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(ACC Mentioned) CATCON2014 Hailed as Success for Catalyst Industry Innovations
Feb 6, 2015 | Hydrocarbon Processing
By Mike Rhodes
The Catalyst Group Resources (TCGR) concluded CATCON2014, one of the industry's leading venues for product and process innovations in the cataltyic process industries, in December 8–9, 2014, in Houston, Texas. -
Scientist with Industry Ties Won't Lead EPA Chemical Risk-Assessment Program
Feb 6, 2015 | The Center for Public Integrity
By David Heath
The Environmental Protection Agency won’t be hiring a scientist with strong ties to industry to run its chemical assessment program. -
Dollar Store Products Have an Unsafe Amount of Toxic Chemicals, Report Says
Feb 6, 2015 | Louisville Business First
Dollar store products may be cheap, plentiful and popular, but many contain unsafe levels of toxic chemicals, a new study has found. -
CSB Chair: Fatal DuPont Incident Mirrors Industry's Shortcomings
Feb 6, 2015 | Occupational Health & Safety
Rafael Moure-Eraso, who chairs the federal Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, and board member Manual Ehrlich briefed Houston media Feb. 5 on CSB's ongoing investigation of the methyl mercaptan release at DuPont's La Porte facility on Nov. 15, 2014, that killed four workers. -
Ventilation System Design Contributed to Fatal Leak at DuPont Plant -- CSB
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
Poorly designed pipes contributed to a chemical release that killed four workers at a DuPont Co. plant last year, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said. -
Manufacturers Criticize 'Runaway Regulations' from EPA
Feb 6, 2015 | The Hill
By Tim Devaney
National Association of Manufacturers President Jay Timmons on Friday suggested the administration is playing defense against businesses. -
Murky Responses Cloud Plan to Ship Frack Waste on Ohio River
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - Energywire
By Mike Lee
A Texas company's announcement that it plans to ship fracking wastewater on the Ohio River has touched off a controversy, with environmentalists worrying that the company got around federal permitting requirements and federal agencies hedging on just how much permission they've given the company. -
E&E Daily's Northey Talks House Plans to Unveil Energy Plan
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - TV
As efforts in both chambers of Congress accelerate to move LNG exports and nuclear waste legislation, what are the prospects for a broader energy bill this year? -
McCabe Again Signals Eased ESPS Targets But Touts Fund To Do 'More'
Feb 6, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Lee Logan
EPA’s top air official Janet McCabe is again signaling the agency is likely to ease controversial interim greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets in its proposed GHG rule for existing power plants, but says President Obama's proposed $4 billion climate fund for fiscal year 2016 will help achieve emissions cuts beyond whatever is required in the rule. -
EPA Outlines Major Scientific Questions For Particulate Matter Workshops
Feb 6, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Lea Radick
EPA is outlining the major scientific questions it will seek answers for at upcoming workshops to review the science on the health effects and other impacts of particulate matter (PM) pollution, seeking answers to inform a review of its PM air standard and also to weigh information about the effects of very small ultrafine particles (UFP). -
EPA Floats Partial Settlement In Ozone SIP Deadline Suit
Feb 5, 2015 | InsideEPA
EPA is proposing a partial settlement to address Sierra Club's suit seeking deadlines for the agency to act on overdue plans from more than 20 states to address “good neighbor” interstate air pollution reduction provisions and other requirements for implementing the agency's 2008 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS). -
Obama Ranks Climate Among Top National Security Threats
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
The dangers posed by climate change rank among the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction, infectious disease outbreaks and catastrophic attacks on the United States, according to a new White House assessment of the most pressing global risks. -
White House: Climate Change Threatens National Security
Feb 6, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
The Obama administration looks at climate change as a threat to national security on par with terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and disease outbreaks. -
'Comprehensive' Crude-By-Rail Rule Sent to White House for Review
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
Federal transportation regulators have delivered a sweeping crude-by-rail rule to the White House for review. -
Officials Investigating Leaking Oil Train that Traversed Washington State
Feb 6, 2015 | The Bellingham Herald
By Samantha Wohlfeil
A train loaded with Bakken crude oil needed to have more than a dozen leaking tank cars removed at three separate stops as it traveled through Idaho and crossed Washington state in mid-January.
Industry and Association News
Chemical Management News
Chemical Security News
Energy and Environment News
Transportation News
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(ACC Mentioned) CATCON2014 Hailed as Success for Catalyst Industry Innovations
Feb 6, 2015 | Hydrocarbon Processing
By Mike Rhodes
The Catalyst Group Resources (TCGR) concluded CATCON2014, one of the industry's leading venues for product and process innovations in the cataltyic process industries, in December 8–9, 2014, in Houston, Texas.
The conference’s “Innovation to Growth” theme was firmly focused on the chemical industry, targeting advanced technologies for partnership, development and commercialization, using both olefins and aromaticfeedstocks. CATCON2014 was specifically designed to stimulate technical and commercial thinking and promote discussions regarding the role of new developments in meeting changing energy, fuels,petrochemical, chemical, environmental (including CO2 remediation) and other demands across applications that included:
· Unconventional gas processing and conversion advances
· Advanced aromatics technologies
· Advanced chemicals technologies
· Energy efficiencies/greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions via catalysis
· Advanced technologies in fuels and additives production
· Leading innovation to drive value
The theme of the 2014 gathering was “From Innovation to Growth: Catalysis for Future Chemical, Energy andEnvironmental Demands,” which allowed TCGR to highlight the innovations, technical developments and progress toward the commercialization of leading and future product technologies.
“An overriding theme, reflected throughout the sessions, was the impact of true innovation on value creation and how it drives growth in these industries,” said Clyde F. Payn, CEO of The Catalyst Group. “One of CATCON2014’s critical objectives was to capture true innovation stories from global practitioners that would encourage audience engagement and interaction well beyond the ‘official’ conference proceedings.”
