Preview Newsletter
ACC AM 1/4/18
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(ACC Mentioend) Chemicals Production Continues Strong Growth
Jan 4, 2018 | Hydrocarbon Engineering
By Callum O'Reilly
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has today released data that confirms that growth in global chemistry during November was boosted by a synchronised up-swing in the global economy. -
(ACC Mentioned) Sunderland Company Set To Take On New Staff
Jan 4, 2018 | Sunderland Echo
By Daniel Prince
A Sunderland recycling firm is planning to expand its workforce after a successful first year in business. -
Draft US Report Recommends Adding Antimony Trioxide To Carcinogen List
Jan 4, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The US National Toxicology Program has provisionally concluded that antimony trioxide is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen". -
GE Could Dodge Future Hudson River Cleanup Costs
Jan 4, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Gerald B. Silverman
General Electric Co. will have to wait longer than it expected for a decision from the EPA on whether the decades-long project to remove polychlorinated biphenyls from the upper Hudson River is complete. -
Executive Pleads Guilty to Water Treatment Chemical Price Fixing
Jan 4, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Amena H. Saiyid
A former sales and marketing executive with an Indiana-based chemical manufacturer admitted to fixing the price of a chemical used to treat paper and pulp products, as well as drinking water and wastewater. -
Six Member States Call For Glyphosate Alternatives, Exit Plan
Jan 4, 2018 | Euractiv
By Sarantis Michalopoulos
Six member states that opposed the re-authorisation glyphosate, the world’s most commonly used weedkiller, sent a letter to the European Commission last month asking the EU executive to conduct a study and look into alternatives to the controversial substance. -
Consumer Rights NGO Calls EU Approach To CMR Cosmetics 'Unlawful'
Jan 4, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Consumer Organisation (Beuc) has questioned the legality of the EU Commission's revised approach to CMR substances in cosmetics. -
Consumer Groups Demand Chemical Regulation Talks After EU-Japan Trade Deal
Jan 4, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Aya Kawanishi
European and Japanese consumer groups have called for talks on chemical regulatory cooperation after the finalisation of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Japan. -
JRC Suggests Successive Migration Tests For Metals From Tableware Ceramics
Jan 4, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Three successive tests should be conducted instead of one to measure migration of heavy metals into food from tableware ceramics, according to a final report from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC). -
(ACC Mentioned) Trump Looks To Create Natural Gas Hub In Coal Country
Jan 4, 2018 | Washington Examiner
By John Siciliano
The Trump administration is looking to transform the fracking states of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania into a massive hub for storing natural gas. -
(ACC Mentioned) Appalachian Ethane Storage Hub Takes A Step Closer To Reality
Jan 3, 2018 | Pittsburgh Business Times
By Paul J. Gough
The potential for a multibillion-dollar Appalachian underground natural gas liquids storage hub rose dramatically in the new year with word that the U.S. Department of Energy has moved to the next level the region's application for $1.9 billion in loan guarantees for the project. -
(ACC Mentioned) Gas Storage Hub Project Clears First Hurdle For Big Loan
Jan 3, 2018 | West Virginia MetroNews
By Brad McElhinny
Supporters of a regional storage hub for natural gas are excited the proposed project has cleared a significant hurdle for a possible $1.9 billion federal loan guarantee. -
(ACC Mentioned) Natural Gas Storage Hub Clears Hurdle
Jan 4, 2018 | Parkersburg News and Sentinal
By Jess Mancini
A hurdle has been cleared in the development of an underground natural gas liquids storage hub that industry representatives said could create thousands of jobs and encourage billions of dollars of development in Appalachia. -
(ACC Mentioned) Appalachia underground NGL Storage Facility Clears Big Hurdle
Jan 4, 2018 | Kallanish Energy
Plans for an underground natural gas liquids storage hub touted as a major job creator for the chemical industry in the Appalachian Basin have cleared a big hurdle. -
Energy Transfer Pennsylvania Pipeline Halted on Violations
Jan 4, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Meenal Vamburkar
Energy Transfer Partners LP's Mariner East 2 pipeline hit another snag in Pennsylvania, where an environmental regulator suspended construction permits on alleged violations. -
State Court Judge Rejects California County's Year-Old Drilling Ban
Jan 3, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
A county superior court judge in California last Thursday partly rejected a ballot measure passed by Monterey County voters in November 2016 to ban oil and natural gas drilling. The court has allowed part of the measure that bans hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to stand. -
Anadarko Shale Project Among Those Funded by Energy Department
Jan 3, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Catherine Traywick
The Trump Administration is handing out $30 million in funding to boost U.S. oil and gas production, and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc stand to gain. -
USDOT Puts Pressure On Railroads To Implement PTC
Jan 4, 2018 | American Shipper
By Chris Gillis
According to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, full implementation of positive train control (PTC) systems across the nation’s vast rail network is a top priority of the Department of Transportation in 2018. -
Delaware to Sue EPA Over Out-of-State Air Pollution
Jan 4, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Leslie A. Pappas
The EPA has failed to curb pollution that blows into Delaware from out-of-state power plants despite appeals for relief, the state said, announcing plans to sue the federal agency. -
CPP Repeal Opponents Might Seek To Consolidate Suits With Prior Case
Jan 3, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Dawn Reeves
When EPA finalizes its proposed repeal of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) to cut utility greenhouse gas emissions, opponents of the repeal may ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to combine their new challenges with stayed litigation over the original CPP.
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(ACC Mentioend) Chemicals Production Continues Strong Growth
Jan 4, 2018 | Hydrocarbon Engineering
By Callum O'Reilly
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has today released data that confirms that growth in global chemistry during November was boosted by a synchronised up-swing in the global economy. The American Chemistry Council’s Global Chemical Production Regional Index (Global CPRI) reveals that global chemicals production rose 0.6% in November, following on from a 0.5% gain in October. During November, production gains were experienced across all regions. The Global CPRI was up 3.1% y/y on a three-month moving average basis and stood at 112.4% of its average 2012 levels in November.
During November, capacity utilisation in the global business of chemistry increased from 80.6% to 81%. This is up from 80.3% last November but is below the long-term (1987 – 2016) average of 88.8%.
On a product basis, results were generally positive during November, with weakness only in synthetic rubber and pharmaceuticals. Considering y/y comparisons, growth was strongest in coatings followed by pharmaceuticals, consumer products, manufactured fibres, and organic chemicals.
ACC’s Global CPRI measures the production volume of the business of chemistry for 33 nations, sub-regions, and regions, all aggregated to the world total. The index can be compared to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) production indices and features a similar base year, where 2012=100. This index is developed from government industrial production indices for chemicals from over 65 nations, accounting for about 98% of the total global business of chemistry.
https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/petrochemicals/04012018/chemicals-production-continues-strong-growth/
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(ACC Mentioned) Sunderland Company Set To Take On New Staff
Jan 4, 2018 | Sunderland Echo
By Daniel Prince
A Sunderland recycling firm is planning to expand its workforce after a successful first year in business.
Pakway, based in Houghton, has built up a team of 21 since being founded last year.
Further recruitment is now set to take place, with the company expecting to take on four new staff and one apprentice in the coming months.
