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ACC AM 9/13/2017
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(ACC Blog) North American Chemical Manufacturers United On Priorities For NAFTA Modernization
Sep 12, 2017 | American Chemistry Council
By Greg Skelton
Chemical manufacturing in North America is an illustration of the promise of free trade and regional economic integration. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has played an important role building a North American market for chemical manufacturers and their customers. Modernizing NAFTA presents an opportunity to take that promise even further. -
(ACC Mentioned) ACC Reaffirms Outline For NAFTA Modernisation
Sep 12, 2017 | ICIS
By David Haydon
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could further support regulatory cooperation promoting alignment on classification and labeling requirements, and collaborating on risk-based assessments for priority chemicals, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) said on Tuesday. -
(ACC Mentioned) After Harvey, Democrats See Opportunity In A Conservative District
Sep 13, 2017 | International Business Times
By Alex Kotch
In 2016, GOP Rep. Brian Babin didn’t even have a Democratic challenger in Texas’ 36th Congressional District. He beat a Green Party candidate with close to 90 percent of the vote in the general election. The 36th is considered a “safe” Republican district by the Cook Political Report, but this time, two Democrats are running in their party’s primary — and in the wake of Hurricane Harvey flooding, they see a chance to win. -
(ACC Mentioned) Big Holdup for Borrowers Claiming For-Profit College Fraud
Sep 13, 2017 | AP (In The New York Times)
By Maria Danilova
Tens of thousands of former students who say they were swindled by for-profit colleges are being left in limbo as the Trump administration delays action on requests for loan forgiveness, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press. -
(ACC Mentioned) Bonnie T. Ogle: Don’t Create Mountain Of Water Bottles
Sep 13, 2017 | Gainesville Sun
By Bonnie T. Ogle
Standing in line for water in preparation for Hurricane Irma, I wondered how many water bottles would end up in the landfill. After this manic push to collect the recommended three gallons per person per day of incalculable outages, it will be the equivalent of a mountain. -
(ACC Mentioned) Trump's Controversial EPA Nominee Faces Sharp Questions Over Ties To Chemical Industry
Sep 13, 2017 | USA Today
By Deirdre Shesgreen
A University of Cincinnati professor nominated by President Trump for a top job at the Environmental Protection Agency is coming under intense scrutiny for his financial ties to the chemical industry. -
U.S. AG Chemical Makers Back Controversial Trump Nominee
Sep 12, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Glenn Hess
Agriculture businesses, including manufacturers of pesticides and fertilizers, are strongly supporting President Donald J. Trump’s pick to be the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist. -
(ACC Mentioned) Industry Seeks To Intervene To Defend EPA's TSCA Rules
Sep 12, 2017 | Inside EPA
Multiple industry groups are seeking to intervene in defense of EPA in environmentalists' two consolidated suits challenging the legality of the Trump administration's first framework rules to implement reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). -
(ACC Mentioned) Lawmakers Clash Over Chemical Risk Database
Sep 13, 2017 | Chem.Info
By Meagan Parrish
A database used to evaluate the risk of certain chemicals has become a flashpoint of debate among lawmakers. -
Furniture Industry Has Grave Concerns Over EPA Solvent Ban
Sep 13, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Adrianne Appel
The furniture industry would be destroyed if the Environmental Protection Agency enacts a broad ban of a common paint-stripping chemical, business owners told the agency Sept. 12. -
Plaintiffs Threaten Suit To Force ATSDR, EPA To Pursue National PFAS Study
Sep 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Lara Beaven
An attorney representing clients exposed to perfluorinated chemicals in their drinking water and through the workplace is urging the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to work with EPA on a national health study of the human health impacts of exposure to the chemicals, or face a lawsuit to force the study. -
CA: Consumers Have Right to Know What’s in Cleaning Products
Sep 13, 2017 | Natural Resources Defense Council
By Avinash Kar
The passage of the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017 (SB 258) in the California Assembly today represents a big win for consumers across the country. -
EU Reassessing Safety Of Sunscreen Cosmetic Ingredient
Sep 13, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety is reassessing the safety of phenylene bisdiphenyltriazine as a UV-filter in sunscreen products. -
Delaware River Basin Fracking Talks Could Be Revived
Sep 13, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Leslie A. Pappas
A de facto moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River basin—in place since December 2010—could be up for discussion again before a multistate watershed commission. -
EPA To Replace Clean Power Plan
Sep 12, 2017 | PoliticoPro
By Emily Holden
EPA plans to publish its proposal to rescind the Clean Power Plan and take its first step to replace the rule by the first week of October, according to a source familiar with the process. -
EPA to Probe Arkema Plant's Safety Procedures After Explosion
Sep 13, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sam Pearson
The EPA is opening an investigation into whether Arkema's chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, was in compliance with existing regulations when explosions occurred at the plant after it suffered flooding from Hurricane Harvey. -
DOE Awards Grid Security Grants To Improve Bug Patching And Incident Response
Sep 12, 2017 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
The Department of Energy today announced $50 million in grants to improve the security and resiliency of the electric grid. -
OTC Shifts Focus Of Ozone Cuts To Trucks, Natural Gas & Cement Plants
Sep 12, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
The Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) of 12 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states is shifting its focus on plans for ozone reductions from its traditional targeting of power plant emissions to other ozone sources including natural gas infrastructure, cement manufacturing plants and truck idling in order to meet EPA's stricter ozone limit. -
EPA, States Hold Talks To Improve Enforcement With Enhanced Collaboration
Sep 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Dave Reynolds
EPA and state officials have started discussions on how to improve state and federal cooperation on enforcement, seeking to better align priorities and allocate resources, while addressing their differing perceptions on what aspects of enforcement are currently working or need improvement. -
Massive Hurricanes Spur Climate Debate But Fail To Advance Policies
Sep 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Doug Obey
Two massive hurricanes that have caused devastating flooding damage in the Southeast during the past month have renewed a public debate about how climate change is intensifying extreme weather events, though it remains uncertain whether such discussion will spur additional federal climate mitigation or adaptation policies. -
Trump's Top Economic Aide To Meet With Foreign Climate Officials
Sep 12, 2017 | The Hill -E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
President Trump’s top economic adviser is planning to meet next week with top energy and climate officials from major foreign countries.
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(ACC Blog) North American Chemical Manufacturers United On Priorities For NAFTA Modernization
Sep 12, 2017 | American Chemistry Council
By Greg Skelton
Chemical manufacturing in North America is an illustration of the promise of free trade and regional economic integration. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has played an important role building a North American market for chemical manufacturers and their customers. Modernizing NAFTA presents an opportunity to take that promise even further.
The data tell an important story. Since 1994, when NAFTA first entered into force, trade in chemicals among NAFTA countries has more than tripled, from $20 billion in 1994 to $63 billion in 2014. In recent years, the U.S. has run a trade surplus in chemicals with Canada and Mexico, which are, respectively, the first and second largest national markets for U.S. chemical exports.
A modernized NAFTA presents an opportunity for North American chemical manufacturers to do even more to build upon the economic partnerships and supply chain synergies and efficiencies that have been created through reduced barriers to trade.
Five areas of opportunity within NAFTA
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), which represents U.S. chemical manufacturers, has identified five key areas in which NAFTA can help achieve that goal:
1. Maintain duty-free trade for all qualifying chemical products. Given that more than 50 percent of trade in chemicals is intra-company, imposing trade barriers in chemicals within NAFTA would be like putting a tollbooth in the middle of a factory.
2. Modernize the Rules of Origin. Rules of origin should be brought into line with rules adopted in more recent U.S. trade agreements, providing a clear, transparent, and flexible menu of options for determining origin.
3. Modernize border measures and trade clearance disciplines. A modernized NAFTA should promote digital trade to reduce paperwork and protect data flows, remove bottlenecks, modernize transport and security requirements, and harmonize clearance procedures.
4. Strengthen regulatory coherence. Negotiating parties should work together to strengthen the implementation of Good Regulatory Practices, including promoting greater transparency and inviting stakeholder dialogue on regulations.
5. Promote greater alignment on chemical regulation. NAFTA countries should strengthen and align a risk- and science-based approach to chemical regulation throughout North America, which can serve as a model for the rest of the world.
A united stance on Regulatory Cooperation, Rules of Origin
As the negotiations to modernize NAFTA have begun to move forward, chemical industry associations in the United States, Canada, and Mexico have worked to develop joint recommendations to negotiators on several key discussion areas.
