Preview Newsletter
AM ACC 12/25/2017
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(ACC Mentioned) 7 Ways to Save on Food
Dec 22, 2017 | Valley Chronicle
Planning ahead and storing food properly are two ways to help reduce the cost and save on food. -
Mass Exodus of EPA Experts Tasked to Protect the Public from Toxic Chemicals, Contaminated Water
Dec 25, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
A report today by the New York Times and ProPublica describes in stark detail the impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s disregard of science and scientists, and the real-life consequences for public health. -
Energy, Environment Nominees Hit Snag in Senate's Year-End Wrapup
Dec 25, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tiffany Stecker
A contentious pick to head the White House's environmental office will have to be renominated by President Donald Trump after being left out of an agreement to hold over nominees into 2018. -
Carper Offers Deal on Key Trump Environment Picks
Dec 25, 2017 | Inside EPA
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), the top Democrat on the Senate environment panel, is suggesting that if President Donald Trump drops Kathleen Hartnett White, his controversial nominee to chair the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)... -
Chemicals Company Loses Bid for Lower Duties at Federal Circuit
Dec 25, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Flood
Chemtall Inc. lost its bid for lower duties on its imports of certain chemicals, after its appeal was rejected by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Dec. 21. -
This Year Was Easy; Next Year Deregulating Gets Tough
Dec 25, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Cheryl Bolen
Stopping pending regulations in their tracks was easy to do this year, but 2018 promises to be a whole new ballgame when it comes to eliminating existing rules, regulatory analysts told Bloomberg Government. -
U.S. FDA Halts Use of Triclosan in Health Care Antiseptics
Dec 25, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Cheryl Hogue
The antibacterial compound triclosan, already banned in the U.S. from consumer soaps, will no longer be allowed in antiseptic products used in hospitals and other health care settings. -
Michigan Commits $23M to Test, Clean Up Fluorochemicals
Dec 25, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alex Ebert
Michigan is investing $23.2 million into testing and cleanup of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) throughout the state. -
(ACC Mentioned) Powered by Trash: See How Baton Rouge Engineers Are Using Garbage to Fuel Industry
Dec 23, 2017 | Baton Rouge Advocate
By Steve Hardy
Call it alchemy, Baton Rouge style. -
Partners in GCX Permian-to-Gulf Coast Pipeline Agree to Proceed With $1.7B Project
Dec 22, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
The three partners in Gulf Coast Express (GCX), a $1.7 billion proposed project designed to carry 1.92 Bcf/d of natural gas from the Permian Basin to the Texas Gulf Coast, announced they will move forward with the pipeline. -
Interior Hikes Alaska Oil, Natural Gas Reserve Estimates
Dec 25, 2017 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Ben Lefebvre
The Interior Department sharply hiked its estimate of oil reserves contained in Alaska's lands and waters today, estimating that more than 17 billion barrels of oil could be tapped there. -
U.S. Pipeline Office Needs to Improve Safety at Gas Storage Sites: GAO
Dec 25, 2017 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Timothy Gardner
The U.S. pipeline safety office is struggling to inspect natural gas storage sites and uphold other standards on the facilities, according to a report released by the General Accountability Office on Friday -
Amtrak Safety — or Danger — Needs a Hearing, Cantwell Says
Dec 22, 2017 | Roll Call
By Griffin Connolly
Sen. Maria Cantwell has sent a letter requesting a congressional inquiry into Amtrak safety procedures in light of the Monday derailment in Washington state that killed three people and injured dozens more. -
Rail Industry Still Fighting Safety Fixes That Would Have Saved Hundreds of Lives
Dec 22, 2017 | DeSmog
By Justin Mikulka
The latest fatal Amtrak accident in Washington state was another reminder of the the reality of the cost-benefit approach to regulating safety. -
Pressured by Lawsuits, EPA Advances Ozone, SO2 Designations
Dec 22, 2017 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
U.S. EPA officials, under pressure from multiple lawsuits, today crossed a key compliance milestone for the agency's 2015 ground-level ozone standard. -
EPA Advances SO2, Ozone NAAQS Designations
Dec 25, 2017 | Inside EPA
EPA is advancing the process of designating areas for whether they attain or are exceeding federal air standards, publishing a new round of attainment findings for the 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) and taking a major procedural...
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(ACC Mentioned) 7 Ways to Save on Food
Dec 22, 2017 | Valley Chronicle
Planning ahead and storing food properly are two ways to help reduce the cost and save on food.
Food is a necessity and an expense that simply cannot be avoided. A 2012 Gallup poll found that Americans reported spending $151 on food per week. Around one in 10 said they spent $300 or more per week, and those with higher incomes tend to spend more on weekly food bills than people who earn less. Compounding high food bills is the fact that people tend to waste food. According to the American Chemistry Council, roughly 80 billion pounds of food are thrown out every year...
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Story can be found here: http://thevalleychronicle.com/index.php/2017/12/22/7-ways-to-save-on-food/
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Mass Exodus of EPA Experts Tasked to Protect the Public from Toxic Chemicals, Contaminated Water
Dec 25, 2017 | Environmental Working Group
A report today by the New York Times and ProPublicadescribes in stark detail the impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt’s disregard of science and scientists, and the real-life consequences for public health.
Data obtained from a Freedom of Information Act request by a team of journalists from both media outlets show that more than 700 EPA staff have left the agency since President Trump was sworn into office.
Among the people who have quit include more than 200 scientists and nearly 100 “environmental protection specialists.”
“Employees say the exodus has left the agency depleted of decades of knowledge about protecting the nation’s air and water…. Political appointees, however, are on the rise. The office of Scott Pruitt, the agency administrator, was the only unit that saw more hires than departures this year.”
According to the report, 54 people have left from the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, which is responsible for regulating toxic chemicals and pesticides, and 26 staff from the division responsible for safe drinking water have also departed.
“The impact of losing so many scientists may not be felt for months or years. But science permeates every part of the agency’s work, from assessing the health risks of chemical explosions like the one in Houston during Hurricane Harvey to determining when groundwater is safe to drink after a spill. Several employees said they feared the departures with few replacements in sight would put critical duties like responding to disasters and testing water for toxic chemicals in jeopardy.”
The only division that saw an increase in staff was in the Office of Administrator Pruitt, where he has brought on 73 people to replace the 53 who left since he became the head of the EPA.