Special Feature Session
In partnership with the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC), TCGR provided a unique session and panel discussion on the ICCA’s "Energy and GHG Reductions in the Chemical Industry via Catalytic Processes" Technology Roadmap.
Owen Kean, senior director of Energy Policy, American Chemistry Council, highlighted the impacts of shale gas on chemical industry investment, including competitive implications. Mr. Kean was followed by Dr. Edward G. Rightor, director of Strategic Projects for Dow Chemical (representing the ICCA), who addressed the global energy and emissions reduction potential of chemical process improvements, with a focus on catalysis. “Chemistry is at the core of more than 95% of all manufactured products, and 90% of chemical processes employ catalysts to enhance production efficiency,” Dr. Rightor said. “Catalysts and related process improvements are vital to lowering the energy and emissions footprint.”
TCGR CEO Clyde Payn emphasized drivers for energy efficiency improvements while highlighting progress as well as hurdles. The session concluded with a dynamic panel discussion that included substantial audience participation, providing a broad scope of perspectives and yielding numerous insights.
Top oil refining CO2 Emission Processes
from “The ICCA Roadmap” (IEA/ICCA/DECHEMA/TCGR)Another featured conference session, "Unconventional Gas Processing and Conversion Advances," teased out lower cost catalytic routes to feedstocks, as well as processes that are advancing methane conversion, reduced GHG/CO2 and improved energy efficiency. Other topics also fortified the commitment to innovative approaches.
Keynote Speaker
Dr. Peter Nagler, chief innovation officer (CIO) for corporate innovation strategy and management at Evonik Industries, presented the keynote address at the conference. Keeping with the “Innovation To Growth theme, Dr. Nagler said, “Innovation is all about change, and change does not just happen. You have to make it happen and that requires leadership.”
For more information on Dr. Nagler’s keynote address and Evonik’s 500+ R&D projects currently underway, go to: http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/Article/3409086/Search/CATCON-Innovation-sought-as-leading-catalyst-conference.html?Keywords=nagler
Presenters, panelists, participants and attendees came from leading companies including Evonik, BASF, Dow, Gas Technology Institute, Johnson Matthey/Davy Process, CRI/Zeolyst, Siluria, GTC Technology, Clariant, Serenix and Anellotech, among others.
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Scientist with Industry Ties Won't Lead EPA Chemical Risk-Assessment Program
Feb 6, 2015 | The Center for Public Integrity
By David Heath
The Environmental Protection Agency won’t be hiring a scientist with strong ties to industry to run its chemical assessment program. As the Center for Public Integrityreported in December, one of two finalists for director of the Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), which evaluates the health risks of toxic chemicals, runs a nonprofit that does substantial work for the chemical industry.
On Thursday, the EPA told its staff it was giving the job to Vincent Cogliano, who has been acting director of the program since 2010. Cogliano was previously the director of the International Agency for Research on Cancer Monographs program– which identifies environmental factors that can increase the risk of cancer – at the World Health Organization.
Political interference from the chemical industry and Republicans in Congress has prevented the IRIS program from completing many chemical assessments, even though the Obama administration promised to break the logjam. The EPA relies on these assessments to determine whether new regulations are needed to protect the public.
The EPA had been considering Michael Dourson to run the IRIS program. Dourson runs a nonprofit consulting group called Toxicology Excellence for Risk Assessment, or TERA.
An investigation by the Center for Public Integrity and InsideClimate News found that TERA has strong financial ties to industry. More than 50 percent of the peer-review panels TERA has organized since 1995 were for studies funded by industry groups. TERA also runs a risk-assessment database that receives financial and in-kind support from many companies and government agencies.
Dourson has been harshly critical of the IRIS program and promised to bring in outsiders to help with chemical assessments if he were tapped to lead it.
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Dollar Store Products Have an Unsafe Amount of Toxic Chemicals, Report Says
Feb 6, 2015 | Louisville Business First
Dollar store products may be cheap, plentiful and popular, but many contain unsafe levels of toxic chemicals, a new study has found.
The Campaign for Healthier Solutionstested 164 dollar store products, including some from Louisville, and found high levels of chemicals such as polyvinyl chloride, phthalates, lead and tin in 81 percent of them, WFPL-FM reports.
Many of the products tested, including toys, home decor and office supplies, were found to have phthalates -- endocrine disruptors that have been linked to birth defects, cancer, reproductive issues and asthma. Some had bromine, which is a component of fire retardants and is a possible human carcinogen. And any amount of lead exposure is harmful to children, as the heavy metal can cause brain and kidney damage, the story said.
Dollar General (NYSE: DG) and Family Dollar (NYSE: FDO) both said in statements that they comply with all federal and state regulations.
The Campaign for Healthier Solutions says that the products fall into gaps in the federal Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.
Louisville biologist Monica Unseld, who works with the nonprofit, says dollar stores cater to low-income and rural residents and that many of the residents don't have other options for shopping.
The nonprofit has tested Target (NYSE: TGT) and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) products in the past and found toxic chemicals in some of those, but both companies have instituted stricter safe chemical policies to address the concerns, the story said.
In Louisville, the nonprofit tested products from Family Dollar and Dollar Tree (NASDAQ: DLTR). One of the products, the Polly Fashion Doll, was found to have 392,474 parts per million of chlorine (which indicates the use of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC), four parts per million of lead and 30 parts per million of tin. The doll sells for $1.90, the story said.
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CSB Chair: Fatal DuPont Incident Mirrors Industry's Shortcomings
Feb 6, 2015 | Occupational Health & Safety
Rafael Moure-Eraso, who chairs the federal Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, and board member Manual Ehrlich briefed Houston media Feb. 5 on CSB's ongoing investigation of the methyl mercaptan release at DuPont's La Porte facility on Nov. 15, 2014, that killed four workers. Both CSB board members had visited the accident site the prior day. Moure-Eraso thanked DuPont for cooperating with the investigative team and also thanked International Chemical Workers Union local 900C. He noted this was the third fatal incident at DuPont that the board has investigated during his five years as its chair.