The initial two joint papers are on enhancing Regulatory Cooperation and upgrading the Rules of Origin. ACC, together with our North American partners, the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada (CIAC) and the Mexican Chemical Industry National Association (ANIQ), have developed these recommendations to illustrate the strong level of alignment within the North American chemical industry on priorities for NAFTA modernization.
Addressing regulatory cooperation opportunities holds great promise for better value creation and integration of the Canadian, Mexican, and American economies. Enhanced regulatory cooperation seeks to maintain high levels of protection for human health and the environment, while promoting greater alignment and burden-sharing between regulators. This has the potential to significantly reduce costs for governments and industry alike.
Examples of how a modernized NAFTA could further support regulatory cooperation include promoting alignment on classification and labeling requirements, and collaborating on risk-based assessments for priority chemicals.
On rules of origin under a modernized NAFTA, the three industry groups agree that the rules should be clear, simple, and transparent. The goal should be to reduce transactional time and costs to the maximum extent possible while ensuring that these benefits apply only to the NAFTA partners.
In a statement issued on September 11, CIAC President and CEO Bob Masterson said of industry’s united position:
“Implementation of these agreed positions will encourage regulatory harmonization capable of protecting people and the environment in all three countries while also spurring innovation and improving our overall regional position in the highly competitive global chemistry sector.
“A great amount of effort by our respective associations and the industry in all three countries has gone into landing on these consensus positions. We are leading the way in demonstrating that there are indeed opportunities to modernize NAFTA while delivering benefits to all three partners to the agreement,” Masterson concluded.
https://blog.americanchemistry.com/2017/09/north-american-chemical-manufacturers-united-on-priorities-for-nafta-modernization/
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(ACC Mentioned) ACC Reaffirms Outline For NAFTA Modernisation
Sep 12, 2017 | ICIS
By David Haydon
HOUSTON (ICIS)--North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) could further support regulatory cooperation promoting alignment on classification and labeling requirements, and collaborating on risk-based assessments for priority chemicals, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) said on Tuesday.
Following the release of joint statements regarding the NAFTA, the ACC issued a statement on Tuesday outlining the trade group’s latest stance on the renegotiation process.
“A modernised NAFTA presents an opportunity for North American chemical manufacturers to do even more to build upon the economic partnerships and supply chain synergies and inefficiencies that have been created through reduced barriers to trade,” the ACC said.
ACC listed five areas for the renegotiation of NAFTA that it considered key for the industry :
-Maintaining duty-free trade for all qualifying chemical products
-Modernising the rules of origin
-Modernising border measures and trade clearance disciplines
-Strengthening regulatory coherence
-Promoting greater alignment on chemical regulationThe ACC referenced the initial two joint papers on regulatory cooperation and rules of origin.
“Addressing regulatory cooperation opportunities holds great promise for better value creation and integration of the Canadian, Mexican and American economies,” the ACC said.
On rules of origin, the ACC said the goal should be to “reduce transactional time and costs to the maximum extent possible” while making sure the benefits apply only to NAFTA partners.
The third round of NAFTA negotiations will be held in Canada in late September.
https://www.icis.com/resources/news/2017/09/12/10142416/acc-reaffirms-outline-for-nafta-modernisation/
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(ACC Mentioned) After Harvey, Democrats See Opportunity In A Conservative District
Sep 13, 2017 | International Business Times
By Alex Kotch
In 2016, GOP Rep. Brian Babin didn’t even have a Democratic challenger in Texas’ 36th Congressional District. He beat a Green Party candidate with close to 90 percent of the vote in the general election. The 36th is considered a “safe” Republican district by the Cook Political Report, but this time, two Democrats are running in their party’s primary — and in the wake of Hurricane Harvey flooding, they see a chance to win.
Harvey wreaked havoc on southeast Texas, putting some communities under more than 50 inches of water. The Houston area and nearby Gulf Coast region is home to numerous oil refineries and chemical plants, many of which have emitted benzene plumes and other toxic chemicals into the air because of shutdowns and explosions due to flooding. One plant in Babin’s district, owned by French chemical manufacturing company Arkema, suffered numerous explosions on August 31 and the days after, releasing dangerous airborne toxins that sent police and first responders to the hospital.
Arkema successfully lobbied against key chemical safety provisions with the help of elected officials including Babin and nine other Texan members of Congress, as International Business Times reported. Babin co-sponsored a House bill to strike down these safety regulations, which were written under former President Obama and set to take effect in March. Environmental Protection Agency Director Scott Pruitt has delayed the rules’ implementation twice this year, and they won’t apply until February 2019, if at all.
Babin’s office did not return requests for comment.
Candidates Support Praise Benefits Of Regulation
Geologist Jon Powell and fellow Democratic candidate Dayna Steele, a well known former rock radio host, plan to use Babin’s role in opposing the chemical safety standards against him. Steele told IBT that she “absolutely” supports instating the chemical safety rules that Babin and Arkema successfully delayed.
“Everyone frames [chemical safety rules] as, ‘Ooh it’s a scary regulation.’ Regulations are protections put in place to protect people,” said Steele, who worked as a crisis communications consultant for some chemical plants in the area. “People can now see what we’ve been trying to say all along… It appears that a lot of the regulations maybe could have prevented [the Arkema explosions] from happening.”
These regulations have other benefits, too, Powell said. “The term regulation always seems to have ‘job-killing’ in front of it. But it’s quite the opposite: they’re job-creating regulations… The truth of it is, when companies have to install environmental protection they have to purchase it, install it, maintain it and audit it. It all creates jobs.”
The cost of refining crude oil into gasoline is about 16 percent of the total cost of standard gasoline, said Powell. Only a fraction of that amount — around 5 cents per gallon — goes towards environmental protection, he said.
But Arkema, the American Chemical Council lobbying group and many other chemical and oil companies have come out against increased safety measures at their plants. Powell speculated about the source of the opposition in a September 7 op-ed in the Texas Tribune.
“A basic function of government is to protect us. Ask yourself if laws and regulations that were in place before Harvey struck made the situation better or worse. Who advocated for those bad policies? Was it the people who have a financial incentive to not spend the necessary funds for protection and their bought-and-paid-for lawmakers?”
Steele decided to run for office after the 2016 elections, feeling “stunned each and every day on everything from health care to education to relaxed regulations to DACA.”
“Global warming — let’s call it what it is. Climate change is very real…Science is fact. I don’t care if you don’t like it,” said Steele, who is married to a rocket scientist.
Powell, too, is focusing on Babin’s environmental record. “Babin has voted against this so-called [Waters of the United States] regulation that…regulates contamination of runoff from privately owned lands,” said Powell. “But chemicals are in the water…and they don’t understand property boundaries.
“When plants not required to operate safely they push cost of consequences of their unsafe choices onto the taxpayer,” said Powell. “Babin and his cohorts either don’t realize that or they’ve been bought by the lobbying and campaign contributions.”
Fossil Fuel Funds In Politics
The oil and gas industry has been kind to Babin, having donated nearly $115,000 to his federal campaigns since 2014, his first Congressional race. In just the 2016 election cycle, he received over $40,000 from the political action committees of oil and gas companies including Koch Industries, Exxon Mobil, Halliburton and Valero Energy. Arkema, the owner of the exploding chemical plant in his district, gave Babin $3,000 over the 2014 and 2016 election cycles.
In 2018, Democrats are looking to take advantage of an unpopular president, a chaotic White House and a GOP-led Congress that has failed to pass any significant legislation. 23 congressional districtsheld by Republicans went for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general for president. But Democrats are split on how to win back the House: Centrist super PACs have appeared, supporting a “big tent” party and looking to elect conservative Democrats in areas that usually vote GOP, while progressive organizations such as Our Revolution and Justice Democrats are backing leftist candidates. Meanwhile, Democratic senators are lining up behind Bernie Sanders’ Medicare-for-all bill, which he plans to introduce on Wednesday.
In a flood-damaged district, though, local issues are paramount, Powell has said.
“I’m hoping that people will see that Babin has brought nothing to the district,” Powell said. “People don’t really care about who goes to what bathroom or spending a bunch of money on a wall on the Mexican border.”
“With floodwaters still flowing in parts of Texas, and Hurricane Irma eyeing the U.S. mainland, the current political talk is about tax cuts for the wealthy or the residency status of nearly 800,000 children and young adults,” wrote Powell on September 7. “Lowering the taxes on the highest earners does nothing to solve the problems so many people face in Southeast Texas.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/political-capital/after-harvey-democrats-see-opportunity-conservative-district-2589057
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(ACC Mentioned) Big Holdup for Borrowers Claiming For-Profit College Fraud
Sep 13, 2017 | AP (In The New York Times)
By Maria Danilova
WASHINGTON — Tens of thousands of former students who say they were swindled by for-profit colleges are being left in limbo as the Trump administration delays action on requests for loan forgiveness, according to court documents obtained by The Associated Press.