Among the political appointees Pruitt has brought into his inner circle include former top officials from the chemical industry and lobbyists who represented big coal and oil companies.
"Department of Environmental Protection. We are going to get rid of it in almost every form. We’re going to have little tidbits left, but we’re going to take a tremendous amount out," said then-candidate Donald Trump during the 2016 presidential campaign.
The EPA has long been a target by many members of Congress who represent districts and states with big chemical and fossil fuel interests. Mr. Pruitt himself sued the agency more than a dozen times as the Attorney General of Oklahoma over EPA’s efforts to lower pollution coal-fired power plants and other initiatives by the Obama administration.
Losing this many scientists and other professionals with many years of collective expertise in public health and environmental protection is extraordinarily worrisome, noted EWG President Ken Cook.
“The falling number of professionals at EPA with deep knowledge of what is required to protect people from pollution should alarm every American,” said Cook. “And now that the chemical and coal industries have toppled the barricades and are running the EPA, it’s mission to safeguard us from dangerous chemicals and contaminated air and water is in significant peril.”
On December 14 the Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit organization, released an open letter signed by 704 former agency staffers and officials that expresses strong support for scientists still in the Agency and says, “Do not feel abandoned. Many public and private groups are responding to this assault on public health and safety.”
https://www.ewg.org/release/mass-exodus-epa-experts-tasked-protect-public-toxic-chemicals-contaminated-water#.WkD2V_mWY2w
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Energy, Environment Nominees Hit Snag in Senate's Year-End Wrapup
Dec 25, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tiffany Stecker
A contentious pick to head the White House's environmental office will have to be renominated by President Donald Trump after being left out of an agreement to hold over nominees into 2018.
The nomination of Kathleen Hartnett White to serve as White House Council on Environmental Quality director wasn't included on a list of Trump's nominees that the Senate unanimously agreed to keep active into next year.
White, the former commissioner of the Texas Council on Environmental Quality, drew fire from the minority at her Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing for her history of questioning the link established by a consensus view of science between fossil-fuel emissions and climate change.
Democrats also accused White of plagiarizing answers to the committee's written questions, copying word-for-word responses from other nominees.
Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Tom Carper (D-Del.) said he was pleased that White's nomination has hit a roadblock.
“Ms. White's concerning record, unacceptable statements and shockingly poor performance before the EPW Committee last month have elicited serious concerns on both sides of the aisle and all across the country,” Carper said in a statement. “I am hopeful that President Trump will seize on the opportunity to start the new year and the new session of Congress off on the right foot by nominating a new and better qualified candidate to lead this consequential office.”
The office of Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the committee chairman, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment regarding White's nomination.
EPA, Energy
Other energy and environment nominees left off the list include Environmental Protection Agency deputy administrator pick Andrew Wheeler and Department of Energy general counsel choice David Jonas.
At the Interior Department, assistant secretary pick Susan Combs, solicitor nominee Ryan Nelson, and the choice for Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement director, Steven Gardner, also will need to be renominated next year.
Scott Mugno, the pick to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, will also see his nomination return to the White House.
Under Senate rules, any nominees not acted on when the Senate adjourns, which is expected Jan. 2, get returned to the White House, but the Senate can waive that rule if all senators agree.
The chamber will frequently use “unanimous consent” to permit nominations to remain active, known as “in status quo,” between the first and second sessions of the two-year Congress.
This type of return of nominees to the White House is a procedural move, and the president may renominate the individuals.
Nominee Backgrounds
Wheeler, a former Republican staffer for the EPW Committee, has lobbied on behalf of energy companies like Murray Energy Corp., Energy Fuels Resources Inc., and Xcel Energy with the firm Faegre Baker Daniels LLP. His close ties with industry would present conflicts of interests at the EPA, Democrats have said.
Jonas, a partner at the law firm Fluet Huber & Hoang PLLC, wrote a controversial op-ed in 1993 criticizing the inclusion of gay people and women serving in the military.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee ranking member Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) raised concerns about Jonas’ views during his July 20 confirmation hearing. Jonas said at the hearing that he no longer holds those views.
Combs, another nominee from Texas, served both as agricultural commissioner and state comptroller under Republican Govs. George W. Bush and Rick Perry. She led efforts in Texas to avoid listing the dunes sagebrush lizard under the Endangered Species Act, a move that sparked lawsuits against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Mugno most recently worked as vice president of safety for FedEx Ground.
Other Nominees Confirmed
The following nominees were confirmed Dec. 21 before the Senate left Washington for the holiday recess:
• Timothy R. Petty to be assistant secretary of the Interior for water and science;
• Linda Capuano to be administrator for the U.S. Energy Information Administration; and
• John Vonglis to be chief financial officer for the Department of Energy.—With assistance from Rebecca Kern and Dean Scott.
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Carper Offers Deal on Key Trump Environment Picks
Dec 25, 2017 | Inside EPA
Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), the top Democrat on the Senate environment panel, is suggesting that if President Donald Trump drops Kathleen Hartnett White, his controversial nominee to chair the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), it could ease passage for Andrew Wheeler, his pick for deputy EPA administrator.
“I'm interested in seeing what happens to Ms. White and I think if the administration wants to continue to push hard on that nomination, I think it makes progress on Andy Wheeler more difficult," he told Politico.
If Carper succeeds, it will mark the second Trump environment nominee the Delaware Democrat has blocked after he played a key role in blocking the nomination of Michael Dourson to lead EPA's toxics office.
Carper's comments come as he recently opposed a unanimous consent request to carry over White's nominationto Congress' 2018 session, meaning that the White House would have to re-nominate the former Texas environment regulator.
“While we have been able to make progress in recent weeks on several qualified and reasonable environmental nominees, others, like Kathleen Hartnett White and Michael Dourson, have proven far too extreme to hold such important positions or be confirmed by the Senate,” he said in a statement.
Carper and other Democrats have stridently opposed White's nomination over her “extreme” views on a number of issues, including climate change, and her strident criticism of EPA air rules.
However, he has offered some praise for Wheeler, a former Republican Senate staffer and coal sector lobbyist, saying that he is willing to respond to Democrats' oversight request and that he understands EPA's mission.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/carper-offers-deal-key-trump-environment-picks
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Chemicals Company Loses Bid for Lower Duties at Federal Circuit
Dec 25, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Flood
Chemtall Inc. lost its bid for lower duties on its imports of certain chemicals, after its appeal was rejected by the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals Dec. 21.