Pakway recycles discarded plastic drinks bottles from around the world into clean plastic sheets that can be used again for packaging food and non-food consumer items.
The firm was set up by Jeff Brunskill - who has over 30 years of experience in the plastics industry - with support from Sunderland City Council's business investment team.
As part of its expansion plans, it is set to deliver a second production line in April, which it says will be working to full capacity by the end of the year.
Coun Harry Trueman, deputy leader of Sunderland City Council, said: “Pakway has found an innovative way of solving one of the world’s growing environmental problems, while also creating a successful business with an exciting future. It is a welcome addition to the regional business community.”
Mr Brunskill said: "Our vision is to double capacity and create more jobs and apprentices next year.
“There are a number of factors that have helped us to grow, including the combination of design experience, technical knowledge and process skills we have within our team.
"We’re grateful for the expert advice and support we’ve had from Sunderland’s business investment team who have worked alongside us from the outset.
“Externally, we’ve also been aided by the global push to recycle more, greater awareness of the need to recycle and increased pressure on businesses to make sure a proportion of what they produce is recovered.”
According to figures from the American Chemistry Council, the average consumer uses 166 plastic water bottles annually.
Meanwhile, the collection and disposal of plastic bottles currently costs UK local councils an estimated £100million per year.
Recycling one tonne of plastic bottles saves 1.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide by avoiding landfill or incineration.
At current capacity, Pakway can save about 7,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, excluding additional savings through reduced pollution and other factors.
The grocery industry is a key sector for Pakway, which also supplies markets including toys, electronic goods and household items.
https://www.sunderlandecho.com/our-region/sunderland/sunderland-company-set-to-take-on-new-staff-1-8939449
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Draft US Report Recommends Adding Antimony Trioxide To Carcinogen List
Jan 4, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The US National Toxicology Program has provisionally concluded that antimony trioxide is "reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen".
Publication of its draft Report on Carcinogens (ROC) monograph coincides with the finalisation of its two-year study of the substance that found "clear evidence of carcinogenic activity" in mice.
The NTP found the human data "inadequate", but the animal and mechanistic data "sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity".
Antimony trioxide increased the incidence of tumours, including malignant ones, in the lungs and adrenal glands in rats and the lungs, skin and lymphoid system in mice.
It also led to increases in:
· oxidative stress and damage;
· impairment of DNA damage repair; and, possibly,
· inhibition of cell differentiation.
As a result, the NTP report says antimony trioxide should be listed on the organisation's Report on Carcinogens. This identifies substances that pose cancer hazards, listing them as either "known to be" or "reasonably anticipated to be" a human carcinogen.
Antimony substances are used extensively in flame retardants, and also in lead batteries, plastics, paints, glass and ceramics. Regulators have been worried about their potential to cause lung cancer since the 1970s, when incidence among smelter workers was found to be higher than for the general population. Antimony trioxide is typically used as a proxy for the group, which includes antimony sulfide and antimony metal, for the purposes of risk assessment.EU evaluation
The US work could be significant in the EU, where the German REACH and CLP competent authority, Baua, is to begin evaluating antimony trioxide – along with antimony sulphide and antimony metal – in March. Industry is concerned that the results could lead to stricter regulation.
Baua has said that CLP reclassification of antimony trioxide, which currently has a category 2 carcinogenic classification, may be required based on the results of the NTP’s two-year study.
Furthermore, attendees at an industry meeting about antimony substances in November last year heard that reclassification as a category 1B carcinogen was a possible outcome.
This would have immediate, significant implications for industry, not least because of the way CLP links directly with EU legislation under which category 1 carcinogenic substances are subject to stricter rules. It would, for example, make designation as a REACH substance of very high concern (SVHC) much more likely.
The International Antimony Association is arguing in favour of explicit limitation of any reclassification to inhalation. The aim would be to ensure that any restrictions imposed downstream were not applied to uses involving no potential exposure to powders or dusts.
This would be unusual – classifications are not normally restricted by exposure route – but not without precedent. Echa's Risk Assessment Committee (Rac) decided in July that titanium dioxide should be classified under EU CLP as a category 2 carcinogen by inhalation. The agency's REACH Committee will make the final decision.Next steps
The NTP has called a meeting to peer review the draft monograph on 24 January. This will be open to the public, but is being held by webcast.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62844/draft-us-report-recommends-adding-antimony-trioxide-to-carcinogen-list
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GE Could Dodge Future Hudson River Cleanup Costs
Jan 4, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Gerald B. Silverman
General Electric Co. will have to wait longer than it expected for a decision from the EPA on whether the decades-long project to remove polychlorinated biphenyls from the upper Hudson River is complete.
The Environmental Protection Agency has delayed a decision on the project, telling GE in a Jan. 2 letter that analyzing the “number and complexity” of public comments “has taken longer than we anticipated.”
The decision is part of a five-year review of the project and could mean that GE is off the hook for additional cleanup costs. The company, as a responsible party under the Superfund law, has spent some $1.7 billion to remove the PCBs, which were used in insulating electric transformers and other products.
PCBs, according to the EPA, cause cancer and other diseases by affecting the immune, reproductive, nervous, and endocrine systems.
The EPA told GE that it will complete its five-year review in “early 2018” and then decide if the project is complete.
GE's request for a certification of completion of the remedial action was filed Jan. 3, 2017. Under a 2006 consent decree, the agency had a year to respond.
Poised to Sue
“The EPA made the right decision by heeding our warnings and not issuing a certificate of completion this past month. Based on extensive data, it is overwhelmingly clear that GE's cleanup of PCB contamination is not complete,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said in a Jan. 3 statement.
“As I have said before, if the EPA reverses course and chooses to ignore the facts, we will partner with New York's Attorney General to sue the federal government,” Cuomo said.
The state—which is backed by environmental groups and the Interior Department's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—contends that significant amounts of PCBs remain in the river and therefore the goals of the project have not been reached.
“The law is clear: EPA cannot possibly support a finding that GE's actions have been sufficient to protect New Yorkers’ public health and the environment,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement.
Due Diligence
Mark Behan, a spokesman for GE, said the state had 16 years to object to the project, but didn't do so.
“GE successfully completed the dredging of the Upper Hudson River in 2015, having removed all of the PCBs that the U.S. EPA targeted for removal—approximately 80 percent of the PCBs in the river and twice as much as originally projected—in a $1.7-billion, six-year project that EPA has called a success and a historic achievement that will protect human health and the environment,” Behan said.
“As a result of dredging, PCB levels in water at every station on the river where environmental data are collected have declined sharply and are continuing to decline,” he said.
The EPA told GE that the agency would complete its five-year review early this year and consider the company's application for a certificate of completion, Behan added.
The state's position is supported by Fish and Wildlife Service, which is a trustee for the river under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA).
“We believe additional PCB removal and robust habitat reconstruction under the CERCLA remedial program will accelerate the recovery of the river and its resources, which will reduce the restoration required and facilitate the ecological and economic recovery of the Hudson River,” Kathryn Jahn, the Hudson River case manager at the Department of the Interior, said in a Dec. 13 m
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=125948269&vname=dennotallissues&fn=125948269&jd=125948269
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Executive Pleads Guilty to Water Treatment Chemical Price Fixing
Jan 4, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Amena H. Saiyid
A former sales and marketing executive with an Indiana-based chemical manufacturer admitted to fixing the price of a chemical used to treat paper and pulp products, as well as drinking water and wastewater.
