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ACC PM Test (15/6/2017)
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US EPA Round-up
Jun 15, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has published section 5(a)(3)(C) determinations for two polymers that were the subject of pre-manufacture notices (PMNs). -
(ACC Mentioned) Grant Awarded for Pilot Program at Hazleton Mining Operation
Jun 15, 2017 | Hazleton Standard
U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded grant funding for a pilot program to extract rare earth elements from soil overburden from Jeddo Coal Co.’s anthracite mining operation in Hazleton. -
(ACC Mentioned) Sen. Capito Introduces Legislation to Expedite Permitting of Appalachian Natural Gas Hub
Jun 15, 2017 | Daily Energy Insider
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced legislation this week that would expedite federal permitting for a natural gas energy hub in the Appalachian region. -
Guest Commentary: Railroads Must Learn from Amtrak Tragedy, Implement Safety Technology
Jun 15, 2017 | Progressive Railroading
By Kevin Millhouse
Former Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian was arraigned last month on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the 2015 Philadelphia Amtrak disaster that claimed eight lives and injured 200. -
Energy Department Closes Office Working on Climate Change Abroad
Jun 15, 2017 | The New York Times
By Brad Plumer
The Energy Department is closing an office that works with other countries to develop clean energy technology, another sign of the Trump administration’s retreat on climate-related activities after its withdrawal from the Paris agreement this month. -
AP Interview: Ex-UN Chief Says Trump Must Rethink on Climate
Jun 15, 2017 | AP (in the Washington Post)
By Aritz Parra
Donald Trump should stand “on the right side of history” by reconsidering the decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate change accord, former United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday. -
Trump's Plan to Gut EPA Gets Cool Reception on Capitol Hill
Jun 15, 2017 | AP (in The Washington Post)
By Michael Biesecker
Lawmakers concerned about pollution and global warming have given a cool reception to President Donald Trump’s proposal to gut federal funding for environmental programs. -
Pruitt to Be Challenged on Climate and Regional Programs
Jun 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Niina Haikknen
Climate change is unlikely to be a primary focus today as U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt takes the stand to defend his agency's proposed budget, despite the Trump administration's efforts to cut climate funding. -
House Appropriators Blast Trump's FY18 EPA Budget Plan
Jun 15, 2017 | Inside EPA
Top Republican and Democratic members of the House appropriations panel overseeing EPA's budget are sharply criticizing the Trump administration's fiscal year 2018 proposal, suggesting that Congress is unlikely to adopt many of its steep proposed cuts. -
States Caught Between Calls For Reform, EPA Cuts As Hill Weighs Budget
Jun 15, 2017 | Inside EPA
State environmental officials appear caught between competing pressures as debate heats up over EPA's fiscal year 2018 budget, seeing potential opportunities to bolster their say on implementation of environmental policies but warning that full-throated attacks on EPA -- including on the agency's funding to states -- could have dire consequences. -
EPA Delays Chemical Facility Safety Regulations Inspired by West Fertilizer Plant Explosion
Jun 15, 2017 | Texas Monthly
By Leif Reigstad
Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt signed an order earlier this week delaying new safety regulations for chemical facilities. -
Wyo. Officials Ordered to Appear in Fracking Case
Jun 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Benjamin Storrow
A high-ranking state official will be deposed in a fracking case that alleges a natural gas company's operations contaminated the drinking water of a Wyoming family.
Industry and Association News - There are no clips to report at this time.
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Jun 15, 2017 | Chemical Watch
TSCA section 5(a)(3)(C) determinationsThe US EPA has published section 5(a)(3)(C) determinations for two polymers that were the subject of pre-manufacture notices (PMNs).
They are:generic alkyl methacrylate, polymer with alkyl acrylate and polyesters; andgeneric alkyl methyacrylate polymer with styrene, amino acrylate and acrylic acid, ammonium salt.
In each case, the substances were determined not likely to present an unreasonable risk based on low human health and environmental hazard. Both include a polymer exemption flag, which says the substance must be manufactured such that it meets exemption criteria.
The agency issued its determinations on 30 May for reviews that began 22 September and 22 June last year.Computational Toxicology Communities of Practice webinar
The EPA's Computational Toxicology Communities of Practice is holding a webinar on 22 June on read-across.
The webinar, Navigating Through the Minefield of Read-Across Tools and Frameworks: An Update on Generalised Read-Across (GenRA), will be accessible remotely or in person in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.