The appeals panel took a narrower view of what constitutes an “amide” than the company had argued for. As a result, Chemtall faces duties of 6.5 percent on its imports.
The case centered on Chemtall's imports of acrylamido tertiary butyl sulfonic acid (AMPS). The company argued that this chemical was an “amide,” which is subject to import duties of only 3.7 percent. But Customs and Border Protection argued that this chemical was actually a derivative of an amide, and subject to the higher duty rate.
AMPS has a number of uses, including as a water treatment chemical.
Representatives of Chemtall and its parent company, SNF Holding Co., were not immediately available for comment. However, SNF's website bills the company as “the world's leading manufacturer of water-soluble polymers, serving the municipal and industrial water and wastewater treatment markets.”
In a ruling heavy on scientific jargon, the appeals panel sided with Customs’ classification. Ultimately, the panel concluded that “amides, when precisely defined, are limited to having only hydrogen, alkyl, or aryl groups bonded to the nitrogen atom.” AMPS didn't qualify because it had sulfonic acid attached to its nitrogen atom, the panel said.
The panel found that scientific sources did not support Chemtall's “broad definition” of amides.
(Chemtall, Inc. v. United States, 2017 BL 457146, Fed. Cir., No. 2016-2380, 12/21/17)
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This Year Was Easy; Next Year Deregulating Gets Tough
Dec 25, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Cheryl Bolen
Stopping pending regulations in their tracks was easy to do this year, but 2018 promises to be a whole new ballgame when it comes to eliminating existing rules, regulatory analysts told Bloomberg Government.
Data from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) show the number of new rulemakings by agencies plummeted in the first 10 months of the Trump administration. Another 1,579 regulatory proposals carried over from the prior administration were killed or put on the back burner.
Legally, it is far easier to stop rules that haven't yet gone into effect than it is to overturn established regulations. Once rules are in effect, agencies must initiate a new rulemaking, prepare a new legal analysis, and seek new public comment on why the rule should be eliminated.
“I think next year is going to be the year where you start to see the fruition of all of the kinds of mistakes and bad faith that the Trump administration has been operating under this year,” said Sam Berger, a senior policy adviser at the Center for American Progress who served five years at the OMB during the Obama administration.
On the opposite side, there's a real sense now among manufacturers and regulated industries that they don't have to “wait for new anvils to fall,” said Patrick Hedren, vice president of labor, legal, and regulatory policy at the National Association of Manufacturers.
Agencies Predict More Deregulation
The most significant change to regulatory policy in 2017, aside from President Donald Trump's pledge to sharply cut regulations, stemmed from two executive orders signed in January and February.
The first, Executive Order 13,771, required agencies to eliminate two regulations for every new one they issued, and to fully offset the cost of the new regulation. To enforce this order, the president signed Executive Order 13,777establishing regulatory reform officers and task forces within each agency to recommend rules for elimination.
As a result of these orders, agencies took 67 deregulatory actions—including rule, guidance, and paperwork reductions—and issued three significant regulations in fiscal year 2017, according to the Fall 2017 Regulatory Plan and Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions.
Looking ahead to FY 2018, agencies intend to take 448 deregulatory actions and 131 regulatory actions, according to the unified agenda, which is a mandatory report to Congress issued semi-annually by the OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).
’Very Significant’
Historically, the regulatory burden has increased with each president, both Republican and Democratic, OIRA Administrator Neomi Rao told Bloomberg Government in an interview Dec. 14.
“And we've just turned that around, and that is very significant,” Rao said.
Agencies are going to be systematically revisiting their regulations, which will take time, Rao said. There is a lot of discretion and room to roll back regulations, but it must be done in a way that's consistent with law, she said.
OIRA also is reviewing a number of guidance documents and in many cases encouraging agencies to instead move ahead with a rulemaking, so there is more process and the public has an opportunity to weigh in, Rao said.
Courts Will Strike?
Berger, with the Center for American Progress, said the administration hasn't been following procedural law in attempting to overturn rules, and predicted that some of what he called illegal and “shoddy” efforts by agencies to deregulate will be struck down in court next year.
Additionally, the public will start to see the results of this administration's refusal to allow agencies to respond to new problems through new rulemakings, Berger said.
“As that continues to accumulate and more and more problems that need to be addressed aren't, sadly we're going to see the consequences,” he said.
Despite the judiciary's role in enforcing the Administrative Procedure Act, there's nothing the courts can do to make sure agencies are doing everything they can to protect the public, Berger said.
Improved Optimism
But Hedren, the National Association of Manufacturers VP, praised the new climate in which industries aren't constantly bracing for new burdens.
“That has improved the optimism among manufacturers in particular,” Hedren said.
That effect is likely to continue throughout 2018, during which time the White House is going to have to do some active management of the agencies in order to support its regulatory agenda, Hedren said.
“In 2018, we see an opportunity in a few relatively nascent areas where the White House can step out and take a much more affirmative posture in areas like 3-D printing, additive manufacturing, or unmanned aviation systems,” Hedren said.
New Regulation Possible
The White House appears to have a strong interest in tackling some of the more systemic issues in rulemaking, including driving agencies to—at the outset—justify each new regulation, Hedren said.
“I get the sense that they are increasingly pivoting away from reacting to Obama-era policies and are now really exploring how to promote good regulatory practices that maintain safeguards while better accounting for impacts to the stakeholders who bear most of the burdens of regulation, and especially to smaller businesses,” he said.
Significant systemic changes are possible, said Paul Noe, vice president of public policy at the American Forest and Paper Association. Noe served as counselor to the OIRA administrator for five years during the George W. Bush administration.
“I think there could be more done in the area of rigorous application of cost-benefit analysis to ensure that new regulations do more good than harm,” Noe said.
“I think there could be stronger attention to whether regulation is warranted in the first place, which is whether there's a clear, compelling need for the regulation—whether there's a market failure,” he said.
Casting a Wider Net
Another idea that has been talked about for years, and appears to have the support of Rao, is subjecting the independent agencies to regulatory review by OIRA.
“I don't believe there's any constitutional limitation on the president's authority and ability to manage all of the regulatory state, including the regulations of the independent agencies,” Noe said.
