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ACC PM 11/27
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Chemical Company Stays Silent As Water Concerns Mount
Nov 27, 2017 | AP (In E&E Greenwire)
By Emery Dalesio
For six months, Chemours Co. has faced concerns about an unregulated chemical it has dumped into the Cape Fear River for as long as four decades. -
EU Extends Approval for Weed Killer Claimed to Harm Health
Nov 27, 2017 | AP (In The New York Times)
The European Union on Monday approved a five-year extension to the use of the weed killer glyphosate, in a move that failed to satisfy either environmentalists or farmers and pitted Germany against France. -
EU Member States Consider Titanium Dioxide Labelling Issue
Nov 27, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has asked member state competent authorities to come up with solutions to a titanium dioxide labelling problem, arising from the proposed carcinogenicity classification. -
LNG Exports Won’t Make Or Break Gas Market, But E&Ps May Benefit
Nov 27, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Leticia Gonzales
Vast supplies of low-cost natural gas have put the United States on track to becoming the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) within the decade. -
12 Nations That Aren't China or European Lead LNG Import Growth
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By David Iaconangelo
Twelve nations are quietly sponging up supply of liquefied natural gas, according to a report from researchers at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy -
The East Coast's Pipeline Wars: A Cheat Sheet
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer, Jenny Mandel and Saqib Rahim
The expansion of natural gas infrastructure along the East Coast has created a seemingly endless queue of new pipeline battles involving landowners, environmentalists, states and the federal government. -
Keystone Spills Larger Than Company Predicted Before It Was Built
Nov 27, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
Spills from the Keystone pipeline, including one in South Dakota this month, have exceeded the amount predicted by its developer before the pipeline began operating, Reuters reported Monday. -
Agency Floats Overhaul Of Energy Efficiency Standards
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Christa Marshall
The Department of Energy is weighing a complete overhaul of efficiency standards to allow more "flexibility," prompting warnings from environmentalists that the program could be weakened dramatically. -
D.C. Circuit Grants Former Obama Officials Role In RMP Delay Suit
Nov 27, 2017 | Inside EPA
A federal appeals court has granted former Obama worker safety officials' request to back environmentalist and Democratic state attorneys general in a suit challenging the Trump administration's nearly two-year delay of Obama EPA revisions tightening the Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention rule. -
CSX Train Carrying Harmful Chemicals Derails in Florida
Nov 27, 2017 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Gina Cherelus
A CSX Corp freight train carrying hazardous molten sulfur derailed in central Florida on Monday, prompting authorities to tell residents to stay indoors for several hours, company officials said. -
CSX Train Carrying Molten Sulfur Derails
Nov 27, 2017 | NPR (In E&E Greenwire)
By Bill Chappell
An estimated nine CSX Transportation rail cars derailed in central Florida this morning, four of them carrying molten sulfur, stoking public health concerns. -
Trump Races To Pick Judges Who Oversee Environment Cases
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Robin Bravender and Scott Waldman
President Trump has dismissed global warming as a hoax, snubbed the Paris emissions pact and scrapped U.S. EPA climate rules. -
Internal Report Warns Of 'Complex' Climate Impacts On Agency
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Brittany Patterson
Climate change continues to pose a major challenge to the Interior Department, according to a report released last week by the agency's oversight division.
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Chemical Company Stays Silent As Water Concerns Mount
Nov 27, 2017 | AP (In E&E Greenwire)
By Emery Dalesio
For six months, Chemours Co. has faced concerns about an unregulated chemical it has dumped into the Cape Fear River for as long as four decades. The chemical GenX has unknown health consequences, and the river provides drinking water for hundreds of thousands of people.
The chemical company's response? Silence.
Chemours has said almost nothing in its defense and skipped legislative hearings on the matter.
North Carolina environmental regulators may fine the company and revoke its license to discharge wastewater. A criminal probe was also mentioned after regulators say the company failed to report a chemical spill last month. Chemours did respond to that, saying it is dedicated to running its plant "in accordance with all applicable laws and in a manner that respects the environment and public health and safety."
GenX is used to make Teflon and other industrial items. The state cannot legally enforce GenX standards, but officials detected the chemical above recommended levels in dozens of private wells near a plant in Fayetteville and at a water treatment plant 100 miles downstream.
There are no federal health standards for GenX.
Chemours became a separate company from its predecessor, DuPont Inc., two years ago. DuPont switched to GenX after West Virginia residents said a different fluorinated compound made them sick, leading to more than 3,500 lawsuits.
In 2016, a jury found both DuPont and Chemours liable for a man's testicular cancer linked to the Parkersburg, W.Va., plant (Emery Dalesio, AP/Salt Lake Tribune, Nov. 26). — NS
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/11/27/stories/1060067303
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EU Extends Approval for Weed Killer Claimed to Harm Health
Nov 27, 2017 | AP (In The New York Times)
BRUSSELS — The European Union on Monday approved a five-year extension to the use of the weed killer glyphosate, in a move that failed to satisfy either environmentalists or farmers and pitted Germany against France.
After a drawn-out process, the EU backed the extension with a qualified majority and was able to beat a mid-December deadline when the current license expires — 18 member states voted in favor, 9 against while one abstained.
Germany put its weight behind the extension, a move that divided the caretaker government in Berlin and could have repercussions on Chancellor Angela Merkel's negotiations to form a grand coalition between her conservative bloc and the center-left Socialist Democrats.
France remained opposed and there was anger with the outcome.
"This is Black Monday for health," French European Parliament deputy Yannick Jadot told BFM TV.
But President Emmanuel Macron said he tasked the government "to take the necessary measures so that the use of glyphosate is forbidden in France as soon as alternatives are found, and at the latest in three years."Continue reading the main story
Environmentalists had hoped on an immediate ban since they claim that the weed killer, used in chemical giant Monsanto's popular Roundup herbicide, is linked to cancer. The World Health Organization's cancer agency said in 2015 that the weed killer is "probably carcinogenic" to humans.
"The decision taken today by a narrow qualified majority of member states has locked the EU into another five years of toxic agriculture," said Green member of the European Parliament Bart Staes. "This is a dark day for consumers, farmers and the environment."
Many farmers, who say the substance is safe, had wanted a 15-year extension. EU nations long failed to find a compromise amid conflicting health reports.
Despite welcoming the limited extension, the president of the EU's Copa-Cogeca farmer association, Pekka Pesonen, insisted glyphosate "should have been re-authorized for 15 years after it was given a positive assessment by both the European Food Safety Authority and the European Chemicals Agency."
Banning glyphosate outright would have shaken Europe's agriculture sector, since it is so widely used.
Germany voted for the extension over the objection of Social Democrat Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks, who said she had told Christian Democrat Agriculture Minister Christian Schmidt on the phone Monday that she was against it.
Schmidt, whose Christian Social Union is the sister party to Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union, told the Rheinische Post that Germany had voted for the agreement because of conditions that will "strengthen the role of biodiversity and animal protection."
Hendricks suggested the vote could make the possibility of building a new coalition government in Germany between her party and Merkel's conservative bloc more difficult.
"Anyone who is interested in developing trust between two parties cannot behave that way," she said.