"This is my fifth and final year serving as chairperson of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board. During that time the CSB has investigated three major, fatal accidents at DuPont facilities around the U.S. The frequency of these incidents is a concern for the board as well as for DuPont, its workers, family members, and the communities nearby," he said, according to the statement posted on CSB's website. "The first DuPont accident investigated by the CSB, in January 2010, at DuPont's manufacturing plant in Belle, West Virginia, resulted in the death of one worker when a braided steel hose ruptured, releasing highly toxic phosgene gas. The CSB investigation found that DuPont had not used the safest materials of construction for the hose – had not replaced the hose on the required maintenance schedule – had not installed a properly ventilated and alarmed enclosure around the phosgene to prevent worker exposure – and finally, had not required workers to use respirators around the phosgene storage area.
"The second DuPont accident investigated by the CSB occurred later in 2010 when hot sparks produced by welding ignited flammable vapors inside a chemical storage tank that had not been effectively isolated from a hazardous process at DuPont’s facility in Buffalo, New York. The tank had not been effectively isolated from a hazardous process. DuPont had not used an adequate gas detection system to monitor the area for the hazardous vinyl fluoride gas, which exploded. And finally, the accident we are discussing today – at the DuPont, La Porte facility here in Texas – was the most severe. Four workers were killed during the release of what DuPont estimates were more than 23,000 pounds of methyl mercaptan, a highly toxic, flammable, and volatile liquid.
"Now let me say that DuPont has long been regarded as one of the industry's safety leaders," Moure-Eraso continued. "In fact, DuPont has been viewed as an industry leader in processing hazardous materials for most of the last two centuries. After the Bhopal tragedy in 1984, the DuPont La Porte facility changed its production of methyl isocyanate – or MIC – the same chemical involved in the Bhopal accident, to an inherently safer method so that the highly hazardous chemical was no longer stored in large quantities but was used as it was produced. Such action has contributed to DuPont's reputation as a leading light in safety; its slogan is: 'Zero' safety incidents. The company markets its safety programs to other in the chemical industry. But we have found that not only DuPont, but the industry as a whole, must do much better. Complex process-related accidents with tragic results are taking place across the country at companies of all sizes. This problem includes major corporations such as DuPont, not just smaller companies that some refer to as outliers. It is clear that the current process safety regulatory system is in need of reform, and that companies themselves must do more."
He then listed common factors CSB has identified as contributing to major accidents like the one at DuPont La Porte: "These include a lack of safe process designs and risk reduction targets, weak or obsolete regulatory standards, inadequate regulatory resources and staffing, and overly permissive industry standards. And the latest accident at DuPont is one of many incidents investigated by the CSB where we believe it will become clear that the process design was not as safe as possible."
The process at La Porte included several interconnections between the methyl mercaptan supply line and a chemical vent system, which allowed a toxic leak into an unexpected location, where the workers were exposed, he explained. The chemical vent system, intended to safely remove harmful vapor from process vessels, had a design shortcoming that allowed liquid to accumulate inside, requiring operators to manually drain them, and the vent drain they had to use was open to the atmosphere, so workers were exposed to whatever chemicals were drained from the vent system. He also said the building was designed in such a way that, even if ventilation fans had been working on the day of the accident, "it would likely not have effectively protected workers from chemical exposure. And we found that those ventilation fans were not, in fact, working at the time of the accident."
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Ventilation System Design Contributed to Fatal Leak at DuPont Plant -- CSB
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
Poorly designed pipes contributed to a chemical release that killed four workers at a DuPont Co. plant last year, the U.S. Chemical Safety Board said.
The CSB said yesterday its preliminary findings from the La Porte, Texas, incident include evidence that the plant's venting system allowed methyl mercaptan, a toxic chemical used to make insecticide, to enter a line used to vent unwanted gases.
When workers tried to drain what they believed was water from the line -- a routine activity -- they were instead exposed to the dangerous chemical, CSB investigator Dan Tillema said.
Though DuPont has been praised in the chemical industry for its safety record, state regulators regularly cited the La Porte plant for chemical releases. Last year's incident was the third fatal incident at a DuPont facility since 2010.
DuPont spokesman Dan Turner said the company has "an expert team leading an intensive effort to understand exactly what happened -- and how we can ensure that it never happens again" (Alison Sider, Wall Street Journal, Feb. 5). -- SP
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Manufacturers Criticize 'Runaway Regulations' from EPA
Feb 6, 2015 | The Hill
By Tim Devaney
National Association of Manufacturers President Jay Timmons on Friday suggested the administration is playing defense against businesses.
In a speech to the City Club of Cleveland, Timmons, an Ohio native, dipped into his bag of sports cliches to criticize what businesses see as heavy-handed regulations from federal agencies.
“Making things in the United States means complying with so many regulations that it feels like we’re Michigan running backs trying to break through the Ohio State defense,” Timmons joked.
Timmons took a swing at “runaway regulations” from the Obama administration that are like "speedbumps slowing us down."
Small manufacturers pay nearly $35,000 per employee in regulatory compliance costs each year, Timmons said. “Every dollar that goes to compliance is one that doesn’t go into a worker’s paycheck — and comes out of a consumer’s pocket.”
The National Association of Manufacturers has been overly critical of the Environmental Protection Agency for an air pollution rule that it predicts will be the most expensive regulation in history.
The EPA’s ozone rule would reduce air pollution in communities around the country, but it could also shut down manufacturing plants and slow local economies, critics say.
The association estimates it will cost $270 billion each year for businesses to comply with the ozone rule.
Manufacturers will also take a hit from the EPA’s greenhouse gas regulations for new and existing power plants, Timmons said.
He called for a “sane regulatory environment."
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Murky Responses Cloud Plan to Ship Frack Waste on Ohio River
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - Energywire
By Mike Lee
A Texas company's announcement that it plans to ship fracking wastewater on the Ohio River has touched off a controversy, with environmentalists worrying that the company got around federal permitting requirements and federal agencies hedging on just how much permission they've given the company.