The Education Department is sitting on more than 65,000 unapproved claims as it rewrites Obama-era rules that sought to better protect students. The rewrite had been sought by the industry.
The for-profit colleges have found allies in the new administration and President Donald Trump, who earlier this year paid $25 million to settle charges his Trump University misled customers. And it's yet another example of the administration hiring officials to oversee the industries where they had worked previously.
In August, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos picked Julian Schmoke Jr., a former associate dean at DeVry University, as head of the department's enforcement unit. She also has tapped a top aide to Florida's attorney general who was involved in the decision not to pursue legal action against Trump University to serve as the agency's top lawyer. More than 2,000 requests for loan forgiveness are pending from DeVry students.
The Obama rules would have forbidden schools from forcing students to sign agreements that waived their right to sue. Defrauded students would have faced a quicker path to get their loans erased, and schools, not taxpayers, could have been held responsible for the costs.Continue reading the main story
Now, in a filing in federal court in California, acting Undersecretary James Manning says the department will need up to six months to decide the case of a former student at the now-defunct Corinthian Colleges and other cases like hers. Sarah Dieffenbacher, a single mother of four from California had taken out $50,000 in student loans to study to become a paralegal, but then couldn't find a job in the field, defaulted on her debt and could face wage garnishment.
"ED will be able to issue a decision with regards to Ms. Dieffenbacher's Borrower Defense claims within six months, as part of a larger group of Borrower Defense decisions regarding similar claims," Manning wrote to the court on Aug. 28.
Department spokesman Liz Hill said the agency is working to streamline the process and resolve the claims as quickly as possible. "Unfortunately, the Obama administration left behind thousands of claims, and we will need to set up a fair and equitable system to work through them," she said.
She said students with claims pending are not required to make payments on their loans.
But Dieffenbacher says the delay is costing her family dearly.
"They should be protecting the students, because students were led to believe they were protected," she said in an interview. "And they are not, they are protecting Corinthian Colleges and for-profit schools."
Alec Harris, a lawyer with Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School who is representing Dieffenbacher, said the inaction could put his client and her children on the street.
"This is a Department of Education that has seemingly sided with industry and stacked the deck against former students of predatory for-profit schools every step of the way," Harris said.
Reid Setzer, government affairs director for Young Invincibles, an advocacy and research group, said the department's delay is harming thousands of students.
"It's kind of ridiculous," Setzer said. "There have been massive delays since the change of administration."
The Obama administration went hard after for-profit colleges that lured students into taking big loans with false promises. Chains including Corinthian Colleges and ITT Technical Institute were forced to close, and Obama's Education Department approved about $655 million in loan cancellations for their students.
Under DeVos, no claims have been approved since she came to office seven months ago, according to Manning's July response to questions from Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who is part of a group of lawmakers pressuring her to accelerate the process. The department is in the process of discharging loans for claims that had been approved by the previous administration.
Among the claims still pending are more than 45,000 filed by Corinthian students and over 7,000 by ITT students.
DeVos is working on rewriting two Obama-era regulations that were meant to prevent colleges from misrepresenting their services to students and from failing to provide them with an education that would enable them to find jobs.
In an interview with the AP last month, DeVos said, "Let's be clear, no student should be defrauded, and in case of fraud there should be remedy. But we also know this approach has been unevenly applied, and if there's going to be regulation around some institutions we believe it needs to be fairly applied across the board."
Democratic attorneys general from 18 states and the District of Columbia filed suit against DeVos in July over the rules, which were finalized under President Barack Obama and scheduled to take effect July 1.
"Since Day One of the Trump administration, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the administration have sided with for-profit schools over students," Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey told reporters at the time.
"It seems more like they are trying to protect the industry than trying to help borrowers," said Clare McCann, deputy director for federal higher education policy with New America, a Washington-based think tank.
DeVos' announcement about the Schmoke hiring was met with criticism by Democrats. Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut tweeted, "This is a joke, right?"
The department defended its decision, saying Schmoke served only in an academic capacity at DeVry and was not involved in admissions, recruitment or corporate administrative activities.
Other Trump administration agencies also have hired staffers who previously worked on behalf of the industry they now regulate. For example, Nancy Beck, deputy assistant administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency, used to work at the American Chemistry Council, the industry's leading trade group.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/09/12/us/politics/ap-us-student-loans-forgiveness-delayed.html?mcubz=0
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(ACC Mentioned) Bonnie T. Ogle: Don’t Create Mountain Of Water Bottles
Sep 13, 2017 | Gainesville Sun
By Bonnie T. Ogle
Standing in line for water in preparation for Hurricane Irma, I wondered how many water bottles would end up in the landfill. After this manic push to collect the recommended three gallons per person per day of incalculable outages, it will be the equivalent of a mountain.
Having survived Hurricane Andrew, I know recycling is the last thing on victims’ minds. Twenty-five years ago, plastic water bottles were not as ubiquitous as they are today. We pragmatically filled empty milk jugs and added a few drops of chlorine. The Goodyear blimp’s overhead message board warned us to boil water from the faucet before drinking.
We now understand the risks of refilling water — or milk bottles. Bacterial growth is a real possibility. The bottles, intended for a one-time use, are flimsy and not intended for reuse. Washing them puts soap and detergent into municipal water supplies, a whole other issue.
Forty billion plastic bottles are produced every year in the U.S. Two thirds of them end up in landfills. Those which are recycled become some other sort of plastic, mainly polyester. The majority of beverage bottles are exported to plastic manufacturers in emerging markets to make synthetic fabrics for clothing and carpets. According to Greenpeace, six of the largest soft drink companies used a combined average of just 6.6 percent recycled plastic. This excludes Coca-Cola, which declined to share a percentage.
Six billion pounds of plastic bottles get thrown out every year and only about 30 percent are recycled. The American Chemical Council estimates the average consumer uses 166 plastic water bottles for convenience, creating unnecessary waste in landfills. This space is limited and it is nearly impossible for bottles in a landfill to biodegrade. Earth911 reports 7.4 cubic yards of landfill space is saved by every ton of plastic that is recycled.
Here in Alachua County, any plastic container is recyclable. Remove caps and lids and step on plastic to save space. I understand that gutting the wallboard in your house and piling up carpets and furniture at the curb don’t inspire one to set aside ubiquitous water bottles for recycling. But as high as those piles get, mountains of trash looming over our cities are inexorably becoming the alternative.
http://www.gainesville.com/opinion/20170913/bonnie-t-ogle-dont-create-mountain-of-water-bottles
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Sep 13, 2017 | USA Today
By Deirdre Shesgreen
WASHINGTON — A University of Cincinnati professor nominated by President Trump for a top job at the Environmental Protection Agency is coming under intense scrutiny for his financial ties to the chemical industry.
Michael Dourson is a toxicologist who specializes in environmental risk assessment, now tapped to lead the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
Much of Dourson’s research has been funded by the very industries he would regulate if he wins confirmation. Among the interest groups financing his work: the American Petroleum Institute, the American Chemistry Council and the American Cleaning Institute.
Critics fear Dourson would use the EPA post to weaken safety standards for a raft of chemicals and pesticides, potentially setting dangerous levels for contaminants allowed in everything from cosmetics to paint thinner to drinking water.
“We think he would be an atrocious choice for this position,” said Richard Denison, a senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund, a Washington-based advocacy group. “Having someone of his ilk, who is so tilted in one direction, would just be really a problem.”
Dourson, who earned his Ph.D. from UC in 1980, referred questions about his work to the EPA. An EPA spokeswoman did not respond to emailed questions. But in announcing his nomination in July, the agency touted him as a renowned toxicology expert with unparalleled credentials and included endorsements from several other experts in his field.
“Dr. Michael Dourson has been a foundational thinker in the protection of human health from chemical exposure,” Oliver Kroner, who works in the city of Cincinnati’s Office of Environment and Sustainability, said in a statement included in the EPA’s release. “He has been a tireless champion of science, and the role of science to help quantify risk and uncertainty.”
Dourson has worked at the EPA before, serving in various positions from 1980 until 1994. He has been affiliated with the University of Cincinnati since 2015, and he’s now a faculty member at the school’s Risk Science Center, which says its mission is to work at the “intersection of science and health protection.”
