Preview Newsletter
PM ACC 7/9/17
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(ACC Mentioned) Global Chemical Production Starts Third Quarter Strong
Sep 7, 2017 | Rubber & Plastics News
Global chemicals production rose 0.6 percent in July, according to the American Chemistry Council's Global Chemical Production Regional Index. -
(ACC Mentioned) US EPA Extends Comment Period on Advisory Committee Candidates
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has extended the comment period on new members for its Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) until 17 September. -
Ewire: Criticism of EPA Toxics Nominee Grows
Sep 7, 2017 | Inside EPA
Michael Dourson, the Trump administration's nominee to lead EPA's toxics office, is facing growing criticism from environmentalists over his past work for industry, criticism that is likely to inform the Senate debate when Dourson's nomination comes before the environment committee later this fall. -
Q&A | Sanne Knudsen: Consumers Need More Protection From Chemicals and Pesticides
Sep 7, 2017 | UW News
By Kim Eckart
Knudsen wrote an article for the current issue of the University of Minnesota Law Review, “Regulating Cumulative Risk,” which makes a case for establishing and enforcing rules to protect consumers from the widespread health risks posed by chemicals and pesticides. -
Study Finds 1,4-Dioxane in Tap Water in 45 US States
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The solvent 1,4-dioxane was found in samples from tap water supplies in 45 states, according to a study commissioned by US NGO the Environmental Working Group (EWG). -
(ACC Mentioned) Toxic Chemical Industry and House Rs Attack on Science
Sep 7, 2017 | National Resources Defense Council
By Jennifer Sass
The Republican-led House Science Committee—which routinely serves as a platform for the chemical manufacturers—hosted an Oversight Hearing this week as part of its larger plan to slash the budget for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program that conducts rigorous hazardous assessments of industrial chemicals. -
(ACC Mentioned) US NGO to Rank 19 More Retailers in Chemical 'Report Card'
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
A "report card" ranking US retailers on their efforts to eliminate toxic chemicals is expanding to include 19 more companies. -
US EPA Issues Update on Ethanedioic Acid
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has published a notice in the Federal Register that it has received information on the uses of ethanedioic acid. -
Clothing May Increase Exposure to UV Filter Benzophenone-3
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Dr Emma Davies
Clothing may provide an additional exposure route to the UV filter benzophenone-3 (BP-3) and its metabolite BP-1, both suspected endocrine disruptors, according to a research team from the US, Germany and Denmark. -
Canada Adds 17 Substances to DSL
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The government added four substances to part one of the list, while 13 others were added to part three. -
European Commission Officially Adopts EDC Criteria for Biocides
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission officially adopted scientific criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) for biocides on 4 September. It follows the criteria's endorsement by member states in July. -
Echa Round-Up
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Echa has received 25 testing proposals for 18 substances. The deadline for submitting information is 16 October.CLH intention -
Study Ranks Appalachian Ethane Storage Hub Sites
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Jenny Mandel
Dozens of sites in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania hold potential to host a regional storage hub for natural gas liquids, according to a geologic study that aims to advance proposals to build such a facility in an area that was once a coal stronghold. -
Hobbled Infrastructure Slows Recovery for Houston Refineries
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Energywire
Houston's oil refineries are getting back on their feet after Hurricane Harvey, but problems across industry infrastructure — and the storm's effects on refinery employees — have contributed to delays in recovery. -
Some Ports Reopen as New Storms Loom
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Nathanial Gronewold
Oil and refining operations here are slowly returning to normal post-Hurricane Harvey, while two new storms are prompting fresh evacuations from Gulf of Mexico rigs. -
Lands Nominee Pledges to Speed Oil and Gas Permits
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Michael Doyle
The Trump administration's nominee to oversee the Interior Department's land and minerals management said today he hopes to expedite federal oil and gas permit processing. -
(ACC Mentioned) Interactive: Time to Assess Post-Harvey Impact
Sep 7, 2017 | ICIS
Now that Hurricane Harvey has subsided, let’s turn our attention to the longer-term impact of the disaster on the US economy and chemicals supply and demand. -
Texas Flood Shows Need for Chemical Safety Rule, Advocates Say
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Jeff Johnson
Industrial safety advocates and Texas residents say a flood-related accident and fires at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, underscores the need for a stalled worker and community safety regulation. -
Divided Cyber Policy Undermines Gas and Grid Networks — Report
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Beter Behr and Blake Sobczak
A new Congressional Research Service study warns of fragmented federal oversight of cybersecurity vulnerabilities in vital energy sectors, singling out the interconnected electric power and natural gas industries. -
(ACC Mentioned) Sen. Thune Urges Action on 'Inequitable' Demurrage, Detention Fees
Sep 7, 2017 | American Shipper
By Mark Edward Nero
U.S. Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, has written to the head of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) expressing concern with inaction in addressing what some say is a blatant inequity by some ocean carriers regarding collection of demurrage and detention fees. -
(ACC Mentioned) EPA Staff Headed for Lowest Levels in 30 Years as Environmental Disasters Pile Up
Sep 7, 2017 | ThinkProgress
By Mark Hand
Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency employees are leaving as the Trump administration works to reduce the federal government’s role in protecting Americans from toxic air and water.
Industry and Association News
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Chemical Management News
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Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) Global Chemical Production Starts Third Quarter Strong
Sep 7, 2017 | Rubber & Plastics News
Global chemicals production rose 0.6 percent in July, according to the American Chemistry Council's Global Chemical Production Regional Index.
That rate is a quicker pace than in June and May, as measured on a three-month moving average basis, according to a release.
During July, production increased in North America, Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, but declined in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. The global CPRI was up 2.6 percent compared to 2016 and stood at 111.1 percent of its average 2012 levels in June.
In North America, the CPRI rose 1.1 percent in the U.S., but dropped by 0.4 percent in Canada and 1.3 percent in Mexico.
The largest growth globally was in China and Taiwan, which both grew by 1.7 percent in July. India saw the greatest decrease by 1.8 percent.
During July, capacity utilization in global business for chemistry rose 0.4 percentage points to 80.6 percent. This is up from 80.4 percent last July and is below the 1987-2016 average of 88.8 percent.
Within the basic chemicals segment, synthetic rubber rose by 1.7 percent, the largest change by segment in July. Year-to-date, synthetic rubber has grown by 2.4 percent.
Results were generally positive on a product basis during July, with gains in pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals, consumer products, synthetic rubber, manufactured fibers, coatings and other specialty chemicals. Considering year-over-year comparisons, growth was strongest in coatings, followed by organic chemicals, plastic resins and agricultural chemicals.
ACC's Global CPRI measures the production volume of the business of chemistry for 33 key nations, sub-regions and regions, all aggregated to the world total. The index is comparable to the Federal Reserve Board production indices and is developed from government industrial production indices for chemicals from more than 65 nations accounting for about 98 percent of the total global business of chemistry.
http://www.rubbernews.com/article/20170907/NEWS/170909970/global-chemical-production-starts-third-quarter-strong
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(ACC Mentioned) US EPA Extends Comment Period on Advisory Committee Candidates
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has extended the comment period on new members for its Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals (SACC) until 17 September.
Formation of the committee was required by the Lautenberg Act. By statute, its purpose is to provide "independent advice and expert consultation" on technical aspects of implementing the new TSCA.
The EPA administrator appointed members to the 18-seat board in the final days of the Obama administration. However, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) criticised choices in which less than a quarter represent industry.
The EPA announced on 3 August it would look at additional candidates, and that it expects to appoint around six. It will consider some identified last December, as well as 64 others nominated during a consultation last summer.
