Preview Newsletter
AM ACC 9/5/2017
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EPA's Risk Assessment Program Comes Under Review
Sep 5, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Corbin Hiar
U.S. EPA's controversial program for assessing chemical risks will go under the microscope again this week. -
Pesticide Continues to Put Farmworkers and Fetuses in Harm's Way
Sep 4, 2017 | Bakersfield Californian
By Alyssa Morones
Maria Castro has worked in Kern County’s fields for 14 years, since her family moved to Delano from Mexico when she was 16 years old. She started working as a grape harvester two days after her arrival. -
(ACC Mentioned) Industrial Consumers Concerned by Efforts to Expand LNG Exports
Sep 4, 2017 | RTO Insider
By Michael Brooks and Rich Heidorn Jr.
The U.S. is becoming a net exporter of natural gas for the first time since 1958, a boon to the nation’s balance of trade and a bragging point for the Trump administration but a source of concern for industrial gas customers for whom cheap gas has sparked a resurgence in U.S. chemical production. -
Crowded Schedule in Congress to Put Energy Issues on Hold
Sep 5, 2017 | PoliticoPro
By Anthony Adragna
The overcrowded congressional calendar is squelching the chances that any substantial energy legislation will move ahead this fall, with lawmakers consumed with tax reform, lifting the debt ceiling and passing aid packages to rebuild the battered Gulf Coast. -
After Harvey, Houston Needs Petrochemicals More Than Ever
Sep 5, 2017 | Houston Chronicle
By Chris Tomlinson
Imagine cleaning up after Harvey without plastic garbage cans, plastic bags, chlorine bleach or diesel fuel. -
Gas Factbox: About 8.1% of Gulf of Mexico Output Remains Offline
Sep 4, 2017 | Platts
By Harry Weber
Houston and the Gulf Coast region of Texas continued to dry out Monday following the days of historic flooding that Harvey delivered. -
First Corpus Christi Refinery Back Online Amid Texas Gasoline Panic
Sep 4, 2017 | Fuel Fix
By Jordan Blum
Valero Energy on Labor Day brought online its Corpus Christi refinery, the first of the refineries shuttered from Hurricane Harvey to return to full operations. Several others are in the process of starting back up. -
Carper Presses Pruitt over Texas Plant Blaze
Sep 5, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Corbin Hiar
The top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is pressing U.S. EPA for more information about the chemical plant explosion northeast of Houston and its potential implications. -
Crosby Evacuees Return Venting Ire Aimed at Arkema
Sep 4, 2017 | Houston Chronicle
By Keri Blakinger and Lindsay Ellis
Weary residents in the 1.5-mile evacuation zone around a chemical plant started returning to their flood-ravaged homes early Monday, just hours after a controlled burn destroyed six final trailers of decomposing chemicals at the troubled Arkema facility. -
Houston’s Environmental Threats Come Into Focus
Sep 4, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
By Douglas Belkin and Biography Tawnell D. Hobbs
Water is subsiding in flooded neighborhoods, the mayor is insisting Houston “is open for business,” and shelters are emptying out, but Texans returning to flood-damaged homes face plenty of obstacles: the threat of toxic pollutants in the air and drinking water... -
Harvey Relief, Interior-EPA Funding on Tap
Sep 5, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Geof Koss and Manuel Quiñones
Already facing a series of crucial budget and spending deadlines, lawmakers will dive into emergency disaster relief for Hurricane Harvey and funding for U.S. EPA, the Interior Department and a host of other agencies as they return to the Capitol this week. -
Group of Republicans Looks to Build Climate Voting Block
Sep 5, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Arianna Skibell
A handful of Republicans are working to form a voting bloc with Democrats to defeat anti-climate action amendments as the House takes up spending legislation this week.
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Environment News
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EPA's Risk Assessment Program Comes Under Review
Sep 5, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Corbin Hiar
U.S. EPA's controversial program for assessing chemical risks will go under the microscope again this week.
Two House Science, Space and Technology subcommittees have invited a pair of scientists skeptical of EPA's Integrated Risk Information System, which evaluates the risk posed by chemicals that the agency may later regulate under the Toxic Substances Control Act, as well as a Johns Hopkins University professor who oversaw IRIS during the Obama administration.
Kenneth Mundt, a principal at the consulting firm Ramboll Environ, is likely to discuss his recent industry-funded study that was critical of IRIS's draft toxicological review of formaldehyde.
While the review — like the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the National Toxicology Program — tied the chemical to cancer, Mundt concluded that "the weight of scientific evidence does not support a causal association" (Greenwire, May 3).
James Bus, a senior managing scientist at the consulting firm Exponent, has long downplayed the risk chemicals pose to human health.
Last year, Bus told EPA's Scientific Advisory Panel reviewing the common weedkiller glyphosate that it's "highly implausible" that the compound would show up in breast milk at any level to affect the health of nursing infants. He was countering a report from the advocacy group Moms Across America, which found that glyphosate contributes to a variety of human health problems and called for EPA to ban its use (Greenwire, Dec. 15, 2016).
During his time as a lead toxicologist for Dow Chemical Co., Bus was critical of an EPA panel that found C8, or perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), to be a "likely carcinogen." PFOA is used by Dow to make Teflon and other nonstick and stain-resistant materials (Greenwire, Feb. 16, 2006).
IRIS dropped consideration of PFOA and the related perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) from its agenda in 2010 as part of a plan to analyze the broader class of long-chain perfluorinated chemicals. The chemicals are bioaccumulative and have been found to have "significant adverse effects" in laboratory animals and wildlife, EPA said at the time.
Lawmakers will also hear testimony from Thomas Burke, the former deputy assistant administrator of EPA's Office of Research and Development, which includes IRIS. He now teaches at Hopkins' Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Before overseeing IRIS, Burke defended the program in front of a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee (E&E Daily, Oct. 7, 2011).
He will likely play a similar role tomorrow morning, when he faces the Science Committee's Environment and Oversight panels.
Under the leadership of Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the Science Committee has scrutinized the work of IRIS.
In a May 2016 letter to former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, he said that the "program appears to suffer from a lack of transparency and an inability to produce work in a timely manner."
Smith went on to request documents that he may cite at this week's hearing. He specifically asked for information on a slew of agency actions since 2008, including development of program guidance documents, rulemakings and hiring decisions (E&E Daily, May 12).
Schedule: The hearing is Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 10 a.m. in 2318 Rayburn.
Witnesses: Ramboll Environ Principal Kenneth Mundt, Exponent senior managing scientist James Bus and Johns Hopkins University professor Thomas Burke.
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2017/09/05/stories/1060059649
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Pesticide Continues to Put Farmworkers and Fetuses in Harm's Way
Sep 4, 2017 | Bakersfield Californian
By Alyssa Morones
Maria Castro has worked in Kern County’s fields for 14 years, since her family moved to Delano from Mexico when she was 16 years old. She started working as a grape harvester two days after her arrival.
She soon noticed a weird scent on her clothes that wouldn’t come off, even after washing. Her brother-in-law told her it was sulfur that growers applied to fields to help the grapes grow faster.
“They never really tell us the names of the pesticides,” said Castro, “or their dangers.”
But Castro, who asked that her name be changed for this story because she's in the country illegally, learned first-hand about the health issues that come with exposure to pesticides.
She’s noticed that soon after chemical applications on or near where she’s working, she feels nauseous and dizzy. Sometimes she vomits. She said she’s seen co-workers faint.