Further, agencies often issue policies and interpretations that don't go through the public notice-and-comment process and claim to not be legally binding, yet have the practical effect of binding regulated parties, Noe said.
The OMB has good guidance practices in effect, but “I think more could be done there to strengthen agency compliance with those guidelines,” he said.
No More Low-Hanging Fruit
Amit Narang, regulatory policy advocate at Public Citizen, said the level of deregulatory output from last year is going to be difficult for the administration to match this upcoming year now that the low-hanging fruit—proposals and new rules—are off the table and all that's left is rolling back established regulations.
In some cases that process has started, in a lot of cases it hasn't, but in either case it's a much lengthier and more legally vulnerable process to roll back existing rules because of the requirements of the APA, Narang said.
There are also limits on the ability of the administration to continue to block new rules, because laws require agencies to regulate in certain areas that are not optional, Narang said.
Still, this administration has a track record of not meeting statutory deadlines, such as the Environmental Protection Agency's ozone rule, which it produced only after a threatened lawsuit, Narang said.
Lack of Transparency
Also unclear is the impact of Executive Order 13,771 on regulatory output. Public Citizen joined with environmental and labor groups early in 2017 to challenge the executive order in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, which hasn't yet issued a decision in the case.
“Everybody seems to be waiting around for the administration to make clear when they are offsetting new rules that protect the public: when they're going to offset those and how they're going to offset those,” Narang said.
However, there's a more serious transparency concern with how agencies are delaying or refusing to issue regulations because it's so difficult to comply with the executive order, Narang said.
“The problem is it's what we can't see that potentially is the impact, not what we can see,” Narang said.
More Questions Than Answers
It will be interesting to see what happens as agencies try to comply with Executive Order 13,771, said Susan Dudley, director of the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center. Dudley served as OIRA administrator during the George W. Bush administration.
“I can confidently predict that we will see less new regulatory activity,” Dudley said. “But when it comes to what will the impact be on accumulated regulations, I think it will be very interesting to watch.“
Another area likely to be challenging for this administration in 2018 is litigation, which will depend on how good a job agencies do in justifying the changes they're making to existing rules, Dudley said.
There are likely to be citizen lawsuits over agency inaction as well as action, Dudley said.
“Whether this administration can create a regulatory docket that justifies the changes, I think that's going to be interesting to see,” Dudley said.
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U.S. FDA Halts Use of Triclosan in Health Care Antiseptics
Dec 25, 2017 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Cheryl Hogue
The antibacterial compound triclosan, already banned in the U.S. from consumer soaps, will no longer be allowed in antiseptic products used in hospitals and other health care settings. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration on Dec. 20 deemed triclosan and 23 other antiseptic ingredients to not be generally recognized as safe and effective.
“There was a lack of sufficient safety and efficacy data” for the 24 affected chemicals, FDA In Brief: FDA issues final rule on safety and effectiveness for certain active ingredients in over-the-counter health care antiseptic hand washes and rubs in the medical setting" explains FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
The new regulation affects hand washes and rubs used by health care professionals, surgical hand scrubs and rubs, and antiseptic preparations used on patients’ skin before injections or surgery.
FDA’s action stems from a settlement the agency made with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The environmental group sued the agency in 2010 for failing to finalize a 1978 proposal to ban triclosan in soaps.
In the new regulation, FDA put off deciding whether six other ingredients are safe and effective in antiseptic health care products, giving manufacturers more time to provide data to the agency. These substances are: two quaternary ammonium compounds, benzalkonium chloride and benzethonium chloride; chloroxylenol; ethyl alcohol; isopropyl alcohol; and povidone-iodine.
The American Cleaning Institute, which represents producers of soaps and detergents, is pleased that the agency deferred action on the six chemicals.
“Manufacturers need sufficient time to provide FDA with additional safety and efficacy data to support the continued use of these products in health care facilities,” the industry group says. “The active ingredients used in health care antiseptic drug products have very favorable benefit/risk ratios demonstrated over many years of extensive use.”
But Mae Wu, a senior attorney with NRDC, is concerned about the delay. Companies have had decades to provide FDA with the safety and efficacy data, she points out.
NRDC is particularly focused on the two quaternary ammonium compounds, saying the data suggests that these chemicals may cause health problems. Hand sanitizers containing these chemicals are marketed as alcohol-free and are widely used in schools as well as in health care settings, Wu says.
Wu is worried about how long FDA will take to make a determination about the six antibacterial substances.
“I don’t want us to wait another 40 years for FDA to make a decision on these other chemicals,” she says, noting the time that elapsed between FDA’s proposal to ban triclosan and its final action.
FDA banned triclosan and certain other antiseptic chemicals in consumer soaps and body washes more than a year ago. It found that companies haven’t shown the compounds to be safe for long-term daily use, and said that manufacturers failed to show that products with the substances were more effective at preventing the spread of germs than plain soap and water. FDA also cited concern about potential hormonal effects and antibiotic resistance associated with the chemicals.
https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/web/2017/12/US-FDA-halts-use-triclosan.html
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Michigan Commits $23M to Test, Clean Up Fluorochemicals
Dec 25, 2017 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alex Ebert
Michigan is investing $23.2 million into testing and cleanup of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) throughout the state.
Gov. Rick Snyder (R) signed the funding into law Dec. 20 and issued a statement saying the state was committing to be “on the forefront of addressing this issue and how it affects groundwater and public health.”
PFAS are or have been used to make stain-resistant upholstery, waterproof apparel and footwear, and grease-resistant food packaging such as pizza boxes, popcorn bags, and hamburger wrappers.
Some people exposed to high concentrations have suffered high cholesterol, colon and thyroid problems, testicular and kidney cancers, and elevated blood pressure during pregnancy, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Cleanup, Testing, Hiring
The funds are being split between Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Health and Human Services. The DEQ money will go to cleanup activities at 14 confirmed locations of PFAS, purchasing of new laboratory equipment for testing, and hiring seven full-time employees who will support cleanup efforts or assist with sampling.
HHS receives more than $8 million of the funding. Those resources will go toward new lab equipment, funding local health initiatives, and hiring eight employees to analyze well water samples.
At the 14 locations, there are 28 Michigan sites with known PFAS concentrations, according to the DEQ. That includes a water treatment plant in Ann Arbor, a landfill in Flint, and an Air Force base in Oscoda Township.
