Preview Newsletter
ACC AM 6/28/2018
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(ACC Mentioned) Quote-Unquote: Climate Change, Cost-Benefit Analysis and Reg Review EO
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
...About 100 business groups, including the American Chemistry Council and Edison Electric Institute, in a June 21 letter to the Office of Management & Budget endorsing EPA’s commitment to review its use of cost-benefit in rulemakings. -
Groups Seek Comment Extension on Epa Cost-Benefit Rule
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
Several state, environmental and other groups are asking EPA for more time to comment on its preliminary plan to overhaul the agency's cost-benefit analysis methods, citing the complexity of the issue, previous rejections of input from public interest groups and the agency's recent decision to extent comment on a separate rule on agency science. -
Leaked Memo Shows Trump Planning Deep 2020 Budget Cuts
Jun 27, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Christa Marshall
The Trump administration is planning deeper funding cuts at federal agencies next year, including programs on renewable energy, climate change, energy efficiency and science research, according to a leaked Department of Energy document obtained by E&E News. -
House Approves ARPA-E, Science Bills
Jun 28, 2018 | E&E Daily
By Christa Marshall
The House passed legislation yesterday that would expand the mission of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy and authorize Department of Energy science programs on everything from climate change research to fusion. -
Battle Lines Form as Kennedy Announces Retirement
Jun 27, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Amanda Reilly
Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court today, tilting the court to the right and shaking up environmental law. -
EPA Provides 'Low Hazard' Preliminary TSCA Conclusion on PV29
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Andrew Turley
The US EPA has "preliminarily concluded" that Pigment Violet 29 (PV29) represents a low hazard to human health and the environment in its ongoing evaluation of the substance under the revised TSCA. -
EPA Seeks To Speed GenX Assessment Through Peer Review This Summer
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
EPA scientists are working to complete by this fall a toxicological assessment of GenX, one of the newer perfluorinated chemicals that is contaminating the Cape Fear River, NC, EPA staff told members of the state's Science Advisory Board (SAB) earlier this month. -
New Coolant Lawsuit Could Chill Industry Path to Certainty
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Abby Smith
A new lawsuit to compel the EPA to enforce portions of Obama-era restrictions on climate-warming coolants adds an additional layer of regulatory uncertainty for U.S. chemical and refrigeration companies that ultimately support limiting the chemicals. -
Ocean Plastics Bill Drifts Toward President’s Desk
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By David Schultz
Federal agencies could gain more power to address plastic pollution in the ocean under a bill that is nearing President Donald Trump’s desk after it easily won approval from a House committee June 27. -
E-Commerce Product Safety Pledge 'Not Enough', Say NGOs
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
NGOs welcomed a commitment by four e-commerce retailers and the European Commission to remove dangerous products from sale more rapidly, but said more action was needed to protect consumers from hazardous chemicals in products bought online. -
Newark Defends Water Quality as Lawsuit Claims High Lead Levels
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Leslie A. Pappas
Newark, N.J., said its drinking water meets federal requirements for lead, accusing environmental advocates of mischaracterizing the city’s efforts in a lawsuit seeking additional cleanup. -
EU notifies WTO of RoHS exemptions for two lead uses
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has notified the WTO of exemptions from the Directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) for two separate uses of lead in electrical and electronic equipment. -
EU Publishes Amendments to Cosmetics Regulation
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has published amendments to its Regulation on cosmetics products that will come into force early next month. -
Fees Go Up in EU as More Chemicals Need to be Authorized
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Stephen Gardner
Fees charged to companies such as BASF SE and Henkel AG for European Union authorizations to use otherwise prohibited chemicals are going up just as more widely used substances are slated for possible prohibition in the bloc. -
Echa, Eurometaux to Sign Agreement to Tackle REACH Dossier Compliance
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
Echa and trade body Eurometaux are to sign an agreement that aims to improve REACH registration dossiers for a large number of metals, metal compounds and some other inorganics. -
Substance Grouping Collaboration Not the Way Forward – Echa
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A collaborative approach to address chemicals by groups is costly and not necessarily an efficient or effective way to speed up substance evaluation processes, Echa has concluded in a report. -
As World Shifts to Renewables, Methane Leaks from Oil and Gas Production 60 Percent Greater than EPA Estimate
Jun 28, 2018 | Environmental Working Group
By Grant Smith
Sixty percent more methane escapes from U.S. oil and gas operations than the Environmental Protection Agency currently estimates, according to a study led by the Environmental Defense Fund. -
Gas Industry: We're a Destination Fuel, Not a Transition
Jun 28, 2018 | PoliticoPro
By Eric Wolff
Gas industry officials at the World Gas Conference have a message for renewable energy advocates: We're not your transition fuel. -
World Gas Conference A Historic Marker for U.S. Natural Gas
Jun 28, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
An estimated 12,000 attendees, including 600 speakers from more than 40 countries around the world, have filled the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, this week to assess, discuss and celebrate the 27th World Gas Conference (WGC). -
Exxon, Chevron Take Shots at Donald Trump’s Trade Skirmishes
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Kevin Crowley
Big Oil is losing faith in President Donald Trump’s pledges to build the U.S. into a self-reliant energy superpower. -
Shell Working to Address Gaps in Pennsylvania Cracker Pipeline Permit Applications
Jun 27, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jamison Cocklin
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has sent three technical deficiency letters asking Shell Pipeline Company LP to address gaps in its water obstruction and encroachment permit applications for the Falcon Ethane Pipeline System. -
Push to Open Up Drilling Reflected in Bills Headed to House Floor
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Stephen Lee
Oil and gas drilling permits would come easier under Republican legislation that the House Natural Resources Committee agreed June 27 to move to the House floor. -
In the Age of Trump and Putin, Europe Faces Hard Choices on Gas
