Preview Newsletter
AM ACC Clips Report 21/6/17
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(ACC Mentioned) EPA Just Gave Notice To Dozens Of Scientific Advisory Board Members That Their Time Is Up
Jun 20, 2017 | The Washington Post
By Chris Mooney and Juliet Eilperin
The Environmental Protection Agency has given notice to dozens of scientists that they will not be renewed in their roles in advising the agency, continuing a scientific shake-up that has already triggered resignations and charges from some researchers that the administration is politicizing the agency. -
(ACC Mentioned) American Chemistry Council Hosts Gathering To Discuss Plastics, Marine Litter
Jun 21, 2017 | American Security News
To confront the issue of marine litter, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) recently sponsored a two-day “multi-stakeholder dialogue” in Newport, Rhode Island, where industry, government and environmental group representatives gathered to review and share perspectives. -
EPA Extends Time to Plan 10 Chemical Risk Assessments
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
The EPA is extending the time it will take to prepare its strategy to evaluate the risks of 10 chemicals and giving chemical manufacturers, states and other interested parties until Sept. 19 to comment on the problems the agency should examine. -
Critics Of Potential TCE Ban Fault EPA Cancer Risk, Seek New Data Review
Jun 20, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Dave Reynolds
Critics of EPA's proposed ban on certain uses of trichlorothylene (TCE) are faulting the Obama administration's conclusion that TCE causes human cancers and are calling on the Trump administration to assess new data from worker studies released since EPA's 2011 Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) review of the chemical. -
(ACC Mentioned) Hundreds Of Scientists Call For Caution On Anti-Microbial Chemical Use
Jun 21, 2017 | Environmental Health News
By Brian Bienkowski
Two ingredients used in thousands of products to kill bacteria, fungi and viruses linger in the environment and pose a risk to human health, according to a statement released today by more than 200 scientists and health professionals. -
Hundreds of Scientists Recommend Better Oversight of Germ-Killers
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tiffany Stecker
More than 200 scientists and health professionals are urging consumers to avoid two common germ-killers, while recommending that regulators better label products with the chemicals and evaluate the risks the substances may pose to health and the environment. -
Canada, US Seek Feedback On Managing Chemicals Of Concern
Jun 21, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
The governments of Canada and the US are soliciting feedback to inform the ongoing development of binational strategies for managing identified chemicals of mutual concern (CMC), including PCBs and HBCD. -
Lumber Liquidators Dodges Some Toxic Flooring Claims
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Lumber Liquidators won dismissal of some homeowners’ claims over alleged formaldehyde contamination in its Chinese-made laminated flooring products, but the Eastern District of Virginia declined June 20 to dismiss other allegations (In re Lumber Liquidators Chinese-Manufactured Flooring Prods. Mktg., Sales Practices & Prods. Liab. Litig., 2017 BL 210393, E.D. Va., No. 15-md-2627, 6/20/17). -
New Claims Against Monsanto in Consumer Lawsuit Over Roundup Herbicide
Jun 20, 2017 | EcoWatch
By Carey Gillam
Another day, another lawsuit against global seed and chemical giant Monsanto Co. In a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Wisconsin, six consumers alleged that the company's top-selling Roundup herbicide has been falsely promoted as uniquely safe when it actually can have profound harmful impacts on human gut bacteria critical to good health. -
Polymer Network Captures Drinking Water Contaminant
Jun 21, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Deirdre Lockwood
Long-chain perfluorinated chemicals contaminate millions of Americans’ drinking water. These compounds are a legacy of industrial pollution and the use of firefighting foam at military bases and airports; they persist in the environment because of their strong carbon-fluorine bonds. -
Canada Provisionally Clears 162 Substances In Draft Assessments
Jun 21, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Canada has proposed to conclude that 162 substances are not a threat to human health or the environment, based on the results of two draft screening assessments. -
EU Chemicals Agency Tightens Restrictions on Phthalates
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Gardner
A European Chemicals Agency committee adopted an opinion in favor of a wide-ranging restriction under the European Union's REACH law, which would have the effect of largely prohibiting four hazardous phthalates from consumer products sold in the bloc. -
German Speaking Countries Call For Nano Update Of REACH By 2020
Jun 21, 2017 | Chemical Watch
A call for nano-specific adaptations of the legal framework of REACH by 2020 was presented to a meeting of EU environment ministers on monday. -
(ACC Mentioned) Industry Groups Urge Senate Leaders to Vote on FERC Nominations
Jun 20, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By David Bradley
Thirty trade associations, including several representing the natural gas and oil industry, are urging Senate leaders to act quickly on President Trump's nominations to FERC. -
5 Hot Topics From Perry's Budget Testimony
Jun 21, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Christa Marshall and Sam Mintz
Energy Secretary Rick Perry yesterday left unanswered many questions about the fate of Department of Energy programs slated for deep cuts by the Trump administration. -
After Some 'Finesse,' Reform Bill Coming Soon — Murkowski
Jun 21, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Geof Koss
The leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will soon reintroduce a revised comprehensive energy package they hope will avoid the fate of last year's predecessor, which expired in the closing days of the 114th Congress after months of formal talks with the House collapsed. -
Expert: US Has Enough Ethane For Several More Major Cracker Plants
Jun 20, 2017 | Chem.Info
By Meagan Parrish
The U.S. is loaded with ethane. Lots of ethane. For the last few years, the shale boom has boosted the supply of ethane, the second largest component of natural gas, to a level far outpacing demand. -
Green Groups Critical Ahead of Trump Power Grid Report
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Patrick Martin and Ari Natter
Critics aren't waiting for opening night to pan a Trump administration study on the U.S. power grid they believe will demonize renewable energy while promoting coal and nuclear generation. -
Pipeline Agency Says It Won't Enforce Obama Gas Storage Regs
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Ari Natter
Regulations for natural gas storage sites put in place after the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak won't be enforced, PHMSA announced. -
Allnex Can't Escape Liability for Chemical Plant Cleanup
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Chemical manufacturer Allnex (Luxemborg) & Cy S.C.A. is on the hook for $35.1 million in cleanup costs for toxic spills at a chemical plant it bought from Cytec Industries Inc., the Southern District of New York ruled (Cytec Indus. Inc. v. Allnex (Luxembourg) & Cy S.C.A., 2017 BL 208769, S.D.N.Y., No. 14-cv-1561, 6/19/17). -
Pruitt 'Flouting' Limits On Authority, Enviros Tell Court
Jun 21, 2017 | E&E News PM
By Amanda Reilly
Environmental groups today made their final pitch to judges to restore Obama-era methane standards for the oil and gas industry. -
CASAC Appears Likely To Back EPA's SO2 Science Assessment
Jun 20, 2017 | Inside EPA
EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) appears likely to give its blessing to EPA's second draft integrated science assessment (ISA) for its review of federal sulfur dioxide (SO2) ambient air limits, after members, on a June 20 conference call, made only minor recommendations for revising the document. -
Oil Giants Back Carbon Tax Proposal
Jun 21, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Major oil companies are lining up behind an idea from former top Republicans to impose a tax on carbon dioxide emissions.
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Jun 20, 2017 | The Washington Post
By Chris Mooney and Juliet Eilperin
The Environmental Protection Agency has given notice to dozens of scientists that they will not be renewed in their roles in advising the agency, continuing a scientific shake-up that has already triggered resignations and charges from some researchers that the administration is politicizing the agency.
Members of the EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) whose terms end in August will not see them renewed, according to an email sent to members and obtained by The Washington Post, though they can reapply for their posts. Moreover, five meetings of subcommittees of the board, planned for the late summer and the fall, will now be canceled because of lack of membership. They will be held once the board is reconstituted, according to EPA officials.
“It effectively wipes out the BOSC and leaves it free for a complete reappointment,” said Deborah Swackhamer, the current chair of the board’s executive committee and an emeritus professor of environmental health sciences at the University of Minnesota.
That executive committee has only five remaining members, after a number of members whose terms were up earlier this year were not renewed. The board also has five subcommittees, but according to an email from Swackhamer, “with the latest information from EPA, 38 of the 49 remaining subcommittee members will not be renewed at the end of August.”
EPA officials said the fact that many advisers’ terms were ending provided an opportunity to reach out to a broad array of applicants and draw on their expertise.
“EPA is grateful for the service of all BOSC members, past and present, and has encouraged those with expiring terms to reapply,” said agency spokeswoman Amy Graham. “We are taking an inclusive approach to filling future BOSC appointments and welcome all applicants from all relevant scientific and technical fields.”