“Chemicals are an important part of our daily lives,” the center’s website states. “Some chemicals are essential to a healthy life, but exposure to chemicals may also present health risks. We study the way our bodies interact with the chemicals around us to determine the nature and extent of health risks.”
Dourson, who also writes “science Bible books,” could receive a confirmation hearing as soon as next week, and it’s sure to be contentious.
In preparation for the grilling, Sen. Tom Carper, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, has asked Dourson for a raft of documents related to his research and the industries that have funded it.
In an Aug. 4 letter, the Delaware senator asked Dourson to detail any work he’s done on behalf of chemical companies entangled in lawsuits, to specify any corporate work that might force him to recuse himself from EPA decisions, and to itemize the funding sources for his nonprofit research organization, among other queries.
Carper noted that Dourson’s nomination comes at a pivotal moment — as the EPA implements a new chemical safety law, passed last year with bipartisan support. Under that law, the office Dourson is nominated to lead will evaluate the risks and set safety standards for a bevy of chemicals.
“It is imperative that we make sure EPA is up to the task of implementing those critical reforms in a credible and objective way, and giving all Americans the protection and peace of mind they deserve,” Carper said in a statement to USA TODAY. “Based on his record, I’m not convinced Dr. Dourson is the right person for this important job.”
Dourson’s role as founder and president of a Cincinnati-based nonprofit — Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment — is perhaps the most controversial item on his résumé.
Dourson started TERA in 1995, and its mission, according to the group’s website, is to “protect human health by conducting scientific research and development on risk issues in a transparent and collaborative fashion.” The group says its research is objective and it operates independently of its funders.
“We operate at the highest level of ethical and scientific standards,” the website states.
According to the most recent tax documents available, TERA’s revenue in 2014 was about $2.48 million. By TERA’s own accounting, 43% of its work that year was sponsored by industry groups seeking TERA’s scientific assessments. The remainder was government or nonprofit-funded work.
TERA says it strives for a balance between for-profit and non-profit clients. Its website lists its industry and other sponsors but does not specify donation amounts. The percentage of its industry-funded work has ranged from 18% to 62%, according to its disclosures.
But others say TERA is anything but balanced or neutral.
A 2014 investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and InsideClimate News found that TERA’s corporate ties were extensive.
“More than 50 percent of the peer-review panels TERA has organized since 1995 were for studies funded by industry groups,” the investigation found. “TERA also runs a risk-assessment database that receives financial and in-kind support from many companies and government agencies. Some of those groups have also paid TERA to peer-review studies they hope will be included in the database.”
Denison, the Environmental Defense Fund scientist, said he fears Dourson will give the chemical industry a free pass. He said Dourson has worked on behalf of companies that make or use three of the first 10 chemicals EPA is supposed to review under the 2016 law.
“In all three cases, he proposed (safety) standards that are many times less protective than the standards that other authoritative bodies have set for those same chemicals,” Denison said.
If he’s confirmed, Denison said, it will have a “very direct and very immediate” impact on public health.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/09/13/trump-controversial-epa-nominee-faces-sharp-questions-over-ties-chemical-industry/658850001/
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U.S. AG Chemical Makers Back Controversial Trump Nominee
Sep 12, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Glenn Hess
Agriculture businesses, including manufacturers of pesticides and fertilizers, are strongly supporting President Donald J. Trump’s pick to be the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientist.
Jay Vroom, president of CropLife America, which represents the pesticide industry, says nominee Sam Clovis Jr. “understands the importance of relying on sound science and data to make important decisions that will affect the ability of growers to provide food for the U.S. and the world.” Christopher L. Jahn, president of the Fertilizer Institute, a trade association, adds, “American agriculture will find a knowledgeable and strong advocate in Dr. Clovis.”
Clovis, a retired Air Force officer, former economics professor, and a Trump presidential campaign adviser on agricultural issues, has drawn sharp criticism since his nomination in July for lacking hard-science credentials and for his skepticism about the scientific consensus on human-caused climate change. If confirmed by the Senate, he would control nearly $3 billion a year in research grants and serve as the USDA’s top scientist.
Senate Democrats vehemently oppose the appointment of Clovis to be USDA’s undersecretary for research, education and economics. They plan to wage an all-out battle this fall when the Senate considers the nomination.
“This nominee seems to lack the necessary agricultural science and research qualifications that are required” for a top-level science position, says Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee. “I also have many questions about his troubling views on climate change.”
Environmental and other left-leaning groups have also seized on Clovis’ weak credentials to attack his nomination. “Clovis’s appointment is unacceptable and would lower the high standards that America’s scientists, universities, farmers and consumers expect,” says Mike Lavender of the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Clovis currently serves as the senior White House adviser to USDA.
https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/web/2017/09/US-ag-chemical-makers-back-controversial-Trump-nominee.html
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(ACC Mentioned) Industry Seeks To Intervene To Defend EPA's TSCA Rules
Sep 12, 2017 | Inside EPA
Multiple industry groups are seeking to intervene in defense of EPA in environmentalists' two consolidated suits challenging the legality of the Trump administration's first framework rules to implement reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
Led by the American Chemistry Council (ACC), more than a dozen groups, including those representing coatings, energy, paper, mining, manufacturing and other sectors filed joint petitions to intervene in the environmentalists' suits Sept. 11 with the U.S. appellate courts for the 9th and 4th Circuits.
“Movants could lose millions of dollars and years of research invested in a chemical, if an EPA risk evaluation ultimately results in restrictions,” the trade groups' request to intervene in the 4th Circuit case states.
The 4th Circuit, which is considering environmentalists' challenge to EPA's risk evaluation rule, has set a Sept. 22 deadline for EPA and the environmentalists to respond to the request to intervene. The 9th Circuit, which is hearing litigation over EPA's chemical prioritization rule, has not entered a deadline in its docket.
Environmentalists sued EPA in August over two of the three framework rules EPA finalized in June to implement the TSCA reforms -- one rule establishes how EPA will prioritize existing chemicals for risk evaluation and the second rule describes how those evaluations will be conducted.
A third rule, finalized in August, is intended to update the TSCA Inventory of existing chemicals -- those that were on the market prior to the original TSCA's enactment in 1976, or those chemicals that have since been added to that inventory. The framework rules are intended to address risks from existing chemicals, a driver for TSCA reform, because of longstanding concerns that EPA had limited ability to regulate existing chemicals.
The United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation consolidated environmentalists' challenges to EPA's chemical prioritization rule in the 9th Circuit, and their challenges to the agency's risk evaluation rule in the 4th Circuit. The panel's order appears to reject a request from EPA to consolidate the suits in a single court, though that option still appears open to the litigants.
Among other things, the two cases are expected to address environmentalists' concerns that the Trump EPA significantly weakened the Obama administration's proposals by limiting the chemical "uses" EPA must consider in reviewing substances subject to the new law.
The industry request touches on the concern over uses as well, stating that “enormous uncertainty could be created if the Petitioners were to prevail and would affect users’ confidence in planning new uses for existing substances. Thus, how EPA conducts these risk evaluations, including what conditions of use of a particular chemical EPA must assess during these evaluations, are crucial to Movants,” their brief to the 4th Circuit states.
“Movants have a direct interest in Petitioners’ challenge, which seeks to overturn the process set by the Risk Evaluation Rule and expand the conditions of use that EPA would be required to consider in a risk evaluation.”
In a Sept. 12 blog post, EDF's Richard Denison again outlines his concern that the final rules were “heavily rewritten by a Trump political appointee, Dr. Nancy Beck,” who was a senior manager at the American Chemistry Council (ACC), before joining the Trump EPA.
“Lest you have any doubt that the final rules are heavily skewed in industry’s direction, a development in these legal cases just yesterday should dispel it. A broad coalition of industry groups -- including Dr. Beck’s previous employer ACC -- has filed motions to intervene in these cases in order to defend EPA’s rules,” Denison writes. “When was the last time such a heavy-hitters list of industry groups rushed in to support EPA regulations?”
ACC in a Sept. 12 statement argues that the environmentalists' suits “are without merit and could jeopardize EPA’s ability to prioritize chemicals for risk evaluation and conduct those risk evaluations of high-priority substances within the strict but achievable time frames that LCSA demands … we are disappointed that litigation was pursued as it consumes resources of EPA and stakeholders that could otherwise be dedicated to advancing prioritization and risk evaluations of chemicals in commerce.”