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Naureen S. Malik and Anna Shiryaevskaya
Europe’s shrinking production of natural gas has made it an enticing target for exporters. It’s also left the region facing hard choices ahead at a time of growing political uncertainty. -
Oil Exports Hit New 3 Million Barrels Record
Jun 27, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Jordan Blum
U.S. crude oil exports hit a new high of 3 million barrels a day last week, shipping out more than a quarter of the nation's record volumes of oil production. -
Anti-Terror Program for Chemical Facilities Expects Four-Year Approval
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Joyce E. Cutler
Federal regulators responsible for ensuring chemical facilities operate securely to prevent chemical releases and sabotage, such as terrorism, say they expect their program to be reauthorized for another four years. -
Trump Plan Aside, Hill Still Focused on Permit Streamlining
Jun 28, 2018 | E&E Daily
By Maxine Joselow
President Trump may not get his broad infrastructure bill this year, but Congress and experts are still keen on streamlining the permitting process for large infrastructure projects. -
Western Governors Urge Feds to Streamline Permitting
Jun 28, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Jennifer Yachnin
The Western Governors' Association today adopted a resolution urging the federal government to streamline permitting for infrastructure projects, while also ensuring an equitable role for state officials. -
Draft EPA Science Review's Focus On Ammonia May Boost Bid For NAAQS
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA's latest draft scientific assessment for its review of the “secondary” nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx) ambient air standards appears to place a significant new emphasis on the environmental effects of ammonia, a move that could bolster environmentalists' bid for the agency to establish an ambient air limit for ammonia. -
Shell on Hot Seat in Climate Suit Seeking Fortified Facility
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Adrianne Appel
A Shell Oil terminal in Providence, R.I., is not vulnerable to climate-induced storm surges, the company told a federal judge, seeking to bat away a lawsuit pushing for the facility to be fortified. -
EPA Tells States To Account For Climate Change In Chesapeake Bay Plans
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Lara Beaven
EPA is instructing states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to address the impacts of climate change in their next set of implementation plans for reducing nutrient and sediment levels, beginning in 2021, a consideration that may require strengthening best management plans (BMPs) to reduce additional loading from agricultural and other runoff. -
Beyond Bitcoin: The Future of Pollution Tracking With Blockchain
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By David Schultz
The same technology that powers bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could unlock the holy grail of real time pollution monitoring as Silicon Valley pitches the power of blockchain to environmental regulators.
Industry and Association News
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Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) Quote-Unquote: Climate Change, Cost-Benefit Analysis and Reg Review EO
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
Court rates climate decision best in political, not judicial, arena.
“There are sound reasons why regulation of the worldwide problem of global warming should be determined by our political branches, not by our judiciary.”
-- U.S. District Court judge, dismissing a climate nuisance lawsuit, but adding that the court “accepts the science behind global warming. So do both sides. The dangers raised in the complaints are very real.”Trump plan would move federal mine cleanups to Superfund program.
“Due to competing mission priorities within DOI [Interior] and USDA [Agriculture], the cleanup activities at these sites do not necessarily receive the same level of attention that they would if they were part of EPA’s Superfund program. . . . Consolidating the cleanup programs in a way that allows EPA to add sites in need of CERCLA-level attention to the Superfund program would create efficiencies by eliminating inconsistent interpretations among various agencies, reducing the number of decisions and approvals, and ultimately expediting the cleanup of sites.”
-- The president’s plan for reorganizing the federal government includes moving mine cleanup programs into EPA’s Superfund program, claiming the prospects of greater efficiency.EPA’s biofuels volume boost: industry group hits more ‘demand destruction’.
“By neglecting to reallocate gallons lost to waivers, the EPA is doubling down on another year of an estimated 1.5 billion gallons in demand destruction. The same holds true for advanced and cellulosic biofuels, which are rapidly delivering new economic opportunities for rural communities and driving America’s leadership in clean energy. The targets proposed today promise growth, but those investments can’t move ahead unless the EPA makes it clear that goals set by Congress will be enforced.”
-- Emily Skor, CEO of Growth Energy, an ethanol advocacy group, reacting to EPA’s boost in renewable fuel standard production but criticizing the agency history of granting waivers from the requirements.DOJ argues 2-1 rule requirement hasn’t delayed rulemakings.
“Plaintiffs cannot demonstrate that the relevant agencies actually intend to issue these rules or that the rules are being delayed as a result of Executive Order 13771. . . . The mere fact that these rulemakings are subject to the executive order does not serve as evidence that they are delayed because of it.”
-- Justice Department pushes back against claims -- by environmental groups and others -- that the executive order requiring issuance of a new rule be offset by two existing rules has delayed rulemaking processes.Business groups support EPA move to review, revamp cost-benefit analysis.
“We believe the time has come for EPA to reexamine its statutory interpretations, and unless prohibited by statute, implement its regulatory statutes through cost-benefit balancing. Agencies must prepare cost-benefit analyses to support their most significant regulations . . . and not regulate unless the benefits justify the costs and the selected regulatory option maximizes net benefits to society."
-- About 100 business groups, including the American Chemistry Council and Edison Electric Institute, in a June 21 letter to the Office of Management & Budget endorsing EPA’s commitment to review its use of cost-benefit in rulemakings.https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/quote-unquote-climate-change-cost-benefit-analysis-and-reg-review-eo
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Groups Seek Comment Extension on Epa Cost-Benefit Rule
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
Several state, environmental and other groups are asking EPA for more time to comment on its preliminary plan to overhaul the agency's cost-benefit analysis methods, citing the complexity of the issue, previous rejections of input from public interest groups and the agency's recent decision to extent comment on a separate rule on agency science.
