Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 16/04/18
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(ACC Mentioned) EPA IG Report on Tap
Apr 16, 2018 | PoliticoPro
By Kelsey Tamborrino
Amid new and ongoing investigations into EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the agency’s inspector general will shed some new light on his unorthodox hiring practices. -
$43,000 Soundproof Booth for EPA Chief Pruitt Violated Law: U.S. GAO
Apr 16, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Timothy Gardner
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the law when it approved a $43,000 soundproof booth for the office of embattled Administrator Scott Pruitt, the Government Accountability Office said on Monday. -
OIRA Working With EPA To Develop 'Best Practices' On Scientific Data
Apr 16, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
White House regulatory chief Neomi Rao says her staff is working with EPA on developing a policy on the use of scientific data that underlies its rules, suggesting that the agency may take a softer approach than Administrator Scott Pruitt had signaled when he said he would require the agency to rely only on publicly available data to justify its rules. -
Coffee Brands Fight California Ruling on Cancer Warnings
Apr 16, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Sara Randazzo and Annie Gasparro
The coffee industry is fighting the suggestion its products could cause cancer. -
The Morning Risk Report: Clean Water Act Cases Companies Should Monitor
Apr 16, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Ben DiPietro
Good morning. -
Echa Committees Agree on a Non-Compliant Authorisation Application First
Apr 16, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
For the first time Echa’s Committees for Risk Assessment and Socio-economic Analysis (Rac and Seac) have found a company’s application for authorisation for a use of an SVHC to be "not in conformity" with REACH. -
Trump Admin Pushes Back on Pacific Fracking Challenge
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
The Trump administration is urging a federal court to reject environmental challenges to hydraulic fracturing in the Pacific Ocean. -
Piecing Together Zinke's 5‑Year‑Plan Puzzle
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Pamela King
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has offered a handful of clues about how his department could pare down a contentious plan to lease 90 percent of federal waters for oil and gas development. -
Tellurian’s CEO Has Got Some Gas to Sell You—Energy Journal
Apr 16, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Neanda Salvaterra
Meg Gentle the chief executive officer for Tellurian is pushing to sell more gas abroad in novel ways, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Stephanie Yang. -
North Dakota Expected to Revise Natural Gas Capture Rules
Apr 16, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
With existing goals getting tougher to meet, North Dakota officials are primed to revise the natural gas capture rules as infrastructure companies struggle to keep up with record production growth in the Bakken Shale. -
Mass. Judges Say Exxon Must Hand Over Climate Documents
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
Massachusetts' top court on Friday ordered Exxon Mobil Corp. to turn over company records to the state attorney general, who is investigating the firm for deceptive acts related to its knowledge of climate change and its public statements about the issue. -
Trump Admin to India: 'Choose Us' for Your Energy Needs
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey
Energy Secretary Rick Perry and his staff are in India this week pushing the message that the United States — not Russia or China — can meet India's energy needs. -
DOE Announces $25M in Cybersecurity Funding
Apr 16, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Anthony Andragna
The Energy Department today announced the availability of $25 million in funding to develop the next generation of technologies to protect the electric grid from cybersecurity attacks. -
Pruitt's Grant Ban Hits Advisory Panel at Critical Time
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
As an EPA scientific advisory panel inches toward a key juncture in its high-stakes review of Clean Air Act standards for particulate matter, some members are facing a now-familiar dilemma: Give up agency funding or leave the group. -
Regulators Defy Trump Team in Move to Slash Emissions
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Jean Chemnick
The U.N. agency responsible for global shipping took its first halting steps toward greenhouse gas regulation Friday, despite the objections of the Trump White House. -
In The Room But Still On The Margins
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Debra Kahn
A year ago, environmental justice groups rallied outside a conference here on carbon trading, arguing that the program to cut emissions shortchanges poor people and people of color who tend to live near the industrial facilities.
Industry and Association News
LCSA News - There are no clips to report at this time.
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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(ACC Mentioned) EPA IG Report on Tap
Apr 16, 2018 | PoliticoPro
By Kelsey Tamborrino
COMING TODAY — IG REPORT ON PRUITT HIRING: Amid new and ongoing investigations into EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the agency’s inspector general will shed some new light on his unorthodox hiring practices. The internal watchdog is releasing an interim report today on Pruitt's decision to hire several political aides using special authority he has under the Safe Drinking Water Act — part of a probe that began before recent reports that the administrator had relied on that same provision to get big raises for two top aides despite objections from the White House. (Pruitt has denied those reports and said the raises have been reversed.)
More than a dozen political appointees at EPA have been hired under the SDWA authority, which allowed them to avoid being subject to typical federal hiring restrictions or the Trump administration’s ethics pledge, Pro’s Alex Guillén reports. Among those hires: Nancy Beck, a former expert for the American Chemistry Council who is the new deputy assistant administrator in EPA's chemical office, and Lee Forsgren, the deputy in EPA's water office, and several public affairs staffers. Beck, for one, has made a number of controversial changes relating to implementation of the Toxic Substances Control Act. The agency’s senior ethics counsel told POLITICO last summer that she did not need an ethics recusal to do so, even though she had been heavily involved with the issue in her previous job.
The IG audit began in January, and while the scope of today's report remains unclear, it could include urgent information the IG thinks Pruitt needs to know about before the audit is completely finished. Whether the IG has expanded that existing probe to include Pruitt’s recent controversy is also unclear.
IT’S MONDAY! I'm your host Kelsey Tamborrino, and Renewable Fuels Association’s Rachel Gantz was quickest to name the Dodges as the first and only father and son to serve in the Senate at the same time. Henry Dodge of Wisconsin was in the Senate from 1848 to 1857, while his son Augustus Dodge of Iowa served from 1848 to 1855. For today: Who was the first president born west of the Mississippi River? Send your tips, energy gossip and comments to ktamborrino@politico.com, or follow us on Twitter @kelseytam, @Morning_Energy and @POLITICOPro.
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GOWDY TO PRUITT: BECOME A MONK? Two days after expanding his probe into Pruitt's travel and security costs, House Oversight Committee Trey Gowdy offered the EPA administrator some advice in a "Fox News Sunday" appearance. “The notion that I've got to fly first class because I don't want people to be mean to me, you need to go into another line of work if you don't want people to be mean to you,” the South Carolina Republican said. “Like maybe a monk, where you don't come in contact with anyone.” Gowdy said Pruitt's fate rested with President Donald Trump — “I don't know how much trouble he's in” — but defended his expanding probe into the embattled EPA chief.
Gowdy sent Pruitt a letter Friday, demanding additional documents and interviews with several of his top aides. He asked Pruitt to provide documentation related to his round-the-clock security protection, contracts to sweep Pruitt's office for electronic surveillance, his trips to Italy and Morocco, the hiring of an Italian security firm, and travel by Pasquale “Nino” Perrotta. The oversight committee chairman also demanded interviews with five of Pruitt’s aides: chief of staff Ryan Jackson; Perrotta, the head of Pruitt's security detail; Kevin Chmielewski, a former Trump campaign aide who was Pruitt’s deputy chief of staff; senior legal counsel Sarah Greenwalt and scheduling director Millan Hupp, both of whom received significant raises under the SWDA. Gowdy’s letter arrived one day after his staff met for several hours with Chmielewski, who is being treated as a whistle blower.
YOU DON’T GOT A FRIEND IN ME: Patrick Sullivan, the assistant IG in charge of investigations at EPA, is disputing a New York Times report that says he is friends with the head of Pruitt's protective detail, according to a spokeswoman for the internal watchdog. The Times report became the basis Friday of a requestfrom the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics for an investigation from a council of federal inspectors general. But Sullivan disputed claims that he had drinks with Perrotta, “anywhere or at any time,” IG spokeswoman Tia Elbaum said in an email Friday. A Times spokesperson said the paper stands by its story. Alex has more here.
NEW GOP-BACKED ADS TARGET BLANKENSHIP: “Mountain Families PAC,” a newly formed super PAC, is spending $700,000 on ads accusing Republican Senate hopeful Don Blankenship's company of contaminating drinking water with "toxic coal slurry." It’s a move the national Republican party isn’t formally promoting its role in, but has its fingerprints all over, POLITICO’s Alex Isenstadt reports. The commercials were overseen by several firms that in the past have worked closely with Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Read more.
Fact check: Separately, Blankenship’s campaign launched a "fact-checking" website in West Virginia, the Associated Press reported Friday. The website www.factcheckwv.com includes just a small box at the bottom of the page that says “Paid for by Don Blankenship for U.S. Senate." The campaign “didn’t want to bias it with who paid for it,” Blankenship campaign spokesman Greg Thomas told the AP. “We just want people to know the truth.” Read more.