One of the more dangerous chemicals workers like Castro are exposed to is Chlorpyrifos, a common and highly toxic organophosphate pesticide produced by Dow Chemical. Symptoms of exposure include nausea, dizziness, confusion and, in the highest levels of exposure, respiratory paralysis and death.
Despite controls put in place by the state EPA office, exposure to dangerous levels of the chemical do happen. In May, a group of farmworkers in Kern County was exposed to dangerously high levels of chlorpyrifos when it drifted from a nearby field. In August, Kern County saw a second incident, also involving chlorpyrifos.
And in the CDPR’s most recent air monitoring report, released in August, data indicated that for a four-week period the chlorpyrifos air concentration at a site in Shafter was 18 times higher than the EPA’s “level of concern” for pregnant women, as calculated in its Chlorpyrifos 2016 Revised Human Health Risk Assessment, published before the department reversed course on its proposed ban.
Researchers have identified exposure to organophosphate pesticides such as chlorpyrifos as a health threat. In 2011, three studies found a link between levels of prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides and lower IQ in the children at the age of 7, in both rural and urban settings. A 2014 study from the UC Davis MIND Institute found that pregnant women who lived near fields where organophosphate pesticides, including chlorpyrifos, were sprayed saw an elevated risk of their children being born on the autism spectrum.
EPA DROPS PROPOSED BAN
The EPA’s 2016 Revised Human Health Risk Assessment of the popular pesticide found that there are no safe uses of the pesticide. The EPA had been set to ban the pesticide until it announced at the end of the review period, in March 2017, that it would reverse course.
In his announcement, newly-appointed EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said that the agency was “returning to using sound science in decision making.”
Paul Towers, organizing director and policy advocate at the Pesticide Action Network North America (one of the organizations that has been pushing for a ban on the pesticide), said “the science has been in a long time, and it’s only getting stronger.”
More concerning than cases of overt exposure are the low levels of ongoing exposure faced by people living and working in agricultural communities, according to Towers.
“Low levels of ongoing exposure don’t send a person to the hospital, and it’s difficult to observe and diagnose,” said Towers. That’s true of many different pesticides commonly used in agriculture, he noted, not just chlorpyrifos.
This exposure can occur through dust or residue that can blow into homes and schools near agriculture, or through residue left on produce.
According to a 2014 California Department of Public Health study, more than half a million pounds of pesticides of public health concern were applied within a quarter mile of public schools in the 15 counties with the most agricultural pesticide use; more than 118,000 students attended the schools within a quarter mile of the highest levels of pesticide application. Hispanic children were significantly more likely than their white peers to attend schools near fields where pesticides were being applied.
MORE PROTECTIONS NEEDED, ADVOCATES SAY
Chlorpyrifos is considered a “restricted use pesticide” in California, which means there is a significant number of additional rules and restrictions for how and when the pesticide can be used, beyond those enforced by the federal EPA. In Kern County, where the pesticide is regularly used (the county used more than 285,000 tons in 2015), those rules and regulations are even stricter.
The Environmental Health Division under the Kern County Department of Public Health Services has a robust response system to notice of possible dangerous pesticide exposure, including decontamination and medical treatment, with prevention as a main focus of the department, according to its director, Donna Fenton.
Though rare, incidents like the two most recent ones in Kern County, where the pesticide drifted from a nearby field, still happen.
This is at least partly because of the difficulties of coordinating efforts to keep the public safe and enforcing regulations. In the May 2 incident in Kern County, for example, the companies fined for the pesticide drift were not tied to the workers who were exposed to the pesticide.
Moreover, there’s no way to count how many incidents of improper pesticide exposure go unreported, explained Eriberto Fernandez, an organizer with the United Farm Workers Foundation.
“There’s a lot of information farmworkers don’t have [about pesticides], because employers don’t train their employees before a harvest, or there’s not a lot of awareness among farmworkers of what to do or who to call,” he said.
Even so, making these reports isn’t always a viable option.
As Fernandez noted, the laws on the books are not always the laws in the fields.
“Some farmworkers are afraid to report pesticide exposure because they’re afraid of being blacklisted or reprimanded,” said Fernandez.
Castro said that while she and her co-workers do report their possible exposure to pesticides, it’s rare that the foreman then reports that incident to their supervisors. When supervisors are made aware, they usually just move the workers to a different area.
“By then, we’re already sprayed and soiled in chemicals,” said Castro.
CALIFORNIA CONSIDERS MORE RESTRICTIONS
Advocates, including PANNA, are now asking California, which uses more chlorpyrifos than any other state (1.1 million tons in 2015), to ban the pesticide at the state level.
Charlotte Fadipe, spokesperson for the California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR), which is part of the California EPA, said that her department is examining chlorpyrifos to see if more restrictions are necessary.
The CDPR encourages growers to manage and solve pest problems using natural resources as an alternative to chemical pesticides, but growers are often hesitant to make the switch, according to Fadipe.
“If you’re a grower and growing on hundreds of acres, employing hundreds of people, including drivers and pickers, you want certainty that if you switch, it’s going to work,” said Fadipe.
Traditionally used pesticides like chlorpyrifos provide both certainty and efficiency. Alternative methods can take months or seasons and require additional resources to work. They are less efficient.
There has been some recent movement in California toward increased state restrictions on chlorpyrifos. After the CDPR released an updated draft risk assessment of chlorpyrifos on Aug. 18, 2017, the California EPA announced it will begin a public and scientific review of the document, which could lead to increased restrictions, though those restrictions might not come until December 2018, after the comment and review process is completed.
The CDPR will provide interim recommendations to county agricultural commissioners Sept. 15.
Advocates say this is not enough. Representatives from Californians for Pesticide Reform and United Farm Workers issued a joint statement that criticized the risk assessment’s failure to consider the pesticide’s possible brain harming effects.
While action on chlorpyrifos might be stuck in administrative limbo, the lives of Castro and others working and living near agriculture must continue.
Castro has to pick up her children immediately after work, which means that she and her children must sit in the car with her soiled clothes as they drive home.
One time, her daughter complained of being “itchy all over,” and asked if it was the chemicals causing it.
“I told her maybe and that she should shower as soon as she gets home,” said Castro.
Often, Castro said, her children complain of the smell when they get in the car.
“All I can say is you better study hard so you can prepare yourselves,” she said.
http://www.bakersfield.com/news/pesticide-continues-to-put-farmworkers-and-fetuses-in-harm-s/article_f23c1142-8ea6-11e7-be96-bfb2cedd5543.html
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(ACC Mentioned) Industrial Consumers Concerned by Efforts to Expand LNG Exports
Sep 4, 2017 | RTO Insider
By Michael Brooks and Rich Heidorn Jr.
The U.S. is becoming a net exporter of natural gas for the first time since 1958, a boon to the nation’s balance of trade and a bragging point for the Trump administration but a source of concern for industrial gas customers for whom cheap gas has sparked a resurgence in U.S. chemical production.
The historic shift is the result of both increased pipeline shipments to Canada and Mexico and increasing LNG exports.
The opening in February 2016 of Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass LNG export terminal in Louisiana — the first export facility in the lower 48 states — helped push the country from being net importer of natural gas to a net exporter for four of the first six months of the year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
Sabine Pass and the only other existing export terminal in the U.S., ConocoPhillips’ Kenai LNG Plant in Nikiski, Alaska, have a combined capacity of 2.3 Bcfd. In addition, 11 other terminals with a combined capacity of 16.4 Bcfd have been approved, and another 14 terminals with total capacity of 25 Bcfd have pending applications or are in the prefiling stage, according to FERC.