Brian Steppig, former sales and marketing director with GEO Specialty Chemicals Inc., pleaded guilty to conspiring between 2005 and 2011 with other competitors by rigging bids, allocating markets, and fixing the price for liquid aluminum sulfate, or alum as it is commonly known.
Utilities add alum to make particles stick together as they process drinking water and wastewater, which then can be more easily filtered out during the treatment process. The utilities and local governments say higher prices for alum have led to a spike in costs.
Admits Guilt
Steppig changed his plea from not guilty to guilty as charged on Jan. 3 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
His admission comes after a long-running federal criminal investigation into price fixing in the alum industry that the Justice Department said violated the antitrust law known as the Sherman Antitrust Act. A violation can carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine for individuals.
The federal district court has set an April 11 sentencing date for Steppig. His attorney, J. Bruce Maffeo of Cozen O'Connor PC in New York, didn't respond to Bloomberg Environment's request for comment.
The Justice Department had also indicted another company executive, Vincent J. Opalewski, but in November dropped its case.
Civil Cases Pending
Frank Reichl, another senior executive with GEO Specialty Chemicals as well as General Chemical Corp., is the only other executive that has pleaded guilty to the price-gouging charges.
GEO Specialty Chemicals pleaded guilty in June 2016, in a separate criminal case, to one count of price fixing of alum in violation of the Sherman Act. The company agreed to pay $5 million, in a plea agreement reached in U.S. v. GEO Specialty Chem. Inc.
Apart from the criminal proceedings, the federal court in New Jersey is hearing two class actions brought on allegations of price fixing and manipulation against several chemical manufacturing companies, including General Chemical and GEO Specialty Chemicals. The cases are still in the discovery stage.
The criminal case against the company executives is United States v. Opalewski, D.N.J., No. 16-cr-00065, plea agreement 1/3/18.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=125948273&vname=dennotallissues&fn=125948273&jd=125948273
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Six Member States Call For Glyphosate Alternatives, Exit Plan
Jan 4, 2018 | Euractiv
By Sarantis Michalopoulos
Six member states that opposed the re-authorisation glyphosate, the world’s most commonly used weedkiller, sent a letter to the European Commission last month asking the EU executive to conduct a study and look into alternatives to the controversial substance.
In their letter to Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans and EU health chief Vytenis Andriukaitis, the six ministers of agriculture or environment from France, Belgium, Greece, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Malta reiterated their “concerns” about the risks of the use of glyphosate.
A Commission source told EURACTIV.com that there was not much to say at this stage and that the executive was preparing a response.
Last November, the Appeal Committee, which consists of experts from the member states and the European Commission, re-approved the controversial substance after Germany changed its mind at the very last moment and helped the EU executive reach the necessary qualified majority.
Referring to a European citizen’s initiative signed by more than one million people who demanded a ban of the substance as well as a European Parliament resolution urging for measures to phase it out by 15 December 2022, the six ministers underlined the need for an “exit plan”.
“We invite the European Commission to accompany the decision of the renewal with measures intended to limit the risks and to prepare the exit plan for glyphosate by accompanying farmers,” the letter reads.
The member states also claimed that the executive should carry out a study on the alternatives (chemical, mechanical or biological) to the main agricultural uses of glyphosate.
We cannot stay indifferent
The letter also noted that France, the strongest opponent to glyphosate, was planning to lead a working group aiming at developing alternatives and ensuring a short-term exit.
Greek Minister of Agricultural Development Evangelos Apostolou, who also voted against the re-authorisation, emphasised in a statement that the social concern about the issue could not leave policymakers indifferent.
“It is our duty to push in the direction of risk management, in the interests of consumers, producers and the environment,” he said.
Call for a new study
In the past, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) had approved the chemical, claiming it is “unlikely to pose a carcinogenic risk to humans from exposure through the diet”.
The same opinion was shared by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as well as the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
The only body that expressed concerns about glyphosate was IARC, the International Cancer Research, which in 2015 concluded that the herbicide solution was “probably carcinogenic to humans”.
EFSA said it had carried out a thorough analysis and taken account of the IARC’s findings. Greenpeace, for its part, called EFSA’s report “a whitewash”.
The six member states call for the new study to be conducted by the European agencies in cooperation with the national agencies of voluntary member states and IARC / WHO regarding the carcinogenic nature of the active substance glyphosate, as well as “obtaining and examining additional data available”.
Last but not least, the ministers also suggested the simplification of the framework governing the comparative evaluation to facilitate the substitution of substances during the examination of applications for authorization for placing on the market and the development of alternatives to chemicals.
https://www.euractiv.com/section/agriculture-food/news/six-member-states-call-for-glyphosate-alternatives-exit-plan/
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Consumer Rights NGO Calls EU Approach To CMR Cosmetics 'Unlawful'
Jan 4, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Consumer Organisation (Beuc) has questioned the legality of the EU Commission's revised approach to CMR substances in cosmetics.
And, in a strongly worded letter, Beuc has urged the Commission's working group on cosmetic products to block the controversial proposal, which would prevent CMR substances from being automatically banned from such products. The new approach, the organisations says, is "plainly illegal".
Substances classified as carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic under the CLP Regulation used to be considered automatically banned from use in cosmetic products. But the Commission announced in 2016 that a prohibition must be implemented by a specific act, amending the relevant annexes of the cosmetics Regulation.
In making this change the Commission is illegally overruling principles introduced in the Regulation, Beuc said in a letter late last month to the cosmetics working group.
"The revised approach transgresses the powers conferred on the Commission by the legislator and thus lacks a legal basis – in short it is ultra vires," the NGO wrote.
The Commission is expected to ask its cosmetics working group and standing committee on cosmetics, to comment on the proposed approach at their next meeting. This is currently scheduled to take place in late February. The group will then be asked to endorse the procedure at the meeting after that.
If the working group refuses to do this, the Commission will be expected to reconsider its position on an automatic ban on CMRs in cosmetics.Legal doubts
Beuc argues that even if endorsed, the procedure would still have no legal basis. "It's not an official Commission document, but rather a document endorsed by the working group – and the automatic ban instituted by the legislator would therefore in any case prevail," a representative told Chemical Watch.
Any decision to allow a CMR substance for use in cosmetics could be challenged before the European Court of Justice, the NGO says. And member state authorities could continue to enforce an automatic ban.
Several member states, led by Denmark, have campaigned to reinstate the horizontal automatic ban on CMR substances in cosmetic products.
Industry associations, on the other hand, have welcomed the Commission's proposed approach, arguing that it allows industry to defend CMR ingredients, based on the risk they ultimately expose consumers to.
Cosmetics Europe and Cosmetica Italia have said that "contradictory enforcement" of the CMR provision at national level has led to a loss of ingredients, without any evidence of health issues related to their use in cosmetic products.
But now, Beuc says, the Commission's revised position has "deadlocked action on CMR substances".