LINE 5 SHUTS DOWN TEMPORARILY: Enbridge has suspended Michigan’s Line 5 pipeline operations due to ongoing severe weather in the state, the Muskegon News reports. The decision is sure to complicate an investigation into damage done to high-voltage power cables and the troubled pipeline that crosses the Straits of Mackinac, the news outlet writes. Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy said Line 5 was affected by a power outage, and noted the shutdown is a precautionary measure. Over the weekend, much of the U.S. was hit with severe storms, NPR reports. The National Weather Service had said that a blizzard near the Great Lakes were “shaping up to be a historic storm,” while winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories were issued for areas that cover northern Kansas, parts of Nebraska, southeastern South Dakota, southern Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
THAT NEW OFFICE SMELL: EPA staff are expecting to move back into some offices the agency uses in the neighboring Ronald Reagan building today, a couple of weeks after serious flooding from a burst water pipe closed three floors. The local union, NTEU Chapter 280, says that after new carpet, new ceiling tiles, new wall paint and a thorough cleaning of cubicle walls and desks, EPA employees are safe to return to their workspace. The union did flag some "off-gassing," a chemical smell emitted from either the new carpet or the glue holding it to the floor. The union has asked for more fresh air to be pumped in until the smell dissipates.
FEMA DOCUMENT SHOWS FLAWED PLAN FOR PUERTO RICO: Thefederal government significantly underestimated what damage Hurricane Maria would bring and relied too heavily on local officials and private-sector entities to handle the recovery efforts for Puerto Rico, a POLITICO review of FEMA’s disaster plan found. The plan was developed by a FEMA contractor in 2014, POLITICO’s Danny Vinik reports, and prepared for a Category 4 hurricane. It projected that the island would shift from response to recovery mode after roughly 30 days. More significantly, a half-dozen disaster-recovery experts who reviewed the document told Danny that FEMA did not anticipate having to take on a lead role in the aftermath of the disaster. Instead, the document largely relied on local entities to restore the island’s power and telecommunications systems. Read more.
EPA’S KELLY ADDRESSES BANKING BAN: Albert Kelly, Pruitt's senior adviser on Superfund issues — who joined the agency after agreeing to be banned from working in the banking industry — recently spoke to The Montana Standard and addressed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. controversy for the first time. Kelly’s bank, SpiritBank of Tulsa, made several loans to Pruitt, which he addressed. “There are no questionable loans by my bank to the administrator. If you go back and look at any loans to the administrator, without going into his privacy, they were very solid,” Kelly said. “They were done in a very positive way and were paid off.”
His problem with the FDIC, he said, involved a particular transaction in 2010. “They didn't like it,” Kelly said, dodging on the root cause of his ban. “The bank didn't lose any money. The bank made money. There was nothing untoward about it.” The former banker also told the Standard Pruitt is still planning on visiting Butte, Mont. in August. More here.
SEE IT: Marchers hit D.C. and other cities around the country for a second year to protest the Trump administration and politicians who thwart efforts to address climate change, as part of the March for Science. See POLITICO’s photo gallery here.
FOIA WHAT IT’S WORTH: The Center for Public Integrity says it has filed a lawsuit Friday against EPA, seeking public records after the agency failed to respond in a timely fashion to 25 Freedom of Information Act requests filed in 2017 and early 2018. The complaint says EPA’s online system “does not list realistic estimated dates of completion for FOIA requests it receives and does not update estimated dates of completion after the listed dates have passed.” The Center says EPA did not respond to requests for an updated schedule.
QUICK HITS
— California voters are getting to know the state's attorney general through his aggressive stance challenging Trump, Los Angeles Times.
— Inhofe's EPA legacy grows with Wheeler's confirmation, Tulsa World.
— EPA union chief studies theology and prays for happier days, E&E News.
— Democrats promote second annual March for Science: Vote climate change deniers out, The Hill.
— The shipping industry is finally going to cut its climate change emissions. That’s a big deal, The Washington Post.
HAPPENING THIS WEEK
MONDAY
11:00 a.m. — The Heritage Foundation discussion on “After the Storms: Disaster Response Following the Hurricanes of 2017,” 214 Massachusetts Avenue NE
6:00 p.m. — Georgetown Law's Environmental Law Society, the Environmental Law Institute, the American Bar Association’s Section on Civil Rights and Social Justice, and the D.C. Bar Association’s Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Community discussion on “Environmental Justice in the 21st Century: Threats and Opportunities,” 600 New Jersey Avenue NW
TUESDAY
8:30 a.m. — National Press Club discussion with California Gov. Jerry Brown, 529 14th St NW
10:00 a.m. — House Energy and Commerce Energy Subcommittee hearing on oversight on FERC’s fiscal 2019 budget, 2123 Rayburn
10:00 a.m. — Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing on “Deferred Maintenance and Operational Needs of the National Park Service,” 366 Dirksen
1:30 p.m. — AEI forum on municipal climate litigation, the fossil-fuel industry and the municipal bond market, 1789 Massachusetts Ave NW
2:00 p.m. — House Natural Resources Water, Power and Oceans Subcommittee hearing on shark finning, 1324 Longworth
5:30 p.m. — POLITICO discussion on “the Future of Renewable Energy: Private Sector Solutions,” 415 New Jersey Ave NW
WEDNESDAY
9:30 a.m. — House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on the FY 2019 budget for the U.S. Forest Service, 2007 Rayburn
10:00 a.m. — Energy Storage Association conference and expo, Boston
10:00 a.m. — Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on “The Appropriate Role of States and the Federal Government in Protecting Groundwater,” 406 Dirksen
10:15 a.m. — House Natural Resources Committee markup of pending business, 1324 Longworth
1:00 p.m. — Georgia Tech and Strategic Energy Institute holds Intersect 2018, Georgia
2:00 p.m. — House Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee hearing on the energy, installations and environment budget request for FY 2019, 2212 Rayburn
2:00 p.m. — House Natural Resources Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee hearing on the “Power Counties Act,” 1324 Longworth
2:30 p.m. — Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee hearing on budget estimates and justification for FY 2019 for the Army Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation within the Interior Department, 192 Dirksen
THURSDAY
9:00 a.m. — House Appropriations Energy and Water Development, and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on FY 2019 member day, 2362-B Rayburn
9:00 a.m. — House Appropriations Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies hearing on FY 2019 member day, 2362-B Rayburn
FRIDAY
8:30 a.m. — Elemental Excelerator holds Earth Day Energy Summit, Hawaii
https://www.politicopro.com/newsletters/morning-energy/2018/04/epa-ig-report-on-tap-170016
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$43,000 Soundproof Booth for EPA Chief Pruitt Violated Law: U.S. GAO
Apr 16, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Timothy Gardner
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency violated the law when it approved a $43,000 soundproof booth for the office of embattled Administrator Scott Pruitt, the Government Accountability Office said on Monday.
The GAO said the agency violated the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act, which prohibits an agency from obligating more than $5,000 in federal funds to furnish, redecorate or make improvements in the office of a presidential appointee without first notifying appropriations committees in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.
Pruitt has been under fire for travel and other expenses he has incurred. Last week he was asked by Democratic lawmakers to provide documents about ethics issues they said were revealed to them by a former agency official, including spending on bulletproof vests, weapons and a contract with an Italian security service.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/04/16/us/politics/16reuters-usa-epa-pruitt.html
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OIRA Working With EPA To Develop 'Best Practices' On Scientific Data
Apr 16, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
White House regulatory chief Neomi Rao says her staff is working with EPA on developing a policy on the use of scientific data that underlies its rules, suggesting that the agency may take a softer approach than Administrator Scott Pruitt had signaled when he said he would require the agency to rely only on publicly available data to justify its rules.
During an April 12 hearing before the Senate subcommittee on regulatory affairs and federal management, Rao said under questioning from Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) that EPA was seeking to find a “balance” between using the “best available” data and publicly available data.
Hassan pressed Rao on whether federal agencies should use the best available science to make decisions regardless of whether that information is available to the public as Pruitt has suggested.
“Questions on information quality are very important to us. That is something my staff has been working with EPA on to develop best practices in that area,” Rao said after Hassan asked whether the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) has provided any input to Pruitt on his proposal.
Hassan asked Rao whether Pruitt's policy as described makes sense. “We want to make sure we have the best available evidence,” Rao replied. “It's also important for the public to have notice and information about the types of studies that are being used . . . by agencies for decisionmaking. There is a balance to be struck there, and I think that is something that the EPA is working towards.”
