Preview Newsletter
PM ACC Clips Report
-
US Congress Cuts $81m from US EPA Budget
May 5, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Both chambers of the US Congress have passed a 2017 fiscal year budget that will cut $81m from the EPA. -
TSCA Import Certification Requirements Amended
May 5, 2017 | National Law Review
By Thomas C. Berger
On December 27, 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) issued a final rule amending the regulations interpreting the import certification requirements of section 13 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq.). -
California Proposes Listing PBDE Mixture Under Prop 65
May 5, 2017 | Chemical Watch
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) has proposed listing pentabromodiphenyl ether mixture [DE-71 (technical grade)] as a carcinogen under Proposition 65. -
Johnson & Johnson to Pay $110m in Latest Talcum Powder Lawsuit
May 5, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
In the latest blow to US multinational Johnson & Johnson in its ongoing legal battle over talc, the company has been ordered to pay $110m in damages to a Virginia woman who claimed that use of its talcum powder had caused her ovarian cancer. -
Echa Biocides Committee Supports Six Substance Approvals
May 5, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Vanessa Zainzinger
Echa's Biocidal Products Committee (BPC) has adopted six opinions that support the approval of active substances. -
(ACC Mentioned) Is the Petrochemical Industry Approaching Max Capacity?
May 5, 2017 | Chem Info
By Meagan Parrish
You know that the manufacturing conditions in the U.S. are favorable when Chinese companies are building plants here and not at home. At least this is the case in the chemicals industry, where companies (including Chinese firms) are investing in shiny, new projects and bringing plants online at a head-spinning pace. -
States Move to Roll Back Environmental Rules in Trump’s Wake
May 5, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Ari Natter
Emboldened by the environmental rollbacks of President Donald Trump, state legislatures are following suit, taking aim at items as varied as solar incentives, chemical spill protections and, even, anti-pipeline protesters. -
Legislatures Follow Trump's Lead, Roll Back Regs
May 5, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
Following President Trump's lead, some state legislatures are rolling back environmental regulations. -
Pipeline to Open at the Beginning of June
May 5, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Lee
The Dakota Access pipeline will open June 1, capping more than a year of court battles, protests and presidential orders. -
Fight for Natural Gas Ramps Up in N.Y.
May 5, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Saqib Rahim
Energy Secretary Rick Perry had come to New York to extol Texas. -
CSB to Probe Fatal Colo. Home Explosion Linked to Well
May 5, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Mike Soraghan and Mike Lee
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating the fatal home explosion in the Denver suburbs that's been traced to an oil and gas well. -
Most States Don't Regulate Lines Linked to Colo. Explosion
May 5, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Soraghan and Mike Lee
Most states don't have regulations covering the pipelines that carry methane and other fluids around oil and gas well sites that were blamed this week for a fatal explosion in a Colorado neighborhood. -
Snubbed by Pruitt, Pallone Casts Wide Net for Budget Details
May 5, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Geof Koss
The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee is pressing a host of U.S. EPA officials for information on the Trump administration's proposed cuts to the agency.
Industry and Association News - There are no clips to report at this time.
LCSA News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Environment News
-
US Congress Cuts $81m from US EPA Budget
May 5, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Both chambers of the US Congress have passed a 2017 fiscal year budget that will cut $81m from the EPA. This represents approximately one percent of the EPA's more than $8bn budget – a relatively small cut compared to the Trump administration proposals to slash agency spending by more than 30%.
The bill will become law once President Trump signs it.
The budget includes $3m specifically earmarked for the implementation of TSCA. That money will be in addition to the annual user fees the agency will collect, a total that is expected to be approximately $25m a year once the programme is fully implemented, according to legal experts.
EPA officials continue to work on the specifics of the new law's fee collection rule.
Mr Trump's 'budget blueprint', released in March, had proposed eliminating more than 50 EPA programmes including the Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP), the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) programme and the Chemical Safety Board, an independent federal agency charged with investigating industrial chemical accidents.
The budget does not mention any of these by name and it is expected they will receive funding through until September. However, that could change when EPA's Office of the Chief Financial Officer releases a more detailed agency budget.
Experts have warned that excessive cuts to the EPA, even those outside the TSCA programme, could hurt the law's implementation. Mark Duvall, a principal at the law firm Beveridge & Diamond, previously told Chemical Watch that by reducing the agency's budget and its workforce, there would not be enough manpower for the EPA to meet the law's statutory deadlines.
Also under the budget:
the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) would not be permitted to issue more than 40 toxicological profiles during the 2017 fiscal year. Existing profiles may be updated as necessary; and
none of the funds in the budget can be used to regulate the lead content of ammunition, ammunition components or fishing tackle under TSCA or any other law.
