Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 3/20/2017
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Trump Aides Cause Friction at EPA, Other Agencies
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
White House political appointees are clashing with U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. -
(ACC Mentioned) Bad News for the Bad-News Agency
Mar 17, 2017 | Politico Pro
By Natalie Huet
As President Donald Trump raises the axe on U.S. medical research funding, scientists across the Atlantic are trembling, too. -
Broad Coalition of Public Health and Environmental Organizations Support EPA Proposed Ban on Cancer-Causing Chemical
Mar 20, 2017 | Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families
By Michele Setteducato and CJ Frogozo
Today, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families was joined by more than thirty public health, consumer and environmental groups in submitting comments in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed ban on the use of trichloroethylene (TCE) in aerosol degreasing and spot removal in dry cleaning operations due to health risks. -
UL Software Targets Animal Testing
Mar 20, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Rick Mullin
The testing and certifying company UL has introduced software aimed at reducing the need for animal testing when assessing chemicals for Europe’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) program. -
State Groups Bash Trump Proposal to Kill 2 DOE Programs
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Christa Marshall
State energy officials are slamming the Trump administration's proposed elimination of two Department of Energy programs that they call critical for public safety and lower utility costs. -
Trump Freezes Obama-Era Energy Rules
Mar 20, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Tim Devaney
President Trump’s regulatory moratorium expires Tuesday, but not before the administration delayed a half-dozen Obama-era energy standards. -
Texas Seeks to Block Natural Gas Storage Rules
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Lee
The Texas attorney general asked a court to overturn federal safety regulations on underground natural gas storage, saying the rules were adopted without adequate input and strip local governments of their authority. -
GOP Maryland Governor Reverses Course, Supports Fracking Ban
Mar 20, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jeremiah Shelor
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, in a policy announcement late Friday, called for a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), clearing the way for pending legislation outlawing the practice to become law. -
(ACC Mentioned) Trump's Proposal to Scrap Chemical Safety Board Draws Criticism
Mar 20, 2017 | Hydrocarbon Processing
By Gary McWilliams
President Donald Trump's proposal to do away with the federal agency that investigates chemical accidents drew sharp criticism from environmental, labor and safety advocates, who said that eliminating the watchdog would put American lives at risk. -
EPA Delays Chemical Facility Disclosure Rule
Mar 20, 2017 | Politico Pro - Whiteboard
By Eric Wolff
EPA delayed to June 19 the effective date of a rule that requires chemical production facilities to create emergency management plans and share them with local first responders. -
With 1 Leak Ongoing, Feds Order Hilcorp to Check Other Pipes
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
After a Hilcorp Alaska natural gas pipeline has leaked into Cook Inlet for months, federal regulators want the company to inspect another one of its Alaska lines. -
UP Reports PTC Progress
Mar 20, 2017 | Progressive Railroading
More than a quarter of Union Pacific Railroad's subdivisions are positive train control (PTC) ready, the Class I announced last week. -
Enforcement Would End Under Trump Plan — Former EPA Chief
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Soraghan
The Trump administration budget would end environmental enforcement, not just severely restrict it, says the former U.S. EPA enforcement chief under President Obama. -
GOP Rep ‘Concerned’ About EPA Chief’s Climate Comments
Mar 20, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
A Republican congressman has told Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to “reevaluate” his statement that carbon dioxide is not a “primary contributor” to climate change. -
Global CO2 Emissions are Flat, But It's Not All Good News
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Scott Waldman
For the third year in a row, the carbon dioxide emissions that drive climate change worldwide have been level. -
Rising Waters at Home Cause Republicans to Buck Party in D.C.
Mar 20, 2017 | Roll Call
By Simone Pathé
Whipping out his iPhone, New York Rep. John J. Faso scrolled through text messages from his wife until he found the photo he sought. “There’s my wife’s car in the driveway,” he said, pointing to a lump covered in snow. “So there was no climate change that we were worried about in the last couple of days.”
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Trump Aides Cause Friction at EPA, Other Agencies
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
White House political appointees are clashing with U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Staffers installed on the Trump administration's "beachhead team" at EPA have been at odds with the agency's new chief since Pruitt and his aides arrived at headquarters last month.
The internal conflicts at EPA have already resulted in one high-profile departure, and the White House's liaison to the agency has been shut out of meetings by Pruitt, The Washington Post reported yesterday.
One source who's in touch with political employees at EPA said "things are a mess" at that agency, citing infighting among top political officials.
EPA isn't the only agency facing internal strife. The Post reported that senior White House aides in agencies across government have been tasked with "monitoring the secretaries' loyalty." Those aides report to White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn, a former aide to Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and a former Energy Department official during the George W. Bush administration.
That setup has irked officials in some agencies across government, although the arrangement has been collegial in some shops — including the Interior Department — according to the Post. A White House official told the newspaper that, rather than holding agencies accountable to the White House, the appointees technically report to top officials within their respective departments.
Former Obama administration officials said the role President Trump's White House advisers appear to be playing is a break from the past.
David Hayes, who was Interior's deputy secretary under Presidents Clinton and Obama, said the White House liaison jobs in both of those administrations "were typically not senior policy-oriented positions, they were facilitators of discussions between the Cabinet secretaries and the White House on personnel and logistical-type issues."
Ben Milakofsky, who worked in Obama's White House Office of Cabinet Affairs before becoming White House liaison and deputy chief of staff at Interior, called the Trump administration's approach "a huge contrast." He added, "This has potential to pit agencies against the White House."