The Communities of Practice is a stakeholder group which have an interest in using advances in computational toxicology and exposure science to evaluate the safety of chemicals.
https://chemicalwatch.com/56771/us-epa-round-up
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(ACC Mentioned) Grant Awarded for Pilot Program at Hazleton Mining Operation
Jun 15, 2017 | Hazleton Standard
U.S. Rep. Lou Barletta today announced that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded grant funding for a pilot program to extract rare earth elements from soil overburden from Jeddo Coal Co.’s anthracite mining operation in Hazleton.
The possibility of future, large-scale REEs production from anthracite coal could boost job creation and economic growth in Northeast Pennsylvania and present an opportunity for the U.S. to move away from its reliance on China for these minerals, a news release from Barletta’s office states.
Barletta, R-11, Hazleton, was the first member of Congress to send a letter in support of this pilot program.
“The Department of Energy’s studies have shown that the Appalachian coal fields throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania contain some of the highest concentrations of rare earth elements,” Barletta said in the release. “These elements are critical components of everyday electronics and equipment used in the health care, transportation and defense industries. With our abundance of anthracite, we have the potential to create and support good-paying jobs, not just in the coal industry, but in manufacturing and related industries that rely on these elements.”
REEs are a set of 17 metals found in the Earth’s crust. Due to their unique chemical properties, REEs are used in the production of various high-tech products, including cellphones and computers, and are instrumental in U.S. defense weapons systems.
According to the American Chemistry Council, REEs support more than $329 billion of economic output in North America.
The U.S. gets 100 percent of its REEs supply from China, which currently produces more than 85 percent of the world’s REEs.
“It is critical for our national security that we turn to a domestic source of these minerals,” Barletta said. “Our military should not have to rely on China or any other country for the resources necessary to keep us safe, especially when those resources are readily available right here in Pennsylvania.”
DOE awarded the $1 million grant to a consortium comprised of Penn State University, Texas Mineral Resources Corp., Indenture Renewables and K Technologies through the department’s “Production of Salable Rare Earth Element Materials from Coal and Coal By-Products” funding opportunity announcement.
http://standardspeaker.com/news/grant-awarded-for-pilot-program-at-hazleton-mining-operation-1.2206698
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Jun 15, 2017 | Daily Energy Insider
U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) introduced legislation this week that would expedite federal permitting for a natural gas energy hub in the Appalachian region.
The Appalachian Energy and Manufacturing Infrastructure Revitalization Act of 2017 would direct the Secretary of Energy and the Secretary of Commerce, in consultation with other relevant federal agencies, to designate an Appalachian regional energy hub as a “critical energy infrastructure” project. This would make the project eligible for expedited federal permitting.
“The benefits of establishing a regional energy hub in Appalachia cannot be overstated,” Capito said. “This important infrastructure project would help create much-needed jobs for West Virginians and grow our state’s economy in meaningful ways. By reducing regulatory burdens, the Appalachian Energy and Manufacturing Infrastructure Revitalization Act will bring us one step closer to making the Appalachian energy hub a reality.”
The secretaries would also work the liaisons of relevant federal and state agencies to facilitate coordination and collaborate with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on the approval process.
The legislation would also direct the federal agencies that manage federal grant and loan programs to accelerate consideration of those applications.
The American Chemistry Council conducted a study in May, which concluded that the project would create an estimated $36 billion in capital investment and more than 100,000 permanent jobs in Appalachia by 2025.
https://dailyenergyinsider.com/news/5818-sen-capito-introduces-legislation-expedite-permitting-appalachian-natural-gas-hub/
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Guest Commentary: Railroads Must Learn from Amtrak Tragedy, Implement Safety Technology
Jun 15, 2017 | Progressive Railroading
By Kevin Millhouse
Former Amtrak engineer Brandon Bostian was arraigned last month on charges of involuntary manslaughter in the 2015 Philadelphia Amtrak disaster that claimed eight lives and injured 200. This was Amtrak’s failure as much as Bostian’s; it didn’t have to happen.
“It’s widely understood that every person, no matter how conscientious and skilled, is fallible, which is why technology was developed to backstop human vulnerabilities,” said National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Chairman Christopher Hart at a public meeting held in May 2016.
Amtrak failed to implement a decades-old safety technology that would have prevented the incident. Positive train control (PTC) combats human error by automatically stopping a train that’s on course to collide with another, on a track it shouldn’t be on or going too fast.
On May 12, 2015, Bostian had whipped the Amtrak 188 around a bend at 106 mph where the speed limit was 50. An investigation found that he was distracted.
The investigation of the 2008 Metrolink crash in Chatsworth, Calif., determined that the Connex engineer, Robert Sanchez, was texting when he ran through a red signal and collided head on with a freight train. Twenty-five people died and over 130 were injured. The tragedy was gruesome and preventable. Had PTC been in place, it would have stopped the train.
