Preview Newsletter
PM ACC 11/7/2017
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Chamber Lawyer Joins Energy and Commerce Panel
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Christa Marshall
U.S. Chamber of Commerce lawyer Mary Martin has joined the House Energy and Commerce Committee as deputy chief counsel for energy and environment. -
Ewire: Trump Deregulatory Teams Have 'Deep Industry Ties'
Jul 11, 2017 | Inside EPA
Trump administration officials at EPA and other federal agencies have begun the process of rolling back Obama-era rules in a broad deregulatory push aimed to undo “burdensome” regulations and free a path for industry to operate as unhindered as possible. -
Study: Banned since 2004, Toxic Flame Retardants Persist in U.S. Newborns
Jul 11, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Tasha Stolber
Brominated flame retardant chemicals, banned in the U.S. since 2004, still pollute the bodies of newborn American babies, according to a new study from Indiana University scientists. -
Hundreds of Kids' Cosmetics Products May Contain Hidden Carcinogen
Jul 11, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Scott Faber
More than 200 personal care products marketed to children and babies may contain 1,4-dioxane, a common contaminant that is a likely carcinogen. -
House Lawmakers Ask Treasury to Probe Russian Funding of Anti-Fracking Groups in U.S.
Jul 11, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
Two key House Republicans asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to investigate allegations that Russia interfered in U.S. energy markets by making millions in contributions to environmental groups opposed to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in order to sow domestic discord. -
Environmental Groups Pack Public Hearing on EPA Methane Emissions Rules
Jul 11, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
Dozens of speakers representing environmental groups packed a list of speakers at a public hearing at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters on Monday to take aim at the agency's plans for a two-year stay of proposed rules governing new sources of methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry. -
Trump's U.S.-Russia Cyber Pact Shelved before It Starts
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Peter Behr
A surprising proposal from the Trump administration for cybersecurity "arms control" negotiations with Russia has been shelved without explanation, at least for now, the White House confirmed yesterday. -
In About-Face, Perry Calls Threat to U.S. Reactors 'Real'
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey and Blake Sobczak
Energy Secretary Rick Perry reversed course today and confirmed that hackers are targeting U.S. nuclear power plants, but he said federal labs can safeguard the nation's sprawling grid. -
OIG to Investigate Federal PTC Funding
Jul 11, 2017 | American Shipper
By Hailey Desormeaux
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said it is launching a multi-part audit to address concerns about oversight of federal funding or financing for positive train control (PTC) projects and recipients’ use of the funds. -
Endangerment Finding Documents Disappear from Website
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Scott Waldman
U.S. EPA has removed a link to documents on its website for the research that underpins the Obama administration's consequential "endangerment finding" for greenhouse gases. -
Cap-And-Trade Package Is Unveiled, with Vote Imminent
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Debra Kahn
California lawmakers rolled out a legislative package last night that would extend the state's cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases through 2030 and address conventional air pollution, as well, setting the stage for a vote as early as Thursday. -
Greens, Tribes Sue to Stop BLM Stay
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Pamela King
Environmental and tribal citizen groups yesterday challenged the Interior Department's postponement of an Obama administration rule to curb methane emissions from energy operations on public lands.
Industry and Association News
LCSA News
Chemical Management News
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Chemical Security News
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Environment News
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Chamber Lawyer Joins Energy and Commerce Panel
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Christa Marshall
U.S. Chamber of Commerce lawyer Mary Martin has joined the House Energy and Commerce Committee as deputy chief counsel for energy and environment.
Martin formally started at the committee last month. At the chamber, she was counsel for energy, clean air and natural resources policy.
Martin was a frequent commenter in the press on behalf of the chamber, saying in January that U.S. EPA's approach for ozone quality standards was a "waste of resources" (E&E News PM, Jan. 12).
She also pushed for flexibility on the Clean Power Plan (Energywire, Nov. 23, 2015).
In a blog post last year, Martin praised House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) for his "regulatory reform" agenda and push to extend review of national air quality standards.