The announcement, sent from acting assistant administrator of the Office of Research and Development Robert Kavlock, said that members can reapply but have a June 30 deadline to do so.
Members are appointed to three-year terms, but they are traditionally renewed for another term if they choose to continue serving. Officials in the previous administration had told several advisers they should expect to serve longer than one term, but that is not dictated under board rules.
“To be renewed for a second term is usually anticipated, expected, and the only time you might not serve a second term is if your expertise was no longer needed,” Swackhamer said.
The EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors advises the agency’s Office of Research and Development, which is being targeted for extremely deep budget cuts, on whether the research it does has sufficient rigor and integrity and addresses important scientific questions.
Peter Meyer, an economist with the E.P. Systems Group who had already resigned publiclyfrom the board’s sustainable and healthy communities subcommittee to protest the ongoing shake-up, said that he and his colleagues had thought they would be staying on.
“We were told quite explicitly by the leadership of the sustainable and healthy communities group … that our assignment was a four-to-five-year assignment,” Meyer said. “That was what we were told at our first meeting. That produces an assumption that you’re going to get reappointed so that you can complete the job.”
Scott Openshaw, a spokesman for the American Chemistry Council, which represents the chemical industry, said in an email that the turnover would address his group’s and others’ “concerns in the past that EPA advisory boards did not include a diversity of views and therefore frequently presented a biased perspective on issues before them.”
“All stakeholders, industry and consumers, benefit by ensuring regulations are based on the best science available,” he added. “We are hopeful Administrator Pruitt’s actions will help to ensure regulatory decisions are based on the highest quality science, enhance accountability, create greater balance, more transparency and fewer conflicts of interest on EPA advisory boards.”
Meyer, however, said that he fears the goal is to clear out the membership of these boards so that new members can be appointed, perhaps those who are more favorable to the communities actually being regulated by the EPA.
Elena Craft, a researcher based at the advocacy group Environmental Defense Fund who serves on a subcommittee of the board focused on air, climate and energy, also said she received the notice Monday.
“It’s just, yet another example of the administration’s disregard for independent scientific counsel, on issues that are critically important to the nation,” Craft said. She added that her subcommittee was scheduled to meet in September, but that’s now off.
“This gives me a great deal of concern about the erosion of science in this administration,” said Robert Richardson, an ecological economist and associate professor in Michigan State University’s Department of Community Sustainability, who co-chaired one of the BOSC subcommittees and was let go earlier this spring. “It’s hard to understand the rationale behind a decision like this. I understand they might simply want to repopulate [the board] with people of their own choosing. However, this could also be a way of just weakening advisory boards, of diminishing their role by not replacing members.”
Richardson said other colleagues had contacted him this week about the news that the EPA would not renew the terms of dozens of additional scientific advisers to the agency.
“I don’t think anybody is terribly surprised,” he said. “[Trump officials] have been clear that they intend to wipe all these slates clean. They want no continuity from any decisions that were made by the previous administration, even nonpolitical decisions.”
Richardson said serving as an effective outsider adviser to the EPA comes with a “steep learning curve” and that over the years he and his colleagues had worked hard during their years on the board to build a rapport with EPA’s Office of Research and Development and to serve the agency effectively.
“All that knowledge will be lost,” he said.
Pruitt has taken a deep interest in what scientific questions the EPA should be exploring in the coming years, according to his aides, and a transformation of the board could make a shift in focus easier to carry out. Many Republicans have criticized the agency for devoting too much of its resources toward climate change in recent years, as opposed to more traditional environmental threats.
This appears to be just the start of advisory committee changes at the EPA. The agency’s Science Advisory Board (SAB) and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) also likely will be changed in the future.
One senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing conversations, said that a segment of the Scientific Advisory Board rotates off each year and the agency will issue a Federal Register notice in the next couple of weeks that will invite applicants to replace those members whose terms are expiring.
“EPA is currently deliberating next steps for the SAB and CASAC,” said one senior agency official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because no final decision has been made.
Brady Dennis contributed to this report.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/06/20/trump-administration-to-decline-to-renew-dozens-of-scientists-for-key-epa-advisory-board/?utm_term=.4734d4dd1d4a
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(ACC Mentioned) American Chemistry Council Hosts Gathering To Discuss Plastics, Marine Litter
Jun 21, 2017 | American Security News
To confront the issue of marine litter, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) recently sponsored a two-day “multi-stakeholder dialogue” in Newport, Rhode Island, where industry, government and environmental group representatives gathered to review and share perspectives.
Steve Russell, vice president of the ACC’s plastics division, issued a statement on behalf of the council, which represents U.S. plastics manufacturers, prior to the event.
“We look forward to holding this Marine Debris Dialogue and to hearing from a range of different perspectives on understanding and solving the complex problem of ocean trash,” Russell said in a release. “We are honored to have leading experts from government, environmental NGOs, and private sector innovators offering to share, listen and learn from each other.”
"Plastics makers fully agree that plastics don’t belong in our oceans, and solving marine litter demands our passion, our commitment, our best minds, and most of all, our cooperation," he said in the release.
Russell welcomed speakers and participants from the environmental community, identifying Algalita Marine Research and Education, As You Sow, Keep America Beautiful, Ocean Conservancy, The 5 Gyres Institute, Upstream, World Animal Protection, World Wildlife Federation, Clean Water Access and The Story of Stuff, among others in attendance.
Russell underscored ACC’s commitment to finding solutions for marine litter. In 2011, ACC co-founded a global initiative to protect the oceans called the Declaration of the Global Plastics Associations for Solutions on Marine Litter. Thus far 70, plastics industry stakeholders from 35 nations have joined the group in an effort to reduce plastic waste in our oceans.
“We know there’s much more to be done, and our efforts to improve materials management in the U.S. and around the world will continue,” Russell said in the release.
http://americansecuritynews.com/stories/511130232-american-chemistry-council-hosts-gathering-to-discuss-plastics-marine-litter
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EPA Extends Time to Plan 10 Chemical Risk Assessments
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
The EPA is extending the time it will take to prepare its strategy to evaluate the risks of 10 chemicals and giving chemical manufacturers, states and other interested parties until Sept. 19 to comment on the problems the agency should examine.
The Environmental Protection Agency is scheduled to release on June 22 risk “scoping” documents explaining its strategy to evaluate asbestos, five solvents, three other chemicals and one group of flame retardants. Those documents were expected to highlight the health and environmental concerns, as well as the chemical uses and exposures, that the EPA plans to consider as part of the assessments.
The EPA has announced, however, that it is inviting public comment on information “that could be useful to the agency in conducting problem formulation, the next step in the process of conducting the required risk evaluations for these chemicals.” The EPA's memo does not explain what would be in a scoping versus a problem formulation document.
The Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, which overhauled the Toxic Substances Control Act in 2016, required the EPA to prepare scoping documents describing the issues it would address, but it did not specifically require the EPA to prepare problem formulation documents.
The U.S. Chamber of Comments, however, has said “a well-developed problem formulation docket with stakeholder input for is critical for the first 10 substances.”
The 10 chemicals the EPA will evaluate are:
• asbestos;
• pigment violet 29, which is used to provide color to art, glass and other decorative materials;
• 1,4-dioxane, an impurity that can occur during chemical manufacture;
• the cyclic aliphatic bromide cluster of flame retardants called HBCD;
• carbon tetrachloride, which is used to make other chemicals; and
• 1-bromopropane, methylene chloride, n-methylpyrrolidone, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene, all of which are solvents.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=114578213&vname=dennotallissues&fn=114578213&jd=114578213
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Critics Of Potential TCE Ban Fault EPA Cancer Risk, Seek New Data Review
Jun 20, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Dave Reynolds
Critics of EPA's proposed ban on certain uses of trichlorothylene (TCE) are faulting the Obama administration's conclusion that TCE causes human cancers and are calling on the Trump administration to assess new data from worker studies released since EPA's 2011 Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) review of the chemical.
The Halogenated Solvents Industry Alliance, Inc. (HSIA), representing producers and users of TCE, has long faulted EPA oversight of TCE, especially the 2011 IRIS assessment's conclusion that TCE poses a risk of cardiac birth defects. But in a recent request to the agency, HSIA also targets EPA's finding of a cancer risk, citing new studies of worker risks that do not find a risk of kidney cancer.
In a May 26 request for reconsideration of HSIA's 2015 request for correction that EPA rejected last year, HSIA faults the agency's June 2014 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) “workplan” assessment that is the basis of proposed bans on TCE use in vapor degreasing and as a spot remover in dry cleaning.