Amtrak’s long delay isn’t unique, but the crash in Philadelphia could have been prevented, if the company had followed Metrolink’s lead. I was elected chairman of Metrolink’s board shortly after the 2008 train collision. The disaster rocked our community.
Under my leadership, Metrolink became the first commuter-rail operator to implement PTC. If Amtrak had moved with the speed Metrolink had, the Philadelphia accident wouldn’t have happened.
To prevent this type of tragedy elsewhere, Congress enacted the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which required many freight and commuter railroads to implement PTC by 2015’s end. In late 2015, Congress extended the deadline to Dec. 31, 2018 (and to Dec. 31, 2020, in certain cases) after the Government Accountability Office determined that Amtrak and some Class Is weren’t on schedule to meet the initial deadline.
There was no reason that Amtrak couldn’t have learned from the Chatsworth tragedy. The company shouldn’t have needed a tragedy of its own before it implemented the technology.
Railroads are now hustling to meet the end-of-2018 deadline. And in wake of the Amtrak crash, the company has implemented PTC on its Northeast Corridor.
Amtrak and other companies have also been sluggish to adopt another safety technology that could save lives: inward-facing cameras. Amtrak only moved to install the cameras two weeks after the Philadelphia accident. There are still Amtrak lines without the technology now. Metrolink’s inward-facing cameras have been operational since 2010; even a cursory following of the aftermath of Chatsworth should have forced every rail operator in the country to install these cameras immediately.
“Recorders are readily available, easily installed, and largely affordable,” according to the NTSB’s latest “Most Wanted List of Transportation Safety Improvements.” The NTSB recommends all controlling cabs have crash-proof, inward-facing cameras that “can verify that train crew actions are in accordance with essential safety rules and procedures…”Yet, Amtrak’s train in the Philadelphia crash wasn’t equipped with an inward-facing video recorder. That information would no doubt have helped investigators determine exactly what happened in the accident; it may also have altered the conduct of the engineer and heightened his awareness; the key factor in the accident according to the NTSB.
Bostian said he “doesn’t remember” what happened prior to the accident. While this may be true, it’s an often-repeated phrase by engineers in accidents, and if there were inward-facing camera we would know if protocol had been followed. If an engineer is following protocol, but still causes an incident, the videos can help administrators implement policies so it doesn’t happen again.
Often companies don’t implement inward-facing cameras due to fierce resistance from unions, which want to protect their members from unfair snooping by rail administrators. After the Chatsworth collision, the unions challenged Metrolink’s right to implement inward-facing cameras. They lost in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and then again in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. They didn’t pursue an appeal to the United States Supreme Court , which arguably would have opened up the cameras to nationwide use — which is what needs to happen immediately.
Companies can’t bend to the unions at the expense of safety. Besides, unions should embrace the technology. Oftentimes, engineers aren’t at fault for incidents and a video recording can absolve them from any undeserved consequences.
Amtrak and other companies need to be proactive rather than reactive in implementing safety technology that can save lives, and all railroads need to learn from the tragedies of others and not wait to have their own.http://www.progressiverailroading.com/safety/article/Guest-Commentary-Railroads-must-learn-from-Amtrak-tragedy-implement-safety-technology--51907
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Energy Department Closes Office Working on Climate Change Abroad
Jun 15, 2017 | The New York Times
By Brad Plumer
The Energy Department is closing an office that works with other countries to develop clean energy technology, another sign of the Trump administration’s retreat on climate-related activities after its withdrawal from the Paris agreement this month.
The 11 staff members of the Office of International Climate and Technology were told this month that their positions were being eliminated, according to current and former agency employees. The office was formed in 2010 to help the United States provide technical advice to other nations seeking to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The small office also played a lead role preparing for the annual Clean Energy Ministerial, a forum in which the United States, China, India and other countries shared insights on how best to promote energy efficiency, electric vehicles and other solutions to climate change.
Word of the closing came right before Rick Perry, the energy secretary, attended the latest Clean Energy Ministerial meeting in Beijing on June 6 to 8, agency employees said.
The Energy Department did not respond to a request for comment.
In May, President Trump released a budget for 2018 proposing the “elimination of climate change initiatives” within the Energy Department, including the international climate office. While the budget will require congressional approval, Mr. Perry has authority to reorganize parts of the Energy Department before lawmakers decide on spending levels.
The office is the only one in the Energy Department to have “climate” as part of its name.
The Trump administration has scaled back the federal government’s involvement on global warming on a number of fronts, scrubbing mentions of “climate change” from a variety of agency websites and unwinding climate regulations at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Closing the Office of International Climate and Technology could make cooperation on clean energy with other countries much harder, said Graham Pugh, who headed the office from 2011 to 2014. While both the State and Energy Departments still have separate programs to engage with China, Brazil and other countries, the office being eliminated specialized in applying the agency’s technical expertise to other nations’ efforts to advance clean energy projects.