“The breadth of this request will require careful consideration by interested commenters, as it could touch upon virtually every regulatory program initiated by EPA under the Clean Air Act,” Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) said in June 20 comments.
“The potential implications are large, and it will take considerable time to fully assess the relative merits of alternative approaches to benefit-cost analyses underpinning rulemakings, as well as to assess how any changes may affect previously settled case law, such as in the setting of National Ambient Air Quality Standards,” the group said.
NESCAUM says it is seeking an additional 60 days for comment, which would bring the total comment period to 90 days.
Similarly, a coalition of 10 environmental and public interest groups sought “more time to review and digest the highly technical matters implicated by the cost-benefit Analysis rule,” the Center for Progressive Reform (CPR), Earthjustice, Public Citizen and other groups write in a June 26 letter, citing in part the “serious problems” that the rule raises. The groups seek a total comment period of at least 90 days.
Several other groups filed separate requests, including Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), Resources for the Future, and Union of Concerned Scientists.
The requests come in response to the agency's June 13 promulgation of its advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking comment -- for 30 days -- on its plans to overhaul its cost-benefit approaches. The agency says it is seeking to ensure consistency in its cost-benefit approaches across its programs. Industry groups are already urging officials to make greater use of such approaches -- even in cases where statutes are silent on the issue, given two recent Supreme Court rulings.
But environmentalists oppose such plans and warn that it could have significant adverse implications for the agency's ability to justify strict regulations and standards.
And several legal observers have warned that the rulemaking has the potential to consume significant regulatory and litigation resources -- to the extent it seeks to modify traditional EPA interpretations of agency authority to weigh costs of environmental controls under multiple environmental statutes that can have different cost benefit tests even within a single statute. “That is a huge undertaking without [assuming] legislative fixes,” says one former EPA official.
In their letter to EPA, the 10 public interest groups accuse the Trump administration of giving industry groups “ an unfair advantage,” noting that the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) denied a request from public interest organizations to provide input despite the fact OMB has held “at least three separate” meetings on the issue with industry groups.
And the letter also argues that “no principled reason” exists for not extending the comment period, after the agency extended comment on the separate science rule. “Both rules would propose to introduce massive, complex overhauls of the EPA's decision-making process for its pending rulemaking.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/groups-seek-comment-extension-epa-cost-benefit-rule
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Leaked Memo Shows Trump Planning Deep 2020 Budget Cuts
Jun 27, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Christa Marshall
The Trump administration is planning deeper funding cuts at federal agencies next year, including programs on renewable energy, climate change, energy efficiency and science research, according to a leaked Department of Energy document obtained by E&E News.
The memo from DOE Chief Financial Officer John Voglis outlines the White House Office of Management and Budget's plans for fiscal 2020, including a proposal to reduce spending in the department's non-defense programs by 5 percent in comparison with levels requested by the White House in fiscal 2019.
That means funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which President Trump proposed cutting by more than 65 percent, could fall to even lower levels in the next White House request. A 5 percent cut would put EERE at about $660 million, less than a third of current levels.
The guidance sheds light on the current thinking of OMB Director Mick Mulvaney after Congress rejected Trump's spending plans for the past two years. Instead of cutting many programs, Congress increased funding for most energy programs.
"We've seen the programs targeted by elimination by Trump saved by bipartisan coalitions in Congress, and the deep cuts they've proposed summarily rejected," said Jeff Navin, who served as DOE's acting and deputy chief of staff during the Obama administration.
Still, the White House sets a goal post for negotiations, so a lower number puts more pressure on lawmakers and can increase pushback from Trump's opponents in Congress. The figures also make the administration's thinking clearer ahead of midterm elections that could change the dynamic in both houses of Congress.
The document suggests a 5 percent cut for all non-defense appropriations at agencies and flat spending for defense programs.
At DOE, that means the National Nuclear Security Administration, which maintains the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile and also conducts research relevant for non-defense applications, would not see a funding cut.
The DOE number the White House ultimately proposes for fiscal 2020 could change but tends to track with what is issued in earlier OMB guidance. The White House said it would provide an updated template to give DOE an opportunity to "detail the impact of the FY20 request" and outline "what priorities or operations will be either unfunded or impacted."
Some DOE officials said the 5 percent cut does not reflect current internal thinking at many offices and also differs from earlier guidance submitted internally within the department. It would make more sense to submit a "reasonable" number for effective negotiations with Congress, one DOE source said.
"We're sick of getting beat up," the source said about the prospect of DOE officials defending even lower budget request numbers with lawmakers.
This fiscal year, many DOE programs that Trump wanted to cut or eliminate received unprecedented funding after Congress raised non-defense discretionary caps in March.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, for example, saw its funding increase to $353 million after Trump called for eliminating the program. EERE's budget rose to $2.3 billion, about $1.7 billion above the White House recommendation.
This year, Congress is largely following a similar pattern. A Senate spending bill for fiscal 2019 that passed this week would increase ARPA-E's funding to $375 million rather than kill the agency. EERE's funding would be more than $1 billion above the request.
The Washington Post first reported on the OMB guidance.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/06/27/stories/1060086715
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House Approves ARPA-E, Science Bills
Jun 28, 2018 | E&E Daily
By Christa Marshall
The House passed legislation yesterday that would expand the mission of the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy and authorize Department of Energy science programs on everything from climate change research to fusion.
The "ARPA-E Act," H.R. 5906, from Reps. Frank Lucas (R-Okla.) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), ranking member of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, would expand ARPA-E's mission to cover environmental cleanup of nuclear waste sites and require the agency to coordinate with other DOE programs to avoid duplication.
The legislation also aims to ensure sensitive corporate information collected by the agency is not subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act (E&E News PM, May 23).