GreenHunter Resources Inc., based in Grapevine, Texas, announced last week that it had secured permission from the Coast Guard to ship thousands of barrels of wastewater from the Marcellus and Utica shale fields to its disposal wells in Ohio. The Army Corps of Engineers gave it permission to build a barge facility on the Ohio side of the river, the company said,
The Coast Guard said Wednesday that it's still writing the regulations for shipping what it calls shale gas extraction wastewater and that it hasn't given GreenHunter permission to start transporting waste on the river.
GreenHunter, however, said yesterday that it received a letter from a regional Coast Guard commander allowing it to ship "oilfield waste" -- and the company contends that's all it wants to do.
"We don't even know what the hell shale gas extraction waste is," Kirk Trosclair, the company's chief operating officer, said in an interview yesterday. "What we're trying to transport is oil field waste and residual waste, which is basically brine, saltwater."
The distinction is critical. There are already regulations in place that allow shipping oil field waste, but the Coast Guard has spent the last two years writing regulations for shale gas wastewater. It's currently responding to thousands of comments on its proposed rules and hasn't given a date for when the process may be finished.
The Coast Guard confirmed that GreenHunter received the letter, but officials said the company may still have to clear more hurdles before it can begin shipping wastewater.
The Coast Guard doesn't have a clear process for determining whether a cargo is oil field waste or shale gas waste, according to interviews with staffers in Washington, D.C., and Louisville, Ky. And the process won't be clear until staffers in Washington finish writing the regulations for shale waste transportation.
"There are existing policies that are going to cover anything they wish to move," said Capt. Richard Timme, commander of the service's Ohio River Valley sector.
"If it's shale gas extraction wastewater, that [policy] hasn't been established at the national level," Timme said.
Meanwhile, the Army Corps hasn't given GreenHunter permission to build its barge unloading facility, according to Brian Maka, a spokesman in the agency's regional office in Wheeling, W.Va.
Trosclair said the Army Corps has issued a permit, although it tied the permit to passage of the Coast Guard's waste-shipment regulations. He didn't respond to an email asking for a copy of the permit.
Using barges to ship the wastewater would give the company a cost advantage over other waste-haulers, since it's cheaper to move materials by water than by truck or rail. It could also have some environmental benefits, because it would reduce the number of trucks carrying the waste on highways, Trosclair said.
GreenHunter specializes in collecting and disposing of wastewater from oil and gas operations. It recently sold assets in Texas and North Dakota so it could concentrate on the Marcellus and Utica shale fields in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia -- which border the river.
Each shale well produces thousands of barrels of wastewater. Some of the water occurs naturally in the same rock formation with the oil and gas, and some of it is the leftover fluid from hydraulic fracturing.
Both streams of wastewater tend to be saltier than seawater and can contain a brew of pollutants including drilling chemicals, heavy metals and sometimes traces of oil and other hydrocarbons.
Pennsylvania's geology, though, makes it hard to drill injection wells, which are the most common method for disposing of oil and gas waste. West Virginia has only a few dozen injection wells.
That has led to a booming industry transporting the waste to Ohio, which has about 200 disposal wells and more than 35 permitted or under construction, according to the state Department of Natural Resources.
GreenHunter operates injection wells in Portland, Ohio, along the river, and first approached the Coast Guard about transporting waste by barge in 2012 -- using the regulations for oil field waste. That request touched off the rule-writing process, Trosclair said.
"We were forthcoming -- we wanted to sure we had the blessing from everybody," he said. "We got almost to the end hour of actually putting a barge on the river and we were told to stand down by the Coast Guard."
GreenHunter's stock has been battered by the downturn in energy prices, dropping from more than $3 a share in July to 73 cents on Jan. 26, the day before it announced its Ohio River expansion. The stock jumped 12 percent to 82 cents a share the day after the announcement.
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E&E Daily's Northey Talks House Plans to Unveil Energy Plan
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - TV
As efforts in both chambers of Congress accelerate to move LNG exports and nuclear waste legislation, what are the prospects for a broader energy bill this year? On today's The Cutting Edge, E&E Daily reporter Hannah Northey discusses the action on energy policy on either side of Capitol Hill and House Republicans' plans to unveil an energy plan as early as next week.Transcript
The transcript for this video is currently not available. Please check back later.
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McCabe Again Signals Eased ESPS Targets But Touts Fund To Do 'More'
Feb 6, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Lee Logan
EPA’s top air official Janet McCabe is again signaling the agency is likely to ease controversial interim greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets in its proposed GHG rule for existing power plants, but says President Obama's proposed $4 billion climate fund for fiscal year 2016 will help achieve emissions cuts beyond whatever is required in the rule.
“However [the guidelines] end up being finalized, in terms of the goals that EPA sets, the time frame that we set, there’s more that can be done,” McCabe said during a Feb. 5 meeting of the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) in Washington, D.C.
Her comments provide an early indication that the administration may seek to use the proposed $4 billion incentive fund for states that go beyond their GHG targets as a way to address concerns that may result if or when EPA softens the proposed rule's interim emissions targets, which are shaping up as a premiere dispute between utility officials and environmentalists.
Under the proposed existing source performance standards (ESPS), EPA set interim targets that must be met on an average basis between 2020 and 2029 before states must meet a final 2030 limit. But many critics charge that the interim targets are too steep, making it difficult to comply. Many have urged the agency to eliminate the interim targets and allow states to only meet much more achievable 2030 targets.
But environmentalists strongly oppose this approach, saying it will not result in adequate emissions reductions and would allow cumulative emissions to increase relative to the proposed ESPS.
In her comments to the NASEO meeting, McCabe reiterated the agency's desire to create a smooth “glide path” and to avoid electric grid reliability issues when finalizing its GHG standards.