Prior to joining the chamber in 2012, Martin was an attorney at Steptoe & Johnson LLP. She also previously worked at Shaw Pittman LLP.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/07/11/stories/1060057199
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Ewire: Trump Deregulatory Teams Have 'Deep Industry Ties'
Jul 11, 2017 | Inside EPA
Trump administration officials at EPA and other federal agencies have begun the process of rolling back Obama-era rules in a broad deregulatory push aimed to undo “burdensome” regulations and free a path for industry to operate as unhindered as possible.
But, as Inside EPA readers know, the deregulatory process -- including such actions as identifying which regulations to target -- has been conducted in large part away from the public eye and by teams of political appointees that often are former industry attorneys or lobbyists.
ProPublica and the New York Times have set out to identify as many appointees from federal agencies deregulatory teams as possible. Thus far, the publications have identified 71 appointees across the agencies, including 28 such appointees that have potential conflicts of interest.
According to their investigation, some of these appointees “are reviewing rules their previous employers sought to weaken or kill, and at least two may be positioned to profit if certain regulations are undone.” Overall, the political appointees range from industry attorneys, staff members of political “dark money” groups, members of industry-funded groups opposed to environmental regulation and “at least three people who were registered to lobby the agencies they now work for.”
The collaborative piece detailing the investigation is worth reading in full, but we’ve highlighted a few passages dealing with EPA appointees:
Samantha Dravis, the head of EPA’s deregulatory task force:
[She was] a top official at the Republican Attorneys General Association. Dravis was also president of the Rule of Law Defense Fund, which brought together energy companies and Republican attorneys general to file lawsuits against the federal government over Obama-era environmental regulations.
The Republican association’s work has been criticized as a vehicle for corporate donors to gain the credibility and expertise of state attorneys general in fighting federal regulations. Donors include the American Petroleum Institute, the energy company ConocoPhillips and the coal giant Alpha Natural Resources.
The Republican association also received funding from Freedom Partners, backed by the conservative billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch. Dravis worked for that group as well, which recently identified regulations it wants eliminated. Among them are EPA rules relating to clean-water protections and restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions.
Liz Bowman, an EPA spokeswoman, declined to say whether Dravis had recused herself from issues dealing with previous employers or their backers, or had discussed regulations with any of them.
Byron Brown, EPA’s deputy chief of staff:
Brown, an EPA appointee who is married to a senior government affairs manager for the Hess Corporation, the oil and gas company.
Hess was fined and ordered to spend more than $45 million on pollution controls by the EPA during the Obama administration because of alleged Clean Air Act violations at its refinery in Port Reading, N.J. Disclosure records show that Brown’s wife, Lesley Schaaff, lobbied the EPA last year on behalf of the company.
An EPA spokeswoman declined to say whether Brown or Schaaff owned Hess stock, though an agency ethics official said Brown had recused himself from evaluating regulations affecting the company.
The agency declined to say whether Brown would also recuse himself from issues affecting the American Petroleum Institute, where his wife’s company is a member. The association has lobbied to ease Obama-era natural gas rules, complaining in a recent letter to Brown’s team about an “unprecedented level of federal regulatory actions targeting our industry.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-trump-deregulatory-teams-have-deep-industry-ties
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Study: Banned since 2004, Toxic Flame Retardants Persist in U.S. Newborns
Jul 11, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Tasha Stolber
Brominated flame retardant chemicals, banned in the U.S. since 2004, still pollute the bodies of newborn American babies, according to a new study from Indiana University scientists.
Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, were once widely used in products including furniture foam and electronics. Exposure to PBDEs is linked to learning, memory and developmental problems, as well as endocrine disruption and cancer in both animal and epidemiological studies.
Researchers with the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairsanalyzed 10 paired samples of blood from mothers and their infants’ umbilical cords, collected in 2013. They detected five types of PBDEs, and found that levels of three of the five detected were higher in infants compared to their mothers. The findings are similar to EWG’s results of paired blood tests from 20 American moms and their toddlers in 2008.
“Considering, that these chemicals have been banned for more than a decade now, I was expecting to see lower exposure levels,” said the lead author of the study, Indiana University research scientist Amina Salamova.