The office played an important role, for instance, in helping India develop its own lighting efficiency standards and start a program to purchase LED lamps in bulk for consumers. “That program will lead to massive savings in terms of avoided carbon dioxide emissions and air pollution,” said Jonathan Elkind, who was an assistant secretary for the Energy Department’s Office of International Affairs during the Obama administration.
“Unfortunately there is an incredible dissonance between the declared interest of this administration to continue to lead on clean energy, and their actions,” Mr. Elkind said.
Scott Pruitt, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, said a day after President Trump announced the withdrawal from the Paris accord that the United States would continue to engage with other nations on climate change by sharing clean energy technology.
“We need to export the technology and natural gas to those around the globe, India and China, and help them learn from us on what we’ve done to achieve good outcomes,” he said.
It is possible that other ongoing technology-sharing initiatives spearheaded by the Energy Department, like collaboration with China to develop carbon capture for its coal plants, will survive. But Mr. Pugh said the shutdown of this office made it far less likely that new opportunities for cooperation on energy technology would emerge.
The annual Clean Energy Ministerial will continue, as the previous energy secretary, Ernest J. Moniz, transferred responsibility for leading that forum to the International Energy Agency last July.
Other changes to the Energy Department being contemplated by the Trump administration, like sweeping reductions in spending on research into renewable energy, nuclear power and carbon capture, will still require approval by Congress. Even some Republican lawmakers have expressed opposition to those proposed cuts.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/15/climate/energy-department-closes-office-working-on-climate-change-abroad.html?_r=0
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AP Interview: Ex-UN Chief Says Trump Must Rethink on Climate
Jun 15, 2017 | AP (in the Washington Post)
By Aritz Parra
Donald Trump should stand “on the right side of history” by reconsidering the decision to pull the United States out of the Paris climate change accord, former United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday.
“If the U.S. withdraws, this has a much bigger political impact. I’m afraid that any leadership vacuum could be filled by others, and this is not what we want to see,” Ban said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. He called the choice made by the U.S. president “misguided” and said that it responded to “a short-term vision.”
He also called on the public to raise its voice and said that commitment to the agreement from governors, mayors, business leaders and civil society in the U.S. was “very encouraging.”
For almost a decade, Ban spearheaded negotiations to combat climate change that eventually led to the pledge of keeping global temperatures from rising another degree Celsius by 2100.
Nearly 200 countries, including the U.S., signed the agreement in December 2015.
“I sincerely hope that President Trump stands on the right side of history,” Ban said in Madrid.
As the world’s largest economy, the United States is the planet’s number two polluter after China, accounting for 14 percent of global emissions.
“The decision has implications and effects politically and psychologically much larger than 14 percent, because smaller countries have traditionally followed Washington’s leadership” said Ban, calling on the U.S. leader to show “global vision.”
On Wednesday, Ban joined more than 50 former world leaders who criticized the current U.S. administration’s view on climate change and warned of “unpredictable and possibly regrettable” consequences. They also called on other signatories of the Paris agreement to “show greater urgency and commitment in the fight against global warming.”
The leaders represented about half of the members of the Club de Madrid alliance, which Ban joined recently as an honorary member.
Among the signatories were former Chilean President and former U.N. envoy for climate change Ricardo Lagos, Nobel Peace winner and former East Timor leader Jose Manuel Ramos-Horta and former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who also headed the U.N.’s development agency.
Ban also referred to the situation in the Korean Peninsula as “very worrisome” following Pyongyang’s continuing of weapons launches, against U.N. Security Council resolutions, including recent anti-ship missiles.
The former South Korean foreign minister said the testing of ballistic technology is putting Kim Jong Un’s regime “on the verge” of being able to develop a nuclear-tipped long-range missile.
“Never before since the Korean War has the level of tension been so high,” Ban said, calling on North Korea “to stop all provocations” in order for the international community to restart a dialogue.
He also said that the leaders of the U.S. and South Korea should come up with solutions to reduce the tension in the Korean Peninsula during a summit in Washington in late June.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/former-un-chief-trump-causing-a-global-leadership-vacuum/2017/06/14/f2d89c2e-512f-11e7-b74e-0d2785d3083d_story.html?utm_term=.24652aff2e90
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Trump's Plan to Gut EPA Gets Cool Reception on Capitol Hill
Jun 15, 2017 | AP (in The Washington Post)
By Michael Biesecker
Lawmakers concerned about pollution and global warming have given a cool reception to President Donald Trump’s proposal to gut federal funding for environmental programs.