EDF Sept. 5 also launched a separate suit in the D.C. Circuit, challenging the inventory reset rule.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/industry-seeks-intervene-defend-epas-tsca-rules
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(ACC Mentioned) Lawmakers Clash Over Chemical Risk Database
Sep 13, 2017 | Chem.Info
By Meagan Parrish
A database used to evaluate the risk of certain chemicals has become a flashpoint of debate among lawmakers.
Called the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), the EPA-led effort provides an encyclopedia-like guide to state agencies on toxic hazards to help them assess the impact of a chemical accident or spill.
In his budget, President Trump proposed eliminating funding for the program all together. But a House appropriations bill this summer instead cut some funding but kept the program above water.
Now Democrats and Republicans have continued to butt heads over whether or not the program is running smoothly — and what its future should be.
At a Sept. 6 hearing before the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, Republicans criticized the EPA for not making changes that were proposed in 2014.
The Houston Chronicle reports that in Texas there is also still disagreement about whether or not the EPA uses the best information to make its conclusions.
“IRIS assessments are not based on sound science. There are multiple instances of the IRIS program relying on outdated or flawed studies,” Rep. Darin LaHood, R-Ill, told the Chronicle.
One toxicologist, whose work is supported by the American Chemistry Council, spoke out at the hearing against the EPA’s risk assessments, saying that the agency often rushes its studies and comes to conclusions that can’t be replicated.
Others criticized the EPA for not revealing which studies it used for its assessment of formaldehyde.
Democrats, meanwhile, pointed out that the EPA has made improvements to the IRIS program. One professor also pointed out that it has been a critical tool for first responders and local officials.
https://www.chem.info/news/2017/09/lawmakers-clash-over-chemical-risk-database
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Furniture Industry Has Grave Concerns Over EPA Solvent Ban
Sep 13, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Adrianne Appel
The furniture industry would be destroyed if the Environmental Protection Agency enacts a broad ban of a common paint-stripping chemical, business owners told the agency Sept. 12.
The EPA issued a proposed rule in January to ban most commercial and household uses of the solvent methylene chloride because tests show it is a liver toxin and may cause lung cancer. However, the agency exempted furniture refinishers from the proposal, saying that it wanted to take more time to learn about the impact that a ban or restriction of the chemical would have on the industry.
On Sept. 12, the EPA held a methylene chloride workshop in Boston and heard directly from small businesses. The workshop focused on possible alternative chemicals that commercial refinishers could use instead of methylene chloride, along with best practices.
“It would put us out of business,” Debbie Towle, owner of Master Furniture Refinishing & Woodworking, in Needham, Mass., told Bloomberg BNA.An office of the Small Business Administration—whose job it is to protect small businesses from government regulations considered burdensome—urged the EPA to consider the concerns of furniture refinishers.
David Rostker, assistant chief counsel for the SBA Office of Advocacy, said he hoped that if good alternatives aren't available, the “EPA would decide that its actions can have a significant effect on small businesses,” Rostker told Bloomberg BNA at the meeting.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=120660803&vname=dennotallissues&fn=120660803&jd=120660803
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Plaintiffs Threaten Suit To Force ATSDR, EPA To Pursue National PFAS Study
Sep 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Lara Beaven
An attorney representing clients exposed to perfluorinated chemicals in their drinking water and through the workplace is urging the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) to work with EPA on a national health study of the human health impacts of exposure to the chemicals, or face a lawsuit to force the study.
In a pair of Sept. 5 letters to EPA and ATSDR, attorney Rob Bilott says ATSDR has authority under the Superfund law to mandate a national study of health impacts from per- and polyfluorakly substances (PFAS) and notes there is a proven model to follow in implementing such a study.
"Based on our past decade of experience designing and overseeing a project to assess human health impacts from one such PFAS -- PFOA-- we stand ready to assist ATSDR in overseeing the design and implementation of a nationwide study and testing focusing on the entire class of PFAS chemicals through a program that could encompass and involve all affected parties, including PFAS manufacturers, PFAS users, impacted water supplies, impacted residents, and affected governmental entities/contractors and regulators, in a way that provides everyone with independent, credible scientific answers and certainty," the letters say.
ATSDR has recognized "the feasibility, importance, and need to study the effects of multiple PFAS exposures in drinking water and its statutory authority and authorization to do so," therefore "ATSDR's continuing failure to do so provides a basis" for national class action litigation, the letters say, noting that they serve as a 60-day notice of such suits if ATSDR fails to act.
The classes in the suits would represent all those negatively impacted by unstudied PFAS contamination of their drinking water supplies as well as all first responders who used PFAS equipment, including fire fighting foam and protective gear containing PFAS, the letters say.
But the letters say Bilott and his clients -- Dr. A Paul Brooks Jr. and Jeffrey Hermes -- remain hopeful the matter can be resolved in the next 60 days without the need for any citizen suit aiming to force development of the study.
"We are available to meet with you to discuss and fashion a Consent Order or other document that will allow the matter to be addressed and resolved in a coordinated, uniform manner among all impacted parties, using the prior C8 Science Panel/C8 Health Project and related settlement model," the letters say.
PFOA Contamination
Bilott previously represented a class of approximately 70,000 plaintiffs whose drinking water supplies in West Virginia and Ohio had been contaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C8, from a manufacturing plant then-owned by E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Company. The settlement led to blood testing of approximately 69,000 people and the creation of an independent science panel to confirm which diseases were linked to PFOA exposure, as well as treatment of the contaminated water and medical monitoring of the class for each disease linked to the chemical.
Because of the existing body of knowledge from the C8 Science Panel/C8 Health Project, ASTDR could focus its studies on the effects from exposure to other PFAS compounds, such as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS), "and the synergistic/combined effects of multiple PFAS compounds (including PFOA) being present in drinking water at the same time," the letters say.
If Bilott and his clients are unable to reach an agreement with ATSDR, Brooks -- one of the founding partners of Brookmar, the entity that designed, managed and implemented the C8 Health Project -- would represent the class of those exposed to PFAS through drinking water. One of the letters notes that ATSDR has identified over 100 such water supplies across the country, including the municipal water supply for Vienna, WV, where Brooks lives.
Hermes, a prostate cancer survivor and firefighter/paramedic in Northern Kentucky with decades of combined service with the U.S. military and local emergency response organizations, would represent first responders who "were unwittingly exposed to these PFAS materials while working to protect the lives of others," the other letter says.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/plaintiffs-threaten-suit-force-atsdr-epa-pursue-national-pfas-study
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CA: Consumers Have Right to Know What’s in Cleaning Products
Sep 13, 2017 | Natural Resources Defense Council
By Avinash Kar
The passage of the Cleaning Product Right to Know Act of 2017 (SB 258) in the California Assembly today represents a big win for consumers across the country. If Governor Brown signs the bill, cleaning products will be required—for the first time—to disclose the bulk of their ingredients, particularly chemicals of concern, on their labels and online. In a first for any product category, fragrance ingredients—previously a black box to consumers—will also have to be disclosed. (Before the bill goes to Governor Brown, the Senate, which approved SB 258 in May, must approve the final version by September 15.)
Unlike cosmetics and food, cleaning products have not been required until now to disclose most of their ingredients. Yet, similar to food and cosmetics, these are products that people bring into their homes and are exposed to on a regular basis. Janitors and domestic worker face even greater exposure and risks.
This is why we firmly believe that people have a right to know what’s in the products they purchase and bring into their homes. They need this information to make the right decision for themselves and their families—to account for a son’s asthma, a daughter’s allergies, one’s own skin condition, or a family history of certain diseases.
Transparency is an idea that has been gaining steam for a while and is now an expectation for consumers. This has been reflected in a steady stream of commitments of varying breadth and depth on ingredient disclosure from both consumer product companies and retail chains. This bill represents the next step in that evolution.
What makes the passage of this bill a particularly powerful moment in this development is the collective step taken by much of the cleaning product industry. The leading trade association for the cleaning products industry—the Consumer Specialty Products Association—and many of the leading companies, such as Procter & Gamble, RB, and SC Johnson, engaged in extended dialogue with public health groups for months to reach this compromise. Credit also goes to Senator Lara (D-Bell Gardens), the bill’s author, and his staff, who created the room and conditions for that dialogue to bear fruit.
The bill strikes a careful balance between the right of consumers to know what’s in the products they are buying and the manufacturer’s ability to maintain certain information as confidential. Manufacturers will have to disclose on label and online* ingredients that are included on a comprehensive list of chemicals that are linked to health concerns, such as chemicals included on California’s widely recognized and respected Proposition 65 list of known carcinogens and reproductive toxicants. But they will be able to protect the identity of other chemicals when that information is substantiated as a trade secret.