The Obama EPA rejected HSIA's Oct. 6, 2015 request for correction on the work plan assessment in November. HSIA filed both the original request and the request for reconsideration under the Information Quality Act (IQA). The IQA allows groups to challenge the quality of federal data, though judges have denied suits over petition responses under the Administrative Procedure Act on grounds the responses are not "final" agency actions.
The renewed request appears to be the first IQA petition filed with EPA since Administrator Scott Pruitt took the helm so the agency's response could provide insight into how EPA under the Trump administration will field such requests. The Trump EPA is also considering IQA petitions filed at the end of the Obama administration.
In its renewing the request to the Trump administration, HSIA -- which earlier in May filed comments critical of the proposed TCA ban -- reiterates past arguments that EPA's June 2014 assessment, “Trichloroethylene: Degreasing, Spot Cleaning and Arts & Crafts Uses” relies on a flawed study, fails to adequately consider comments of peer reviewers, and is insufficient in scope to support a section 6 ban under TSCA.
HSIA asks that EPA set aside the 2014 TSCA review and consider the group's criticism of the agency's past assessments of TCE's risks as part of a broader review of the substance that the agency plans to conduct under the recently-revised TSCA.
In December, EPA announced the first 10 existing chemicals the agency will assess using new authorities for regulating existing chemicals, or those that were on the market when the original TSCA was enacted in 1976. Under the original law, these chemicals were largely grandfathered, a concern that critics sought to address in the updates to the statute which former President Barack Obama signed into law last June.
HSIA's Criticisms
HSIA lodged the May 26 request for reconsideration a week after filing its critical comments on EPA's proposed ban on uses of TCE as a vapor degreaser, arguing that the proposal does not meet legal requirements of the revised TSCA and should be withdrawn.
In comments, HSIA argued that the proposed ban fails to comply with requirements of the 2016 reforms to TSCA, which allow EPA to propose and finalize TSCA Section 6(a) rules that are consistent with the scope of the completed risk assessment. HSIA said that the proposed ban on use of TCE as a vapor degreaser addresses a broader scope of the uses than were considered in the workplan assessment and also faults other aspects of the review.
HSIA's request for reconsideration under the IQA largely mirrors the group's comments on the proposed ban. The group faults the workplan assessment's reliance on the agency's 2011 IRIS assessment for TCE, including its characterization of TCE as carcinogenic to humans. HSIA calls that finding erroneous, arguing it is inconsistent with a National Academy of Sciences report that found “only limited or suggestive evidence” of a risk of human cancer.
HSIA urges EPA to assess studies of worker exposures that were not considered in the 2011 IRIS assessment that fail to find a link to kidney cancer. “Lipworth and coworkers (2011) found no evidence of increased kidney cancer in a large worker cohort with multiple decades of TCE exposure and extended cancer follow-up evaluations,” HSIA says.
“More recently, two large Nordic country epidemiological studies, both of which had extensive follow-up of the cohorts, have likewise failed to find an association between TCE and kidney cancer,” the group adds.
HSIA also faults the Obama administration's November denial of its 2015 request for correction, arguing that EPA did not adequately respond to HSIA's criticism that the workplan assessment was merely a screening level assessment that should not support regulation.
“The denial of the Request for Correction consisted largely of conclusory statements with little factual or analytical support,” HSIA says. “HSIA urges EPA to grant our Request for Reconsideration and to defer consideration of
the issues raised herein for its development of the mandated risk assessment for TCE pursuant to TSCA 6(b)(2)(A).”
The group adds, “[T]his approach will allow serious data quality concerns with the June 2014 Work Plan Assessment to be addressed.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/critics-potential-tce-ban-fault-epa-cancer-risk-seek-new-data-review
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(ACC Mentioned) Hundreds Of Scientists Call For Caution On Anti-Microbial Chemical Use
Jun 21, 2017 | Environmental Health News
By Brian Bienkowski
Two ingredients used in thousands of products to kill bacteria, fungi and viruses linger in the environment and pose a risk to human health, according to a statement released today by more than 200 scientists and health professionals.
The scientists say the possible benefits in most uses of triclosan and triclocarban—used in some soaps, toothpastes, detergents, paints, carpets—are not worth the risk. The statement, published today in the Environmental Health Perspectives journal, urges “the international community to limit the production and use of triclosan and triclocarban and to question the use of other antimicrobials.”
They also call for warning labels on any product containing triclosan and triclocarban and for bolstered research of the chemicals' environmental toll.
The statement says evidence that the compounds are accumulating in water, land, wildlife and humans is sufficient to merit action.
“We want to draw attention to the increasing use of antimicrobials in a lot of products,” said Dr. Ted Schettler, science director of the Science and Environmental Health Network and one of the signatories of the statement. “Triclosan and triclocarban rose to the top because they’ve been in use for so long and exposures are so widespread.”
The chemicals are used to kills microbes such as bacteria and viruses that make people ill. However, both chemicals affect animals’ hormone systems, causing reproductive and development problems. And there is nascent evidence that the impacts may extend to humans as well—having been linked to reduced growth of fetuses, earlier births, and lower head circumference in boys at birth.
The compounds are used in an estimated 2,000 products but are being phased out of some uses. In February the EU banned triclosan in hygiene products. U.S. manufacturers are phasing out triclosan from hand soaps after the Food and Drug Administration banned it last year amid concerns that the compound disrupted the body's hormone systems.
The FDA noted in the restriction that antibacterial hand soaps were no more effective than non-antibacterial soap and water at preventing illness.
“Triclosan and triclocarban have been permitted for years without definitive proof they’re providing benefits,” said Avery Lindeman, deputy director of the Green Policy Institute and one of the signatories of the statement. The compounds, she added, serve as little more than a “marketing ploy” for many products, such as antimicrobial cutting boards and socks.
Despite soap bans, triclosan remains in Colgate Total toothpaste, some cleaning products and cosmetics. More worrisome, Lindeman said some manufactures of personal care products are simply substituting other antimicrobials for triclosan—some of which may pose the same risks to people and the environment.
Triclosan and triclocarban also show up in odd places, such as building products, Schettler said. “Some building materials are subject to microbial degradation, attacked by things like fungi that break them down, so manufacturers will put antimicrobials in there to reduce the risk,” he said.
Because of the widespread use, most people have some levels of triclosan in them. A 2008 study of U.S. residents found it in the urine of about 75 percent of people tested.
Once the compounds get into the environment, they don’t readily go away. Researchers have detected triclosan and triclocarban in water and sediment all over the world—including drinking water, oceans and streams. The U.S. Geological Survey found triclosan in 60 percent of U.S. streams. Studies have shown triclosan toxic to some algae, fish and other crustaceans.
The compounds impact hormones in animal studies. And there’s evidence that they may do the same to developing babies. Properly functioning hormones are critical for babies’ proper development. Last month Brown University researchers reported that mothers’ triclosan exposure during pregnancy was linked to lower birth weights, smaller heads and earlier births. They also found that as the children aged, triclosan levels spiked after they brush their teeth or wash their hands.
In addition to endocrine disruption concerns, Lindeman and other signers outline two other potential human health impacts from exposure to triclosan: heightened sensitivity to allergens, and antibiotic resistance.
Large studies of children in the United States and Norway have linked triclosan to allergies and worsening asthma. And there is evidence bacteria that develop resistance to triclosan also become resistant to other antibacterial compounds.
Companies such as Colgate have defended triclosan use. The American Chemistry Council, which represents chemical manufacturers, declined to comment on the statement.
The authors of the statement recognize the need for antimicrobials and didn’t call for a total ban, Schettler said. Toothpastes with triclosan can help people with gum disease and in hospitals it is crucial to have such germ-killing soaps for pre-surgery and to use around people with immune system problems, he said.
But the everyday use could be curbed, he added, and the hope is the statement starts a broader conversation.
“Whether it will have an influence on the policy level remains to be seen, but a lot can come together through consumer interest and concerns causing manufacturers to slowly shift directions,” Schettler said.
http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/ehs/news/2017/june/triclosan-warning
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Hundreds of Scientists Recommend Better Oversight of Germ-Killers
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tiffany Stecker
More than 200 scientists and health professionals are urging consumers to avoid two common germ-killers, while recommending that regulators better label products with the chemicals and evaluate the risks the substances may pose to health and the environment.
The federal government has not gone far enough to protect consumers from triclosan and triclocarban, antimicrobial chemicals used in toothpaste, soaps, clothing, and building materials, the scientists said. The chemicals can accelerate the development of antibiotic-resistant microbes, disrupt hormonal function, and break down into toxic and potentially carcinogenic substances in the environment. The scientists also questioned whether antimicrobial use is always the solution for keeping disease at bay.