For example, it is unclear whether polyaminopropyl biguanide (PHMB) has escaped a ban in cosmetics, after the Commission's Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety (SCCS) found it safe under certain conditions, the NGO says.
"Consumers may be exposed to PHMB at concentrations which could endanger their health. Obviously, this is unacceptable and not a tenable situation," it says.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62840/consumer-rights-ngo-calls-eu-approach-to-cmr-cosmetics-unlawful
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Consumer Groups Demand Chemical Regulation Talks After EU-Japan Trade Deal
Jan 4, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Aya Kawanishi
European and Japanese consumer groups have called for talks on chemical regulatory cooperation after the finalisation of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and Japan.
The agreement, which has been under negotiation since 2013, aims to reduce non-tariff barriers in a number of sectors including chemicals, pharmaceuticals and food. It was concluded in December and is expected to come into force in early 2019.
The European Consumer Organisation (Beuc) and the Consumers Union of Japan (CUJ) are concerned that it may weaken consumer protection and that its approach prioritises the concerns of industry.
In particular, Beuc wants to see "the EU's precautionary principle maintained as the leading principle for regulating chemical safety in the EU".
The CUJ echoed this view. "As it is seen in the case of endocrine disruptors, we do not know how the hazardousness of chemicals is going to harm health," it said. "We have been demanding strong regulations based on the precautionary principle, such as refraining from production/use, or banning in some cases if there is even small doubt of the hazardousness of a chemical."Joint recommendation
In September, the two groups issued a joint recommendation to the EU Commission and Japanese government urging them to hold talks outside the trade deal on regulatory cooperation for chemicals, among other things.
The CUJ told Chemical Watch that it is "strongly concerned" that the partnership agreement will undermine existing regulations. "In an economic partnership agreement where only industries’ opinions are prioritised, it is extremely important to create a mechanism where the consumer’s voice can be reflected," it said.
Currently, there is no plan for chemical sector-specific discussion on such cooperation. However, it could take place in future "if there is a mutual agreement of both EU and Japan", the EU Commission and the Japanese government confirmed to Chemical Watch.
Officials in the EU and Japan are now conducting a legal verification process on the agreement, which will be translated into Japanese and the 23 official languages of the EU. It will then be submitted to the EU Parliament and EU member states for their approval.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62847/consumer-groups-demand-chemical-regulation-talks-after-eu-japan-trade-deal
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JRC Suggests Successive Migration Tests For Metals From Tableware Ceramics
Jan 4, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Three successive tests should be conducted instead of one to measure migration of heavy metals into food from tableware ceramics, according to a final report from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC).
Successive tests more adequately reflect migration in repeat-use scenarios, the EU's science hub said, as the first test gives "an unrealistically high estimate" of the migration after a few uses, while results are less variable at second and third migration.
The recommendation is among the conclusions of a five-year project the JRC undertook to investigatesuitable testing methods for metals leaching from ceramics and glass food contact materials (FCMs).
The 1984 ceramics Directive sets migration limits only for lead and cadmium, at 4mg/kg and 0.3mg/kg food respectively. However, scientific data has shown the need to lower these and to consider limits for other metals, the JRC said.
It was tasked by DG Sante to conduct the research after several member states, including Germany, asked the Commission to lower migration limits for ceramic FCMs in view of evidence showing high exposure of consumers to lead and cadmium from food related sources. Member States and stakeholders also favour a harmonised legislation for glass FCMs, the JRC said.
The tests were carried out by the European Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials (EURL-FCM) between 2013 and 2017 using more than 6000 data points on hundreds of samples.
Most mainstream ceramic materials already meet low values of migration; in particular for lead, but traditionally produced ceramic articles do not, the report says.
For ceramics, the report concludes that when the limits are based directly on health considerations, tests should mimic repeat-use scenarios. It suggests three successive tests for 24 hours at 22°C using 4% acetic acid, which, as a simulant, compares well to conditions of use to a worst case (acidic) food".
The current analytical methods can quantify lower levels for lead and cadmium in simulant solutions and of a variety of other metals, the report says, concluding "there are no further scientific or technical hurdles" to lower migration limits. On this basis, it says, the Commission "may be reflecting on appropriate next steps."Storage and bakeware
Other findings include a limited effect from storage of articles on migration of metals from ceramics. Tableware used occasionally is "covered fairly adequately by a repeat test," it says. Although the data set for bakeware is limited, early results indicate that the same test could be used.
For crystal, a repeat test with acetic acid for two hours at 22°C is an "adequate reflection of exposure and allows completing the repeat testing for compliance in one working day".
A long storage leads to a re-increase in the value of the migration from glass, however. Therefore a shorter time and a consideration of both the first and the third migration each with their own limits is a valid option, the report says.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62848/jrc-suggests-successive-migration-tests-for-metals-from-tableware-ceramics
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(ACC Mentioned) Trump Looks To Create Natural Gas Hub In Coal Country
Jan 4, 2018 | Washington Examiner
By John Siciliano
The Trump administration is looking to transform the fracking states of West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania into a massive hub for storing natural gas.
The news was announced by the Appalachia Development Group LLC, which the Energy Department invited on Wednesday to apply for a $1.9 billion loan guarantee to support the development of a first-of-a-kind "Appalachia Storage and Trading Hub."
The storage hub will be used to store natural gas liquids that Appalachia has an abundance of but has been looking to create a market for. Companies from around the world have been looking to exploit natural gas by building refining facilities in the region.
The hub could help spur increased industrial expansions and job growth in an economically vulnerable area of the nation.
The announcement sparked the immediate applause of Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who has been touting legislation to study the development of a hub to store natural gas-based liquids used by the chemical and manufacturing industries.
"This storage hub will create jobs and develop our economy by attracting significant manufacturing and related investment to West Virginia and our neighboring states," Manchin said. "It will also be vital in helping to secure our energy future by providing a reliable affordable supply of natural gas liquids."
Manchin's call for a storage hub has been proposed by the West Virginia congressional delegation to be included in any infrastructure bill.
"I look forward to working with the Department of Energy, the Appalachia Development Group to make the Appalachian Storage Hub a reality,” Manchin said.
Initiating the loan guarantee process was the first step taken by the Energy Department to begin the process toward providing federal backing to construct the facility.
A loan guarantee is used to back a risky or first-of-a-kind project by guaranteeing that a bank or lending institution will be paid back in full by the federal government if the company defaults on a loan. The Energy Department sets money aside to back the loan rather than lending the money to the company.
The group's president said Wednesday's announcement was the first of several steps to gaining the loan approvals required by the Energy Department.
“We are pleased to have achieved this major milestone, but we are far from satisfied in our pursuit of a vibrant and growing Appalachia based in sound business principles," said Steve Hedrick, CEO for the Appalachia Development Group.
"There is much work to be done to drive this forward, and our team is strong, prepared and highly motivated to move forward," he said.
The American Chemistry Council says the hub would spur $36 billion in petrochemical investments and create more than 100,000 new long-term jobs.
The National Association of Manufacturers came out in support of the project, touting the same investment and job growth numbers.