She said the agency is looking “very, very closely” at the issue, adding that the administration’s request in its fiscal year 2016 budget for the $4 billion fund reflects that the rule would set a floor for carbon reductions in the power sector.
McCabe cited the interim targets as the issue EPA heard about the most in formal comments and meetings.
The agency has heard “concerns that the interim goals that we set required some states to do almost as much as they need to do in 2030, by 2020,” she said.
“The idea [in setting the interim limits] was we wanted to make sure that progress was being made, but we recognize that a lot of these [compliance strategies] do take a lot of time to put in place,” she said. “So the idea of a glide path was to provide a glide path. We’re certainly looking at this very, very closely.”
She added that some groups have noted potential grid reliability concerns tied to steep reductions early in the ESPS compliance period. Many of those concerns are “hooked in large part to how quickly reductions would have to happen,” she said. “The president’s very clear direction to us is that reliability is an issue of first order in finalizing this rule, and we are committed to that.”
Reassure Utilities
EPA has earlier hinted that it could soften the interim goals, offering two ways to do so in an October notice of data availability. McCabe also mentioned that notice in an EPA blog post pushing back on the notion that the ESPS would threaten reliability.
Those signals could reassure utilities that EPA will ultimately soften the interim targets to make it easier for states to achieve their final 2030 limits, though they could spark concern among environmentalists that the rule's collective GHG reductions could be undermined.
Robert Sussman, a consultant and former EPA senior policy counsel, earlier said that he expects EPA to soften the interim targets somewhat, but that stakeholders have “persuasively argued” that EPA's renewable energy assumptions can be increased and there is room for a greater increase in natural gas use.
That means the 2030 targets “are certainly not going to be any less stringent than they are in the proposal, and they may even be a little more stringent,” he said.
Similarly, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES) in Dec. 1 comments to EPA supported a proposed change to phase-in targets associated with greater gas use -- which would have the effect of softening the interim limits -- but said “we are not suggesting that any change to this effect should loosen the 2030 targets or the cumulative effect of the Proposal over the course of the next decade.”
C2ES added: “If the interim targets are loosened, we recommend that EPA consider ways to tighten the final targets such that there is no net increase in cumulative emissions between 2020 and 2030 relative to the Proposal.”
Modular Plans
In addition to her comments on the interim targets, McCabe said the agency likely will bless “modular” multi-state plans that only cooperate on certain issues, such as renewable energy and energy efficiency, and that EPA would issue guidance on how to evaluate end-use efficiency gains when the ESPS is finalized in mid summer.
EPA’s air chief told the NASEO conference that while states are interested in broad regional compliance plans, “many states feel like that’s a very big undertaking, to do something that’s very formal,” given that multiple state agencies and governors would have to reach agreement.
But she said several states have asked “whether we would be open to sort of partial multi-state agreements.”
That approach has been prominently championed by California, which has suggested cooperating with other Western states on issues such as renewable generation or efficiency -- perhaps through tradable credits -- while maintaining separate state compliance plans and targets.
“Our reaction all along has been we’re open to anything in that regard -- as long as we can all follow the strands of spaghetti when we’re ultimately trying to figure out where reductions have happened and whether states are being able to successfully implement their plan,” McCabe said.
A group of 10 Western states previously endorsed the concept of using such “modular” agreements for compliance, and called on EPA to support the approach while not specifically committing to using those agreements in final compliance plans.
During a Jan. 29 event at the Bipartisan Policy Center, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality Director Henry Darwin said he doesn’t believe “there’s enough time to develop multi-state plans, but I do think we need to do multi-state collaboration.” He specifically cited the option of trading renewable energy credits, and said states and utilities should work together to develop a system for such credits.
McCabe at the NASEO event also noted there is “a lot of interest in EPA helping to clarify and set a baseline for what's expected for credible” evaluation, monitoring and verification programs for energy-efficiency.
Such verification programs will be needed to help states track how much avoided generation -- and thus GHG emissions -- they can take credit for in state plans due to efficiency programs, especially for states using rate-based targets. “We understand this is absolutely essential foundational information,” McCabe said. “We are committed to having something out around the time of the final rule on that.”
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EPA Outlines Major Scientific Questions For Particulate Matter Workshops
Feb 6, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Lea Radick
EPA is outlining the major scientific questions it will seek answers for at upcoming workshops to review the science on the health effects and other impacts of particulate matter (PM) pollution, seeking answers to inform a review of its PM air standard and also to weigh information about the effects of very small ultrafine particles (UFP).
Although EPA regulates larger coarse PM (PM10) and smaller fine PM (PM2.5) through its national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), the agency has never issued a NAAQS for UFP. Instead, the agency regulates UFP through its existing standards for the two other types of PM. But EPA officials have expressed interest in gathering more data on the specific effects of UFP distinct from PM2.5 and PM10 in order to guide potential future rules.
The purpose of the PM NAAQS workshop, to be held Feb. 9-11 in Research Triangle Park, NC, according to a draft agenda, is to “inform the planning for EPA's next review of the primary (health-based) NAAQS for [PM].”
The UFP workshop, scheduled for Feb. 11-13 in the same location, will provide background information on UFP sources, trends in air quality, exposure issues and health effects, according to another agenda.
One knowledgeable source says the two workshops are being held successively as there will be a “fair number of experts” on UFP who are attending the PM NAAQS workshop. The “juxtaposition” of an UFP workshop with the NAAQS event does not indicate any potential EPA plan to set a UFP standard, the source says.
The goal of the PM NAAQS workshop is to ask, “What do we think is new since the science was reviewed around 2009, 2010, and what more do we think is coming out in the the coming year or two as EPA goes through the next round of NAAQS?” says the source. Questions that scientists, EPA officials and others will discuss include whether new data suggest that health risks from particular levels of PM exposure have changed, the source says.
EPA last updated its primary, health-based PM2.5 NAAQS in 2012 by setting it at 12 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3), down from the prior 15 ug/m3 standard set in 1997. The Clean Air Act mandates that EPA review its NAAQS every five years, which means that a PM standard update is due sometime in 2017.