The U.S. ranked 16th in LNG exports in 2016, with only a 1.1% market share. But about half of global export capacity under construction is in the U.S.
The Trump administration has pushed to expand LNG exports, particularly to European Union countries dependent on Russian gas, continuing an Obama-era policy to counter Russian influence. Although some government strategists may find U.S. shale gas wealth appealing as a geopolitical lever, economists say exporting too much gas could expose U.S. consumers, industrial users and electric generators to much higher world prices.
Australia’s surge in LNG exports provides a cautionary tale. The country, which exported 62% of its production last year, was hit with a February heat wave that resulted in gas shortages and blackouts.
But there is no agreement on what is the tipping point for the U.S. or how soon we could get there.
The answer depends on at least three variables: How big is the U.S. supply? How much demand is there for U.S. exports? And what will be the impact of increasing exports on U.S. gas prices? (See sidebar, No Agreement on Tipping Point for LNG Exports.)
Chris McGill, vice president of policy analysis for the American Gas Association, which represents more than 200 gas utilities, is unconcerned.
“We have not believed that incremental elements of demand — like LNG growing over time, like more gas for power generation — destroy the market for small volume users,” he said. “In fact, if you look at the recent history, and particularly since the shale revolution, we have a market that’s been demand-constrained, not supply-constrained.”
John Shelk, CEO of the Electric Power Supply Association, said independent power producers aren’t concerned by an increase in exports influencing electricity prices either. “We agree with our producer colleagues that the supply curve is so flat that any increased demand from LNG exports going up can be met without a meaningful uptick in prices,” he said.
But the Industrial Energy Consumers of America (IECA) is alarmed by the trend, saying the U.S. will run out of supply as soon as 2072.
The group, which represents companies with 2,600 facilities and 1.7 million employees, issued a statement in July disputing Trump’s boast that the U.S. is “sitting on massive” energy reserves. It called for a moratorium on further approvals of LNG exports to countries without free-trade agreements (FTAs) with the U.S.
Citing EIA data, IECA President Paul N. Cicio claimed “56% of all natural gas resources will be consumed” by 2050. The claim that the U.S. has a 100-year supply of gas, he says, “is a myth.”Regulation of Exports, Terminals
The Natural Gas Act of 1938 stipulates that the U.S. Department of Energy must approve any requests to import or export gas based on whether it is in the “public interest” — a term it has never precisely defined.
Under the Energy Policy Act of 1992, trades with countries that have FTAs with the U.S. are automatically considered “consistent with the public interest and granted without modification or delay,” according to the department.
Two bills introduced in the Senate in June would expand that blanket authorization to countries without FTAs, except those under U.S. sanctions: the License Natural Gas Now Act, proposed by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), and the Natural Gas Export Expansion Act, by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Cassidy said his bill is supported by industry groups including the American Petroleum Institute and the Natural Gas Supply Association. IECA said it opposes the Cassidy bill.
DOE has delegated to FERC the authority to conduct environmental and safety reviews of proposed LNG facilities, but not to block exports on broader policy grounds.Industrial Growth Threatened?
In April 2016, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) called the U.S. “the most attractive place in the world to make chemicals,” saying cheap gas was responsible for 264 U.S. chemical industry projects totaling $164 billion. By 2023, the group said, the spending would result in 69,000 new chemical industry jobs, 357,000 jobs in supplier industries and 312,000 jobs in neighboring communities. By contrast, IECA notes that LNG export terminals only employ a few hundred employees each.
Notably, 55% of the projects were then in the planning phase, making them vulnerable to cancellation if gas prices rise too high.
Unlike IECA, however, the chemicals group expresses no fear of LNG exports.
The ACC told RTO Insider that it stands by its 2013 statement opposing any new export bans or restrictions on LNG export terminals and supporting “free-market policies that promote the export of American-made goods, including” LNG.
“Where there is not a clear consensus among the membership is on the question of whether the Natural Gas Act’s ‘public interest’ requirement should be further defined in export permitting to non-FTA countries,” the group said then. It said its Executive Committee would continue discussions to seek a consensus and monitor “issues that could affect the competitive position of our industry in the future, such as infrastructure development and access to energy resources.”
The industrials group is aware that ACC’s position seems to undermine its concerns.
“IECA is often asked why other large manufacturing trade associations like the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S. Chamber, the American Chemistry Council and the Business Roundtable do not raise concerns about excessive LNG exports,” it says. “The answer is that 100% of IECA member companies are manufacturing companies. Other trade associations have company membership which includes the oil and natural gas industry, and prevents them from addressing these concerns.”
According to EIA, power generation led the demand for U.S. natural gas in 2016, responsible for 36% of consumption. Industrial consumption was second (28%), with demand driven by petrochemical producers — who use natural gas as a feedstock in the production of methanol, ammonia and fertilizer — and other energy-intensive industries that use natural gas for heat and power.
EIA predicts gas use in power production will briefly decline because of growth in renewables and price competition with coal, before increasing after 2020.
The increase is based in part on the scheduled expiration of renewable tax credits in the mid-2020s. However, the reference case also included fuel switching to gas because of EPA’s Clean Power Plan, which President Trump has vowed to cancel. Natural gas consumption in the electric power sector is about 6% higher in the reference case in 2040 than the “No CPP” case.Defining the ‘Public Interest’
Neither Congress nor the DOE has defined the “public interest” for making decisions on exports to non-FTA countries; instead, the department has used guidelines developed in 1984 for LNG imports, according to a 2014 Government Accountability Office report.
The industrials say the department should define the public interest to recognize job impacts. IECA says using natural gas in manufacturing creates eight times more jobs than exporting it. Domestic industrial use is worth twice the direct value added per year and 4.5 times the direct construction jobs, IECA says.
“The most glaring omission and failure of the Obama administration [public interest] studies was to cumulatively account for increased LNG exports to both NFTA and FTA countries. The studies only considered the impact for volumes to NFTA countries. More than twice the volume is approved for FTA countries and these volumes, in addition to domestic demand, were not included in any of the studies,” IECA said.IECA Recommendations
The group recommends the government allow existing LNG export terminals approved for shipment to non-FTA countries to become operational and determine if the gas industry can increase production, pipeline transportation and storage capacity without price increases or supply shortages that would damage the U.S. economy.
“DOE should implement its authority under the Natural Gas Act (NGA) to establish a process of ongoing monitoring of economic impacts of LNG export volumes, and with the ability to reduce LNG export volumes for purposes of establishing a safety valve for U.S. consumers and the economic welfare of the country,” IECA said.
https://www.rtoinsider.com/liquefied-natural-gas-lng-exports-48946/
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Crowded Schedule in Congress to Put Energy Issues on Hold
Sep 5, 2017 | PoliticoPro
By Anthony Adragna
The overcrowded congressional calendar is squelching the chances that any substantial energy legislation will move ahead this fall, with lawmakers consumed with tax reform, lifting the debt ceiling and passing aid packages to rebuild the battered Gulf Coast.
Instead, congressional aides and observers expect that the once-routine work of approving agency nominees and funding federal agencies may be the biggest accomplishments for the energy world.