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt appeared Thursday before a House Appropriations subcommittee. Trump’s budget seeks to slash EPA funding by nearly one-third while eliminating more than 3,800 jobs.
Pruitt pitched the budget as part of his plan to take EPA “back to basics.” The EPA chief said that means focusing on EPA’s core mission to provide Americans with cleaner air and water.
Criticism of Trump’s budget was bipartisan, with members from both parties pressing Pruitt about cuts affecting their home districts. Pruitt promised new levels of efficiency, but didn’t provide many concrete details about how he would accomplish more with less.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/federal_government/trumps-plan-to-gut-epa-gets-cool-reception-on-capitol-hill/2017/06/15/1e1b43fe-51ea-11e7-b74e-0d2785d3083d_story.html?utm_term=.00b55599ce4f
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Pruitt to Be Challenged on Climate and Regional Programs
Jun 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Niina Haikknen
Climate change is unlikely to be a primary focus today as U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt takes the stand to defend his agency's proposed budget, despite the Trump administration's efforts to cut climate funding.
"Top priority is how, with a 30 percent cut, EPA will function to fulfill its mission," said Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), ranking member of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee.
McCollum noted that EPA had already been cut 29 percent from the fiscal 2010 budget.
"The Republicans have been cutting and cutting and cutting. My job is to point out how important the work EPA does to protect the air, water and land," she said.
Pruitt will be testifying before the subcommittee, along with his senior adviser, Holly Greaves, where they will be asked to justify a budget that critics on both sides of the aisle say will leave the agency unable to fulfill its core mission of preserving human health and the environment (Greenwire, June 6).
The administrator has already faced sharp criticism from Democrats, environmental groups and some Republicans for a budget proposal that would slash one in four EPA jobs and cut nearly a third of its budget.
Democratic members of the Appropriations subcommittee will be focusing their questions to Pruitt on the impact to state grants and EPA programs most relevant to their constituents. That includes funding for geographical programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and Puget Sound, both of which saw their funding zeroed out under the White House budget blueprint.
Water quality and Superfund cleanup will also feature in today's agenda. A number of these issues also have strong support from Republican committee members.
Democrats do plan to address climate change, said McCollum, adding that with a 91 percent cut to climate programs and the elimination of "climate change" on EPA's website, "you can't talk about it enough."
Trump's exit from the Paris Agreement could be a focus.
"There is so much in this budget that is so wrong and so backwards from what the American people expect from the federal government," McCollum said. "Climate change figures into it. It is something we all feel very, very strongly about."
Rep. Derek Kilmer (D-Wash.), vice ranking member of the subcommittee, will be focusing on the continued need for cleanup of the Puget Sound, which helps support the state's shellfishing jobs, tourism and recreation.
He has criticized the president's budget for slashing $65 million from the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund and $700 million from state and tribal assistance grants.
In an emailed statement, Kilmer also noted the president should not ignore the realities of climate change by cutting investments in research or remove references to climate from the budget.
"Instead, he should listen to the American people and propose a serious budget that addresses climate change head on," Kilmer said.
Former EPA officials warned ahead of the appropriations hearing that the Trump administration cuts would also hurt Pruitt's ability to focus on "core" environmental issues of protecting clean air and water.
"The rationale given is EPA needs to get back to basics, which is another way of saying don't work on climate," said George Wyeth, a former director of EPA's integrated environmental strategies division.
"Climate does not account for that much of EPA's budget. To make the kinds of cuts they are talking about requires cutting deeply into what I think anyone would call core programs," he added.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/06/15/stories/1060056075
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House Appropriators Blast Trump's FY18 EPA Budget Plan
Jun 15, 2017 | Inside EPA
Top Republican and Democratic members of the House appropriations panel overseeing EPA's budget are sharply criticizing the Trump administration's fiscal year 2018 proposal, suggesting that Congress is unlikely to adopt many of its steep proposed cuts.
“In many cases the budget proposes to significantly reduce or terminate programs that are vitally important to each member on this subcommittee,” said Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), chairman of the House Appropriations interior and environment panel, during a June 15 panel hearing.
After ticking off proposed major funding cuts for programs to reduce diesel engine emissions, address targeted airsheds and support Superfund cleanups, he added: “These are all proposals that we are unlikely to entertain.”
Democrats offered even tougher criticism. The administration's proposed EPA budget “is a disaster,” said Rep. Nita Lowey (D-NY), ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee. “I do hope Congress will reject in a bipartisan way this dangerous budget.”
She added that given EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's past support of the oil and gas sector, his prior efforts to “undermine” EPA and the fact that he does not accept mainstream scientific findings about man-made climate change, “I suppose it's surprising you didn't propose to eliminate the agency altogether.”