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/trump-looks-to-create-natural-gas-hub-in-coal-country/article/2644900
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(ACC Mentioned) Appalachian Ethane Storage Hub Takes A Step Closer To Reality
Jan 3, 2018 | Pittsburgh Business Times
By Paul J. Gough
The potential for a multibillion-dollar Appalachian underground natural gas liquids storage hub rose dramatically in the new year with word that the U.S. Department of Energy has moved to the next level the region's application for $1.9 billion in loan guarantees for the project.
A natural gas liquids storage and trading hub is considered key to the development of the region's petrochemical industry after the construction of Shell Chemical's ethane cracker in Beaver County. It would allow for the storage of ethane, propane and other liquids from natural gas production that would feed petrochemical plants like the Beaver County plant and the others throughout the supply chain.
The application is from Appalachia Development Group, owned by the Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research and Innovation Center (Matric) and the West Virginia University Innovation Corp. DOE invited Appalachia Development Group to submit a Part II Application for the Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program, which would provide a $1.9 billion loan guarantee that would be paired with a potential $1.4 billion investment by others to take the first concrete steps in building the hub. Nothing, including the funding, is certain but the possibility of a natural gas liquids storage hub is closer to reality than it ever has been.
"This is a good day for Appalachia," said Appalachia Development Group CEO Steve Hedrick, who is also president and CEO of Matric.
What hasn't been disclosed yet is where the underground storage complexes would be located. A news release from West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said that storage facilities could be built in the Ohio River Valley and the Kanawha River Valley with other development being built in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. Hedrick said that it was premature to release specific locations before engineering studies were made, but said that there could be multiple storage locations.
"What we are focused on is the safe and environmentally sound execution of subsurface storage regardless of the specific state it would be in," Hedrick said.
He praised the efforts of multiple states, including West Virginia and Pennsylvania, and organizations in the development process. He said that there was a lot of work left to be done.
The American Chemical Council estimated that a fully developed petrochemical industry in Appalachia would lead to up to 100,000 jobs and $36 billion in investment and economic development. Hedrick said that the storage and trading hub would enable the growth of that industry.
"The opportunity for other manufacturing facilities in Appalachia and the viability of them is elevated dramatically by the existence of the Appalachian storage trading hub," Hedrick said. "It is a difference maker in regards to that, no doubt."
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice praised the DOE news as the next step toward the expansion of the petrochemical industry.
“Thousands of potential jobs and numerous downstream businesses could result from development of this project," Justice said. "We are anxious to see it come to fruition over the next several months with the invitation for ADG to now complete part two of the application process and seek the issuing of the loan guarantees."
https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2018/01/03/appalachian-ethane-storage-hub-takes-a-step-closer.html
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(ACC Mentioned) Gas Storage Hub Project Clears First Hurdle For Big Loan
Jan 3, 2018 | West Virginia MetroNews
By Brad McElhinny
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Supporters of a regional storage hub for natural gas are excited the proposed project has cleared a significant hurdle for a possible $1.9 billion federal loan guarantee.
The federal Department of Energy invited Appalachia Development Group to submit a second phase application for the loan guarantee.
Appalachia Development Group said it recognizes that this is the first of several steps to secure a conditional commitment and final loan agreement. The group said it also aims to secure $1.4 billion through other financing.
The Appalachia Storage & Trading Hub is a proposed underground storage facility for natural gas liquids and intermediates. Supporters tout its potential for secondary products from natural gas.
The American Chemistry Council estimates the facility could attract up to $36 billion in new chemical and plastics industry investment and create 100,000 new area jobs.
Appalachia Development Group submitted its Part I application this past Sept. 13.
“We are pleased to have achieved this major milestone, but we are far from satisfied in our pursuit of a vibrant and growing Appalachia based in sound business principles,” said Steve Hedrick, chief executive of Appalachia Development Group.
Appalachia Development Group is owned by MATRIC and the West Virginia University Innovation Corporation. Hedrick is also the CEO of MATRIC.
News releases from several West Virginia officials offered congratulations.
“I am very excited that the Department of Energy is moving forward with the Appalachia Development Group in its efforts to secure a loan to develop the Appalachian Storage Hub,” stated Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.
“I have long said that the Appalachian Storage Hub is a vital project that will help us capitalize on our state and region’s abundant natural resources, growing infrastructure and innovative spirit.”
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., also expressed congratulations over advancing to the second phase of consideration for the loan guarantee.
“This is a clear indication of the strength of their application, and it demonstrates the department’s interest in the transformative job creation and economic growth potential of developing an Appalachian market for natural gas liquids,” Capito stated.
“This is another step in the right direction, and I will continue working to help make this game-changing idea a reality.”
Congressman David McKinley, a Republican who represents the northern counties of West Virginia, said the storage hub has the potential to transform the region.
“This project will not only transform the region, it will impact the entire country by enhancing America’s energy dominance,” McKinley stated.
“The storage hub has the potential to create thousands of jobs, attract billions in investment, invigorate Appalachia’s economy, and establish our area as a force in the petrochemical industry.”
Gov. Jim Justice also offered praise for the development.
“Thousands of potential jobs and numerous downstream businesses could result from development of this project,” Justice stated.
“We are anxious to see it come to fruition over the next several months with the invitation for ADG to now complete part two of the application process and seek the issuing of the loan guarantees.”
The natural gas storage hub has been a focal point of West Virginia’s economic development efforts.
A West Virginia University research team has been studying geological formations to pinpoint the best sites for natural gas storage. But state leaders also have been focused on how the private sector might invest millions of dollars in developing the hub.
Developers have estimated the startup cost for the storage hub is at least $1 billion, although the total buildout cost is probably more around $10 billion.
The hub got another boost with the announcement of West Virginia’s $83-billion deal with China Energy late last year. State leaders called the agreement key to developing the long-sought natural gas storage hub.
The storage hub is one of the projects that developers are working on under the memorandum of understanding with China Energy, said Brian Anderson, director of the WVU Energy Institute.
“China Energy is extremely interested in it for the same reasons we are in the sense that the Appalachian storage and trade hub, storing all these raw material precursors is a necessary piece of the infrastructure to build out a robust chemical industry in our region,” Anderson said in November.
“So if they’re investing in that robust chemical industry, they also are extremely interested in investing in the necessary infrastructure in the storage hub. We have the potential in our region to become the second major petrochemical hub in the United States.”
http://wvmetronews.com/2018/01/03/gas-storage-hub-project-clears-first-hurdle-for-big-loan/
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(ACC Mentioned) Natural Gas Storage Hub Clears Hurdle
Jan 4, 2018 | Parkersburg News and Sentinal
By Jess Mancini
CHARLESTON — A hurdle has been cleared in the development of an underground natural gas liquids storage hub that industry representatives said could create thousands of jobs and encourage billions of dollars of development in Appalachia.
Appalachia Development Group LLC of Charleston on Wednesday announced it has been invited to submit a Part II application under the U.S. Department of Energy Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program to support the development of infrastructure for the Appalachia Storage and Trading Hub. The loan guarantee would be for $1.9 billion from the Department of Energy.
The company in a statement said it recognizes it is the first of several steps in the process to secure a conditional commitment and final loan agreement.
“We are pleased to have achieved this major milestone, but we are far from satisfied in our pursuit of a vibrant and growing Appalachia based in sound business principles,” said Steve Hedrick, CEO and president of Appalachia Development Group and president and CEO of Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research and Innovation Center.