The Feb. 9-11 workshop, announced by EPA in the Dec. 3 Federal Register, will build on three documents from the last PM NAAQS review: the PM NAAQS final rule; the final Integrated Science Assessment -- a comprehensive review of policy-relevant science on PM health effects -- published in December 2009; and a provisional assessment of recent studies on health effects of PM exposure that the agency published in December 2012.
Scientific Questions
Questions for the event include the extent to which recent research addressed the quantification and characterization of PM emissions, what new information is available regarding the relationship between PM size distribution and particle composition, and what new information is available to evaluate the potential impacts of differences across the epidemiological studies in exposure assessment methodologies, exposure measurement error, exposures to specific PM components or co-exposures to pollutants other than PM, the agenda says.
The workshop will also address questions around what new research exists that has more fully characterized the role of PM versus “co-pollutants;” to what extent new evidence is available to enhance understanding of the relative toxicity of different particle size fractions, PM 2.5 or PM10, or components of PM; and what new information is available to assess whether there is a relationship between UFP exposure and health effects.
In addition, attendees at the workshop will debate whether there is new and emerging scientific evidence available that could potentially support the development of PM risk estimates beyond those generated in the last review, with a focus on health impact endpoints beyond mortality, hospital admissions and emergency department visits; size fractions beyond PM2.5; and specific components, mixtures, environments and sources of PM.
The agenda for the Feb. 11-13 UFP workshop says that attendees will present perspectives of both EPA and the Health Effects Institute -- funded jointly by EPA and industry -- on UFP health evidence that informed the 2012 PM NAAQS review, sources and trends of UFP and health effects evidence.
Other sessions at the event, which EPA announced in a Jan. 16 Register notice, will examine UFP metrics and indicators, instruments and methods, UFP control strategies and policy considerations, such as what current statutes provide the legal framework for addressing air pollutants and what current standards are in place for particles, according to the agenda.
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EPA Floats Partial Settlement In Ozone SIP Deadline Suit
Feb 5, 2015 | InsideEPA
EPA is proposing a partial settlement to address Sierra Club's suit seeking deadlines for the agency to act on overdue plans from more than 20 states to address “good neighbor” interstate air pollution reduction provisions and other requirements for implementing the agency's 2008 ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS).
The proposed consent decree, published in the Feb. 5 Federal Register, would commit EPA to various dates for rulemakings on the delayed state implementation plans (SIPs) for attaining the standard -- for example, the agency would have to decide as early as March 31 to either conditionally approve or approve in part and disapprove in part Ohio's “infrastructure” ozone SIP, and decide by as late as June 30, 2016, on Utah's ozone SIP.
Infrastructure SIPs are designed to address Clean Air Act good neighbor provisions that require states to demonstrate that a SIP submission to the agency complies with a NAAQS and includes steps to ensure that ozone-forming emissions will not travel to other states and impair those states' ability to attain the standard.
EPA finalized its latest ozone NAAQS in 2008, tightening the 8-hour limit to 75 parts per billion (ppb) from the previous standard expressed as 84 ppb, but has yet to act on nearly half of the states' infrastructure SIPs that in addition to good neighbor provisions also address basic requirements such as monitoring and enforcement.
The states listed in the proposed consent decree are: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia and Utah.
The proposed consent decree says that if any state withdraws any of its SIP submittals, EPA's obligation to take the required action with respect to that submittal is “automatically terminated.”
EPA is accepting comments until March 9 on the settlement, which would resolve some litigation filed by Sierra Club in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California over missing SIPs.
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Obama Ranks Climate Among Top National Security Threats
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
The dangers posed by climate change rank among the threats posed by weapons of mass destruction, infectious disease outbreaks and catastrophic attacks on the United States, according to a new White House assessment of the most pressing global risks.
President Obama today released his 2015 national security strategy, laying out his administration's plans to tackle the "top strategic risks" to national interests. Among the most pressing threats listed are climate change and major energy market disruptions.
"Climate change is an urgent and growing threat to our national security, contributing to increased natural disasters, refugee flows, and conflicts over basic resources like food and water," the White House document says.
"The present day effects of climate change are being felt from the Arctic to the Midwest. Increased sea levels and storm surges threaten coastal regions, infrastructure, and property. In turn, the global economy suffers, compounding the growing costs of preparing and restoring infrastructure."
The strategy issued is just the second from the Obama administration, although the White House is required to send a new strategy to Congress each year.
Obama's first security plan -- issued in May 2010 -- also stressed the importance of urgent action on climate change, calling for "comprehensive legislation and its effective implementation." But the political climate has changed dramatically since then, with both chambers of Congress now under GOP control, and prospects for climate legislation have diminished.
This year's renewed forceful comments come as the administration is making a strong push to use executive authority to tackle climate change in the face of staunch opposition on Capitol Hill.
Obama similarly called for urgent action to confront climate change in his State of the Union address last month. "No challenge -- no challenge -- poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change," he said, citing reports that 2014 was the planet's warmest year on record (E&E Daily, Jan. 21).
Heather Zichal, a former top Obama energy and climate aide, said today she's proud of the work that went into the renewed strategy. "While the Republican leadership wants to ignore the threat, I think the vast majority of Americans are clear-eyed about its growing threat to peace and the need to act."
The president used his national security outline to tout his administration's work on the issue, including regulations to limit greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
"Working with U.S. states and private utilities, we will set the first-ever standards to cut the amount of carbon pollution our power plants emit into the air. We are also working to strengthen resilience and address vulnerabilities to climate impacts."
The national security document also points to the recent deal with China, where the world's two largest emitters agreed to curb their greenhouse gases, noting that the administration is working "toward an ambitious new global climate change agreement to shape standards for prevention, preparedness, and response over the next decade."Energy security
The White House boasts of surging domestic oil and gas production in its strategy but warns about global threats to energy security and calls for more energy diversification.