Comments on the candidates were originally to be accepted until 5 September.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58522/us-epa-extends-comment-period-on-advisory-committee-candidates
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Ewire: Criticism of EPA Toxics Nominee Grows
Sep 7, 2017 | Inside EPA
Michael Dourson, the Trump administration's nominee to lead EPA's toxics office, is facing growing criticism from environmentalists over his past work for industry, criticism that is likely to inform the Senate debate when Dourson's nomination comes before the environment committee later this fall.
According to Midwest Energy News, local environmentalists in Chicago are concerned over a study Dourson conducted on behalf of Koch Industries that found “no risk of adverse health impacts from exposure to petcoke in the air or on surfaces in neighborhoods around [a Koch subsidiary's] two petcoke transfer and storage facilities.”
“When you fall in line with these industries and people of power, you get rewarded and put in positions that have a lot of influence. And the people who are actually suffering from the pollution have very little recourse,” Olga Bautista, a leader of the Southeast Side Coalition to Ban Petcoke, told the publication.
A Koch spokesman told the publication that Dourson “was one of several experts [the company] retained to make sure our bulk material terminals in Chicago were operating in compliance with all rules and regulations, and with respect for the environment and our neighbors."
And after the release of a report showing widespread presence of 1,4 dioxane in drinking water, Richard Dennison, a senior scientist at Environmental Defense Fund, noted in a Sept. 6 blog post that Dourson has “argued for an acceptable level of 1,4-dioxane in water that was 1,000 times higher than EPA’s drinking water guideline reflecting elevated risk of cancer.”
As Inside EPA's Maria Hegstad first reported, Dourson, the risk assessor who left EPA in the 1990s to found a risk assessment consulting group, will oversee implementation of the new toxics law. Doing so will require creation of a wholly new risk assessment program -- particularly since EPA's toxics office has traditionally left such work to EPA's research office.
But his nomination has long drawn stiff opposition from Denison and other environmentalists, who charge he is the latest nominee for EPA's toxics office with close industry connections that raise doubts about impartial implementation of the new Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
And several Democratic senators are also concerned over other Trump administration appointments to the toxics office and what it may mean for TSCA implementation.
For example, Sens. Tom Carper (D-DE) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), key Democrats on the environment committee, recently asked the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to investigate EPA's use of special hiring authority to exempt Nancy Beck, deputy assistant administrator in the toxics office who also worked for the chemical industry, and other agency officials from ethics mandates that would otherwise forbid them from working on issues on which they advocated as lobbyists.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-criticism-epa-toxics-nominee-grows
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Q&A | Sanne Knudsen: Consumers Need More Protection From Chemicals and Pesticides
Sep 7, 2017 | UW News
By Kim Eckart
Sanne Knudsen was an undergraduate in Chicago when she got her first close-up look at environmental justice.
As an environmental engineering student at Northwestern University, Knudsen answered an attorney’s call for volunteers to study several neighborhoods on Chicago’s South Side, communities that had endured more than their share of pollution and exposure to chemicals. Through that work, Knudsen found a future calling.
“That piqued my interest in environmental law and the impact law can have,” said Knudsen, who now specializes in environmental regulations and natural resource law as an associate professor in the University of Washington School of Law.
Later, as a law professor and parent, she started thinking even more deeply about the myriad ways that people are exposed to chemicals, and how weak government regulations leave individual consumers to fend for themselves. But “individual vigilance is not a viable public health response,” she says. Whether in food, housecleaning products or even unknown pesticides at a local park, chemicals are everywhere.
“There are so many individual decisions we make on a daily basis when it comes to risks from chemicals and pesticides,” she said. “When you think about it, the individual consumer is simply not the proper locus of responsibility. Greater public health protection from government is needed.”
Knudsen wrote an article for the current issue of the University of Minnesota Law Review, “Regulating Cumulative Risk,” which makes a case for establishing and enforcing rules to protect consumers from the widespread health risks posed by chemicals and pesticides.
What is cumulative risk, and how does it apply to pesticides and chemicals?
SK: Cumulative risk tries to get at the real-world exposure scenarios, in which we understand that an individual is not exposed to a single product but to multiple products, multiple chemicals at the same time. This occurs through many exposure pathways like skin, inhalation and food. The interactions between these exposures can be additive or even synergistic, especially for classes of chemicals that act in a similar way. For example, multiple chemicals can be endocrine disruptors, like as antibacterial agents in soap or flame retardants on couches. From a public health perspective, it’s less useful to only ask about the endocrine disrupting potential of one chemical and more useful to ask about the cumulative effect of a class of endocrine disruptors. Of course, the consideration of multiple exposure pathways from multiple chemicals is what makes cumulative risk assessment complicated and helps to explain why it’s something that has fallen to the back burner of regulatory efforts.
How has the burden fallen to the consumer to ferret out safety information?
SK: The TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act), which was updated in 2016 as the Chemical Safety Act, also used a threshold of unreasonable risk, but because of the way the law was structured, we effectively left the toggle switch open. New chemicals entered the market, to the point where we have about 85,000, and for very few of them do we have the public health information as to the potential adverse consequences of exposure. This leaves individuals and various organizations, such as the Environmental Working Group, to assess products and chemicals and to provide messages as to the potential impacts of say, BPA or phthalates. You end up with a system that in fact is relying on individuals to manage their own risk profiles, because the government isn’t managing them for us. Similarly, the major pesticide law, FIFRA (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act), has traditionally been a labelling law. Pesticides are registered with the federal government, and as long as they don’t pose “unreasonable risk” to the environment, the form of regulation is really in labeling and creating restrictions on how pesticides are used.
How can the average consumer effectively manage their chemical risk?
SK: It’s hard enough to understand the toxic profiles and the health consequences of an individual chemical. When you start talking about cumulative risk, you need quality information across multiple chemicals, how those various exposure pathways combine to provide a dose to a single individual, and how multiple chemicals behave with respect to one another. We don’t have all that information. What’s more, the level of expertise that’s required for understanding the risks is beyond the average person. And even if we had and understood the information, individuals can’t always opt out of risk, for a variety of reasons: one, because chemicals may already be part of the ambient environment, which is the story of PFOA (a chemical in Teflon) and groundwater contamination. This also gets to the environmental justice piece. Often, when you read news articles about the prevalence of chemicals in everyday life, those stories are paired with tips about what you can do to protect yourself and your family, like eating organic. But organic foods are more expensive, and not everyone has the means to protect themselves. To what extent do we want our public health policies to create disparate impacts because we’re depending on individuals to manage that risk? Look at the public health crisis with drinking water in Flint, Michigan. Not everybody there can afford to drink only bottled water or move to a different city. Part of the conversation about how we handle pesticides and chemicals at a public health level has to be about disparate impacts.
Your paper points to the 2016 amendments to TSCA as a potential move toward this sort of assessment. Explain.
SK: Under the old TSCA, chemicals presumptively went to market unless the EPA could show that the chemical posed unreasonable risk. But the EPA only had a fairly narrow, 90-day window to make that showing. Under that standard, less than a handful of chemicals were found to pose a risk after nearly four decades of regulation.
Now, under the new Chemical Safety Act, the burden has flipped. Manufacturers have to show the safety of their product. This is also the model that has been adopted within the European Union. Under this model, the U.S. EPA now has more control over the timing and kind of information that should be included in a safety showing. In theory, the EPA could require chemical manufacturers to show safety not just as a matter of individual risk, but of cumulative risk. But the EPA would first have to decide that assessing risk necessarily includes consideration of cumulative risk.
Some agencies at the state level, such as California, are using cumulative risk to identify areas and communities that are at greater risk and establish regulatory priorities. So it’s not that nobody is engaging in cumulative risk assessment, but for it to be done on a broader scale and in a way that directly impacts chemical regulation, there has to be some sort of regulatory driver at the federal level.