“Customers may think added antimicrobials are a way to reduce infections, but in most products, there is no evidence that they do,” Ted Schettler, science director of the Science and Environmental Health Network, said in a statement.
The Food and Drug Administration published a final rule Sept. 6, 2016—that will go into effect one year later—that banned triclosan, triclocarban, and 17 other chemicals for use in antiseptic wash products. But the rule doesn't go far enough, according to the statement.
The scientists recommended that consumers avoid the use of triclosan, triclocarban, and other antimicrobial chemicals except when there is evidence of a health benefit; use alternative antimicrobials when disinfectants are necessary; and label products containing triclosan, triclocarban, and other antimicrobials. They also called for scientific agencies to evaluate the safety of the chemicals throughout the entire product life cycle.
A spokesman for the American Cleaning Institute, whose members make products with the antimicrobials, called the statement outdated and said it doesn't reflect the current science and regulation of the chemicals.
“Consumers can continue to use these products with confidence,” Brian Sansoni, ACI's vice president of sustainability initiatives told Bloomberg BNA in an email. Manufacturers of antibacterial soaps began phasing out use of triclosan and triclocarban years before the FDA's final rule. Soap makers are using other antibacterial ingredients and submitting safety and efficacy data to the FDA, Sansoni said.
The Florence Statement on Triclosan and Triclocarban, a consensus agreement signed at the 36th International Symposium on Halogenated Persistent Organic Pollutants in Florence, Italy, was published June 20 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=114578212&vname=dennotallissues&fn=114578212&jd=114578212
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Canada, US Seek Feedback On Managing Chemicals Of Concern
Jun 21, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
The governments of Canada and the US are soliciting feedback to inform the ongoing development of binational strategies for managing identified chemicals of mutual concern (CMC), including PCBs and HBCD.
The work comes under the CMC annex of the 2012 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which outlines the countries' commitments to protecting human health and the environment "through cooperative and coordinated measures to reduce the anthropogenic release of chemicals of mutual concern into the waters of the Great Lakes".
Last year, Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) and the US EPA agreed the following list of CMCs:
· hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD);
· polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs);
· polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs);
· perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA);
· perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS);
· long-chain perfluorocarboxylic acids (LC-PFCAs);
· mercury; and
· short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs).
Agencies, organisations and individuals have an opportunity to provide "any relevant information" for possible inclusion in the work.
HBCD, PCB risk management strategies
The governments have also issued two draft risk management strategies, covering PCBs and HBCD, as a pilot.
Each of these lays out risk mitigation options for achieving human health or environmental benefits, or for improving the understanding of the substance’s sources, environmental fate and effects.
One approach outlined for HBCD, for example, calls for evaluating alternatives substances for use in XPS and EPA foam and in specialty fabrics, and ensuring that the environmental impacts of these alternatives are well understood.
And in the case of PCBs, the draft strategy calls for revisiting existing risk management measures to ensure they reflect the most current scientific knowledge. This includes determining whether levels of PCBs in consumer products "can and should be regulated".
Additional strategies cover compliance enforcement, pollution prevention and monitoring and surveillance, among others.
The two nations will host webinars on 28 June and 13 July to answer questions and receive comments on the PCB and HBCD draft strategies.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57061/canada-us-seek-feedback-on-managing-chemicals-of-concern
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Lumber Liquidators Dodges Some Toxic Flooring Claims
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Lumber Liquidators won dismissal of some homeowners’ claims over alleged formaldehyde contamination in its Chinese-made laminated flooring products, but the Eastern District of Virginia declined June 20 to dismiss other allegations (In re Lumber Liquidators Chinese-Manufactured Flooring Prods. Mktg., Sales Practices & Prods. Liab. Litig., 2017 BL 210393, E.D. Va., No. 15-md-2627, 6/20/17).
Some plaintiffs didn't prove they actually relied on alleged misrepresentations that the laminated flooring products complied with California's formaldehyde limits, the court said in granting a partial summary judgment to the company.
Lumber Liquidators didn't fare as well on its related assertion that homeowners couldn't sue on a theory that the alleged misrepresentations affected the price tag of the flooring they purchased.
Case law on the plaintiffs’ “price distortion” theory is mixed, but here enough evidence existed to give them standing to sue, the court said.
Nor was the court convinced that each homeowner had to prove that the California Air Resources Board—the regulatory body that oversees the state's formaldehyde standards—tested the flooring in their homes to establish that formaldehyde limits had been exceeded.
Other allegations by specific plaintiffs alleging warranty and state unfair trade practices violations also survived.
The plaintiffs in the would-be class action seek restitution for the cost of Lumber Liquidators flooring products, an injunction barring the company from engaging in “unlawful, unfair and fraudulent business practices,” and individual and class action damages.
U.S. District Judge Anthony J. Trenga wrote the opinion.
Representation of the plaintiffs included the law offices of Whitfield, Bryson & Mason, as well as Parker Waichman.
Representation of Lumber Liquidators included Nilan Johnson Lewis, as well as Hodges, Doughty & Carson, and Hesse Martone.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=114578231&vname=dennotallissues&fn=114578231&jd=114578231
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New Claims Against Monsanto in Consumer Lawsuit Over Roundup Herbicide
Jun 20, 2017 | EcoWatch
By Carey Gillam
Another day, another lawsuit against global seed and chemical giant Monsanto Co. In a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court in Wisconsin, six consumers alleged that the company's top-selling Roundup herbicide has been falsely promoted as uniquely safe when it actually can have profound harmful impacts on human gut bacteria critical to good health.
The lawsuit, which also names Roundup distributor Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. as a defendant, specifically alleges that consumers are being deceived by inaccurate and misleading statements made by Monsanto regarding glyphosate, the active weed-killing ingredient in Roundup. Plaintiffs include residents of Wisconsin, Illinois, California, New York, New Jersey and Florida.
Glyphosate, which Monsanto introduced as an herbicide in 1974 and is widely used in growing food crops, has been promoted for years as a chemical that kills plants by targeting an enzyme that is not found in people or pets. The lawsuit claims that assertion is false, however, and argues that research shows glyphosate can target an enzyme found in gut bacteria in people and animals, disrupting the immune system, digestion and "even brain function."
"Defendants repeat these false and misleading representations throughout their marketing, including in video advertisements produced for their websites and YouTube Channel," states the lawsuit, which is filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Monsanto did not respond to a request for comment and neither did Scotts. Monsanto is currently defending itself against nationwide claims that Roundup has caused hundreds of people to suffer from a type of blood cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma. More than 1,100 plaintiffs have lawsuits pending in state and federal courts with many of the lawsuits combined in multi-district litigation in federal court in San Francisco. Those lawsuits were triggered by a 2015 decision by the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) to classify glyphosate as a probable human carcinogen. IARC said research showed an association between non-Hodgkin lymphoma and glyphosate, with limited evidence from epidemiology data collected on humans and stronger evidence seen in laboratory animals exposed to glyphosate.
The lawsuit filed in Wisconsin is markedly different from the Roundup cancer claims, though some of the same attorneys are involved in both lines of litigation. Plaintiffs do not claim physical injury; rather they claim violations of trade and business practices laws, and allege Monsanto and Scotts were "unjustly enriched" as plaintiffs purchased and paid for more Roundup products than they would have in absence of the alleged false promotions.
https://www.ecowatch.com/glyphosate-lawsuit-wisconsin-2445162053.html
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Polymer Network Captures Drinking Water Contaminant
Jun 21, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Deirdre Lockwood
Long-chain perfluorinated chemicals contaminate millions of Americans’ drinking water. These compounds are a legacy of industrial pollution and the use of firefighting foam at military bases and airports; they persist in the environment because of their strong carbon-fluorine bonds. Now scientists have designed a cross-linked polymer that might more effectively remove one of the more prevalent and harmful of these compounds, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2017, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b02381).
PFOA—used to make coatings, including DuPont’s Teflon—was phased out by U.S. manufacturers in 2015 at the request of the Environmental Protection Agency. In humans, epidemiological studies have linked chronic exposure to PFOA with cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, and other health issues, and low levels of exposure with immunotoxicity in children. Studies in animals have additionally linked the compound with negative effects on fetal development.
The evidence led the EPA in 2016 to set the health advisory level in drinking water at 70 ppt for PFOA and a related chemical, perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), individually or in combination. However, some researchers suggest safe levels may be 1 ppt and below (New Solut. 2015, DOI: 10.1177/1048291115590506). The two chemicals have been found at levels over 20 ppt in 162 drinking water systems used by about 15 million people in 27 U.S. states, according to a recent report by the nonprofit Environmental Working Group and Northeastern University.