EWG’s groundbreaking analyses of breast milk in 2003 and cord blood in 2004 built momentum to remove these harmful chemicals from the market. Since then, we’ve shifted our attention to limiting the use of toxic chemicals such as Tris that were chosen to replace PBDEs, and building better safeguards to keep harmful chemicals off the market. Yet the Indiana study is an important reminder that children born today are still exposed to these toxic flame retardants.
The findings underscore the fact that these and other chemicals just don’t disappear from our environment once they’ve been banned. They remain in us years later, and babies and children are often the ones most exposed.
“BDE-47 is one of the major components of the Penta-BDE commercial flame retardant mixture,” Salamova explained. “Our results show elevated levels of BDE-47 in the infants and in their mothers, and suggest that even though Penta-BDE is not in use anymore, the legacy of the heavy use of this product in the U.S. still has an impact on exposure levels.” Penta-BDE was added to furniture like couches and easy chairs, and automobile seats before 2006.
EWG recommends taking measures such as swapping out older couch foam for flame retardant free foam and removing as much house dust as possible to reduce potential exposure to PBDEs and replacement flame retardant chemicals.
The study’s release comes just as the Environmental Protection Agency and Trump administration are writing the rules for implementation of the recently updated Toxic Substances Control Act, or TSCA, including how to it proceed with regulating the first batch of priority chemicals. The EPA recently released its first round of rules under the new law, and they do not bode well for public health.
The rules allow the EPA to only look at a subset of chemical uses when assessing a chemical for safety. This means the agency could ignore potentially dangerous uses – including legacy contamination like those from flame retardants – and would not have an accurate picture of Americans’ likely exposures to a chemical. That could allow the EPA to underestimate risks like cancer, reproductive harms or neurotoxicity.
This is why we need the strongest TSCA laws possible. While PBDEs will linger in our bodies, our couches and the environment for decades, there is still time to protect our children from newly introduced, poorly tested chemicals.
http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2017/07/study-banned-2004-toxic-flame-retardants-persist-us-newborns
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Hundreds of Kids' Cosmetics Products May Contain Hidden Carcinogen
Jul 11, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
By Scott Faber
More than 200 personal care products marketed to children and babies may contain 1,4-dioxane, a common contaminant that is a likely carcinogen.
More than 8,000 personal care products in EWG’s Skin Deep® cosmetics database include ingredients produced through ethoxylation, including polyethylene, polyethylene glycol (PEG) and ceteareth. Of those, more than 200 are marketed to children and infants, EWG found.
Although 1,4-dioxane is not intentionally added to personal care products, ethoxylated chemicals can contaminate personal care products with trace amounts of 1,4-dioxane. Some companies voluntarily remove or reduce 1,4-dioxane from these products through a process called vacuum stripping. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration has no rules that require companies to do so.
The Environmental Protection Agency has classified 1,4-dioxane as a likely human carcinogen and it is listed in California’s registry of chemicals known to cause cancer. In laboratory studies, animals who drank water with 1,4-dioxane developed tumors in the liver, nasal cavity, and the peritoneal and mammary glands. Short-term exposure to relatively high amounts of 1,4-dioxane is particularly damaging to the liver and kidneys.
Because manufacturers don’t have to disclose the presence of 1,4-dioxane on product labels, there’s no way for consumers to know if their personal care or other household products harbor the hidden carcinogen. Among the products marketed for use on children and babies that may contain 1,4-dioxane are popular sunscreens, toothpastes, bubble baths and shampoos.
Bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., and Susan Collins, R-Maine, would give the FDA the power to review dangerous chemicals like 1, 4-dioxane. The bill would also require personal care companies to alert the agency when their products injure consumers, and would give the FDA the power to recall dangerous products.
http://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2017/07/hundreds-kids-cosmetics-products-may-contain-hidden-carcinogen
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House Lawmakers Ask Treasury to Probe Russian Funding of Anti-Fracking Groups in U.S.
Jul 11, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
Two key House Republicans asked Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to investigate allegations that Russia interfered in U.S. energy markets by making millions in contributions to environmental groups opposed to hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in order to sow domestic discord.
In a six-page letter to Mnuchin dated June 29, U.S. Reps. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Randy Weber (R-TX) accuse Russia, through government-run corporations like Gazprom, of waging a "propaganda war against fossil fuels" by channeling funds to anti-fracking groups in the U.S. through Bermuda.