Campaign aides in liaison roles
Many of the White House liaisons in agencies across government worked on Trump's campaign.
At EPA, former Washington state Sen. Don Benton is serving as senior White House adviser. He was Trump's campaign chairman in Washington state.
But Benton has been shut out of some EPA staff meetings, the Post reported, after Benton frequently offered unsolicited advice.
Last week, former Trump political appointee David Schnare resigned from his job on EPA's beachhead team. Schnare told E&E News last week that he stepped down as a result of the "misuse of federal funds, failure to honor oaths of office, and a lack of loyalty to the President" (Greenwire, March 16).
EPA spokesman Doug Ericksen — another former Trump campaign aide — and Schnare declined to comment for this story. The White House press office did not respond to a request for comment.
In addition to Benton, Charles Munoz is working as a White House liaison at EPA. Munoz was Nevada state director for Trump's campaign.
At Interior, Doug Domenech is the senior adviser to the White House. He led the department's transition team and was an Interior official during the George W. Bush administration.
The Energy Department's senior White House adviser is Wells Griffith, who was battleground states director for Trump's presidential campaign. Joseph Uddo — who worked for the presidential campaigns of Trump and Ben Carson — is also a DOE liaison to the White House (E&E News PM, March 8).
At the Agriculture Department, a co-chairman of the Trump campaign is the top White House liaison (Greenwire, Nov. 7, 2016).
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/03/20/stories/1060051740
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(ACC Mentioned) Bad News for the Bad-News Agency
Mar 17, 2017 | Politico Pro
By Natalie Huet
As President Donald Trump raises the axe on U.S. medical research funding, scientists across the Atlantic are trembling, too.
The World Health Organization’s cancer agency, the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), has long been a prime purveyor of bad news. Now, with big business blasting it as fake news and Republicans in total control, U.S. funding crucial for IARC’s work is under threat.
A perfect storm is brewing. On Thursday, Trump unveiled a FY2018 budget that would chop $6 billion, or nearly 20 percent, from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). IARC’s work classifying things like bacon, plutonium and wood dust as carcinogens relies most heavily on NIH funding. The chemical lobby recently launched a campaign portraying IARC as a useless scaremonger that ignores actual human exposure to potential hazards, and U.S. lawmakers are already investigating whether taxpayers’ money should be funding its work.
The industry’s attacks on IARC’s science pose a “real risk,” said the agency’s director, Christopher Wild, in an interview. “It plays into that populist view of experts telling us that everything is bad for us, and therefore let’s ignore all that information.”
IARC has been under fire from all sides ever since it classified the main ingredient in Monsanto’s weed killer Roundup as a probable cause of cancer, two years ago. The finding put it at odds with a growing list of EU regulators. Both the food safety agency and, as of Wednesday, the chemicals regulators have deemed glyphosate safe, fueling an ongoing political drama over whether to keep the herbicide on the market.
Wild said he worries about the agency’s funding, is constantly looking to diversify its sources, and plans to ask its 25 member countries to consider chipping in more during the next annual meeting in May. The relentless criticism these days reminds him of attacks from the tobacco industry in the early 2000s, when IARC categorized second-hand smoking as a cause of cancer.
“Since that time, this is probably the most aggressive that it’s been. What we see is, it’s linked to classifications where there’s a very strong commercial interest,” Wild said.
He defended his agency’s reputation for strong and independent science, including for its classifications of carcinogens, known as monographs. This activity represents only a fraction of IARC’s work, but it has drawn the most attention.
In recent months, the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, led by Republican Jason Chaffetz, has questioned the NIH over its grants to IARC’s work on carcinogens. These grants have been running since 1994 and now amount to around $925,000 per year, according to NIH and IARC data. In a letter dated November 7 (the day before the U.S. presidential election, when Barack Obama was still in office), the NIH assured Wild of its support, saying the program was “highly regarded … for its systematic, rigorous, comprehensive reviews.”
But whether NIH’s funding — currently slated to run out in August — will continue to be renewed year after year as planned until 2020 is anyone’s guess. Wild said he had no assurances at the moment that the funding would continue, and no indication either that it would stop.
Right now, that money represents half of the carcinogens program’s total budget; the rest comes from mandatory contributions from member countries. That makes it the part of IARC that relies the most on U.S. funding. Out of the agency’s total expenditure of roughly $30 million per year, around two-thirds are funded by assessed contributions.
Wild said IARC had no plans to ditch or amend the carcinogens program. “We always ask ourselves: Is our scientific methodology the best available, and do we need to make any changes? At the moment we think we’ve got an extremely strong program,” he said.
World’s least popular agency?
Based in the French city of Lyon — famed for its (cancer-causing, per IARC) saucisson – the agency’s work as a whole includes training researchers, compiling authoritative statistics on the burden of cancer worldwide and classifying agents likely to cause the disease. There’s a catch to this last part, however. IARC assesses whether substances can cause cancer based on the scientific evidence of such a link, but doesn’t peg this risk on a specific level of human exposure, which can vary widely depending on countries, classes and occupations.
In other words, it classifies an agent as carcinogenic based on the strength of the evidence demonstrating this link, not on the potency of the agent itself. As a result, tobacco, alcohol, the sun and mustard gas are all bundled together as Group 1 carcinogens — well-established culprits.
Wild explained this mission as planting “red flags” for policymakers, whose job it is to define acceptable levels of exposure for their populations, depending on a range of socio-economic and political factors. “That goes beyond the science,” Wild said.
But critics in the industry say IARC’s classifications spark unnecessary health scares.
