, LNG is an attractive substitute for a shortfall in domestic production, but the high cost of dollar-denominated LNG has been a roadblock. The current supply glut has Indian buyers lining up, and Moody's predicts that the country will take in as much LNG as its limited import infrastructure and pipeline system can handle through 2020, up to about 30 mtpa.
Moody's notes that U.S. suppliers generally have more flexibility in their contracts because they typically charge fees that cover their fixed costs, allowing buyers to elect whether to take deliveries. In contrast, Australian contracts typically have take-or-pay clauses that drive deliveries.
As a result, the coming years could see Australian LNG serving as a sort of baseload supply in Asia, with U.S. LNG shipments depending on marginal economics and potentially being rerouted from their committed Asian buyers to other destinations in Europe or South America.
"By 2019, with the temporary excess of global supply peaking at around 55 mtpa, significant volumes of LNG could be destined for Europe," Moody's analysis concludes. "However as global demand and LNG import infrastructure catches up with supply, we expect that the market will rebalance during the early 2020s."
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/02/23/stories/1060050443
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Braskem Exports First US Ethane Cargo to Brazil
Feb 23, 2017 | Platts
By Andrea Salazar and Phillipe Craig
Braskem's first cargo of US ethane was expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Wednesday aboard the Gaschem Arctic.
The journey marked the first time US ethane moved to South America, as the previous exports out of Enterprise Products' Morgan's Point, Texas, ethane export terminal traveled to Europe and India.
The 9,133 mt Gaschem Arctic departed from the Morgan's Point terminal on February 4, according to cFlow, Platts' trade-flow software. The vessel, which entered Guanabara Bay on Wednesday, is carrying about 78,000 barrels of ethane to Braskem's Rio de Janeiro plant, a source said.
The company owns four crackers in Brazil -- with the 520,000 mt/year Rio unit the only one cracking gas exclusively.
Braskem has also time-chartered the Gaschem Atlantic and Caribic to move ethane, a shipbroker said.
The 9,127 mt Gaschem Atlantic is laden in the Gulf of Mexico and expected to arrive in Rio de Janeiro on March 10, according to cFlow.
A Braskem spokesman declined to comment.
Market sources in Brazil early last week talked of ethylene production issues at Braskem's Rio plant stemming from a January 18 fire at parent company Petrobras' nearby Refinaria Duque de Caxias (Reduc) refinery. The fire forced state-owned Petrobras to cut ethane supply to Braskem's Rio plant by 50%, sources said. That, in turn, forced Braskem to shut down a polyethylene line at its Rio plant, sources said.
A Rio-based polymers distributor this week said PE production and availability from the Rio plant had returned to normal levels.
Both Braskem and Petrobras last week issued statements saying production and operations at their respective plants have not been impacted by last month's fire.
Braskem announced in May 2016 that it had signed a 10-year contract with Enterprise Products to supply ethane based on Mont Belvieu pricing. The supply contract came as Braskem was looking to diversify its feedstocks, retrofitting a cracker in Camacari, Brazil, to take up to 15% ethane.
Enterprise's 200,000 b/d Morgan's Point terminal came online in the fall of 2016.
Ineos, Borealis, Reliance and Sabic also have ethane supply contracts with Enterprise. Ineos and Borealis loaded their first US Gulf Coast ethane shipments in October and September, respectively. Reliance and Sabic loaded in December.
http://www.platts.com/latest-news/petrochemicals/houston/braskem-exports-first-us-ethane-cargo-to-brazil-21966179
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Climate Skeptics Ask Trump to Withdraw from UN Agency
Feb 23, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
A group of scientists and others skeptical of global warming are asking President Trump to withdraw the United States from the United Nations’ climate change agency.
The group of 300, led by high-profile climate change skeptic Richard Lindzen, said in a Thursday letter to Trump and Vice President Pence that greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are not as harmful as most climate scientists say.
“Since 2009, the US and other governments have undertaken actions with respect to global climate that are not scientifically justified and that already have, and will continue to cause serious social and economic harm — with no environmental benefits,” the letter reads.
“While we support effective, affordable, reasonable and direct controls on conventional environmental pollutants, carbon dioxide is not a pollutant,” it says. “To the contrary, there is clear evidence that increased atmospheric carbon dioxide is environmentally helpful to food crops and other plants that nourish all life. It is plant food, not poison.”
The U.N.’s Framework Convention on Climate Change is an international treaty that was established in 1992 and signed by more than 150 countries. The treaty requires countries to make certain annual disclosures about their greenhouse gas emissions, among other requirements.
It is under the treaty that leaders in 2015 wrote the Paris agreement, which includes non-binding emissions reductions.