This budget will fund the federal government through until September. Lawmakers will then begin working on the 2018 federal fiscal year budget that will probably see President Trump renew his call for massive cuts to the EPA.
While the 2017 cuts were lower than those called for by the president, they still drop the EPA to its lowest level of funding since the 2009 fiscal year. The budget also rejects the Obama administration's call for increased funding and an increase in staff.
https://chemicalwatch.com/55673/us-congress-cuts-81m-from-us-epa-budget
-
TSCA Import Certification Requirements Amended
May 5, 2017 | National Law Review
By Thomas C. Berger
On December 27, 2016, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) issued a final rule amending the regulations interpreting the import certification requirements of section 13 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) (15 U.S.C. § 2601 et seq.). The amendments include optional electronic filing, clarifications and additional definitions, and elimination of the paper-based “blanket” certification process. The final rule went into effect on March 21, 2017, following a delay to provide the new administration with an opportunity to review pending regulations.
Section 13 of TSCA requires U.S. importers to certify that imported chemical substances, mixtures, and articles either comply with TSCA (“positive” certification) or are not subject to TSCA (“negative” certification). A positive certification means that the substance is subject to TSCA and complies with TSCA section 5 premanufacture notification (PMN) requirements and significant new use rules (SNUR) as well as certain rules, orders, and actions under sections 5, 6, and 7 of TSCA. CBP cannot properly accept entry of shipments if certification is not made or if the shipment does not comply with TSCA.
The final rule provides an electronic option for filing these import certifications. The final rule also allows importers to provide electronic notice of exportation and abandonment. CBP requires that importers submit their certification filings to the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) or any other CBP electronic data interchange (EDI) system authorized to accept entries. Certification through ACE is aimed to maximize efficiency by eliminating manual processing and having to review whether paper blanket certifications are in place and for which chemicals at which ports.
Significantly, the final rule also eliminates what is referred to as the “blanket certification” option. Under the previous regulation, importers could use a “blanket certification” to submit a single certification for multiple shipments of the same chemical over one year in lieu of filing separate certification statements for each chemical shipment. CBP removed this “blanket certification” process, explaining that the process had “limited utility” and was more burdensome than the entry-specific certification process.
http://www.natlawreview.com/article/tsca-import-certification-requirements-amended
-
California Proposes Listing PBDE Mixture Under Prop 65
May 5, 2017 | Chemical Watch
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) has proposed listing pentabromodiphenyl ether mixture [DE-71 (technical grade)] as a carcinogen under Proposition 65.
The substance was used in the past as an additive flame retardant, especially for polyester foam in furniture. US production and uses were voluntarily phased out in 2004.
The state is proposing its addition through the authoritative bodies mechanism, based on a 2016 National Toxicology Program (NTP) report that concluded it causes cancer.
Oehha is accepting comments on whether the substance meets the Prop 65 listing criteria until 5 June.
https://chemicalwatch.com/55663/california-proposes-listing-pbde-mixture-under-prop-65
-
Johnson & Johnson to Pay $110m in Latest Talcum Powder Lawsuit
May 5, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
In the latest blow to US multinational Johnson & Johnson in its ongoing legal battle over talc, the company has been ordered to pay $110m in damages to a Virginia woman who claimed that use of its talcum powder had caused her ovarian cancer.
This is the fourth – and largest – loss dealt to the consumer products conglomerate by a St Louis court. Last year it awarded plaintiffs$70m, $72m and $55m in three cases heard under the class-action suit.
In the latest case, plaintiff Lois Slemp alleged that more than 40 years of using talc-containing feminine hygiene products led to the development of her cancer.
A jury found Johnson & Johnson liable for $105m in punitive damages and $5m in compensatory damages.
And for the second time, supplier Imerys Talc North America was also found partially responsible. The jury awarded $50,000 in punitive damages and $54,000 in compensatory damages.
Ted Meadows, an attorney with Beasley Allen law firm who co-represented the plaintiff, criticised both companies for "put[ting] profits over people [and] spending millions in efforts to manipulate scientific and regulatory scrutiny.
"I hope this verdict prompts J&J to acknowledge the facts and help educate the medical community and the public about the proper use of their products."
But in a statement, a company spokesperson said Johnson & Johnson will appeal the decision. It continues to defend the safety of its baby powder.
It added that recent rulings in its favour "highlight the lack of credible scientific evidence behind plaintiffs’ allegations". These include a St Louis jury's decision earlier this year, as well as a New Jersey court's dismissal of two similar cases last September on the basis that scientific experts "could not adequately support their theories that talcum powder causes ovarian cancer".
Gwen Myers, a spokersperson for Imerys, said the company is disappointed at the decision and remains confident in talc's safety.