The head of the American Chemistry Council Cal Dooley, for instance, said that the carcinogens program “has been responsible for countless misleading headlines about the safety of the food we eat, the jobs we do and the products we use in our daily lives.” His remarks in January coincided with the lobby’s launch of a “campaign for accuracy in public health research,” urging IARC to change how it works. Among the campaign’s demands are for IARC to have more consistent criteria for choosing the studies it considers, to highlight all conflicts of interests on its advisory panels (not just those with ties to industry) and to more fully incorporate actual exposure into its classifications.
Since 1971, IARC has evaluated nearly a thousand agents, of which more than 400 have been identified as carcinogenic, probably carcinogenic, or possibly carcinogenic to humans.
The chemical lobby pokes fun at the fact that out of all the agents it has examined, IARC found only one is “probably not” likely to cause cancer in humans – caprolactam, which is used to make a type of nylon used for toothbrush bristles and surgical sutures.
Wild said that misrepresents the agency as a doomsayer, when in fact for more than 500 agents studied — i.e. in over half of cases — IARC came to the conclusion it simply did not have enough evidence to classify them.
IARC’s research is also skewed toward suspected baddies from the start. It follows the advice of an external group of experts that outlines priorities over a five-year period, based on scientific and epidemiological evidence that something may cause cancer, and considering how many people are exposed to it.
IARC’s priorities until 2019 include reviewing the potential carcinogenicity of bisphenol A (used in plastics), the sweetener aspartame, indium tin oxide (widely used in displays, laptop screens and mobile phones) and e-cigarettes — all of which generate a lot of business.
“We don’t look randomly at everything in the world. We look at things where there’s a body of scientific evidence that this is causing a problem. So you would expect a high proportion of agents that cause cancer,” Wild said.
He added that when IARC re-evaluates an agent as further evidence accumulates, it almost always goes into a higher category of carcinogenicity. Coffee was one recent exception.
“I would say that our evaluations are rather conservative in general,” Wild said.
Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly referred to the EU regulatory agency that found glyphosate to be safe on Wednesday. It is the chemicals regulator, the European Chemicals Agency.
http://www.politico.eu/article/trump-international-agency-for-research-on-cancer-christopher-wild/
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Mar 20, 2017 | Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families
By Michele Setteducato and CJ Frogozo
Today, Safer Chemicals Healthy Families was joined by more than thirty public health, consumer and environmental groups in submitting comments in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed ban on the use of trichloroethylene (TCE) in aerosol degreasing and spot removal in dry cleaning operations due to health risks. If enacted, this would represent the EPA’s first ban on a toxic chemical in decades.
Safer Chemicals Healthy Families Government Affairs Director Liz Hitchcock had the following statement:
“EPA has our full support for its proposed ban on the use of TCE in dry cleaners and aerosol degreasing operations. TCE’s dangers to human health are undeniable. They include cancer, reproductive harm, birth defects, liver and kidney damage and harmful effects on the nervous system. Tens of thousands of workers and consumers are exposed to unsafe levels of TCE from these operations.
No one should be exposed to a dangerous chemical like this at home or on the job. We will continue to encourage EPA to follow the lead of several states and other countries that have prohibited these uses of TCE and move quickly to finalize the proposed bans.”
http://saferchemicals.org/newsroom/broad-coalition-of-public-health-and-environmental-organizations-support-epa-proposed-ban-on-cancer-causing-chemical/
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UL Software Targets Animal Testing
Mar 20, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Rick Mullin
The testing and certifying company UL has introduced software aimed at reducing the need for animal testing when assessing chemicals for Europe’s Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) program.
The product, REACHAcross software, uses machine learning, a method whereby data continually enhances software, to assess the behavior of any chemical of interest to European regulators, UL says.
REACHAcross, which debuted at the Society of Toxicology’s annual meeting in Baltimore last week, is the latest in an effort by professional organizations, chemical makers, and equipment suppliers to develop improved means of assessing chemicals’ effects on human health and the environment. Many of the efforts target a reduction in animal testing.
Managing regulatory assessment was a prominent topic at the toxicologists’ meeting, in part because of changes last year to the U.S.’s Toxic Substances Control Act requiring more data reporting.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit, has promoted methods for reducing animal testing at the meeting in recent years. This year, it hosted a seminar on “read-across” data management—the application of data from a tested chemical to similar untested chemicals—for predictive toxicity assessment.
Recent efforts to make better use of data in chemical assessment include a partnership between Eli Lilly & Co., Dow AgroSciences, and the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute to share data. Earlier this year, the Beagle Freedom Project awarded $200,000 to scientists from three universities to develop alternatives to animal testing in chemical safety assessment.
http://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i12/UL-software-targets-animal-testing.html
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State Groups Bash Trump Proposal to Kill 2 DOE Programs
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Christa Marshall
State energy officials are slamming the Trump administration's proposed elimination of two Department of Energy programs that they call critical for public safety and lower utility costs.
In a letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, the National Association of State Energy Officials said the administration is wrong to claim that the end of DOE's State Energy Program (SEP) and Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) would reduce federal intervention in state policy.
The state energy program defers entirely to the nation's governors in using SEP funds and is pivotal for states to manage energy emergencies like blackouts after disasters, help local governments with efficiency improvements to cut utility costs and assist businesses in lowering energy costs, the group said.
In its budget blueprint last week, the Trump administration called for axing both programs entirely.
"There are entrenched interests within the federal government that do not appreciate or understand the role of the states in working with private sector energy firms to deliver true 'all of the above' energy solutions sought by most of the nation's governors," wrote David Terry, executive director of NASEO, in the letter.