The House also passed the "Department of Energy Science and Innovation Act," H.R. 5905, from Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas), which would authorize much of DOE's Office of Science for fiscal 2018 and 2019, including fusion, advanced computing, and biological and environmental research programs.
It would support upgrades and construction of multiple user facilities at DOE's national laboratories and allow modeling in the Biological and Environmental Research program considered critical for understanding climate change impacts.
The legislation would direct DOE to support the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a multinational project under construction in France to demonstrate fusion at scale.
Separately, the House passed H.R. 5907, from Reps. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.) and Ed Perlmutter (D-Colo.), to delegate signature authority to national lab directors for any technology transfer agreement with a total cost of no more than $1 million.
The three bills were considered under suspension of the rules, meaning they needed two-thirds majority support to pass and no amendments could be made. They all passed by voice vote.
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2018/06/28/stories/1060087191
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Battle Lines Form as Kennedy Announces Retirement
Jun 27, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Amanda Reilly
Justice Anthony Kennedy announced his retirement from the Supreme Court today, tilting the court to the right and shaking up environmental law.
His retirement — after three decades on the bench and just a few weeks shy of his 82nd birthday — sets up a bruising Senate confirmation battle. Democrats and progressives swiftly reacted to Kennedy's announcement, promising to oppose President Trump's nominee.
"It's horrible news for environmental law because it could signal a sharp rightward lurch," said Robert Percival, the director of the environmental law program at the University of Maryland's Francis King Carey School of Law.
Kennedy was serving on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals when Judge Robert Bork's high court nomination failed in 1987 on a 42-58 vote. President Reagan's second choice, appellate Judge Douglas Ginsburg, withdrew following revelations of his past marijuana use. The back-to-back losses drove the Reagan White House to return to the president's home state, California, for what was deemed a safe pick.
Kennedy was confirmed, 97-0.
The graduate of McClatchy High School in Sacramento, Stanford University and Harvard Law School has come over 30 years to define the Supreme Court's center.
"What are the scariest words in constitutional law these days?" the conservative Weekly Standard magazine once asked. "'Justice Kennedy delivered the opinion of the court.'"
Kennedy wrote the opinion in 2003's Lawrence v. Texas that struck down the Texas sodomy law. And in Boumediene v. Bush, Kennedy's 5-4 opinion extended habeas corpus rights to foreign prisoners seeking to challenge their detention at Guantanamo Bay.
"It will almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed," a dissenting Justice Antonin Scalia said.
Critics have faulted Kennedy for what they call grandiloquent pronouncements and for citing foreign laws in his opinions, most famously in a 2005 decision banning the execution of juveniles.
Kennedy does favor grand rhetoric. He told the Senate Judiciary Committee about "the great tension, the great debate, the great duality in constitutional law" and about "one of the most powerful, one of the most sweeping, one of the most far-reaching kinds of remedies."
His written opinions likewise can strive to soar.
"At the heart of liberty is the right to define one's own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life," Kennedy wrote in a 1992 opinion upholding the right to abortion.Environmental law
According to statistics compiled by Scotusblog.com, Kennedy voted with the majority 97 percent of the time last term and 91 percent of the time this term.
By contrast, the court's newest member, Justice Neil Gorsuch, was in the majority only 82 percent of the time last term and 84 percent of the time this term.
"Kennedy was in the majority in almost every single environmental case since he joined the court," said Richard Lazarus, a professor at Harvard Law School who has argued Supreme Court cases in front of Kennedy.
"He's someone who I think comes to the bench with some skepticism of the potential for environmental laws to overreach, but he can be persuaded that they're not," Lazarus said. "I think he worries about limitations on the exercise of private property rights ... but he's also someone who understands at bottom that environmental laws are needed."
He has a mixed record, therefore, on environmental issues. In the 2001 case Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. Army Corps of Engineers, for instance, he joined a conservative majority in ruling that the Clean Water Act doesn't authorize the federal government to regulate dredging and filling of isolated wetlands.
But in the landmark 2007 climate change case Massachusetts v. EPA, Kennedy joined liberals in ruling that states could ask EPA to regulate heat-trapping emissions of carbon dioxide.
Kennedy's most famous opinion in environmental law, however, came in the form of a concurrence.
The 2006 case, Rapanos v. United States, involved a Michigan landowner's efforts to develop property that was designated a wetland. The Supreme Court vacated lower-court decisions that the federal government had jurisdiction over the wetlands at issue, but justices failed to come to an agreement on the rationale. They split 4-1-4.
Kennedy was the lone voice in the middle of a muddle. He wrote a concurring opinion stating that waters must have a "significant nexus" to navigable rivers and seas, including through biological or chemical connections.
"Frankly a majority of the court has been indifferent or outright hostile towards environmental cases for a very long time," said Patrick Parenteau, an environmental law professor at Vermont Law School.
"Kennedy at least showed enough interest to learn something about the science underlying environmental problems and the complexity of trying to regulate the myriad activities that create them. Nowhere was this more evident than in his concurring opinion in Rapanos."
During the George W. Bush and Obama administrations, the Kennedy "significant nexus" test became the basis for guidance documents and rules, including the Obama-era Clean Water Rule, which aimed to clear up the confusion that resulted from the Rapanos decision.
The Trump administration is working on a replacement rule that plays to Scalia's views that the Clean Water Act applied only to "navigable waters" connected by a surface flow at least part of the year.
Kennedy's retirement could increase the chances that Trump's replacement will withstand legal scrutiny.
"EPA's Clean Water Rule, the WOTUS rule, it's all written to Justice Kennedy," Lazarus said. "The entire rule was written to try to satisfy Justice Kennedy. That rationale is now booted out."
Jody Freeman, a professor at Harvard Law School, said the replacement of Kennedy with someone even more conservative "will only intensify the game of 'keep away' that environmental advocates have been playing during the Roberts court."