The approval also came after the Greens moved out of the picture as a possible coalition partner.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2017/11/27/world/europe/ap-eu-europe-weed-killer-.html
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EU Member States Consider Titanium Dioxide Labelling Issue
Nov 27, 2017 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has asked member state competent authorities to come up with solutions to a titanium dioxide labelling problem, arising from the proposed carcinogenicity classification.
Echa's Risk Assessment Committee (Rac) decided in July that the substance should be classified under EU CLP as a category 2 carcinogen by inhalation.
The toxic effect is specific to the inhalation of small titanium dioxide particles. In its Opinion, the Rac describes it as "particle carcinogenicity".
But the classification, and therefore also the labelling requirements, would apply to all forms of titanium dioxide, and mixtures containing it, including:larger particles;so-called massive forms, in which the substance does not comprise particles at all, but rather distinct, solid blocks; andsuspensions, in which the substance as particles is dispersed evenly through a liquid.
The Commission has concerns because such forms and mixtures may not pose a hazard to human health. Consequently, last week, it asked member state Competent Authorities for REACH and CLP (Caracal) for their views on the application of labelling 'derogations' for them.
A labelling derogation might apply to paints containing titanium dioxide under Annex 1, section 1.3.4 of CLP, if they qualified as mixtures containing polymers or elastomers, the Commission said. But it added that:the derogation would not apply to mixtures containing titanium dioxide if they did not also contain polymers or elastomers;the applicability to borderline cases, such as spray applications, would need to be clarified; andthe derogation would require demonstration that there was no risk to human health by inhalation.
The Commission also said that Article 12 "could be taken into account" to avoid classification of mixtures containing titanium dioxide. This approach would be based on the idea that non-respirable particles do not lead to exposure and therefore there is no bioavailability.
A spokesperson for the Commission told Chemical Watch that the problem was recognised by all the member states, but it would require some creativity. No solution has been arrived at yet.
As an expert group, Caracal has no decision-making responsibility – its role is advisory. Normally, the Commission provides general information about upcoming harmonised classifications. But in the case of titanium dioxide, it decided that wider involvement was needed.
Caracal is likely to discuss a draft amendment to technical progress (ATP) for harmonised classification, at its meeting next March. The final decision will be made by Echa’s REACH Committee, which in most cases signs off harmonised classifications according to Rac Opinions with few changes. Publication of the legislative changes is expected in early 2019, followed by an 18-month transition period.
Caracal members also discussed the possibility of extending the scope of the classification to other poorly soluble low toxicity particles (PSLTs). The Commission spokesperson said that any extension to cover more PSLTs would require a new dossier because the one currently under consideration is specific to titanium dioxide.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62028/eu-member-states-consider-titanium-dioxide-labelling-issue
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LNG Exports Won’t Make Or Break Gas Market, But E&Ps May Benefit
Nov 27, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Leticia Gonzales
Vast supplies of low-cost natural gas have put the United States on track to becoming the largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) within the decade. But before reaching that level of global dominance, a handful of export facilities due to begin service over the next year will provide some much-needed relief to producers in key unconventional plays and serve as a test for a gas market contending with new demand.
Nearly 20 Bcf/d of U.S. approved LNG export facilities are either under construction or waiting to break ground. Already, the United States is exporting roughly 3 Bcf/d of LNG, and that number will grow by more than 1 Bcf/d over the next year as the fourth train at Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass, along with Dominion Resources Inc.’s Dominion Cove Point LNG and Kinder Morgan Inc.’s (KMI) Elba Island LNG facilities enter service.
Still, the new demand won’t make or break the natural gas market. Even with new demand coming from LNG exports, analysts expect weather to remain the key driver for the gas market. Exports, in general, increase baseload demand almost year-round, said RBN Energy gas analyst Sheetal Nasta.
“Of course, we can’t assume they’ll operate at full capacity all the time. So maintenance outages, either on the pipeline or terminal side, could still cause some disruptions/volatility,” Nasta said.
But weather is the key factor the market is watching even as more exports begin commercial service during the height of the winter season. In fact, if the coming winter is a repeat of the last two mild winter seasons, overall demand may not be enough to offset the production growth occurring at the same time, even with incremental LNG export demand.
“Part of why we’ve seen prices go up recently is because we finally had more normal weather in October and in the past week or so, we’ve also seen some much colder-than-normal weather,” Nasta said.
To illustrate how fickle the gas market is, as of Tuesday (Nov. 21), the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) December contract sat at $3.017, more than 20 cents below prices two weeks prior as warming trends in the long-range weather forecasts pressured the market.
For the coming winter, under a scenario where production averages 74-75 Bcf/d, imports are flat to last winter and LNG exports run at full capacity all season, “then you’re going to have 3.5-4.5 Bcf/d more supply in the market this winter than last, and only 3.0 Bcf/d more demand winter on winter,” Nasta said. That includes Mexican exports averaging 4.5 Bcf/d and power, residential/commercial and industrial demand remaining relatively flat to last year.
Meanwhile, 6.0 Bcf/d of new takeaway capacity is coming online this winter, which could boost production even more. The largest among those is Energy Transfer Partners LP’s 3.25 Bcf/d Rover Pipeline, which has begun flowing gas with the second part of the project’s Phase 1 expected online before year’s end.
Columbia Gulf Transmission LLC’s 1 Bcf/d Rayne XPress and Texas Eastern Transmission LP’s (Tetco) Adair Southwest and Access South expansions also have begun service. The in-service date for Columbia Gas Transmission LLC's 1.5 Bcf/d Leach XPress has since been pushed back to January 2018.
Nasta said the market could see a little more demand from exports to Mexico over the next few months too, which could help the market overall.
“But in general, with another mild winter like last year and production near 75 Bcf/d, the balance would be bearish compared to last winter when production averaged only 70.5 Bcf/d. If we get close to normal or below-normal temperatures for much of this winter, however, the balance could end up tightening significantly.”
PA Consulting analyst Michael Bennett agreed that while the market is tight, it also has been waiting for LNG export demand to emerge for years.
“Weather will be and always has been the great unknown with gas markets. 2018 will certainly be a test given that Sabine’s train 4 and Cove Point alone could add an additional 1.2 Bcf/d of demand, but production has started to climb as of late and increased demand could open the door for further production gains,” Bennett said.
However, the high demand experienced to date could foretell what’s to come if cold weather arrives, Bennett said.
“Demand peaked in the upper 90s Bcf/d on Oct. 10, representing some of the highest early winter demand on record,” he said. “This was possible due in part to new export dynamics from both Mexico and LNG. With storage inventories sitting roughly 100 Bcf below the five-year average, a cold winter and this new baseload export demand could result in much larger swings in demand and spot prices.”
If milder temperatures are on tap for the remainder of the winter season, LNG exports would then provide a buffer to prevent a complete fall-out of prices, said BTU Analytics analyst Matthew Hoza.
The Lakewood, CO, analytics company is projecting demand to average 97 Bcf/d this winter, assuming normal weather, “which seems to be a bigger and bigger if,” Hoza said. BTU expects production to average 85 Bcf/d.
Relieving Pennsylvania Takeaway
While LNG exports are not expected to have a material impact on the market immediately, the emergence of new demand should lead to changing dynamics on a regional level, Hoza said. Cheniere’s Sabine Pass facility has the benefit of being located on the Gulf Coast, while Dominion’s Cove Point, for example, would have direct access to the vast supply from the Marcellus and Utica shales.