The state identified an 8-square-mile area of plumes near the base. The bill includes language seeking reimbursement from the federal government for costs incurred at military sites.
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(ACC Mentioned) Powered by Trash: See How Baton Rouge Engineers Are Using Garbage to Fuel Industry
Dec 23, 2017 | Baton Rouge Advocate
By Steve Hardy
Call it alchemy, Baton Rouge style.
Engineers are turning the Capital City's trash into fuel that helps power petrochemical plants along the Mississippi River which make the raw materials used to produce all kinds of goods, from plastic containers to car parts.
But first, the garbage needs time to ferment. After five years at the parish landfill, garbage starts giving off combustible gases that are being captured and sold to the plants. As the trash heap grows ever higher, the city-parish is preparing to install more pumps to extract methane gas bubbling underneath the mammoth pile.
The additional pumps mean that even more of the coffee grounds, food scraps and other trash that Baton Rougeans have thrown out over the years will soon be helping to meet the energy needs of the city's sprawling petrochemical plants.
As waste breaks down, it naturally releases gases such as methane. Typically, that gas would have to be burned off. But five years ago, the East Baton Rouge landfill west of Baker began capturing the gas so it could be sold to nearby industrial facilities.
Approximately 75 pumps collect the gas and spirit it to a plant at the landfill where the methane is cooled and condensed, explained Jason Dayton, plant manager for Advanced Disposal Services, the private company contracted to extract and sell methane at the city-parish landfill.
Five miles of underground pipelines deliver the methane to BASF and ExxonMobil, which can burn it in place of natural gas. Most of the methane goes to Exxon, where it's used to run the boilers at the polyolefins plant to make plastic products such as containers and auto parts, according to the company.
When the program started five years ago, Exxon estimated that recycling the gas would have an effect equal to taking 59,000 cars off the road or planting 73,000 acres of pine forest.
As the landfill has grown, operations have expanded, adding about 12 more pumps in 2015, with another dozen planned to be installed soon, said city-parish environmental coordinator Sarah Boudreaux.
When the program started, the boilers at the Exxon polyolefins plant were using landfill methane to provide 45 percent of the fuel, and the amount has since risen to 54 percent, said spokeswoman Stephanie Cargile.
"The Polyolefins Plant is taking all of the gas that the landfill has offered to ExxonMobil. Our ability to take additional supply and the benefits to the environment will continue to increase over the life of landfill as it matures and produces additional methane," she wrote in an email to The Advocate.
Several years ago, the price of natural gas made it lucrative to begin selling landfill methane, according to Boudreaux.
Although few places like East Baton Rouge and Jefferson parishes decided to cash in by capturing and selling their methane, Boudreaux said, most other places just flare theirs off. The Baton Rouge operation was the first time Exxon had ever used landfill gas to help meet its power needs, according to the company
"We're hardly ever flaring. ... (The plants) basically want everything we can give them," Boudreaux said.
The city-parish gets a cut of the sales, which don't amount to much, but Boudreaux said the city-parish was mostly motivated by a desire to recycle. Exxon even won an Energy Efficiency Award from the American Chemical Council, the company pointed out.
Contracting with Advanced Disposal also means the company maintains all the methane pumps, removing that burden from the city-parish, Boudreaux said. Dayton, the plant manager, makes sure all the pumps are in good order and properly pressurized, and he keeps the plant running and oversees the flare that's used on the rare occasions when the landfill has excess methane.
Though the city-parish is preparing to add more methane pumps, Boudreaux expects to just sell more gas to the companies already connected to the landfill via existing pipelines. Another potential customer could theoretically try to hook up, but installing new pipelines is a legally tedious process due to all the property and infrastructure the pipeline would have to cross, she said.
http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/environment/article_56e7b3d4-deb2-11e7-a73c-efdb02ce87f9.html
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Partners in GCX Permian-to-Gulf Coast Pipeline Agree to Proceed With $1.7B Project
Dec 22, 2017 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
The three partners in Gulf Coast Express (GCX), a $1.7 billion proposed project designed to carry 1.92 Bcf/d of natural gas from the Permian Basin to the Texas Gulf Coast, announced they will move forward with the pipeline.
On Thursday, the three partners -- Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline LLC (KMTP), a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI); DCP Midstream LP; and an affiliate of Targa Resources Corp. -- said their final investment decision to proceed with the project was made "after having executed definitive joint venture agreements and having secured sufficient firm transportation agreements with shippers."
The partners said approximately 85% of the project's capacity is subscribed and committed under long-term, binding transportation agreements. They said they expect the remaining capacity will be subscribed in early 2018. Duane Kokinda, president of KMI's natural gas midstream unit, said construction is expected to begin in the first quarter.
"The remaining available capacity continues to be marketed to interested shippers and may be offered as part of a binding open season in January 2018," Kokinda said. "With this important milestone reached, the project is now included in KMI's backlog."
GCX is expected to be in service in October 2019, pending the receipt of necessary regulatory approvals.
The announcement to proceed came shortly after Apache Corp. said it had secured 500 MMcf/d of transport capacity via GCX and had become a significant shipper for the pipeline. Other shippers include DCP, Targa and Pioneer Natural Resources Co., which is a joint owner in Targa's WestTX gathering system in the Permian and is also one of the basin's largest producers.
Last October, Targa joined the project as its third partner and holds a 25% stake in GCX. KMI plans to build, operate and own a 50% interest in the pipeline, while DCP owns the remaining 25% stake.
The mainline portion of GCX includes 82 miles of 36-inch diameter pipeline and 365 miles of 42-inch diameter pipeline, originating at the Waha hub near Coyanosa, TX, and terminating near Agua Dulce, TX. The project also calls for construction of a 50-mile, 36-inch diameter pipeline lateral to the Midland sub-basin in West Texas, plus associated compression.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/112854-partners-in-gcx-permian-to-gulf-coast-pipeline-agree-to-proceed-with-17b-project
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Interior Hikes Alaska Oil, Natural Gas Reserve Estimates
Dec 25, 2017 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Ben Lefebvre
The Interior Department sharply hiked its estimate of oil reserves contained in Alaska's lands and waters today, estimating that more than 17 billion barrels of oil could be tapped there.