"The Supreme Court is not where environmental interests are going to want to be," she said.
The impact of Kennedy's retirement will also likely be felt in property rights litigation, particularly in cases where opponents of regulation claim that the federal government has taken private property through environmental rules.
According to Percival, who did a study on that issue last year, Kennedy voted with the majority in all 10 regulatory takings cases that the court heard during his tenure, many of them 5-4 opinions.
He wrote the majority opinion in last term's Murr v. Wisconsin, a case that had been closely watched by property rights activists and real estate developers. In the 5-3 decision, Kennedy wrote that a local land use ordinance did not constitute a taking.
"Now you have a solid right-wing majority," Percival said. "More things are going to be declared regulatory takings."Trump's list
Trump today called Kennedy "a great justice of the Supreme Court" and pledged that the replacement process would begin "immediately." He said the nominee would come from his previously announced list of potential picks.
That list includes several conservative judges, notably Judge Brett Kavanaugh of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, a highly influential court that often hears environmental law cases.
Appointed by Bush, Kavanaugh is among the most conservative voices on the D.C. Circuit and has been highly skeptical of expansive government regulation. Trump added Kavanaugh to his list in November.
The list also includes a handful of Trump-appointed federal judges, as well as Patrick Wyrick, the former solicitor general of Oklahoma and someone whom EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt has described as a "dear friend." Wyrick is awaiting a Senate confirmation vote to be a federal district judge.
Trump could also tap the runners-up to Gorsuch for Scalia's vacant seat: 3rd U.S. Circuit Judge Thomas Hardiman, 11th Circuit Judge William Pryor Jr. and 6th Circuit Judge Amul Thapar.
"We'll look forward to yet another outstanding selection," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) said in a statement he expects a nominee to appear before his committee "in the weeks ahead." But Democrats and progressives were already girding for a fight.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/06/27/stories/1060086759
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EPA Provides 'Low Hazard' Preliminary TSCA Conclusion on PV29
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Andrew Turley
The US EPA has "preliminarily concluded" that Pigment Violet 29 (PV29) represents a low hazard to human health and the environment in its ongoing evaluation of the substance under the revised TSCA.
PV29 – an organic compound used as a colourant and as an intermediate in the production of other pigments – is one of ten substances chosen for the first wave of risk evaluation under the amended Regulation. The conclusion comes in the 'problem formulation' for the substance published earlier this month.
The document also finds further analysis of exposure pathways for workers, consumers and the general population is not warranted.
Despite their preliminary nature, the emergence of conclusions at this stage of the evaluation process suggests the evidence is uncomplicated and there is little controversy about how it should be treated. This could make PV29 anomalous in relation to the other nine substances under evaluation.Next stage
The EPA says that, in the next stage of the TSCA process, it will evaluate data on the substance submitted to Echa for REACH registration. After that, it will prepare the draft risk evaluation.
The agency has already taken into account the summary information from the registration dossier, freely available from the Echa database of registered substances. This indicates low hazard. But the agency has yet to review the full study reports, which are the intellectual property of the REACH registrants: BASF Colours & Effects and Sun Chemicals.
The EPA did not have those reports when it prepared its 'scope' last year, but according to the problem formulation, it has since obtained them.
The agency also needs to review and incorporate comments and additional data received during the public consultation.
The hazard and exposure pathways conclusions in the problem formulation are based on limited use volumes outside the manufacturing site;limited environmental releases; andlow absorption by all routes of exposure.
The document says the EPA may conduct additional analysis to characterise the risks if the results in the fully study reports are not "scientifically sound" or consistent with the summary information.
The scope ruled out further consideration of genotoxicity and carcinogenicity, but proposed including in the final risk evaluation consideration of various other human health endpoints.
Pigment Violet 29 is used as a colourant in: paints and coatings; plastic and rubber products; merchant ink for commercial printing; and consumer watercolour and artistic colour products. It is also used as an intermediate for creating, or adjusting the colour of, other perylene pigments.
In a comment submitted during the public consultation for the scope, David Wawer, executive director at the Color Pigments Manufacturers Association said 10% of PV29 produced in the US is sold for commercial purposes. The other 90% is used to produce other perylene pigments.
"After a preliminary review of the document, the CPMA agrees with the agency's conclusions that there is no hazard presented by this pigment to workers, consumers and the general public," Mr Wawer told Chemical Watch. "The CPMA believes the EPA has been very transparent in comprehensively explaining how they reached their conclusions about the colour pigment."
He added that it is "reassuring to know the agency reviewed available data provided by CPMA and others to reassess the hazard ranking used for the 2012 Work Plan, rather than continuing to utilise assumptions based on models.
"It has been recognised for many years that colour pigments are model-difficult substances due to their low solubility and are, therefore, not part of the training set in the designing of models."
The problem formulation is currently subject to public consultation. Interested parties have until 26 July to submit comments.
https://chemicalwatch.com/67699/epa-provides-low-hazard-preliminary-tsca-conclusion-on-pv29
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EPA Seeks To Speed GenX Assessment Through Peer Review This Summer
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Maria Hegstad
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-seeks-speed-genx-assessment-through-peer-review-summer
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New Coolant Lawsuit Could Chill Industry Path to Certainty
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Abby Smith
A new lawsuit to compel the EPA to enforce portions of Obama-era restrictions on climate-warming coolants adds an additional layer of regulatory uncertainty for U.S. chemical and refrigeration companies that ultimately support limiting the chemicals.
In separate suits, 11 Democratic state attorneys general—led by New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood—along with the District of Columbia and the Natural Resources Defense Council are contesting April guidance from the Environmental Protection Agency. The guidance said the EPA won’t enforce 2015 restrictions on hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs—potent greenhouse gases commonly used as refrigerants—while it rewrites the limits.