Cove Point would able to receive gas from Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. (Transco), Dominion and Columbia Gas pipelines, and the project would benefit Appalachian producers, Hoza said, especially once Transco’s Atlantic Sunrise pipeline goes online.
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. plans to move up to 850 MMcf/d to the terminal via Atlantic Sunrise, but the 1.7 Bcf/d project is not expected in service before mid-2018. The operator is one of a handful of dominant producers active in the bottlenecked northern tier of the Marcellus.
Construction resumed on the project earlier this month after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied an emergency motion to stay FERC’s certificate for the expansion. Work was halted for three days while the three-judge panel ordered a temporary administrative stay of the project’s certificate on Nov. 6, forcing Transco parent Williams Partners LP to suspend construction while the court considered an emergency motion filed by a coalition of environmental groups. The court had limited the stay only to construction in Pennsylvania and not other operations outside the state or partial service that was started on the project over the summer.
Atlantic Sunrise would move natural gas from a constrained area in northeastern Pennsylvania to Mid-Atlantic and Southeast markets. Brownfield construction on mainline replacements and equipment modifications started months ago, while greenfield construction started in September.
“Cove Point has said they have other ways to get the gas there, so it’ll be interesting to see how flows evolve there,” Nasta said.
KMI’s Melissa Ruiz, director of corporate communications, said while the gas coming from the Elba Island’s interconnect with Transco is likely to originate from Pennsylvania and Ohio, it could also be sourced from conventional Gulf of Mexico resources off the Transco system through Elba Express Pipeline or from various sources along the Southern Natural Gas (SNG) system.
KMI’s Elba Express Pipeline is a 200-mile system that extends from the Elba Island LNG terminal to the Transco pipeline in Hart County, GA, and Anderson County, SC.
“Transco connects to Elba right near the intersection of Transco zone 4 and zone 5, and I think Transco is still flowing net northbound through part of zone 5, (where the null point on Transco is). Atlantic Sunrise will change that,” Nasta said.
PA’s Bennett agreed, noting backhauls on Transco that would bring Marcellus/Utica supplies to Elba Express may mean that gas would compete with Northeast demand in the winter months. It could present an opportunity for the null point on Transco to swing if Gulf Coast volumes are priced low enough.
Tetco’s Access South can also deliver into SNG. Access South is one of two pipeline reversal projects that Tetco has recently brought online; the other is Adair Southwest. They each target Marcellus/Utica production. Combined, the brownfield projects are designed to add 520,000 Dth/d of incremental north-to-south Appalachian takeaway capacity on Tetco, which runs from the Gulf Coast to the Northeast.
Tetco’s initial in-service request to FERC included 416,000 Dth/d of the total designed capacity [CP16-3]. The pipeline expects to ramp up to 500,000 Dth/d on the expansions later this month.
Exports Won’t Egg E&Ps To Ramp Up
Meanwhile, the growth in LNG exports, particularly on the East Coast, has undoubtedly been a consideration for some E&Ps making their production plans for 2018. While most producers are making decisions based on numerous market dynamics and financial obligations, both Cabot and Antero Resources Corp. have supply contracts with off-takers at the Cove Point facility.
“Unless these producers have enough drilled but uncompleted wells to support an extra 600 [Mcf] or so a day of demand, they have most certainly been preparing for this new demand,” Bennett said.
With Cabot being subscribed to large amount of the Atlantic Sunrise project, the producer can opt to send these molecules to the Atlantic Seaboard and Southeast in the event gas is not needed at the Cove Point, which will put downward pressure on pricing in these regions, he said.
For others producers, however, the recurring theme in most E&P 3Q2017 earnings calls was spending within cash flow.Speaking during the 3Q2017 call, Devon Energy Corp. CEO Dave Hager was blunt. “We fully acknowledge that our industry in general has not delivered acceptable returns. And that we are absolute -- and I would include Devon in it -- we are absolutely committed, on a go-forward basis, to deliver acceptable returns at the corporate level to our shareholders.”
During Southwestern Energy Co.’s 3Q2017 earnings call, CEO Bill Way said the focus is on creating value and improving returns on every dollar it invests.
“We'll take the options of investing at the drillbit and weigh those with debt reduction and any other options that come to the table” to create the highest value-adding plan to go forward,” Way said. This “isn't about production growth at all costs; it hasn't been for us, and it won't be for us going forward. It's an outcome.”
Chesapeake Energy Corp. CFO Nick Dell’Osso echoed those sentiments on third quarter call, indicating the focus continues to be “value versus volumes.” He said the operator would “remain flexible with our capital should prices rise or fall dramatically, but we do not plan to chase capital higher as a result in the recent modest increase in the 2018 strip.”
LNG Exports At A Glance
More than 1 Bcf/d of LNG exports will soon hit the U.S. gas market, laying the groundwork for a major structural shift toward more flexible and globalized gas markets.
Cheniere, the first mover in the Lower 48 for exports, achieved first production at the fourth train of its six-train Sabine Pass in Louisiana last summer. Commissioning cargoes have boosted deliveries to more than 3 Bcf/d. The company is on track for that cargo to see a date of first commercial delivery (DFCD) in the first half of 2018, management said.
For the first five LNG trains at Sabine Pass, 19.75 of the 22.5 million metric tons/year (mmty) nominal production capacity (about 88%) has been contracted to third party, foundation customers on a long-term free-on-board basis under sale and purchase agreements (SPA). Foundation customers include Royal Dutch Shell plc, Gas Natural Fenosa, Korea Gas Corp., Gail (India) Ltd., Total SA and Centrica plc. Any excess capacity not sold under long-term SPAs to foundation customers is available for Cheniere marketing.
During the quarter, Cheniere exported a total of 44 LNG cargoes from Sabine Pass, said CEO Jack Fusco said during the 3Q2017 earnings call. A total of 144 TBtu of LNG was loaded during the quarter, including 18 TBtu of commissioning cargoes. To date, a total of 200 LNG cargoes have been exported from Sabine Pass to 25 of the world's 40 importing countries. Cheniere also is building an export terminal in Corpus Christi, TX.
Meanwhile, Cove Point is underway with commissioning activities in Maryland. The project is nearly completed and in the final phase of start-up, according to Community Relations Manager Karl Neddenien.
“We have completed the initial operating run on our auxiliary boilers, steam turbine generators, Frame 7EA combustion turbines and numerous motors, pumps and compressors that are part of the liquefaction process,” Neddenien said.
The facility, with a capacity of about .75 Bcf/d, would be bidirectional, offering import and export capability. Commercial service at the facility -- the first on the East Coast -- should begin by the end of the year.
Cove Point’s marketed capacity is fully subscribed under 20-year service agreements. Pacific Summit Energy LLC, a U.S. affiliate of Japan's Sumitomo Corp., as well as Gail (India) affiliate Gail Global (USA) LNG LLC, each have contracted for half of the marketed capacity. Sumitomo has agreements to serve Tokyo Gas Co. and Kansai Electric Power Co. Inc.