In a statement, Ms Myers pointed to a variety of independent agencies and organisations – including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDA), and the independent Cosmetic Ingredient Review expert panel – that have found that cosmetic grade talc "is safe for personal use".
And she said that many medical and scientific organisations have either "declined to find that cosmetic grade talc is cancer-causing generally or a risk factor for ovarian cancer specifically". These include the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDA), and the independent Cosmetic Ingredient Review expert panel.
"This verdict serves to undermine efforts by the scientific community to determine the true causes of ovarian cancer and help lead us to a cure for this tragic disease," she added.
Following initial high-profile verdicts against the company, complaints against Johnson & Johnson now number in the hundreds. And it may also face a suit in the EU, pending the outcome of US trials.
Meanwhile, the FDA has begun a study exploring the potential link between talc in cosmetics and cancer.
https://chemicalwatch.com/55672/johnson-johnson-to-pay-110m-in-latest-talcum-powder-lawsuit
-
Echa Biocides Committee Supports Six Substance Approvals
May 5, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Vanessa Zainzinger
Echa's Biocidal Products Committee (BPC) has adopted six opinions that support the approval of active substances.
They are:
L(+) lactic acid for use in disinfectants and algaecides not intended for direct application to humans or animals (product-type two); veterinary hygiene products (product-type three); and food and feed disinfectants (product-type four); and
propan-1-ol for use in human hygiene disinfectants; product-type two; and product-type four.
Last week's committee also considered the latest news regarding the proposed scientific criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).
Discussions centred on how the criteria should be implemented in the approval processes for biocidal active substances. Committee chair, Erik van de Plassche said that once adopted, the criteria will have to be included in Echa's substance approval process. Here they will be used to assess whether an active substance meets them or not.
This would be accompanied by an Echa working group discussion on whether the criteria are met for human or environmental health, and if this implies the substance falls under the BPR's exclusion or substitution criteria, he added.
Echa and the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) have sent a first draft of their guidance on hazard identification to the Echa expert group on endocrine disruptors. They are expecting to send a draft out for public consultation before the summer, Mr van de Plassche said.
The CAs have also started discussing a paper on how the criteria should affect active substances currently under assessment. They are due to continue the discussion at their next meeting, in May, when all member states have given their views on it.
Another paper on how the criteria should affect ongoing applications for biocidal products is also expected.
https://chemicalwatch.com/55650/echa-biocides-committee-supports-six-substance-approvals
-
(ACC Mentioned) Is the Petrochemical Industry Approaching Max Capacity?
May 5, 2017 | Chem Info
By Meagan Parrish
You know that the manufacturing conditions in the U.S. are favorable when Chinese companies are building plants here and not at home. At least this is the case in the chemicals industry, where companies (including Chinese firms) are investing in shiny, new projects and bringing plants online at a head-spinning pace.
An abundance of low-cost natural gas produced by the fracking boom has been the main driver making chemical manufacturing in the U.S. more lucrative.
Most of the investments are underway or slated for the Gulf Coast region. The American Chemistry Council (ACC) estimates that the announced investments for U.S. chemical projects linked to affordable natural gas has reached $179 billion. All told, ACC estimates that these new projects will create an estimated 462,000 indirect and direct jobs.
Many of these projects — including a new Dow plant that the company calls the “crown jewel” of its Gulf Coast expansion plans — are ethane cracker plants that produce ethylene, a primary building block in most plastics.
Shell also has plans to build a $6 billion polyethylene plant in Pennsylvania — the largest of its kind outside the Gulf Coast region. The company estimates that the new plant will produce 1.6 million tons of polyethylene each year.
But will the good times last?
According to a recent report in Financial Times (FT), this question is where the industry is becoming more split.
Some of the polyethylene coming online in the next two years — an estimated 34.2 million tons by 2018 — will be manufactured for export and bound for Asian markets. Thus, the new plants are partly a gamble that depends on global demand continuing to outpace supply.
Along with Dow and Shell, several other companies have been willing to roll the dice on petrochemical projects including Exxon, Phillips 66 and Chevron.
The move can be particularly attractive to oil companies looking to diversify away from fossil fuels. France-based Total, for example, recently announced it’s making the company’s biggest-ever investment in petrochemicals by building a new ethane plant in Texas.
But other companies are taking a more restrained approach. As FT notes, LyondellBasell has opted to expand capacity at existing plants rather than building from the ground up.
Even Dow’s CEO, Andrew Liveris, recently indicated that the chemical behemoth might scale back the pace of big investments. FT reports that on a call to investors last month, Liveris said that the company only plans “incremental” upgrades in capacity.
Yet, even if those companies sense that the bubble could burst, ACC predicts that capital spending in the industry will continue to surge in the coming years from $40.8 billion in 2016 to $58.6 billion by 2021.