The estimate from the U.S. Geological Survey and BOEM comes after Congressional Republicans opened a portion of the Alaska National Wilderness Refuge to drilling in their tax package this week, and as President Donald Trump and Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke press to boost oil and gas drilling in Alaska as part of the effort to achieve "energy dominance."
The updated estimates put the undiscovered, technically recoverable resources on federal, state and tribal land and offshore at 17.6 billion barrels of oil and more than 50 trillion cubic feet of gas.
“That’s important because with the scientific knowledge, industry partners are more willing to explore the area,” Zinke said. “New discoveries have changed our geologic knowledge of the area — and these assessments show that the North Slope will remain an important energy hub for decades to come in order to meet the energy needs of our nation."
USGS estimates a mean of 8.7 billion barrels of oil and 25 trillion cubic feet of gas could be recovered from the NPR-A. A 2010 resource assessment had put the figure at 1.5 billion barrels of oil.
BOEM’s updated estimates of undiscovered technically recoverable resources in the Beaufort Sea Outer Continental Shelf Planning Area are 8.9 billion barrels of oil and 27.7 trillion cubic feet of gas, up 700 million barrels from its 2016 assessment.
Interior has struggled to sell oil and gas drilling leases in Alaska, particularly those on shore, as current low fossil fuel prices makes it difficult to profitably drill and transport oil from Alaska to market in the lower 48.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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U.S. Pipeline Office Needs to Improve Safety at Gas Storage Sites: GAO
Dec 25, 2017 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Timothy Gardner
The U.S. pipeline safety office is struggling to inspect natural gas storage sites and uphold other standards on the facilities, according to a report released by the General Accountability Office on Friday
After a leak at California's Aliso Canyon underground storage plant spewed natural gas for months, Congress updated pipeline standards in a bill signed by former President Barack Obama last year.
The law required the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, an office of the Department of Transportation to set safety standards at the storage sites by June 2018. PHMSA issued an interim rule that took effect in early 2017, largely based on practices recommended by energy industry lobbying group the American Petroleum Institute.
But the GAO found inspections on the sites were lacking despite the interim rule. PHMSA currently "focuses on training and does not address other core program activities, such as conducting effective inspections," it said.
The non-partisan GAO works for Congress and investigates how the federal government spends taxpayer dollars.Continue reading the main story
The Aliso Canyon leak from a 60-year old well led to the temporary relocation of 8,000 families in 2015. Emissions of the greenhouse gas methane from the facility had a comparable effect on global warming that all the emissions of Costa Rica had during the same period, scientists say.
Representative Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Democrat from Texas who requested the GAO review, said she was concerned inspection lags combined with delays in complying with new safety standards could put public health and safety at risk. There are 415 gas storage sites across 31 states.
"We must ensure that this important energy resource is monitored, developed and overseen with safety in mind," Johnson said.
PHMSA did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the report. But the GAO said the Transportation Department concurred with its recommendations, including defining levels of performance and improving inspections.
Separately, Kevin McIntyre, the new chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said this week his agency would review policies on approvals of new natural gas pipelines. FERC has not updated the policies since 1999.
Some recent approvals of new pipelines, such as the Atlantic Coast Pipeline from West Virginia to North Carolina, have taken two years or more. Neil Chatterjee, a fellow Republican of McIntyre's on the FERC committee, said last month he hoped lengthy approvals would not become the new norm.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/12/22/us/22reuters-usa-naturalgas-pipelines.html
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Amtrak Safety — or Danger — Needs a Hearing, Cantwell Says
Dec 22, 2017 | Roll Call
By Griffin Connolly
Sen. Maria Cantwell has sent a letter requesting a congressional inquiry into Amtrak safety procedures in light of the Monday derailment in Washington state that killed three people and injured dozens more.
After Monday’s crash, at least 22 people have died as a result of Amtrak derailments and crashes since 2011. The train system has averaged roughly two derailments per month in recent years, Federal Railroad Administration statistics show.
“Millions of Americans depend on rail service each day, and businesses in every corner of our country depend on freight rail to keep commerce running,” Cantwell, a Washington Democrat, wrote in the letter to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, the Seattle Times reported.
“The alarming rate of incidents on our rails is cause for tremendous concern,” she wrote.
Cantwell and 14 other senators, including fellow Washington Democrat Patty Murrayand Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley, previously signed a letter to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao requesting that she hold rail service companies accountable for neglecting safety precautions.
The train that crashed Monday in Dupont, Washington, traveling from Seattle to Portland, was roaring at 80 miles per hour, more than 50 miles per hour over the speed limit, as it approached the bend where it derailed.
The signatories requested a report on the effectiveness of a satellite-tracked safety system called positive train control, or PTC, that can remotely slow a train’s speed as it approaches bends or obstacles.
Some experts have said PTC could have prevented Monday’s derailment.
The hearings on Amtrak safety should include testimony not just on PTC and other technological concerns but also on logistical issues such as crew training, staff levels and proper routing, the senators wrote.
Transportation Committee Chairman John Thune signaled Friday he is eager to work with his colleagues to hold hearings and improve train safety.
The South Dakota Republican “is already planning an early 2018 hearing on positive train control implementation,” a spokeswoman said in a statement Friday.
“The Chairman appreciates Senator Cantwell’s commitment to rail safety.”
https://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/amtrak-safety-danger-needs-hearing-cantwell-says
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Rail Industry Still Fighting Safety Fixes That Would Have Saved Hundreds of Lives
Dec 22, 2017 | DeSmog
By Justin Mikulka
The latest fatal Amtrak accident in Washington state was another reminder of the the reality of the cost-benefit approach to regulating safety.
When the rail industry and its lobbyists are able to argue against implementing proven safety technology because they don’t want to pay for it — that is, for the sake of higher profits — preventable accidents will continue to happen. Delayed Regulation, Higher Profits
Avoiding accidents is calculated as a “benefit” for regulators and the industry. However, if the “costs” to invest in safety equipment, technology, and training are more than the industry is willing to pay, then it pushes back on regulations, and if successful, regulators essentially decide to accept a certain number of accidents.
The Associated Press reports that between 1969 and 2015, “nearly 300 people have died in train crashes that could have been prevented” using the automatic braking technology known as positive train control. However, the “benefit” of saving those 300 lives was not enough to get the rail industry to invest in positive train control. That is the reality of rail industry math.