California—along with the State of New York, which is finalizing guidelines to implement a 1971 law that will also create requirements for ingredient disclosure—is once again leading on the issue and is advancing public health protections for all of us. With these actions from two of the largest markets in the country, people across the country will have access to far greater information about what’s in the bottle of window cleaner or detergent they buy and will be able to make far more informed decisions. Yet businesses’ desire to protect certain information will still be met. It’s an example that we hope more industries will take to heart.
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/avinash-kar/ca-gives-consumers-right-know-whats-cleaning-products
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EU Reassessing Safety Of Sunscreen Cosmetic Ingredient
Sep 13, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission's Scientific Committee on Consumer Safety is reassessing the safety of phenylene bisdiphenyltriazine as a UV-filter in sunscreen products. The move comes in response to the receipt of updated information. Back in 2015, the SCCS issued an opinion in which it said it could not exclude the possibility that the substance may have genotoxic and phototoxic potential at a concentration up to 10%.
However, cosmetics company Pierre Fabre submitted a new safety dossier on the substance in March this year. This addresses the major issues raised by the committee, notably by:supplying additional physico‐chemical characterisation studies;supplying additional toxicity studies in line with the required guidelines; andrefocusing the dossier on the active ingredient to be more in line with normal practice.
The deadline for the revised opinion is February 2018.
https://chemicalwatch.com/58636/eu-reassessing-safety-of-sunscreen-cosmetic-ingredient
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Delaware River Basin Fracking Talks Could Be Revived
Sep 13, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Leslie A. Pappas
A de facto moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the Delaware River basin—in place since December 2010—could be up for discussion again before a multistate watershed commission.
During its Sept. 13 business meeting, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC) will consider a resolution to resume drafting regulations on natural gas development activities in the watershed, the commission said Sept. 11.
The announcement marks the first time since 2011 that the DRBC has addressed the regulation of hydraulic fracturing in the basin. The commission announced Dec. 8, 2010, it would stop reviewing drilling permits until it finalized regulations, thereby instituting an unofficial ban. But its draft rules soon stalled after drawing 69,000 comments. The effort was put on hold, thus creating an unofficial ban.
If the resolution passes Sept. 13, the commission again would prepare a set of draft regulations for public comment by Nov. 30, 2017. According to the resolution, the draft regulations would include:
• prohibitions related to natural gas horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing within the basin;
• storage, treatment, disposal and discharge within the basin of wastewater from fracking activities; and
• regulation of inter-basin transfer of water and wastewater for purposes of natural gas development.
In a joint letter Sept. 12, the Marcellus Shale Coalition and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry called on Gov. Tom Wolf (D) to “reject efforts to adopt a permanent moratorium within the Delaware River Basin, and instead encourage the DRBC to finally move forward in finishing the work that commenced nearly a decade ago.”Advocacy Group Opposition
Environmental advocacy groups that have long advocated for a permanent ban on fracking in the Delaware River Basin rallied against the commission's Sept. 11 announcement, saying the resolution suggested the panel would roll back existing protections involving water.
Maya van Rossum, leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, said she was concerned that the resolution calls for drafting regulations that would allow for disposal of fracking wastewater and the use of fresh water from the Delaware River for natural gas drilling operations. Neither wastewater disposals nor fresh water withdrawals for fracking are currently allowed in the watershed, she said
“Right now we're solidly protected,” van Rossum told Bloomberg BNA in a phone call Sept. 12. “This opens the door wide to some of the most devastating aspects of drilling operations.”
The DRBC is a five-member federal/interstate agency that includes the governors of Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and a representative from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who serves as the federal representative. The DRBC oversees the shared water resources in the Delaware River Basin, which supplies drinking water to more than 15 million people.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=120660802&vname=dennotallissues&fn=120660802&jd=120660802
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EPA To Replace Clean Power Plan
Sep 12, 2017 | PoliticoPro
By Emily Holden
EPA plans to publish its proposal to rescind the Clean Power Plan and take its first step to replace the rule by the first week of October, according to a source familiar with the process.
The decision to publish an advance notice of EPA's intent to issue a new regulation on carbon emissions from power plants comes after months of lobbying from electricity company executives who think it would be the smart legal move. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt had previously been resistant to replacing the Obama-era rule.
Without a rule on the books, environmental advocates could sue the agency — leaving businesses in limbo while the courts sort out the issue, industry officials had warned.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has frozen consideration of lawsuits against the Clean Power Plan while asking for status updates from EPA. In August, judges told EPA that without a replacement rule in place it was avoiding a "statutory duty" to regulate carbon emissions under the Clean Air Act. The judges agreed to keep the case on hold through Oct. 7.
EPA's decision to pursue a replacement rule suggests Pruitt may not challenge a legal finding that EPA must regulate greenhouse gases.
The agency told the court it would publish a rule to withdraw the Clean Power Plan this fall. The OMB first reviewed the rule withdrawal in June. At that time, EPA did not have plans to replace the Clean Power Plan, sources said.
Pruitt, as attorney general of Oklahoma, joined other states' lawyers in arguing that the Obama administration went too far in trying to curb carbon levels by encouraging states to shift away from burning coal and toward renewable power and natural gas.
One likely approach to a replacement rule would focus on improving coal-plant efficiency, so generators make more power while burning less coal.
“We aren't going to comment on proposals going through interagency review,” EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman said via email.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/story/2017/09/epa-to-replace-clean-power-plan-161839
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EPA to Probe Arkema Plant's Safety Procedures After Explosion
Sep 13, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sam Pearson
The EPA is opening an investigation into whether Arkema's chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, was in compliance with existing regulations when explosions occurred at the plant after it suffered flooding from Hurricane Harvey.
The agency issued a Section 114 letter, a request for information under the Clean Air Act, to Arkema SA.
Any information Arkema provides could be used in administrative, civil, or criminal actions, according to the letter. The Environmental Protection Agency gave the company until Sept. 17 to comply.
The letter, issued Sept. 7, was reported by ABC News Sept. 8, and later obtained by Bloomberg BNA.
The letter showed that the EPA is investigating whether Arkema violated its own risk management plan when the chemical plant suffered several explosions Aug. 31 after backup power systems failed during massive flooding caused by the hurricane.
‘Pretty Standard Fare’
The letter, which asks for a timeline of the power failure leading up to the explosions, among other information, is a common early investigative tool available to the EPA, Steven Richmond, a principal at the law firm Beveridge and Diamond PC, told Bloomberg BNA.
“This is pretty standard fare,” Richmond said. “They've tailored it, obviously, to the facts that they're aware of, and they're looking for information.”
In interviews with ABC News Sept. 8 and the Washington Examiner Sept. 11, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt defended his decision to delay an Obama-era update to the same chemical security rule, which would have added new requirements meant to prevent or reduce the impact of an event like what occurred at the Crosby plant.
The delay “was never about and isn't about doing away with the [risk management plans] or making sure that communities in the area or citizens aren't aware of what they need to know to evacuate or deal with concerns,” Pruitt told ABC News.
The EPA issued a final rule delaying the regulation to 2019, but has yet to issue any specific proposal for what would address Pruitt's concerns.
Risks for First Responders
A company's risk management plan is meant to aid first responders on the scene when explosive materials are involved. And while Arkema disclosed under existing risk management regulations it kept as much as 66,260 pounds of sulfur dioxide and 86,000 pounds of 2-Methylpropene on-site, several first responders were sent to the hospital after working there.
Those chemicals were not released during the storm, but the agency may want to see if any of the same failures that caused the organic peroxides to explode also could have placed the other chemicals at higher risk of explosion.
Facilities can still face legal liability if incidents occur involving systems that affect both regulated and non-regulated chemicals, Richmond said in an email. The EPA can also can use its authority under the Clean Air Act's general duty clause against a plant under certain circumstances, he said.
Arkema spokeswoman Janet Smith said in an email Sept. 12 she did not know if the company has received the letter.
“A number of government agencies are involved in evaluating what happened at our Crosby plant, and we are fully cooperating with those investigations,” Smith said.
The Chemical Safety Board also is investigating the plant.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=120660798&vname=dennotallissues&fn=120660798&jd=120660798
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DOE Awards Grid Security Grants To Improve Bug Patching And Incident Response
Sep 12, 2017 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
The Department of Energy today announced $50 million in grants to improve the security and resiliency of the electric grid.
Seven of the DOE grants will go to resiliency, while 20 will go to cybersecurity.