Gas price projections remain at historical lows for 2017.
Meanwhile, many companies are instead seeking growth through mergers, including Dow, of course. And natural gas prices are expected to continue driving M&A activity in the petrochemicals sector.
http://www.chem.info/news/2017/05/petrochemical-industry-approaching-max-capacity
-
States Move to Roll Back Environmental Rules in Trump’s Wake
May 5, 2017 | Bloomberg
By Ari Natter
Emboldened by the environmental rollbacks of President Donald Trump, state legislatures are following suit, taking aim at items as varied as solar incentives, chemical spill protections and, even, anti-pipeline protesters.
The legislation in states from Florida to Wisconsin comes as the Environmental Protection Agency under Trump argues that it can curtail federal regulations, leaving it up to states to decide how to protect against pollution. Shifting the burden to state capitals allows industry lobbyists to divide and conquer their foes, pitting one state’s deregulation against another’s.
“A lot of the business groups interested in this have realized they can be successful when they go state to state," said John Farrell, a director at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a Washington non-profit that advises local governments on community development. For health and environment groups, “there is an element of Whack-A-Mole that goes on when it happens at the state level.”
Companies that are getting free of federal regulations can now target industry-friendly states -- think Oklahoma or West Virginia -- to get out from under their mandates, as well. By moving state to state, lobbyists can get more traction with lawmakers friendly to their cause.
Many of the efforts have been championed by groups with ties to the billionaire industry executives David and Charles Koch, such as Americans for Prosperity or the American Legislative Exchange Council.
"Now is our time. And ALEC is ready," Lisa B. Nelson, ALEC’s chief executive officer, said in an email to its members after Trump’s election. "As our elected officials in Washington work to roll power back to the states, we will be there to catch the ball and run with it."
A spokeswoman for ALEC declined to comment on the email.
The actions are as varied as the states represented:
In West Virginia, where a chemical leaked into the Elk River and left 300,000 people without drinking water in 2014, legislation signed into law last month weakens the regulations for chemical storage tanks put in place after the spill.
Oklahoma Republican Governor Mary Fallin signed into law an end to a wind tax credit more than three years ahead of schedule amid a budget shortfall.
A measure in Florida would prohibit any new regulations on businesses unless they were approved by the general assembly and would nullify all existing regulations that aren’t approved by the general assembly by July 2020.
Twenty states are moving forward with anti-protester bills, including one in Tennessee that would provide civil immunity for drivers who run over protesters that are blocking the road.
And states such as Indiana are moving to curb the payment those with rooftop solar get for selling their excess power to the grid, a fight that played out in previous years in Arizona and Nevada. Among those supporting the effort is Duke Energy Corp.
Other rollbacks are more general in nature, said Jennifer Hensley, the Sierra Club’s director of state lobbying and advocacy. For instance seven states are seeking to create so-called "prosperity districts" where the environmental laws and other regulations perceived as inhibiting business would be limited, she said.
Among them is a bill in Oklahoma that would allow the creation of independent districts that "would be the sole governing authority within its borders, and would replace all state laws except the state constitution, criminal law, common law and existing state compacts," according to a summary. It passed in the state’s lower house last month.
"It was harder to persuade state’s to do things that we thought were fair to coal if we had an anti-coal administration," said Paul Bailey, the president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, which represents coal producers, utilities and railways. "There was so much uncertainty about coal under the Obama administration, I think states may have been less willing to take risks in favor of coal."
“States may be more willing to take risks now," he said in an interview.
The Arlington, Virginia-based ALEC brings together corporations and legislators to craft model legislation for introduction in statehouses. It has drawn criticism for opposing state environmental, climate and clean-energy policies.
"Since Trump is taking their Christmas list and doing all of it, they can take the effort they would have spent fighting a clean-energy administration and put that all towards undoing clean energy in the states," Daniel J. Weiss, an environmental consultant who previously worked at the Center for American Progress said in an interview.
Just as the nation is divided over Trump, so is it divided over environmental protection and solar and wind energy. While deep red states such as Oklahoma are pushing to establish areas that will be completely free from environmental regulation, the two most populous states, New York and California, are pushing forward with greater action to cut pollution and address climate change.
California Counterpoint
California recently put in place strict new limits on methane emissions from oil and gas operations within its border. And next in line are new rules in the state for refrigerants and so-called "black carbon," which is several times more potent than carbon dioxide. That comes on top of the state’s already ambitious plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.
New York and Illinois offered bailouts to their ailing nuclear plants, which provide carbon-free electricity, over the objections of refiners and other large power consumers.
The ying and yang of these decisions is best displayed in Ohio. There a Republican-led House passed legislation that would scrap the state’s renewable energy standard and turn it into a voluntary requirement. It would also water down separate energy efficiency requirements.