Rao's characterization of the issue appears to offer an eased approach to the data transparency policy that Pruitt floated last month, when he said he planned to require the agency to justify its regulations based on scientific data that is publicly available on the internet.
“We need to make sure their data and methodology are published as part of the record,” Pruitt said. “Otherwise, it’s not transparent. It’s not objectively measured, and that’s important.”
He said the policy will mirror legislation offered by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the House science committee. It directs the agency to use the “best available science” in all its actions, but bars the agency from using any studies that cannot be released publicly online “in a manner that is sufficient for independent analysis and substantial reproduction of research results.”
But the planned approach drew widespread criticisms, with many environmentalists and Democrats warning it would undermine development of many regulations.
Many observers also charged that such a policy would face legal and implementation controversies, including potential violations of medical privacy protections, trade secret information and other data that form the basis for air quality standards, pesticide and chemical approvals and other rules.
One knowledgeable source said late last month that an early version of the policy had been drafted several weeks earlier, though the first draft was “pretty sketchy. The first cut was fully [Smith's bill], but there were a lot of questions about what it would mean,” and how it would be implemented.
Maintain Procedures
Since Pruitt's public discussion of the issue, EPA has yet to publicly release any version of the policy.
But Rao indicated that her staff was working with the issue as the agency sought to find a “balance” between using the “best” data and data that is publicly available.
And in response to Hassan, Rao said she would not support agencies changing their procedures in ways that prevent them from using the best available evidence when making these decisions.
“I'm very glad to hear that,” Hassan replied. “One of the reasons I am very concerned about the EPA proposal, it seems like common sense to use the best evidence to make decisions. But what we are looking at is the agency really describing a move away from the scientific process. There isn't perfect data or perfect science. Scientific evaluation and data and analysis is an ongoing process.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/oira-working-epa-develop-best-practices-scientific-data
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Coffee Brands Fight California Ruling on Cancer Warnings
Apr 16, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Sara Randazzo and Annie Gasparro
The coffee industry is fighting the suggestion its products could cause cancer.
A Los Angeles judge’s recent ruling in a lawsuit over cancer labels has galvanized coffee brands and retailers, including Starbucks Corp. SBUX +0.37% , to push harder to avoid carrying the labels.
The companies say that trace amounts of the chemical acrylamide in their brew doesn’t justify a warning to consumers in California—an important market for food and beverage brands.
As the companies gird for potentially years more of legal wrangling, industry analysts have collectively shrugged, saying consumers are unlikely to abstain even if labels warn of hidden dangers.
“Consumers often do not change their behavior” because of health warnings because there is so much conflicting information, said Joe Pawlak, a foodservice-industry consultant at Technomic.
Cancer warnings have proliferated in California since 1986, when voters approved the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. The measure, known as Proposition 65, passed with 63% of the vote.
Acrylamide is one of more than 900 chemicals on a list of those known to the state to cause cancer, birth defects or other reproductive harm.
A chemical can make the list in various ways, including whether it has been identified as causing cancer in people or lab animals by the World Health Organization, as the result of deliberations by two independent state panels of scientific and heath experts or if it is cited by an agency such as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or the Environmental Protection Agency.
Under the law, businesses must warn about the presence of the chemicals, or risk getting sued.
A group of the coffee companies, including JAB Holding Co.’s Caribou, J.M. Smucker Co.’sFolgers, Keurig Green Mountain and Coca-Cola Co. , which sells Gold Peak Tea & Coffee, argued in a court filing earlier this month that they adequately proved at a trial last fall that the amount of acrylamide in coffee isn’t at dangerous levels. They said they should be exempt from the law because the chemical is a byproduct of the necessary roasting process.
The companies wrote that many studies show “coffee consumption does not increase the risk of any chronic disease and is independently associated with a decreased risk of several major chronic diseases.”
The filing comes in response to a tentative ruling issued by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elihu Berle in late March against the coffee brands. The judge is expected to finalize his decision in the coming weeks.
From there, the coffee companies will go back to court for a trial over monetary penalties and the specifics of the warning labels. No trial date is scheduled.
An organization called the Council for Education and Research on Toxics, backed by attorney Raphael Metzger, first sued the coffee sellers in 2010.
The companies named in the lawsuit directed comments to the National Coffee Association, which said it is up to each defendant whether they appeal. It said in a newsletter to members that “this legal case is likely to have a long road to travel.”
The NCA member alert blasts Proposition 65 as relying on a “guilty until proven innocent” concept. “Prop. 65 and coffee is a confusing, frustrating—and for some consumers, potentially frightening—issue,” the organization wrote to members.
Last year, 688 settlements over Proposition 65 claims totaling $25.8 million were reported to the California state attorney general’s office. Of that, 76% went toward attorneys’ fees and cost, according to the office.
While most cases settle, some industries choose to fight. In 2015, an appellate court upheld a ruling that baby-food manufacturers didn’t need to warn about lead in products including juice and packaged fruit because it didn’t occur at dangerous levels.
The fast-food industry and potato-chip makers faced litigation in the early 2000s, also brought by Mr. Metzger, over acrylamide generated during the frying process. Frito-Lay and other brands agreed to reduce the acrylamide levels by 20% to 50% and make payments of up to $1.5 million. McDonald’s Corp. , Wendy’s Co. and other restaurants also agreed to post warnings and pay penalties.
Some companies have backed down from the coffee case. Defendant 7-Eleven settled last year, agreeing to post warnings and pay over $1 million in penalties and costs.
The companies are unlikely to pass the costs of the litigation and relabeling to consumers, analysts say.
Kent Schmidt, a California attorney at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, said companies may appeal if they lose because designating different labels for California than for markets elsewhere in the U.S. “creates a logistical nightmare.”
Many California residents have become immune to Proposition 65 warnings, which adorn everything from parking garages to restaurants to packaged foods.
“They’re so ridiculous,” said Dale Leshaw, a 63-year-old Los Angeles resident who doesn’t plan to change his morning habit of a few espresso shots. “How many warnings can they put on stuff?”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/starbucks-coffee-brands-fight-california-ruling-on-cancer-warnings-1523880000?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=8
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The Morning Risk Report: Clean Water Act Cases Companies Should Monitor
Apr 16, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Ben DiPietro
Good morning. Can companies he held liable under the U.S. Clean Water Act for discharges from their operations into groundwater that seeps into nearby surface waters? A number of cases are winding their way through the federal court system, and the issue ultimately could be decided by the Supreme Court.
A ruling Thursday by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reinstated a lawsuit filed in South Carolina by two environmental groups against Kinder Morgan Energy Partners L.P. and its Plantation Pipe Line Co. Inc. subsidiary. Hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline spilled from a ruptured pipeline in Belton, S.C. in 2014. The lawsuit claimed the gas continued to travel into nearby waters.
The case was dismissed by a district court in South Carolina that said it didn’t have jurisdiction. The appeals court disagreed and ruled “citizens may bring suit…for discharges of pollutants that derive from a ‘point source’ and continue to be ‘added’ to navigable waters.”
Kinder Morgan expressed disappointment in the appeals court ruling. “This decision appears to conflict with other Appellate Court decisions, resulting in inconsistent interpretations of the scope of the Clean Water Act,” said the company. “We are evaluating our options on the best course of action going forward.”
Similar cases are being heard in the Sixth Circuit involving a case in Tennessee and in the 9th Circuit involving a case in Hawaii. A second case before a different Fourth Circuit appeals panel dealing with a matter in Virginia is expected to be decided this spring, said Meaghan Boyd, a partner in the environment, land use and natural resources group at law firm Alston & Bird.
The issue could reach the Supreme Court if the appeals courts reach conflicting decisions, or if one of the losing parties appeals to the highest court, she said. That means companies that may have similar liability issues should be on guard, she said.
“What is interesting is there are different industries that are subject of these various decisions,” so companies beyond those named in the lawsuits could face similar actions, said Ms. Boyd. “Speaking generally, one impact from this decision will be that we will see an uptick in these type of suits, or at the very least it is likely that environmental groups will feel emboldened by a decision like this.”
EXCLUSIVE ON RISK AND COMPLIANCE JOURNAL
Gadfly pushes conservative spin on shareholder resolutions. Justin Danhof, a conservative shareholder advocate, is harnessing a regulatory “first-come, first-served” provision to sideline left-leaning investors from proxy ballots by lodging nearly identical proposals, but getting them in first.
Bribery case yields money-laundering charges. An Aruban official living in Florida pleaded guilty Friday to money-laundering charges connected with his role in an a scheme to take bribes to influence telecommunications contracts, prosecutors said.