"The challenges faced by Ukrainian and European dependence on Russian energy supplies puts a spotlight on the need for an expanded view of energy security that recognizes the collective needs of the United States, our allies, and trading partners as well as the importance of competitive energy markets," the strategy says.
"[W]e must promote diversification of energy fuels, sources, and routes, as well as encourage indigenous sources of energy supply. ... We will continue to develop American fossil resources while becoming a more efficient country that develops cleaner, alternative fuels and vehicles. We are demonstrating that America can and will lead the global economy while reducing our emissions."
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz today praised the White House's energy security plans.
"The vision that President Obama laid out in the latest National Security Strategy positions the United States to be a continued global leader in promoting a safe and secure world while mitigating the risks of climate change," Moniz said in a statement.
"Now more than ever, it is critical for us to focus our efforts to cooperate on security issues that are increasingly critical to the stability of global markets and underscore the risk of relying on one source of energy. At the same time, collective action on security also presents an opportunity to diversify our low-carbon energy options, combat climate change, and strengthen our economies. "
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White House: Climate Change Threatens National Security
Feb 6, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
The Obama administration looks at climate change as a threat to national security on par with terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and disease outbreaks.
President Obama’s national security strategy released Friday updates the previous plan published in 2010, with focuses on Russia, Islamic militants and health.
“Climate change is an urgent and growing threat to our national security, contributing to increased natural disasters, refugee flows, and conflicts over basic resources like food and water,” the White House says in the 35-page strategy document.
“The present day effects of climate change are being felt from the Arctic to the Midwest. Increased sea levels and storm surges threaten coastal regions, infrastructure, and property. In turn, the global economy suffers, compounding the growing costs of preparing and restoring infrastructure.”
The administration argues that effective action against climate change will bolster the security of the United States and its allies.
The document aligns with Obama’s second-term emphasis on fighting climate change internationally and identifying it as a threat to areas as diverse as agriculture, health and the economy.
In addition to increasing the urgency in the climate fight, the national security strategy could lend legitimacy to the administration’s efforts to diversify the military's sources of energy.
The strategy goes on to tout domestic and international efforts to fight climate change, as outlined in Obama’s 2013 Climate Action Plan.
“America is leading efforts at home and with the international community to confront this challenge,” the document says. “We are also working to strengthen resilience and address vulnerabilities to climate impacts.”
The White House also calls for more efforts to increase energy security.
“Seismic shifts in supply and demand are underway across the globe,” it says. “Increasing global access to reliable and affordable energy is one of the most powerful ways to support social and economic development and to help build new markets for U.S. technology and investment.”
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz underscored the importance of energy security in his own statement on the plan.
“Now more than ever, it is critical for us to focus our efforts to cooperate on security issues that are increasingly critical to the stability of global markets and underscore the risk of relying on one source of energy,” he said.
“At the same time, collective action on security also presents an opportunity to diversify our low-carbon energy options, combat climate change, and strengthen our economies.”
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'Comprehensive' Crude-By-Rail Rule Sent to White House for Review
Feb 6, 2015 | E&E - Energywire
By Blake Sobczak
Federal transportation regulators have delivered a sweeping crude-by-rail rule to the White House for review.
The Department of Transportation's "comprehensive" set of regulations would update decadesold standards for tank cars hauling oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids.
"I've made the tank car rule a top priority for this Department because the American people must have confidence that when hazardous materials are transported through their communities, we've done everything in our power to make that train as safe as possible," Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a statement yesterday.
The final rule is now at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, part of the executive branch's Office of Management and Budget, DOT confirmed.
OIRA is a small but influential White House department that weighs costs and benefits for regulations of all stripes. Typically, a final rule from any federal agency isn't published until OIRA signs off on it, a process that is supposed to take 90 days but can last longer if the White House determines a rule needs tweaking.
A string of oil and ethanol train derailments has brought heightened scrutiny on tank car integrity and may push OIRA to expedite its handling of the rule.
In July 2013, a 72-car train hauling crude oil from North Dakota's Bakken Shale play derailed and exploded in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killing 47 people. Subsequent oil train derailments and fires in Alabama, North Dakota and Virginia hurt no one but put added pressure on regulators at the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the DOT agency most directly involved in the tank car rulemaking.
On Wednesday, a Canadian Pacific Ltd. ethanol train derailed and caught fire near Dubuque, Iowa, causing no injuries but drawing renewed calls to update DOT-111 cars (Greenwire, Feb. 5).
PHMSA issued a proposed rule last August, roughly a year after the Lac-Mégantic disaster (Greenwire, July 23, 2014). The document raised several potential tank car designs and retrofit schedules for the older, puncture-prone type DOT-111 cars.
DOT did not commit to one type of car in its proposal, instead seeking input on three versions with varying shell thicknesses, braking systems and other safety features. It's not clear which design is favored in the final rule, but DOT officials have said tank car standards will be consistent with Canadian regulations also under consideration.
"This is a highly complex issue, consuming massive staff time, scientific study, dialogue with stakeholders and experts, and coordination across borders," Foxx said yesterday. "The Department has and will continue to put a premium on getting this critical rule done as quickly as possible, but we've always committed ourselves to getting it done right."
PHMSA spokesman Joe Delcambre pointed out that the agency normally sees about 30 comments on a given rule, which can take six to eight months to move through the department. "Our [crude-by-rail] rule actually had over 3,000 comments and we cleared it in about four months, so we're kind of proud of how quickly we've moved it," he said.
Still, Foxx had originally expressed hopes that a final rule could be ready by the end of last year. The department pushed that date back to March, and now May, although if the White House conducts its review on time, the crude-by-rail regulations could be published as soon as April 6. An OIRA spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.
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Officials Investigating Leaking Oil Train that Traversed Washington State
Feb 6, 2015 | The Bellingham Herald
By Samantha Wohlfeil
A train loaded with Bakken crude oil needed to have more than a dozen leaking tank cars removed at three separate stops as it traveled through Idaho and crossed Washington state in mid-January.