“It’s not just an energy thing, but there’s really not time for anything outside of those must-dos,” said Christopher Guith, senior vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Longer-term initiatives like revamping the Renewable Fuel Standard or the Antiquities Act may generate some hearings in the coming weeks, but any substantive push to move legislation will slip into next year at the earliest. And efforts to advance an energy bill will also have to wait until next year since the House has not engaged on the subject, even as Sen. Lisa Murkowski, chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has pushed her chamber's leadership to fast-track the legislation for a floor vote.
Both fossil fuel and renewable energy interests are closely watching the simmering fight over tax reform, although many observers doubt that congressional leadership will succeed in getting any major legislation passed this year.
“Energy provisions in tax legislation will preoccupy lobbyists, but any attempt at tax bill passage will wait until next year,” said Paul Bledsoe, a former Senate Finance Committee staffer now with the Progressive Policy Institute.
Energy companies support slashing the corporate tax rate, which President Donald Trump has floated dropping to 15 percent, below the 20 percent rate proposed by House Republicans. Trump is planning to pitch the tax cuts on Wednesday with a speech in North Dakota, home of the Bakken Shale.
And odds are slim that efforts to keep a carbon capture and sequestration tax credit or extend tax incentives for several renewable energy technologies will have enough momentum to move on their own — unless congressional leaders abandon the effort for a comprehensive tax package.
The House has teed up a broad spending package, H.R. 3354 (115), including EPA and Interior funding, for floor consideration when it returns, and it’s already passed its Energy title. But the Senate remains sharply divided, and most observers expect a short-term spending package will be needed to fund the government into December, when the real spending showdown will happen.
And while policy riders have riled the appropriations process over the last several years, those fights may subside now that Republicans control federal agencies, giving them a freer hand to implement their policy preferences. Republicans may back off any controversial riders to avoid provoking Democratic lawmakers, whose votes will be needed to pass any spending legislation.
“Things seem to be so chaotic that it’s going to take a lot of bipartisan support to get anything done,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Lands Protection Program at the Sierra Club. “That gives Democrats a lot of leverage.”
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will push for the full chamber to take up the bipartisan nuclear energy (S. 512 (115)) and conservation (S. 1514 (115)) bills. And a committee aide said Chairman John Barrasso will “continue working to limit government overreach” and “examine new and innovative technologies to protect America’s air, water and species.”
In the House, Rep. John Shimkus expects the bills addressing nuclear waste management, drinking water and brownfields that passed out of his House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee earlier this year could reach the floor under suspension in September.
“When I was fighting with Harry Reid, I just pledged to myself that I was going to outlast him. I thought to myself, the guy is 20 years older than me, I'll just outlast him," he told a local newspaper last month, referring to the long battle over nuclear waste and the stalled Yucca Mountain repository project. "He's retired, and now the door is open to get this done."
The House Natural Resources Committee plans to tackle a host of bills regarding onshore and offshore drilling, as well as hardrock mining, that would loosen restrictions and grant greater control to the states. “Once these are drafted, they’ll hopefully get a legislative hearing on the sooner side with the intention of moving through the committee process to make it to the floor,” a committee aide told POLITICO. “We could see these bills in subcommittee hearings and marked up before the end of this year."
The Senate cleared much of the backlog of nominees before breaking for August recess, but moving White House appointees through the chamber in the coming weeks and months will hinge on whether Democrats continue to draw out the process through procedural hurdles. Among those waiting in the wings: Susan Bodine for EPA enforcement chief; a host of Energy and Interior nominations; NRC nominees Annie Caputo, David Wright and current Commissioner Jeff Baran; and FERC nominees Kevin McIntyre and Richard Glick.
The FERC picks, along with the selections of Joseph Balash to be an Interior assistant secretary and Ryan Nelson to be Interior’s solicitor, will get a hearingThursday with the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
The list of nominations to consider grew with a flurry of late-night Sept. 1 nominations from Trump that included: Matthew Leopold as EPA general counsel; David Ross as EPA's top water official; Steven Winberg as assistant Energy secretary for fossil energy; Bruce Walker as assistant Energy secretary for electricity, delivery and energy reliability; David Zatezalo as head of the U.S. mine safety agency; Timothy Gallaudet for the number two position at NOAA; and Rep. Jim Bridenstine(R-Okla.) to be NASA administrator.
Murkowski and Sen. Maria Cantwell will keep pushing for floor time on their energy bill, S. 1460 (115), but several observers say they’ve seen no interest from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in moving any energy-related measures this year — and there's been even less engagement in the House.
There's not a chance the current iteration of the energy package would be taken up by the House, Guith said. “There absolutely needs to be a bicameral discussion. It’s not there yet.”
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/story/2017/09/crowded-schedule-in-congress-to-put-energy-issues-on-hold-161316
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After Harvey, Houston Needs Petrochemicals More Than Ever
Sep 5, 2017 | Houston Chronicle
By Chris Tomlinson
Imagine cleaning up after Harvey without plastic garbage cans, plastic bags, chlorine bleach or diesel fuel.
How about rebuilding a house without insulated copper wire, wet-space drywall, paint or power tools.
The explosions and fires at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby were a terrifying reminder of the dangerous chemicals and processes involved in making plastics and coatings. The flames jetting from the flare stacks along the Houston Ship Channel are menacing, and the black smoke billowing into the sky is ominous.
Those facilities, though, make the building blocks for our homes, and without them, recovering from a hurricane would be impossible. Yet we take them for granted.
We don't lionize the engineers who spent their lives designing those petrochemical plants and refineries, the vast majority of which survived Harvey just fine. There are more than 400 such facilities in the Houston area, and only three reports of significant, dangerous and uncontrolled chemical releases so far.
To put this in perspective, Greater Houston is the world's largest producer of plastic resin pellets, the little white chunks of plastic shipped in bulk to factories around the world, where machines color and mold them into the plastic and rubber products you find in your home.
Houston is making more pellets than ever because Texas is home to cheap natural gas. Companies in Houston have built a half-dozen new plants to super-heat natural gas in steam crackers to produce ethylene gas.TRANSLATOR
To read this article in one of Houston's most-spoken languages, click on the button below.Select Language▼CHRIS TOMLINSONAfter Harvey, Houston needs petrochemicals more than everCharities are big businesses, and some are scamsHarvey gas panic is self-fulfilling prophecyTime for Houston to plan for warmer waterHarvey reveals corporate hubris regarding safety
Ethylene gas, which is flammable, is then pressurized and combined with a catalyst to make polyethylene, the most common plastic. Polyethylene is then combined with other chemicals to serve different purposes.
Needless to say, whenever a flammable gas is heated and pressurized, something can go wrong. But when you consider that companies make about 80 million tons of polyethylene a year with very few accidents, the engineering deserves our respect.
Producing transportation fuels involves an equally hazardous process at refineries up and down the ship channel. And while Texas refineries typically produce 4 million barrels of gasoline a day, there are very few problems.
Last week I wrote a column blasting Arkema and other facilities that leaked chemicals during Harvey. I felt comfortable criticizing them in the midst of a natural disaster because the vast majority of the industry weathered the storm without creating a public hazard.
Arkema, and others, further deserve criticism because they also have rejected the public's right to know what hazardous materials they have stored in our neighborhoods. Nor have they shared how they minimize risks.
We have the right to demand this information and to demand that regulators inspect facilities to confirm compliance.
What we don't need, though, is the hyperbole coming from environmental groups like the Sierra Club last week.