COMPLIANCE
U.S. plans more Russia sanctions. The U.S. intends to impose additional sanctions on Russia on Monday for enabling the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons, the NYT reports. The move is meant to make clear that the U.S. holds responsible Russia and Iran, as well as the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
U.S. top court to look at online sales taxes. Billions of dollars of goods sold each year by independent merchants on online marketplaces would be vulnerable to state sales taxes for the first time if justices decide to reverse a quarter-century-old precedent in a case before the Supreme Court this week, the WSJ reports.An Amazon fulfillment center in Baltimore last year. PHOTO: PATRICK SEMANSKY/ASSOCIATED PRESS
U.S. probes Guggenheim asset-management arm. U.S. securities regulators have opened an investigation into Guggenheim Partners LLC’s asset-management arm that includes questions about an $85 million home in Malibu, Calif., co-owned by Guggenheim Chief Executive Mark Walter. Guggenheim said it is cooperating, the WSJ reports.
China indicts ex-insurance regulator. Chinese prosecutors indicted Xiang Junbo, the country’s former chief insurance regulator, on charges of abusing his power and taking bribes, a year after he was fired amid concerns the industry’s sizzling expansion had saddled the financial system with risk. He hasn’t commented publicly since he was ousted, the WSJ reports.
U.S. declines to declare China a currency manipulator. The U.S. Treasury passed up a formal opportunity to designate China a currency manipulator, though it retained China on a formal monitoring list for possibly receiving the designation in the future, the WSJ reports.
GOVERNANCE
Sorrell steps down at WPP. Martin Sorrell left his role as chief executive of WPP PLCfollowing the conclusion of an investigation into an allegation of personal misconduct, ending his decades of leadership at the advertising company. Roberto Quarta, chairman of WPP’s board, will serve as executive chairman until a new CEO is appointed, the WSJ reports.
Xerox battled CEO over Fujifilm deal, suit alleges. Xerox’s board told Chief Executive Jeff Jacobson last year to stop talks with Fujifilm Holdings because it was considering firing him, a lawsuit by investor Darwin Deason alleges. The suit claims the executive sought a deal that would leave him in charge, the WSJ reports. Xerox said Sunday Mr. Jacobson was authorized to negotiate with Fujifilm.
Tronc’s top shareholder to sell. Tronc’s largest shareholder, Michael Ferro, has agreed to sell his stake to a relative of the McCormick family that built the company’s Chicago Tribune into a media powerhouse in the 20th century. The sale would end Mr. Ferro’s short but rocky stewardship of the company, the WSJ reports.
REPUTATION
Starbucks apologizes over arrests. Starbucks issued an apology following the arrest of two black men at a Starbucks store in Philadelphia. The city’s police commissioner defended the arrests, saying employees said the men wanted to use the restroom but were denied because they hadn’t bought anything, according to a WSJ roundup of reports.
OPERATIONS
Egg recall hits nine U.S. states. More than 200 million eggs distributed to restaurants and grocery stores in nine states have been recalled, the AP reports. A notice on the Food and Drug Administration website Friday said the eggs shipped from a North Carolina farm may be tainted with salmonella.
Record snow hits U.S. Midwest. Storms left record, or near-record snowfall in the U.S. on Sunday, stranding airline travelers and cutting off the supply of power to thousands of people, Reuters reports. The upper Great Lakes received the largest snowfalls.
Companies are pressed to pay more overtime. U.S. companies are paying millions more dollars in overtime wages as they struggle to find new hires in an economy that is near full employment. The wage drain cuts into profits and can affect new investments. For workers who qualify for overtime, the extra hours can be a boon and a burden, the WSJ reports.
STRATEGY
Shire to sell oncology operation. Shire PLC has agreed to sell its oncology business to French drugmaker Servier for $2.4 billion, potentially discouraging Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical from seeking to buy Shire. Takeda had said it was considering a bid for Shire and identified its oncology business as one of the main reasons for its interest, the WSJ reports.Shire’s manufacturing facility in Lexington, Mass. Shire said it initiated the divestment of its oncology business before Takeda signaled its interest in a takeover. PHOTO: BRIAN SNYDER/REUTERS
AUDIT
Banks get a break on accounting rule. U.S. banking regulators proposed softening the blow of a new accounting rule that will force banks to book losses on soured loans more quickly. Some banks had been concerned the rule could cut into their regulatory capital. The proposal Friday would give banks three years to phase in the impact of the change, the WSJ reports.
https://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2018/04/16/the-morning-risk-report-clean-water-act-cases-companies-should-monitor/
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Echa Committees Agree on a Non-Compliant Authorisation Application First
Apr 16, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
For the first time Echa’s Committees for Risk Assessment and Socio-economic Analysis (Rac and Seac) have found a company’s application for authorisation for a use of an SVHC to be "not in conformity" with REACH.
Germany-based Hapoc applied for permission to use sodium dichromate in molten bath form to modify surfaces, especially by blackening, of delicate medical products, specifically micro-surgical instruments.
In a 20 March adopted opinion, the agency’s committees said they had submitted questions to Hapoc to help bring its application into conformity with REACH Article 62 – on applications for authorisation. Echa also gave the company an extended deadline, which Hapoc failed to meet.
Following this, the Rac and Seac sent their draft opinions to Hapoc but, according to Echa, the company failed to signal its wish to comment.
Echa said the company’s application did not include the necessary information specified in Article 62(4)(d), which requires a chemical safety report. Therefore the Rac could not evaluate the risk to human health arising from the use of the substance as required under REACH Article 64(4)(a).
Echa’s committees do not decide whether an application has failed or been rejected, the agency told Chemical Watch. The European Commission makes the final decision.
However, "in this case they simply noted that the application was not in conformity with REACH and the applicant did not provide the necessary information to bring the application into conformity," the agency said.
The European Commission has yet to decide whether or not to grant an authorisation.‘Problematic process’
Hapoc told Chemical Watch that the situation is "more complicated" than the official documents suggest.
The authorisation was a necessary stage in the development of new technology to be applied globally, it said.
The company said it asked for another deadline extension during the application process. This, it said, was necessary because of changes to "relevant" data during the time that had elapsed – something that "very often" happens, it said.
It said Echa denied the extension request and therefore "It was not possible to provide up-to-date and really important information".
Hapoc said it had "officially agreed" with the agency that the basis for a successful evaluation was therefore not possible "due to the changing parameters within the development process".
The experience, it said, highlights how "problematic" the REACH authorisation process can be for new and emerging technologies. "Even though the technology has a large impact on the economic situation of medical products, the authorisation process seems to significantly impede the technological development," Havoc said.
Despite the outcome, Hapoc said it will "go on developing safe and risk-reduced technologies" for the global market and secure marketability in Europe.Eye on authorisation
Industry has long called for improvements to reduce the "burden" of applications.
NGOs, meanwhile, have said granting an application to use an SVHC, even where a suitable alternative exists, not only "violates REACH", but also "rewards the laggards and frustrates the frontrunners".
The report was published a few days after the release of the Commission's second REACH Review, in which it proposed 16 measures to improve implementation of the Regulation, including greater promotion of substitution.
https://chemicalwatch.com/66008/echa-committees-agree-on-a-non-compliant-authorisation-application-first
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Trump Admin Pushes Back on Pacific Fracking Challenge
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
The Trump administration is urging a federal court to reject environmental challenges to hydraulic fracturing in the Pacific Ocean.
Government lawyers late last week asked the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California to rule in their favor in an offshore fracking battle that's been going on for years.
At issue is whether the Interior Department has adequately considered potential impacts of fracking and other stimulation techniques used on existing wells off the coast of California. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement oversee ongoing operations on decades-old platforms in the Pacific, and environmentalists and California officials say the bureaus' recent efforts to study impacts are deficient.
Debate over development on the Pacific platforms — installed between 1967 and 1989 — comes as a broader battle brews over Secretary Ryan Zinke's proposal to open new areas in the Pacific and elsewhere to drilling (see related story).
Many Californians point to the devastating 1969 Santa Barbara offshore oil spill and the 2015 Refugio oil pipeline rupture as reasons to suspend current Pacific operations and block future offshore projects.
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Environmental Defense Center first challenged fracking in the Pacific in 2014, arguing that BOEM and BSEE routinely approve offshore fracking and "acidizing" without ever studying unique potential impacts from those techniques. Interior settled the lawsuit in 2016 by agreeing to pause permitting and conduct a programmatic environmental assessment focused on those methods.
The department issued its analysis later that year and restarted permitting, but environmentalists took issue with the study's conclusion that fracking had no significant impacts. They sued again, this time joined by the state of California, the Santa Barbara Channelkeeper and the Wishtoyo Foundation, a tribal group.