To purge these perfluorinated chemicals from water, engineers primarily use granular activated carbon as an adsorbent. But the material has limitations. “Almost anything organic sticks to it,” including other pollutants and components of natural organic matter, such as humic acid, says William R. Dichtel of Northwestern University. Once that happens, the activated carbon usually needs to be replaced. And the material does not have particularly high affinity for PFOA, so it’s inefficient at trapping the pollutant. Other options for removing these compounds include reverse osmosis, which is much more expensive than activated carbon, and anion-exchange resins, which are still at the experimental stage for this application, according to Christopher P. Higgins, an environmental engineer at the Colorado School of Mines.
Now Dichtel, Damian E. Helbling of Cornell University, and colleagues have developed an alternative adsorbent: a cross-linked cyclodextrin polymer with much higher affinity for PFOA than activated carbon. It also tends not to clog up with humic acid and can be regenerated with a methanol rinse.
β-Cyclodextrin—made of a ring of seven glucose molecules—has an inner hydrophobic pocket that is the right size to trap hydrophobic micropollutants such as pesticides and pharmaceuticals. Cyclodextrins have been studied as water purification agents and are used in the product Febreze to trap odor compounds.
Dichtel’s group previously made polymers of β-cyclodextrin by incorporating rigid aromatic cross-linkers; the resulting high-surface-area material could trap a wide range of micropollutants (Environ. Sci. Technol. 2017, DOI: 10.1021/acs.est.7b00906). But this system didn’t capture PFOA well. So they tweaked it using a cross-linker containing multiple fluorines—a decafluorobiphenyl group—counting on the tendency of fluorinated substances to stick together.
The researchers tested the polymer by adding it to water at 10 mg/L with 1 ppb PFOA, a level similar to that found in contaminated groundwater near some former industrial sites. The polymer removed 93% of the PFOA, bringing its concentration down to less than 10 ppt, below the EPA’s health advisory level. In comparison, activated carbon removed only 56% of the PFOA.
The researchers still have to design a practical system to continuously treat water with the soluble polymer, possibly by attaching the material to a solid substrate like a cloth or filter. Dichtel and others have started up the company CycloPure to develop and commercialize the technology. The polymer would likely cost more than activated carbon by weight, Dichtel says, “but the idea is that we will be able to use less and regenerate our polymer.”
Higgins, who was not involved in the study, calls it “really important,” especially if it can be adapted to treat other compounds like PFOS—something the team is now testing. “It’s certainly going to help us move forward with alternative technologies for water treatment of these compounds,” he says.
Higgins notes that he has some reservations about the method’s use of one highly fluorinated material to clean up another, because of the chance that the adsorbents themselves could contaminate the environment. However, he adds, water treatment facilities would have control of these adsorbent materials, and their aromatic fluorinated structure would be easier to treat and break down than PFOA if they were accidentally released.
https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/web/2017/06/Polymer-network-captures-drinking-water.html
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Canada Provisionally Clears 162 Substances In Draft Assessments
Jun 21, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Canada has proposed to conclude that 162 substances are not a threat to human health or the environment, based on the results of two draft screening assessments.
In the first, the government combined results from two large-scale risk assessments to provisionally clear 74 substances. In the second, it has proposed to find safe 88 of 171 assessed substances based on expected human exposure.Combined results
Last year, Canada conducted an environmental risk assessment of 640 substances, concluding that 542 were of low concern.
Separately, it conducted human health risk assessments of 237 substances, using the threshold of toxicological concern concept. It found 89 of these substances were of low concern.
Across the two reviews, 74 substances appeared in both ‘low-concern’ groups. Consequently a new draft screening assessment proposes that these are not harmful under paragraph 64 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (Cepa).
The government is considering follow-up activities for 36 of the substances, to track changes in exposure or commercial use patterns because of potential concerns if exposure were to increase.Expected human exposure
A second new draft screening assessment looks at a further 171 substances that are candidates for a rapid screening approach because direct exposure to humans is not anticipated.
Of these, human exposure is expected to be ‘negligible’ for 99. Within this group, the government has identified 11 substances for further evaluation, based on concern about environmental risks.
Such risks were found to be of either moderate or low concern for the remaining 88. Consequently the draft assessment proposes to conclude that these substances are not harmful under paragraph 64 of Cepa.
There may, however, be a concern for human health and/or for the environment if exposure to 60 of these substances were to increase, so the government is considering follow-up activities to track use changes.
The government has initiated a 60-day public consultation period on the two assessments. Interested parties have until 16 and 9 August, respectively, to submit comments.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57051/canada-provisionally-clears-162-substances-in-draft-assessments
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EU Chemicals Agency Tightens Restrictions on Phthalates
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Gardner
A European Chemicals Agency committee adopted an opinion in favor of a wide-ranging restriction under the European Union's REACH law, which would have the effect of largely prohibiting four hazardous phthalates from consumer products sold in the bloc.
The phthalates that would be affected by the ban and the restriction are benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and diisobutyl phthalate (DIBP).
Use of the four phthalates has been banned in the EU since 2015 under REACH (Regulation No. 1907/2006 on the registration, evaluation, and authorization of chemicals) on the basis that the substances are toxic to reproduction, ECHA's Socio-Economic Analysis Committee said June 20. Under REACH, companies can obtain specific continued-use authorizations for the phthalates if they can prove there are no viable alternatives and the substances can be used safely.
The REACH restriction would reinforce the substance ban by prohibiting on the EU market consumer products that contain the phthalates in a concentration greater than 0.1 percent by weight. The phthalates are used as plasticizers and the restriction would potentially affect a range of imported items made from, or that contain, soft plastic, such as vinyl flooring, cables, footwear, and office equipment. Some specialized uses, such as in laboratory equipment, would be exempted from the restriction.
Following the committee's opinion on the phthalates, the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, will adopt a formal decision on the restriction. The restriction will come into force three years after the commission's decision is finalized.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=114578218&vname=dennotallissues&fn=114578218&jd=114578218
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German Speaking Countries Call For Nano Update Of REACH By 2020
Jun 21, 2017 | Chemical Watch
A call for nano-specific adaptations of the legal framework of REACH by 2020 was presented to a meeting of EU environment ministers on monday.
The request, made by Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, was among the recommendations set out in a ‘Vienna Declaration’, adopted at the latest annual meeting of the Nano-Authorities Dialogue.
These were "taken note of" by the ministers at the EU Environment Council meeting in Luxembourg.
Three years ago, environment ministers from Germany, Austria and Luxembourg were among a large group which urged the European Commission to hurry and update REACH to take fuller account of nanomaterials. However, a formal proposal from the Commission has yet to emerge.
The five countries also said that "uniform and sound testing and detection techniques, measuring methods and criteria are indispensable to assess the potential health and environmental risks presented by nanomaterials", and that "the elements already covered by the OECD need to be applied swiftly in a legally binding manner".
The Nano-Authorities Dialogue is a forum established in 2007 by Swiss-based consultancy the Innovation Society.
https://chemicalwatch.com/57078/german-speaking-countries-call-for-nano-update-of-reach-by-2020
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(ACC Mentioned) Industry Groups Urge Senate Leaders to Vote on FERC Nominations
Jun 20, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By David Bradley
Thirty trade associations, including several representing the natural gas and oil industry, are urging Senate leaders to act quickly on President Trump's nominations to FERC.
"We ask you to schedule votes" to confirm nominees to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission “to fill the existing vacancies as soon as possible," the associations wrote in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) dated June 20.
"Robust energy infrastructure creates jobs, improves safety and spurs domestic investment, and these benefits are placed in jeopardy when FERC seats are left empty. Restoring a quorum at FERC is a bold step toward a stronger future, and we ask that you do so as quickly as possible."
FERC has been without a quorum since January, when President Trump named Cheryl LaFleur acting chairman and Norman Bay, who had been at the helm since April 2015, submitted his resignation. There are currently three empty seats at FERC and the expected exit of Colette Honorable at the end of this month would leave the ostensibly five-member panel with a single member -- LaFleur.
The Interstate Natural Gas Association of America (INGAA), which was one of the signatories of the letter, has estimated that about $15 billion of shovel-ready, natural gas pipeline projects have been sidelined by FERC's lack of quorum.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee gave its approval two weeks ago to Trump's FERC nominees -- Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson -- but they must be confirmed by the full Senate before taking office. Their nominations were placed on the Senate Executive Calendar June 6, but no votes have been scheduled.