In a Congressional hearing about rail regulation this year, Congressman Bill Shuster said that the goal for regulatory reform should be to “allow the railroad industry to keep more of their profits.” Later in the year Shuster received an award from the rail lobbying group the Association of American Railroads, and according to OpenSecrets.org, over the course of his career, three of the top five donors to his political campaigns have been Berkshire Hathaway (owner of BNSF), and rail companies Union Pacific Corp and CSX Corp.
One proven way for industry to keep more of its profits is to avoid or delay spending on safety technology while instead spending some of those profits on large political donations to members of Congress.Years of Successful Lobbying
This recent passenger rail accident south of Seattle most likely would have been prevented if positive train control were in place. In 2014 I wrote about positive train control (PTC) in a story titled “How This U.S. Rail Safety Measure Has Been Delayed for 44 Years … And Counting.” Since that article was published, there have been many fatal accidents that could have been prevented, but the rail industry has worked hard and long to delay the implementation of positive train control.
In that article I wrote about how the rail companies were lobbying to extend the deadline for PTC once again. The industry was successful in those efforts mainly because it threatened to shut down and cripple the U.S. economy if Congress held the industry to the timeline — set by Congress in the 2008 Rail Safety Improvement Act — to have PTC fully installed on rail lines by the end of 2015.
While the railroads didn’t implement PTC in the seven years Congress gave them, they did spend that time lobbying against that requirement.
The most recent delay for the implementation of PTC even earned the Association of American Railroads (AAR) the respect of its lobbying peers. In The Hill’s list of Top Lobbyists of 2015 they recognize Edward Hamberger of the AAR, for his work delaying the safety technology, saying, “Hamberger was part of a successful push for a congressional agreement to extend a deadline for automated trains on most of the nation’s railways.”
Apparently a “successful push” to delay safety is worthy of recognition in the lobbying community.
However, Hamberger doesn’t deserve all the credit for delaying safety regulations; he had a lot of paid help. A 2015 article in The Intercept notes the many lobbyists paid to work on the PTC issue for the AAR included Linda Daschle (the wife of former Democratic Senate leader Tom Daschle); Kathryn Higgins, former board member of the National Transportation Safety Board; former Senators John Breaux and Trent Lott; and several other lobbying groups, which include other former members of Congress.
The Intercept also notes that as early as 2009, during an investor call, a Wall Street analyst asked the CEO of rail company Norfolk Southern what “you guys can do in terms of lobbying” on the issue of PTC. When the CEO replied they were working to “educate members of Congress as to what the implications of this legislation are,” the analyst advised him to “further educate” them. That means that in 2009 the industry and its lobbyists were already working to avoid implementing PTC, even though they still had six years before the congressional deadline.
In The Intercept's 2015 article is an update from Amtrak, which said, “Amtrak is committed to meeting the PTC deadline of December 31, 2015 and is not individually lobbying against the PTC mandate.” And yet almost three years later and after another fatal Amtrak accident, the discussion has returned once again to the question of when PTC will be implemented, with 2020 apparently now the earliest possible date.Train Safety Rule Rollbacks
As the fatal accidents that could have been prevented by PTC continue to add up, one would hope that the industry and regulators would learn from tragedy and look to prioritize safety over profits. Instead, the rail industry has continued to actively fight the rollout of new safety technologies.
In a story earlier this month, I detailed how the recent rollback of regulations requiring modern electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes on oil trains included a web of deception that gave the decision to repeal this safety rule the appearance of being based on sound science and data.
One of the many advantages of ECP brakes compared to conventional brakes is the greatly improved stopping distances for trains, a benefit that increases safety when combined with PTC technology. This benefit was noted in a 2006 report prepared for the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on the effectiveness of ECP brakes:
“FRA continues to believe that ECP brakes provide numerous safety and business benefits over conventional air brake systems … Trains equipped with ECP brakes provide locomotive engineers with better train control, lowering the risk of derailment … It also complements other rail safety technologies like Positive Train Control systems and Wayside Detection Systems.” [emphasis added]
However, investing in all of those proven safety benefits cut into industry profits. That's where the work of lobbyists like Edward Hamberger comes into play, and by early December, the Department of Transportation (DOT) announced it would reverse course and repeal the ECP braking regulation.
But Hamberger isn’t one to sit back and enjoy the latest victory. As editorial boards and communities along the railroad tracks frequented by oil trains express their dismay at the Department of Transportation decision, Hamberger is still at work, attacking the research showing the superior safety performance of ECP brakes.
In response to an editorial criticizing the repeal of the braking regulation, Hamberger wrote a letter to the Everett Herald in Washington, making the following claim:
“To rigidly concentrate on ECP brakes as a magic bullet, when testing proves them unreliable, is misleading. None other than the National Academies [sic] of Sciences opined that the safety case for ECP brakes has not been made. This key fact should guide future editorials for accuracy.”
However, testing has not proven ECP brakes are unreliable. That is misleading.
And the claim that the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) has concluded a safety case for ECP brakes “has not been made” is also highly misleading, as I've documented. The NAS committee specifically noted: “This report is not intended to be a comprehensive consideration of the performance of ECP brakes relative to that of other braking systems.”
And yet that same report is being used to say that the safety case for ECP brakes has not been made. The NAS has not responded to multiple requests for comment on why the Department of Transportation and the AAR continue to incorrectly credit its scientists for making such a statement about ECP braking performance.Australia Has Used This Technology for Years
With all the industry attacks claiming ECP brakes are “unproven” and “unreliable,” real-world proof of the brakes' performance could help shed light on the issue. And in the Department of Transportation's final ruling on ECP brakes, the agency offers that up in its evaluation of their use in Australia, where the technology has been implemented for more than a decade:
“Although there has been a learning curve in switching from conventional braking to ECP braking, the positive result of the Australian experience is clear evidence that ECP brake systems could be a proven and reliable option for HHFUTs [high-hazard flammable unit trains] in the United States.”
The DOT also noted that Australia has no regulations requiring ECP brakes; rather, the railroads choose to use them. If ECPbrakes were unreliable and cost too much to operate, why would Australian companies volunteer to use them? Because, they know from experience what previous research has shown as well: ECP brakes are worth the investment.
But U.S. rail companies have successfully argued against the use of ECP brakes, ignoring the evidence and using misleading statements.