Finally, KMI, which has partnered with EIG Global Energy Partners, is expecting to bring online its 10-train Elba Island LNG facility beginning in mid-2018. Capacity at the 2.5 mmty facility is fully subscribed by Shell.
“Construction activity at Elba Island is well underway, and the first unit has been completely shipped and delivered to Elba Island and has already been placed on its foundation,” said KMI’s Ruiz.
The Elba Island facility differs from the other U.S. facilities as each of the 10 modular units is rated at about .25 mmty, or 35,000 Mcf/d. Each unit was built in Texas and shipped in components to be erected on site in a sequential manner over one year, with the final unit expected to be placed in service by mid-2019, Ruiz said.
Each of the units is a standalone liquefaction facility that can be erected, commissioned and operated independently. The LNG outflow from each unit would flow into the existing common storage and loading facilities on Elba Island, she said.
“At the time the project was originally conceived, modular liquefaction units such as these were not common; however, in recent times other developers have begun to see the advantages associated with smaller liquefaction units similar to those being installed at Elba,” Ruiz said. “These smaller-type modular liquefaction units provide increased operating flexibility at a competitive cost in the marketplace.”
Indeed, Cheniere in October proposed to FERC a new design for trains 4 and 5 at the Corpus Christi facility, which would instead use seven smaller trains and increase the throughput capacity to 9.5 mmty, or 1.36 mmty at each mid-scale train [No. PF15-26-000]. The original capacities of the proposed trains 4 and 5 were 4.5 mmty each (9 mmty total).
The new design provides an extra 0.5 mmty in total throughput capacity. Trains 1 and 2, currently under construction, fall under stage 1 of development. Stage 2 would add train 3, which is awaiting a final investment decision. The new Stage 3 plan calls for seven mid-scale electric drive trains, as opposed to the natural gas-driven compressors used at Sabine Pass and at the first three trains at Corpus Christi.
Cheniere expects to file its application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission early next year, and also plans to update its worldwide free/non-free trade agreements because of increasing the throughput.
In a bullish outlook for the growth of overall U.S. LNG exports by 2024, Mizuho Securities LLC's energy research group said the expansion includes small-scale and mega projects. Smaller facilities are looking to drive down costs significantly, according to analyst Tim Rezvan. U.S. exports are expected hit a projected 53 Bcf/d, or 400 mmty, in 2024, compared to 2016 totals of 34 Bcf/d, or 260 mmty, he said.
"The United States is expected to be competitive in fighting for market share, given the deep inventory of low-cost natural gas available," Rezvan said.
Meanwhile, Sempra Energy’s Cameron LNG project in Hackberry, LA, previously expected to come online next summer, has been pushed to 2019 because of engineering, procurement and construction issues by a principal contractor, Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. NV. During a 3Q2017 earnings conference call, Sempra CEO Debra Reed reiterated that the first three trains would be operating in 2019.
"We firmly believe that from everything we see now that Cameron will be liquefying gas on all three trains come 2019," Reed said. "They've made a lot of progress on construction, and things seem to be going very well,” with little impact from last summer’s Hurricane Harvey.
Export Model Not One-Size-Fits-All
The U.S. LNG export business, still in its infancy, is sure to lead to changes as fundamentals and market conditions change. It’s a major consideration for companies like KMI, who opted to have the facility’s capacity fully subscribed as a means of protecting itself from the fluctuations that could arise in the market.
“Unlike some other developers who do not have their facilities fully subscribed and have decided to participate in LNG market volatility by selling LNG commodity themselves, we have chosen to implement a tolling model which provides us with a low-risk, long-term steady revenue stream associated with a fully subscribed facility,” KMI’s Ruiz said.
Cheniere, meanwhile, not only processes the gas into LNG under a tolling model, the company also procures supply used for feedstock. Once the natural gas is liquefied, the customer takes delivery at the tailgate of the terminal. As a result, Cheniere is expected to become one of the largest buyers of natural gas in the U.S. once all of the trains are operational.
Cheniere’s gas procurement business has secured long-term transportation capacity on many pipelines to ensure reliable gas deliverability and diverse access to multiple producing basins. It also entered into several supply arrangements to purchase natural gas from suppliers at prices discounted to applicable market indices.
With no one-size-fits-all approach in the LNG export business, PA’s Bennett said 2018 is going to be a test for the U.S. LNG market. He likened the LNG market in 2018 to the power market in 2016, when most of the coal retirements resulted from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, and Henry Hub pricing around $2.50.
“It was a good test of the new dynamics and baseload shifts in power burn, and the market got a feel for how high burn could actually go,” he said.
Most available information indicates that cargos will be indexed to Henry Hub, which makes hedging easier. Contract holders have typically paid a fixed fee for the right to export LNG, somewhere in the $2-3.50/Mcf range, and then they pay Henry Hub +15% when they actually export gas, Bennett said.
“Depending on the specifics of the offtaker’s contracts at Cove Point and Elba Island, we could see capacity holders decide to sell their gas in the U.S. spot market if regional prices spike high enough. This is especially true for Cove Point, which has direct access to Transco Zone 6 non-NY. Alternatively, we could see those off-takers lift cargos despite spreads to the ultimate destination being negative.”
Most decisions to lift a cargo would be made on a spot basis, he said, assuming the contract holder has no downstream obligations that would make uneconomic netbacks irrelevant. This contract structure is somewhat analogous to firm capacity on natural gas pipelines.
“You pay an upfront fee for the right to move gas, and then pay a small commodity charge when you actually flow volumes, but there is no obligation to move that gas,” Bennett said.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/112546-lng-exports-wont-make-or-break-gas-market-but-eps-may-benefit
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12 Nations That Aren't China or European Lead LNG Import Growth
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By David Iaconangelo
Twelve nations are quietly sponging up supply of liquefied natural gas, according to a report from researchers at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy
As LNG exports from the United States and Australia continue to wash over the global market, gas is selling for similar prices in Asia and Europe.
"The conventional wisdom since 2014 to 2015 is that markets will become oversupplied imminently, and we found that this particular piece of wisdom had not played out as most market analysts had been expecting," said Akos Losz, a research analyst at the center and one of the authors of the report.
Surging demand in China was one factor, Losz said. But "a much less-appreciated factor," he added, was the role of 12 emerging importers, led by Egypt, Jordan and Pakistan, which have accounted for 57 percent of global import growth since mid-2014. Together, those 12 countries take in almost as much LNG as China.
Their ascent, wrote Losz and co-author Teddy Kott, can be traced to the decision to deploy a fleet of floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), or specialized tankers that can convert liquefied supplies to a gaseous state while still at sea.
FSRUs have less storage capacity than onshore facilities, meaning importation plans with them at their core are more vulnerable to seasonal fluctuations in demand. On the upside, they require smaller investments and shorter lead times to put the systems in place.
By 2015, the time it took to ready a FSRU-based system had shrunk from 18 to 24 months to a year or less, much faster than the three- to five-year period then seen as necessary to build a regasification facility on land. FSRUs had become cheaper, too — $250 million to $350 million to build, or $80 million to $160 million to convert one out of a traditional tanker, compared with $1 billion for an onshore facility.
"What's even more attractive for importing countries is, you don't even have to purchase the vessel," lowering the bar to market entry even further, said Losz. Signals that this "democratization of demand" might be replicated elsewhere, the authors wrote, could add an element of uncertainty to LNG market forecasts.