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-MN), the ranking member on the interior panel, added that the budget would “set the agency back 30 years, ignoring the complex environmental challenges we face today.”
And while President Donald Trump can “propose this destructive budget,” and Pruitt “can come defend it,” McCollum said, “It is Congress and this committee that will determine EPA's funding.”
Making his first trip to the Hill since his Senate confirmation hearing, Pruitt defended the FY18 budget request in only broad strokes during his opening remarks. “I believe we can fulfill the mission of our agency with a trim budget,” he said, largely relying on familiar talking points about re-focusing EPA on its “core” mission, following the law and respecting the “process” of crafting rules.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/house-appropriators-blast-trumps-fy18-epa-budget-plan
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States Caught Between Calls For Reform, EPA Cuts As Hill Weighs Budget
Jun 15, 2017 | Inside EPA
State environmental officials appear caught between competing pressures as debate heats up over EPA's fiscal year 2018 budget, seeing potential opportunities to bolster their say on implementation of environmental policies but warning that full-throated attacks on EPA -- including on the agency's funding to states -- could have dire consequences.
John Linc Stine, president of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), discussed the state concerns in a June 13 interview with Inside EPA, a conversation in which he cited opportunities presented by the Trump administration's deregulatory efforts for cost savings in environmental programs but also expressed concern that lawmakers could cut too deeply and outrun opportunities for a “full and complete conversation” on federal and state roles.
“Carefully measure your steps and be thoughtful about decisions that are made that will have longer-term consequences,” Stine said, offering up a message he hopes appropriators weighing EPA's FY18 budget will take to heart.
His comments came just before the June 15 hearing in the House Appropriations interior subcommittee on EPA's FY18 budget that is providing lawmakers a forum to query Administrator Scott Pruitt on the implications of the budget proposal to slash EPA funding by 31 percent and eliminate scores of programs.
With even GOP appropriators raising questions about the level of the proposed cuts, a number of observers and lawmakers have called the Trump proposal “dead on arrival.”
But Stine during the interview refused to adopt that frame, in remarks that seemed geared both toward not antagonizing the Trump team or lawmakers and girding his members for a battle to preserve state priorities. “I will never say it is not serious . . . or it is 'dead on arrival,'” Stine said. “That indicates that you are not aware of the other person's perspective,” Stine said.
Stine then described states as caught between two imperatives -- acknowledging that there is “room for change and states are open to having that conversation with EPA” on realignment and reprioritization of environmental work -- but also facing the reality of budget drafting timelines that likely do not allow for a full discussion of the issues.
“It would really be nice to have the relationship sorted out and clarified before we have the budget conversation but . . . the timing is such that the federal budget has got to be decided before we are probably going to have a full and complete conversation about federal and state government roles and responsibilities,” Stine said.
Stine's remarks echo in part a newly released ECOS report on “Cooperative Federalism 2.0,” which calls for states and EPA to reshape their relationship during the Trump administration.
Since the budget was unveiled, some states have suggested cutting their own programs to make up for federal shortfalls or returning some delegated authorities to EPA.
In the face of such planned changes, ECOS' report seeks a more formal restatement of state-federal roles, promising that any recasting will result, for example, in “equal or greater environmental and public health protection and outcomes through smart deployment of resources on critical priorities,” the group said.
Justify Cuts
The report is already being cited by some on the Trump team to justify steep EPA cuts. For example, Susan Bodine, the administration's nominee to lead EPA enforcement, cited the ECOS report during her June 13 confirmation hearing in the Senate environment committee in response to concerns that a proposed 24 percent cut to enforcement poses a serious threat. She noted that the ECOS report calls for a “recalibration” of the federal-state relationship and said it could “lead to more effective environmental management at lower cost.”
Stine did not address Bodine's comment specifically during the interview, but offered a more general response to the idea that the ECOS report will serve as a blanket justification for cuts.
“If you were to read only the part of the report that says we are open to making some adjustment, yes [it would]. But we are also saying there are critical relationship discussions that need to occur before we agree what the actual cost [of environmental safeguards] is.”
Stine also said “one way you could read” the report is as a warning for the Hill to tread very carefully before making major cuts. “It would be one way you could read it."
For example, the ECOS report says, “We are convinced a recalibration of state and federal roles can lead to more effective environmental management at lower cost.”
But the same report also includes a variety of language that cautions against massive EPA cuts. A section on state implementation of federal programs, for example, says EPA should have sufficient resources to meet its responsibilities and “financially support states in the implementation of federal statutes and programs. EPA should have sufficient resources to meet all obligations to states and to ensure timely review and decisions on program submittals by the states.”
