Preview Newsletter
ACC AM 1/8/18
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Hearing On DOE Modernization
Jan 9, 2018 | Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy
Location: 2123 Rayburn / 10:00 AM. -
(ACC Mentioned) Oil And Gas Ties Run Deep In The Trump Administration
Jan 5, 2018 | Pacific Standard
By Jared Keller
Given the connections to the oil and gas industry within the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Interior, rollbacks to environmental protections should come as no surprise. -
Pruitt Said to Be Interested If Attorney General Job Opens
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer Jacobs and Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has told associates he would be willing to lead the Justice Department, should the position become available, according to two people familiar with the matter. -
NGO Says US EPA Is Hiding 'Weakened' Chemical Reviews
Jan 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Julie A Miller
A US NGO has accused the EPA of attempting to cover its tracks as it "weakens" the review of new chemicals. -
Monsanto Hit With $100M Suit for Oregon PCB Pollution
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Monsanto Co. should be held liable for $100 million in damages for PCB contamination of soils, waterways, and wildlife in Oregon, the state's attorney general charged in a lawsuit filed Jan. 4. -
Canada Launches Plan to Reduce Selenium Exposure Across Products
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By James Munson
Canada's health and environment ministries are proposing new restrictions on selenium use and pollution across a broad range of industries after a study confirmed that the naturally occurring element poses risks to human health and the environment. -
Canada's Proposed Asbestos Ban Targets Cement Pipes, Brake Pads
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By James Munson
Canada's proposed asbestos ban would force construction and automotive repair companies to stop using products containing the carcinogenic mineral next year, while giving some chemical manufacturers more time to adjust. -
EU's JRC Lists Potential Marine Environment Chemical Contaminants
Jan 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has compiled a list of potential chemical contaminants in the marine environment. -
(ACC Mentioned) Mammoth W.Va. Storage Project Moves Closer To DOE Loan
Jan 5, 2018 | AP (In E&E Energywire)
West Virginia officials are applauding the progress of a natural gas storage facility that could be built beneath their state, after the proposal got the first of two necessary approvals for a $1.9 billion Department of Energy loan. -
(ACC Mentioned) Bring Storage Hub to W.Va.
Jan 6, 2018 | Wheeling Intelligencer
West Virginia may well have an advantage over other potential locations for a major facility to store natural gas liquids. State officials and our delegation in Congress should pull out all the stops to make the project a reality for the Mountain State. -
(ACC Mentioend) Plans for Natural-Gas Storage Hub in Appalachia Take Another Step Forward
Jan 8, 2018 | TankTerminals.com
Plans for an underground storage hub for natural-gas liquids pegged as a major job creator in Appalachia have cleared their first big hurdle. -
Federal Report Details Cause of Chemical Cloud in Kansas
Jan 8, 2018 | AP (In The New York Times)
Small key rings that were missing from chemical storage tanks and a lack of attention to proper procedures were primary reasons a chemical cloud spread over a city in northeast Kansas in 2016, according to a federal report. -
Five 2018 House Races to Watch on Energy and Environment
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tiffany Stecker
President Donald Trump undid many of his predecessor's environmental and energy accomplishments last year, and Democrats are hoping to galvanize some of the frustration over Trump's efforts to flip the House. -
Utah Seeks More Air Pollution Data From Oil and Gas Industry
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tripp Baltz
Utah will know more about the air pollution in its lucrative oil and gas fields under a new registration rule that also upgrades emissions disclosure requirements. -
Greenhouse Gas Bill a Top Priority for Oregon Democrats
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Paul Shukovsky
A greenhouse gas trading program is a top priority for Oregon Democrats who will unveil their proposal Jan. 8. -
California Escalates Warning Over Trump Attacks On GHGs, Vehicle Policies
Jan 5, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Curt Barry
California officials are intensifying warnings over Trump administration actions that threaten the state's authority to reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants from vehicles and energy production, escalating an already bitter war between one of the most aggressive and influential states on environmental issues and a president who is targeting a host of Obama-era climate and environmental policies. -
Former EPA Staff Blast Legal Rationale For Repealing 'Glider' GHG Limits
Jan 5, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Doug Obey
A group of former agency officials is pushing back hard against EPA's proposal to repeal restrictions on production of “glider” trucks that combine new chassis with rebuilt engines, arguing the agency ignored clear statutory authority to regulate the vehicles and failed to account for damaging implications on the environment and industry. -
Sources: EPA Moving Quickly To Write New Climate Rule In 2018
Jan 5, 2018 | PoliticoPro
By Emily Holden
EPA staffers are under orders from the Trump administration to complete a replacement for former President Barack Obama’s major climate change rule by the end of the year, far faster than the normal pace the agency uses to develop major regulations, according to three sources familiar with the process.
Congressional Hearings
Industry and Association News
LCSA News
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News
Transportation and Infrastructure News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Environment News
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Jan 9, 2018 | Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy
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(ACC Mentioned) Oil And Gas Ties Run Deep In The Trump Administration
Jan 5, 2018 | Pacific Standard
By Jared Keller
Given the connections to the oil and gas industry within the Environmental Protection Agency and Department of the Interior, rollbacks to environmental protections should come as no surprise.
In the first year of Donald Trump's presidency, few features of the American political landscape suffered as much as the environmental movement. In addition to the Trump administration's planned withdrawal of the United States from the landmark Paris Agreement, the White House has thrown the Environmental Protection Agency into turmoil, threatened wildlife conservation, endangered the future of environmental justice, attacked the nation's first fracking regulation, repealedPresident Barack Obama's carbon-cutting Clean Power Plan, ignored government climate reports, rolled back mining restrictions, and failed to enforce penalties for violating environmental rules.
The White House took another step on Thursday to loosen environmental regulations when it announced the repeal of the Obama administration's ban on offshore oil and gas drilling in U.S. coastal waters. The Trump administration plans to make 90 percent of currently available offshore waters open to drilling in the next five years, the New York Times reports. "We're embarking on a new path for energy dominance in America, particularly on offshore," Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke said in a statement. "This is a clear difference between energy weakness and energy dominance. We are going to become the strongest energy superpower."
The announcement doesn't just rile up environmentalists for fear of a repeat of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Mexican Gulf; it's also an abuse of the government's regulatory power. Zinke himself is something of a cheerleader for the oil and gas industry: Last month, he defended the Trump administration's decision to shrink Utah's Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments by 1.1 million acres (or 85 percent), saying that "we listen to the voices of the people, not Washington, D.C., special interests." The next day, the Washington Post revealed that the uranium mining company Energy Fuels Resources had aggressively lobbiedZinke's deputies to shrink Bears Ears.
Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt isn't much better. Pruitt, a noted climate skeptic, has a well-documented history as a mouthpiece for oil and gas companies. In 2014, the New York Times published 84 pages of a 2011 correspondencebetween Pruitt and Oklahoma oil and gas conglomerate Devon Energy in which the company authored a letter "from Pruitt" to the EPA railing against the agency's natural gas drilling emissions estimates. This was likely a common occurrence: After becoming Oklahoma's attorney general in 2011, Pruitt raked in nearly $325,000 in donations from energy companies, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, authoring letters to the EPA and Department of the Interior lambasting the Obama administration's embrace of carbon emission regulations.