The California district court rejected the federal government's bid to dismiss the case last year (Energywire, July 17, 2017).
Now the government is trying again, seeking summary judgment in its favor. Government lawyers argue that the plaintiffs simply have nothing to challenge because the agency has not actually issued any permits based on the 2016 programmatic review.
"Contrary to their repeated assertions, the programmatic environmental assessment and associated finding of no significant impact did not authorize any well stimulation treatments on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf," the agency told the court last week. "Neither have Defendants authorized any well stimulation treatments since completion of the assessment, nor is there any federal plan, policy, or program in place on the Pacific Outer Continental Shelf related to well stimulation treatments."
Without any project approvals tied to the 2016 review, the plaintiffs have no claim under the National Environmental Policy Act, the government said. And even if they did have a proper claim, Interior added, the review was legally sufficient.
"The PEA prepared by Defendants meets the requirements for taking a hard look at the potential environmental impacts and informing the public," the agency said.
California and the environmental groups want the agency to perform a more in-depth environmental impact statement and freeze permitting again in the meantime. They asked the court to issue summary judgment in their favor earlier this year.
The Pacific outer continental shelf's active areas — mostly clustered in the Santa Barbara Channel — hold 23 oil and gas platforms with 43 leases.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/04/16/stories/1060079081
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Piecing Together Zinke's 5‑Year‑Plan Puzzle
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Pamela King
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has offered a handful of clues about how his department could pare down a contentious plan to lease 90 percent of federal waters for oil and gas development.
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is expected to release a second draft of its 2019-2024 offshore leasing plan this fall. Zinke last week suggested the document could exclude portions of the outer continental shelf containing smaller known volumes of oil and gas (Energywire, April 12).
"Rather than looking at 94 percent taken off, I said, 'Let's do a zero-based budget, and let's put everything on, and let's have a discussion in America about priorities and about oil and gas,'" Zinke told a panel of House appropriators last week. He was comparing his department's proposal to the Obama administration's 2017-2022 leasing program, which included only Alaska's Cook Inlet and the Gulf of Mexico.
While low oil prices and expensive infrastructure have dampened demand for new ocean drilling, industry interests have advocated for as much offshore access as possible so companies can freely determine whether to expand their subsea operations.
"The U.S. has blindly ignored potential offshore energy resources for many decades," said Christopher Guith, senior vice president for policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Global Energy Institute. "The Chamber is hopeful the current offshore leasing process will reverse that trend and enable the owners of these resources, the American people, to see what energy assets we have available offshore."
If offshore acreage is removed from a draft of a five-year plan, it cannot be reintroduced in the final version of the program. BOEM is expected to release its final 2019-2024 strategy early next year.
Critics of the Trump administration's offshore proposal have tried to pin down the details on which parts of the ocean Interior and BOEM officials will place off-limits to drilling.
"Piecing together all the various statements from Secretary Zinke is dizzying," said Diane Hoskins, campaign director for Oceana. "His department's official proposal included opening nearly all U.S. waters. His subsequent press statements suggest otherwise.
"Which is it?"
Capitol Hill Democrats have summoned Zinke to explain his seemingly contradictory statements on Florida's exemption from the five-year plan. It's unclear whether GOP committee leadership will schedule a hearing.
Just days after BOEM unveiled the 2019-2024 draft proposed plan, the Interior secretary traveled to Florida, shook hands with state Gov. Rick Scott (R) in the Tallahassee airport and tweeted that new oil and gas activity off the Sunshine State coast was "off the table."
The tweet, which noted that "local voice matters," incited the outrage of coastal governors, lawmakers and residents who felt opposition to offshore drilling near their states had been ignored.
Zinke has tried to soften his statement by saying Florida does not have an exemption but maintains that new oil and gas platforms will not be permitted in the state's waters.
He has not specified which waters — leaving the door open for possible activity in the eastern Gulf of Mexico, which is under moratorium until 2022.Scant resources
While Zinke has declined to commit to block offshore drilling in other states, the Interior secretary has attempted to assure members of Congress — both Republican and Democrat — that their dissent will be reflected in his agency's final offshore program.
During public remarks this spring, Zinke said he has "marked down" the entire West Coast and nearly all the Eastern Seaboard as opposed to the BOEM proposal.
[+] The federal government's estimates of offshore resource potential in the Lower 48. BOEM
He has told lawmakers in Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Washington and Oregon that there are no significant oil and gas resources off of their coasts.
Zinke's statements align with BOEM resource estimates, which show that most offshore energy potential in the Lower 48 lies in the Gulf of Mexico, Southern California and the Mid-Atlantic (see inset map).
The International Association of Geophysical Contractors has pushed for access to new offshore tracts in the hope that seismic testing would reveal new pockets of undiscovered hydrocarbons (Energywire, Feb. 9).Mid-Atlantic
The stretch of ocean spanning from Delaware to North Carolina is thought to be relatively light on oil but potentially rich in natural gas, according to BOEM calculations.
In recent public appearances, Zinke has touted the Mid-Atlantic as a prospective gas play.
Former President Obama noticed the region's energy potential, too. The first draft of the 2017-2022 program, released in 2015, included all of the Mid-Atlantic planning area and a section of the South Atlantic.
[+] In 2015, President Obama's Interior Department proposed opening the Mid- and South Atlantic regions to energy exploration and development but later withdrew the tracts. BOEM
Obama's Interior dropped those regions from its second draft of the plan.
"We heard from many corners that now is not the time to offer oil and gas leasing off the Atlantic Coast," then-Secretary Sally Jewell said in a March 2016 statement.
At the time, industry analysts regarded the move as a "near non-event," since most companies had no plans to stray far from established operations in the Gulf of Mexico (Energywire, March 16, 2016).
Drillers are still sticking close to existing Gulf assets, Zinke acknowledged after tepid industry response to a March lease sale Interior had billed as its "largest ever."
That's likely because it costs millions of dollars to construct a new offshore rig. Instead, oil seekers are focusing their attention on onshore assets, which are much less expensive to tap.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/04/16/stories/1060079077
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Tellurian’s CEO Has Got Some Gas to Sell You—Energy Journal
Apr 16, 2018 | The Wall Street Journal
By Neanda Salvaterra
THE $24 BILLION JOB: AN ENERGY CEO’S QUEST TO RESHAPE GAS EXPORTS
Meg Gentle the chief executive officer for Tellurian is pushing to sell more gas abroad in novel ways, reports The Wall Street Journal’s Stephanie Yang.
To ship liquefied natural gas, companies are constructing terminals where they can superchill gas and load it onto tankers. Houston-based Tellurian Inc., is taking a step further by building out the ability to produce natural gas as well.
To fund Tellurian’s plans, which are expected to cost $24 billion, Ms. Gentle must persuade buyers to purchase equity interests in exchange for low-cost gas in the future. It is an experimental model for an evolving global market, as liquefied natural gas changes hands more easily around the world.
Stock investors aren’t giving her the benefit of the doubt: The stock has fallen about 10% this year, putting the market value at about $2 billion.
But some major energy companies have expressed confidence by investing in the two-year-old upstart. Tellurian counts French oil company Total SA and General Electric Co. among its backers. It also has held talks with Saudi Arabian Oil Co., known as Aramco, about a potential investment as the state oil company seeks deals in U.S. shale.
OIL RETREATS FROM THREE-YEAR HIGH AS SYRIA TENSIONS SIMMER
Oil prices retreated Monday morning from a three-year high reached at the end of last week, as geopolitical risks to supply receded.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, was down 1.38%, at $71.58 a barrel, on London’s Intercontinental Exchange. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, West Texas Intermediate futures were trading down 1.34%, at $66.49 a barrel.
WTI on Friday had closed at $67.39 a barrel—its highest level since December 2014—ahead of U.S.-led military strikes in Syria.
Meanwhile, the US oil rig-count hit a three-year high last week as the industry put seven additional oil-directed rigs to work, for a total of 815.
CANADA’S TRUDEAU PUSHES FOR EMBATTLED OIL PIPELINE
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Sunday that the central government is ready to offer financial aid to complete Kinder Morgan Canada Ltd’s embattled oil pipeline project.
CHEMCHINA AIMS TO EXPAND COOPERATION WITH TRADER MERCURIA
China National Chemicals Corp, said on Monday that it wants to increase its share in energy trader Mercuria Group and offer the firm a stake in the Chinese state-firm’s refinery unit.