What is your expectation under the current presidential administration?
SK: I started working on this paper before the election. At the time, my thinking was to expose a public health gap in existing regulation, in hopes that a new administration would be interested in using existing laws to start to address more complex problems within environmental regulation. In our current political climate, I’m no longer as optimistic that the EPA would decide to interpret a phrase like “unreasonable risk” to be more expansive in its regulatory efforts, or to seek greater information as to the real-world public health problems in pesticide and chemical regulation. I doubt the EPA will take up this issue unless it were the subject of impact litigation and a court order required them to view risk from a cumulative risk perspective.
That said, I think news articles are consistently trying to shed light on this particular public health issue. As we know more and as science evolves, we become more and more informed. At some point, the public will push for a more coordinated response to these public health issues.
http://www.washington.edu/news/2017/09/07/qa-sanne-knudsen-consumers-need-more-protection-from-chemicals-and-pesticides/
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Study Finds 1,4-Dioxane in Tap Water in 45 US States
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The solvent 1,4-dioxane was found in samples from tap water supplies in 45 states, according to a study commissioned by US NGO the Environmental Working Group (EWG). The report states that more than seven million people in 27 states are served by public water systems where the average level of the chemical is higher than the level the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says poses an increased risk of cancer.
The EPA’s risk assessment for 1,4-dioxane classifies it as a 'likely' human carcinogen at levels of 0.35 parts per billion.
The highest levels noted in the EWG report – up to 5.83ppb – were found in:
· the Cape Fear River basin in North Carolina;
· southeastern Los Angeles County, California; and
· New York State's Long Island.
The report, released on 6 September, includes an interactive map showing test data for 1,4-dioxane in drinking water across the US and a database with detailed information for individual water systems.
In releasing its study, the EWG noted that Michael Dourson, President Trump's pick to head the EPA's chemical safety office, wrote two industry-funded studies arguing for an acceptable level of 1,4-dioxane in water that is 1,000 times higher than the EPA's guideline reflecting elevated risk of cancer. Various NGOs have strongly objected to Mr Dourson's nomination.
Dioxane is one of the first ten chemicals subject to risk evaluation under the new Toxic Substances Control Act. The EPA issued several rules on 22 June governing evaluation of the initial high-priority substances.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58526/study-finds-14-dioxane-in-tap-water-in-45-us-states
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(ACC Mentioned) Toxic Chemical Industry and House Rs Attack on Science
Sep 7, 2017 | National Resources Defense Council
By Jennifer Sass
The Republican-led House Science Committee—which routinely serves as a platform for the chemical manufacturers—hosted an Oversight Hearing this week as part of its larger plan to slash the budget for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program that conducts rigorous hazardous assessments of industrial chemicals. You can imagine how popular this program—called the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) Program—is with the corporations that manufacture those profitable hazardous chemicals. Not very. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), the Environment Subcommittee Chairman authored an amendment to the House Appropriations bill (H.R.3354) to strip all funding for the IRIS program.
EPA’s IRIS program conducts health assessments of chemicals, and determines “acceptable” levels of exposure via air, water, food or soil. IRIS assessments are not regulations themselves, but they are frequently used by regulators—at the EPA, in the 50 states, and around the world—to set health-based standards for chemicals. Because an IRIS assessment can lead to new or strengthened protections from exposure to a toxic substance, the chemical industry has spent years fighting EPA efforts to complete those assessments, a process we chronicled in detail in our 2011 NRDC report, The Delay Game. Two of the three case studies in that report—formaldehyde and trichlorethylene or TCE—are still being contested by industry, and were a topic of this week’s Oversight Hearing.IRIS delays are largely due to industry interference and political delays
The IRIS program is falsely accused of being slow and unproductive. The truth is that the IRIS output has been delayed and hampered by interference from the chemical manufacturing industries whose profits would be reduced—and liabilities increased—by IRIS assessments linking their products to human health harms. This Oversight Hearing is one example of many such attempts to discredit and derail the important work of IRIS specifically, and EPA generally.IRIS considers all available scientific information and data from all sources
The IRIS program is falsely accused of relying on poor quality science. The truth is that the IRIS program considers all available scientific data. It uses standard scientific approaches in a public forum with numerous opportunities for public comment and peer review. For these reasons it has received favorable reviews by the National Academies (see NAS 2014) and the EPA Scientific Advisory Board (SAB 2017). Most importantly, the IRIS conclusions have only ever been seriously challenged by the chemical industry and its consultants.IRIS uses modern scientific consensus approaches and a public process for all its assessments
Dr. James Bus, a Republican witness at the Hearing, formerly with Dow Chemical Company and now with the industry consulting firm Exponent, criticized IRIS for failing to consistently rely on high quality studies for its assessments. In his spoken testimony, Bus said his idea of high quality studies were ones that adhered to ‘Good Laboratory Practices’, i.e. GLP standards. This is thinly disguised code for industry-sponsored studies designed to gain regulatory approval of the test substance. The GLP standards have been required for industry test labs since the 1970s after flagrant violations and fraud were identified (Industrial Bio-Test laboratory was shut down and its directors were imprisoned as a result of the investigations).
While GLP standards have some merit, they cannot be used to identify high and low quality studies. A 2014 National Academies of Sciences report pointed out the limitations of GLP standards, including that they fail to prevent flawed, unreliable or biased-by-design studies (pages 62-63). The same report praised the IRIS program chemical assessments.
The truth is that current scientific consensus is to use accepted systematic review methods to identify high and low quality studies (see National Toxicology Program). IRIS has done a brilliant job of this, and earned recent praise from its Scientific Advisory Board: “the program has fully adopted the principles of systematic review, and incorporated automation and publicly available software platforms to modernize the process.” (SAB 2017)
Republican witnesses also criticized the IRIS program for failing to incorporate industry information early in the assessment process. The truth is that IRIS reaches out to industry and others at multiple phases of the assessment process. The SAB praised IRIS for this too, emphasizing that, “it is now standard practice for the [IRIS] program to engage stakeholders in an early scoping and problem formulation phase, thereby allowing stakeholders to provide important input at the very beginning of the process”. (SAB 2017)Industry scientists support industry interests —the truth about formaldehyde
Formaldehyde causes cancer in people. That is not in dispute. Breathing it increases the risk of developing nose and throat cancer (nasopharyngeal and sinonasal cancer). This has been established in both laboratory and epidemiologic studies, including studies by the National Cancer Institute of occupational exposures to workers that use or produce formaldehyde, and embalmers.
A Republican witness at the hearing, Dr. Kenneth Mundt of Ramboll Environ consulting, recently published an article denying a link between formaldehyde and leukemia. It was funded by the trade association of the chemical manufacturers, the American Chemistry Council.
Here is the truth about formaldehyde and leukemia:
· Workplace epidemiologic studies by NIOSH and by the National Cancer Institute report finding a risk of blood cancers (lymphohematopoietic cancers including Hodgkin lymphoma and multiple myeloma). These studies suggest that the risk is associated with the highest peak-exposures,(see for example: Pinkerton et al 2004; Bosetti et al 2008; Beane Freeman et al 2009; Zhang et al 2009; Hauptman et al 2009; NTP 2010; summary in NTP 2017).
· Leukemia studies are complicated by the fact that lymphohematopoietic cancers are slow moving and have a high survival rate and so are excluded from most workplace studies, which count deaths (mortality) but not illnesses (morbidity). This means that many studies may miss cancer cases.