The National Governors Association called for expanding the two programs in its recommendations to Trump, the group said in a separate statement. The approximately $50 million in annual SEP funds provides the only money to states for use on energy policies determined by the nation's governors, according to NASEO.
The weatherization and State Energy programs are supported by some key appropriators in Congress, but they are also disliked by others who think the Department of Energy has expanded too far beyond its original mission.
Last week, Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance to Save Energy, called proposed cuts to DOE efficiency programs "penny-wise and pound-foolish" and noted that attempts to diminish weatherization funding during the George W. Bush administration failed (Greenwire, March 16).
The weatherization program, first established in the 1970s, has helped weatherize more than 7 million homes and saves low-income families $250 to $450 annually in heating, cooling and electric costs, according to the Alliance to Save Energy.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory estimated that the programs' total energy savings are at least $340 million.
A 2015 study from E2e focused on Michigan households and found that assistance from the federal weatherization program in 2009 realized less than half of projected energy savings. Efficiency advocates said that report was not representative of the program nationally and was taken out of context (Greenwire, Aug. 13, 2015).
In its "skinny budget," the administration cited a desire "to reduce federal intervention in state-level energy policy and implementation" as the reason for eliminating the programs. Along with funding reductions at several offices, the elimination of WAP and SEP would help cut $2.1 billion from the budget, according to the White House.
After the budget release, Perry said in a statement, "The president's budget blueprint outlines a forward looking, mission focused budget for the Department of Energy. Our goal in the budget process is to properly align resources to the important missions of the Department."
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/03/20/stories/1060051737
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Trump Freezes Obama-Era Energy Rules
Mar 20, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Tim Devaney
President Trump’s regulatory moratorium expires Tuesday, but not before the administration delayed a half-dozen Obama-era energy standards.
The Department of Energy (DOE) said Monday it is postponing five efficiency rules, including test procedures for walk-in coolers and freezers, central air conditioners, heat pumps and compressors. The agency is also delaying energy conservation standards for ceiling fans and construction standards for federal buildings.
The Transportation Department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also chimed in Monday delaying new sound requirements for hybrid and electric vehicles.
These efficiency standards played a key role in President Obama’s climate agenda, but Trump has put their future in jeopardy.
Most of these rules will be delayed until May, June or July, but the ceiling fan and construction standards won’t go into effect until September.
The delays will give the Trump administration more time to potentially roll back the rules.
http://thehill.com/regulation/energy-environment/324780-trump-freezes-obama-era-energy-rules
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Texas Seeks to Block Natural Gas Storage Rules
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Lee
The Texas attorney general asked a court to overturn federal safety regulations on underground natural gas storage, saying the rules were adopted without adequate input and strip local governments of their authority.
Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) filed a petition Friday in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Congress ordered the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, to write the rules last year in response to the gas leak at Southern California Gas Co.'s Aliso Canyon storage field outside Los Angeles (E&E News PM, June 22, 2016).
The agency used a fast-track process to impose interim rules on the nation's roughly 400 gas storage facilities without going through the normal notification and comment periods. PHMSA planned to take comments and revise the rules before finalizing them this year, Administrator Marie Therese Dominguez said in July. The interim rules went into effect in January (Energywire, July 15, 2016).
Paxton said the process "effectively stripped the States of authority over their own natural gas facilities and completely disregarded traditional state regulatory roles," according to a news release.
The rules, which impose design and integrity specifications and require companies to file reports on their operations, drew mixed responses from different parties. The American Petroleum Institute favored relying on voluntary standards. The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America supports federal regulation but said in a December news release that the interim rules don't give operators enough time to comply.
Texas and other states have overseen safety at gas storage sites for decades, but there have been no federal regulations for the roughly 200 facilities that are part of interstate pipeline systems. The federal regulations wouldn't override state regulations, a PHMSA spokesman said in an email, but would become the minimum standards for states to follow.
Companies typically store gas by pumping it into salt domes or depleted oil and gas fields. The 2015 blowout at Aliso Canyon was blamed on a faulty well in an old oil field. It released about 5.7 billion cubic feet of methane, the equivalent of the annual greenhouse gas emissions from 500,000 cars, before it was capped.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the owner of the Aliso Canyon field; it belongs to Southern California Gas Co.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/03/20/stories/1060051681
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GOP Maryland Governor Reverses Course, Supports Fracking Ban
Mar 20, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jeremiah Shelor
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, in a policy announcement late Friday, called for a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing (fracking), clearing the way for pending legislation outlawing the practice to become law.
Hogan's announcement, a reverse from previous public statements in support of fracking, comes after Maryland's House of Delegates passed a fracking ban bill by a veto-proof 97-40 majority.
"Because of Maryland's unique position in the country and because of our wealth of natural resources, our administration has concluded that the potential environmental risks of fracking simply outweigh any potential benefits," Hogan said. "This legislation, I believe, is an important initiative to safeguard our environment, and I urge members of the legislature on both sides of the aisle and in both houses to come together and put this issue to rest once and for all."
A statewide moratorium on fracking is set to expire in October. While the moratorium was in place, Maryland's Department of the Environment (MDE) was tasked with developing set of fracking regulations, which the agency submitted in September.
Earlier this year, a panel of Maryland lawmakers asked (MDE) to delay implementing those regulations.
"Our administration proposed the toughest fracking regulations of all 50 states...The regulations that we proposed would have made it virtually impossible for anyone to ever engage in fracking in Maryland," Hogan said. "However, the legislature has failed to enact these tough regulations. That's why I've decided that we must take the next step and move from virtually banning fracking to actually banning fracking."