FUTURECURVE
April 18–19: IQPC hosts the Oil & Fuel Theft Summit in Geneva. Speakers include Mahmoud Al-Bayati, the director general for counter-terrorism for Iraq, William J. Waggoner, the chief executive of the Mexico Petroleum Company and Daniel Gianfalla, a member of the national maritime security advisory committee at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
https://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2018/04/16/energy-journal-tellurians-ceo-has-got-some-gas-to-sell-you-newsletter-draft/
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North Dakota Expected to Revise Natural Gas Capture Rules
Apr 16, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Richard Nemec
With existing goals getting tougher to meet, North Dakota officials are primed to revise the natural gas capture rules as infrastructure companies struggle to keep up with record production growth in the Bakken Shale.
Gas production reached another all-time high in February, hitting more than 2.1 Bcf/d. February, a shorter month, had overall production of 58.8 Bcf, compared to January's 64.2 Bcf (2.07 Bcf/d). Gas capture in February improved to 88% statewide and 89% for the Bakken after falling to 85% the previous month.
Lynn Helms, director of the Department of Mineral Resources, presided over a webinar to discuss the latest statistics. He said the North Dakota Petroleum Council (NDPC) gas capture task force has completed a review and has submitted a report to the three-member Industrial Commission (IC), which meets on Tuesday.
The IC will make “changes in policy,” he predicted. Four years ago, the IC set a goal for 95%capture by 2020.
The state's robust associated gas production "continues to grow and put stresses and strains on gas gathering infrastructure" in North Dakota.
For oil production, North Dakota is a lot better off coming out of winter than expected at the end of last year, he said.
"Oil production has stayed very steady, and that is very encouraging...since we thought we'd be starting below 1 million b/d, and we're at nearly 1.2 million b/d, and gas production continues to grow," he said. "Winter is really what is holding [production] up, and that can't last very much longer."
Overall, February statistics are "good news, encouraging news" for the near-term outlook in the Bakken.
Oil production was 32.9 million bbl (1.17 million b/d) in February, flat from January, a longer month, at 36.5 million bbl (1.17 million b/d).
Producing wells at the end of February were 14,327, slightly less than the state's all-time high (14,338) reached at the end of last year. Permitting has stayed steady, according to Helms, hitting 108 new permits in March, compared to 96 in February and 106 in January.
The state’s rig count continues to slowly climb, hitting 60 last Friday from 56 in January, 57 in February and 59 in March.
"In discussions with CEOs and operators, we could see an additional seven to 10 rigs by the end of this year," Helms said. The state is expecting "moderate growth" for the rest of this year.
He also said the recent surge in oil prices is tied to unrest in Syria.
"The other thing this tells us is that global storage levels are pretty much normal," he said. "We see that in the U.S. storage, too. The fact that unrest in Syria spiked prices tells us that the big oil surplus has worked itself off” worldwide.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/114044-north-dakota-expected-to-revise-natural-gas-capture-rules
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Mass. Judges Say Exxon Must Hand Over Climate Documents
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Hulac
Massachusetts' top court on Friday ordered Exxon Mobil Corp. to turn over company records to the state attorney general, who is investigating the firm for deceptive acts related to its knowledge of climate change and its public statements about the issue.
Exxon must comply with a demand for documents Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) sent two years ago, requesting decades' worth of files about climate change and climate science, company research projects and corporate finances, the court said.
"In its decision today, our state's highest court affirmed that Exxon is subject to our laws, and that our office has the authority to investigate," Healey said in a statement.
Scott Silvestri, a spokesman for the company, which has not turned over any documents to Healey's office, declined to say whether Exxon would appeal.
"We're evaluating the court's ruling and considering our next steps," he said.
The ruling marks the second time since March that Exxon has lost in its court fights with Healey and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (D), who is also investigating the oil giant over similar issues.
A federal judge in Manhattan last month threw out a lawsuit Exxon brought to thwart both investigations, citing "thin allegations" that the attorneys general had overstepped in their probes (Greenwire, March 30).
Exxon sued Healey's office in 2016 to block her document requests. A judge ruled in January 2017 that the company must comply, but Exxon appealed that ruling (Climatewire, Jan. 12, 2017).
Friday's decision, which came from the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, means Exxon has lost its appeal to the highest-ranking court in the state.
Healey and Schneiderman have demanded that Exxon produce documents dating back to the mid-1970s, when Exxon scientists were studying the effect of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. At one point, the company assembled a research team to study carbon dioxide emissions on a shipping tanker, the Esso Atlantic.
But Exxon has only been turning over documents to Schneiderman, whose state has a powerful consumer-protection law called the Martin Act on its books.
On a call with reporters, Healey said she was disappointed Exxon chose two years ago to sue rather than comply.
"Exxon has yet to produce a single document to my office," she said. "Sadly, we're not where we could be."
Exxon's core rebuttal against Healey was that she has no jurisdiction over the oil giant. In their Friday ruling, the judges disagreed.
Exxon has control over a "network" in Massachusetts of more than 300 Exxon and Mobil stations — which it governs through a franchiser-franchisee relationship, the judges said. And in efforts to sell gasoline and other products, the company interacts with state residents through ad campaigns.
For that reason, among others, Healey has authority to investigate Exxon, the court found.
"Through its control over franchisee advertising, Exxon communicates directly with Massachusetts consumers about its fossil fuel products (and hence we reject Exxon's assertion that it 'has no direct contact with any consumers in Massachusetts')," the ruling reads.
Like Schneiderman, Healey mounted her investigation on a state consumer-protection law — Chapter 93A.
This is the first instance in which the office of the Massachusetts attorney general is using that law to pursue a climate change case, an official there said.
Asked what else she wants to uncover, Healey demurred. "There is an awful lot we don't know."
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2018/04/16/stories/1060079125
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Trump Admin to India: 'Choose Us' for Your Energy Needs
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey
Energy Secretary Rick Perry and his staff are in India this week pushing the message that the United States — not Russia or China — can meet India's energy needs.
Perry and his delegation are encouraging the world's second most populous country to tap the United States' massive shale plays and technology to build reactors, pipelines and carbon capture equipment.
"I think India should start looking in the direction of the United States," DOE Undersecretary of Energy Mark Menezes, who is traveling with Perry, told The Economic Times during an interview today.
"Look at us, look at what we are offering, and then choose us over other countries," Menezes said. "I am not saying it will happen overnight, but start looking in our direction."
DOE's message aligns with the Trump administration's push to make India a regional hub for U.S. business. It's also a tune Republicans are singing on Capitol Hill in hopes of boosting gas exports — and pipeline technology — to foreign shores.
During budget hearings on Capitol Hill last week, Republican lawmakers like Rep. Pete Olson of Texas called on Perry to tell India that the United States is an eager and willing business partner.
Olson, vice chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, told Perry on Thursday that he had just returned from a trip to India as part of a congressional delegation, and officials there were "gushing" about the secretary's pending arrival.
Olson also said India has an "extremely aggressive" plan to clean up its air pollution using mainly wind and solar energy but that natural gas from countries like the United States is the "economy of the now."
"I want you to take that technology message to them; we will help you," Olson said.
India has already emerged as a critical customer of exports of liquefied natural gas from the United States, which are expected to reach 10 billion cubic feet per day by the end of this decade.
Indian companies have secured agreements for supplies of LNG from Cheniere Energy Inc.'s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana, Dominion Energy Inc.'s planned Cove Point LNG plant in Maryland and Sempra Energy's Cameron LNG project in Louisiana (Energywire, June 29, 2017).
India understands it needs a more advanced power grid, better technology and an improved pipeline system to transition to cleaner power and transport gas around the country from import hubs, Olson said.
"That's another area — U.S. pipeline technology, U.S. pipeline companies. I think there's a real opportunity in not just India, but India is obviously a huge market," Perry responded. "Our ability to deliver U.S. innovation, U.S. natural resources into that country ... that's the real driving factor of why we're headed that way."Carbon capture, nuclear power
Perry will also focus on pushing U.S. technology to expand nuclear power and carbon capture in India.
The secretary is slated to take part in the inaugural meeting of the Strategic Energy Partnership in New Delhi tomorrow.
While DOE did not immediately provide a list of participants, photos on Twitter showed Perry posing at a roundtable with DOE officials, including Menezes and DOE chief of staff Brian McCormack.
Perry told members of a Senate Appropriations subcommittee last week that his trip to India would focus on carbon capture utilization and storage technology, or CCUS.
"The technology that we are seeing brought forward on clean coal, carbon capture, is starting to take off across the globe, and I think that is one of the most important things about this," Perry told Republican Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota.
The United States, Perry said, will push technology to help countries like India use coal for years to come, noting that fossil fuels will generate 70 percent of domestic energy through 2040.