President Trump nominated Chatterjee, a longtime energy policy adviser to McConnell, for the term expiring June 30, 2021, that was previously held by Tony Clark, who left FERC last September. Powelson, a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, was nominated for a term expiring June 30, 2020, that was previously held by Philip Moeller, who left FERC in October 2015. Powelson serves as the president of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and is on the Electric Power Research Institute advisory board.
There is some question about the likelihood of LaFleur remaining at the helm at FERC, since she is a Democrat and Trump and his nominees are Republicans. There have been reports that Trump plans to nominate Kevin McIntyre, an attorney with law firm Jones Day, to FERC and install him as the new chairman. McIntyre currently serves as co-head of the firm's global energy practice.
There have also been published reports that Rich Glick, a staff member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and former vice president at Iberdrola, will be nominated to FERC.
By law, no more than three members of FERC may be from the same political party.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Ranking Member Maria Cantwell (D-WA) have expressed their frustration at the continuing lack of a quorum at FERC.
Trade groups signing the letter Tuesday included the American Chemistry Council, American Gas Association, American Petroleum Institute, Association of Oil Pipe Lines, Independent Petroleum Association of America, INGAA, Natural Gas Supply Association and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/110843-industry-groups-urge-senate-leaders-to-vote-on-ferc-nominations
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5 Hot Topics From Perry's Budget Testimony
Jun 21, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Christa Marshall and Sam Mintz
Energy Secretary Rick Perry yesterday left unanswered many questions about the fate of Department of Energy programs slated for deep cuts by the Trump administration.
In the hot seat before the House Energy and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee, which is considering the agency's $28 billion request for fiscal 2018, Perry defended the controversial funding proposal.
"We may not get every program ... to be funded at the level you want to be funded," Perry said during one exchange about proposed cuts.
But he offered few specifics on many key topics of discussion, such as how to advance Yucca Mountain or find a middle ground with lawmakers opposed to planned cuts for nuclear, efficiency, renewable and fossil fuel programs.
After DOE recently confirmed it was shuttering its international climate office and Perry questioned in a TV interview this week with CNBC whether carbon dioxide was the main cause of warming, Perry also said little about climate change yesterday.
What was clear was that nuclear power and fusion programs are a focus of many Republicans on the committee.
"I do have some concerns about cuts to the fusion program and to certain aspects of nuclear energy," said Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), House Appropriations Committee chairman.
Here are five topics that were the focus of the hearing:Nuclear waste
Perry was often pulled into the ongoing and fierce debate over nuclear waste.
He said it is a "moral" obligation to advance the long-stalled Yucca Mountain, Nev., nuclear repository project and warned there could be a Fukushima-style nuclear disaster without a resolution to the issue.
The former Texas governor reiterated his and the administration's support for Yucca Mountain, calling it the "proper place for long-term storage."
"We have a moral and national security obligation to come up with a long-term solution, finding the safest repositories available," he said. "I understand this is a politically sensitive topic for some, but we can no longer kick the can down the road."
His agency has requested $120 million to resume the licensing process for Yucca Mountain, and some members of Congress, eager to get waste out of reactors in their states, have pushed forward as well. But the state of Nevada and its congressional delegation, which see the site as a danger to public health, have strongly opposed the project for decades, successfully stalling its implementation.
What Perry could not answer yesterday was how to solve the ongoing political stalemate between proposals in the House and Senate.
A bill introduced by Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) in the House would move forward with Yucca Mountain and require a final authorization on the project before allowing DOE to contract with an interim storage firm. Meanwhile, a Senate alternative from a bipartisan quartet of senior legislators would require states to give consent for a repository, likely ruling out the Nevada site, and allow an interim storage solution to advance simultaneously with a permanent one (E&E Daily, June 8).
While the Energy secretary did not wade into specific legislative language, he did express support for using interim storage as work on Yucca Mountain resumes.
"We could do, and should do, interim storage as we're working towards standing Yucca Mountain back up and getting it operational and following the law," he said.National labs
The national laboratories "are the future of innovation in this country," Perry said. "I have been in awe at the diverse scope of the department's mission."
He called the labs "national treasures" and repeatedly said he would ensure they are funded at levels needed to help the economy and maintain jobs. He praised programs such as DOE's recent initiative to combine lab computing with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Yet, President Trump's budget proposal would reduce funding at the Office of Science by about 17 percent. It also would cut research at the Office of Fossil Energy by more than half, from $668 million to $280 million, and the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy from $2.1 billion to $636 million.
Perry's comments were perhaps best encapsulated via an exchange with Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), who expressed concerns the budget could lead to a loss of 1,000 jobs at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and harm the United States' ability to keep its competitive edge globally.
Perry said he didn't agree with Newhouse's view, which he called a "sterile look." It doesn't consider "being able to manage DOE or use year-end extended balances," according to Perry, who did not elaborate on how funding line items would be moved around.
"There's not any of these labs that are going to be shut down. These labs are ... continuing to be the future of this country from the standpoint of innovation and technology," Perry said.
He said he was comfortable that lab employment would be kept "at the level to deliver the innovation and the technology that this country is going to need." Early-stage basic research is the core responsibility of the department, he said.
"We do need to have a conversation about late-stage development and what is the appropriate amount of dollars," he told lawmakers.Renewables, efficiency
In opening remarks, House Appropriations Committee ranking member Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) said Trump's proposed cuts to clean energy programs would decimate the agency.
The budget request would reduce funding at the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by about 70 percent. The office oversees DOE's efficiency regulations and funds renewable and sustainable transportation research.
"While you no longer propose to eliminate the Department of Energy, your budget request would do grievous harm," Lowey said.
Perry told lawmakers multiple times that not every project would be funded but that he was eager to hear their ideas.
In one exchange, Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) asked why Trump wants to eliminate the weatherization assistance program, which she said has helped millions of residents in her home state lower energy costs.
"I will assure that I will work with you. ... This is the first step in a long process. I was a governor long enough to know that governors' budgets don't always come back to you the way that they start," Perry said.
Similarly, he said he looked forward to "folks coming forward with their best ideas" to collectively make a decision when asked about proposed cuts to DOE's Building Technologies Office.
Perry urged lawmakers to give him flexibility with the budget, so DOE could prioritize where to use its dollars and avoid duplication.Nuclear industry
Perry yesterday called himself a "strong believer" in nuclear power and looked ahead to technological advances, but he did not offer much solace in the short term to the struggling industry.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), the subcommittee's chairman, asked Perry whether it was possible to support the nuclear industry on two fronts: maintaining the baseload power that plants provide right now and working on technological advances like small modular reactors.
"It's going to be difficult to be supportive of the license renewals that are going to be necessary for the current reactor fleet while also providing support for next-generation nuclear reactors under the current budget," Simpson said.
The Energy secretary was unable to specifically answer how his agency could help flailing companies like Westinghouse Electric Co., whose project at the V.C. Summer plant is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule.
"I'm sure you cannot go forward with these massive big nuclear energy power plants that cost 6-plus billion dollars. That's not feasible, you see the problems that we have with it now," Perry said.
His vision for the industry is to "find solutions for Westinghouse in the short term, and long term we transition to small modular reactors."
But on the first point, he failed to offer specific ideas, and on the second, his agency's proposed budget would slash federal support for the labs and companies working on technology like SMRs.
Nevertheless, Perry remained optimistic about the industry's future.
"I think if we're successful and we continue to support the small modular reactor, that it will be a game changer in the nuclear side of things and bring America back to a pre-eminent role as leaders in the technology and innovation of nuclear energy," he continued.Grid
Under questioning from Lowey, Perry said that a study assessing grid reliability would be ready by the "end of the month."
Perry announced the study earlier this year, and it has since been interpreted as both a boost for coal and a potential attack on wind tax credits (Greenwire, May 9).
The study is considering a range of questions about baseload power, according to Perry.
"Where does nuclear come in to this? Where does our renewables play? What role does ... carbon capture, utilization [and] sequestration of coal plants have to play in the baseload?" Perry said.
To Kaptur, he said grid security is a priority, considering cyberthreats.
Later, Kaptur asked if there was any guidance at DOE to delay responses to congressional inquiries — a sensitive topic given a recent Justice Department legal opinion that said agencies did not have to respond to letters from lawmakers in the minority party (Greenwire, June 2).
Perry said there was no such guidance and joked that he was once a Democrat.
"If you find the agency is not responsive ... a phone call to me is all that will be required," Perry said.