But what about the other civil servants who power the Department of the Interior and the EPA? Much like Zinke, the Interior staff has many ties to the oil, gas, and mining industries. Those ties are detailed by Dirty Deputies, a database that tracks the Trump administration's connections to the fossil fuel industry. (The Dirty Deputies project is ran by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, itself a "sister advocacy organization" of the progressive Center for American Progress.)
In the Department of the Interior, those connections include Assistant Secretary of Land and Minerals Joe Balash, a former Alaska natural resources official who in 2014 traveled to China, Japan, and South Korea with BP staffers to pitch a liquefied natural gas project; Preston Beard, an advisor in Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and a former PAC manager for the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association; Deputy Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt, who was a longtime lobbyist for mining, oil, and gas interests; and Associate Deputy Secretary James Cason, the former president of the industrial supplier Unifrax Corporation.
The EPA, steered by Pruitt, faces similar conflicts of interest: Erik Baptist, the agency's senior deputy general counsel, previously worked for the American Petroleum Institute; and Nancy Beck, a deputy associate administrator tasked with overseeing pollution prevention and chemical safety, worked for the American Chemistry Council, as did public affairs chief Liz Bowman.
The White House found the ultimate way to deregulate the environment—through the agencies tasked with monitoring it.
https://psmag.com/environment/oil-and-gas-ties-run-deep-in-trump-administration
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Pruitt Said to Be Interested If Attorney General Job Opens
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer Jacobs and Jennifer A. Dlouhy
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt has told associates he would be willing to lead the Justice Department, should the position become available, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The former Oklahoma attorney general has discussed the matter in recent days amid speculation about the tenure of Attorney General Jeff Sessions, said the people, who asked not to be identified describing internal conversations.
The New York Times, Associated Press, and Bloomberg News reported that President Donald Trump ordered his White House counsel, Don McGahn, in 2017 to lobby Sessions not to recuse himself from the Justice Department's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 elections. Sessions recused himself anyway, infuriating Trump.
The president's anger over the matter tends to resurface after news reports on the Russia investigation and the attorney general's role in the probe, two White House officials said. But one of those officials, plus a third official, said that there are no serious discussions to replace Sessions at the moment.
Sessions's spokeswoman Sarah Isgur Flores declined to comment.
Pruitt, who has been discussed as a possible candidate for an Oklahoma seat in the U.S. Senate, stressed his focus is on leading the EPA during an October interview with Bloomberg News, while signaling he would serve in other roles if it would help drive Trump's agenda.
“I am here because I really feel called to it,” Pruitt said at the time. “You do what's before you, you do the best work you can, you bless the president—I really serve to bless him and his process and help him form decisions and lead with direction here—and then you see what opportunities present themselves in the future on how to better the agenda overall.”
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=126046543&vname=dennotallissues&fn=126046543&jd=126046543
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NGO Says US EPA Is Hiding 'Weakened' Chemical Reviews
Jan 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Julie A Miller
A US NGO has accused the EPA of attempting to cover its tracks as it "weakens" the review of new chemicals.
The agency has changed the way it reports on the status of new chemicals undergoing review, providing less information on the agency staff’s preliminary evaluations.
The EPA has long maintained a public website that tracks the "premanufacture notifications" (PMNs) companies must submit before manufacturing a new chemical.
However last summer it stopped updating it, a development environmental advocates have complained about.
At a December meeting on new chemical evaluation, Tanya Hodge Mottley, acting deputy director of programmes in the Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), said the agency had stopped updating the data to review it and "make sure that our terminology is up to date, consistent with the statute".
The outcome of that review came to light on 3 January, when the EPA made more than 100 additions to the tracking site. The new entries have been given an "interim status" which states only that a "focus meeting occurred," with no indication of what action the staff recommended.
"The change makes clear that the agency is now planning to cover its tracks as it weakens new chemical reviews," wrote Richard Denison, lead senior scientist at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), in a blog post. "EPA will now hide from the public any information about whether its initial review of a new chemical raises any concerns or warrants a more extensive review."
The website lists chemicals submitted for review and notes the date of the "focus meeting," a step that usually occurs within weeks of submission where agency staff discusses the proposal with the submitter and presents initial conclusions.
Past entries in the database indicate whether staff had recommended a finding that the chemical is "not likely to present an unreasonable risk," that a consent order should be developed because it may present a risk, or that the submitted information is insufficient to make a determination.
Alternatively the interim status of a chemical might be "pending standard review," indicating that it is being looked at more extensively.
However, the new entries note only that a focus meeting has taken place.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62880/ngo-says-us-epa-is-hiding-weakened-chemical-reviews
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Monsanto Hit With $100M Suit for Oregon PCB Pollution
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Steven M. Sellers
Monsanto Co. should be held liable for $100 million in damages for PCB contamination of soils, waterways, and wildlife in Oregon, the state's attorney general charged in a lawsuit filed Jan. 4.
The case is the latest filed by public officials, mostly cities on the west coast, against Monsanto and its related companies, Solutia Inc., and Pharmacia LLC, over alleged polychlorinated biphenyl pollution from an array of Monsanto products manufactured between 1929 to 1977.
“Despite knowing as early as 1937 that PCBs were toxic to humans and animals, and PCBs could escape into and contaminate the environment, Monsanto manufactured and sold PCBs until they were finally banned under federal law,” the complaint says.
The toxic material has settled into and continues to harm harbors, waterways, soils, and wildlife, requiring extensive cleanup efforts, according to Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum.
“Today as we grapple with the cost of cleaning up the lasting damage of PCBs in our waterways, fish and wildlife—we must ask ourselves: Would Oregonians have used these products if Monsanto had been more forthcoming about the toxicity of PCBs? I believe the answer would be ‘no,’” Rosenblum said in a Jan. 4 statement.
The suit, filed in Oregon Circuit Court, Multnomah County, alleges nuisance, trespass, indemnity, and unjust enrichment claims against the three companies.
Washington state's attorney general filed a similar suit in 2016 alleging PCBs caused significant harm to that neighboring state. That suit is pending in federal court.
Former Monsanto is today known as Pharmacia. Monsanto and Solutia are affiliated companies that have assumed liabilities related to the historical manufacture of PCBs.
Monsanto Disputes Claims
A spokesman for Monsanto told Bloomberg Law Jan. 5 the suit is both baseless and duplicative of government-supervised cleanup efforts already underway.
“Monsanto voluntarily stopped producing PCBs more than 40 years ago and didn't use or dispose of any PCBs in the state of Oregon,” Scott S. Partridge, Monsanto's vice president for global strategy, told Bloomberg Law Jan. 5.
“Clean-up efforts are underway in Oregon with the full group of responsible parties under supervision of the EPA, and it's most important that everyone stay focused on that work,” Partridge said in an email.
Company Memos Cited
The state, invoking its responsibility as protector of the state's lands and waters, contends the PCBs arise from in a multitude of products—such as electrical transformers, lubricants, printing inks, caulk, and paint—used in the state for decades.
Internal company memos support the conclusion that Monsanto irresponsibility marketed PCB-containing products, the state argues.