· Although the mechanism by which formaldehyde may cause leukemia in people is not understood at this time, there are a number of plausible mechanisms. Importantly, while it is always helpful to understand the mechanism, it is not a prerequisite for establishing causality. Cancers are very complicated diseases and despite decades of research we still don’t fully understand the processes very well, particularly at the molecular level. Similarly, we took drastic measures to protect children from lead by banning it in paint and then in fuel, long before scientists understood the exact mechanism for how it harms the brains of children.
Formaldehyde isn’t Mundt’s first foray into risk-denial as a business model. About 10 years ago, Mundt buried evidence showing low exposures to chromium were toxic, going so far as to withhold the data from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) during its rulemaking process. Mundt’s study was funded by the chromium industry and the American Chemistry Council. The Washington Post reported, “Kenneth Mundt…did not have an explanation for why he ultimately lumped workers together differently than they were in the initial, unpublished version—a change that blended the intermediate-exposure workers with the low-exposure workers and resulted in a finding of no risk. Mundt said he was under no pressure from his industry sponsors to doctor the data.” (Rick Weiss, Washington Post, Feb 24, 2006)
As a consultant for Philip Morris and the tobacco industry, Mundt attacked the National Cancer Institute’s findings that low-tar cigarettes could cause lung cancer (see 2016 investigative series by David Heath).
Science is not wrong. But, scientists sure can be, and some accept pay to be wrong. (See many relevant examples in the book by David Michaels, Doubt is Their Product: How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health)Thousands of businesses support chemical disclosure, transparency, and the EPA IRIS program
The American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC) and its members represent over 165,000 businesses and more than 300,000 individual entrepreneurs, executives, and investors across the United States, including local and state chambers of commerce, social enterprises, sustainable businesses, and investor and business incubators. These are the people that truly create jobs and strengthen the US economy, and they do it in a way that protects human health and the environment.
A few years ago, ASBC addressed the National Academies to defend EPA and the IRIS programs: "ASBC and its members believe that good science is an important foundation for innovation and business development, which in turn leads to job creation. For example, transparency in the reporting of potentially harmful chemicals allows businesses to create products that are safer for consumers. A safer marketplace helps to dispel consumer fears, spurs innovation, decreases legal liability, and increases shareholder value."
The ASBC says that consumer's demand for safer non-toxic products led to a growth in new markets—along with new jobs—for companies that avoid toxic ingredients. Government chemical hazard assessments provides critical information to companies wanting to compete in the marketplace with safer sustainable products.
A poll of ASBC member small business owners across the political spectrum found that over 90% of small business owners believe that:
· Chemical companies should be responsible for ensuring that chemicals are safe prior to entering the marketplace;
· Companies using chemicals of concern should disclose their presence to the public; and
· There should be an easily accessible database, available to the public, identifying chemicals of high concern to human and environmental health.
Disparaging and delaying hazard assessments of chemicals does not make chemicals safe, but rather than follow the ASBC approach, large chemical manufactures and House Republicans would rather shoot (or de-fund) the messenger, We need EPA because the environment needs protecting
The witness for the Democrats, Dr. Thomas Burke, ended his testimony by praising the EPA and IRIS scientific and technical career staff. “They are dedicated and talented public servants and world-class scientists… They are there to take on the toughest environmental challenges we face. From the dusts of the World Trade Center and the faucets of Flint; to the toxic waters of Katrina and Harvey; they are there, working selflessly to protect our Nation’s environment and public health. Our health depends on them.”
Unfortunately, cancer-causing chemicals have their own lobby in Congress (the American Chemistry Council, ACC) and many friends in Congress, like Rep. Andy Biggs. This week’s hearing provided further proof of that sad truth.
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/jennifer-sass/toxic-chemical-industry-and-house-rs-attack-science
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(ACC Mentioned) US NGO to Rank 19 More Retailers in Chemical 'Report Card'
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
A "report card" ranking US retailers on their efforts to eliminate toxic chemicals is expanding to include 19 more companies.
In its first report, released last year, the Mind the Store campaign, run by the NGO Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF), evaluated 11 large US retailers, including Walmart, Target, Amazon and Costco.
This year’s report, to be released in November, will rank 30. The identities of the new retailers have not yet been publicly revealed.
It will, however, include both the largest retailers in sales nationally and those in key product sectors, such as office supplies and personal care.Driving market transformation
Mind the Store campaign director, Mike Schade, told Chemical Watch he hoped including more companies would drive larger market transformation.
"No company wants to be at the bottom or near the bottom, so by benchmarking the companies we hope to create a sense of competition among the leading retailers and help drive the race to the top for the development and adoption of comprehensive safer chemicals policies and programmes," he said.
He added that companies doing good work around chemicals of concern were being added, so that other retailers could consider incorporating their best practices.
Since the launch of the report card last year, five out of the 11 retailers have announced initiatives to address chemicals in their supply chains, but Mr Schade admitted that others had remained "fairly silent".
"Unfortunately, far too many retailers remain as laggards. We’re hopeful that through the campaign and the activities of the retailer report card, we can help drive major market transformation away from hazardous chemicals in consumer products," he said.
Last year, Amazon was ranked the bottom company with a score of 7.5 out of 130 points, receiving an F grade.
Mr Schade said that Mind The Store was speaking with them and hoped that the company's acquisition of the Whole Foods health food chain would have a positive effect on its chemical policy.
He said: "This is a game changer as they’ll have more of a direct relationship with consumer product brands. Amazon has been progressively rolling out more and more private labels products over recent years, with electronic products like the Echo speaker and their private label apparel and household goods. Starting with their private brands is a good place to begin."
Amazon did not respond to Chemical Watch's request for comment. Other bottom ranking retailers Home Depot, Lowes, Walgreens and Kroger also did not respond.
A spokesperson for Albertsons, which received an F grade last year, said: "We have made changes and continue to advance and improve our products. We’ll communicate the changes at a later time."
Companies to announce new chemical policies this year include Best Buy, Costco and CVS Health. Top ranking stores Walmart and Target also introduced initiatives.
Mr Schade said it was more important than ever that retailers took responsibility for consumer safety, "at a time when the US Environmental Protection Agency is not doing everything it should be to implement the [reformed] US Toxic Substances Control Act".
"Retailers have enormous power and influence to ensure products are safer for workers and communities," he said.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58524/us-ngo-to-rank-19-more-retailers-in-chemical-report-card
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US EPA Issues Update on Ethanedioic Acid
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The US EPA has published a notice in the Federal Register that it has received information on the uses of ethanedioic acid.
They are:
· as a rust remover;
· in anti-rust metal cleaners and coatings;
· as a flame-proofing and cross-linking agent in cellulose fabrics;
· as a reducing agent in mordant wool dyeing;
· as an acid dye stabilising agent in nylon;
· as a scouring agent for cotton printing;
· as a dye stripper for wool;
· for degumming silk;
· for the separation and recovery of rare earth elements from ore;
· for bleaching leather and masonry;
· for cleaning aluminum and wood decks; and
· as a synthetic intermediate for pharmaceuticals.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58517/us-epa-issues-update-on-ethanedioic-acid
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Clothing May Increase Exposure to UV Filter Benzophenone-3
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
By Dr Emma Davies
Clothing may provide an additional exposure route to the UV filter benzophenone-3 (BP-3) and its metabolite BP-1, both suspected endocrine disruptors, according to a research team from the US, Germany and Denmark.
BP-3 (also known as oxybenzone) is a UV filter added to sunscreen, cosmetics and other personal care products. It is also used in plastics and coatings.
The chemical has been detected in house dust, as well as in blood and urine from people in the US, Europe and China.
"While we expect sunscreen to be a major source of exposure, we have repeatedly found BP-3 in children in urine samples collected during winter when sunscreen use is unlikely," says Anna-Maria Andersson from Copenhagen University Hospital.