The guidance, the agency said, offered clarity to industry after a federal appellate court in July 2017 struck down large portions of the Obama-era regulation.
The states and environmentalists argue portions of the HFC limits are still in effect and the EPA must implement those or go through a rulemaking process to scrap the regulations.
If the EPA were to enforce in the way the lawsuits suggest, however, it would likely break from the standard method it and other agencies use to regulate HFCs and other refrigerant chemicals, Caroline Davidson-Hood, general counsel for the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute, told Bloomberg Environment. The group represents a range of appliance manufacturing companies, such as Ingersoll-Rand Plc and Lennox International Inc., and chemical companies, such as Honeywell International Inc. and the Chemours Company.
A legal fight over the EPA guidance also opens another avenue for regulations to change, even as the industry continues to advocate for U.S. participation in a 2016 global deal to phase down HFCs. The Trump administration hasn’t offered public support for the agreement, know as the Kigali Amendment, which would have to be sent to the Senate for ratification.
“Kigali gets us everything we want and everything we’ve been advocating for for a long time—a unified, negotiated decision on phasedowns [of HFCs] instead of prohibitions,” Davidson-Hood said. U.S. ratification of the global deal offers the “greatest level of certainty for the market writ large,” she added.
‘Throwing Up Its Hands’The EPA, in the April guidance, said it intends to take another look at HFC limits. But the agency hasn’t offered a timeline, and EPA officials have shied away from offering public support for the Kigali deal.
The states and environmentalists argue a wholesale suspension of the HFC restrictions leaves emissions reductions of the potent greenhouse gases, which have a global warming potential thousands of times greater than carbon dioxide, on the table. For example, the states estimate nearly 200,000 commercial refrigeration units in the U.S. would still be subject to the HFC limits.
The April guidance is akin to the EPA “throwing up its hands” because of a complicated court ruling and “throwing out a perfectly good rule to limit emissions that contribute to the problem,” Lissa Lynch, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, wrote in a June 26 statement.
The D.C. Circuit in 2017 ruled the EPA overstepped its authority in requiring the replacement of HFCs with more climate-friendly substitutes under a program created to reduce chemicals that deplete the ozone layer. HFCs, though potent greenhouse gases, don’t deplete the ozone, and many companies transitioned to HFCs as a replacement for chemicals that do.
Regulatory DepartureThe states and environmentalists argue the EPA can still enforce HFC limits for manufacturers and users that haven’t yet switched over to HFCs, requiring them to move instead to climate-friendly alternative chemicals.
But reaching down to the consumer level—such as requiring supermarkets using equipment with ozone-depleting substances to transition to climate-friendly coolants—is a departure from the normal regulatory course that should be weighed through the regulatory process, Davidson-Hood said.
“We think that will require a lot of vigilance and input from manufacturers,” she added.
In addition to New York and the District of Columbia, the states involved in the states’ lawsuit are California, Delaware, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington state.
The NRDC case is Natural Resources Defense Council v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 18-1172, Petition 6/26/18.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/new-coolant-lawsuit-could-chill-industry-path-to-certainty
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Ocean Plastics Bill Drifts Toward President’s Desk
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By David Schultz
Federal agencies could gain more power to address plastic pollution in the ocean under a bill that is nearing President Donald Trump’s desk after it easily won approval from a House committee June 27.
The bill, S. 756, would reauthorize a marine debris program at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and would also give the agency’s head the authority to declare a “severe marine debris event.”
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the bill’s main backer in the House, said plastic pollution is “the No. 1 problem with our oceans” and that, if unaddressed, it will cause serious harm to the country’s fishing industry.
Plastic products that don’t biodegrade easily can collect in the ocean and occasionally, such as after the 2011 tsunami off the coast of Japan, wash up on beaches in the U.S. and elsewhere.
In addition to giving the head of NOAA more authority, the bill would also lift a requirement that local communities match private contributions for plastic pollution cleanup.
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) said this was a problem after the tsunami because this rule hindered efforts by the Japanese government to pay to remove plastic off of U.S. beaches.
Rep. Bill Shuster (R-Pa.), the committee’s chairman, told Bloomberg Environment he believes the bill will be heard on the House floor before the chamber adjourns for this year’s midterm elections.
The Senate version of the bill passed on a unanimous vote last year.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/ocean-plastics-bill-drifts-toward-presidents-desk
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E-Commerce Product Safety Pledge 'Not Enough', Say NGOs
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
NGOs welcomed a commitment by four e-commerce retailers and the European Commission to remove dangerous products from sale more rapidly, but said more action was needed to protect consumers from hazardous chemicals in products bought online.
The retailers, Alibaba, Amazon, eBay and Rakuten's French unit, this month signed a ‘product safety pledge' to respond to notifications on dangerous products from EU member state authorities within two working days and take action on notices from customers within five working days.
NGO ChemSec's communications manager, Peter Pierrou, told Chemical Watch it had been "a long time coming" for e-commerce sites to enforce stricter rules with their third party sellers.
"Unfortunately there have been worrying reports during the last years, showing presence of banned chemicals in products bought online," he said.
But one problem with the new commitment is that the burden of proof is on the customers and authorities, he added.
"It is up to them to alert the websites about potentially harmful products. Ideally products with hazardous content shouldn’t be allowed on these marketplaces in the first place," he said.High testing costs
Michael Warhurst of the UK NGO CHEM Trust, said he welcomed the commitment but raised concerns about how unsafe products would be identified.
"Some conventional retailers do their own tests on the products that they sell, but there is no sign that the online retailers are willing to take on this responsibility," he said.
Public authorities are only able to test "a very small percentage of products on the market, due to the cost and varying commitments by different governments across the EU," he added.