A 1937 memo on animal testing, for example, warned that “prolonged exposure” at high temperatures or “repeated oral ingestion will lead to systemic toxic effects,” according to the complaint.
Another memo, the state says, came from Monsanto's manager of environmental health in 1970 and advised: “Our interpretation is that PCB's [sic] are exhibiting a greater degree of toxicity in this chronic study than we had anticipated.”
Similar Suits
The Oregon suit isn't the first Monsanto has faced over PCB-containing products it made decades ago, and the company has had mixed success in getting other local governments’ suits dismissed.
Those suits, which allege similar public nuisance claims and have been filed mostly by west coast cities including San Diego; Seattle; Spokane, Wash.; and Portland, Ore.
San Diego's amended complaint was enough to resurrect previously dismissed public nuisance claims against Monsanto for PCBs in the city's stormwater system, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California ruled in November 2017.
But in December, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld the dismissal of a $23 million suit filed by a Massachusetts school district over PCBs in caulk installed in the 1960s.
It wasn't reasonably foreseeable that PCBs in the caulk would be severe enough to create a risk to human health, the three-judge panel said.
The similar suit filed by Washington's Attorney General Bob Ferguson has been caught up in a jurisdictional dispute. The case is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit where Monsanto is arguing the case should be heard in federal, not state, court.
The case is Oregon v. Monsanto Co., Or. Cir. Ct., No. 18CV00540, filed 1/4/18.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=126046561&vname=dennotallissues&fn=126046561&jd=126046561
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Canada Launches Plan to Reduce Selenium Exposure Across Products
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By James Munson
Canada's health and environment ministries are proposing new restrictions on selenium use and pollution across a broad range of industries after a study confirmed that the naturally occurring element poses risks to human health and the environment.
Coal mining, wastewater treatment, and natural health products will be targeted in a regulatory action recently proposed and meant to shore up the federal government's monitoring of 29 substances that contain selenium.
Humans suffering from high exposure to the element can experience hair loss, nail damage, and bad breath, as well as more severe impacts such as deformities, decreased cognitive function, and gastrointestinal disorders, according to a screening assessment study on selenium that Health Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada performed
Supplementary Damage?
Selenium, which is also an essential micronutrient when taken in small enough doses, poses a risk to those consuming it as a health supplement, according to the study.
High selenium levels in the environment can damage the reproductive capacity of fish, birds, and amphibians. Selenium can accumulate in fish eggs and affect developing embryos, while reducing egg hatchability and increasing embryonic deformities in birds, it said.
The impacts in both humans and the environment met the Canadian Environmental Protection Act's (CEPA) criteria for toxic substances that pose a “danger to human life or health” and “immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment or biological diversity,” the ministries said in the study.
The study found high selenium levels did not trigger a third condition for action under CEPA's subsections on toxic substances—“danger to the environment on which life depends.”
Inuit Exposures
Up to 7 percent of Inuit—an indigenous people who live across Canada's Arctic and sub-Arctic regions—have blood concentrations of selenium over 1,000 micrograms per liter; the U.S. National Academy of Medicine has identified 400 microliters a day as a tolerable upper intake level for selenium, according to the findings.
The high levels of selenium are likely reaching Inuit through bioaccumulation in the aquatic food web. Inuit diet mainstays such as ring seal, beluga, and narwhal all have been found to have high selenium concentrations, the study said.
Subsistence fishers who live near mines or other remote industrial operations, which includes many First Nation populations across Canada, could have high selenium levels, according to the federal documents. Fish consumption advisories for selenium have been issued near historical uranium mines in Saskatchewan, which recommend only one fish serving every one to four weeks, depending on the fish type.
New Actions
In response to the screening assessment, Health Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada offer an overview of the actions they are already taking or plan to take in light of selenium's harmful impacts.
Health Canada's Natural and Non-Prescription Health Products Directorate proposed lowering the maximum daily dose of selenium from 400 to 200 microliters, according to the document outlining the federal government's actions.
Environment and Climate Change Canada also said it's proposing a “potential regulatory approach for selenium discharges from the coal mining sector.” Selenium can be unearthed during the extraction and processing of ores used in coal mining, and can be released along with a mine facility's waste, it said.
The Coal Association of Canada did not respond to a Bloomberg Environment request for comment.
Six of the 12 base metal smelters and refineries in Canada likely have their selenium discharges covered by an existing set of regulations known as the Metal Mining Effluent Regulations. Environment and Climate Change Canada, however, is proposing a scheme to gather more data on selenium from the six facilities that don't report to the mining regulations.
Voluntary to Regulatory
If the voluntary process doesn't work, Environment and Climate Change Canada said it's consider a mandatory option.
Selenium also enters the environment from smelting and refinery air pollution, but the ministry isn't proposing new rules for that pollution. A set of existing regulations targeting particulate matter could reduce selenium emissions, as could gas-scrubbing technologies used to contain sulfur dioxide. These impacts may show up in future annual emissions data, it said.
Wastewater facilities pose a discharge risk because of other operations that use them to treat their pollution, according to the study. Environment and Climate Change Canada will wait until a current set of regulations—the Wastewater Systems Effluent Regulations—take effect to determine whether new rules to restrict selenium are warranted.
Selenium also is found in nutrient products for livestock and is put into soils that are low in the element, according to the ministries. But they aren't proposing any action yet to limit selenium use in the agricultural sector.
Another department, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, “will collaborate with other government departments and industry on appropriate science initiatives as needed,” the study said.
The public has until Feb. 14 to comment on the proposals and offer the government any additional studies.
Canada has a two-year window to publish information on the instruments it might use to implement the new regulations, and then another two-year window to publish final information on those instruments.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=126046552&vname=dennotallissues&fn=126046552&jd=126046552
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Canada's Proposed Asbestos Ban Targets Cement Pipes, Brake Pads
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By James Munson
Canada's proposed asbestos ban would force construction and automotive repair companies to stop using products containing the carcinogenic mineral next year, while giving some chemical manufacturers more time to adjust.
Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada published proposed regulations for a ban of asbestos Jan. 5, seven years after the country's last asbestos mine closed in Quebec.
The ban proposes an end to the import of asbestos and the manufacturing of products containing the mineral, while allowing asbestos-containing products already in use, such as building materials, to reach the end of their useful life.
Asbestos is found in cement pipes and brake pads. Around 99 percent of the workers who would benefit from the ban are in the construction industry, according to the regulations. Asbestos fibers were responsible for 1,900 lung cancer and 430 mesothelioma cases in Canada in 2011, according to federal officials.
The regulations will come into effect in 2019 after a public consultation period, which is open through March 22, and reduce the amount of asbestos in Canada by 4,700 metric tons between 2019 and 2035.
Canada is proposing an exemption for the chlor-alkali industry—which uses a product containing asbestos in the making of chlorine and caustic soda—until 2025. This interval would allow the single chlor-alkali facility in Canada that uses asbestos more time to adopt available alternatives.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=126046553&vname=dennotallissues&fn=126046553&jd=126046553
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EU's JRC Lists Potential Marine Environment Chemical Contaminants
Jan 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has compiled a list of potential chemical contaminants in the marine environment.