“We are grateful for the collaboration with the states in Appalachia, and industry, legal and financial partners,” he said. “There is much work to be done to drive this forward, and our team is strong, prepared and highly motivated to move forward. The growth of our business will serve the industry well, and we look forward to the day that the outputs of the ACC’s report are enabled as industry grows alongside the hub.”
Appalachia Development Group submitted a Part I application in September and has worked with the Energy Department Loan Program Office over the last few months. Appalachia Development simultaneously will work to secure a $1.4 billion equity position in the project, the company said.
Hedrick also cited the help from West Virginia University and the Mid-Atlantic Board of Directors.
“Sometimes a goal is bigger than one person, one company or one state, and while we still have a long way to go and a lot of work to do, this is a significant milestone along the journey to maximize the Shale opportunity in the Appalachia region,” he said.
The proposed hub will be an underground storage facility for natural gas liquids and intermediates. The American Chemistry Council said the development of the hub could encourage $36 billion in petrochemical investments and more than 100,000 new long-term jobs.
Several areas in the region have been described as possible sites for the facility, including at Bens Run near the Tyler-Pleasants counties line.
“We’re hopeful that the Bens Run run site is going to be the storage facility. We think it would be a great location. It would benefit not only Pleasants and Tyler county, but the entire region,” said Jody Murphy, executive director of the Pleasants Area Chamber of Commerce. “We’re committed to doing whatever we need to do to make this happen.”
The project has been supported by members of West Virginia’s congressional delegation. “I have long said that the Appalachian Storage Hub is a vital project that will help us capitalize on our state and region’s abundant natural resources, growing infrastructure and innovative spirit,” Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., said. “This storage hub will create jobs and develop our economy by attracting significant manufacturing and related investment to West Virginia and our neighboring states. It will also be vital in helping to secure our energy future by providing a reliable affordable supply of natural gas liquids.”
Advancing to the second part of the process “is a clear indication of the strength of their application, and it demonstrates the department’s interest in the transformative job creation and economic growth potential of developing an Appalachian market for natural gas liquids,” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., said.
“This is another step in the right direction, and I will continue working to help make this game-changing idea a reality,” she said.
The announcement was “exciting news for the entire region,” Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., said.
“This project will not only transform the region, it will impact the entire country by enhancing America’s energy dominance,” he said.
Underground storage of natural gas liquids was part of the agreement announced in November with China Energy Investment Corp. Ltd. to invest nearly $84 billion in shale gas development and chemical companies in West Virginia over the next 20 years.
Gov. Jim Justice also issued a statement on Wednesday.
“I’m extremely pleased that the West Virginia Department of Commerce, West Virginia University and the Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research and Innovation Center have been able to move the process forward for establishing this storage hub,” Justice said. “Thousands of potential jobs and numerous downstream businesses could result from development of this project. We are anxious to see it come to fruition over the next several months with the invitation for ADG to now complete part two of the application process and seek the issuing of the loan guarantees.”
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/news/business/2018/01/natural-gas-storage-hub-clears-hurdle/
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(ACC Mentioned) Appalachia underground NGL Storage Facility Clears Big Hurdle
Jan 4, 2018 | Kallanish Energy
Plans for an underground natural gas liquids storage hub touted as a major job creator for the chemical industry in the Appalachian Basin have cleared a big hurdle.
The Appalachia Storage & Trading Hub initiative got approval Wednesday for the first of two application phases for a $1.9 billion U.S. Department of Energy loan, the West Virginia-based Appalachia Development Group (ADG) said, in a statement.
ADG, which is heading the project, said it also aims to secure $1.4 billion through other financing. "We are pleased to have achieved this major milestone, but we are far from satisfied in our pursuit of a vibrant and growing Appalachia based in sound business principles. We are grateful for the collaboration with the states in Appalachia, and industry, legal and financial partners," said Steve Hedrick, CEO, ADG and president and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center (MATRIC).
The project has taken eight years to reach this point, and Hedrick said it would take several more years to come to fruition. It's still unclear how long the second phase of the application will take, and nothing's guaranteed, Kallanish Energy understands.
Hedrick said the initial approval is still a win for the project. The American Chemistry Council estimates the facility could attract up to $36 billion in new chemical and plastics industry investment and create 100,000 new area jobs.
"I congratulate Appalachia Development Group on advancing to the second phase of consideration for the Department of Energy's Title XVII Loan Program," said Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.V.). "This is a clear indication of the strength of their application, and it demonstrates the department's interest in the transformative job creation and economic growth potential of developing an Appalachian market for natural gas liquids.”
Moore Capito and fellow West Virginia Republican U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin have been pushing the massive project in Washington.
The project would include a piping system into the Ohio and Kanawha river valleys. Then an ethane cracker could use the natural gas to produce ethylene, which is widely used in plastics and other chemical industries, Hedrick said. The natural gas liquids are also expected to be exported internationally.
The storage hub faces opposition from environmental groups, saying it would create public health dangers and contribute to global warming.
In November, state officials announced an agreement with China Energy Investment Corp. for the company to invest $83.7 billion in shale gas development and chemical manufacturing in West Virginia over 20 years. Part of the focus is on underground storage of natural gas liquids and derivatives.
http://www.kallanishenergy.com/2018/01/04/appalachia-underground-ngl-storage-facility-clears-big-hurdle/
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Energy Transfer Pennsylvania Pipeline Halted on Violations
Jan 4, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Meenal Vamburkar
Energy Transfer Partners LP's Mariner East 2 pipeline hit another snag in Pennsylvania, where an environmental regulator suspended construction permits on alleged violations.
The operator must halt work on the project due to “egregious and willful” violations, the state's Department of Environmental Protection said in an order Jan. 3. The problems include not complying with water, industrial waste and erosion rules, according to the order.
Energy Transfer's Sunoco Logistics unit has 30 days to submit a report that “fully explains the failures that led to the violations described in this Order and the steps Sunoco proposes to implement to ensure that those violations will not re-occur,” the DEP said.
Energy Transfer merged with Sunoco Logistics, the pipeline operator behind the Mariner project, this year. Vicki Granado, a spokeswoman for the company, didn't immediately respond to request for comment.
The project also encountered trouble in July, when the DEP issued four notices after “inadvertent” spills of drilling fluids associated with horizontal directional drilling.
Mariner East 2 is an expansion of the Sunoco Mariner East 1 pipeline to transport gas liquids, such as ethane, from the Ohio and Pittsburgh area to an export terminal in Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, according to the DEP's website. The project is expected to be fully in service in the second quarter, Energy Transfer said in November.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=125948283&vname=dennotallissues&fn=125948283&jd=125948283
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State Court Judge Rejects California County's Year-Old Drilling Ban
Jan 3, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
A county superior court judge in California last Thursday partly rejected a ballot measure passed by Monterey County voters in November 2016 to ban oil and natural gas drilling. The court has allowed part of the measure that bans hydraulic fracturing (fracking) to stand.
Monterey County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wills decided six weeks after taking the case that Measure Z is preempted by federal and state law. Wills' ruling is expected to affect all counties in which drilling or fracking restrictions have been enacted by local voters or elected officials.