For example, a recent Copenhagen study found that kindergarten children continue to excrete BP-3 and BP-1 during winter months.
"There must be other sources as well – this could be from other cosmetic products used all year around, but there may also be other unrecognised sources," says Dr Andersson.
UV absorbers/filters used in textiles and clothing could contribute to exposure, while clothes can also pick up volatile chemicals from indoor air, she adds.Exposure from clothing
A team, led by Glenn Morrison from Missouri University of Science and Technology, exposed cotton shirts to air containing BP-3 for around one month, before asking volunteers to wear them for three hours.
Urine samples collected over the next two days showed increased levels of BP-1 and BP-3. The researchers suggest that dermal uptake of BP-3 from clothing could "meaningfully contribute to overall body burden".
"While cosmetics and other personal care products can contribute significantly to exposure, we are concerned about the persistent, all-year background exposure which is seemingly independent of sunscreen or personal care product application," they write in an article to be published in Environmental Science and Technology.
"Dermal uptake is often neglected or underestimated in risk assessment so we think it is important to focus also on this route of uptake," says co-author Dr Andersson.
Denmark is evaluating BP-3 under the community rolling action plan (Corap) on the grounds that it is a potential endocrine disruptor with wide dispersive use.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58523/clothing-may-increase-exposure-to-uv-filter-benzophenone-3
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Canada Adds 17 Substances to DSL
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The government added four substances to part one of the list, while 13 others were added to part three.
The DSL is an inventory of substances in the Canadian marketplace. Those not on the list are considered new and are subject to notification and assessment requirements before they can be manufactured in or imported into Canada.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58521/canada-adds-17-substances-to-dsl
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European Commission Officially Adopts EDC Criteria for Biocides
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission officially adopted scientific criteria to identify endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) for biocides on 4 September. It follows the criteria's endorsement by member states in July.
This move allows the Commission to fully align the criteria in both the biocidal products Regulation (BPR) and plant protection products (PPP) Regulation.
The EU competent authorities for biocides voted for the adoption of a regulation that would incorporate the criteria into the BPR on 12 July.
A week earlier, a separate committee of member state officials dealing with pesticides regulation backedtheir inclusion in the Regulation on plant protection products.
Next, the criteria will be discussed in the European Parliament environment committee (Envi) on 28 September. Envi has no power to amend the paper but can reject it and force the Commission to revisit its proposals.
If Envi approves it, the proposals will be put to a vote in the European Parliament plenary. This vote is scheduled to take place on 3 October, Chemical Watch understands.
The controversial criteria have faced criticism by NGOs, industry, and Green MEPs, who have called for the Parliament to reject the Commission's proposals.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58520/european-commission-officially-adopts-edc-criteria-for-biocides
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Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical Watch
Testing proposalsEcha has received 25 testing proposals for 18 substances. The deadline for submitting information is 16 October.CLH intention
Germany has submitted a harmonised classification and labelling (CLH) intention for 1,5-naphthylene diisocyanate. It expects to submit a dossier by 1 December and is proposing a future entry in Annex VI of the CLP Regulation for respiratory sensitisation and skin sensitisation.Registration statistics
Echa has published its latest statistics on chemical registrations. So far 16,700 substances have been registered under the REACH legislation. The most frequently registered chemical is ethanol, and Germany has made more registrations than any other country.
More statistics are available on Echa’s website.Opinion on chromium trioxide published
The agency has published a formal opinion on an application to authorise two uses of chromium trioxide. The application was made by Hansgrohe and is available via Echa’s website.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58479/echa-round-up
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Study Ranks Appalachian Ethane Storage Hub Sites
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Jenny Mandel
Dozens of sites in West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania hold potential to host a regional storage hub for natural gas liquids, according to a geologic study that aims to advance proposals to build such a facility in an area that was once a coal stronghold.
The Appalachian Oil and Natural Gas Research Consortium last week published a study of sites near the Utica and Marcellus shale plays that hold promise to host a storage facility for ethane and other natural gas liquids. Boosters of the idea see ethane as the trigger for a surge of petrochemical industry activity they aim to spur in the region.
"The great, untapped resource from the Marcellus and Utica play areas is ethane," the study says. Wet gas, or natural gas that is rich in ethane and other liquids, makes up about 40 percent of production in the Marcellus and Utica shales today and is expected to grow faster than overall production, according to the study.
Of the 30 most promising storage sites, two clusters of potential formations are in southern and central West Virginia, while a third cluster lies on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border.
The gas industry sees a lack of local use for NGLs as a loss for the region, and wants to see ethane storage and a network of new pipelines built out to connect production with a series of new petrochemical plants that would be built to use it.
The new study leaned on industry records to assess four kinds of underground storage that could potentially be used to hold ethane and other natural gas liquids: mined-rock caverns, salt caverns, natural gas storage fields and depleted gas reservoirs.
Researchers lined up drilling logs to develop regional maps showing mined-rock and salt caverns with storage potential, and assessed some 2,700 depleted gas fields for their potential, applying a series of criteria to identify the most promising sites. Sites were especially favored if they showed promise for "stacking," or development at multiple depth levels to tap into multiple distinct geologic formations.
The research team said it would publish the study and associated data through the West Virginia Geological and Economic Survey to support further work on the project.
West Virginia lawmakers have been strong boosters of the Appalachian storage hub concept, and supported bills earlier this year to get the Energy and Commerce departments involved in advancing it (E&E Daily, May 19). Some proponents have suggested that DOE loan guarantees should be used to finance investment in such a project.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/09/07/stories/1060059907
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Hobbled Infrastructure Slows Recovery for Houston Refineries
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Energywire
Houston's oil refineries are getting back on their feet after Hurricane Harvey, but problems across industry infrastructure — and the storm's effects on refinery employees — have contributed to delays in recovery.
The Houston Ship Channel, a key gateway for energy shipments, has only partially reopened, while rail and pipeline networks are also at less than full capacity.
Bhavesh V. Patel, CEO of LyondellBasell Industries NV, said the closure of the channel during the storm had led to a cutback on incoming crude shipments as well as a squeeze on storage space at his company's Houston refinery, which remained online during the hurricane.
"Not only are you trying to conserve what you're consuming to keep this thing running, but you also don't want to fill up your storage of products and have no way out," he said.
Six refineries along the Gulf Coast were still closed Tuesday afternoon, with five others in the midst of a restart and at least seven at less than full capacity (Christopher Matthews, Wall Street Journal, Sept. 6).
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/09/07/stories/1060059895
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Some Ports Reopen as New Storms Loom
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Nathanial Gronewold
Oil and refining operations here are slowly returning to normal post-Hurricane Harvey, while two new storms are prompting fresh evacuations from Gulf of Mexico rigs.
Operations at refineries in the Corpus Christi and Three Rivers areas are ramping up after the port there reopened. Crude oil exports have also resumed from the Port of Corpus Christi since the weekend, as oil and gas infrastructure hit hard by Harvey gradually recovers.
Houston's port and the Houston Ship Channel on which it relies aren't back to normal operating conditions yet, but the Coast Guard is permitting shipping to resume there with some restrictions. Similar restrictions were put into effect for the port in Freeport south of Houston, though that port is expected to be operating normally soon.
Operators of refineries in the area also expect to complete their repairs and recover lost output capacity this week, though gasoline and diesel prices are likely to stay elevated until conditions return to normal.
In an update yesterday, IHS Markit noted that the Freeport port is also open "and is the terminus of the Seaway pipeline that brings crude from Cushing."