Safety testing of products, in particular for chemical safety should be "given higher priority around the EU, and there should be more focus on the responsibility of all retailers and importers to be ensuring that their products are in line with EU laws," Dr Warhurst said.Transparency call
Earlier this year, the Danish Consumer Council warned against buying cosmetics from the US website Wish.com after researchers purchased products non-compliant with EU Regulation.
Claus Jørgensen, senior project manager at the council’s ‘Think Chemicals’ initiative told Chemical Watch that although the product safety pledge was positive, one of the biggest online retailers Wish.com and thousands of other e-shops were missing from the list.
The Danish Consumer Council is calling for more transparency in the use of chemicals in consumer goods, including a mandatory full declaration of the chemical content in toys.
"What really needs to be done, is for the producers of consumer goods to not only abide by the law, (the are the ones producing illegal, potentially dangerous products) but they also need to inform their buyers of the chemicals they use, so that that they can make an informed choice," he said.
Also, to achieve a circular economy, he said, it was necessary to know what chemicals are used and where.
"Today that knowledge only resides with the producers and they are not sharing this information in sufficient quantities," he said.‘Double standard’
Mike Schade, Mind the Store campaign director at the US NGO, Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, said that although the commitment was good news for the European market, it would not protect consumers in the US and around the world who could buy the same products containing harmful chemicals.
"Online retailers that pull products from online sales in Europe for toxicity concerns should then do the same in the US and globally. There should not be a double standard where a toxic product is prohibited in one market but then for sale in another," he said.
https://chemicalwatch.com/68097/e-commerce-product-safety-pledge-not-enough-say-ngos
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Newark Defends Water Quality as Lawsuit Claims High Lead Levels
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Leslie A. Pappas
Newark, N.J., said its drinking water meets federal requirements for lead, accusing environmental advocates of mischaracterizing the city’s efforts in a lawsuit seeking additional cleanup.
More than 10 percent of drinking water samples collected by the Newark Water Department in 2017 showed lead levels that exceeded 15 parts per billion, the federal action level set by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Newark Education Workers Caucus and the Natural Resources Defense Council said in a suit filed June 26 in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. More than 10 percent of the samples throughout 2017 actually exceeded 26.7 parts per billion, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit asks the court to force the city to comply with the Clean Water Act’s standards for keeping lead out of drinking water in schools and homes. It comes about two years after drinking water from fountains and taps in 30 Newark public schools was found to have elevated levels of lead.
However, the high levels of lead found in drinking water at Newark schools were introduced by pipes and fixtures inside the schools and not from contaminated city water, Andrea Adebowale, director of Newark’s Water and Sewer Utilities, wrote, striking back in a long rebuttal on the city’s website.
The lawsuit’s charge that Newark residents are exposed to dangerous levels of lead “is absolutely and outrageously false,” Adebowale said.
The National Resources Defense Council defended its lawsuit, saying that some samples show lead levels as high as 12 times the federal action level.
The lawsuit does not allege that Newark’s source water contains lead, but that the city’s water “corrodes lead pipes and plumbing, causing the toxic metal to leach and flake into the drinking water that runs through those pipes,” and that the city is responsible for controlling that corrosion, Claire Woods, an attorney for the group, said in statement emailed to Bloomberg Environment June 27.
In her statement, Adebowale said that Newark conducted a corrosion control study in 1994 and consequently implemented a corrosion control program to minimize the leaching of lead from service lines.
Semiannual TestingThe New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection declined to comment on the litigation. In response to increased national concerns about lead levels, the department decided in 2016 to require semiannual sampling for larger water systems, up from triennial testing, department spokesman Lawrence Hajna told Bloomberg Environment in a phone call June 27.
“We basically stepped up the sampling frequency requirement,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that systems were testing in the right areas and had solid monitoring plans in place.”
Adebowale flatly denied the complaint’s allegations that Newark failed to properly monitor water going into residents’ homes and inform them of the dangers of lead pipes in their houses.
In Newark, the city owns the water mains but not the service lines that connect the water supply to homes. Those service lines belong to the homeowner, and it is the homeowner’s responsibility to maintain or replace them. The city has launched a 10-phase program to help homeowners replace lead service lines and is providing free lead testing for any homeowners who suspect their service line might be made of lead, Adebowale said.
The water supplied by the city is “pure, safe and fully complies with federal and state regulations,” she said.
The case is Newark Educ. Workers Caucus v. Newark, D.N.J., No. 2:18-cv-11025-KSH-CLW, 6/26/18.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/newark-defends-water-quality-as-lawsuit-claims-high-lead-levels-1
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EU notifies WTO of RoHS exemptions for two lead uses
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has notified the WTO of exemptions from the Directive on the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) for two separate uses of lead in electrical and electronic equipment.
The exemptions are for lead used in bearings and bushes applied in certain non-road professional use equipment, and as activator in the fluorescent powder of discharge from lamps containing phosphors. They were issued on 21 June and 22 June respectively.
The objective of the exemptions is to grant manufacturers adequate transition time for compliance, following adaptation of existing legislation to scientific and technical progress, the Commission said.
The proposed date of adoption is September 2018.
In March, the Commission published three amendments to Annex III of RoHS concerning exemptions for uses of lead.
https://chemicalwatch.com/68096/eu-notifies-wto-of-rohs-exemptions-for-two-lead-uses
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EU Publishes Amendments to Cosmetics Regulation
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has published amendments to its Regulation on cosmetics products that will come into force early next month.
The substance 2,2′-methylene-bis(6-(2H-benzotriazol-2-yl)-4-(1,1,3,3-tetramethyl-butyl)phenol)/bisoctrizole – with the International Nomenclature of Cosmetic Ingredients name methylene bis-benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol (MBBT) – will be authorised for use as a UV filter in cosmetic products.