"For as long as I can remember, my hometown of Houston has been littered with dangerous chemical plants, oil and gas refineries, and hazardous waste facilities," Bryan Parras, a Sierra Club organizer wrote in a statement. "These sites have caused devastation for my family, my friends, and my neighbors for years, polluting our air and water with deadly toxins."
Yes, he really did say devastation.
Chemical plants and refineries have undoubtedly polluted our city, but they haven't caused devastation. These plants did not destroy the homes of 100,000 Houstonians. These plants have not razed entire towns to their foundations.
In fact, these plants are critical to rebuilding after true devastation.
Let's keep things in perspective. The majority of petrochemical plants and refineries in Houston have improved dramatically over the past 20 years. Air and water pollution are down dramatically. New facilities going in now are extremely efficient and environmentally responsible.
There are old plants that are dangerous and should be closed, and we should demand greater action from our government to prevent more pollution.
Most people, though, need to acknowledge that we are the reason these plants exist. If we didn't need chemicals, plastics and fuel, there would be no reason to build these dangerous places. No matter how much they may scare us, they are our creation. We are responsible for them.
So when you walk across your new polyurethane-sealed wooden floor and tap a plastic anchor into the drywall to rehang the family photos, take a moment to think about the geniuses who made all of those things possible.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/An-ode-to-petrochemicals-following-Harvey-12171830.php
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Gas Factbox: About 8.1% of Gulf of Mexico Output Remains Offline
Sep 4, 2017 | Platts
By Harry Weber
Houston and the Gulf Coast region of Texas continued to dry out Monday following the days of historic flooding that Harvey delivered.
The storm made landfall as a hurricane, but did most of its damage to energy infrastructure after it was downgraded to a tropical storm.
PRODUCTION
About 8.1% of daily Gulf of Mexico natural gas output remained offline Monday, 10 days after Harvey began to wreak havoc to the center of US energy infrastructure. It was a slight improvement from 8.4% offline Sunday.
The Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement reported that, based on data from operator reports submitted as of 11:30 am local time, about 259.2 MMcf/d of Gulf gas production of 3.2 Bcf/d was shut in.
Personnel remained evacuated from 14 production platforms, or 2% of the 737 manned platforms in the Gulf of Mexico, down from the 30 production platforms that saw evacuations as of Sunday.
LNG
At Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass LNG export terminal in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, tankers still were unable to access the site Monday because inbound and outbound traffic along the Intracoastal Waterway feeding the terminal remained suspended.
A dispatcher for Sabine Pilots, which navigates vessels along the waterway, said the suspension would be in effect until further notice.
Another dispatcher said Sunday the suspension could be lifted Tuesday or Wednesday. The last cargo to leave Sabine Pass was August 24, the day before Harvey came ashore along the Gulf Coast.
MIDSTREAM
Kinder Morgan, which moves move than one-third of the natural gas consumed in the US, continued to see restrictions on some segments of its Tennessee Gas Pipeline Monday.https://www.platts.com/latest-news/natural-gas/houston/gas-factbox-about-81-of-gulf-of-mexico-output-27869015
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First Corpus Christi Refinery Back Online Amid Texas Gasoline Panic
Sep 4, 2017 | Fuel Fix
By Jordan Blum
Valero Energy on Labor Day brought online its Corpus Christi refinery, the first of the refineries shuttered from Hurricane Harvey to return to full operations. Several others are in the process of starting back up.
The historic storm triggered an ongoing gasoline panic in Texas and beyond amid fuel shortages and price spikes. Dallas-area fuel prices are up almost 70 cents a gallon on average, while San Antonio is asking people to carpool or work from home until more fuel supplies arrive in the days ahead.
Hurricane Harvey knocked out more than 20 percent of the nation's refining capacity, and fuel distribution issues have kept many stations from maintaining their supplies in the short term. Public panic and gasoline hoarding exacerbated the shortage issues, creating long lines and isolated instances of fights at pumps. Close to half of all Dallas, San Antonio and Austin area gas stations are out of fuel for now, according to GasBuddy's activity tracker.
Countless gas stations remain closed in the Houston area for now either because they sustained damages or they can't yet replenish their fuel supplies.
The nationwide average for a gallon of regular unleaded fuel on Monday was $2.64, up 32 cents from before Hurricane Harvey's landfall, AAA reports. In Houston, the average has spiked to $2.44 a gallon as of Monday, from $2.10, GasBuddy said. The Dallas average rose to $2.69 a gallon.
Texas Oil and Gas Association President Todd Staples on Monday asked people to conserve and buy only fuel they absolutely need.
"Every day, significant progress is being made to overcome the historic disruption to our state's fuel production and distribution system caused by Hurricane Harvey," Staples said.
More fuel is being imported from overseas and supplied from other states to ensure there are adequate supplies, he added. It takes time to get fuel exactly where it's needed most.
More than 4 million barrels of daily refining capacity were offline a few days ago along the Texas Gulf Coast, but already that number is down to about 3 million barrels or so thanks to Valero and other refineries that never shut down but had reduced their operations.
The Valero refinery churns through more than 200,000 barrels of crude a day. Valero's Texas City refinery, which never fully shut down, also is back to normal. Valero also said its Three Rivers and Houston refineries are ramping back up still. Its Port Arthur refinery is still being assessed.
Also in Corpus, Flint Hills Resources and Citgo Petroleum are in the process of restarting the other major refining complexes in the city near where Harvey came ashore Aug. 25.
The Gulf Coast area is still weeks away from all the Houston and Port Arthur refining complexes returning to normal operations. Exact timelines remain unknown, but the majority of refineries that were closed down are in the process of restarting.
http://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/First-Corpus-Christi-refinery-back-online-as-ramp-12172043.php
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Carper Presses Pruitt over Texas Plant Blaze
Sep 5, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Corbin Hiar
The top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is pressing U.S. EPA for more information about the chemical plant explosion northeast of Houston and its potential implications.
The blasts at the Arkema Inc.-owned plant, which manufactures chemicals used to produce plastics and vinyl, were triggered early Thursday morning when floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey knocked out power supplies needed to keep the highly reactive compounds it stores on-site from igniting. Shortly before the fire, the company removed nearly a dozen employees from the inundated Crosby, Texas, plant.
The chemical facility — one of more than 100 in the Gulf region swamped by the storm — was supposed to have a risk management plan in place to avoid such a scenario.
"The failure of both Arkema's emergency backup power supply measures and subsequent evacuation of on-site personnel clearly raise questions related to the sufficiency of Arkema's Plan and its implementation," EPW Committee ranking member Tom Carper (D-Del.) wrote to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on Friday evening.
Carper also expressed concerns about the administrator's fiscal 2018 budget request, which would cut funding for EPA's chemical plant inspection program by almost 35 percent, and his nearly two-year delay of a facility safety rule that would have provided more information about the Crosby plant and its hazardous contents to first responders, some of whom were hospitalized after breathing in fumes from the fire (Greenwire, Aug. 31).
Weeks before the disaster, Carper and Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) sent a letter urging Pruitt to "immediately implement" the chemical facility safety rule.
Now Carper wants to know when the Crosby plant and other Arkema facilities were last inspected, what requirements EPA has for backup generators, whether the agency requires risk management plans to account for climate change, and whether Pruitt still supports EPA's budget request and rule delay.
The ranking member, who has publicly complained about EPA's slow or nonexistent responses to Democratic oversight requests, asked the administrator to answer his questions by the end of the month.