Trump has vowed to “cancel” the Paris agreement. But shortly after the November election, Reuters reported that some advisers were exploring a pullout from the 1992 treaty altogether.
While the signers of the Thursday letter differ slightly on their exact problems with mainstream climate science, Lindzen has argued that the atmosphere is not as sensitive to carbon dioxide as most believe, due to other factors that counteract its greenhouse effect.
“It is especially important for members of your administrative team to hear from people like the signers of this letter, with the training needed to evaluate climate facts, and to offer sound advice,” the signers wrote. “Climate discussions have long been political debates — not scientific discussions — over whether citizens or bureaucrats should control energy, natural resources and other assets.”
http://www.thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/320793-climate-skeptics-ask-trump-to-withdraw-from-un-agency
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Governors Urge Trump to Jump-Start CCS With Pipelines
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Christa Marshall
The Trump administration should prioritize construction of large carbon dioxide pipelines in any infrastructure plan to speed up deployment of carbon capture technology, according to a new multi-state report led by two governors.
President Trump emphasized carbon capture in his campaign and in an energy plan posted on the White House website but has yet to specify in detail how he intends to support the technology.
The cost of capturing CO2 from large emitters has proved prohibitive for many projects, despite an infusion of cash from President Obama's 2009 stimulus package. The International Energy Agency said earlier this year that carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) investments must increase in the United States and elsewhere to control dangerous warming.
The work group led by Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead (R) and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) says that pipelines are critical for driving CCS development, much in the same way that federal support for railroads helped the agriculture industry early on, and transmission lines helped the hydropower industry. The federal government initially had a hand in fixing national infrastructure problems "before ultimately passing the torch to industry and the states," the study says.
Twelve states participate in the group, which was formed in 2015 after the Western Governors' Association called for acceleration of CCS deployment.
"A primary obstacle to scaling up this national opportunity is the lack of infrastructure: trunk pipelines are needed to link industrial and power plant CO2 sources to oil field customers," the report says.
Support for a new CO2 pipeline network could reduce U.S. oil imports by 22 percent while driving $75 billion in capital investment, the group concluded.
Specifically, the states call for five large pipeline corridors to carry CO2. Several would run to the Texas Permian Basin from Midwestern emitters. Others would run from Ohio to the Gulf Coast, or from North Dakota to Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.
The idea is to build massive trunk lines that can link large greenhouse gas producers like power plants and factories with oil fields that use the CO2 to increase output.
Carbon capture developers have long looked to selling CO2 for enhanced oil recovery as a way to help finance CCS projects. Yet in many cases, the cost of capturing and transporting CO2 remains prohibitively high.
The idea of capturing CO2 from one source to help release another — oil — also is one reason some environmentalists don't like CCS technology.
The report concludes that even with the use of CO2 for oil release, there would be a 4 percent reduction in U.S. stationary-source CO2 emissions because of the capture component.
The group said that needed investment for five large lines would be $15 billion, although it estimated that federal support could be half that. The report outlines several financing options, such as DOE loan guarantees and funds from DOE's Office of Fossil Energy.
The pipelines "must be built at very large scale across regions to make economic sense," the report says.
The working group also calls for other incentives for CCS, including expansion of existing tax credits for carbon storage and inclusion of pipelines in the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, which provides federal credit assistance to transportation projects like highways.
The report comes a month after the world's first retrofit of a large coal plant with CCS technology came online at NRG Energy Inc.'s Petra Nova plant in Texas.
Yesterday, Southern Co. announced that its Kemper County Energy Facility — expected to be the second major U.S. power plant with CCS technology — would not come online until mid-March (Energywire, Feb. 23). Both plants would tie CO2 capture with enhanced oil recovery.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/02/23/stories/1060050475
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Conservatives Predict 'Real War' with Environmentalists
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Amanda Reilly
People who question the science of climate change today told conservative activists they were looking forward to using their bigger platform during the Trump administration to roll back U.S. EPA regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.
At the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, a panel of prominent global warming skeptics said one of their top targets was the Obama administration's 2009 endangerment finding, the basis for EPA's greenhouse gas regulations.
"It's going to be a real war with environmentalists, no question about that," said Steve Milloy, who served on President Trump's EPA transition team. "There's going to be a lot of litigation. But we're going to move EPA in the right direction."
Milloy said "nothing's made me prouder than the fact that Donald Trump is now president" because Republicans as a whole had been lukewarm in their support of climate skeptics prior to Trump, who once called climate change a Chinese hoax.
The Energy & Environment Legal Institute sponsored the panel this morning in one of the side ballrooms at CPAC, happening outside Washington.
Appearing on the panel with Milloy were James Delingpole and Tony Heller. All three have questioned whether human-caused climate change is occurring.