Nations tend to pursue FSRU systems when they're looking for ways to solve energy shortages, diversify their energy or transition off oil, compensate for declines in domestic gas production, or power an economic boom. Candidates for new entrants in the next few years include Bangladesh, Ghana, the Philippines and South Africa, with a combined 350 million people.
Whether those countries would undertake such a project and successfully execute it, the researchers wrote, is difficult to predict, given the opaqueness of decisionmaking in governments and boardrooms.
"One thing that's not difficult to forecast is that in some of these markets, there's huge pent-up demand for gas," said Losz. "What's difficult is if infrastructure will be able to come into place to unload this huge additional demand."
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/11/27/stories/1060067297
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The East Coast's Pipeline Wars: A Cheat Sheet
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer, Jenny Mandel and Saqib Rahim
The expansion of natural gas infrastructure along the East Coast has created a seemingly endless queue of new pipeline battles involving landowners, environmentalists, states and the federal government.
Some of the proposed pipelines have similar names. A handful have similar routes. Many have been in the news for years, while others seem to have sprung from nowhere. They're all accompanied by a nonstop stream of procedural and legal drama.
Even the most astute pipeline watchers have trouble keeping it all straight. Was it Atlantic Coast or Atlantic Sunrise that just got approved? Wait, how many projects are on hold in New York? And aren't there nuns protesting somewhere?
Here's a breakdown of some of the most interesting projects to help you avoid getting your wires — er, pipelines — crossed.Constitution
Length: 126 miles Route: Northeast Pennsylvania to central New York Status: Company wants FERC to waive a state-issued water permit
The fate of this project might not just be a matter of laws and regulations; it may also be a battle of political wills. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York has held up a number of high-profile gas projects, including the Constitution pipeline. For its part, Williams Cos. Inc., the lead sponsor of the project, is banking on favorable treatment by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
It all began early last year, when New York regulators denied Constitution a water permit required by the Clean Water Act. Williams challenged that decision in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court let New York's decision stand, but it declined to rule on a critical issue Williams had asked about: whether New York had ceded that authority to the feds by taking too long to review the project.
Now Williams is asking FERC to find "waiver" so that it can start construction on the nearly $700 million project. CEO Alan Armstrong has said the company is pressing FERC and the Trump administration to overrule New York, and lobbying records confirm that representatives for Williams have held meetings with the White House and federal agencies.
For now, Williams doesn't see the pipeline going online before 2019. "Plenty of fight left in this dog, and I think we're well-positioned for it," Armstrong told analysts this month. "But we've got — we will have a fight on our hands, I suspect."Northern Access
Length: 99 miles and associated infrastructure Route: Northwest Pennsylvania to western New York Status: Company appealing New York permit denial at 2nd Circuit, at FERC and in state court
National Fuel Gas Co., the lead sponsor of the Northern Access project, launched a bevy of legal challenges after New York regulators denied its water permit this year. But even the company's president and CEO, Ronald Tanski, has conceded that "it's anyone's guess when we might get an answer."
The roughly half-billion-dollar project would beef up the pipelines and other infrastructure that send gas across the Pennsylvania border into the Buffalo area. It had approvals from FERC and Pennsylvania regulators, but the April decision by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation left it one permit shy.
National Fuel Gas is challenging New York's denial in the 2nd Circuit, and it's also asking FERC to declare state authority "waived." But as Tanski has acknowledged to investors, some of the pivotal legal questions are getting worked out in other cases, such as the Valley Lateral project in New York. Northern Access has no official service date.Valley Lateral
Length: 7.8 miles Route: Connects Millennium Pipeline Co.'s main line to a power plant in Orange County, N.Y. Status: Construction halted pending arguments at 2nd Circuit
What could have been a routine approval for a $39 million fuel line to a power plant has evolved into a high-stakes case with a federalist twist.
The brouhaha began in August, when the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation denied a water permit that Millennium had to get under the Clean Water Act. Millennium protested to FERC, saying New York had taken longer to reach that decision than the statute allowed: a year.
FERC agreed, saying New York had waived its authority to do the review and that Millennium could go ahead.
Not so fast, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said.
New York has argued to the federal court that it was within its one-year period when it denied Valley Lateral in August. It simply disagrees with the company on when it got a complete application. And it thinks states' interpretations on this issue trump Washington's.
Now New York, FERC and Millennium will meet in the 2nd Circuit to debate this little piece of the Clean Water Act. They'll attempt to resolve a question that will be significant for other interstate gas pipeline projects.PennEast
Length: 120 miles Route: Northeast Pennsylvania to central New Jersey Status: Awaiting final approval at FERC before reapplying to New Jersey
First proposed in 2014, the roughly billion-dollar project would connect gas fields in the Marcellus Shale to New Jersey, a state that gets more power from gas than any other fuel. But the project hit a speed bump in June when state regulators under Republican Gov. Chris Christie blocked the project's application for a water certificate required under federal law.
PennEast says it's preparing to reapply, but the delay could be costly. Democrat Phil Murphy won convincingly in this month's gubernatorial election, and he enters office with Democratic majorities in the statehouse and ambitious plans for renewable energy.
If Murphy sets up anti-pipeline leadership at the state Department of Environmental Protection, New Jersey could become the next front in the pipeline wars. But if his union supporters convince him otherwise, Murphy could just as soon let the project proceed. He takes office in January.Atlantic Sunrise
Length: 183 miles and multiple expansions and upgrades Route: Southern Pennsylvania to northern Pennsylvania and upgrades across East Coast network Status: Approved by FERC; under construction
Atlantic Sunrise encompasses new construction in Pennsylvania and an array of upgrades along the existing Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Co. LLC system that runs down the Eastern Seaboard to the Gulf Coast.
The $3 billion project has attracted the most pushback in Pennsylvania, where landowners, environmentalists and a group of Catholic nuns have led opposition. The Adorers of the Blood of Christ sued FERC over its approval of the pipeline, arguing that routing the line across their land violates their religious rights. A district court dismissed their claim, and it's now on appeal.
Environmentalists have raised various other challenges to the project, including whether Pennsylvania regulators properly considered its impacts and whether FERC acted beyond its authority when it issued orders related to the pipeline without a quorum.
Atlantic Sunrise opponents had brief success earlier this month, securing a construction freeze. The victory was short-lived, however, and the freeze lasted only two days. The other challenges are pending, and additional lawsuits are expected.Nexus
Length: 255 miles Route: Eastern Ohio to southeastern Michigan Status: Approved by FERC; under construction
The $2 billion Nexus pipeline in Ohio has been a hotbed of legal challenges since before it was approved. Landowners filed a novel lawsuit in May, arguing that FERC's practice of granting eminent domain authority to pipeline developers is unconstitutional. That case is still pending in federal court in Ohio.
Nexus has also spurred a challenge to a longtime FERC practice of issuing "tolling orders" that extend the agency's deadline for responding to rehearing requests. That lawsuit has been sidelined for now, but environmentalists will likely raise the issue again.Rover
Length: 713 miles Route: From processing plants in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio to delivery points in Ohio and Michigan Status: Some segments in service, others under construction; completion expected in early 2018
The $4.2 billion Rover project to move up to 3.25 billion cubic feet of gas from Mid-Atlantic shale plays is being developed by Energy Transfer Partners LP, the company behind the heavily protested Dakota Access oil pipeline.