"A new day is dawning in Washington, D.C., where the Trump Administration is finally ending the War on Coal," the Ohio Coal Association said in written testimony in support of the bill. "Ohio can further the progress at the federal level by repealing the state’s costly and harmful energy mandates."
Kasich’s Veto
But the state’s governor, Republican John Kasich vetoed a similar bill last year. This year the new version was passed with a veto-proof majority in the house, but is not likely to get that level of support in the Senate.
FirstEnergy Corp., Ohio’s homegrown utility with roots in the state that date to 1930, had protested the mandates, and earned nationwide news coverage after seeking extra payments from its customers to help its aging coal plants. After the state’s public utility commission shot that down, it has shifted and is now trying to get help for its nuclear fleet, arguing those plants are the “largest source of electricity that does not emit greenhouse gases and other pollutants.”
The American Petroleum Institute testified against legislation, which would offer zero emission credits estimated to generate $300 million a year for the struggling nuclear plants.
“Abundant natural gas has provided Ohio consumers with reliable and affordable energy and created countless jobs throughout the state without government subsidies,” said Chris Zeigler, API’s Ohio executive director. “Instead of subsidizing nuclear power companies, we should let the markets work to protect consumers."
https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-05-05/states-move-to-roll-back-environmental-rules-in-trump-s-wake
-
Legislatures Follow Trump's Lead, Roll Back Regs
May 5, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
Following President Trump's lead, some state legislatures are rolling back environmental regulations.
Examples include cuts to chemical storage tank regulations in West Virginia, the end of a wind tax credit incentive in Oklahoma, and a bill in Florida that would nullify all existing regulations that are not approved by the Assembly by 2020 and prohibit new agency regulations until approved by the Assembly.
More than 20 states are considering anti-protester measurers, in many cases inspired by the Dakota Access pipeline demonstrations.
Seven states are considering bills that would create "prosperity districts," where environmental laws and other regulations would be weakened in favor of business.
Leading the charge are groups linked to the petrochemical billionaires David and Charles Koch, including Americans for Prosperity and the American Legislative Exchange Council.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/05/stories/1060054118
-
Pipeline to Open at the Beginning of June
May 5, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Lee
The Dakota Access pipeline will open June 1, capping more than a year of court battles, protests and presidential orders.
Energy Transfer Partners LP, which controls the pipeline, announced the start date in a conference call yesterday. It's about two weeks later than the company's previous start date of May 14.
"We reiterate our commitment to continue to protect all cultural resources along with the environment and the safety of all those in the area," Chief Financial Officer Thomas Long said on the call.
The line stretches nearly 1,200 miles from the Bakken Shale oil field in western North Dakota to a crude oil terminal in Illinois. From there, the crude can be shipped to refineries or transferred to other pipelines that connect to Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.
The project touched off protests in three states among landowners, environmentalists and Native American tribes. The Standing Rock Sioux sued the Army Corps of Engineers in federal court, saying the government didn't properly consult with the tribe about the pipe's impact on water and cultural sites.
The Standing Rock tribe also organized sit-ins and other protests that drew thousands of people to Cannon Ball, N.D., where they tried to block construction of the pipeline across Lake Oahe on the Missouri River.
President Obama's administration delayed construction of the line in September, saying it needed time to determine whether the tribe had been properly consulted (Energywire, Nov. 1, 2016).
President Trump issued an easement in February for the final river crossing (Energywire, Feb. 9).
The Standing Rock tribe continues to fight the project in court (Energywire, April 11).
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/05/05/stories/1060054093
-
Fight for Natural Gas Ramps Up in N.Y.
May 5, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Saqib Rahim
Energy Secretary Rick Perry had come to New York to extol Texas.
In remarks to a conference last week, Perry said Texas ramped up output of natural gas and wind power during his governorship. It grew the economy while improving the environment, he said, and President Trump was so impressed, he gave Perry a job.
But not every state is so wise, Perry said at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Future of Energy Summit.
"Parts of the country, like here in the Northeast, are being denied access to affordable natural gas for their homes because of political opposition to the needed infrastructure," he said. "Ultimately, consumers are going to decide with their wallet or their vote, or their feet, when they move somewhere else, what type of energy and environmental policies that they will accept."
It was a not especially veiled shot at leaders like New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), who has blocked gas pipelines, banned shale gas production in the state and launched an aggressive renewable energy plan.
And it may be setting up the Northeast as a proxy war for U.S. energy policy.
New York and New England are heavy natural gas consumers, and they're slowly substituting gas as coal, oil and nuclear generators retire. But they're also trying to ramp up solar, wind and distributed energy resources.