Sarah Feinberg, head of the Federal Railroad Administration at the end of the Obama administration, recently told The Washington Post what I’ve been writing here for several years.
“The science is there, the data is there,” Feinberg said. “Their argument is, despite that data, [they] don’t want to spend the money on it.”
Almost 50 years since positive train control was first recommended, it still isn’t in operation because railroads refuse to pony up the cash that would have saved hundreds of lives. Once again, these companies have successfully argued against investing in another safety measure — this time, in modern braking systems — because they say the costs don’t justify the benefits. In other words, the benefit of keeping more profit.
https://www.desmogblog.com/2017/12/22/preventable-accidents-continue-rail-industry-fights-new-safety-technology
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Pressured by Lawsuits, EPA Advances Ozone, SO2 Designations
Dec 22, 2017 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
U.S. EPA officials, under pressure from multiple lawsuits, today crossed a key compliance milestone for the agency's 2015 ground-level ozone standard.
The agency said it sent states the required four-month notice for instances in which it disagrees with their attainment recommendations for the 70-parts-per-billion standard.
Those notices, often dubbed "120-day letters," offer a concrete sign the agency is moving ahead with overdue decisions for areas that are unlikely to meet the 70 ppb threshold.
EPA will be opening a 30-day public comment period on the planned designations, a release said. In what could be read as a nod to Western states, the agency said it "acknowledges the importance of background ozone outside the control of state and tribal air agencies."
The designations also incorporate "limited tools for regulatory relief," such as the exclusion of unfavorable data resulting from wildfires and other "exceptional events" outside regulators' direct control.
EPA posted the letters shortly after issuing the news release.
States had turned in their recommendations more than a year ago. Under a standard Clean Air Act timetable, EPA was supposed to have rendered the final decisions by this past October.
Last month, the agency issued a partial roster of designations that found some 85 percent of the U.S. counties to be in attainment, but put off thornier decisions on areas like Houston, Los Angeles and Connecticut.
In a brief interview last week, recently installed air chief Bill Wehrum signaled that the process would be completed by this spring.
Ozone, a lung irritant that is the prime ingredient in smog, is linked to asthma attacks in children and worsened breathing problems for people with emphysema and other chronic respiratory ailments.
Under the Obama administration, EPA had tightened the standard from 75 ppb to 70 ppb in October on the grounds that the change was needed to protect public heath in light of recent research on ozone's effects.
From a compliance perspective, the designations are important because they start the clock for state regulators to come up with cleanup plans for areas that are out of compliance.
EPA chief Scott Pruitt, who opposed the 70 ppb standard in his previous job as Oklahoma attorney general, this spring initially sought to delay all designations until October 2018, but reversed himself this summer after Democratic-led states and public health advocacy groups sued.
The agency added another dollop of confusion last week by suggesting in a statement of regulatory priorities that it was still pursuing the purportedly withdrawn extension.
The agency has so far offered no explanation, but the states and advocacy groups were quick to cite it in legal filings in the lawsuits pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
On a related front, EPA yesterday announced a new round of attainment designations for its 2010 sulfur dioxide standard. Five areas were listed in nonattainment, including San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Tampa, Fla. The agency was required to make the designations by year's end under the terms of a previous consent decree with the Sierra Club.
In the release, Pruitt cited the fact that most of the country — at least geographically — is in compliance with both the sulfur dioxide and ozone standard as evidence of the effectiveness of "cooperative federalism."
"I am encouraged by the progress we've made and will continue working alongside states, tribes and localities to determine the best methods to meet air quality standards," he said.
Reporter Kevin Bogardus contributed.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2017/12/22/stories/1060069817
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EPA Advances SO2, Ozone NAAQS Designations
Dec 25, 2017 | Inside EPA
EPA is advancing the process of designating areas for whether they attain or are exceeding federal air standards, publishing a new round of attainment findings for the 2010 sulfur dioxide (SO2) national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) and taking a major procedural step toward issuing more findings for the 2015 ozone NAAQS.
In the third round of a long-delayed process of designating areas as “attainment,” “unclassifiable” or “nonattainment,” EPA found six areas to be violating the 2010 SO2 NAAQS, set at 75 parts per billion (ppb) over one hour. The process has been delayed for years because of inadequate air quality monitoring to determine compliance with the standard, requiring states to either use computer modeling or to build new monitoring networks. The process is due to be complete in 2020 under a consent decree timetable agreed with environmentalists.
EPA in a fact sheet lists the six nonattainment areas: Hillsborough Polk County, FL; Piti-Cabras, in Guam; Huntington, IN; Evangeline Parish, LA; San Juan, PR; and Guayama Salinas, PR. All of the several dozen other areas announced Dec. 22 are classified as “attainment” or “unclassifiable,” avoiding the regulatory consequences of a nonattainment designation.
Areas designated nonattainment must craft plans to impose tougher pollution controls on industry, or face the ultimate sanction of losing federal highway funding. EPA says that for SO2, there are only 50 areas left to designate in the final round, which must be complete by Dec. 31, 2020. These areas will rely on monitoring data, rather the modeling.
Meanwhile, EPA the same day announced“120-day letters,” which give states notice of its intended final designations for the 2015 ozone NAAQS, which the Obama EPA set at 70 parts per billion (ppb), tougher than the Bush administration's prior standard of 75 ppb. The letters are an important procedural step that will allow EPA to issue the final designations in 2018, after the agency missed an Oct. 1 Clean Air Act deadline to issue them.
EPA issued designations Nov. 16 for most parts of the country classified as attainment or unclassifiable, but issued no nonattainment designations, including those for major metropolitan areas such New York. Environmentalists and states sued the agency in federal district court to force issuance of the remaining designations.
Further, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has instructed EPA to state its timetable for designations “with precision and specificity” by Jan. 12, in existing litigation brought by states and environmentalists against EPA's June decision to delay all ozone designations by one year, to Oct. 1, 2018, a decision the agency then reversed. Issuance of the 120-day letters will help EPA to make this statement to the court.
“While not required to seek public comment during the 120-day period, EPA will also be opening a 30-day comment period for the public to provide input on these designations before they are finalized,” EPA says in a statement. The public comment period will open once EPA publishes a notice announcing the designations in the Federal Register.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/epa-advances-so2-ozone-naaqs-designations
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