Within 24 hours of the judge's action, environmental groups indicated that they plan to appeal Wills' ruling. "The court's decision leaves the fracking ban in place, ruling that oil industry plaintiffs lack standing to challenge it. The ruling strikes down the ban on new oil/gas wells and wastewater injection, finding that these portions are preempted or disallowed by state and federal law," the Center for Biological Diversity said.
Laura Solorio, president of Protect Monterey County, announced last Friday that her group would appeal. "We're confident the higher court will uphold Measure Z," Solorio said. Monterey County has few oil and natural gas deposits.
While the fracking ban remains, oil and gas developers in the county are free to drill new wells and inject them with water and steam. Limited drilling in Monterey County primarily takes place in two areas -- the San Ardo and Lynch Canyon areas. San Ardo is the state's fifth largest oilfield.
Industry operators who challenged Measure Z more than a year ago after its passage, including the two biggest producers in the county -- Chevron USA and Aera Energy LLC -- disagreed with Wills' finding that they lack standing to challenge the fracking ban because they are not currently engaged in that drilling method. An Aera spokesperson added that the companies are pleased with the decision overall because they have maintained all along that the ballot measure was unlawful.
"We continue to believe that Measure Z's hydraulic fracturing ban is preempted by overlapping state and federal law," the Aera spokesperson said.
Measure Z was passed with 55.5% of the county vote.The anti-fracking group, Protect Monterey County, supported Measure Z and helped qualify it for the ballot.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/112948-state-court-judge-rejects-california-countys-year-old-drilling-ban
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Anadarko Shale Project Among Those Funded by Energy Department
Jan 3, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Catherine Traywick
The Trump Administration is handing out $30 million in funding to boost U.S. oil and gas production, and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc stand to gain.
The funding, announced by the Energy Department Jan. 3, will support six projects in Colorado, Louisiana, Texas, and Virginia. One of the projects aims to improve fracking techniques and focuses on acreage owned by Anadarko and Shell in the Delaware Basin, meaning any insights gleaned from the research may immediately benefit those companies. A similar project hosted by Laredo Petroleum Inc enabled the company to start building more efficient wells without spending a single dollar on research and development.
Other projects getting funding include C-Crete Technologies LLC's effort to develop next-generation well cement and one studying the resource potential of the Nora Gas Field of southwest Virginia. Much of the cash targets enhanced oil recovery projects in unconventional plays that produce less than 50,000 barrels a day.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=125948284&vname=dennotallissues&fn=125948284&jd=125948284
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USDOT Puts Pressure On Railroads To Implement PTC
Jan 4, 2018 | American Shipper
By Chris Gillis
According to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, full implementation of positive train control (PTC) systems across the nation’s vast rail network is a top priority of the Department of Transportation in 2018.
Full implementation of positive train control (PTC) systems across the nation’s vast rail network is a top priority of the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2018, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said in a recent statement.
“Advancing the implementation of positive train control is among the most important rail safety initiatives on the department’s agenda,” Chao said.
PTC systems are designed to automatically stop a train in order to prevent collisions with other trains and equipment on the tracks.
In a Dec. 27 batch of letters mailed to the chief executives of 47 railroads, including Class I, small and regional, and passenger services operating across the United States, Chao expressed concern about the insufficient levels of PTC implementation, so far.
“Upon review of the latest data provided by the industry, we are concerned that many of the nation’s railroads must greatly accelerate their efforts to achieve the congressionally mandated requirements,” she said.
PTC was imposed on the railroads by Congress in 2008 Rail Safety Improvement Act, and amended by the 2015 Positive Train Control Enforcement and Implementation Act. To give the railroads more time for implementation, the initial 2015 deadline was extended to Dec. 31, 2018.
According to DOT, eight of the 37 railroads required to implement PTC systems on their own tracks have obtained the Federal Railroad Administration's conditional PTC System Certification.
Twelve railroads have completed installation of all hardware necessary for PTC system implementation, and another 12 railroads said they have installed less than 50 percent of the hardware required for their PTC systems, as of Sept. 30, 2017.
DOT said 26 railroads have started field testing PTC systems on segments of track. Data submitted by these railroads has shown that by Sept. 30, 2017, these PTC systems are in operation on 45 percent of the required route miles of track owned by freight railroads and 24 percent of the route miles of track owned by passenger railroads, the department said.
Railroads may request an extension on the Dec. 31, 2018 deadline, but DOT warned that civil penalties will be issued to railroads that fail to implement PTC systems.
The railroads have complained that PTC, which relies on GPS, wireless radio and computers, is complicated and expensive to install.
However, U.S. lawmakers are losing patience with DOT and the railroads. A group of 15 senators located in states with dense rail networks in a letter to Chao in late December demanded that DOT make PTC a priority for completion nationwide by year’s end.https://www.americanshipper.com/main/news/usdot-puts-pressure-on-railroads-to-implement-ptc-70168.aspx?source=Big4
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Delaware to Sue EPA Over Out-of-State Air Pollution
Jan 4, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Leslie A. Pappas
The EPA has failed to curb pollution that blows into Delaware from out-of-state power plants despite appeals for relief, the state said, announcing plans to sue the federal agency.
Delaware notified the Environmental Protection Agency Jan. 2 of its intent to sue after the federal agency didn't respond to the state's petitions seeking additional pollution reductions from the Brunner Island Steam Electric Station in York County, Pa., the Harrison Power Station in Harrison County, W.Va., and the Conemaugh Generating Stationand Homer City Generating Station, both in Indiana County, Pa.
“The Clean Air Act entitles Delaware to relief from upwind pollution and the remedy we are seeking is reasonable,” Delaware Gov. John Carney (D) said in a statement. “We are simply asking that the EPA require these power plants that pollute Delaware's air to run their existing pollution control equipment when the plants are in operation.”
Dozens of Plants
The suit stems from a series of petitions that Connecticut, Delaware, and Maryland have filed with the EPA over upwind pollution from dozens of power plants and generating stations throughout the Northeast. Delaware says 94 percent of its ozone levels are caused by pollutants blowing in from out of state.
Under Section 126 of the Clean Air Act, states can petition the EPA to require additional pollution controls on industry facilities, such as power plants, if they can demonstrate that those emissions are impeding air quality.
Delaware asserts that pollution from the facilities is preventing it from meeting its ozone air pollution targets. One by one, the EPA has delayed its response to the Delaware petitions, saying the agency needed more time to review them.
Delaware filed the Homer City petition on Nov. 10, 2016, one for the Conemaugh station on Dec. 5, 2016, the Brunner Island petition on July 7, 2016, and a final one for the Harrison facility on Aug. 8, 2016.
NRG Energy Services operates the three-unit Homer City facility, PSEG Power LLC runs the coal-fired Conemaugh Generating Station, Talen Energy manages the three coal-fired units at the Brunner Island Power Plant, and a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. runs the three coal-fired units at the Harrison Power Station.
Power Plants Respond
Plant operators said they comply with environmental regulations.
“At all plants that NRG owns and/or operates, we comply with all applicable environmental laws and regulations, as well as the limits and requirements—including monitoring and reporting—of all our operating and environmental permits,” David Gaier, an NRG spokesman, told Bloomberg Environment in an email.