"It is easy to see the benefit to Russia and Gazprom that would result from a reduction in the U.S. level of drilling and fracking -- a position advocated for by numerous environmental groups in the U.S.," Smith and Weber wrote. They added that publically available documents point to a "complex scheme operated under the guise of philanthropic endeavors.
"The Russian government and complicit parties have executed a political agenda with little or no paper trail. This scheme allows money originating from foreign countries like Russia to funnel through Bermuda-based shell companies to environmental groups in the United States with the aim of disrupting the U.S. energy industry. These allegations are ripe for investigation by the Department of Treasury."
According to Smith and Weber, the documents show entities connected to the Kremlin used Klein Ltd., a shell company registered in Bermuda, to send tens of millions of dollars to the Sea Change Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization based in the United States. Sea Change then allegedly passed the money along to environmental groups, including the Sierra Club, the League of Conservation Voters and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
The lawmakers added that tax records show Klein contributed $23 million to Sea Change in 2010 and 2011. The contributions from Klein accounted for nearly half of total contributions to Sea Change during that time frame.
"Klein's contributions to Sea Change are not by chance," Smith and Weber said. "Sea Change's founder and president, Nat Simons, is appropriately positioned to give the Russian funds to environmental groups that push back on U.S. domestic fracking and gas advancements. Nat Simons has said the mission of Sea Change is to facilitate the transfer of money and advance a shift away from carbon-based energy."
In related matters, a group of Democratic senators last month urged President Trump to direct the Department of Energy to examine the threats Russian hackers pose to energy infrastructure in the United States. Lawmakers from both parties have also bristled at Trump's suggestion that the U.S. create a cybersecurity unit with Russia, an idea formed on the sidelines of last week's G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/111043-house-lawmakers-ask-treasury-to-probe-russian-funding-of-anti-fracking-groups-in-us
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Environmental Groups Pack Public Hearing on EPA Methane Emissions Rules
Jul 11, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
Dozens of speakers representing environmental groups packed a list of speakers at a public hearing at U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) headquarters on Monday to take aim at the agency's plans for a two-year stay of proposed rules governing new sources of methane emissions from the oil and natural gas industry.
At issue are the fugitive emissions, pneumatic pump and professional engineer certification requirements outlined in updates to the agency's 2016 New Source Performance Standards (NSPS), which EPA first unveiled during the Obama administration. The NSPS was designed to reduce methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and toxic air pollutants.
A list posted to the EPA's website showed 152 speakers were slated to testify at the hearing, which was expected to take all day -- with 66 people scheduled to speak at a morning session, followed by another 86 in the afternoon. The list included speakers for well-known environmental groups -- namely, Earthjustice, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Greenpeace, the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Sierra Club -- but smaller groups like Moms Clean Air Force were also represented.
Craig Stevens, spokesman for the environmental group Patriots From The Oil & Gas Shales, told NGI's Shale Daily that 175 people from about 40 states had signed up to speak at the hearing.
"The EPA needs to do their job," Stevens said after he spoke at the hearing. "I read them their mission statement, which I always do whenever I come to an EPA hearing. They didn't like that very much. The mission statement is quite clear that they're supposed to protect human health, life and the environment."
Stevens, a sixth-generation landowner from Susquehanna County, PA, said he told the EPA that the county has 50 compressor stations.
"The industry told us they were putting out water vapor, but we had 10 universities sent from all over the world tell us that there are massive amounts of formaldehyde, benzene, toluene, xylene, and VOCs going out into the air," Stevens said. "We want to not worry about that, that's exactly what [the new rules] are going to do.
"These emissions rules are ridiculous, unless you live there being poisoned by the air every day. We have many people in our area that have nose bleeds, headaches, rashes, and breathing difficulties every day because these things run 24/7 -- there's no break. We're being expected to take the brunt of all the contamination aspects. No thank you."
Last April, the EPA said it would reconsider the rules to comply with an executive order (EO) signed by President Trump on March 28. The EO included a directive for EPA to immediately review regulations on energy sources, and then to either suspend, revise or rescind them.