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2017/09/05/stories/1060059645
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Crosby Evacuees Return Venting Ire Aimed at Arkema
Sep 4, 2017 | Houston Chronicle
By Keri Blakinger and Lindsay Ellis
Weary residents in the 1.5-mile evacuation zone around a chemical plant started returning to their flood-ravaged homes early Monday, just hours after a controlled burn destroyed six final trailers of decomposing chemicals at the troubled Arkema facility.
But even as the week-long ordeal came to a close, the French-owned company declined to disclose key details, including the full chemical inventory for the 18000 Crosby Eastgate site or how officials ignited the trailers.
Meanwhile, some upset residents said they are considering suing the company for the ordeal, which kept them from returning to their waterlogged homes and businesses for several days.
"It's been a nightmare," said Elda Garza, who lives with her special-needs son in a trailer near the plant.
Arkema apologized to the Crosby community during a Monday morning news conference at the local fire station, less than 12 hours after authorities lifted the evacuation order.
"I hope that they can know how profoundly sorry we are for the impact that we've had on their lives," Arkema CEO Richard Rowe said, vowing to help the community recover.
The storm knocked out power to the plant, along with primary and backup generators and even a nitrogen cooling system. With no ability to cool nine trailers of highly volatile organic peroxides, the company warned there was "no way" to prevent an explosion.
Employees were evacuated early last week and authorities set up a 1.5-mile evacuation zone that was not enforced until after the first trailer burst into flames early Thursday.
Two more followed suit Friday, but initially the company said that waiting for the remaining six trailers to combust on their own was the safest course of action, even after the 6-foot-deep floodwaters began to recede.
Then, Saturday, officials saw signs of decomposition in the remaining six trailers. But that decomposition didn't lead to a fire, and eventually aerial surveillance showed the chemicals leaking from their containers. So on Sunday - with no warning to the public - officials ignited the remaining containers.
"We passed a very critical milestone yesterday that I'm glad we achieved," Rowe said Monday.
Rubber burned in fire
Arkema confirmed that the chemical trailers had rubber tires and insulation that burned in the fires, which could be present in the ash that falls from the sky.
The company declined to estimate any losses to revenue and said it had five plants in the Gulf Coast impacted by the storm, though Crosby was the hardest hit.
Travis Morales, an activist from New York City, held a news conference in Crosby on Monday, accusing the company of "poisoning" the community and demanding free medical care in the aftermath of the blazes. Some locals shared his concerns as they moved back into their homes early Monday.
"I just wish they would have done what they did yesterday three days ago," said one man living in the evacuation zone.
Down the street, Bridget Smith worried whether it was safe to eat food that was in the refrigerator and eggs from the chickens she'd let run free during the evacuation.
"I know they said they took all the right measures but I don't believe that because we would have been able to come home sooner," she said, adding that time away from home meant revenue losses for her family's towing company.
Smith said she and some of her neighbors have consulted with a lawyer.
Garza said she didn't necessarily plan to sue, but was annoyed by the company's failure to provide information.
"Everything we heard was from the news," she said. "Other than that, nothing else."
Although Garza didn't have a business impacted by the evacuation, she had a different worry: Her 8-year-old son has cerebral palsy and needs three medical machines. The equipment was too heavy to move, so she found portable alternatives for two of the machines - and the third her son had to do without.
"He seems fine," she said, adding she would need to take him to a doctor to be sure.
Now, questions - and controversies - remain for Arkema, which has drawn the attention of national media and officials for both its handling of the incident and unwillingness to disclose detailed breakdowns of the materials in its chemical inventory.
The company Thursday provided a list of what chemicals were at the site, but did not clarify the amounts, location or types of containers used.
It also refused to specify where even more potentially dangerous chemicals are located on site.
Arkema under fire
Rowe said at the time his company was balancing "the public's right to know and the public's right to be secure."
An Arkema spokesperson said a more detailed breakdown would have to be obtained through the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, a claim that TCEQ has since refuted, saying Arkema is free to release the so-called Tier Two chemical inventory "if they so choose."
The company Monday pledged to examine how it prepared for and responded to the crisis, adding that they've helped with housing for roughly 100 residents and set up a hotline and claims center to assist evacuees kept out of their homes for days.
"Obviously it's been a devastating week on top of a extraordinary, unprecedented storm," Rowe said. "We will go forward with a commitment to help the residents of Crosby and beyond once again return their lives to normalcy."
Robert Downen contributed to this report.
CHEMICAL BREAKDOWN: In November 2014, four workers died at a DuPont plant in La Porte after being exposed to a toxic gas. Responding emergency workers weren't sure what was in the air. The surrounding community wasn't, either. A Houston Chronicle investigation dives deep into Houston's hidden world of explosions and toxic releases and probes the regulatory failures that put us in jeopardy. Click here to read our series.
http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-weather/hurricaneharvey/article/Crosby-evacuees-return-venting-ire-aimed-at-Arkema-12172567.php
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Houston’s Environmental Threats Come Into Focus
Sep 4, 2017 | Wall Street Journal
By Douglas Belkin and Biography Tawnell D. Hobbs
Water is subsiding in flooded neighborhoods, the mayor is insisting Houston “is open for business,” and shelters are emptying out, but Texans returning to flood-damaged homes face plenty of obstacles: the threat of toxic pollutants in the air and drinking water, and even hungry, dislocated animals seeking shelter.
On Monday, authorities lifted an evacuation order in Crosby, site of the Arkema Inc. chemical plant about 25 miles northeast of Houston. Containers of the chemicals, which are unstable if not kept refrigerated, started igniting on Thursday after power outages cut off cooling systems. On Monday, the company said the Crosby Fire Department had lifted a 1.5-mile evacuation zone around the plant, allowing neighbors to return to their homes.
But concerns about the long-term environmental damage to the area remain high, and the Houston Health Department is overwhelmed. The two employees who routinely test the city’s waterways aren’t enough to quickly monitor the storm’s effects across Houston’s vast network of bayous, said Loren Raun, chief environmental science officer for the health department.
“It’s too big of a problem,” Ms. Raun said. “We really need to be sampling everywhere.”
Floodwaters also have inundated at least five toxic-waste Superfund sites near Houston, and some may be damaged, though Environmental Protection Agency officials have yet to assess the full extent of what occurred.
One of Ms. Raun’s chief concerns is the threat of toxic pollutants from Houston’s runoff reaching downstream industries and ecosystems, contaminating the soil and entering the air through evaporation.
The city’s main waterway, the Buffalo Bayou, channels runoff from the surrounding 102 square miles into the Houston Shipping Channel. Those waters eventually make their way to the Gulf of Mexico, she said.
That is why Ms. Raun emailed EPA officials Friday to request help taking and testing water samples near Superfund locations. An EPA official replied Friday to say he had forwarded her request to the agency’s Regional Emergency Operations Center.
In the meantime, Houston Health Department air-inspection teams will begin to fan out Tuesday to monitor air quality around the city’s petroleum and chemical manufacturers, targeting roughly 100 of the largest locations first, according to Donald Richner, senior project manager for the bureau of pollution control and prevention within the health department’s environmental division.
“We’ll start with them, because when they have a problem, it’s usually bigger than anyone else’s,” Mr. Richner said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott told CNN the EPA is working on some of the hazardous sites already, but “they have restraints on their ability to check out some of them just simply because of the water.”