Harrison Power Station adheres to all pollution control regulations, Stephanie Walton, a spokeswoman for FirstEnergy Corp., the Harrison plant's Akron, Ohio-based parent company, told Bloomberg Environment in an email. She added that vehicles such as cars and trucks emit far more nitrogen oxide.
“In fact, Harrison's total annual [nitrogen oxide] emissions, only a portion of which have the potential to reach Delaware, are lower than the [nitrogen oxide] emitted each year within the state of Delaware from the vehicle sources,” she said.
The other companies didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=125948276&vname=dennotallissues&fn=125948276&jd=125948276
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CPP Repeal Opponents Might Seek To Consolidate Suits With Prior Case
Jan 3, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Dawn Reeves
When EPA finalizes its proposed repeal of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) to cut utility greenhouse gas emissions, opponents of the repeal may ask the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to combine their new challenges with stayed litigation over the original CPP.
The possible legal strategy could give environmentalists and states challenging the repeal an advantage by allowing the court to consider a broader record, including Obama EPA findings about the scope of its Clean Air Act authority -- a likely reason why the Trump EPA and supporters of the repeal are poised to push back against any such attempt.
Discussion of the possible legal maneuvering came during a Jan. 3 Federalist Society event on regulatory and legal issues related to the CPP, ahead of a Jan. 16 deadline to file comments on the proposed repeal, which EPA says it hopes to finalize in October.
Industry attorney Tom Lorenzen floated the consolidation scenario in response to an audience member's question about whether a challenge to the final repeal -- as promised by Natural Resources Defense Council attorney David Doniger -- would move as a stand-alone new case or would be consolidated with the existing litigation, West Virginia, et al. v. EPA, et al. In that case, the full D.C. Circuit heard arguments in September 2016 but never issued a decision.
West Virginia remains in abeyance, with the court granting stays for 60-day increments and requiring EPA to issue periodic status reports as it moves forward on the repeal and a possible replacement rule.
Lorenzen, who represents rural electric cooperatives in litigation challenging the CPP, noted that he would “assume NRDC and others would try to consolidate” new suits over the CPP repeal with the existing case, since a big part of CPP proponents' arguments is that the Trump EPA cannot simply undo the extensive record built by the Obama administration underlying the rule without good reason. “Those [efforts] would almost certainly be pushed back against,” he noted.
However, Doniger said it is too soon to tell whether a challenge to a final repeal rule should be consolidated with the stayed case.
“When the repeal is promulgated, we will challenge” that action in court, “and I don't know if we will seek to move” that suit “separately or whether we will seek to consolidate with the existing case. But one thing is sure: we will challenge the repeal,” he said.
Lorenzen argued that the any challenge to the CPP repeal should be litigated on its own. If not, it could be easier for the D.C. Circuit to question the agency's new regulatory impact analysis that finds far fewer benefits to the original CPP than the Obama EPA did, for example.
He also noted that it is unknown how much patience the D.C. Circuit will have regarding EPA's new regulatory plans, and that he had to speak carefully because the earlier case is still pending, and both he and Doniger are parties on opposing sides.
But he did say that the court “is unusually attuned to the fact that there are administrations that change,” and that the court is generally “quite reluctant to issue what is known as an advisory decision,” that would not have legal effect because the new administration is seeking to reverse course from the prior one.
He provided an example of when the Obama administration first took office and then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson sought to redo the ozone air quality standard finalized by the Bush administration because Jackson thought the standard was too weak and “legally indefensible.” A lawsuit challenging the Bush standard was put on hold for well over two years while the Obama EPA considered the rule, and during that time the court never threatened to revive the case, he said.
Undoing the CPP is a new rule that requires a new record, Lorenzen noted, suggesting it should move forward on its own in the courts.
Unique Rulemaking
But Doniger noted the CPP is unique for a number of reasons, including that the Supreme Court stayed the rule's implementation in a first-time action while lower courts were still considering the merits of the rule. As such, the rule is an aberration from every other rule the Trump administration is seeking to undo, because those rules largely remain in effect while the litigation is suspended until the new EPA leadership decides what it wants to do.
He noted that EPA in the next few weeks must submit a new status report in West Virginia and “depending on what they say there, there may be a reply from our side. And we have been urging the court to decide” the case “or hold it in short-term abeyance.”
The D.C. Circuit has opted for the latter option to date, Doniger said, noting that the rule technically remains on the books but cannot be implemented. This means there could be a danger to EPA in delaying power sector GHG reductions. Doniger noted that some D.C. Circuit judges have suggested the delay itself may create a legal problem because EPA has a duty to cut GHGs.
But Lorenzen said while the D.C. Circuit might be concerned about the high court stay, “the Supreme Court is not concerned” because it has the power to revisit and lift the stay at any time.
In response, Doniger laughed and said the justices “don't normally check in unless someone asks them” and suggested that “someone may.” But Lorenzen said given the court's current makeup, it is “unlikely” to lift the stay.
The two also debated language in EPA's advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) seeking input on a possible CPP replacement, including whether it is significant that the document does not address the endangerment finding, which requires EPA to limit power sector GHGs unless the agency were to take the extraordinary step of seeking to repeal the finding.
Doniger said EPA in the the ANPR seems like it “forgot” that the Obama administration made a second finding that power plants are significant contributors to global warming pollution when it promulgated the CPP in 2015, though Lorenzen said there is debate about how to interpret provisions of section 111 of the Clean Air Act and whether it requires a finding for sources or a pollutant-specific finding. “I think what EPA has done in the ANPR is kept its options open,” he said, noting that an ANPR has no official legal status.
Doniger generally criticized the ANPR, comparing it to a “trailer for a movie a studio hasn't decided whether to make yet,” and adding that the movie's working title is, “The Diary of a Wimpy Replacement.”
The ANPR floats options for a rule that would comply with EPA's proposed legal interpretation in the CPP repeal that the agency is limited to setting GHG targets based on actions taken “inside the fenceline” of regulated power plants.
However, other environmentalists have raised their eyebrows about this issue, noting that EPA might be rushing to conclusions on this issue because the repeal is not yet final and it has not survived court scrutiny.
'Reducing Performance'
Also weighing in on the issue is University of California-Berkeley law professor Dan Farber, who wrote a recent Legal Planet blog post titled, “The Off-Switch is Inside the Fenceline” that says the “inside the fenceline” argument has a chief “logical flaw.”
He says just because regulations are normally based on inside the fence strategies does not mean they always have to be structured that way. He adds that even if EPA's new legal interpretation is correct, that does not mean that the CPP is invalid because it does not mandate utilities to get replacement power from outside the fenceline, and that it only mandates reductions in the use of coal plants.
Farber compares the debate like this: “Athlete A: 'My training system involves eight-hour workouts every day.' Athlete B: “My training system used to involve that, but my new system is to take a day off when I feel burned out and just take a long walk. That works a lot better.' If a system for training can involve reducing training; why can’t a standard of performance involve reducing performance when appropriate? . . . The best emissions performance might require shutting some units down from time to time.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/cpp-repeal-opponents-might-seek-consolidate-suits-prior-case
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