Only two western panhandle counties in Maryland -- Allegany and Garrett -- overlie the Marcellus Shale. In an interview with The Baltimore Sun as a then-candidate for governor, Hogan had cited economic struggles in Western Maryland as a reason for supporting fracking in the state.
Hogan's comments were cheered by environmentalists, while industry advocates accused the governor of playing politics.
"Governor Hogan’s decision to support a permanent fracking ban in Maryland has created a day of historic importance for the entire nation,” Chesapeake Climate Action Network Executive Director Mike Tidwell said. “Hogan has joined a statewide bipartisan effort to prevent this dangerous drilling technology from ever polluting Maryland’s water, air, climate, and childhood health. In short, he has done the right thing.
"Most importantly, on climate change, Maryland is now poised to keep a dangerous pool of fossil fuels in the ground forever. Scientists say this is what states across America and countries around the world need to do to solve global warming."
Meanwhile, Nicole Jacobs of fracking advocacy group Energy In Depth wrote that Hogan "chose politics over science and perceived environmental concerns over hard evidence of the economic advantages shale development has brought to neighboring states."
Jacobs said Hogan's change of heart on fracking ignores "a mountain of scientific evidence showing that the process is safe with manageable risks," including research from states that allow fracking and from the previous administration of Democratic Gov. Martin O'Malley.
"As was the case two years ago when New York Governor Andrew Cuomo banned fracking in New York, Hogan's decision was clearly based on politics and 'alternative facts' rather than science," she wrote.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/109818-gop-maryland-governor-reverses-course-supports-fracking-ban
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(ACC Mentioned) Trump's Proposal to Scrap Chemical Safety Board Draws Criticism
Mar 20, 2017 | Hydrocarbon Processing
By Gary McWilliams
President Donald Trump's proposal to do away with the federal agency that investigates chemical accidents drew sharp criticism from environmental, labor and safety advocates, who said that eliminating the watchdog would put American lives at risk.
Christine Todd Whitman, the former US Environmental Protection Agency head, on Thursday called the proposal to get rid of Chemical Safety Board (CSB) and cut EPA funding short-sighted, saying both have long been an industry target for advocating greater public information on chemicals.
"If you want to put the American people in danger this is the way to do it," she said of the president's proposal to cut the CSB's funding entirely from the 2018 federal budget. "The chemical industry has fought back from the beginning."
The CSB investigates major chemicals accidents to search for their causes and makes recommendations that could prevent a recurrence. It has no regulatory power, but is influential because its recommendations are often adopted by industry, labor, government officials, the EPA and Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The president on Thursday outlined a plan for fiscal 2018 discretionary spending, which exclude programs like Social Security, that removes allocations for 19 independent bodies, including the CSB and Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The CSB, which has an annual budget of about $12 million, defended its work, saying its work has broadly improved safety. "As this process moves forward, we hope that the important mission of this agency will be preserved," the agency said in a statement.
Chemical and energy industry officials offered limited comment on the proposal. Petroleum and refining industry groups, Exxon Mobil Corp, BP plc and Tesoro Corp did not respond or declined to comment directly on the potential phase out.
The American Chemistry Council, a trade group that represents major chemicals producers, said in a statement it would work with the administration and Congress to "ensure EPA has funding to carry out essential responsibilities." It did not comment directly on the CSB.
The American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry trade group, said it looked "forward to working with the administration and Congress as all of these issues work their way through the budget process."
Michael Wright, director of health, safety and environment at the United Steelworkers union, said the CSB's recommendations generally have been welcome by labor and industry. One such recommendation that stemmed from a fatal 2005 refinery incident included barring portable trailers that cannot withstand an explosion.
The board's reviews of major accidents have proved significant. Its probes have led to industry standards on worker fatigue, greater reporting of hazardous chemicals to first responders, and have prompted companies to keep workers not directly involved in projects out of harm's way.
In California, many of the board’s safety recommendations have been drafted into law. For example, the state worker safety agency, known as Cal/OSHA, has doubled its investigative staff based on CSB recommendations.
"This is one of the best bargains in Washington," said the USW's Wright. "If it has prevented even one accident, it has saved far more money than its budget over its entire history."
Its probe of the fatal Deepwater Horizon rig explosion was controversial because of its two-year length and extensive need for outside help. The work led to new standards for safety in the offshore oil industry and in well equipment.
But some recommendations have not been yet been implemented. After a fatal 2013 explosion in West, Texas, that killed 12 first responders the CSB proposed facilities that store large amounts of fertilizer be covered by emergency planning laws that give first responders more information. That remains open.
Beth Rosenberg, a former CSB board member and now an assistant professor at Tufts University School of Medicine, said the CSB "does excellent work; other countries admire this agency." She said opponents "don't know what they're doing here or how useful this board is."
http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/news/2017/03/trumps-proposal-to-scrap-chemical-safety-board-draws-criticism
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EPA Delays Chemical Facility Disclosure Rule
Mar 20, 2017 | Politico Pro - Whiteboard
By Eric Wolff
EPA delayed to June 19 the effective date of a rule that requires chemical production facilities to create emergency management plans and share them with local first responders.
The rule had been suspended till Tuesday under chief of staff Reince Priebus' January memo to agencies that put a 60-day freeze on all rules published in the Federal Register but not yet in effect.