It comprises more than 2,700 substances (or groups of substances) sourced from lists of chemicals compiled by relevant global conventions, European legislation, European regional seas and dedicated research work.
The JRC says that although not all of the contaminants are of concern for the marine environment, "the general overview should help [stakeholders] understand the different options and support further developments for the monitoring and assessment of chemical pollution in European marine waters".
The most relevant legislation for the protection of the European aquatic environment are the water framework Directive (WFD) and the marine strategy framework Directive (MSFD). The WFD establishes a list of substances of EU-wide concern as a means of assessing the chemical status of water bodies up to 12 nautical miles from the straightened coastline.
The JRC says it is "interesting" that most substances on the list are regarded as ‘emerging pollutants’. At an international level, it says, great efforts have been directed towards the monitoring of these new chemicals in different areas of the marine environment.
However it recommends further discussions regarding emerging contaminants and how to incorporate them into existing future regulatory frameworks, as well as talks on monitoring efforts for ‘legacy’ contaminants.
The list, which uses a harmonised nomenclature for the unambiguous identification of the substances of concern, may also serve as a basis for discussions about procedures for grouping/combining substances at European level, the JRC says.
https://chemicalwatch.com/62879/eus-jrc-lists-potential-marine-environment-chemical-contaminants
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(ACC Mentioned) Mammoth W.Va. Storage Project Moves Closer To DOE Loan
Jan 5, 2018 | AP (In E&E Energywire)
West Virginia officials are applauding the progress of a natural gas storage facility that could be built beneath their state, after the proposal got the first of two necessary approvals for a $1.9 billion Department of Energy loan.
The Appalachia Development Group project, which would also include another $1.4 billion in financing, is being hailed as a possible economic hub for the state. Its exact location hasn't been decided, but the American Chemistry Council estimates it would create some 100,000 jobs locally.
In addition to the storage facility, the project would include pipelines running into nearby valleys, as well as a cracker facility where ethylene would be produced.
On Wednesday, West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R) called the project a "game-changing idea" for the state, adding that the first approval was "a clear indication of the strength of their application" (Jonathan Mattise, AP/Houston Chronicle, Jan. 3). — DI
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/stories/1060070157/search?keyword=%22American+Chemistry+Council%22
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(ACC Mentioned) Bring Storage Hub to W.Va.
Jan 6, 2018 | Wheeling Intelligencer
West Virginia may well have an advantage over other potential locations for a major facility to store natural gas liquids. State officials and our delegation in Congress should pull out all the stops to make the project a reality for the Mountain State.
Area residents have heard much talk of a storage hub. It would be an underground facility where massive amounts of natural gas liquids, used in various industries including chemicals and plastics, could be stored.
The region around such a hub could reap enormous benefits. The American Chemistry Council has estimated as many as 100,000 new jobs could be created in the area.
As we learned last fall, our region of the Ohio Valley has some of the best underground geology available for a storage hub.
Last week, there was good news about a hub for this region of the country. Appalachian Development Group LLC revealed it has received a favorable reception from the federal government, for a $1.9 billion loan guarantee. The money would be used for a storage hub in West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania or Kentucky.
ADG Chief Executive Officer Steve Hedrick emphasized the news is far from a go-ahead for the project. Years of work, including raising $1.4 billion in addition to the hoped-for $1.9 billion in loan guarantees, lies ahead, he cautioned.
Assuming financing can be arranged, West Virginia may have a head-start in getting the hub. ADG is located in South Charleston. Hedrick, who cited long-range plans to run pipelines to both the Ohio and Kanawha valleys, may view our state as a preferred location.
Officials and business people elsewhere will do all in their power to land the hub, however.
West Virginia needs to be in that game. That will mean work by our congressional delegation in Washington, and by our governor and legislators in Charleston.
The bottom line is this: West Virginia officials need to have the financial flexibility and wherewithal to provide roads and other infrastructure to serve the storage hub. We also need to be ready to offer tax and other financial incentives, if they become a factor.
Competing against states for the hub will not be easy, nor will it be cheap. Clearly, then, Mountain State officials should begin planning right now to do that.
http://www.theintelligencer.net/opinion/editorials/2018/01/bring-storage-hub-to-w-va/
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(ACC Mentioend) Plans for Natural-Gas Storage Hub in Appalachia Take Another Step Forward
Jan 8, 2018 | TankTerminals.com
Plans for an underground storage hub for natural-gas liquids pegged as a major job creator in Appalachia have cleared their first big hurdle.
Appalachia Development Group LLC says the Appalachia Storage & Trading Hub initiative received approval Wednesday for the first of two application phases for a $1.9 billion U.S. Department of Energy loan.
The group also aims to secure $1.4 billion in other financing.
Group CEO Steve Hedrick said it hasn't been determined where the project will land, but listed West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
The American Chemistry Council has estimated the project could attract up to $36 billion in new chemical and plastics industry investment and create 100,000 new area jobs.
Sens. Joe Manchin and Shelley Moore Capito and Rep. David McKinley are pushing for the facility to land in West Virginia.https://www.tankterminals.com/news_detail.php?id=4886
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Federal Report Details Cause of Chemical Cloud in Kansas
Jan 8, 2018 | AP (In The New York Times)
ATCHISON, Kan. — Small key rings that were missing from chemical storage tanks and a lack of attention to proper procedures were primary reasons a chemical cloud spread over a city in northeast Kansas in 2016, according to a federal report.
The cloud caused more than 140 people to seek medical attention and others to either stay indoors or evacuate Atchison for several hours.
MGPI Processing used metal key rings to secure pipelines to chemical storage tanks at the plant. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board found that an employee opened one line to take delivery of sulfuric acid without realizing two other lines were open because the rings were missing.
So when a delivery truck driver for Harcros Chemicals arrived expecting to find only one unlocked line, he unknowingly allowed sulfuric acid into a tank containing sodium hypochlorite, according to the board's report. The two chemicals are incompatible and erupted into a cloud that spread over the Atchison area, The Kansas City Star reported .
One MGPI employee and five members of the public were hospitalized after the incident in Atchison, which is about 50 miles (80.5 kilometers) northwest of Kansas City.Continue reading the main story
The board's final report, which was released Wednesday, closely mirrors preliminary findings released in April. It details 11 lessons and improvements that can be learned from the incident and implemented at similar facilities across the nation.
Most of the recommendations focus on proper training for employees and delivery drivers, and safety procedures. One recommendation was to install different fill line connections for each chemical so a delivery driver's line will fit only the correct line for the chemical being delivered.
"Had MGPI placed pipe markers or identification tags on all the fill line connection points (or at the very least, on the sodium hypochlorite fill line connection point), it might have been immediately obvious to the driver that he was connecting the discharge hose to the incorrect fill line," the report said.
Investigators also noted the MGPI employee and the delivery driver didn't follow procedures to ensure safe delivery of the chemicals.
The Chemical Safety Board report said both companies reached informal settlement agreements with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in May. Terms of the agreements were not released.
The board doesn't take action against companies or issue penalties. The Environmental Protection Agency is still investigating the incident.
The board's report notes that MGPI Processing and Harcros have already implemented some recommendations, including changing line connections for sulfuric acid to "make it impossible for drivers to connect another delivery hose to that line."