The result is that their gas supplies are only squeezed during a few cold weeks in winter, said John Hanger, a consultant and former secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
"Clearly, many New England states and the state of New York don't feel like more gas pipelines are a top priority. That may be putting it kindly. They feel like they have no need for new gas pipelines," he said. "They frankly have options, and [liquefied natural gas] is one of them."
But business and fossil fuel interests are frustrated that cheap shale gas hasn't penetrated the market more, and they're redoubling their efforts.
They say that holding up gas pipelines is hurting everyone: workers and consumers in the region, as well as producers in the Marcellus and Utica shales.
"Millions of citizens in Northeast states have been denied the opportunity to take full advantage of both the direct and indirect benefits that the energy renaissance has made possible for fellow Americans living elsewhere," the Institute for 21st Century Energy, part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said in a report last month.
The report said that if the Northeast failed to expand pipelines, the damage would be felt regionally as well as in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
They would collectively miss out on 78,000 jobs and $7.6 billion in gross domestic product each year, the report said.
On Monday, the Business Council of New York State launched a campaign to expand access to natural gas in the state.
The coalition, New Yorkers for Affordable Energy, includes utilities, labor unions, manufacturers, pipeline companies and the American Petroleum Institute.
It was formed partly in response to the state's rejection of two major gas pipelines over the last two years.
"Those rejections were — a lot of the discussion regarding those discussions were — we didn't need additional natural gas, or there are other solutions to replace it, or other alternatives were out there," said Darren Suarez, the Business Council's director of government affairs. "And we wanted to address why this expansion was a good thing."
Much of the industry's attention has focused on New York, given its position as the gateway to New England.
New York gets 57 percent of its power from gas. But even though the state sits over part of the Marcellus Shale, it has chosen to be a consumer rather than a producer.
In 2014, after several years of evaluation, the Cuomo administration signaled it would ban high-volume hydraulic fracturing, citing its risks to the environment and public health.
Then Cuomo moved to limit pipelines. Last year, the state Department of Environmental Conservation rejected the Constitution pipeline, a 124-mile line from Pennsylvania. Last month, DEC turned down the Northern Access 2016 project, a 96-mile line from Pennsylvania.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission had approved both projects. But in both cases, the state denied a water permit under the Clean Water Act.
The rejections incensed the pipeline companies, which claimed they had done everything regulators asked of them but were being denied for political reasons. Cuomo is reportedly interested in running for president in 2020.
The pipelines' sponsors, Williams Partners LP and National Fuel Gas Co., have both joined the Business Council of New York's new lobby group.
Does the Northeast need more gas?
Yet the question of whether the Northeast actually needs more gas is hardly a straightforward one. It's closer to a paradox.
On the one hand, the region is vulnerable to dramatic swings in gas prices. Jacob Fericy, an analyst with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said the Northeast becomes "one of the most pipeline-constrained markets in the world" each winter.
Gas prices have been at least $3 above the Henry Hub benchmark for four of the last five winters, he said.
On the other hand, power demand is fairly flat, so it's hard to muster a sense of urgency. Grid operators in New England and New York consider the regions well supplied on gas, at least for the near future.
Getting gas by sea has also become cheaper over the last five years, giving New England states an à la carte option in a pinch, Hanger said.
"LNG on a unit basis costs more, but you just buy what you need when you need it," he said. "In order to meet that short-term cold period need, LNG imports may be better than building a pipeline that operates for every day and every hour and every minute of every year."
That's cold comfort for gas advocates, who say the Northeast is shortchanging workers and industry.
Suarez, of the Business Council, said New York factories that make auto parts, forklifts and paper want to convert to gas to save money.
"Those energy-intensive businesses, they can be located anywhere in the world," he said. "They're challenged by competitors throughout the world that have greater access to natural gas."
Karen Moreau, API's executive director in New York, said Cuomo's policies have left the state's Southern Tier impoverished.
The region had hoped to enjoy royalties from fracking and jobs and tax revenue from building pipelines, she said in a press call last month.
"What's the legitimate reason here? Is there one?" she asked. "What is his plan for natural gas? And how does he intend to provide safe, reliable, affordable energy to all New Yorkers with the program we're currently seeing? In our view, it doesn't add up."
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/05/05/stories/1060054109
-
CSB to Probe Fatal Colo. Home Explosion Linked to Well
May 5, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Mike Soraghan and Mike Lee
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating the fatal home explosion in the Denver suburbs that's been traced to an oil and gas well.
CSB sent out a statement this morning announcing it is sending an investigative team to examine the site in Firestone, Colo.
The April 17 explosion killed Mark Martinez, 42, and his brother-in-law, Joey Irwin. It severely injured Martinez's wife, Erin. The Martinezes' house was leveled.