That Risk Management Plan rule has been criticized by Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), a longtime Pruitt supporter. Along with Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) Inhofe has co-sponsored a resolution to kill the rule under the Congressional Review Act.
"By requiring chemical facilities to disclose to the public the types and quantities of chemicals stored there and their security vulnerabilities, the EPA is giving a blueprint to those who would like to do us harm," Inhofe has said in a statement.
In addition to that RMP rule, EPA delayed an attainment plan for particulates in Idaho to April 20 and pushed back till May 22 rules to regulate formaldehyde emission standards for wood, changes to an ozone and particulates model, a pesticides certification, and a rule governing the consolidation of administrative penalties and procedures.
EPA did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
WHAT'S NEXT: Pruitt announced last week that he believe the RMP rule must be reviewed for reconsideration. EPA will in the coming weeks issue a notice of proposed rulemaking inviting comment on the rule.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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With 1 Leak Ongoing, Feds Order Hilcorp to Check Other Pipes
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
After a Hilcorp Alaska natural gas pipeline has leaked into Cook Inlet for months, federal regulators want the company to inspect another one of its Alaska lines.
The second line, which transports crude oil through the same inlet, would cause a much more dangerous leak, according to regulators.
The two pipelines are of similar age and size. The natural gas leak was caused by rock abrasion where the pipe is not supported by the seafloor, and the crude oil line could rupture the same way.
The crude oil pipeline was operating normally Friday, according to company officials.
Regulators have ordered Hilcorp to fix the natural gas leak by May 1 or shut down the line.
http://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/03/20/stories/1060051728
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Mar 20, 2017 | Progressive Railroading
More than a quarter of Union Pacific Railroad's subdivisions are positive train control (PTC) ready, the Class I announced last week.
UP has equipped 59 subdivisions with wayside devices, which include signals, switches and radios, according to a UP press release.
The PTC-ready segments run from Southern California to Portland, Ore.; from Portland, Ore., to Pocatello, Idaho; and from Roseville, Calif., to Elko, Nev.
In addition, 64 percent of the railroad's required locomotives and 85 percent of required radio towers have been equipped with PTC technology, UP officials said.
As of Dec. 31, 2016, UP had invested $2.3 billion in PTC. The railroad's latest estimate for its total PTC implementation cost is $2.9 billion.
http://www.progressiverailroading.com/union_pacific/news/UP-reports-PTC-progress--51106
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Enforcement Would End Under Trump Plan — Former EPA Chief
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Soraghan
The Trump administration budget would end environmental enforcement, not just severely restrict it, says the former U.S. EPA enforcement chief under President Obama.
"This would not cut enforcement by 25 percent," said Cynthia Giles, the former assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance. "It would stop it altogether."
There would still be enforcement personnel, she said. But they wouldn't be able to do anything. The money for travel, for equipment, for hiring experts would be wiped out.
In budget parlance, those things are paid for from "extramural" accounts. In the enforcement branch of EPA, called the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), that's only 5 percent of the budget.
If Congress agreed to President Trump's cuts, Giles said, EPA couldn't lay people off fast enough to avoid zeroing out the extramural budget. So there wouldn't be enough money for the remaining people to do anything (Energywire, March 17).
Congress is unlikely to agree to the severe cuts Trump has proposed. But Giles said anything like the 24 percent cut proposed by the administration would have a "similar devastating effect."
Trump's budget blueprint explains the cuts by saying years of environmental protections have been successful and says state governments can enforce many environmental laws.
But some influential administration allies say EPA has been doing too much enforcement and want to see less of it.
A Heritage Foundation spending proposal seen as having influence with the Trump team recommends a 30 percent cut in the civil enforcement budget because "EPA engages in unnecessary and excessive legal actions" (Greenwire, Jan. 27).
"A reduction in funding should impose an element of discipline to force the agency to be more careful about inviting legal challenges to regulatory and enforcement activities," the Heritage proposal states.
The Heritage proposal also calls for sharp cuts to the Justice Department division that goes to court for EPA. The authors point blame at the office for pursuing "sue and settle" policies.
The Trump blueprint cuts funding for OECA from $548 million to $419 million. The administration is expected to issue a more detailed spending plan in May.
OECA staff declined by 15 percent during the Obama years, and its size had been shrinking since before Obama took office. The agency currently has about 2,880 positions.
The extramural budget for enforcement has also been shrinking. Payroll is a larger portion of the OECA budget than for other branches, Giles said. Payroll is one of the hardest and slowest aspects to cut.
Giles, who joined the Obama administration in 2009 and served until its last day, said her budget shrank because of the deep recession the country suffered in 2008. But with that recession over, Giles says the time for cuts is over, too.
She also said that settlements negotiated from EPA enforcement actions — such as Volkswagen AG and the BP PLC spill — have resulted in money flowing to states and communities.
"Billions of dollars are going to states and communities because of these settlements," she said.
http://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/03/20/stories/1060051682
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GOP Rep ‘Concerned’ About EPA Chief’s Climate Comments
Mar 20, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
A Republican congressman has told Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt to “reevaluate” his statement that carbon dioxide is not a “primary contributor” to climate change.
In a letter to Pruitt released on Monday, Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) said he is “concerned” about Pruitt’s comments from earlier this month, which “contradict the conclusions not only of our best scientists but of your own agency.”
Curbelo said Pruitt should reconsider the comments and invited him to visit his south Florida district, which he says has already been affected by climate change.
“Reasonable people can disagree about how to respond to the risks of climate change. But there should be little disagreement that it is something that must be done,” Curbelo wrote in his letter, sent Friday.