MGP Ingredients, which owns MGPI Processing, said in a statement that said the company has worked closely with the board and other government agencies' to improve operations, including hiring an engineering firm to review its chemical unloading and storage methods.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/01/05/us/ap-us-kansas-chemical-cloud.html
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Five 2018 House Races to Watch on Energy and Environment
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tiffany Stecker
President Donald Trump undid many of his predecessor's environmental and energy accomplishments last year, and Democrats are hoping to galvanize some of the frustration over Trump's efforts to flip the House.
Democrats need to turn at least 24 seats from red to blue to win the chamber. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has identified 94 competitive districts, focusing in areas where Hillary Clinton won the vote in the 2016 general election.
Congressional battles in 2017 over health care and tax reform, as well as the national conversation on sexual misconduct, will likely be at the forefront of voters’ minds as they head to the polls for the primary and general elections.
Environment and energy could also play a role in certain vulnerable races. Trump last year withdrew from the Paris Accord on climate change, scrapped the Clean Power Plan to reduce carbon emissions from the electricity sector, and reduced the size of protected federal lands. Locally, Americans had to contend with their own environmental concerns, from wildfires in California to contaminated rivers in North Carolina.
Regional issues, such as the management of public lands, water quality, and adaptation to a changing climate could manifest into talking points in affected districts, Megan Mullin, an associate professor of environmental politics at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment, told Bloomberg Environment.
“I would anticipate a lot of language on infrastructure” on the campaign trail, Mullin said. “It's about building communities that are more resilient in the face of these risks.”
Mullin pointed to a recent event in which a local environmental problem caused an upset in the Trump administration's plans. Wilmington, N.C.-area residents are struggling with contamination of the chemical known as GenX, from a nearby chemical plant, in their drinking water. That incident fueled the state's two Republican senators to oppose a Trump nominee with a history of siding with the chemical industry for a high-level post at the Environmental Protection Agency.
Bloomberg Environment identified five House races with vulnerable incumbents in which environmental or energy issues could play a prominent role:
Texas’ 23rd District
Rep. Will Hurd's (R) seat, which covers more than 800 miles along the U.S.-Mexico border in a predominantly Hispanic district, is one of four Texas districts targeted by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
The competing priorities of conservation and border security could clash in the race to win Texas's 23rd congressional district, particularly in the debate over Trump's border wall. The district is home to Big Bend National Park that abuts the Rio Grande, the international demarcation line. Hurd supported a 2015 bill that would remove hurdles to road construction in Big Bend to increase border security, a move his 2016 Democratic opponent Pete Gallego—who held the seat from 2013 to 2015—used to attack Hurd in his campaign.
The oil and gas industry is a big jobs generator in the district. Hurd has raised $1.34 million in political contributions since Sept. 29, 2017, according to Bloomberg Government. Energy companies have contributed about $61,000 to his campaign.
Hurd has outraised his closest Democratic competitor, former federal prosecutor Jay Hulings, by nearly seven times.
Florida's 26th District
Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R) represents a rare breed within the GOP: a Republican who not only believes in the mainstream science on climate change, but is also dedicated to tackling the issue. The South Florida congressman and Trump critic is facing a challenging re-election in a district that voted for Hillary Clinton by 16 percentage points in 2016.
The district, which includes the Florida Keys, could be swayed by Curbelo's credentials as the co-founder of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus in the wake of last year's Hurricane Irma and the threat of sea-level rise. But some environmentalists, such as the League of Conservation Voters’ Craig Auster, point out that the caucus hasn't done much to propose actual solutions.
Curbelo has raised $1.75 million, according to Bloomberg Government. In 2016 he received a key endorsement from the ClearPath Action Fund, an organization that supports conservative approaches to low-carbon energy.
Ricky Junquera, a former press secretary for the Sierra Club and campaign staffer for Curbelo's 2016 opponent, Joe Garcia, is one of the Democrats ready to challenge Curbelo. The Sierra Club has received funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael Bloomberg, the ultimate owner of Bloomberg Environment.
California's 49th District
Nine-term GOP Rep. Darrell Issa squeaked by in his last re-election race against Democrat Doug Applegate with a 1,621-vote lead in this coastal Southern California district. Residents of the 49th California Congressional District voted for Clinton in that same election, the first Democratic presidential candidate to win since Al Gore captured the district in 2000.
Issa, the former chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, used his perch to investigate the Energy Department's $535 million loan guarantee to Solyndra, a solar energy company that went bankrupt in 2011. Although he recently joined the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, Issa has stuck to his party line opposing cap-and-trade schemes and in favor of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Issa's district was seriously burned by wildfires last year, a point that could play into campaign trail discussions on climate change. One of his top Democratic challengers, Mike Levin, is an environmental attorney by training and has worked for several energy companies. Levin is the frontrunner among Democratic candidates for fundraising, amassing close to $1 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Issa has raised only slightly more: $1.25 million, according to Bloomberg Government.
North Carolina's 9th District
Rep. Robert Pittenger (R) safely won his re-election in 2016, getting 58 percent of the vote to his challenger's 42 percent on the same day Trump won the district by 12 percentage points. This year, his victory is less certain.
Pittenger is facing a challenge from within his political party and from a well-funded Democrat with a renewable energy background.
Dan McCready, a Marine Corps veteran, co-founded an investment firm for utility-scale solar farms in 2013 that has raised $80 million for solar projects, according to a February 2017 Fortune magazine profile of the company.
McCready currently leads the pack in fundraising, collecting more than $875,000 to Pittenger's $635,344 as of June 30, according to Federal Election Commission filings. McCready has more than double the cash on hand as Pittenger.
But before he faces a Democrat in November, Pittenger must win against evangelical pastor Mark Harris in the primary. Pittenger won the 2016 primary against Harris by just 134 votes, and former White House strategist Steve Bannon is planning to help Harris's campaign, according to the McClatchy news service.
Maine's 2nd District
To date, Republican Rep. Bruce Poliquin has burned through far more money than his opponents — he's spent 22 times the amount that Democratic frontrunner, state House Rep. Jared Golden, has — but Democrats could soon catch up with the entry of a familiar name in the Maine conservation world.
Lucas St. Clair, son of the Burt's Bees personal care company co-founder, announced his candidacy Oct. 2, the sixth Democrat to enter the race. St. Clair's activism helped push President Obama to create the Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, a 87,500 acre-federal land designation. Republicans have criticized national monuments, saying they can prevent local communities from using the land for hunting, fishing, logging or other uses.
St. Clair's campaign has yet to report contributions to the Federal Election Commission, but his family's wealth could support his fledgling campaign. Elliotsville Plantation Inc., St. Clair's family foundation to conserve Maine land, is worth an estimated $131 million, according to the Mainebiz news site.
St. Clair faces a tough primary against Golden, a former Marine and one of several military veterans national Democrats are trying to get elected to the House.
Poliquin has raised $1.59 million, according to Bloomberg Government.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=126046545&vname=dennotallissues&fn=126046545&jd=126046545
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Utah Seeks More Air Pollution Data From Oil and Gas Industry
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Tripp Baltz
Utah will know more about the air pollution in its lucrative oil and gas fields under a new registration rule that also upgrades emissions disclosure requirements.