Meanwhile, repairs continued on the water-treatment plant in Beaumont, about 85 miles from Houston, which failed after the swollen Neches River inundated the main intake system and backup pumps halted. Outside the town of Liberty, about 45 miles from Houston, dozens of people were still cut off by the swollen Trinity River. A Texas National Guard helicopter landed at the local fire department with pallets of drinking water.
About 2,800 evacuees remained in Houston’s megashelter at the NRG Center on Monday—from a high of about 10,000, according to a spokeswoman at the convention center. Victims are being consolidated from other smaller shelters, and many others have returned home.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said much of the city was hoping to get back on track after Labor Day, some 10 days after Hurricane Harvey made landfall.
“Anyone who was planning on a conference or a convention or a sporting event or a concert coming to this city, you can still come,” the mayor told CBS on Sunday. “We can do multiple things at the same time.”
Mr. Turner posted on Twitter that he would announce Tuesday whether to end the citywide curfew that runs from midnight to 5 a.m., and he has asked businesses affected by the curfew to remain patient.
“It has helped to maintain the public safety during some very stressful times,” Mr. Turner said during a news conference Saturday. Shelter workers and people traveling to and from work are exempt from the curfew.
Mr. Abbott previously said the state might need more than $125 billion in aid, but on Sunday he revised that figure, comparing the storm’s damage to that of Hurricane Katrina, which hit New Orleans and other parts of the Gulf Coast in 2005.
“Katrina caused, if I recall, more than $120 billion [in damage] but when you look at the number of homes and business affected by this, I think this will cost well over $120 billion, probably $150 billion to $180 billion,” he said in an interview with Fox News.
Harvey slammed into Texas on Aug. 25 as a Category 4 hurricane, but it brought the worst flooding to Houston and other areas as a tropical storm. The rain totaled nearly 52 inches. On Monday, the Houston Chronicle reported that the number of people missing or dead in connection to the storm is now 75.
In other storm-ravaged neighborhoods, people worried about thefts.
Police in Bellaire, southwest of downtown Houston, received reports of people picking through water-damaged possessions and urged those cleaning up to keep anything left outside to dry closer to their homes and separate from what was considered a total loss, the Associated Press reported.
In other parts of the region, residents were being threatened by a different kind of intruder.
“We have everything from snakes to alligators to fire ants,” said Lach Mullen, spokesman for the Office of Emergency Management in Fort Bend County, southwest of Houston. “Even though evacuation orders have been lifted, people have to be wary of new occupants in their homes. They don’t want to occupy the same space as you; they will leave on their own when they can.”
—Melanie Evans contributed to this article.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/houstons-environmental-threats-come-into-focus-1504554072
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Harvey Relief, Interior-EPA Funding on Tap
Sep 5, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Geof Koss and Manuel Quiñones
Already facing a series of crucial budget and spending deadlines, lawmakers will dive into emergency disaster relief for Hurricane Harvey and funding for U.S. EPA, the Interior Department and a host of other agencies as they return to the Capitol this week.
The House this week plans to take up the Trump administration's initial $7.85 billion request for Harvey relief, according to the weekly schedule by Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). A vote could happen as soon as tomorrow.
In his letter Friday to Speaker Paul Ryan, White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney asks for $7.4 billion for the Federal Emergency Management Agency's disaster relief fund, whose $3 billion balance has rapidly dwindled since Harvey's landfall late last month.
The White House wants $450 million for the Small Business Administration's disaster loan program, which helps small companies and homeowners after disasters hit.
Mulvaney also supports a House plan to add $6.7 billion to the disaster fund in a continuing resolution expected before Sept. 30 to keep the government operating while the chambers finalize a long-term appropriations deal.
The billions in disaster aid should be spent at an "accelerated rate," Mulvaney, a former South Carolina congressman and House Freedom Caucus leader, urged his former colleagues.
The White House aid request was nearly $2 billion more than Capitol Hill was expecting and highlights the extent of Harvey's devastation, which will take years to address (Greenwire, Sept. 1).
Over the weekend, House Appropriations Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.) released legislation mirroring the White House request and promised to move rapidly.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said his chamber "stands ready to act quickly to provide this much-needed assistance," and Appropriations Chairman Thad Cochran (R-Miss.)pledged fast action in his committee.
Harvey relief adds to an already crushing load of money matters on tap this month, including raising the debt ceiling, avoiding a government shutdown and extending the federal flood insurance program.
Lawmakers are also keen on approving a budget resolution, not necessarily to set spending levels but to create the groundwork for tax reform under the so-called budget reconciliation process (Greenwire, Aug. 29).
Early in the summer, members and observers worried that the mounting fiscal agenda items — and disagreements about them — could lead to a default or government shutdown. Harvey may have diffused some of that.
President Trump in August said he would be willing to shut down the government to secure funding for his border wall. But on Friday, The Washington Post said the White House has privately told Congress that border funds are not a must-have in the CR (Greenwire, Aug. 23).
Still, some disagreements remain. On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin urged lawmakers to move faster on raising the country's borrowing authority because of Harvey.
He told "Fox News Sunday" that "without raising the debt limit, I'm not comfortable that we will get the money that we need this month to Texas to rebuild."
Reports say House Freedom Caucus Chairman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), however, last week urged GOP leaders not to attach a debt ceiling increase to the Harvey aid.Energy, enviro fights
The House Rules Committee is set to meet this evening to begin setting debate parameters for an eight-bill spending package, H.R. 3354, which includes the following bills: Interior-Environment; Agriculture and Rural Development; Commerce, Justice and Science; Financial Services and General Government; Homeland Security; Labor; Health and Human Services; Education; State and Foreign Operations; and Transportation, Housing and Urban Development.
The package includes:
· $31.4 billion that would go to Interior, EPA and other related programs, an $800 million reduction from fiscal 2017 (E&E Daily, July 19).
· $20 billion in discretionary spending authority that would go to agriculture and rural operations, a slight cut from fiscal 2017 (E&E News PM, July 12).
· $54 billion to the Commerce and Justice departments, the National Science Foundation, and NASA. That's $2.6 billion below fiscal 2017 levels (E&E Daily, July 14).
· $37 billion for the State Department, including a provision to bar U.S. contributions to the United Nations climate fund (E&E News PM, July 12).
· $14 million in cuts to the Mine Safety and Health Administration, pointing to "lower levels of mining across the country and especially in coal production" (E&E Daily, July 20).
· $56.5 billion for Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, a $1.1 billion cut (E&E Daily, July 18).
The House approved four other spending bills as a package before the August recess, including proposals to fund energy and water programs and the Department of Defense (E&E Daily, July 28).
The League of Conservation Voters on Friday urged lawmakers to oppose the latest appropriations measure, which the group said "would harm people's health and the outdoors by slashing funding for many critical programs or by using radical policy riders to outright block environmental protections and other domestic priorities that benefit communities nationwide."Riders, amendments
Familiar fights over Obama-era energy and environmental policies are on hand. The bills include a slew of riders, and the Rules Committee is poised to discuss dozens of proposed amendments.
The amendment roster touches on newer and more recent controversies, as well, including Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's national monuments review and the display of Confederate statues on federal land.
Democrats have filed a series of amendments that attempt to blunt the impact of the monument review by limiting the use of funds to redraw boundaries in their states.
Rep. Raúl Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, is also aiming for a vote on a proposal that would bar any funds to implement Zinke's review, submitted to the White House earlier this month but not publicly released.