Other text in the report includes a call for EPA to “maintain a robust scientific research and data gathering capacity” to inform and establish national minimum standards; “understand how best to respond to complex environmental pollution challenges”; “respond to emerging pollutants” and “efficiently determine protective alternative remediation strategies and other solutions to facilitate production of human health and the environment.”
'Take Some Time'
In the interview, Stine mostly steered clear of specifics on how a redefinition of state and federal roles should affect EPA's budget. “We really think that it is going to take some time to organize our perspective as states and work with the administrator and executives in his office to package up a series of possible solutions.”
That message is more measured than a new report from a group of over 75 former senior EPA officials, organized as the Environmental Protection Network (EPN), that offers sharper, starker critiques of proposed EPA cuts -- even while flagging issues of concern to states.
EPN says the budget would “cripple permitting, implementation and enforcement.” And it notes, “Categorical grants that support the core air, water and other programs are cut by 30 percent despite Administration assertions that states should play a larger role in implementing environmental laws . . . a host of other types of grants are eliminated entirely."
EPN says the result of the proposed cuts -- which actually equate to a 42 percent cut when accounting for a small proposed increase for two water infrastructure programs -- is “the smallest workforce” at the agency since 1982. Remaining staff would be tasked with administering seven major statutes, including implementation of significant 2016 revisions to the Toxic Substances Control Act.
Still, Stine defended EPA from a wholesale assault, lauding some “key functions” at EPA like water quality standards, laboratory and research work and emergency response, while also expressing openness to “some changes” on the permit and enforcement side to take into account the evolution of states' abilities in those areas over decades.
Stine also said states would be interested in more flexible “block grant” approaches to give states more latitude on how to use funding.
And if his message in defense of EPA's budget was more muted than EPN's, the broader message to appropriators still seemed to be that, when in doubt, don't cut.
Stine said that congressional adoption of the proposed Trump EPA budget for FY18 as being the “worst case scenario.” By contrast, the best case scenario is “there wouldn't be a lot of significant change” in FY18 compared to FY17.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/states-caught-between-calls-reform-epa-cuts-hill-weighs-budget
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EPA Delays Chemical Facility Safety Regulations Inspired by West Fertilizer Plant Explosion
Jun 15, 2017 | Texas Monthly
By Leif Reigstad
Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt signed an order earlier this week delaying new safety regulations for chemical facilities. The regulations, which were originally set to go into effect on June 13, were drawn up under the Obama administration after a fertilizer plant in the Central Texas city of West exploded in 2013, killing fifteen people. In addition to pushing back the effective date to February 2019, Pruitt’s order blocks amendments that strengthened a rule requiring facilities that use highly hazardous substances to develop a risk management plan, which would require them to revise and resubmit it to the EPA every five years, according to the EPA’s website.
According to an EPA press release when the agency first announced the new rules in December, the amendments were meant to “prevent catastrophic accidents by improving accident prevention program requirements.” Additionally, the amendments aimed to increase coordination between facilities and the communities surrounding them and strengthen third-party audits. The new rules were an immediate reaction to the disaster in West. In August 2013, just four months after the explosion, President Obama signed an executive order calling on the EPA to strengthen safety regulations in order to prevent similar incidents in the future.
But there were concerns that the new regulations were too little and too late. According to the Center for Public Integrity, some environmental advocate groups felt that the rules did not go far enough, and were worried that the incoming Trump administration would rip the rules to shreds. Those fears likely multiplied when Trump plucked Pruitt from Oklahoma, where he served as attorney general and had made a reputation for himself as a pro-industry, anti-regulatory kind of guy, filing a bunch of lawsuits challenging a variety of EPA regulations. According to Bloomberg, Pruitt was also one of the most vocal opponents of these new chemical facility regulations, writing a letter in July 2016 objecting to the proposed rules, arguing that the transparency improvements would basically provide roadmaps to terrorists.
“The safety of these manufacturing, processing, and storage facilities should be a priority for us all,” Pruitt wrote in the letter, which was signed by ten other attorneys general. “But safety encompasses more than preventing accidental releases of chemicals, it also encompasses preventing intentional releases caused by bad actors seeking to harm our citizens. Your proposed rule seeks to make readily-available to the public information that you believe might be useful to the public in the event of an accidental release of chemicals. . .compiling that information and making it easily accessible also aids those who might seek to cause an intentional release for nefarious purposes, by providing those bad actors with information that would help them both select a target and exploit any security vulnerabilities their target might have.”