The rule (R307-150), which took effect Jan. 4, requires some 30 oil and gas companies in the state to submit an emissions inventory every three years including total emissions for particulate matter, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds at each source.
The rule also includes a requirement for all oil and gas sources to register with the Division of Air Quality, which would capture some smaller drilling operations that had been exempted.
“Right now, we don't have a clue what's out there,” David McNeill, manager of the Utah Division of Air Quality's Planning Branch, told Bloomberg Environment. “It's all been voluntary.”
Wasatch Woes
The rule change comes as Utah is grappling with pernicious air quality problems along the urban Wasatch Front near Salt Lake City as well as the Uinta Basin in the northeast part of the state, a region of robust drilling activity, McNeill said.
The Environmental Protection Agency notified Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert (R) Dec. 20 that the agency intends to designate Salt Lake County and its neighbor to the north, Davis County, as exceeding new ozone pollution standards set in 2015.
Additionally, the EPA intends to designate portions of five counties—including state and tribal lands in Uintah County—as ozone nonattainment areas, the agency said. The EPA plans to complete the ozone designations process by the end of April.
Ozoned
States are required to submit plans to improve air quality in regions deemed to have exceeded the ozone standards, which could lead to new pollution controls for industries and vehicles and more difficulty securing permits.
Companies that have operated in the Basin include Bill Barrett Corp., XTO Energy, Uinta Oil and Gas, and Crescent Point Energy US Corp.
Industry supports the rule because it will provide for more certainty and consistency when the Uinta Basin is designated as nonattainment, Kathleen Sgamma, president of the Western Energy Alliance, told Bloomberg Environment.
“The industry needs an efficient permitting mechanism so all the development doesn't just stop when the region goes into nonattainment in a relatively short period of time,” she said.
Unlike rules approved recently in Colorado and California, Utah's updated permitting requirements don't include methane, which is a short-lived but very potent greenhouse gas.
Environmental groups had pushed the state to include methane emissions.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=126046551&vname=dennotallissues&fn=126046551&jd=126046551
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Greenhouse Gas Bill a Top Priority for Oregon Democrats
Jan 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Paul Shukovsky
A greenhouse gas trading program is a top priority for Oregon Democrats who will unveil their proposal Jan. 8.
Participating companies—those that generally emit more than 25,000 metric tons per year of greenhouse gases—would be allowed to participate in offset projects such as planting trees that sequester carbon dioxide as part of the bill, dubbed the Clean Energy Jobs Bill of 2018, Sen. Michael Dembrow (D), chairman of the Environment and Natural Resources Committee and an architect of the bill, told Bloomberg Environment in a recent interview.
A work group that included legislators, industry representatives, and environmental activists convened after the end of the last legislative session and helped to identify the best way to direct revenue from the auction of allowances, Dembrow said.
“It will need to be used to either further mitigate carbon emissions or adapt to those climate change events that we already experience,” he said. Oregon in recent years has been hit by severe drought and forest fires.
“A lot of the focus is going to be on investments in rural Oregon, which is largely represented by people from the other party,” Dembrow said. “I'd like to think that given enough time, a number of our Republican colleagues will get on board.”
It remains to be seen whether the Democrats will require Republican support. Rep. Ken Helm (D), chair of the House Energy and Environment Committee who also helped write the bill, told Bloomberg Environment. Democrats control both chambers of the Oregon Legislature, and Gov. Kate Brown is a Democrat.
“If all the Democrats vote for this, then we can pass it. And the governor will sign it,” he said.
Perhaps the main stumbling block to passing such a complex piece of legislation in a 35-day session beginning Feb. 5 is the possibility that Oregon voters could overturn a healthcare revenue package to support Medicaid and stabilize private insurance on the individual market on a Jan. 23 ballot measure. If that happens, lawmakers would suddenly find themselves facing a shortfall of at least $320 million.
That could suck all the air out of the Capital leaving little time to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Bill, Dembrow said.
Helm said Democratic leadership told him efforts to pass the bill can continue even if the healthcare funding crisis materializes.
http://news.bna.com/deln/DELNWB/split_display.adp?fedfid=126046550&vname=dennotallissues&fn=126046550&jd=126046550
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California Escalates Warning Over Trump Attacks On GHGs, Vehicle Policies
Jan 5, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Curt Barry
California officials are intensifying warnings over Trump administration actions that threaten the state's authority to reduce greenhouse gases and other pollutants from vehicles and energy production, escalating an already bitter war between one of the most aggressive and influential states on environmental issues and a president who is targeting a host of Obama-era climate and environmental policies.
“Unfortunately, the current administration is actively at work dismantling the federal response to climate change and clean air,” California Air Resources Board (CARB) Chairwoman Mary Nichols told state lawmakers during a Jan. 4 legislative hearing on the board's sweeping regulatory plan to meet the state's 2030 GHG emissions target.
“Between disbanding the federal climate advisory panel, preparing to rescind the Clean Power Plan, court actions rolling back federal laws on short-lived climate pollutant reduction strategies, and withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, every month brings another rollback and increasingly alarming policies that really threaten the progress that's been made to protect public health and our climate,” Nichols added.
Nichols also elaborated on her fears that EPA plans to attack California's longtime Clean Air Act authority to enforce tougher vehicle standards than the federal government, and said she expects the Trump administration will not work with the state on enforcement cases targeting diesel emission cheating, similar to the landmark settlement with Volkswagen.
Her remarks came the same day that the Trump Interior Department proposed a vast expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling, including several potential leases off the coast of California, which has not held any lease sales since the early 1980s, a proposal that drew strong opposition from California Gov. Jerry Brown (D).
The heightened clashes between the Golden State -- which is often supported by numerous other Democratic states such as New York -- and the Trump administration likely ensure the states will file a spate of lawsuits against federal agencies in the coming months and years over moves to weaken or scrap major climate and environmental measures.
During the recent legislative hearing, Nichols seemed most alarmed at a potential EPA attack on the state's vehicle waiver authority, because it is critical to the state meeting its climate targets and also because it gives the state significant leverage in negotiations about whether to change GHG rules for passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks.
“While we continue to seek a productive working relationship with the federal government, when it comes to the vehicle emission standards, the Trump administration may choose not to approve our waivers to pursue future standards, or even attempt to attack our authority altogether,” Nichols said.
The remarks expanded on her recent interview in which she said an attempt by EPA to revoke California's wavier for GHG rules for light-duty vehicles might be the “next shoe to drop.”
That followed December congressional testimony from EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, who signaled a potential attack on the state's waiver. “Federalism principles do not say that one state can dictate to the rest of the country the standard for the entire country.”
'Every Legal Tool'
At the Jan. 4 hearing, Nichols said that if California “were to lose the ability to set [GHG] standards for vehicles, we would certainly fight -- we would fight it with every legal tool that was available to us as well as all other tools that are available in the court of public opinion.”