The EPA issued a 90-day administrative stay of the rules on May 31. In order to ensure against a gap in the stay during the reconsideration process, the agency proposed an additional three-month stay, followed by another lasting two years. A coalition of six environmental groups -- including the EDF, NRDC and the Sierra Club -- filed a lawsuit against the stay in U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on June 5. The court ruled in their favor and the lifted the stay last week.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) appeared to be the only entity to testify in favor of the EPA reconsidering the NSPS and extending the deadlines for industry compliance.
"API encourages EPA to proceed with its review and revision of the underlying rule as expeditiously as possible, based on sound science and economics, considering the operational and technical issues that have been already raised in comments and litigation," Howard Feldman, API's senior director for regulatory and scientific affairs, said according to written testimony posted online.
"EPA's 2012 rule, which directly reduces VOC emissions from oil and gas operations and those of methane as a co-benefit, was developed in collaboration with industry, is based upon industry innovation, and is proving effective. Unfortunately...EPA's 2016 rule failed to account for all of the costs associated with the final rule requirements and did not provide significant environmental benefit beyond a rule focused on VOC losses...
"The last thing we need are more duplicative and costly regulations that could increase the cost of energy for Americans, undermine our competitiveness, and hinder our ability to provide the energy our nation will continue to demand for many years to come."
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/111033-environmental-groups-pack-public-hearing-on-epa-methane-emissions-rules
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Trump's U.S.-Russia Cyber Pact Shelved before It Starts
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Peter Behr
A surprising proposal from the Trump administration for cybersecurity "arms control" negotiations with Russia has been shelved without explanation, at least for now, the White House confirmed yesterday.
The scope of potential talks between the U.S. and Russia over limiting cybersecurity threats was outlined last week by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during the Group of 20 summit.
Tillerson said in a Friday briefing that President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin "agreed to explore creating a framework around which the two countries can work together to better understand how to deal with these cyber threats, both in terms of how these tools are used to interfere with the internal affairs of countries, but also how these tools are used to threaten infrastructure, how these tools are used from a terrorism standpoint as well."
Tillerson said the joint framework would aim to create a capability to judge what is happening in the cyber world and whom to hold accountable.
"We agreed to set up a working-level group to begin to explore this framework agreement around the cyber issue and this issue of non-interference," Tillerson said.
The next day, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters on Air Force One, "After a very substantive discussion on this, they [Trump and Putin] reached an agreement that they would start a cyber unit to make sure that there was absolutely no interference whatsoever, that they would work on cybersecurity together."
But in a series of seesaw messages on Twitter on Sunday, Trump at first described the initiative differently, and then, after it drew immediate public criticism, sent a second tweet saying the idea was dead.
"Putin & I discussed forming an impenetrable Cyber Security unit so that election hacking, & many other negative things, will be guarded," Trump said initially.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) responded on NBC's "Meet the Press" program: "It's not the dumbest idea I have ever heard, but it's pretty close."
Then Trump sent a second tweet: "The fact that President Putin and I discussed a Cyber Security unit doesn't mean I think it can happen. It can't."
Asked yesterday about the president's about-face, Principal Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, "This was part of a discussion in that meeting and, look, we recognize that Russia is a cyberthreat, but we also recognize the need to have conversations with our adversaries."
A reporter pressed the question, was the initiative buried?
"Look, I would say that discussions may still take place, but that's as far as it is right now," Sanders said.
'The Wild West'
As the G-20 meetings between Trump and Putin were being planned and scripted, the U.S. electric power grid was facing a new, "advanced" cyberattack directed at both nuclear power plants and conventional generation, first disclosed by E&E News on June 27.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that U.S. government officials have already linked the intrusions to Russia. Some private-sector cybersecurity experts have questioned whether any positive attribution could have been made so soon, particularly given the widespread availability of sophisticated hacking tools and the skill of top-level cyberattackers to disguise their tracks.
But Russian-based cyber espionage has been confirmed by U.S. officials, and U.S. intelligence leaders have stated that Russian hackers were solely responsible for stealing emails from the Democratic National Committee in a move to advantage Trump and hurt Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton. "We saw no evidence whatsoever that it was anyone involved in this other than the Russians," former director of national intelligence James Clapper said last week.