"We want it to be U.S.-based resources as often as possible, but we also want it to be as clean-burning as it can be, and that's where CCUS and the technology that is ongoing at these projects like you have in your home state and we are working on in our labs," Perry told Hoeven.
Nuclear energy will also be a focus of the trip. Perry yesterday met with Indian Atomic Energy Secretary Sekhar Basu and inked a memorandum of understanding focused on neutrino physics.
Menezes said during the interview with The Economic Times that he believes Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC will bounce back from bankruptcy to build reactors in India.
"We think Westinghouse will be very strong coming out of the bankruptcy," he said. "We are very supportive of their technology and capability to build the six reactors here. Bankruptcy will no longer be an issue."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/04/16/stories/1060079167
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DOE Announces $25M in Cybersecurity Funding
Apr 16, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Anthony Andragna
The Energy Department today announced the availability of $25 million in funding to develop the next generation of technologies to protect the electric grid from cybersecurity attacks.
“Energy cybersecurity is a national priority that demands the next wave of advanced technologies to create more secure and resilient systems needed for America’s future prosperity, vitality, and energy independence,” Energy Secretary Rick Perry said in a statement.
Funding applications must include a path toward industry acceptance and deployment. Awards will go to a number of specific areas, including redesigning cybersecurity architecture for the electric, oil and natural gas sector.
Perry in February announced the creation of a new division within the agency — the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response — looking specifically at responding to cybersecurity threats. The federal government said in March that Russian hackers had been engaged in a deliberate, ongoing operation to penetrate the electric grid.
WHAT’S NEXT: The deadline for applications is June 18.
https://www.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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Pruitt's Grant Ban Hits Advisory Panel at Critical Time
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
As an EPA scientific advisory panel inches toward a key juncture in its high-stakes review of Clean Air Act standards for particulate matter, some members are facing a now-familiar dilemma: Give up agency funding or leave the group.
At least four panel members have been presented with that choice, according to court papers and interviews. While that's a relatively small percentage of the review panel's 27 members, it points to the continuing impact of the policy put in place last October by EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
Peter Adams. Carnegie Mellon University
For researchers caught in the middle, that policy continues to rankle.
"I feel like this new rule is kind of quote unquote 'solving' a problem that doesn't exist," said Peter Adams, a civil and environmental engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University. Late last month, Adams was told that he was off the review panel after declining to relinquish an EPA grant.
The panel is in effect a work group for the seven-member Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), which offers outside expertise to EPA during regularly required reviews of the air quality standards for particulate matter, ozone and four other "criteria" pollutants identified in the Clean Air Act.
EPA is now in the early stages of re-examining the particular matter standards, which were last strengthened in 2012. With recent studies suggesting current limits for so-called fine particulates still may not be tight enough to protect public health, the agency is tentatively expected to release a draft roundup of available research — known as an "integrated science assessment" — this summer. Traditionally, CASAC and the review panel would then provide feedback as a prelude to a second, revised draft.
Dr. Rob McConnell. USC
While EPA had replaced several members of the main CASAC around the time that Pruitt announced the new policy last fall, the agency has only recently begun to extend the grants prohibition to review panel members.
Also out is Dr. Rob McConnell, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California. Late last month, McConnell told EPA that he had chosen "grant-funded research over continued service" on the panel, according to a recent court filing in one of three lawsuits challenging Pruitt's policy. McConnell could not be reached for comment.
A third member, Dr. Joel Kaufman, interim dean at the University of Washington's School of Public Health, said in an email last week to E&E News that he, too, had been contacted by EPA. Kaufman didn't reply to a follow-up message asking what he intended to do.
Dr. Joel Kaufman.University of Washington
But Jeremy Sarnat, an associate professor of environmental health at Emory University, said he was ending an EPA grant related to climate change three months ahead of schedule in order to stay on the panel. In an email, Sarnat said he felt strongly that the strength of EPA's advisory committees rested in their "diverse representation" across academic and governmental lines.
"I see this new policy as a means of hindering this diversity, by making it difficult for people (like me) with careers conducting air pollution and health research in academic institutions to participate in CASAC," Sarnat said. "So, for this reason, I want to do what I can to ensure that the policy fails."
As of this morning, the particulate review panel's website had not been updated to reflect any membership changes.
Jeremy Sarnat. Emory University
Tom Brennan, acting head of EPA's Science Advisory Board staff office, which has been contacting review panel members about their status, referred questions to the agency's press office, where spokespeople did not reply to emailed questions. Also not responding to queries last week was Richard Yamada, a Pruitt appointee who has taken a lead role in implementing the policy as deputy head of EPA's Office of Research and Development.
But the turnover was welcomed by Steve Milloy, a senior policy fellow at the Energy and Environmental Legal Institute, an anti-regulatory group that unsuccessfully sued two years ago to force the dissolution of the entire panel on the grounds that most members had received EPA grant money at some point and were "inappropriately influenced" in favor of the agency's alleged predisposition toward stricter regulations (Greenwire, Aug. 2, 2016).
Milloy's only objection in this instance was that EPA didn't move faster.
"I would have gotten rid of them right away," he said in an interview last week. "I think Pruitt has taken the humane way out."Echoes of 'secret science' bill
It's unclear whether departing review panel members will be replaced. In rolling out the new policy last fall, Pruitt described it as a way of ensuring researchers' "objectivity."
"There is a question that arises over independence," Pruitt said at the time. "They have to choose: either the grant or service. But not both" (E&E News PM, Oct. 31, 2017).
Detractors have noted that Pruitt appears to have no such worries about the industry ties of some of his own advisory panel appointees.
"Focusing on non-existent conflicts of interest related to EPA funding while overlooking much larger conflicts of interest in industry is clearly a losing proposition for the nation," Adams wrote to Brennan in an email last month after being told he was no longer on the review panel. Adams provided a copy of the exchange to E&E News.
The ban on participation by EPA grant recipients isn't the only uncertainty hovering over the particulate standards review, which is set to wrap up in 2022.
In a presidential memorandum last week, the White House instructed Pruitt to come up with criteria for all reviews of ambient air quality standards "to ensure transparency in the evaluation, assessment and characterization of scientific evidence."
To some observers, that language is reminiscent of the "secret science" legislation repeatedly introduced by House Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) to bar the use of research in the development of new EPA regulations that is not "transparent or reproducible." The latest version of the bill, H.R. 1430, is awaiting action by a Senate committee after winning House approval more than a year ago.
Among the legislation's backers has been Tony Cox, a Colorado consultant whose clients have included the American Petroleum Institute.
Named last fall by Pruitt as CASAC chairman, Cox is also expected to lead the particulate matter review panel. In an email late last week, Cox said he disagreed with critics who view the legislation as a backhanded way of excluding studies that would suggest the need for stronger limits on fine particulates.
"To the contrary, I believe that we should shine a bright light on available data, independent of whether it suggests or opposes any particular policy conclusion and should follow where the data lead," Cox said in response to questions from E&E News, adding that he had not yet reached a conclusion on whether the fine particulate standards should be revised.
"This will be important for all of the members of CASAC to deliberate about, and I expect that final conclusions will be informed by careful consideration of available evidence," Cox wrote. "Much of that process will take place later this year."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/04/16/stories/1060079173
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Regulators Defy Trump Team in Move to Slash Emissions
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Jean Chemnick
The U.N. agency responsible for global shipping took its first halting steps toward greenhouse gas regulation Friday, despite the objections of the Trump White House.
Sixty-five countries, led by the European Union and Pacific islands, succeeded in shepherding a resolution through the International Maritime Organization calling on the shipping industry to shed at least half its emissions by 2050 compared with 2008 levels. The measure was approved during the IMO's two-week meeting in London, where only members of a specific committee had a vote.
The resolution puts the shipping industry on a decarbonization trajectory for later in the century. It's nonbinding, but a necessary step toward mandatory regulation in the future. The IMO will hold an October gathering to consider a timeline and action plan.
Greens heralded the move as a first step toward bringing the sector in line with the world's quest for a safe climate.
"The agreement today is an opportunity to bend this curve to align with the Paris Agreement, but it needs to translate into urgent action — now," said Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, leader of the World Wildlife Fund's global climate and energy program.
The agreement, which also set the stage for a ban on heavy fuel oil that contributes to black carbon emissions in the Arctic, was opposed in the end by three countries: Saudi Arabia, Brazil and the United States.
Japan, which championed a weaker resolution backed by the shipping industry that would have capped emissions at 50 percent by 2060, joined with the majority.
The U.S. opposition surprised many because the world's largest economy has generally been a low-key member of the U.N. shipping body across administrations. But State Department negotiator Andrew Rakestraw in the first week of talks came out strongly against the adoption of a resolution calling for any absolute emissions cuts, implementing a strategy left to him by former White House energy adviser George David Banks.