The leaking train, which was headed from North Dakota’s Bakken region to the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes on Jan. 12, was detected just two months after an oil-stained rail tank car was discovered at BP Cherry Point.
Loaded with roughly 100 cars of crude oil, the train was “found to have a very small amount of oil leaking from the top of a total of 14 cars,” according to BNSF spokeswoman Courtney Wallace. BNSF reported that a total volume of less than 25 gallons of oil from all 14 cars was found only on the tops and sides of tank cars, and no oil was found on the ground.
“The train crew first noticed oil on the side of one tank car in Hauser, Idaho,” Wallace wrote in an emailed response to The Bellingham Herald. “Following an inspection of the train, the tank car was removed from service and no other tank cars appeared to be impacted.”
After leaving Hauser, a small town just across the state line from Spokane, the train continued along BNSF lines, following the Columbia River to Vancouver, Wash. There, seven more tank cars were found to have slow leaks from valves on top of the cars, which were inspected by both BNSF and the Federal Railroad Administration, Wallace wrote. Those cars were removed from the train.
The train was inspected again in Auburn, Wash., where another six cars were found to have leaking top valves and were pulled off the train, Wallace wrote.
Washington state officials at the Utilities and Transportation Commission were alerted to the leaking train after cars had already been removed. The FRA, a UTC partner agency, asked the state’s lone federally certified hazardous materials inspector to take a look, according to testimony that UTC Chairman David Danner gave to a legislative committee Feb. 3.
The incident is currently under investigation, and official details may not be available to the public for about a month, said Jason Lewis, UTC transportation policy adviser.
Neither the UTC or BNSF would comment on what might have caused the leaks, leaving that to be revealed by the investigation.
The cars involved were higher-standard CPC-1232 cars, which some oil companies have started using after several fiery derailments caused concerns about older DOT-111 rail cars, which have been found more likely to puncture or burst. The 1232 cars have thicker shells, head shields and improved fittings on top the car. All Bakken crude rolling through Washington is being transported in the newer cars, according to railroad officials.
BNSF regularly inspects all 32,500 miles of its tracks, Wallace said. Most key routes are inspected four times per week, more than federally required.
“If there’s a car leaking, they will do a visual on-site, on the tracks, and if it needs to, beyond that as well,” Wallace said.
Oil safety in the Legislature
As dueling oil safety bills are making their way through the Washington State Legislature, UTC Chair Danner told legislators the incident highlights the commission’s glaring need for more rail inspectors. In this case, the UTC inspection was delayed as the hazardous materials inspector had to travel from Eastern Washington across the state to get to the train.
“I can’t tell you the number of gallons that came out, but it was significant,” Danner told the House Environment Committee. “It was basically leaking all the time the train was traveling through the state.”
The commission, which currently has only four FRA-certified inspectors for the state, has requested more funding as lawmakers work on the next biennial budget.
The oil safety bill before the House committee on Tuesday, HB 1449, was introduced at the request of Gov. Jay Inslee. Among the measures it would implement is an increase in the oil spill response tax, currently levied on crude oil transported in the state by marine vessels.
The bill would expand the tax so it is also levied on crude oil transported by pipeline and rail car in the state, and increase the portion that pays for spill prevention from four cents to 10 cents per barrel. That increase would help in part to pay for improvements like new inspectors for the UTC.
Oil and railroad company representatives at the hearing said they would support levying the tax on crude by rail, as it would make up for the amount of money lost by transporting crude on trains instead of ships. However, they expressed their concern with the increase in the tax.
“WSPA supports the expansion of the barrel tax to include crude oil transported by rail. We support the robust spills program at (the Department of) Ecology,” Frank Holmes, representative for the Western States Petroleum Association, testified before the committee. “WSPA opposes the expansion of the barrel tax to include product in pipelines. WSPA is also opposed to the 150 percent increase in the tax rate from 4 cents to 10 cents.”
Another oil safety bill, sponsored by Sen. Doug Ericksen, R-Ferndale, is making its way through the Senate. That bill, SB 5057, also would extend the barrel tax to oil-by-rail, but not to pipeline, and does not include the increased tax rate.
Gap in reporting
Rep. Jessyn Farrell, D-Seattle, primary sponsor of the House bill, also testified at the Feb. 3 hearing, saying there are significant gaps in state oil regulations.
“Some of you may have seen an article by McClatchy recently about a very significant gap,” Farrell said, referring to a leaking oil car that was found once the train had reached its destination, BP Cherry Point refinery, Nov. 5. “There was a leak of about 1,600 gallons of oil and it wasn’t for a month that key agencies got information about this.”
In that case, Federal Railroad Administration inspectors found oil stains on the sides and wheels of a tank car that was being unloaded at the refinery. An inspection revealed an open valve and a missing plug.
The incident was not initially reported to any local or state officials, though there are state and federal hotlines for reporting spills. The state requires any spill of hazardous materials to be reported within 30 minutes to a 24-hour hotline.
The Department of Ecology, which responds to inland oil spills, the U.S. Coast Guard, which responds to spills along navigable waterways, and the Whatcom County Unified Emergency Coordination Center all first learned of the November incident when a McClatchy reporter contacted them for information on Jan. 21.
Federal and state regulators are also investigating that case.
The Jan. 12 incident was reported to the state’s hotline on Jan. 23, said Karina Shagren, spokeswoman for the state Emergency Management Division.
When asked why the incident was reported more than a week later, Wallace replied that BNSF staff members thought they were following proper protocols, and amended their Washington reporting policy following discussions with the UTC in January.
“We take these matters very seriously, and will continue to be vigilant in inspections, working closely with our customers and the FRA,” Wallace wrote.
In response to the apparent gap in protocols, the UTC is sending letters to all railroad companies that travel through the state to remind them the commission requires reports of any release of hazardous materials “within 30 minutes of learning of the event” (emphasis as it appears in the UTC letter, which McClatchy obtained in a public records request).
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