In that environment, proposing to put first-tier U.S. cybersecurity warriors together with Russian counterparts was ludicrous, said James Scott, senior fellow at the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology. "That is a farmer letting a fox in to protect the chickens. They are still an adversary."
But could Tillerson's version bear fruit? The U.S. and Russia have a long history of communication across the front of potential armed conflict, from the Kennedy-era "red phone" direct communications link to the current exchange of air operations information to avoid inadvertent encounters of the nations' warplanes over Syria.
Paul Stockton, former assistant secretary of Defense, and co-author Michele Golabek-Goldman proposed in a 2013 report that the U.S. seek international support for export controls on trafficking in the most dangerous cyber weapons, an example of a potential first step toward possible cyber war detente.
Other experts say such collaborative efforts are likely to be in vain. The newest cyber weapons move from nation-states to uncontrollable criminal and political actors that are not constrained by diplomacy or conventional deterrence. "It is the Wild West," said one cybersecurity source.
lhttps://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/07/11/stories/1060057182
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In About-Face, Perry Calls Threat to U.S. Reactors 'Real'
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey and Blake Sobczak
Energy Secretary Rick Perry reversed course today and confirmed that hackers are targeting U.S. nuclear power plants, but he said federal labs can safeguard the nation's sprawling grid.
When asked about FBI and Department of Homeland Security reports about hackers attacking nuclear reactors during an interview on Fox Business Network, Perry replied, "Well, obviously it's real, it's ongoing and we shouldn't be surprised when you think of the world we live in today."
When asked for details about the attacks during a White House briefing last month, Perry told E&E News, "No, sir."
While it remains unclear what organization or individuals were behind the intrusions, Perry pointed to "different groups, they may be state-sponsored, they may just be people who are criminal elements involved with trying to penetrate into certain areas."
The secretary also touted "substantial resources" at the Department of Energy being used to thwart hackers, including the Idaho National Laboratory's "full-out grid" effort to help detect and protect against attacks and some of the fastest supercomputers in the world.
"I want to give people comfort, this isn't something that's just come out of the woodwork here lately," Perry said. "We've been following it for a long time."
One private-sector analyst said the nuclear cyberattacks were orchestrated by a "dedicated" group of hackers "who've done their research" and also targeted a slew of other companies worldwide (Energywire, June 29).
The online assailants hijacked websites likely to be visited by electric utility employees in "watering hole" attacks. They also sent "phishing" emails aimed at luring workers into clicking on booby-trapped documents.
The Washington Post reported Saturday that U.S. government officials already consider Russia to be the culprit (Energywire, July 10).
It's not clear what the hackers wanted. There is so far no evidence the intruders tried to move beyond corporate computers or cross into any of the isolated operational networks that keep the lights on and regulate the safety of radioactive material.
A spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security said the agency does not speculate on the intentions of hacking groups, noting that "our primary role is to support critical infrastructure with analysis and to provide cyberthreat indicators for computer and network defense to the community."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/07/11/stories/1060057200
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OIG to Investigate Federal PTC Funding
Jul 11, 2017 | American Shipper
By Hailey Desormeaux
The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said it is launching a multi-part audit to address concerns about oversight of federal funding or financing for positive train control (PTC) projects and recipients’ use of the funds.
A review was requested in May by John Thune, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
PTC is a wireless communication system that can prevent an accident by overriding a conductor to slow or stop a train.
The DOT's Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) have provided over $915 million in grants to support railroads’ mandated implementation of PTC systems, but according to the most recent update from the FRA, only 27 percent of freight-rail route miles and 23 percent of passenger-rail route miles had fully operational PTC systems as of the first quarter of 2017, the OIG explained.
The Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 required PTC implementation across a significant portion of the nation’s rail system by Dec. 31, 2015, but Congress later extended the deadline to Dec. 31, 2018, with the possibility of an additional two-year extension for certain circumstances.
The initial phase of OIG's audit will identify railroads that received DOT funding or financing for PTC projects, and details on those projects. The second phase will assess FRA’s and FTA’s oversight of PTC funding allocations and will determine whether recipients used the funds “completely and efficiently,” according to the OIG.