Authorities announced this week that gas from a nearby Anadarko well had entered the basement of the Martinez house through an abandoned flow line (Energywire, May 3).
Mark Martinez and Irwin were installing a water heater in the basement at the time of the explosion. Fire officials ruled out utility gas as a cause of the explosion.
State officials said the flow line should have been sealed when the operator stopped using it years ago.
The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, which regulates oil and gas, has ordered oil companies to recheck their flow lines near homes and buildings and provide an inventory of their locations.
The CSB statement incorrectly said "preliminary information indicates that the well was no longer in service." Authorities have said the well was shut down all of last year but turned back on in January.
The CSB, fashioned after the National Transportation Safety Board, is charged with investigating serious chemical incidents. The agency's board members are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.
CSB investigations are intended to examine all aspects of chemical accidents, including physical causes such as equipment failure as well as inadequacies in regulations, industry standards and safety management systems. The agency does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations to regulators, companies and industry groups.
Colorado and California regulate the flow lines that have been implicated in the explosion, but most states do not (Energywire, May 5).
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/05/stories/1060054135
-
Most States Don't Regulate Lines Linked to Colo. Explosion
May 5, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Mike Soraghan and Mike Lee
Most states don't have regulations covering the pipelines that carry methane and other fluids around oil and gas well sites that were blamed this week for a fatal explosion in a Colorado neighborhood.
Colorado is one of the few states with rules for "flow lines" — the low-pressure pipes that run to collection points and tank batteries. Under a program started in 2015, well owners must pressure-test the flow lines every year, and the state audits a portion of all the tests.
The rules trace back to the recent collision of Denver's suburbs with Colorado's oil industry. Still, they failed to prevent last month's explosion, in which an abandoned flow line funneled gas into the basement of a home.
The explosion focused attention on a key gap in Colorado's rules — regulators didn't have good information on where most flow lines are located, even in areas with intense home development. After the explosion, the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission ordered oil companies to recheck lines near homes and buildings, and provide an inventory of their locations (Energywire, May 3).
Most states have far less stringent rules on flow lines. They have rules against spills and leaks, and officials say their inspectors keep an eye out for problems. But they don't have a system for checking the lines.
"If they hear something, they check it out," said John Rogers, associate director of the Utah Division of Oil, Gas and Mining. "We don't pressure-test the lines."
In Pennsylvania, there are pressure-testing rules for "well development pipelines" that carry frack water to sites. But the rules for gathering pipelines that carry gas are primarily related to how the trenches can be dug and backfilled.
There are different terms for flow lines, but generally they refer to lines that carry oil, gas or wastewater — often all three — from scattered wells to tanks or other equipment within the same lease. Other lines, like gathering lines and transmission pipelines, are larger. They lead to processing facilities and away from production sites.
Flow lines are more common with conventional oil and gas development, in which vertical wells are scattered across vast acreage. In modern shale development, horizontal well bores spread out underground. But wellheads are concentrated in one area at the surface, so there's less need for long flow lines.
Colorado's flow line rules resulted from clashes with suburban homeowners. Beyond Colorado, urban and suburban drilling is perhaps most common in California, Oklahoma and Texas.
California is one of the few other states with pressure-testing rules. And it has new rules that will require submission of detailed maps of small oil and gas pipelines in populated areas. The law, which also calls for more pressure testing of small lines, resulted from a 2014 gas leak from a waste gas line near Bakersfield. It took days to locate the source of the leak after it was detected, and the company that owned it didn't know which way it ran.
In Oklahoma, where oil wells produce from the Capitol complex, a state law prohibits regulations that are stricter than federal rules. So the state is prohibited from overseeing most small pipelines, including gathering lines and flow lines. A spokeswoman for Texas regulators said the state doesn't impose construction or testing rules on lines that run from a wellhead to the first point of measurement, or on small, low-pressure lines in rural areas.
North Dakota and Wyoming have rules on flow lines, but they kick in only when the well is being closed down for good.
"Our main rules are at the end of the life of the well," said Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission supervisor Mark Watson. "They have to fill them with water and cap them at both ends."
The well in Colorado was still operating at the time of the explosion. An old, abandoned flow line was still attached to the well and flowing gas. The line, 7 feet deep, had been cut, possibly when the home's basement was dug. That directed gas into the soil around the home, and fire officials say it entered the basement through a French drain.
Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which owns the well, has had some of its flow line tests audited. But the well, named Coors V 6-14Ji, was not part of the audit.
On April 17, Mark Martinez, 42, and his brother-in-law, Joey Irwin, were working in the basement of the house in Firestone, at the far reaches of Denver's suburbs. Something ignited the gas. The explosion killed both men and severely injured Martinez's wife, Erin.
Industry response
When a flow line is abandoned, it should be detached from the well and sealed shut, said Matt Lepore, director of the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. But it wasn't.