The cyber grants will fund projects covering vulnerability mitigation, incident response efforts and secure grid management communications.
Nine national laboratories will administer the grants, in partnership with a wide range of military, academic and corporate partners.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tenn., and its partners will develop “a tool to verify the integrity of firmware used in energy delivery system devices, without taking the equipment offline.”
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., will oversee an effort to “develop a secure and flexible data exchange approach for communication between control centers.”
“A resilient, reliable, and secure power grid is essential to the Nation’s security, economy, and the vital services that Americans depend on every day,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement.
“By leveraging the world-class innovation of the National Laboratories and their partners,” he added, “this investment will keep us moving forward to create yet more real-world capabilities that the energy sector can put into practice to continue improving the resilience and security of the country’s critical energy infrastructure.”
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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OTC Shifts Focus Of Ozone Cuts To Trucks, Natural Gas & Cement Plants
Sep 12, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
The Ozone Transport Commission (OTC) of 12 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states is shifting its focus on plans for ozone reductions from its traditional targeting of power plant emissions to other ozone sources including natural gas infrastructure, cement manufacturing plants and truck idling in order to meet EPA's stricter ozone limit.
At a Sept. 7 meeting in Washington, D.C., OTC states debated their proposed strategies for emission reductions that could be adopted by the group and recommended to states and EPA as ways to help attain the 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) of 70 parts per billion (ppb), stricter than the prior 2008 limit of 75 ppb. The Trump EPA is currently reconsidering the Obama administration's 2015 decision.
The Clean Air Act sets an Oct. 1 deadline for the agency to issue designations for whether areas are attaining or in nonattainment with the 2015 NAAQS, though there are doubts about whether EPA will issue findings for all areas of the United States given its since-withdrawn plan this summer to delay all designations by one year. The designations trigger an air law mandate for states to craft ozone-reduction plans for how to comply with the standard.
Jeff Underhill, an OTC member and New Hampshire air regulator, has said the rescinded delay is throwing a monkey wrench into the state implementation plan (SIP) development process because of uncertainty about whether the agency will issue all or just some area designations next month.
Even with that uncertainty, OTC states are already looking at sources of ozone-forming pollutants that they might target as part of their SIPs, which detail the emissions controls they will impose.
OTC will continue to encourage power plants in upwind areas in the Midwest and South to install and run their emissions controls to improve air quality in downwind areas, especially on high-electric demand days.
But the group is looking at ways to reduce emissions of ozone-forming nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from other significant sources. As part of that effort, the group is turning its attention to natural gas “prime movers” -- processors used to move natural gas down pipelines -- and cement production plants as stationary NOx and VOC sources of concern, along with mobile source emissions, such as idling by trucks.
Stationary Sources
A workgroup of the OTC stationary sources committee in a draft report recommends EPA look for ways to tighten federal new source performance standards (NSPS) for natural gas equipment. The workgroup “suggests future work with maintenance requirements provided” in EPA's NSPS rule for the sector.
Also, OTC is now considering a proposed “model rule” for states to limit emissions from natural gas compressors, which if finalized will provide a blueprint for states in the OTC region and beyond.
OTC is further examining the potential for further reductions from cement plants, which are regulated under EPA's NSPS program, and also national emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants (NESHAP).
The work group recommends that all cement plants in states that impact OTC-area air quality install low-NOx burners on all kilns; modify each kiln to implement mid-kiln firing; install post-combustion selective non-catalytic reduction, and “convert and retrofit a wet process cement kiln to the more efficient dry cement manufacturing process."
OTC recommends that improved natural gas equipment and cement plant controls be made part of future SIPs to meet Clean Air Act “good neighbor” requirements.
The good neighbor provision requires that states mitigate their emissions that contribute significantly to problems attaining or maintaining NAAQS in other states downwind. OTC is taking public comment on its draft documents on these issues until Sept. 29, ahead of the group's next meeting Nov. 15 in Washington, D.C.
Mobile Sources
Meanwhile, OTC's mobile sources committee is taking public comment on draft recommendations to reduce unnecessary idling of trucks, both long-haul trucks and also refrigerator trucks used for local deliveries, through increased use of electrification. The recommendations are not national in scope, or focused on regulatory action.
For long-haul trucks, OTC focuses on increasing the scope and effectiveness of truck-stop electrification (TSE). Actions recommended for states include: working with truck stop landlords to exclude idling trucks from using electrified spaces, “and/or have government personnel enforce idling restrictions at electrified truck stops”; increasing the number of electrified spaces at existing stops; creating model regulations or codes that require new truck stops to electrify; working with truck stops to encourage adoption of a reservation system for electrified spaces; and encouraging vehicle fleet owners to allow gas cards to be used for TSE.
OTC should consider adopting standards under development by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to encourage electrification of refrigerator trucks in delivery fleets, the workgroup says. The draft recommendation is no longer open for public comment, according to OTC's website.
The combined focus on reducing ozone-forming NOx from both mobile and stationary sources highlights an ongoing debate over the largest sources of NOx.
Academics earlier this year touted new research that they claimed shows EPA has massively overestimated the amount of NOx that vehicles emit, which revived a fight over whether states should target emissions reduction rules on mobile sources or shift their focus to power plants as the alternative largest NOx source.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/otc-shifts-focus-ozone-cuts-trucks-natural-gas-cement-plants
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EPA, States Hold Talks To Improve Enforcement With Enhanced Collaboration
Sep 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Dave Reynolds
JACKSON HOLE, WY -- EPA and state officials have started discussions on how to improve state and federal cooperation on enforcement, seeking to better align priorities and allocate resources, while addressing their differing perceptions on what aspects of enforcement are currently working or need improvement.
During the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS) Fall Meeting here Sept. 11, EPA and state regulators said they have started meetings aimed at assessing how to enforce more efficiently without resulting in weaker environmental protections, and resolving areas of disagreement between states and EPA on how best to cooperate on enforcement.
“Sometimes there have been situations where we're not closely aligned on who is doing what and how the steps of addressing an enforcement problem or compliance issue are going to take place,” said John Linc Stine, ECOS' past president and head of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, told Inside EPA on the sidelines of the conference.
Past examples of disagreement that EPA and state officials could seek to address in the ongoing discussions include data sharing and determining who has the most reliable information, or how to balance formal and informal enforcement and compliance efforts in various cases, Stine said.
Another state regulator described the meetings as in the early stages. One took place Sept. 10 before the start of the ECOS conference. The official said that discussions have involved roughly five states and five EPA regions, but suggested that those numbers aren't exact.
Ken Wagner, a senior advisor to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt for regional and state affairs, told the conference that several meetings on the issue have taken place.
Shawn Garvin, secretary of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control and former EPA Region 3 administrator during the Obama administration, said that Delaware works well with Region 3 officials on enforcement.
But Garvin said that EPA also plays a critical role in addressing interstate pollution, such as air or water pollution that blows or migrates along rivers and streams from one state to another, and how the Trump administration will tackle those efforts remains an open question.
The ongoing talks on improving enforcement come as ECOS officials are working to implement their recent paper on “Cooperative Federalism 2.0,” which sets principles for redefining state and federal roles overseeing pollution control requirements in the face of significant uncertainty about EPA's future budgets and its regulatory role.
Among other things, the paper seeks a formal restatement of state-federal roles, promising that any recasting of roles will result in “equal or greater environmental and public health protection and outcomes through smart deployment of resources on critical priorities.”
But state officials face competing pressures in implementing that agenda as EPA officials have painted the states' paper as consistent with the Trump administration's vision of streamlined environmental regulation, though states are wary of significant cuts to EPA, a critical resource of state funding and technical assistance.
For example, Susan Bodine, the administration's nominee to lead EPA enforcement, cited the ECOS report during her confirmation hearing. In response to concerns that a proposed 24 percent budget cut to enforcement poses a serious threat, she noted that the ECOS report calls for a “recalibration” of the federal-state relationship and said it could “lead to more effective environmental management at lower cost.”
Level Funding
But Linc Stine tells Inside EPA that ECOS is continuing to lobby the Trump administration for equal or greater funding in fiscal year 2018 as in FY17 and that EPA officials have been open to hearing states' needs.
Another ECOS official said she is optimistic that Congress will provide adequate funding for state implementation of federal programs, despite the massive 31 percent cut the Trump administration proposed.
During a conference discussion on “Changing the State-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Paradigm: Toward True Partnership,” Wagner suggested several areas that could be a focus of the ongoing enforcement talks.