Around Houston, Exxon Mobil Corp. says it is making progress recovering operations at its massive Baytown plant. The nation's second-largest refining complex sustained flood damage and damage to storage tank roofs. Initial reports suggest Harvey's impact on the ship channel's large refining and petrochemical complex has resulted in substantial releases of pollutants into the air and water.
Exxon Mobil cautioned that the recovery of Baytown is occurring at the same time as employees there have mobilized to help hurricane-stricken areas recuperate. The company says its operations in Beaumont remain shut due to flooding. Saudi Arabian Oil Co.'s Motiva refining complex, the nation's largest, continues to be idled as Harvey's floodwaters also hit Port Arthur hard.
Weather services report that much of east and southeast Houston, the heart of this city's oil and gas processing and shipping sectors, received as much as 40 to 50 inches of rain during Harvey's slow crawl along the southeast Texas coast.
"The company is also delaying scheduled maintenance at other ExxonMobil refineries to continue producing gasoline and diesel to relieve the supply situation," Exxon Mobil representatives said in their release. "Personnel from the Baton Rouge, Billings and Joliet refineries are being deployed to Baytown and Beaumont to help restore operations."
Having weathered Harvey, North America's oil and gas industry now faces two new threats.
Hurricane Irma is a powerful Category 5 storm that's poised to cause significant damage in the eastern Caribbean Sea and Florida. Irma's projected track sees it avoiding most Gulf of Mexico energy infrastructure, but the industry isn't taking chances given the size and ferocity of the storm and the lingering uncertainty of its most likely path.
BP PLC reported yesterday the evacuation of Thunder Horse, the largest oil platform in the Gulf. More precautionary evacuations are in store.
Farther west, Hurricane Katia formed quickly in the southern Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center is providing assurances that Katia will move away from storm-battered Texas to make landfall in central Mexico instead, but the path puts it directly over Mexico's burgeoning offshore energy hub near Veracruz, now open to foreign investment.
Katia will be the second storm this year to disrupt offshore oil and gas operations in Mexico.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/09/07/stories/1060059937
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Lands Nominee Pledges to Speed Oil and Gas Permits
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Michael Doyle
The Trump administration's nominee to oversee the Interior Department's land and minerals management said today he hopes to expedite federal oil and gas permit processing.
Joseph Balash told lawmakers he would emulate the approach he took as an Alaska state official in deploying technology and other means to cut what he called a "tremendous" permit backlog.
"I'm pleased to say we were able to eliminate more than 50 percent of that backlog," Balash said, adding that, "ultimately, I would seek to perform a similar review" at Interior.
As of Jan. 31, the Bureau of Land Management had 2,802 applications for permit to drill pending.
Nominated to serve as assistant secretary for land and minerals management, Balash said that "the overall management approach needs to reflect the fact that these lands belong to the public."
Balash joined Ryan Douglas Nelson, nominated to serve as the department's solicitor, at the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee confirmation hearing. Two Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nominees were also considered (Greenwire, Sept. 5).
Balash is a North Pole native (Greenwire, July 20). The graduate of Oregon's Pacific University currently serves as the chief of staff to Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), after an earlier stint as commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.
"While there, we resolved disputes that had bedeviled the state for decades," Balash testified, citing "the first placement of an offshore platform in state waters in nearly 20 years" and "new standards for the transfer of ownership in oil and gas properties."
While growing up, Balash recalled hearing his Pittsburgh-based grandfather "curse the EPA for shutting down the mills that employed him and his brother Teamsters."
But over time, Balash added, he "realized that, with the right approach, you can have responsible development without sacrificing clean air and water."
BLM, which he would oversee, manages about 248 million acres nationwide. If confirmed, he also would captain the bureaus of Ocean Energy Management and Safety and Environmental Enforcement as well as the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.
Solicitor nominee
The hearing featured mostly gentle questions and diplomatic responses, illustrated by Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) prompting Nelson, the solicitor nominee, to acknowledge that "maybe there's a need" to update Interior's long-standing royalty rules.
"I think the agency needs to look at the rules and review them, and make sure they are adequately providing value for the American people," Nelson said.
As solicitor, Nelson would oversee 400 employees, including 300 attorneys. His top legal team would include several deputy solicitors, associate solicitors and eight regional solicitors.
A graduate of Brigham Young University and of its law school, Nelson told lawmakers in his written statement of his belief that "our natural resources were divinely created and given as a gift for our benefit, enjoyment and use" consistent with U.S. laws.
Nelson is currently general counsel for an Idaho-based company called Melaleuca. He previously worked in private practice and served as deputy assistant attorney general during the George W. Bush administration.
"I managed some of the most complex natural resource questions related to the Endangered Species Act, Indian law, [National Environmental Policy Act] and dozens of complex environmental laws," Nelson recalled.
He cited in his written statement one case in particular, which he said was of "potential interest" to the chairwoman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, when he successfully defended a permit issued to a gold mine near Nome, Alaska.
Nelson's parents, wife and all seven children attended the hearing, which was briefly interrupted by shouting protesters.
The Trump administration has yet to nominate people for at least 10 other leading Interior positions requiring Senate confirmation, according to tracking by the nonpartisan Partnership for Public Service. The vacancies include the top spots at the National Park Service and Fish and Wildlife Service.
"It is well past time that Secretary [Ryan] Zinke gets the help he needs," Murkowski said, adding that she hopes to move the nominees along "as soon as possible."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/09/07/stories/1060060005
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(ACC Mentioned) Interactive: Time to Assess Post-Harvey Impact
Sep 7, 2017 | ICIS
Now that Hurricane Harvey has subsided, let’s turn our attention to the longer-term impact of the disaster on the US economy and chemicals supply and demand.
In the immediate aftermath of the event, ICIS estimated that about 37% (11.1m tonnes/year) of US ethylene capacity was off line, and 26% (4.2m tonnes/year) of polyethylene (PE) capacity. Figures for other commodities off line included 23% (5m tonnes/year) for propylene, 25% (2m tonnes/year) for polypropylene (PP) and 31% (2.8m tonnes/year) for benzene.
On 5 September there were reports of some refineries preparing for restart, but no chemical plants. Valero’s 395,000bbl/day Port Arthur refinery is being assessed for restart while its refineries at Houston, Three Rivers, Texas City and Corpus Christi were ramping up production by 4 September. On 4 September, ExxonMobil said it would begin to restart its Baytown refinery and chemical site plus part of its Beaumont site.
We can expect to see gradual ramping up of chemical capacities over the next few weeks but a return to normal levels of production could be weeks or even months away. One south China-based trader told ICIS: “We had received the news from American producers – they were set to talk with their customers about the cancellation of products. And there seemed no hope of business coming back to normal in the rest of this year.”
Some chemical prices are rising, especially in the US and Asia in expectation of tightening of supply caused by Harvey. But there has not been much discussion about the impact on demand so far.
Economists and analysts are debating the long-term impact. Although there should be some stimulating effect on demand from the reconstruction of damaged property and infrastructure, the fact that the country’s fourth-largest city ground to a halt for several days will cost the nation in terms of lost GDP.
The total bill could exceed the cost of Hurricane Katrina, according to Texas governor Greg Abbott. He told Fox News: “Katrina caused, if I recall, more than $120bn [in damage] but when you look at the number of homes and business affected by this, I think this will cost well over $120bn, probably $150bn to $180bn.”
Meanwhile the American Chemistry Council estimates that the direct effects on the economy should be modest in Q3 and will turn positive in Q4 on rebuilding efforts. “The effects will likely be less than 0.5 percentage points. The effects on the Houston economy, however, are extensive.”
https://www.icis.com/resources/news/2017/09/07/10141062/interactive-time-to-assess-post-harvey-impact/
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Texas Flood Shows Need for Chemical Safety Rule, Advocates Say
Sep 7, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Jeff Johnson
Industrial safety advocates and Texas residents say a flood-related accident and fires at the Arkema chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, underscores the need for a stalled worker and community safety regulation.