That apparent violation is one reason why more regulation isn't needed, said Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance.
"Once the full investigation is complete, as with other accidents, the liable company will be rightly held accountable," Sgamma said. "Our system of holding companies accountable ensures that these incidents remain extremely rare."
She added that most oil drilling takes place in rural areas.
"Most producing basins in the West are more remote, and therefore it does not appear that other states need to do something similar to what Colorado just ordered," Sgamma said.
She also said the explosion resulted from a "unique" set of events — a new house built next to an old well exposed to raw gas by a series of mistakes.
But building new homes near old wells is increasingly common in northern Denver suburbs such as Firestone. An analysis by public radio's "Inside Energy" initiative found the number of people in Colorado living in areas with at least one well per square kilometer increased by 50,000 between 2010 and 2015.
And some say the explosion shows Colorado's flow line rules are not enough. Mike Freeman of Earthjustice says companies should provide detailed information about the location of the lines and require permission to move them, and the state should oversee abandonment of the lines.
"Our hope is that Colorado will see this as a wake-up call," Freeman said.
Setbacks
University of Colorado, Boulder, environmental engineering professor Joe Ryan says the explosion suggests that states should look beyond simply pressure-testing lines. That could mean requiring distance — or "setbacks" — from even relatively small pipelines. Currently, setbacks are measured only from wellheads.
"The thought that goes into setbacks has been minimal," he said. "One side wants longer, the other side wants shorter. We need to look at what we are trying to prevent."
Speaking to reporters in Denver on Wednesday, Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) said the locations of flow lines should be available to the public. But, according to The Denver Post, he said that would probably require legislation. He added that he expects more public discussion of how close new homes can be built to old wells.
State officials have been adamant in recent days that such decisions are up to local governments. That has been a contrast to Hickenlooper's opposition in the past few years to local governments' attempts to regulate drilling.
The town of Firestone issued a statement yesterday saying it is reviewing its ordinances and policies. But it included a nod toward efforts to limit cities' authority to regulate drilling.
"We'll be having more dialogues about the role local jurisdictions can play," the statement said, "as compared with state regulators and operators."
Federal regulators have said they're concerned about the interplay of pipelines and urban development but have mostly been concerned with the proliferation of gathering lines — the larger cousins of flow lines.
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) focused on the proliferation of gathering lines as shale drilling moved into populated areas. Some recently built gathering lines are as large — and operate at the same high pressure — as long-haul pipelines that PHMSA regulates.
PHMSA has been considering tougher regulations on gathering lines, particularly in rural areas, but hasn't looked at flow lines.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/05/05/stories/1060054091
-
Snubbed by Pruitt, Pallone Casts Wide Net for Budget Details
May 5, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Geof Koss
The top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee is pressing a host of U.S. EPA officials for information on the Trump administration's proposed cuts to the agency.
Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) outlines his request for a briefing on the fiscal 2018 budget request in letters sent today to 19 EPA officials, including the acting heads of EPA programs and regional offices.
"Every day, EPA's program and regional offices perform vital functions that, among other things, help ensure American families have clean air and safe drinking water," Pallone writes. "The Committee has serious concerns that such severe budget and personnel cuts would undermine the agency's critically important work at the expense of human health and the environment."
Pallone's letters note that he made a similar request of EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt last month but has yet to hear back from the agency. An EPA spokesman did not respond to a request for comment today.
Pallone's latest request follows congressional approval this week of an omnibus spending bill that does not contain deep cuts to EPA that were sought by the Trump administration for the rest of fiscal 2017 — which members of both parties said this week will set the tone for fiscal 2018 discussions (E&E Daily, May 5).
The White House will submit a more detailed budget later this month.
Democrats on both sides of the Capitol are growing increasingly frustrated over what they say is a lack of responsiveness from Pruitt.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), the ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, said yesterday that EPA is "batting zero" in responding to more than a dozen information requests from the panel. "They can only do better," Carper told reporters.
He added that Democrats might become "a bit more pointed and public in our questioning — and probably use a little humor in an effort to shame them."
Carper noted that nominees are generally asked during their confirmation hearings whether they will agree to respond to "all reasonable" information requests. While that question is administered under oath in the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which Carper previously chaired, Pruitt does not appear to have testified under oath when he appeared before EPW for his January nomination hearing.
"But we should, because it's one of the most important questions we ask," he said. "That's not been done," he said of Pruitt's responses.
Pruitt this week did hit Capitol Hill for meetings with mostly Republican lawmakers, although he also visited with Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) (Greenwire, May 4).
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/05/05/stories/1060054132
Industry and Association News - There are no clips to report at this time.
LCSA News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Environment News
Add recipients
Suggested