But she warned that if the Golden State were to lose such a battle, “we would really lose significant reductions that are needed to achieve all of the various objectives that we've been talking about here today. Our ability to reduce mobile source emissions, including greenhouse gases, and criteria and toxics, would be hugely impaired. Not to mention the negative impact that this would have on the health of nearby communities. And, if we were to try to continue to achieve our overall goals, we would have to make up the remaining reductions through alternative measures that would be directed at other sectors as necessary.”
She also raised concerns that Trump officials are also pulling back their support for joint state-federal enforcement actions against auto companies that have intentionally rigged diesel vehicles to emit more pollution in violation of state and federal standards, following the landmark settlement California and the Obama administration developed with Volkswagen in 2016, Nichols said.
“We've been told that the Justice Department has now decided they don't want to do those kinds of settlements in the future,” she said. “So we have another pending case against another company that was doing something different but somewhat similar to what Volkswagen did, and we will not be getting the same amount of help and collaboration with the Trump administration that we did in the past.”
While she did not specify which companies, Nichols may have been referring to possible ongoing CARB investigations of Mitsubishi passenger diesel vehicles, or inquiries into General Motors diesel pickup trucks.
Cooperation with the federal government in the Volkswagen settlement was critical in requiring the company to agree to put more than $3 billion into a special fund for all states to reduce transportation sector nitrogen oxides that would offset the excess pollution caused by the fraudulent VW vehicles, Nichols said.
Despite the significant antagonism between California and Trump officials on a range of climate policies, Nichols said she remains positive on climate mitigation efforts. “I'm hopeful . . . because there are many other states that are pursuing, both following our vehicle regulations and looking at some of our other climate regulations, and more states actually looking to get into things like putting a price on carbon. I'm optimistic that we'll be able to keep our momentum going,” she told lawmakers.
Additionally, she said federal officials -- unless they go after the state's vehicle waivers -- have engaged in a “bit of benign neglect” regarding the state's programs. “We're not hearing anybody coming in and saying, 'You can't do it,'” she said, even though federal officials are not pursuing any new GHG-reduction measures.
Offshore Drilling
As Nichols was testifying to state lawmakers, other California leaders were lambasting the Interior Department's Jan. 4 draft proposal to open California’s and other states' coasts to offshore drilling. The draft drilling plan for 2019-2024 would make over 90 percent of the total Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and more than 98 percent of technically recoverable oil and gas resources “available to consider for future exploration and development.”
The department noted that the current 2017-2022 plan, crafted by the Obama administration, puts 94 percent of the OCS off limits.
“Drilling off the shores of California’s coast is a non-starter,” said California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D), in a press release. “Our state has banned offshore drilling for a reason: because we don’t want it and because we know what happens when it goes wrong. We are evaluating all of our options to protect our state’s pristine national resources. And it should be underscored that regulatory agencies in our state will have a say in whether any offshore drilling ultimately does occur.”
California Gov. Brown, along with Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) issued a joint statement Jan. 4 criticizing the drilling proposal. “This political decision to open the magnificent and beautiful Pacific Coast waters to oil and gas drilling flies in the face of decades of strong opposition on the part of Oregon, Washington and California -- from Republicans and Democrats alike.”
Trump officials have “chosen to forget the utter devastation of past offshore oil spills to wildlife and to the fishing, recreation and tourism industries in our states,” the governors added. “They’ve chosen to ignore the science that tells us our climate is changing and we must reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. But we won’t forget history or ignore science. For more than 30 years, our shared coastline has been protected from further federal drilling and we’ll do whatever it takes to stop this reckless, short-sighted action.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/california-escalates-warning-over-trump-attacks-ghgs-vehicle-policies
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Former EPA Staff Blast Legal Rationale For Repealing 'Glider' GHG Limits
Jan 5, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Doug Obey
A group of former agency officials is pushing back hard against EPA's proposal to repeal restrictions on production of “glider” trucks that combine new chassis with rebuilt engines, arguing the agency ignored clear statutory authority to regulate the vehicles and failed to account for damaging implications on the environment and industry.
“This proposal literally ignores all public health and welfare ramification. These ramifications are -- there is no other word -- horrendous,” says undated comments from the Environmental Protection Network (EPN), a group of former EPA officials, submitted ahead of a Jan. 5 comment deadline on the plan.
Meanwhile, comments from a range of state officials reiterate their concerns that the plan would cause a massive spike in conventional air pollutants, while warning that withdrawing the federal requirements could open up the possibility of a patchwork of state rules concerning gliders.
The pushback includes some of the most pointed criticism to date of Trump EPA claims that the Obama administration never had the authority to regulate the vehicles under its 2016 Phase 2 heavy-duty vehicle GHG rule.
And the comments further underscore the depth of opposition that the proposal has already encountered from diverse groups including trucking sector interests and environmentalists, nearly guaranteeing litigation should EPA finalize its proposed repeal.
The comments respond to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's Nov. 9 proposal to repeal provisions in the agency's heavy-duty GHG rule limiting the production of high-emitting glider trucks.
The regulation requires that most engines in such vehicles be certified to emissions standards that apply to the year of the glider vehicle, but with flexibility for small manufacturers to produce up to 300 vehicles annually -- or a number equal to their 2010-2014 production, whichever is less -- in which used engines could meet softer emissions limits in effect when the used engines were first made.
The Trump EPA argues that the limits were based on an overly broad reading of the Clean Air Act, which improperly deems gliders as “new” vehicles subject to regulation.
Specifically, Congress “likely did not have in mind that the definition would be construed as applying to a vehicle comprised of new body parts and a previously owned powertrain,” the proposal states, citing in particular a 1958 statute -- the Automobile Information Disclosure Act (AIDA) -- to argue that lawmakers must have envisioned a new vehicle being made of entirely new parts, akin to a “showroom new vehicle.” Pruitt's proposal even claims the statute likely informed the Clean Air Act definition of a new vehicle.
But the EPN comments push back hard on the Trump EPA's claims, arguing the agency's authority to regulate gliders as new vehicles is explicitly defined in the air act.
And even if the agency's authority were ambiguous, EPN argues, the proposal fails the Supreme Court's Chevron test that requires legal interpretations of ambiguous statutory language to be consistent with the statute's goals -- in this case Clean Air Act's mandate to protect public health.
EPA's proposed repeal “summarizes information contained in the reconsideration petition but without analyzing or taking a position on any of it. . . . And again for good reason,” EPN writes, noting that EPA quietly inserted agency testing results in the regulatory docket showing that gliders can emit up to 450 times more pollution than new trucks.
EPN also argues EPA's proposal is “utterly deficient” in providing proper notice of the public health and other issued raised by its proposed repeal.
And the group also argues that the proposal ignores the Obama EPA's separate justification of its glider vehicle requirements under a different Clean Air Act provision, section 202 (a)(3)(D), which covers rebuilt engines.
“The first sentence of the 2016 Final Rule's discussion of EPA's legal authority expressly cites [the rebuilt engine authority] as one of the provisions relied on. . . . The agency cannot repeal the glider engine provisions of the 2016 Final Rule without addressing and revoking its prior exercise of the rebuild authority. The agency has outright failed to explain that it is proposing any such revocation and why it would do so, an arbitrary action,” the former officials write.
New Vehicle Definition
The bulk of EPN's case, however, focuses on why EPA has clear authority to regulate gliders as new vehicles.