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2017/06/21/stories/1060056332
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After Some 'Finesse,' Reform Bill Coming Soon — Murkowski
Jun 21, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Geof Koss
The leaders of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will soon reintroduce a revised comprehensive energy package they hope will avoid the fate of last year's predecessor, which expired in the closing days of the 114th Congress after months of formal talks with the House collapsed.
ENR Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said yesterday she and ranking member Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) are close to unveiling an updated version of legislation that passed the Senate 85-12 last April.
That bill included broad provisions to address energy efficiency, infrastructure and the conservation side of the panel's jurisdiction.
"I am hoping sooner rather than later," she told E&E News.
The pair had hoped to unveil the updated bill a month ago, but Murkowski said "there were some issues that we needed to finesse."
Changes stem from the months of conference talks, which ended in December after House negotiators walked away from the table.
At the time, House conferees said the election of Donald Trump as president dampened enthusiasm for negotiating with Democrats and the Obama administration, brushing off warnings from Murkowski and Cantwell that nearly two years of work would be lost (E&E Daily, Dec. 8, 2016).
Murkowski yesterday said the new bill will mirror the previous legislation but will reflect some of the give-and-take from the conference talks.
"There are some of the things that will be different, but it's the core of what we were operating off of last year," she said. "And that's what allows us to move forward with it in a way that says we have a package that's been worked through, it's almost like it's been pre-conferenced."'No deal-breakers'
Changes under discussion in recent weeks were to the legislation's efficiency title, an area that both the House and Senate versions addressed but in different ways (E&E Daily, June 14).
"There's no deal-breakers there, but what we were trying to do was just get to as much consensus as possible," Murkowski said of efficiency provisions.
She signaled the revised package will once again include a "shot clock," imposing a deadline on the Energy Department to make final decisions on applications to export liquefied natural gas.
House proponents of LNG exports this month said they were holding off on reintroducing bills to expedite shipments until the administration completes a review of the application process (E&E Daily, June 8).
"I still feel that it's important to have this in language even with the assurances that there's going to be a better process with this administration," Murkowski said.
Cantwell yesterday signaled that discussions over changes to the bill continue, but she echoed Murkowski's desire to see the effort move past the finish line.
"She and I would love to get things done," she said, adding, "It's hard to understand what our colleagues in the House are thinking."House
House Energy and Commerce Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) and Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) have both signaled interest in revisiting the energy bills, including as part of an infrastructure package desired by President Trump.
Energy and Commerce Vice Chairman Joe Barton (R-Texas), who shepherded a broad energy package into law in 2005 while chairman, made no mention of the energy bill during a video presentation on agenda items presented during a U.S. Chamber of Commerce event yesterday.
A top goal is increasing energy security. "We're going to modernize the electrical grid and make sure that we can prevent potential cyberattacks," Barton said.
Another priority is nuclear waste. The committee has been moving forward with legislation that would advance the controversial Yucca Mountain repository (Greenwire, June 15).
"We're going to hopefully pass a law that finally gets high-level nuclear waste moving, so we move it out of reactor sites to a central repository first on an interim basis, then on a permanent basis," Barton said.
He also hinted at upcoming efforts to reorganize DOE and EPA.
"I think the Department of Energy should regain some of its jurisdiction over environmental policy," Barton said. "The EPA still has responsibility for implementing the law, but energy and environment are so intertwined that I think we need to rebalance that equation so the Energy Department is more in line."
He also touted the committee's work on research within DOE.
"I think you can look at the research arm of the Department of Energy, oil and gas, and of course alternative energy. We've had great success with our solar energy and wind energy programs, and I think we will continue to look at that," Barton said.
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2017/06/21/stories/1060056333
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Expert: US Has Enough Ethane For Several More Major Cracker Plants
Jun 20, 2017 | Chem.Info
By Meagan Parrish
The U.S. is loaded with ethane. Lots of ethane.
For the last few years, the shale boom has boosted the supply of ethane, the second largest component of natural gas, to a level far outpacing demand.
Most ethane is used by petrochemical plants to produce ethylene, a key feedstock for making plastics.
But because of the current glut, prices for ethane have been depressed, making it less economical to separate it from the natural gas stream. This situation, known as “ethane rejection,” has been on the rise. According to one estimate, about 250 million barrels per day (Mb/d) of ethane were rejected in 2014. That number is expected to triple this year to 700 Mb/d.All of that ethane could be used to make plastics, however, if more world-class cracker plants were built.
“It’s very difficult to hide the secret,” Warren Wilczewski, a U.S. Energy Information Administration economist, recently told The Allegheny Front.
According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, ethane production is expected to increase from 1.25 million barrels per day in 2016 to 1.7 million barrels a day by 2018.
Shell’s planned petrochemical complex in Pennsylvania will take advantage of the cheap abundant ethane and will have the capacity to produce 1.6 million tons of polyethylene per year.
Other plants planned for the Gulf Coast region will also tap into ethane to crank out plastics.
But Wilczewski says there’s room in the market for more.
“By our calculations, you could easily have another two or three world-scale crackers,” he said. “Right now all you need is additional infrastructure and you could be getting all that ethane without additional natural gas production, and at current levels of drilling and exploitation.”
https://www.chem.info/news/2017/06/expert-us-has-enough-ethane-several-more-major-cracker-plants
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Green Groups Critical Ahead of Trump Power Grid Report
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Patrick Martin and Ari Natter
Critics aren't waiting for opening night to pan a Trump administration study on the U.S. power grid they believe will demonize renewable energy while promoting coal and nuclear generation.
The report, ordered up by Energy Secretary Rick Perry and expected this month, will examine whether policies that favor wind and solar energy are accelerating the retirement of coal and nuclear plants needed to ensure reliable power supplies, according to an April 14 memo obtained by Bloomberg News. A coalition of green energy groups released a report in support of renewables on June 20.
Since taking office, President Donald Trump has reversed policies enacted by Barack Obama that helped solar and wind developers, even as a glut of cheap natural gas from shale continues to pressure coal-fired power generators out of business. Critics fear Perry's report will take on the talking points of fossil fuel producers and muffle science-backed programs that endorse renewable power.
“A report that comes out that supports the conclusion that baseload generation is needed for a reliable grid and that renewables and certain policies are leading toward deterioration of reliability is problematic for a number of reasons,” said Arvin Ganesan, vice president of federal policy at Advanced Energy Economy, a group that promotes clean energy.
Perry's study on electricity markets and reliability will cover power markets and “critical issues central to protecting the long-term reliability of the electric grid,” according to the April memo.
In a preemptive strike, Advanced Energy Economy and other green energy groups released a separate study June 20 showing that market forces such as new technologies and the emergence of shale gas are behind coal and nuclear plant retirements, not policies supporting renewable energy.
“All we have to go on is the public comments,” Ganesan said in an interview. “We're putting this out in advance of a report coming out to try and inform the conclusions the report might make.“
Tom Pyle, who led Trump's Energy Department transition team, called the backlash over Perry's report overblown.
“I think it's perfectly fitting for an incoming secretary to want to get a perspective on these issues in hopes there is a role for the department to ensure we don't have trouble keeping the lights on,” Pyle, president of the American Energy Alliance, a conservative, fossil fuel-oriented advocacy group, said in an interview. “It feels like a coordinated attack on a study that was largely designed to be instructive.”
Affordable Energy
And while the report could recommend changes to the Federal Power Act, which directs how generators are dispatched during emergencies, major changes to energy legislation are unlikely, said Jeff Navin, acting chief of staff for Ernest Moniz, Obama's energy secretary.
“Using that law to “to favor one source of generation over another would certainly be unprecedented, and it certainly won't hold up in court,” Navin said, in an interview.
Charles E. Jones, chief executive officer of coal and nuclear operator First Energy Corp., told analysts on an April earnings call that the Akron, Ohio-based company may delay a bankruptcy filing for one of its units until the study is released.
Fossil Fuels
“I am pleased the Trump Administration and Secretary Perry recognize the importance of fuel diversity in maintaining clean, reliable and affordable supplies of electricity,” Jones said in a statement provided to Bloomberg.
Howard Crystal, a senior attorney Center for Biological Diversity, said that assumptions in the April memo may translate into recommendations that support fossil fuel generation. The memo notes that coal and nuclear baseload generation are in decline, a trend that may create reliability issues.
“This grid study is a veiled attempt by the Trump administration to keep dirty and dying power plants on life support by demonizing renewable energy,” Crystal said in a June 14 statement. “It's very possible that big polluters had a direct hand in developing the study.”