When it comes to Confederate symbols, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) wants a vote on an amendment that would broadly bar federal funds for maintaining or creating any statue that "venerates" such figures.
More targeted amendments addressing specific federal properties are also in the mix, such as proposals by Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.) against the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee statue at Antietam National Battlefield.
Democrats have recent Trump administration actions in their sights. A separate Grijalva amendment would fund the National Academy of Sciences study on the health effects of mountaintop-removal mining that Zinke halted last month.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) has filed multiple amendments to keep Obama-era requirements that federal infrastructure projects account for sea-level rise and extreme weather events in their design. Those rules, scrapped this summer by the Trump administration, will get new scrutiny in Harvey's wake.
Democrats are, as expected, pressing climate concerns. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) is aiming to block EPA from reviewing the greenhouse gas standards for light-duty vehicles set to take effect in 2021.
And several proposals aim to prohibit the administration from suppressing climate studies and communicating science findings to Congress and the general public.
There's also Republican opposition to some Trump administration policies and budget proposals spread throughout the amendment list. Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-Pa.) is leading a group of GOP lawmakers who want to boost the level of funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund to 2017 levels.
Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) wants to limit oil and gas leasing in the Atlantic and Straits of Florida outer continental shelf. A bloc of Gulf Coast Republicans is also looking to block the administration from ending state sharing of offshore federal drilling revenues authorized by a 2006 law.
And bucking his party on a key wildlife law, Florida Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan wants to boost the Fish and Wildlife Service's budget to consider new Endangered Species Act listings by $3.3 million.
Other energy and environment issues to watch include:
· A proposal by Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.) and Don Beyer (D-Va.) to bar exploration for oil, gas and methane hydrates off the Atlantic and Florida coasts.
· A plan by Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) to bar EPA from taking actions against any of the six states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed if they don't meet water pollution mandates.
· Democratic amendments to limit seismic air gun testing in the Atlantic Ocean, as well as to maintain an existing ban on oil and gas activities in the eastern Gulf of Mexico Planning Area.
· An amendment by Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) to block enforcement of an Obama-era rule on measuring and reporting volumes of gas produced on certain federal and tribal lands.
· Democratic amendments to increase funding for the National Weather Service and NOAA climate research. There's also a corresponding GOP push to block funding for the National Climate Assessment.
· Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is pushing to extend the National Flood Insurance Program for one year.
· Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) is joining fellow Texas Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D) and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) to block funding for Trump's border wall with Mexico until a comprehensive border strategy with cost estimates is sent to Congress.
· Grijalva is aiming to block the Department of Homeland Security from waiving environmental laws and public review requirements to construct the wall.
· Meadows wants to cut staffing and funding at MSHA by 10 percent.
· Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) is seeking to provide sufficient funds for the federal government to collect data on persons displaced by climate change.Senate action
The Senate has been working at its own much slower pace on spending legislation, especially since there is talk of a CR to give the chambers more time to come up with a joint spending package for the rest of the fiscal year.
Still, Senate appropriators are set to vote this week on bills to fund the Labor Department, including MSHA and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the State Department.
Subcommittee markups are scheduled for tomorrow, and a full panel debate, where appropriators are likely to flesh out amendments to the bills, is set for Thursday.
Reporter Ariel Wittenberg contributed.
Schedule: The Rules meeting is Tuesday, Sept. 5, at 4 p.m. in H-313 Capitol.
Schedule: The Senate Labor Appropriations Subcommittee markup is Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 11 a.m. in 124 Dirksen.
Schedule: The Senate State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee markup is Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 2 p.m. in 124 Dirksen.
Schedule: The Senate Appropriations markup is Thursday, Sept. 7, at 10:30 a.m. in 106 Dirksen.
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2017/09/05/stories/1060059643
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Group of Republicans Looks to Build Climate Voting Block
Sep 5, 2017 | E&E Daily
By Arianna Skibell
A handful of Republicans are working to form a voting bloc with Democrats to defeat anti-climate action amendments as the House takes up spending legislation this week.
Buoyed by the defeat of such an amendment in the House National Defense Authorization Act debate last July, GOP members of the bipartisan House Climate Solutions Caucus expect to mount a similar effort in the coming days. The spending package includes funding for U.S. EPA, the Department of the Interior, the State Department and NOAA (see related story).
The House caucus, which adds Republicans and Democrats in pairs, is dedicated to studying market-friendly approaches to climate adaptation and mitigation, but until the NDAA vote, it had been criticized as all talk and no action.
Now, Rep. Carlos Curbelo of Florida, the founding GOP member, said the rapid growth of his caucus, which added its 52nd member this summer, has ushered in a new era.
"Phase two is what I call the blocking and tackling phase, where we focus on defeating bad legislation, anti-climate legislation," he told E&E News in a recent interview. "And we proved that we can do that effectively in a couple of appropriations amendments a few weeks ago. And I think we'll see more of that."
After three days of marathon debate on the floor this summer, the House passed its version of the NDAA that included an amendment from Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.) to require each branch of the military to assess bases and installations that are most vulnerable to the effects of climate change (Greenwire, July 14).
Tensions ran high when Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) brought an amendment to scrap the climate study provision. Climate caucus co-chairs and co-founders Curbelo and Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) urged their members behind closed doors to vote against Perry. Some took to the floor to oppose the amendment.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chairwoman of the Armed Services Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, said it would be remiss "in our efforts to protect our national security to not fully account for the risk climate change poses to our bases, our readiness and to the fulfillment of our armed services mission."
Ultimately, Perry's amendment failed 185-234, with 22 climate caucus Republicans and 24 other GOP members crossing the aisle to join Democrats to defeat the measure, securing the Langevin language.
"This amendment is a responsible first step in recognizing what most of the world already knows — that climate change is real, and it will have a devastating effect on the readiness of our armed forces," Langevin said in a statement.
Tom Moyer, who works with the grass-roots group Citizens' Climate Lobby, said the NDAA vote was an indicator of the impact the caucus can have and the power those members could wield in the future.
"There's something we can point to," he said. "They did an awesome job on the NDAA, that's just earth-shattering."
Deutch said the moment offered proof that there is a bipartisan majority in Congress that understands climate change is a threat to communities, the economy and military readiness.
"I hope my House colleagues were watching closely; denying climate change is no longer a winning strategy," he said when the amendment failed. "This will only be the beginning, and I look forward to passing more climate-friendly legislation with my fellow caucus members in the future."
While it's unclear which amendments the Rules Committee will allow to reach the floor this week, there are already a number of them that would prohibit climate-related funding and could be targets for the caucus.
Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) introduced an amendment to prevent the White House Council on Environmental Quality from giving agencies guidance on incorporating greenhouse gas emissions in National Environmental Policy Act reviews. And Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) dropped a provision that would prevent funds going to the National Climate Assessment.
Also, Republicans from coastal states, while not always explicitly referencing global warming, are proactively seeking funding to address environmental concerns like sea-level rise and coastal erosion, which scientists agree are exacerbated by climate change.
Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), for example, introduced a measure to restore watershed conservation programs and funding to address floods and toxic agricultural runoff into waterways.
A bipartisan amendment from Curbelo and California Democratic Reps. Salud Carbajal and Jimmy Panetta would prevent funds to implement President Trump's infrastructure executive order, which stripped a federal flood risk management standard.
A spokeswoman for Curbelo said the congressman will wait to see which amendments make it to the floor before deciding which to target.
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2017/09/05/stories/1060059639
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