The project had problems with drilling fluid leaks and other environmental issues in Ohio almost as soon as construction started this spring, and the state of Ohio is suing Energy Transfer Partners on charges that it violated state air and water protection laws. West Virginia regulators also briefly stopped construction on the project, and Energy Transfer Partners is operating under construction limitations from FERC.
FERC also has an ongoing investigation into whether the company used unapproved ingredients in its drilling fluid mix. In 2015, Energy Transfer Partners purchased a historic home near the pipeline route with assurances that it would be protected, but instead demolished it. FERC and Ohio state agencies negotiated a settlement for potential violation of the National Historic Preservation Act, and the company paid a portion of the agreed fine but has indicated it will not pay the balance.Mountain Valley
Length: 303 miles Route: Northern West Virginia to southern Virginia Status: Approved by FERC; state permits pending
The $3.5 billion Mountain Valley project is being developed by Pittsburgh-based EQT Corp. and partners to carry shale gas from West Virginia to markets in Virginia. The project has been controversial in Virginia, with pushback from environmentalists and landowner groups, and is the subject of a legal challenge that says the use of eminent domain for the pipeline violates landowners' constitutional rights and the Natural Gas Act.
The project is also notable for an unusual situation in West Virginia, where developers first secured state water permits only to see them withdrawn by the state Department of Environmental Protection in response to charges that the state's review was inadequate. State officials initially said they intended to review the permits but instead opted to waive their right to regulate the project's water quality impacts, a decision that shifts the responsibility onto the Army Corps of Engineers.
When the pipeline was approved by FERC, it received a split vote, with one of the three voting commissioners dissenting on the grounds that the project was similar to the Atlantic Coast project and could potentially be combined with it to reduce their combined environmental impacts.Atlantic Coast
Length: 600 miles Route: Northern West Virginia to eastern Virginia and North Carolina Status: Approved by FERC; state permits pending
Atlantic Coast is a $5.1 billion project developed by four energy companies — Dominion Resources Inc., Duke Energy Corp., Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc. and Southern Company Gas — to deliver Mid-Atlantic shale gas to local markets in Virginia and North Carolina. It has faced strong local opposition in both states and was a point of debate in a fierce governor's race in Virginia. Democrat Ralph Northam, who largely dodged taking a position on the project but once supported it, won that race.
The Atlantic Coast project and another pipeline with a similar route, Mountain Valley, were approved by FERC in October. The decision triggered a rare dissenting opinion from one of the three sitting commissioners, who said the two projects were largely similar and could potentially be combined to minimize their collective environmental impacts. Atlantic Coast is also the subject of some legal challenges over the use of eminent domain authority.
Another controversy: The pipeline is slated to end 12 miles short of the South Carolina border, but there is speculation — fueled by October remarks by a Dominion Energy Inc. executive — that the developers want to extend it farther.Sabal Trail
Length: 515 miles Route: Eastern Alabama to central Florida Status: Partially in service; FERC is conducting supplemental review
Sabal Trail is most notable for sparking a legal battle that forced FERC to take a closer look at the project's climate change impacts.
The $3.2 billion pipeline, part of the broader Southeast Market Pipelines Project, sends gas to power plants in Florida. According to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, FERC is required to estimate the greenhouse gas emissions from burning the gas. The August decision was the D.C. Circuit's most forceful decision to date requiring more climate analysis for pipelines.
Now, environmentalists are urging the D.C. Circuit to halt pipeline operations until FERC completes additional review. The agency is working to comply with the court order in a hurry. It issued a draft analysis in September, but critics say it's not enough.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2017/11/27/stories/1060067235
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Keystone Spills Larger Than Company Predicted Before It Was Built
Nov 27, 2017 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
Spills from the Keystone pipeline, including one in South Dakota this month, have exceeded the amount predicted by its developer before the pipeline began operating, Reuters reported Monday.
According to documents reviewed by Reuters, TransCanada Corp. and a risk management company told regulators they estimated the risk of a Keystone leak of more than 50 barrels of oil was “not more than once every seven to 11 years over the entire length of the pipeline in the United States.”
In South Dakota, the firms estimated the pipeline would leak “no more than once every 41 years.”
The Keystone pipeline spilled 5,000 barrels of oil in rural South Dakota earlier this month. It reported previous spills in 2011 and 2016. It began operating in 2010.
The leak came days before the Nebraska Public Service Commission approved a permit allowing a new TransCanada project, the Keystone XL pipeline, to cross the state. Regulators in the state could not factor in previous oil spills because spill prevention and clean-up is considered a federal issue, not a state one.
The Keystone XL project is still subject to legal challenges and federal permitting decisions.
As of Friday, TransCanada had recovered 44,730 gallons of oil from this month’s Keystone leak. At the time, the company said it had 170 people working on-site to clean up the spill.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/361956-keystone-spills-larger-than-company-predicted-before-it-was-built
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Agency Floats Overhaul Of Energy Efficiency Standards
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Greenwire
By Christa Marshall
The Department of Energy is weighing a complete overhaul of efficiency standards to allow more "flexibility," prompting warnings from environmentalists that the program could be weakened dramatically.
In a request for information Friday, the agency floated the idea of making efficiency standards more like corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards for vehicles. That could, in theory, allow efficiency trading, so that manufacturers, companies or industries could buy and sell and products below and above a given efficiency level to meet an overall average.
That would divert from the current DOE system, which requires all products like refrigerators and lightbulbs to meet mandatory efficiency levels.
"Market-based policy mechanisms are potentially less burdensome alternatives as they use markets, price and other economic variables to provide incentives for regulated entities to reduce or eliminate negative environmental externalities in the least cost way," states the document, which is not yet published in the Federal Register.
Its publication would start a 90-day comment period.
The request doesn't outline a specific plan but highlights CAFE and market-based programs, like the cap-and-trade system for acid rain.
In a section on how earlier models would apply to DOE, the document states that a CAFE-style system would allow "manufacturers already producing efficiency models to continue improving efficiency."
Lauren Urbanek, a senior energy policy advocate at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said the concept would substantially affect consumers and possibly lead to a dramatic drop in energy savings.
"Any changes or revisions to the efficiency standards program have to be considered from the perspective of consumers, the people ultimately using the appliances and equipment in question. The trading mechanisms DOE has proposed could lead to market confusion," Urbanek said.
Moving to a trading mechanism could mean that two otherwise identical products could have drastically different energy use — and it may be very difficult for consumers to know which to choose, she said.
Andrew deLaski, executive director at the Appliance Standards Awareness Project, said he was concerned that CAFE-style standards applied to the efficiency program could make it much more complex and increase administrative costs. There also would be concerns about companies gaming such a system, he said.
"You don't want to mess with success. Why change something that has been working very well?" deLaski asked.
At the same time, he said DOE did not appear to want to eliminate the efficiency program, and the document was thoughtful. Having a discussion about how to make the program more efficient, perhaps through a pilot project, is worthwhile, he said.
Under an "anti-backsliding" provision in federal law, DOE can't issue standards lower than what's already on the books, he said.