Pruitt didn’t directly touch on the safety concerns in a brief statement about his order. “We are seeking additional time to review the [Risk Management Program], so that we can fully evaluate the public comments raised by multiple petitioners and consider other issues that may benefit from additional public input,” Pruitt said in a press release Monday. In February, Pruitt’s office received a petition from the “RMP Coalition,” a group of chemical industry advocates, lobbyists, and trade organizations, requesting Pruitt delay the regulations. Eleven states, including Texas, filed a similar petition in March. Opponents of the rules have argued that they would put an unfair burden on the industry and on state agencies tasked with enforcing the regulations. There had been several short-term delays enacted on these rules since Trump took office, but Pruitt’s latest order almost certainly means Obama’s tougher regulations will be scrapped entirely in place of newer, industry-friendly rules.
The U.S. Chemical Safety Board completed its investigation into the West explosion in January of last year, uncovering multiple safety failures and regulatory gaps that led to the disaster. “The CSB’s investigation of the West Fertilizer accident found significant gaps in information critical to first responders,” CSB Communications Manager Hillary Cohen said in an emailed statement in Wednesday. “The EPA’s proposed rule was in part a response to our findings and recommendations. In the final analysis, facility employees, communities and first responders should have adequate information to understand the risks inherent in such facilities, to ensure everyone’s safety.”
The timing of Pruitt’s decision comes as West continues to recover and rebuild after the explosion destroyed much of the surrounding neighborhood, including schools and a nursing home. Work began last month on a memorial to honor those killed in the blast. According to the Austin American-Statesman, the Fallen Heroes Memorial in West will feature a reflecting pool with an eternal flame, encircled by plaques honoring the twelve first responders and three residents who died during the disaster. The memorial is expected to be completed by the end of the summer. “There’s always been a big interest, not only from the community, in letting it be known what those first responders did for the town,” memorial committee chairman Joe Pustejovsky said. Pustejovsky lost his son, Joey, who was responding to the fire. “In a situation like this where it’s such a tragedy, where so many people rushed to the defense of the town, we don’t want that to be forgotten.”
http://www.texasmonthly.com/energy/epa-delays-chemical-facility-safety-regulations-inspired-west-fertilizer-plant-explosion/
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Wyo. Officials Ordered to Appear in Fracking Case
Jun 15, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Benjamin Storrow
A high-ranking state official will be deposed in a fracking case that alleges a natural gas company's operations contaminated the drinking water of a Wyoming family.
The ruling yesterday by U.S. District Judge Alan Johnson represents another procedural win for the Locker family in a case that once enthralled Washington, D.C., over the safety of hydraulic fracturing.
In a past report, U.S. EPA found that Encana Corp.'s operations had contaminated drinking water outside the small central Wyoming community of Pavillion. The agency later backed away from those claims and handed its investigation over to the state. Wyoming officials later concluded that no link could be found to the Calgary, Alberta-based company's operations.
The state's report plays a central role in the lawsuit brought by Jeff and Rhonda Locker, who claim that Encana contaminated their water and then lied about it. The company could use the state's report as a defense against the Lockers' charges, Johnson noted in his ruling. But it could also be used by the Lockers to prove their claim that the oil and gas producer influenced the results of the state study, the judge said.
Encana contributed $1.5 million to Wyoming to help conduct its investigation.
Johnson wrote that the Lockers will be allowed to depose Jerimiah Rieman, the former energy adviser to Gov. Matt Mead (R) who now serves as the governor's director of economic diversification strategy and initiatives.
"There is no way to determine whether Defendant's involvement in the [Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality's] investigation influenced either the study's scope or conclusions without deposing the officials involved," the judge wrote.
Rieman was a central figure in the handoff of EPA's investigation to the state. He coordinated with Encana executive Lemuel Smith and EPA senior policy counsel Robert Sussman over the outline of what would become Wyoming's study, court documents show. Smith will also be required to give deposition testimony, Johnson said, siding against Encana, which had sought to keep Smith from testifying in the case.
It was not immediately clear if Wyoming would appeal the ruling. A Mead spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. An Encana spokesman declined comment, citing ongoing litigation.
Pavillion was once ground zero in the nationwide debate over fracking. Emails obtained by E&E News show the EPA investigation was closely monitored by former President Obama's top energy adviser (Energywire, Sept. 11, 2013).
Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) called the investigation part of the Obama administration's effort to "crucify" the fossil fuel industry. The community was also featured in the Academy Award-nominated documentary "Gasland."
But Pavillion has largely fallen off the map in the years since. The Lockers filed their lawsuit after EPA dropped its investigation. The couple claim a company later bought by Encana defrauded them when they signed a settlement agreement, in which the oil and gas producer said it tested their water for hydrocarbons.
No such tests were ever conducted, according to the testimony of a consultant hired by the company. The Lockers contend the pollution is responsible for Rhonda Locker's deteriorating health.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/06/15/stories/1060056073
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