Specifically, the group cites the air law's definition of new vehicles as those for which “legal or equitable title . . . has never been transferred to an ultimate purchaser” -- a situation that applies to assembled glider trucks. The comments also cite a separate air law definition of a “new motor vehicle engine” as any engine in a “new motor vehicle,” which means a new motor vehicle can include a used engine, contrary to the proposal's claims.
EPN is particularly cutting in pushing back against use of the 1958 statute to divine congressional intent regarding the definition of new vehicles.
“This archaic statute offers no support at all for EPA’s conclusion, which therefore consists only of bare assertion,” the comments state.
EPN also contends that the Trump EPA misread the 60-year-old statute to divine a Clean Air Act definition for new vehicles, based upon the AIDA's narrower window labeling requirement that applies only to vehicles delivered to new car dealers. “Congress defined new automobile somewhat broadly in AIDA, but then narrowed the labeling requirement by limiting it to only those new automobiles delivered to new car dealers,” EPN says.
The group's comments also list an array of substantive issues that it argues EPA must reexamine in any revised interpretation of its glider vehicle authority. They include the impact of the proposed repeal on air pollution; the impact of the proposal on industry, including manufacturers and distributors of cleaner compliant engines; the costs and benefits of the proposed action given that benefits of the original requirements vastly exceed costs; and the likelihood that EPA's proposed determination that new vehicles must include all new parts would “eviscerate” the agency's ability to regulate mobile sources.
“If a 'new motor vehicle' consists entirely of new parts, all title 2 vehicular standards can be evaded by the expedient of adding a used part to the vehicle,” the comments say, echoing a prior argument from some trucking groups in a Dec. 4 public hearing on the EPA's plan.
'Horrific Emission Impacts'
Finally, EPN responds to a number of claims on which EPA specifically requested comment, including the argument that gliders are an inexpensive solution for small businesses and independent operators, and that not repealing the requirements will lead to truckers driving dirtier, older vehicles longer.
“First, glider vehicles are not equipped with important current safety features,” EPN says. “Second, used trucks of more recent model vintage with current safety and emissions control are readily available at lower price, without the need to purchase a high-polluting and less safe glider vehicle. Third, there is credible information that fleets, not individuals or small businesses, are the chief purchaser of glider vehicles.”
The group also says the notion that gliders are replacing even higher-polluting trucks “does not withstand scrutiny. Trucks are replaced when they are at the end of their useful life, so the glider vehicle is replacing a truck that has little if any life left as a tractor trailer.”
The group also rejects an alternative option EPA floated in the proposal, granting more time to phase in the glider restrictions. Due to the “horrific emission impacts of these vehicles, no further time for compliance should be afforded. Any delay will result in unnecessary American deaths,” the group says.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/former-epa-staff-blast-legal-rationale-repealing-glider-ghg-limits
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Sources: EPA Moving Quickly To Write New Climate Rule In 2018
Jan 5, 2018 | PoliticoPro
By Emily Holden
EPA staffers are under orders from the Trump administration to complete a replacement for former President Barack Obama’s major climate change rule by the end of the year, far faster than the normal pace the agency uses to develop major regulations, according to three sources familiar with the process.
That short timeframe would enable EPA lawyers the chance to defend the regulation from the legal challenges it is certain to face during President Donald Trump's current term. That would allow the proposal from Scott Pruitt's EPA to avoid the fate of the Obama EPA's Clean Power Plan, which was held up in court and is now being rescinded by a new administration that opposed the original carbon dioxide regulation.
EPA's air chief, Bill Wehrum, has directed staffers to develop a schedule for conducting analysis, public hearings and revisions that would be completed in 2018. Staff would need to complete a proposal by summer and allow time for the White House to review it before publication.
The tight timeline would mean that the agency would have to repeal and replace the Obama power-sector climate rule simultaneously but in separate processes. EPA would also have to finish revising a separate carbon rule for future fossil fuel plants, which must be in place in order to regulate existing generators.
Jeff Holmstead, a partner at the law firm Bracewell who ran EPA's air office under former President George W. Bush, called the timeframe “ambitious but not impossible.”
"It certainly gives them time to defend before the D.C. Circuit," he said, though if the legal stretches to the Supreme Court, they might not be resolved before the end of Trump's term.
The quick process underway is certain to draw scrutiny from environmental advocates who are gearing up for lawsuits against the changes.
“The Clean Power Plan would cut carbon pollution a third. A weak replacement that gets a percent or two in reductions won’t be a serious response to climate change and won’t meet Clean Air Act requirements. Americans — who depend on EPA to protect their health and climate — deserve a real solutions, not a scam,” said David Doniger, climate director for the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Pruitt in recent weeks stopped suggesting that the agency might choose not replace the Clean Power Plan. Pruitt, who has questioned man-made emissions' role in climate change, has been lobbied by some conservative groups such as The Heartland Institute and Competitive Enterprise Institute to forego a replacement and instead challenge the science-based endangerment finding that requires EPA to act to limit globe-warming emissions from power plants. Power companies, however, have pressed Pruitt to develop a replacement in order to give them some regulatory certainty and potentially head off any move by a future administration to write tougher standards.
The effort to create a replacement rule signals that EPA is siding with the industry stakeholders who want a rule written under this administration. But Pruitt could still conduct the "red team-blue team" debate over climate change science that he has promised to examine the scientific conclusions that humans are a dominant cause of climate change. That process could happen outside the regulatory and legal world, but it could be the foundation for a challenge to the endangerment finding. EPA would have a hard time fighting the finding after writing the rule precipitated by it, according to multiple conservative lawyers.
EPA’s new rule is set to focus on coal plants alone, according to sources and options outlined in a recent notice. The Obama EPA's Clean Power Plan had set targets for states to shift away from coal and toward natural gas and renewable power, a strategy that Pruitt, as Oklahoma attorney general, joined other Republican states to argue was illegal.
Obama’s rule aimed to cut carbon levels 32 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. Trump’s rule, which is likely to consider only efficiency upgrades that coal plants could make, would curb emissions far less. Some power sector experts have speculated that electricity generators might run their coal plants more if they were forced operate more efficiently and become more competitive in the power markets. That could in turn lead to higher emissions.
Wehrum told E&E News earlier this week that EPA was still considering not writing a replacement rule. But several sources told POLITICO that Wehrum has been working rapidly since joining EPA in mid-November to sketch out a plan for crafting a new rule.
The agency has issued a proposal to withdraw the Clean Power Plan and an advance notice of proposed rulemaking to replace the regulation. Comments on the withdrawal are due Jan. 16, but EPA is set to push back that deadline while it hosts three more public hearings that have not yet been scheduled. Comments on the ANPR are due Feb. 26.
Under a new version of the rule, EPA will have to determine whether to set a common efficiency standard for the coal fleet or write guidance for states to set their own standards for individual plants based on age and technology. Letting states set standards would align with Pruitt's push to give states more autonomy, but each individual plan would be subject to lawsuits at the state level and could linger in the judicial system for years.
EPA did not respond to a request for comment.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/article/2018/01/sources-epa-moving-quickly-to-write-new-climate-rule-in-2018-266788
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