He noted that enforcement is set up differently in different EPA regions, and also said that agency officials and state regulators sometimes have different perceptions of what aspects of state and federal cooperation on enforcement are functioning well and which aspects should be improved.
But Wagner reiterated that Pruitt has prioritized achieving greater cooperation with states on enforcement and compliance assistance efforts.
“This was the direction that the administrator wanted to take enforcement and compliance assistance in,” Wagner said. “More of a partnership and more of an understanding between” states and EPA on where we allocate resources and what we prioritize in enforcement.
Patrick Traylor, deputy assistant administrator in EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, told the conference that he is “very excited” to explore what state and federal officials' goals for cooperative federalism will mean for enforcement.
He said that in the past regulators have come up with broad principles for improved state and federal cooperation but that in the meetings with states agency officials hope to delve into more specific implementation issues to improve transparency and communication in enforcement initiatives.
“That's our goal is to get down to that level of detail and come away with actionable” recommendations, Traylor said. -
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-states-hold-talks-improve-enforcement-enhanced-collaboration
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Massive Hurricanes Spur Climate Debate But Fail To Advance Policies
Sep 13, 2017 | Inside EPA
By Doug Obey
Two massive hurricanes that have caused devastating flooding damage in the Southeast during the past month have renewed a public debate about how climate change is intensifying extreme weather events, though it remains uncertain whether such discussion will spur additional federal climate mitigation or adaptation policies.
“I don't think it is going to make any change in climate policy,” says one source critical of approaches that do little to address climate change but who nevertheless doubts that the damages “will have lasting political impact.”
Environmentalists and many scientists have been quick to note that scientific understanding on the issue has advanced during the past decade, arguing the catastrophic flooding in and around Houston from Hurricane Harvey and more recent damage throughout Florida from Hurricane Irma should force officials to take climate change more seriously.
But the Trump administration, long adverse to any policy specifically branded as addressing climate change, is largely refusing to engage on the discussion, arguing that federal and local officials should direct all of their energy toward disaster response and recovery efforts.
Despite such recalcitrance from Trump officials and congressional Republicans, one longtime observer of Beltway political fights is somewhat optimistic that the damage from the two storms could eventually move the needle on climate policy. “If it focuses the climate debate, it could make a difference over time,” the source says.
This source and others note that the storms' short-term political impact might be most visible as a talking point raised by critics of President Donald Trump's climate policy rollbacks.
One key difference between the two most recent storms and Hurricane Katrina that devastated New Orleans a dozen years ago is that scientists feel increasingly confident in saying that climate change is likely making hurricanes more intense, even if they cannot directly say that global warming “caused” a particular storm.
For instance, a 2016 report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) says it is generally easier to “attribute” climate change to influencing extreme temperature events, and that there is a lower confidence on the issue for precipitation events.
Even so, it says “[t]ropical cyclones are projected to become more intense as the climate warms. There is considerable confidence in this conclusion,” citing modeling-based research that has “advanced greatly in recent years.”
Similarly, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in a Sept. 1 statement said that several “ingredients” of Harvey were likely linked to climate change. It notes that the storm's massive rainfall was likely exacerbated by climate change and that its overall intensity and the background sea level rise that interacts with hurricanes are also intensified by global warming.
WMO adds that “it is more likely than not that the frequency of Category 4 hurricanes like Harvey will increase over the 21st century, even if overall tropical cyclone numbers do not increase, or even decrease.”
'New Norm'
Some Democrats have cited Harvey and Irma to urge the Trump administration to more squarely address the consequences of climate change. For example, Senate environment committee ranking member Tom Carper (D-DE) in a recent letter urged Trump to reinstate the recently revoked flood standard and fund climate resilience efforts, among other steps.
“While our country debates how to address climate change, rising sea levels and extreme weather events are no longer a matter of debate, becoming the new norm and placing extreme burdens on the American people and economy,” Carper wrote.
Environmentalists have also cited Harvey and Irma to press EPA officials to retain current vehicle greenhouse gas standards, arguing the storm is a potent example of the risks of not addressing the root cause of global warming. “Hurricane Harvey and this upcoming Hurricane Irma are terrible reminders that we need to do much more to address climate change, and that principally means lowering the emissions of the heat-trapping gases that cause climate change,” said Union of Concerned Scientists President Kenneth Kimmell during a Sept. 5 press call.
However, congressional Democrats do not appear to be making full-throated attacks on Trump over the issue. “The response to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma thus far has been more muted, likely in part because of a desire to keep the focus on immediate disaster relief," former Hillary Clinton campaign energy adviser Trevor Houser told Politico.
Administration officials, when asked about the link between extreme weather and climate, have largely pivoted away from the subject. Discussion about whether or how climate change has intensified hurricanes would be “misplaced” and “insensitive” to storm victims, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt recently told CNN.
However the administration's tone might be shifting -- ever so slightly. White House homeland security adviser Tom Bossert told reporters Sept. 11 that administration officials “take seriously the climate change -- not the cause of it, but the things that we observe. And so there's rising flood waters -- I think one inch every 10 years in Tampa -- things that would require prudent mitigation measures.”
Those remarks could be interpreted as a tepid embrace of climate adaptation efforts, even as the administration continues to target a host of Obama-era policies to reduce GHGs that cause climate change.
But it is not clear if Bossert's remarks represent anything more than a rhetorical nod toward supporting even adaptation efforts, given that Trump has halted Obama-era policies on that front as well, including strict federal flood standards issued in 2015 as well as a requirement that all agencies assess their vulnerabilities to climate impacts.
'Much More Polarized'
The longtime Beltway observer is reserving judgment on whether the two storms -- or any future high-profile extreme weather events -- will shift that dynamic. While the source notes that scientific understanding of the link between global warming and hurricanes and other storms has greatly improved, climate change as a political issue is “much more polarized” than even a decade ago.
The source notes that conservatives are not only aggressively pushing to erase GHG mitigation policies but are often hostile to spending money on low-carbon energy research -- a dynamic that was not in place in the aftermath of prior storms such as Katrina.
One environmentalist says Congress remains unwilling to engage on comprehensive climate policy, but that the recent storms -- and the Trump administration's “politicization” of the climate issue -- is sparking a nascent counter-reaction among some Republicans.
That has been most evident in narrow legislative efforts from some moderate Republicans -- such as Rep. Carlos Curbelo (FL) -- to reinstate the 2015 flood standards or preserve the Defense Department's ability to prepare for climate damages.
Additionally, some conservative groups and prominent former GOP officials have also urged Republicans to embrace a revenue-neutral carbon tax as the best policy to curb GHGs, but the issue has gained little public traction among current Republican officeholders.
“Ignoring the role of GHGs in the strength of these hurricanes is not 'sensitive.' It is irresponsible,” Jerry Taylor of the libertarian Niskanen Center recently tweeted, alluding to Pruitt's remarks.
However, other observers note that free-market groups and conservative media have placed intense pressure on Republican lawmakers to resist nearly all policies to address climate change, meaning that a sea change must occur on the right for any fundamental shift to occur on the issue.
Broadly, the environmentalist says that a more frank discussion of climate change might be inevitable, given the recent storms' major financial implications. “I don't think that can go unanswered,” the source says. “It is incumbent on us to draw that correlation.”
Also, the source says groups must try to “buttonhole members” into explaining their climate position, whether through votes on spending bill amendments or during town halls. Too many lawmakers are “not willing to say 'climate change.' It doesn't answer the question of what are they going to do about it.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/massive-hurricanes-spur-climate-debate-fail-advance-policies
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Trump's Top Economic Aide To Meet With Foreign Climate Officials
Sep 12, 2017 | The Hill -E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
President Trump’s top economic adviser is planning to meet next week with top energy and climate officials from major foreign countries.
A Trump administration official said Tuesday that Gary Cohn is planning the breakfast meeting next Monday, amid cleanup from two major Atlantic hurricanes and months after Trump announced a withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement.
The meeting will be in New York City in advance of the annual United Nations General Assembly there.
An invitation to the meeting called it “an opportunity for key ministers with responsibility for these issues to engage in an informal exchange of views and discuss how we can move forward most productively,” according to The New York Times, which first reported on the plans.
The official said the National Economic Council director is organizing the meeting to help the Trump administration figure out where it will go on climate policy after the Paris pullout announcement.
Trump said at the time of the June announcement that he would be open to re-engaging on the international climate stage in some way, including negotiating a new pact.
But the administration hasn’t laid out specific parameters for such re-engagement, and leaders of other nations have not expressed an openness to it.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/350303-trump-aide-to-meet-with-foreign-climate-officials
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