“I urge you to consider how you can put your own agency to work to achieve solutions that will provide good jobs, economic growth, and a safe climate for us and future Americans. That begins with clearly and honestly communicating the best scientific understanding we have available today.”
Environmentalists and Democrats panned Pruitt’s statement earlier this month that he “would not agree that [carbon dioxide emissions are] a primary contributor to the global warming that we see.” The statement is out of line with the conclusion of most climate scientists, including those within the EPA.
Some Republicans joined in criticizing the comments. In a March 10 statement, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) said they were “disconcerting and troubling.”
Curbelo and Ros-Lehtinen are among the group of House Republicans that introduced a resolution last week acknowledging humans’ impact on climate change and calling for more work to address it.
Pruitt, who clashed repeatedly with the EPA when he was attorney general of Oklahoma, is reportedly on board with major cuts at the agency, including many intended for climate change programs.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/324794-gop-rep-concerned-about-epa-chiefs-climate-comments
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Global CO2 Emissions are Flat, But It's Not All Good News
Mar 20, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Scott Waldman
For the third year in a row, the carbon dioxide emissions that drive climate change worldwide have been level.
The emissions pause is particularly noteworthy because it comes despite a growing global economy, the International Energy Agency announced. That's a sign that carbon emissions are "decoupling" from the economy as other sources of energy come online.
Researchers measured 32.1 metric gigatons of CO2 emissions in 2016, the same as in the previous two years. That's even as the global economy grew 3.1 percent. The stagnation, according to IEA, is due to the growth of renewable energy, more switching from coal to natural gas, improved energy efficiency programs, and additional nuclear facilities coming online.
It's also a positive signal that humanity can take realistic efforts to curb carbon emissions without harming economic growth, said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol.
"These three years of flat emissions in a growing global economy signal an emerging trend and that is certainly a cause for optimism, even if it is too soon to say that global emissions have definitely peaked," Birol said in a statement. "They are also a sign that market dynamics and technological improvements matter."
Emissions declined in both the United States and China, and stayed level in Europe. That's because of increased natural gas usage and a reduction in coal usage in the United States and China. Dangerous smog levels in major cities have also forced the Chinese government to crack down on air pollution.
In the United States, emissions dropped 3 percent, to the lowest level since 1992, as the economy grew 1.6 percent. In China, emissions declined 1 percent, while the economy grew 6.7 percent. The country also expanded the reliance of its electrical grid on hydro and wind sources as well as nuclear.
What's more, there is tremendous potential for natural gas in both China and India, according to the IEA. Natural gas accounts for about a quarter of the world's energy supply, but in China it's just 6 percent and in India just 5 percent.
Three years without emissions growth is notable, but it needs to be turned into a decline, said Glen Peters, a senior researcher at the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research-Oslo in Norway. He said the ultimate goal is to get to zero, and there's only about 50 years left to hit that target.
"It's a meaningful first start, some baby steps; we're starting to turn around and look at walking in the right direction," he said. "If emissions are going to go down, they've got to go flat first, so this is the first step, so the important thing is to make sure they don't start rising again. The next thing is to concentrate on making sure they go downwards."
February second-hottest in 137 years
The amount of carbon emissions, largely produced by humanity's consumption of fossil fuels, is steadily warming the planet. Limiting that carbon is the only way to stem the worst effects of climate change, according to mainstream climate science.
Even if the world's biggest economies were to take significant action to lower carbon emissions, it might be too late, researchers have repeatedly said. The pause in emissions growth is positive for air pollution, the IEA said, but still not enough to keep global temperatures from rising 2 degrees Celsius.
Indeed, February 2017 was the second-hottest in 137 years of record keeping, only falling behind last year, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and NASA announced on Friday. The average global temperature was 1.76 degrees Fahrenheit above the 20th-century average of 53.9 F, according to NOAA. This winter overall is also the second-warmest on record, behind last year.
Meanwhile, the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to rise at unprecedented pace. Atmospheric carbon levels have continued to grow even as fossil fuel emissions have leveled off. That's because there are other sources of CO2 in the atmosphere, including the melting tundra and warming oceans, but also because carbon dioxide lingers in the atmosphere for some time even if emissions are reduced.
The news about level carbon emissions comes a few days after NOAA announced that global carbon emissions have been measured at an all-time high. The CO2 measured at the Mauna Loa Baseline Atmospheric Observatory in Hawaii hit 405.1 parts per million last year. That's an increase of 3 parts per million and makes five consecutive years of CO2 increases of at least 2 parts per million, an unprecedented rate of growth, according to NOAA.
"It underscores how fast we're moving towards a high-CO2 world and carbon dioxide is rising every year, but that's not a statement that things are staying the same; it's on the path toward a very different future," said Ralph Keeling, director of the Scripps CO2 Program and a greenhouse gas expert. "Just as we're at essentially record fossil fuel burning, it's no surprise that the CO2 rate is also achieving records year by year."
http://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/03/20/stories/1060051707
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Rising Waters at Home Cause Republicans to Buck Party in D.C.
Mar 20, 2017 | Roll Call
By Simone Pathé
Whipping out his iPhone, New York Rep. John J. Faso scrolled through text messages from his wife until he found the photo he sought.
“There’s my wife’s car in the driveway,” he said, pointing to a lump covered in snow. “So there was no climate change that we were worried about in the last couple of days.”
The freshman Republican from the Hudson Valley was joking, of course.
Faso — unlike the majority of his conference in Congress, the president and the new head of the EPA — believes in man-made climate change.