Francis Dietz, vice president of public affairs at the Air-Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute, said, "We are pleased that the department is taking this collaborative approach, and we look forward to working with DOE on ways to establish mutually beneficial flexibilities in the appliance standards program."
The Trump administration angered environmentalists earlier this year by not finalizing several efficiency standards issued by the Obama administration. A lawsuit was filed by multiple states (Greenwire, April 3).
DeLaski said the administration also has missed requirements set by Congress for issuing rules on a half-dozen appliances.
"They are falling behind legal deadlines for a number of products," deLaski said.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/11/27/stories/1060067347
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D.C. Circuit Grants Former Obama Officials Role In RMP Delay Suit
Nov 27, 2017 | Inside EPA
A federal appeals court has granted former Obama worker safety officials' request to back environmentalist and Democratic state attorneys general in a suit challenging the Trump administration's nearly two-year delay of Obama EPA revisions tightening the Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention rule.
In a Nov. 21 order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit grants the request from David Michaels and Jordan Barab, the former chief and deputy chief of the Obama Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), as well as former Chemical Safety Board (CSB) member Beth Rosenberg to participate as amicus curiae in the case, Air Alliance Houston, et al v. EPA, et al.
In the same order, the court also grants a similar request for amici status from the Institute for Policy Integrity at the New York University School of Law, which has faulted the Trump EPA's economic analysis supporting the delay.
Environmental, labor and 11 Democratic state attorneys general are challenging EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's June 14 rule delaying implementation of the Obama RMP rule by 20 months from June 19, 2017 to Feb. 19, 2019. Pruitt claimed broad Clean Air Act authority to set effective dates after seeking public input, and has signaled that the administration plans to significantly revise the Obama-era rule updating the agency's RMP rule with new requirements.
In a Nov. 1 amicus brief in the case, the former Obama OSHA and CSB officials backed petitioners' arguments that the Trump administration's delay of the RMP rule violates a Clean Air Act limit on delaying effective dates and the Administrative Procedure Act.
“The Delay Rule was not based on analysis of whether the new effective date would fulfill the protective purposes of the Chemical Disaster Rule or was necessary to make industry compliance with its provisions practicable,” the former officials have said. “[R]ather, it was explicitly designed to spare industry the burden of complying or even having to prepare to comply with the rule while EPA reconsidered it.”
The Obama EPA's Jan. 12 final RMP update rule brought new requirements for independent audits, hazard analysis, as well as provisions for streamlining release of facility data to first responders and the public. EPA issued the rule in response to an executive order on improving facility safety issued after an April 2013 fertilizer facility explosion in West, TX, killed 15 people, including first responders.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/dc-circuit-grants-former-obama-officials-role-rmp-delay-suit
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CSX Train Carrying Harmful Chemicals Derails in Florida
Nov 27, 2017 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Gina Cherelus
(Reuters) - A CSX Corp freight train carrying hazardous molten sulfur derailed in central Florida on Monday, prompting authorities to tell residents to stay indoors for several hours, company officials said.
No one was hurt, Jacksonville, Florida-based CSX said in a statement.
The train was traveling to Winston, Florida, from Waycross, Georgia, when nine carriages, including four with molten sulfur, went off the track at around 2 a.m. EST in Lakeland, Florida, nearly 60 miles south of Orlando, said CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle.
CSX officials said in the statement that several of the derailed cars were reported to be leaking molten sulfur, which is used in making rubber, detergent and fertilizers.
"CSX personnel and contractors have responded to the site to assess the situation and develop a plan to remediate the scene, re-rail the affected cars and restore service," the statement said.
Fire department officials in Polk County, Florida, had spotted several train cars rolled over and mangled after returning from a medical call, authorities said. A small fire was extinguished by firefighters.Continue reading the main story
As a precaution, emergency officials initially ordered local residents to remain in their homes with the windows closed and to shut off their air conditioners.
That order was lifted shortly before 9 a.m., but residents were advised to stay away from the derailment site as officials work to clean the spillage and remove the damaged cars.
Molten sulfur, a highly flammable chemical with a faint odor of rotten eggs, can release poisonous gases such as hydrogen sulfide, which can be lethal to those exposed to it, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's website. The chemical is transported at elevated temperatures, typically at 290 degrees Fahrenheit (134 degrees Celsius), to prevent solidification.
The train, comprised of three locomotives, 120 loaded railcars and 72 empty railcars, was carrying a variety of other cargo, including cardboard, oats and rocks, CSX officials said.
(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/11/27/us/27reuters-florida-train-derailment.html
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CSX Train Carrying Molten Sulfur Derails
Nov 27, 2017 | NPR (In E&E Greenwire)
By Bill Chappell
An estimated nine CSX Transportation rail cars derailed in central Florida this morning, four of them carrying molten sulfur, stoking public health concerns.
CSX is the largest coal shipping company east of the Mississippi River, and President Trump chose a former executive from the firm to lead the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (Greenwire, Sept. 11).
Polk County Fire Rescue said it discovered several cars that were "rolled over and mangled" at around 2 a.m.
Molten sulfur — a hazardous material that is mined and used for making rubber, detergent and fertilizers — should not be inhaled.
Emergency officials warned people to remain indoors, shut their windows and turn off their air conditioning units.
CSX said it was investigating the cause of the incident and working to return the train cars to the tracks (Bill Chappell, NPR, Nov. 27). — MJ
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/11/27/stories/1060067319
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Trump Races To Pick Judges Who Oversee Environment Cases
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Robin Bravender and Scott Waldman
President Trump has dismissed global warming as a hoax, snubbed the Paris emissions pact and scrapped U.S. EPA climate rules.
But executive actions can be fleeting — as the Trump administration has shown by moving swiftly to unravel many of President Obama's climate change policies.
Yet there's a major piece of Trump's climate legacy that could be more enduring: his court picks. The Trump administration has acted expeditiously to fill vacancies on top courts around the country, including the Supreme Court and powerful lower courts that could decide the fate of regulatory challenges and novel lawsuits, like localities suing oil companies for damages caused by sea-level rise. Those judges could be weighing in on climate change cases long after Trump leaves 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
Trump's judicial appointments rank "pretty high" in terms of his climate change legacy, said Glenn Sugameli, who runs the Judging the Environment project, which tracks judicial nominees' environmental records.
"They're the ones that are going to determine whether the actions taken by the Obama administration, by states and local governments are justified, are legal, are sustainable," he said. And "they're the ones that are going to decide whether the actions taken by the Trump administration are legal."
Richard Lazarus, an environmental law expert and professor at Harvard Law School, said courts have played an "outsized role" in climate policy in recent years because regulators are working with an old law to deal with a problem its authors weren't specifically addressing.
"The reason why the courts play a big role right now is that, whether the executive branch is run by [President George W.] Bush or the executive branch is run by Obama, each time they're kind of stuck with old language," Lazarus said, noting that the 1970 Clean Air Act hasn't seen a major overhaul since 1990.
The Obama administration tried to use the existing language to support the administration's signature climate rule, the Clean Power Plan, and "you can expect that Trump judges would be more skeptical of those activities."