Delingpole, an executive editor at the Breitbart News Network, likened environmentalism to a religion and recycling advocates to a "cult."
The environmental movement, he told the conservative audience, was full of "control freaks" looking for a scientific justification "to tax us, to regulate us, to control our lives."
Heller, who also goes by the pseudonym Steven Goddard, accused the government of faking statistics to make people believe in "absurd" and "fake news" climate change.
He claimed that conservatives who don't believe in climate change have been treated like women who were accused of being witches in the 1600s.
"Right now, conservatives get blamed for every bad weather event and for climate change, right. It's our fault," he said. "But hundreds of years ago, it was witches who were blamed for it."
'Scumbags'
The treatment of people who don't believe in man-made warming is about to change during the Trump administration, Delingpole said.
"The people who portray people like us as selfish, greedy, nature-hating scumbags — no. They are the scumbags. We are the good guys," Delingpole said. "Thank goodness, thanks to Donald Trump, the tide's turned, and we are about to witness that."
Along with questioning federal climate change science, panelists also said they were skeptical of EPA research on everything from air pollution to pesticides.
Milloy, who led a crusade against EPA's risk assessment of secondhand smoke, said he hoped the Trump administration would completely end scientific research at the agency, accusing it of paying for "the science it wants."
An agency "can't be responsible for producing science and then regulating" based on that science, Milloy said.
Being selected to EPA's transition team was "a dream come true after fighting EPA for 25 years," he said.
Conservatives are starting to see the fruits of the advice of that transition team, beginning with the confirmation of former Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt as EPA administrator, he said.
Under the Trump administration, Milloy said, warming skeptics would get to participate in debates over killing President Obama's key climate policies, including the endangerment finding, which the Supreme Court upheld in 2014.
"The endangerment finding needs to be repealed," he said. "If it's not, then President Trump is going to be forced to issue his own climate policy."
John Walke, clean air director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, slammed the panel in a series of tweets.
"This is alt-reality, folks," he said.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/02/23/stories/1060050477
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EPA Extends Comment Deadline for Texas Haze Plan
Feb 23, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
Yielding to requests from power producers and a state regulatory agency, U.S. EPA is adding another 60 days to the public comment period on a proposed regional haze plan for Texas that would affect 14 coal- and gas-fired plants.
The extension, set for publication in tomorrow's Federal Register, means the comment deadline will now be May 5.
The proposed rule would require the 14 plants to adopt "best available retrofit technology" (BART) to curb sulfur dioxide and particulate emissions that cloud visibility at national parks and wilderness areas in four states.
EPA officials had published the proposed rule in early January, with the cutoff for feedback initially scheduled for March 6. But the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and several of the power producers whose plants would be affected had said they needed more time to evaluate the plan.
"Due to the vast amount of highly technical documents, modeling data, and reports, the TCEQ is requesting the additional time for staff to have the opportunity to thoroughly review and adequately comment on concerns," Richard Hyde, the commission's executive director, wrote in a letter to EPA last month.
Advancing a similar argument was Coleto Creek Power LP, a branch of Dynegy that said the proposal would require it to spend more than $300 million for a sulfur dioxide scrubber at a South Texas coal-fired plant.
"Given the significant impact to CCP, sufficient time must be provided to allow a thorough review of the proposal and the voluminous supporting documents that have been uploaded to the docket," Coleto Creek power plant manager Robert Stevens wrote in a separate letter last week.
The regional haze program, dating in its current form to 1999, is geared to restoring pristine vistas to 156 national parks and wilderness areas by 2064.
Under the Obama administration, the program was a frequent source of legal clashes between states and EPA over the scope of pollution controls needed to meet that goal. Last July, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals stayed a final haze rule for Texas and Oklahoma that EPA had imposed under a separate part of the program; the agency is now seeking court permission to voluntarily remand it.
The more recent BART proposal could furnish an early indicator of newly installed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's approach to air quality regulation (Greenwire, Dec. 12, 2016). As Oklahoma's Republican attorney general, Pruitt waged an unsuccessful three-year legal battle to overturn an EPA haze plan for that state. His office in 2013 also welcomed input from a mining industry lawyer who was representing Arizona in litigation over yet another haze rule, according to a trove of internal emails made public yesterday (Greenwire, Feb. 22).
Under the terms of a consent decree with environmental groups, EPA is supposed to have the final version of the Texas BART plan in place by early September. Stevens, however, said the agency could seek to push back that deadline if needed.
As currently drafted, the BART proposal would improve visibility in Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains national parks in Texas; the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma; the Caney Creek and Upper Buffalo River wilderness areas in Arkansas; and Carlsbad Caverns National Park and the Salt Creek and White Mountain wilderness areas in New Mexico, according to EPA.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/02/23/stories/1060050472
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