But he’s not alone in the Republican party. The ranks of the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus have grown this year, bolstered by moderate Republicans, who also happen to be top Democratic targets in 2018.
Last Wednesday — the day before President Donald Trump unveiled a budget proposing steep cuts to the EPA — many of the Republicans in the caucus signed onto a resolution committing to address climate change. Most of the same Republicans voted against their party’s effort earlier this year to nullify a rule limiting the release of methane from oil and gas operations on federal land.
It was just two years ago that Oklahoma Sen. James M. Inhofe, the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee at the time, threw a snowball on the Senate floor to disprove climate change.
“That’s just weather,” Faso said, referring to the snowstorm that blanketed much of the Northeast last week.
“Just like when some of my friends on the left talk about, ‘Gee, it’s really hot this August and it’s all because of climate change,’ you can’t take a particular snowstorm and ascribe it to that,” the freshman lawmaker said in an interview in the Speaker’s Lobby last week.
From a nonissue to an issue
The climate solutions caucus, founded in February 2016 and co-chaired by Florida lawmakers Carlos Curbelo, a Republican, and Ted Deutch, a Democrat, seeks to put partisanship aside and advance policies that make economic and environmental sense for their districts, with a focus on innovation.
That may sound like boilerplate optimism any congressional caucus would tout. And the caucus — Curbelo calls it an “ideas factory” — hasn’t yet convened this year.
But the group’s significance may be in its even partisan split: 13 Democrats and 13 Republicans. (One member of each party has to join concurrently to keep the numbers balanced.)
“Just a couple of years ago, this was completely a nonissue on our side of the aisle,” Curbelo said.
The two-term Republican attributed the polarization around climate change to the partisan aftermath of the 2000 election. “Many Republicans just grew into the habit of assuming that, ‘The climate change issue, that’s Al Gore’s thing,’ and we’re supposed to be against it,” he said.
But Curbelo has noticed increased engagement on the topic over the last three years. “And most importantly, a willingness to put a name next to this issue,” he said.
The leaders of the GOP climate change resolution, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Pennsylvania Rep. Ryan Costello and Curbelo, have already been reaching out to other members about signing on.
What it looks like at home
Making the case to their more skeptical Republican colleagues comes down to evidence — “what people can see, touch and feel,” Curbelo said.
“In my case, all I have to do is shine a light on south Florida,” he said, explaining how Miami Beach has had to invest in pump systems to prevent chronic flooding.
Like Curbelo, Florida GOP freshman Brian Mast is worried about eroding coastlines in their state. Unlike Curbelo, Mast sits in a district Trump won. But he disagrees with the administration on climate change and some of its proposed cuts to the EPA.
“It’s a fight I’ll be happy to have,” Mast said, when asked how he’d approach a Republican White House on the issue.
“You can alter an ecosystem the size of a fish tank with carbon dioxide or with methane gas or greenhouse gas,” Mast said, nodding toward the giant tank across from him in his Capitol Hill office.
“It shouldn’t be that much of a jump to say, ‘Should we be thinking about how we can alter our global environment?’”
Mast’s time in the military, where climate change has long been acknowledged as a strategic threat, and his environmental studies at Harvard put the issue at the forefront of his mind long before he entered politics.
On Friday, he and Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist sent a letter to the president urging him to prioritize restoration of the Everglades in his infrastructure plan. Sixteen other members of the Florida delegation — mostly Republicans — signed on.
Beyond politics
Nationally, climate change is still highly politicized, Republicans in the caucus agreed.
It’s little wonder that many of the Republicans who publicly recognize the threat hail from more moderate districts. Of the 17 resolution signatories, seven of them represent districts carried by Hillary Clinton last fall: Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock, Costello, New York Rep. John Katko, Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Pennsylvania Rep. Patrick Meehan, Washington Rep. Dave Reichert and Curbelo.
Eleven of the 17 Republicans who joined the resolution are targets of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee next year — and two others were targets last cycle. Two other Democratic targets in 2016 and 2018, New York Rep. Lee Zeldin and California Rep. Darrell Issa, didn’t sign onto the resolution but are part of the caucus. On the climate issue, at least, these incumbents’ break from the party could help them in their re-election efforts next year.
But at home, climate change often isn’t so polarized. “In my district, it’s not a partisan issue,” Stefanik said, noting the ways business and environmental interests have joined forces in her 21st District, home to the Adirondack Mountains.
South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford isn’t a member of the caucus, but he did sign Stefanik’s resolution. He hails from a safe GOP seat — so safe, in fact, there’s talk the Freedom Caucus member could be in for a primary challenge. But it’s also a coastal seat confronted by the threat of climate change.
Calling himself a “conservative conservationist” in a 2007 Washington Post op-ed, Sanford, then the Palmetto State governor, wrote, “I believe human activity is having a measurable effect on the environment.”
His call for conservatives to “respond to climate change with innovation, not regulation” foreshadows much of the spirit of Stefanik’s resolution.
Today’s GOP lawmakers concerned about climate change agree that making an economic argument — both about the risks of and ways to mitigate climate change — is the best way to convince other members of their party. Curbelo even compares the risk of ignoring climate change to the risk of ignoring the national debt.
But if the current conference can’t make that connection, Curbelo is still optimistic his party will get onboard — eventually.
“Sometimes people ask, ‘What kind of Republican are you that you’re concerned about this issue?’” Curbelo said. “I say, ‘a 37-year-old one.’”
http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/rising-waters-home-cause-republicans-buck-party-d-c#sthash.DI1yyGA1.dpuf
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