In his statement opposing the resolution late last week, Jeffrey Lantz — the Coast Guard official who led the talks for the United States in the second week — declared, "We do not support the establishment of an absolute reduction target at this time.
"In addition, we note that achieving significant emissions reductions, in the international shipping sector, would depend on technological innovation and further improvements in energy efficiency," said Lantz, according to sources present at the talks, which are closed to reporters.
The United States also objected to language hinting at divisions between future responsibilities by developed and developing countries, though it's not clear how that divide would play out in the shipping sector. Brazil and Saudi Arabia separately panned the resolution as too stringent, while some countries backed the resolution but registered concerns that it wouldn't go far enough.
Europe and the Pacific islands originally proposed a 70 to 100 percent cut in shipping emissions by 2050, a target aimed at bringing the sector's burgeoning emissions in line with the Paris Agreement's goal of containing warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius.
While some advocates praised the resolution's language on heavy fuel oil and black carbon, Paul Bledsoe, a former climate adviser at the Clinton White House, called it insufficient. "The IMO claims they'll enact a ban on heavy fuel oil use by shipping next year, but they've left these promises unfulfilled before," he said.'Existence over economic growth'
The resolution was a particular victory for the Marshall Islands, which worked with France to lobby for a more ambitious target. The island nation is one of the most shipping-dependent economies in the world, but also one of the most climate-vulnerable. The late Marshallese statesman Tony de Brum initiated the push for an IMO-Paris Agreement policy in 2015 during a meeting hosted in his country.
Marshallese President Hilda Heine said in a statement Friday that the resolution had made the Marshall Islands a little safer from catastrophic sea-level rise, a goal that a "landmark sectoral cap" on emissions and periodic updates would help achieve.
"As one of the world's most vulnerable countries, and one of those most reliant on shipping, including as the second biggest flag state, our delegation fought hard for this outcome," she said.
Tristan Smith, an energy and shipping expert with the UCL Energy Institute, noted that other vulnerable island nations, like Tuvalu and Kiribati, backed ambitious emission cuts, despite being in line to pay any extra costs throughout their economies.
"They very rationally took the view that you do have to prioritize existence over economic growth," Smith said.
Shipping contributes only 2 to 3 percent of today's global emissions, but its emissions are set to grow by between 50 and 250 percent if left unchecked. The goal set by this resolution would preclude new oceangoing vessels from depending on fossil fuels starting in the 2030s, according to an analysis by the UCL Energy Institute in Britain.
"The basic climate science that tells us that the zero net emissions needs to come very soon, 2050 to 2060, that basic climate science was the winner in this debate," said Smith, "though many will say, and they're right, that the agreement could be stronger."
The IMO process differs from the international climate talks conducted under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change in that a simple majority can forge an agreement — as was the case last week. It also differs in that the IMO can set mandatory regulations, while the U.N. climate process cannot.
Faig Abbasov of the European Federation for Transport and Environment said that short-term regulations could be in place in a few years under an optimistic scenario. The resolution could also open the door for the creation of a market-based mechanism — a carbon tax or other program — that would govern global shipping emissions. Such a system would likely require the negotiation and ratification of a new treaty, which would take a decade or longer. But some speculate that the current treaty governing maritime pollutants could support such a program.
As a member of the IMO, the United States would be obligated to impose IMO regulations on ships sailing under its flag, but there is no enforcement mechanism if it does not. Those regulations would be imposed on any ships coming to port in countries that impose IMO regulations.
"In this case, even if the U.S. doesn't like IMO, even if Trump gets re-elected and decides to keep on boycotting everything on climate and not enforce IMO regulation on U.S. ships, ships will still have to be compliant if they want to sail elsewhere," said Abbasov.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2018/04/16/stories/1060079121
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In The Room But Still On The Margins
Apr 16, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Debra Kahn
A year ago, environmental justice groups rallied outside a conference here on carbon trading, arguing that the program to cut emissions shortchanges poor people and people of color who tend to live near the industrial facilities.
Earlier this month, they had a panel of their own at North American Carbon World, where they discussed their political gains and the obstacles they still face as they try to mesh climate change policies with those addressing the state's persistent conventional air pollution.
"I know I'm successful when I'm getting slapped on both sides of my face," said Deidre Sanders, director of government and community affairs for East Bay Community Energy, an Oakland-based municipal electricity provider. "The more important it is to communicate, the more difficult it is to communicate."
Environmental justice advocates pushing for more attention and funding for conventional pollution alongside climate policies have met with relative success in California, where a bevy of advisory panels have sprung up in the wake of new state laws dealing with greenhouse gases, renewable energy and conventional air pollution.
Demographic changes and growing legislative clout have also given environmental justice groups significant influence over the spending of revenue from the state's carbon cap-and-trade program. One-third of the funding must benefit disadvantaged communities under A.B. 398, a law enacted last year to extend the state's cap-and-trade system through 2030.
Sanders serves on a panel advising the California Air Resources Board on A.B. 617, a law enacted last year alongside A.B. 398. It mandates local air monitoring programs for disadvantaged communities and eventual retrofits for stationary sources, and comes with $5 million for communities to hire technical experts to help them engage in policymaking, among other things.
Sanders described industry's "wariness" when discussing the potential local downsides of climate-friendly technologies like carbon capture and sequestration, which she said stems from a feeling that private companies are being overburdened with responsibilities that normally should fall to government. "And so now it's laid at industry's doorstep to engage on issues industry is not built to address," she said.
A.B. 617 is part of a "really fast, rapidly changing terrain" that state regulators are responding to, said Veronica Eady, assistant executive officer for environmental justice at the California Air Resources Board (ARB). A.B. 398 also requires ARB to amend its cap-and-trade program to limit the use of carbon offsets that don't provide "direct environmental benefits," a term that is still being defined but that could be taken to ban some out-of-state offsets. The agency is working to pass regulatory language by the end of the year.
Within California, environmental justice advocates face resistance from some carbon market participants, who see their incursions as window dressing at the expense of business. Sean Carney, an offset project developer, described the "irony" of California putting potential restrictions on out-of-state offsets while positioning itself as a foil to the Trump administration, which is pursuing tariffs on steel imports.
"It's a quota system. You can only bring in this much carbon from out of state. You can only bring in this much steel," he said at the recent conference. "They're a bunch of protectionist peas in a pod."
Another attendee recounted the environmental justice panel to his friends in terms of representation: "Here's a description of that panel," he said. "Three of them were women. None of them were white."
It's still unclear how much California's environmental justice policies will spread beyond the state. Eady has also worked on environmental justice issues in Massachusetts and New York, and sees fewer parallels between states on conventional pollution than she does on climate change. "The East Coast is a whole different animal, and the air quality [issues] in California are so profound," she said in an interview. "In terms of air quality, we just are very unique."
Another new environmental justice initiative began earlier this month with the inaugural meeting of California's Disadvantaged Communities Advisory Group. It's intended to guide the state Energy Commission and Public Utilities Commission in their implementation of a 2015 law, S.B. 350, which raised the state's renewables target to 50 percent and set a goal of doubling energy efficiency savings by 2030.
Tyrone Roderick Williams. Willams/Special to E&E News
The group is planning to focus on behavioral energy efficiency gains, promoting clean energy businesses and jobs, and studying the effects of living in polluted areas, according to its chairman, Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency development director Tyrone Roderick Williams. He said it would divide its work into short-, medium- and long-term goals.
"I think we have to be realistic as to what is possible for the advisory committee to do, over and above the work that's going on at the agencies. The value we bring is we will always look at everything we do through the lens of how is this impacting residents in disadvantaged communities," he said in an interview. "We want to ensure that there is significant positive impact trickling down at the neighborhood level."
Another group member, Earthjustice attorney Adrian Martinez, highlighted large stationary source retrofits that are pending as part of a rule change last year for conventional pollutants in the Los Angeles air basin. Making the jump to electrification rather than incremental upgrades of natural gas-fueled facilities could make sense, Martinez said. "The underlying shift to zero emissions or trying to fuel-switch is something that's applicable throughout the state," he said.
Martinez said California's air pollution problems offer an unconventional path to addressing greenhouse gases.
"If we can solve our ozone and fine particulate pollution problems in places like LA and the San Joaquin Valley, we'll functionally solve our climate pollution problem," he said. "There's a lot of environmental groups and advocates who focus on the other way around: 'If you get air quality benefits, that's great.' I think we should all, especially in California, flip that calculus."
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2018/04/16/stories/1060079127
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