Trump has already picked one Supreme Court justice, Neil Gorsuch, a conservative whose appointment was viewed by some as a nail in the coffin for legal efforts to preserve the Clean Power Plan. Court watchers predict Trump may make one or more additional Supreme Court nominations before his term expires.
Legal experts note that judges' opinions in environmental cases won't necessarily fall strictly along ideological lines, but that conservative judges are often more likely to reject arguments calling for more regulation or trying to fit climate change rules within the existing Clean Air Act.
Lazarus pointed to Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, as an example of a jurist who "is not ready to give EPA a lot of deference if they're taking language which was crafted at one time and trying to push it at the edges to deal with a problem of another time, like climate change." Kavanaugh, a Bush appointee who sits on the court that hears challenges to Clean Air Act rules, became known as a vocal critic of Obama EPA rules.
Kavanaugh's name was tacked on earlier this month to a list of Trump's potential Supreme Court nominees. Trump has touted the fact that the names on his list — some of whom he has already appointed to lower court jobs — have been vetted by "respected conservative leaders."
The judiciary's role over climate policy could change, Lazarus said. "If Congress steps up to the plate, then the courts won't be so significant."
But recent efforts on Capitol Hill to tackle climate change have foundered, and the political polarization in Congress makes the prospects for such controversial legislation dim. So in the near term, executive actions are likely to continue, as are efforts to unravel them in court.
Beyond challenges to federal rulemaking, many of which are resolved in the D.C. Circuit court, there are other climate lawsuits underway across the country that could ultimately be heard by Trump appointees.
In California, for example, a city and two counties are suing oil companies, arguing that the companies' greenhouse gas emissions are pushing sea levels up. In another case at a federal district court in Oregon, a group of kids is suing the federal government over its contributions to climate change.
Michael Gerrard, director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, said he's also expecting to see "a lot more litigation about fossil fuel extraction, especially on federal lands and waters," as the Trump administration seeks to expand domestic energy production.Can Trump tip ideology?
With widespread vacancies in federal courts at the end of Obama's term and more openings since Trump took office, the administration has the potential to remake the federal judiciary and shape numerous legal decisions related to climate and environmental policy.
Trump has already appointed eight appellate court judges, a rapid pace that's been fueled by the GOP-controlled Senate and pressure from conservative advocacy groups. The administration has focused on longevity over experiences in some cases, ensuring that the judges would shape key legal decisions for years. Brett Talley, 36, was nominated for a federal district court in Alabama even though he has virtually no trial experience.
The swift pace of confirmations is in large part due to a rule change enacted by Democrats when they controlled the Senate and were flustered by efforts to stymie Obama's court picks. In 2013, the Democrats enacted the so-called nuclear option, requiring 51 votes instead of 60 to clear executive branch and some judicial nominees.
Another rule shift in the Senate could signal that Republicans are open to an even quicker approval process that also strips Democrats of what's been their primary leverage in blocking court appointees. The so-called blue slip process allows lawmakers to weigh in on judicial nominees in their states. It was kept in place during the Obama administration, by agreement of Republicans and Democrats. But earlier this month, Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) threw out the process for some judicial nominees after Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) blocked a Trump nominee from his state.
While the pace of appointments is significant, it would likely take years for the Trump administration to equal the influence of the Obama administration, said Jonathan Adler, director of the Center for Business Law and Regulation at the Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He noted that the Obama administration appointed about 40 percent of the federal judiciary in active service. He said if Trump is president for eight years, he could have a similar influence. But it will take years for Trump to tip the ideological balance of the courts, he said.
"What's interesting here is that this administration is moving more aggressively and more quickly than administrations usually do at the beginning of their terms, and that may be a cause or a consequence of the fact that the administration has not been able to do much else, certainly not legislatively," he said. "There is every reason to think this will be a lasting legacy of the Trump administration, but it takes awhile for that effect to really manifest itself."
Still, when Trump was inaugurated, there were more than 110 vacancies on the federal courts, representing about 12 percent of the total judiciary, and the most for any incoming president since Bill Clinton took office, according to Adler.
For now, the effect of Trump's appointments on environmental policy is limited because his appointments have not tipped the balance of liberal and conservative judges in any of the key appeals courts, including the 9th Circuit in California that encompasses Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Arizona, Hawaii, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Trump has also not tipped the balance in the 10th Circuit, where federal land cases might be heard, and which includes Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas and Oklahoma.
The administration has nominated a judge to the D.C. Circuit, which is tremendously influential in federal policy, but that move would replace a conservative with a conservative. The balance on that court still favors Democratic nominees, who make up seven active members of the court compared with four Republicans.
Any shift in the courts toward a more conservative bent on environmental policy would reset the balance of power away from the federal government and back toward the states where it belongs, said Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, which has been instrumental in helping the Trump administration shape the courts.
He said EPA and other federal agencies that set environmental policy have exceeded the bounds of their authority in recent years and that the federal role has overshadowed the state role in environmental policy, where the two should be equal. He said Trump's judicial appointments will bring the federal government back inside the bounds of legislation passed by Congress.
"Conservatives, just like liberals, want a clean environment," Spakovsky said. "But we expect federal agencies to act within the authority delegated to them by Congress and to do so in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Trump's judges will help make sure that happens."
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/11/27/stories/1060067245
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Internal Report Warns Of 'Complex' Climate Impacts On Agency
Nov 27, 2017 | E&E Climatewire
By Brittany Patterson
Climate change continues to pose a major challenge to the Interior Department, according to a report released last week by the agency's oversight division.
Interior's Office of Inspector General identified climate change as one of nine major vulnerabilities facing the federal agency, which manages one-fifth of land in the United States.
Other top challenges: energy management, public safety and disaster response, information technology, water programs, meeting responsibilities to American Indians and insular areas, awarding grants, workplace culture and ethics, hiring and training staff, and collecting fees and dealing with a multibillion-dollar deferred maintenance backlog in the national parks.
The report — which was crafted by the IG with input by top Interior officials — factored in "high-risk" issues identified by the Government Accountability Office and will be included in the Agency Financial Report for fiscal 2017.
In the report's introduction, the IG notes this is the first analysis outlining top challenges at Interior to be presented to the Trump administration, "and with this transition comes new perspectives and approaches to addressing the DOI's top management and performance challenges."
The agency's strategic plan is traditionally a place where major operational vulnerabilities are addressed. The high-level document lays out the goals, strategies and guiding principles for the agency's 10 bureaus and 70,000 employees.
The current strategic plan is due to be updated in fiscal 2018.
Of the six focal points laid out in a recently leaked draft of Interior's fiscal 2018-22 strategic plan, none touches on the impacts of a changing climate on public lands or the agency's role in adapting to them.
"Climate change" appeared 46 times in the previous strategic plan. It does not appear in the new draft (Greenwire, Oct. 25).
By contrast, the IG noted a series of ways in which climate change affects the agency and its priorities. Rising temperatures drive up the cost of fighting wildfires, disproportionately affect tribal communities, jeopardize water supply and impact "insular areas." The report notes that places like the Marshall Islands are already facing sea-level rise and other climate impacts.
"Effects from a changing climate are a cross-cutting, complex issue that impacts the DOI and other land management agencies," the report states. "Most of the risks are relatively static year-to-year, but the way those risks are managed can vary depending on departmental priorities."
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2017/11/27/stories/1060067265
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