Issued by the Obama Administration in January and blocked by the Trump Environmental Protection Agency in March, that regulation would require chemical safety improvements at industrial plants.
If fully implemented, the new regulation would require greater public disclosure from companies that use large amounts of toxic chemicals, notes Yvette Arellano, spokesperson with TEJAS, the Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services, a community-based nonprofit. The rule would also call for companies to conduct root-cause analysis after an accident, she adds.
When it postponed the regulation, EPA reopened discussions of what the final rule should require. This reexamination won’t be complete until February 2019, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has said.
Pruitt attributed the delay to opposition to the rule from companies. Among them is Arkema, which filed comments against the regulation. Several states, labor unions, and community groups are challenging EPA’s move in court. Chemical companies and some states, on the other hand, are backing Pruitt.
Advocates say the rule, if implemented, would have a made a difference when Tropical Storm Harvey brought heavy rains that flooded the Crosby plant and killed backup electricity generators used to maintain refrigeration of some 225 metric tons of organic peroxides at the facility. The reactive peroxides decompose with heat, and at Arkema, they begin to burn. Eventually, the facility’s managers ordered fire set to the remaining stock of these substances to limit the possibility of explosion.
If the regulation had been in place, says Gretchen Goldman, a research director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, the public and emergency responders would have had more information about Arkema’s substances. Also, the regulation would have required the company to investigate and possibly implement safer alternatives to its current chemicals and manufacturing approaches, she adds.
As required under the Clean Air Act, Arkema filed a risk management plan with EPA that identifies the potential effects of a chemical accident, identifies steps the facility is taking to prevent an accident, and spells out emergency response procedures should an accident occur. The plan is required for companies that handle certain extremely hazardous chemicals and is to be updated every five years. Arkema did not consider the decomposition of the organic peroxides in its plan because these chemicals are not covered by risk management plans. The U.S. Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) since 2002 has recommended that EPA require companies to include peroxides and other reactive chemicals in risk management plans, but the agency has not complied.
CSB is investigating the Arkema accident.
At a Sept. 4 briefing, Rich Rowe, president and CEO of Arkema’s U.S. operations, was reluctant to discuss what the company could have done differently to avoid the accident. He said Arkema will examine “the way we prepared and the decisions we made as we moved through the crisis.” He pledged to work with CSB “to assess what went well and what didn’t.”
http://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i36/Texas-flood-shows-need-for-chemical-safety-rule-advocates-say.html
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Divided Cyber Policy Undermines Gas and Grid Networks — Report
Sep 7, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Beter Behr and Blake Sobczak
A new Congressional Research Service study warns of fragmented federal oversight of cybersecurity vulnerabilities in vital energy sectors, singling out the interconnected electric power and natural gas industries.
The Aug. 28 study, obtained by E&E News, was prepared for use by congressional committees and is not a public document.
Congress, in 2015, gave DOE responsibility to safeguard power networks in a national emergency, but other authority is divided. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission enforces mandatory cyber regulation of the interstate power networks, while the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the Department of Homeland Security has elected voluntary cyber oversight of gas pipelines.
Without specifically calling for new legislation or endorsing existing cyber bills, the CRS report points Congress toward the issue of Balkanized cyber policy in energy. "The effect of the dispersed cybersecuity responsibility at the federal level has been the subject of congressional interest, but has not been studied," CRS said.
The same warning of divided oversight was delivered last month to President Trump by an expert panel, the National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which saw only a "a narrow and fleeting window of opportunity" to pull together a unified response (Energywire, Aug. 23).
The CRS report highlights the issue of the power grid's growing reliance on natural gas supply, with both sectors facing increasing cyberthreats to their control systems. CRS said that "many in Congress recognize that grid and pipeline cybersecurity are intertwined," but their policies are not.
The CRS analysis focuses on the Energy Department's Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE), which leads DOE's cybersecurity oversight of the power grid. CRS noted that the proposed Trump budget for fiscal 2018 would cut OE's appropriations to $123 million, or 41 percent less than the estimated current level, at the same time that it has been handed new responsibilities by Congress.
"[T]here is little discussion in published materials as to what extent OE collaborates directly with FERC or TSA on specific cybersecurity [research] programs," CRS noted, adding, "the ongoing level of cooperation between OE and TSA in the area of pipeline security is difficult to determine from published materials."
CRS noted that DOE and DHS had collaborated in 2015 in issuing an energy-sector response plan for cyber and physical attacks, which explicitly excludes gas pipelines.
An E&E News report in May cited concerns at DOE, under President Obama, that the department could not determine whether pipeline cyberdefenses were adequate (Energywire, May 23).
A policy paper in July by the Natural Gas Council stated the industry's case that its cyberdefenses were strong. "There is low risk of single point of disruption (regardless of cause) resulting in uncontrollable, cascading effects," the paper says.
Michael Assante, a former grid security executive at the North American Electric Reliability Corp., said CRS is asking the right question about gas-grid interconnections and vulnerabilities. "They're on the right track," said Assante, who heads industrial control system security at the SANS Institute cyber training group.
Much of the CRS report describes apparent missing pieces of cyber policy, or uncertain responsibilities, where it could not find answers in the public record, an invitation for Congress to seek answers.
The report was not directed at the evolving cyber policy of the Trump administration, but it noted that a holdover executive order from the Obama administration remains in force, spelling out governmentwide coordination in the face of a major cyberattack. Obama's National Cyber Incident Response Plan (NCIRP) would stand up a top-level response team in the National Security Council to pull together crisis actions by DHS, the FBI and intelligence services.
CRS said it could not determine how the Trump administration is managing the challenge now. In May, Trump ordered a 90-day review of cyber policy for critical infrastructure, but the report has not been released. CRS said that "the concept of operations prescribed in the NCIRP appears still untested in real-world response."
"The whole idea of the Congressional Research Service is to take an issue and try to understand: 'Is there a role for legislation? Is there a need for it?'" Assante said in an interview. "In this case, I think they're just further educating the legislative discussion as to whether more needs to be done or not."
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/09/07/stories/1060059945
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(ACC Mentioned) Sen. Thune Urges Action on 'Inequitable' Demurrage, Detention Fees
Sep 7, 2017 | American Shipper
By Mark Edward Nero
U.S. Sen. John Thune, chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, has written to the head of the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) expressing concern with inaction in addressing what some say is a blatant inequity by some ocean carriers regarding collection of demurrage and detention fees.
In his Sept. 5 letter, Thune cited a petition filed in December 2016 by the Coalition for Fair Port Practices regarding what it said has been inequitable assessment of detention and demurrage charges by marine terminal across the United States and a call for “just and reasonable” regulations and practices.
“It is my understanding that the Commission is still formulating its plans for further action,” Thune (R-SD) wrote in the letter, which was addressed to FMC Acting Chair Michael Khouri. “It is important that the Commission prioritize this issue and determine whether any further action is needed to foster a fair, efficient and reliable ocean transportation system.”
The demurrage and detention fees issue revolves primarily around how during periods of port congestion, exporters and importers are often unable to enter terminals to deliver or remove containers prior to expiration of “free time,” and then through no fault of their own find themselves subject to terminals’ container storage fees.
Examples of situations of when importers and exporters should not face penalties, the coalition says, are congestion taking place during labor negotiations, the introduction of mega-ships overwhelming terminal capacity, lack of terminal and roadway infrastructure, or inclement weather.