The OIG plans to begin the audit immediately, Barry DeWeese, assistant inspector general for surface transportation audits, said in a memorandum last Wednesday to FRA and FTA acting administrators.
An infographic illustrating the PTC implementation status of individual railroads can be found on the FRA’s website.http://www.americanshipper.com/main/news/oig-to-investigate-federal-ptc-funding-68067.aspx?source=Little4#hide
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Endangerment Finding Documents Disappear from Website
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Scott Waldman
U.S. EPA has removed a link to documents on its website for the research that underpins the Obama administration's consequential "endangerment finding" for greenhouse gases.
The link on EPA's website titled "Technical Support Document for the Findings" now yields an error message: "Page Not Found (Restricted)." Other links on the page, including "legal basis" for the endangerment finding and "climate change facts," have similarly been removed.
EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman told E&E in an email, "I am not aware of anyone burying this information on the website." It's unclear whether the technical support document is accessible elsewhere on EPA's website.
The removal comes as speculation swirls about whether the Trump EPA will reverse the Obama administration's 2009 finding. And the Trump administration has already been under fire from critics for burying some other climate change links on its website — including some that have been active for 20 years through Democratic and Republican administrations alike.
EPA has previously said its website is "undergoing changes that reflect the agency's new direction under President Donald Trump and Administrator Scott Pruitt."
The Obama-era endangerment finding holds that carbon dioxide threatens public health and welfare. That legal finding gives EPA the authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate six greenhouse gases: carbon dioxide as well as methane, nitrous oxide, hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride.
Conservative think tanks and Trump administration transition officials have called for the administration to challenge the endangerment finding in court because it is a powerful legal tool and is the basis for Obama-era climate policy, including the Clean Power Plan rule.
Pruitt has reportedly discussed taking on the endangerment finding in court but has not publicly committed to doing so.
Pruitt is also working to establish a team of researchers that will look to cast doubt on established climate science, by putting it through a red team, blue team approach that is more frequently used in military operations.
Asked about reports that Pruitt intends to challenge the finding, Bowman called that "unsubstantiated speculation."
Gavin Schmidt, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, said the information contained in the documents can't be erased.
"These are documents published in the Federal Register; they're not going to disappear," he said.
Schmidt added that removing the scientific information doesn't make sense because the documents are part of an extensive court case. Burying them will not diminish their relevance or their findings, said Schmidt, who helped review the research findings.
The technical support document was based on more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific studies. It draws on research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the National Academy of Sciences. The document can be found through an archive search of federal documents.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/07/11/stories/1060057165
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Cap-And-Trade Package Is Unveiled, with Vote Imminent
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Debra Kahn
California lawmakers rolled out a legislative package last night that would extend the state's cap-and-trade system for greenhouse gases through 2030 and address conventional air pollution, as well, setting the stage for a vote as early as Thursday.
Setting the state up as a leader in addressing global warming after President Trump's announced withdrawal from the Paris accord and his retreat from his predecessor's climate policies, California officials have been debating the future of its landmark economywide market-based emission curbs for months.
Gov. Jerry Brown (D) and legislative leaders said the bills introduced yesterday would improve the current climate program by tying it to conventional air pollutants that would be monitored more closely under a companion measure. Addressing local air problems is seen as key to reaching an agreement on cap and trade, given a growing bloc of lawmakers representing poor and disadvantaged areas.
"The Legislature is taking action to curb climate change and protect vulnerable communities from industrial poisons," Brown said in a statement.
Brown has been working with lawmakers, industry and labor groups, environmental groups, and others since spring on proposals to extend cap and trade, which is authorized to impose declining carbon caps only through 2020 by the 2006 law A.B. 32. He is aiming to pass a bill extending the program by a supermajority vote, which would insulate it from lawsuits under Proposition 26, a 2010 ballot initiative that requires a two-thirds vote to approve taxes and fees. His aides have said they want to reach a deal before the next auction of greenhouse gas permits next month to bolster participation and revenues (Climatewire, July 10).