The American Wind Energy Association co-funded the study from the Analysis Group, a consultant with expertise in energy that serves clients including energy producers, suppliers, consumers and tribal governments.
--With assistance from Mark Chediak.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=114578222&vname=dennotallissues&fn=114578222&jd=114578222
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Pipeline Agency Says It Won't Enforce Obama Gas Storage Regs
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Ari Natter
Regulations for natural gas storage sites put in place after the Aliso Canyon natural gas leak won't be enforced, PHMSA announced.
The pipeline regulator says enforcement halted “in the interim, and for one year after the publication of a final rule,” after receiving a petition for reconsideration of interim rules put in place in December.
The rule revised safety regulations related to well integrity, well-bore tubing and casing. It also codified industry recommended practices related to design and functional integrity.
The leak at Sempra Energy subsidiary resulted in the release of 4.62 billion cubic feet of natural gas, or the carbon-dioxide equivalent of 500,000 passenger cars driven for one year, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=114578224&vname=dennotallissues&fn=114578224&jd=114578224
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Allnex Can't Escape Liability for Chemical Plant Cleanup
Jun 21, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Chemical manufacturer Allnex (Luxemborg) & Cy S.C.A. is on the hook for $35.1 million in cleanup costs for toxic spills at a chemical plant it bought from Cytec Industries Inc., the Southern District of New York ruled (Cytec Indus. Inc. v. Allnex (Luxembourg) & Cy S.C.A., 2017 BL 208769, S.D.N.Y., No. 14-cv-1561, 6/19/17).
The June 19 ruling granted a summary judgment to Cytec, and resolved a contractual dispute over whether Allnex must pay to remediate hazardous discharges dating to the 1940s, or only more recent spills at the plant.
Allnex agreed to the “unambiguous language” of the purchase agreement, in which it assumed “broad” liability for claims “related to, or used and held in connection with” the business, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York said.
Allnex's parent company, Advent International Corp., bought the plant in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 2013 as part of its purchase of a coating resins business owned by Cytec, according to the decision.
But the companies soon disputed the extent of their liability under the contract—particularly for decades-old spills of sulfuric acid and liquid alum at the site—and Cytec sued.
Both parties were aware of the historical uses of the plant when they executed the purchase agreement, which “comfortably includes historical liabilities, such as those subject to remediation in Kalamazoo,” the court said.
The contract also expressly carved-out liability for plants in other states, further supporting the conclusion that Allnex was liable for cleaning up the Michigan facility, the court said.
U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel wrote the opinion.
The law offices of Sullivan & Cromwell represented Cytec.
Goodwin Procter, as well as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer represented Allnex.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=114578230&vname=dennotallissues&fn=114578230&jd=114578230
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Pruitt 'Flouting' Limits On Authority, Enviros Tell Court
Jun 21, 2017 | E&E News PM
By Amanda Reilly
Environmental groups today made their final pitch to judges to restore Obama-era methane standards for the oil and gas industry.
In a brief, the organizations argued that U.S. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt was "flouting clear textual limits on his authority" when he announced in May a 90-day delay in key provisions of the standards.
The groups — the Clean Air Council, Earthworks, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Environmental Integrity Project, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club — say the standards are needed to protect public health.
"Delaying these vital standards would put more dangerous methane, cancer-causing benzene, and smog-forming pollution into the air that we breathe — and would put the health of our children and families at risk," EDF attorney Peter Zalzal said in a statement.
The environmental groups filed their brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in support of their earlier emergency motion to stay the delay.
Key among the environmentalists' legal arguments is that EPA is conflating its limited authority to stay rules while it reconsiders them with its broader authority to revise rules by going through the proper rulemaking process.
In announcing the delay, Pruitt said EPA would take another look at the provisions, including the rule's fugitive methane requirements, in response to an industry petition for reconsideration.
The Trump administration says EPA is allowed to delay rules as it responds to such administrative petitions (E&E News PM, June 15).
But environmentalists reiterated today that the reconsideration petition from industry was invalid because it raised issues that came up and were already considered during the Obama administration's rulemaking process.
"Administrator Pruitt's principal argument is that he can grant reconsideration, and corresponding stays, whenever he chooses," the groups said in their brief. "That is not what the statute says."
They also argued EPA is seeking to use that petition as an excuse for wholesale revision of the standards.
"The administrator cannot bootstrap his way to stay authority by mischaracterizing a revision as a reconsideration," the brief says.
A group of states led by Massachusetts today asked the court to intervene on behalf of the environmentalists.
Oil and gas industry groups, as well as a coalition of states led by West Virginia, have urged the court to leave EPA's decision to delay the rule in place.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2017/06/20/stories/1060056314
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CASAC Appears Likely To Back EPA's SO2 Science Assessment
Jun 20, 2017 | Inside EPA
EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) appears likely to give its blessing to EPA's second draft integrated science assessment (ISA) for its review of federal sulfur dioxide (SO2) ambient air limits, after members, on a June 20 conference call, made only minor recommendations for revising the document.
Under a consent decree agreement with environmentalists, EPA must propose a rule either modifying the SO2 NAAQS or leaving it unchanged by May 25, 2018, and issue a final rule by Jan. 28, 2019.
On the June 20 call, panel members discussed their draft letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, which generally backs the ISA though the document must first be approved by the chartered CASAC following final revisions.
After early criticism from CASAC, EPA in its second draft ISA walked back some statements that strengthened the “causal” linkage between SO2 exposure and various health effects. Ultimately, EPA has retained its conclusion that SO2 causes short-term respiratory problems, the same position the agency took in the ISA conducted to support its 2010 rule strengthening the SO2 national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) to 75 parts per billion (ppb), using a novel one-hour averaging time, from 140 ppb over 24 hours or 30 ppb annually.
The new ISA however strengthens the causal link between SO2 and long-term respiratory effects, to “suggestive” of a causal relationship, and the CASAC panel in its draft letter endorses this view. In the last review, EPA considered there to be insufficient evidence to make this determination. The lack of new findings that SO2 definitively causes health effects may point toward a decision by Pruitt not to make the NAAQS tougher.
It appears likely that CASAC will soften its request in the draft letter that EPA conduct some additional technical analysis, however, following concerns expressed by some panelists that EPA lacks adequate trained staff to take on additional work at this point.
The draft letter says, “The consensus responses contain several suggestions on ways to improve the way the data is presented and the calculation and display of the peak-to-mean ratio [SO2] (PMR) data. The effects of atmospheric stability (e.g., time of day), wind speed, source type (e.g., stack height), distance from sources, and site locations on PMR should be described. These parameters should be incorporated into the EPA’s empirical formula.”
However, the panel appeared likely in its final version of the letter to soften this to a request that EPA further analyze these issues in a future NAAQS review. Some panelists said the PMR issue is not essential to a risk assessment, which EPA may choose to conduct. Risk assessments are then followed by a policy assessment document outlining policy options for the administrator, which in turn informs the proposed NAAQS rule itself.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/casac-appears-likely-back-epas-so2-science-assessment
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Oil Giants Back Carbon Tax Proposal
Jun 21, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Major oil companies are lining up behind an idea from former top Republicans to impose a tax on carbon dioxide emissions.
The Climate Leadership Council, which is pushing the idea, on Tuesday announced that Exxon Mobil Corp., BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total are among a group of “Founding Members” for its campaign. Other major corporate and individual members are also included.
The group, led by former Treasury Secretary James Baker and former Secretary of State George Schultz, is hoping for a boost to its longshot goal of garnering support among Republicans for a carbon tax to fight climate change.
“We have been encouraged by the proposal put forth by the Climate Leadership Council as it aligns closely with our longstanding principles,” said Darren Woods, CEO of Exxon. “We are pleased to support the Climate Leadership Council as a Founding Member and work constructively to support their policy development process.”
“Industry action must be supported by climate policy that creates clear price signals and incentives to accelerate clean technology and needed innovation,” said Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo Inc., which is also backing the idea. “Carbon pricing is an effective measure to curb emissions and put America on the right path to combatting climate change.”
Baker, Climate Leadership Council CEO Ted Halstead and others first rolled out their carbon tax idea in February and pitched it to White House officials in a meeting.
Their plan relies in part on carbon “dividends,” tax credits or payments that go back to American taxpayers and make the carbon tax revenue-neutral.
The White House emphasized after the meeting that it was not formally considering a carbon tax.
The tax would require action from Congress, but the GOP, which controls both chambers, has not shown any indication it would take up the issue. The House last year passed a nonbinding resolution — with all Republicans supporting it — to denounce a potential carbon tax.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/338556-oil-giants-back-carbon-tax-proposal
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