The Coalition for Fair Port Practices, a group of 25 trade associations representing importers, exporters, drayage providers, freight forwarders, customs brokers and third-party logistics providers, said it is petitioning the FMC to initiate a rulemaking proceeding that would clarify what constitutes “just and reasonable” assessment of demurrage, detention, and per diem charges. The coalition includes the American Apparel & Footwear Association; American Chemistry Council; Association of Bi-State Motor Carriers; Association of Food Industries; Auto Care Association; Foreign Trade Association; Green Coffee Association; Harbor Association of Industry & Commerce; Harbor Trucking Association; Intermodal Motor Carriers Conference of the American Trucking Associations; International Association of Movers; Juice Products Association; Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association; Meat Import Council of America; Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association; National Customs Brokers & Forwarders Association of America; National Pork Producers Council; National Retail Federation; New York/New Jersey Foreign Freight Forwarders and Brokers Association; North American Meat Institute; Retail Industry Leaders Association; Tea Association of the USA; National Industrial Transportation League; Transportation Intermediaries Association; and U.S. Hide, Skin and Leather Association.
Specifically, the coalition has proposed that the FMC approve a rule stating that, among other things, if an ocean common carrier or marine terminal operator is somehow temporarily disabled before the expiration of a shipper or receiver’s free storage time, it would be unreasonable to charge demurrage, detention, or per diem for the period of the ocean common carrier’s or marine terminal operator’s disability.
The Agriculture Transportation Coalition (AgTC), which is a party to the Coalition for Fair Port Practices though not an actual member, expressed support for Thune and his letter the day it was sent.
“The AgTC hopes that the FMC will take heed of Chairman John Thune’s clear message, and initiate action as proposed in the petition,” the group said in a statement provided to American Shipper. “Such action could address the millions of dollars of unfair charges imposed on exporters, importers and their truckers by some ocean carriers, and could prevent continuing abuse by these ocean carriers.”http://www.americanshipper.com/main/news/sen-thune-urges-action-on-inequitable-demurrage-de-68907.aspx?source=Big4
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(ACC Mentioned) EPA Staff Headed for Lowest Levels in 30 Years as Environmental Disasters Pile Up
Sep 7, 2017 | ThinkProgress
By Mark Hand
Hundreds of Environmental Protection Agency employees are leaving as the Trump administration works to reduce the federal government’s role in protecting Americans from toxic air and water.
The staff reductions are occurring at a time when the EPA’s work is proving more valuable than ever. Storms, floods, and deteriorating infrastructure are forcing communities across the country to turn to the federal government for help protect their health and environment. A shrinking EPA will likely mean these localities will need to look elsewhere for assistance.
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that nearly 400 workers have left the agency in recent days, primarily due to voluntary buyouts. The departures have cut the agency’s staff by 2.5 percent. As the buyouts and retirements continue, the departures could take the agency’s staffing level to its lowest point in almost 30 years, the Journal said.
Members of Congress are criticizing efforts by the Trump administration and House Republicans to drastically reduce the size of the EPA, especially in light of recent environmental disasters, including flooding from Hurricane Harvey. H.R. 3354, an omnibus House spending bill, would fund the EPA at $7.5 billion for fiscal year 2018 — $528 million less than the fiscal 2017 enacted level, but $1.9 billion above President Donald Trump’s requested budget.
“We strongly oppose the harmful cuts proposed to the EPA in this bill,” Reps. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Paul Tonko (D-NY), and Doris Matsui (D-CA), co-chairs of the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition, said in a statement Thursday. “The aftermath of Hurricane Harvey is a dire reminder of how important it is to have a fully staffed and funded EPA that can respond quickly to protect communities after disasters, whether from accidental releases of dangerous pollutants at chemical plants or flooding of toxic Superfund sites.”
An EPA spokeswoman told the Wall Street Journal that agency leaders designed the buyout plan so the agency would not be left with too few people to respond to natural disasters. The EPA is responsible for cleaning up some of the nation’s most contaminated land as part of the Superfund program and responding to environmental emergencies, oil spills, and natural disasters.
Last week, reporters from the Associated Press were able to visit various Superfund sites in the Houston area that had been flooded by Hurricane Harvey. At the time, the EPA said many of the same sites visited by the news agency had not been accessible by its response personnel. Embarrassed by the AP’s reporting on the potential spread of hazardous waste from these sites, the EPA issued a press release last Sunday attacking one of the reporters of the article.
With Hurricane Irma currently threatening southern Florida, the EPA will be monitoring 22 additional current or former hazardous waste sites to ensure they are secure and do not harm residents in the area. The agency said Wednesday it is contacting managers of the Superfund sites to ensure they are secure and that no contaminants migrate offsite if flooding damages the sites as it did in the Houston area with Hurricane Harvey.
After Irma passes and floodwaters recede, the EPA said its remedial managers and contractors will conduct assessments of the sites to identify any damage and begin cleanup plans if necessary. In a press release, the EPA noted that unauthorized entry at any Superfund site, either prior to or following the storm is prohibited.
The EPA currently employs about 14,880 people. The recent staff reductions include a dozen retirements at the end of August. Another 33 employees will retire at the end of September, and 45 additional employees are considering retirement offers, the Washington Post reported. With these planned departures, EPA staffing levels would fall to 14,428. The last time the agency’s staffing level fell so low was in the final year of the Reagan administration, the newspaper said.
As long-time scientists and environmental experts depart, the agency continues to hire officials from the industries it regulates. The hires are part of the Trump administration’s effort to recruit officials to fill its top staff positions from energy and chemical industry groups.
Former chemical industry lobbyist Nancy Beck now works as EPA’s deputy assistant administrator in the agency’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention. The office “regulates the kinds of dangerous chemicals that, together with sewage and Superfund sites, have turned Houston area floodwaters into a contaminated stew,” the International Business Times reported. Prior to joining the EPA, Beck served as senior director of regulatory science policy for the American Chemistry Council, the primary lobbying group for the chemical industry.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has not hidden his desire to cut back on the agency’s role in protecting the nation’s air and water. The EPA is not only attempting to roll back climate rules but is seeking to duplicate Pruitt’s efforts as attorney general in Oklahoma where, according to the Sierra Club, he “led the charge to try to dismantle our most basic clean air and water protections.”
As its staffing levels decline, the EPA is playing catch-up — in the wake of the Flint, Michigan waster disaster — on ensuring Americans have access to safe drinking water. The agency awarded a $100 million grant to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to fund drinking water infrastructure upgrades in Flint.
The EPA’s statutorily required work to ensure safe drinking water will not end in Flint. “Most of our country’s underground water infrastructure was built 50 or more years ago, and in some older cities, water mains are a century old. The implications of deteriorating infrastructure can be felt nationwide,” Jim Gebhardt, director of the EPA’s water infrastructure and resiliency finance center, wrote in an EPA blog post last year.
The dramatic reduction in staff will almost certainly include career scientists and other staff who are often called into local communities where an environmental disaster is occurring, such as Houston, and staffers who work on less urgent, but serious problems like widespread drinking water contamination, according to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental and public health group.
The Environmental Working Group released a report Wednesday that shows the drinking water of nearly 90 million Americans is tainted with the cancer-causing chemical 1,4-dioxane. The EPA and its career staff are charged with working with local authorities to help mitigate drinking water contamination, the group said.
“Only the Trump administration would conclude that it’s a good idea to cripple the federal agency tasked with combating the growing pollution threats to Americans’ drinking water, and the clear and present dangers of climate change — like historic, back-to-back hurricanes,” Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook said in a statement Wednesday. “These and other serious problems demand more resources, not fewer.”
https://thinkprogress.org/epa-cuts-staff-at-critical-time-for-public-health-5ef08aa39256/
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