The bill, A.B. 398, is accompanied by another proposal, A.B. 617, to require local air districts to speed up retrofits for industrial emission sources in areas that are out of compliance with federal Clean Air Act standards, requiring the installation of "best available retrofit control technology" no later than 2023. It would also set up local monitoring systems for conventional air pollutants in disadvantaged communities, and potentially at specific stationary sources, as well.
The package faces a tight timetable for being approved by the Aug. 15 auction. The Legislature starts its recess on July 21, and according to Proposition 54, a ballot initiative passed last year, bills have to be made public for at least 72 hours before passage, making Thursday the first day that they would be able to vote.
Environmentalists were split on the package yesterday, with environmental justice groups opposed to A.B. 398. They are particularly concerned over a provision that would prevent the state or local air districts from regulating carbon dioxide from oil and gas facilities other than through cap and trade.
"It is truly breathtaking the lengths that Gov. Brown and the Senate President [Pro Tempore Kevin] De Leon seem to have gone to please the oil industry," said Parin Shah, senior strategist with the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, in an email.
"I hope the environmental and EJ movement can convince them that they are running a fool's errand. Bottom line, if this bill is passed, it locks in a regressive handout to big business and may very well constrain the politics of carbon pricing for years to come; not the kind of leadership that makes California the heart of the resistance."
Other environmentalists took a pragmatic view, pointing to the difficulty of getting a supermajority.
"Getting to a two-thirds vote is never easy, and this legislation is the product of a concerted effort by multiple partners to find common ground," said Quentin Foster, the director for California climate at the Environmental Defense Fund.
"EDF urges legislators to act quickly to vote for this important package. Passing these bills demonstrates that our state is committed to achieving a stable climate, improving local air quality and cementing California's place as a global leader."
Climate policy financier and activist Tom Steyer, president of the group NextGen Climate, issued a statement noting the trade-offs but ultimately backing the package.
"A robust cap-and-trade program is critical to California's future, and A.B. 398 makes it clear California will continue to lead in creating solutions to the most serious global challenge in human history — climate change," he said in a statement. "The bill includes significant concessions to the oil industry, but it exacts significant concessions from Big Oil as well. It requires them to reduce their pollution and, importantly, it shows the rest of the world that, after decades of denial, even the oil corporations now accept the urgent need for innovative solutions to climate change."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/07/11/stories/1060057203
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Greens, Tribes Sue to Stop BLM Stay
Jul 11, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Pamela King
Environmental and tribal citizen groups yesterday challenged the Interior Department's postponement of an Obama administration rule to curb methane emissions from energy operations on public lands.
Represented by Earthjustice attorneys, the groups called on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California to require industry compliance with the Bureau of Land Management's Methane and Waste Prevention Rule. The Trump BLM's stay of certain deadlines under that regulation violates the Administrative Procedure Act, the groups contend.
The lawsuit is separate from a similar challenge the states of California and New Mexico filed in the same district court last week.
"Trump and his administration cannot blatantly ignore the law just to benefit polluters at the expense of everyone else," Earthjustice attorney Robin Cooley said in a statement. "Compliance with public health rules cannot be indefinitely delayed while the Trump administration and bad actors within the industry try to undo them."
In a blog post yesterday, Earthjustice linked the battle to other legal challenges of the new president's widespread efforts to undo the regulatory efforts of his predecessor.
"Delays of critical environmental protections have become a familiar tactic from federal agencies, as the Trump administration takes marching orders from polluting industries that want to unravel Obama-era regulations," Earthjustice senior staff writer Jessica Knoblauch wrote. "The courts, however, have proven to be a powerful tool in pushing back on Trump's delay tactics."
She cited a federal appeals court decision to reverse U.S. EPA's stay of its own rule to control methane leakage from new oil and gas equipment (Greenwire, July 3).
Attorneys involved in litigation over the BLM methane rule say that because the agencies relied on authorities granted under two separate statutes, the EPA decision does not set precedent in the BLM case (Energywire, July 6).
Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma said the new lawsuit is "really no different" from the challenge by California and New Mexico.
She previously criticized the states for filing their lawsuit in a court with limited exposure to oil and gas issues.
"We're weighing our options and will decide our response soon," Sgamma said.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/07/11/stories/1060057168
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