This use of MBBT (nano) is currently not regulated. It will be authorised at a maximum concentration of 10% w/w, except in applications that may lead to the exposure of the end user's lungs by inhalation.
The amendments were published in the EU's Official Journal on 21 June. They will enter into force 20 days after the publication date.
https://chemicalwatch.com/68112/eu-publishes-amendments-to-cosmetics-regulation
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Fees Go Up in EU as More Chemicals Need to be Authorized
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Stephen Gardner
Fees charged to companies such as BASF SE and Henkel AG for European Union authorizations to use otherwise prohibited chemicals are going up just as more widely used substances are slated for possible prohibition in the bloc.
The European Chemicals Agency added ten substances June 27 to the REACH candidate list of substances of very high concern (SVHCs) for authorization.
Under the EU’s REACH chemicals law (Regulation No. 1907/2006 on the registration, evaluation, and authorization of chemicals), designation of a substance as a substance of very high concern can be a first step to a ban on its use in the EU.
More Pay to PlaySeparately, June 25, the EU published a regulation updating fees paid by companies to the European Chemicals Agency for authorization applications and other procedures. Although the standard fee payable for an authorization application for a single use of a substance remains unchanged at 54,100 euros ($62,674), the additional fee per extra use of the substance shot up from 10,820 euros to 48,690 euros ($12,535 to $56,407).
A company that applies for an authorization covering three uses of a substance would therefore pay 151,480 euros ($175,489) rather than 75,740 euros ($87,722). Applying for authorization involves proving the substance can be used safely and there are no viable alternatives.
Companies that have previously applied for authorizations for more than one use of an otherwise-prohibited substance include Henkel, which has applied for an authorization for two uses of dichromium tris(chromate); AkzoNobel NV, which has been granted an authorization for two uses of sodium dichromate; and Belgian firearms manufacturer FN Herstal, which has applied for an authorization of two uses of chromium trioxide.
Henkel spokeswoman Rabea Laakmann told Bloomberg Environment the company was unable to comment June 27. AkzoNobel and FN Herstal didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Widely-Used SubstancesThe addition of ten substances to the substances of very high concern list brought the total number to 191. Of the listed substances, phase-out decisions have so far been made for 43, meaning that companies that want to continue to use them must apply for authorizations.
Among the ten new SVHCs June 27 were lead and three substances used to produce silicone polymers: octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6).
The addition of lead to the SVHC list meant the EU was “moving to ban a key substance in battery manufacturing,” said Lisa Allen, a spokeswoman for the Lead REACH Consortium, which represents companies involved in lead production and use, including BASF and Umicore N.V.
BASF spokeswoman Ursula von Stetten told Bloomberg Environment the company was unable to comment June 27.
The addition of D4, D5, and D6 to the list could have a “blacklisting effect” that could deter future development of uses of the substances, Pierre Germain, secretary general of CES-Silicones Europe, told Bloomberg Environment June 27. CES-Silicones Europe represents companies including Evonik Industries AG and Wacker Chemie AG.
The substances are used in cleaning products, cosmetics, and dyes, but are versatile and other uses are being explored, Germain said.
The EU already restricts the use of D4 and D5 in wash-off personal care products, such as shower gels. That restriction is being challenged in the EU’s lower court, the General Court, by the Global Silicones Council.
Fee BurdenThe increase in authorization application fees combined with substances with a range of uses being designated substances of very high concern meant “more companies are going to be impacted,” Rory MacDonnell of consultancy REACHLaw told Bloomberg Environment June 27.
REACHLaw has managed authorization applications for a number of clients.
REACH fees were already high and “it’s starting to become more prohibitive,” especially for smaller companies to apply for authorizations to use otherwise banned substances, MacDonnell said.
Although the fees for additional use authorizations of substances had been increased, fees levied on additional applicants where several companies jointly apply for an authorization had been scrapped. This means companies working together would be able to spread the cost, the European Chemicals Agency said in a June 26 statement.
The new fee structure would “take better account of the amount of work involved in assessing the applications,” the agency said.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/fees-go-up-in-eu-as-more-chemicals-need-to-be-authorized
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Echa, Eurometaux to Sign Agreement to Tackle REACH Dossier Compliance
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
Echa and trade body Eurometaux are to sign an agreement that aims to improve REACH registration dossiers for a large number of metals, metal compounds and some other inorganics.
The Metals and Inorganics Sectorial approach (MISA) – expected to be signed this afternoon – is a two-year voluntary agreement that will run from 2018-2020.
The agreement is expected to include an action plan comprising improvements to the compliance and quality of the sector’s REACH registration dossiers.
And it is believed it will also seek solutions for outstanding technical and methodological issues – including those under the CLP Regulation. The aim is to make hazard, risk assessment and risk management of metals and inorganics more relevant.
Chemical Watch will publish further details on the MISA tomorrow when it is officially released.
Earlier this month, Echa and the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) signed a joint statement agreeing to work together on the effective implementation of REACH.
The agreement sees both sides committing to improving chemical safety information and how it is communicated up and down the supply chain.Other partnerships
The agreements with Cefic and Eurometaux are the first formal written agreements of cooperation signed with Echa’s accredited stakeholder organisations (ASOs), the agency says. This approach is in line with the European Commission’s recent proposal for all affected parties to cooperate closely to further improve the implementation of REACH.
Echa has 114 accredited stakeholder organisations, representing industry, NGOs, trade unions, consumers and academia. These stakeholders are involved in many of the agency’s activities and decision-making processes.
The agency says regular dialogue with stakeholders is an important part of its daily work. "All organisations at EU and international level affected by the EU’s chemicals regulations are considered Echa’s stakeholders and are welcome to participate in our work," it adds.
Additionally, Echa has signed memorandums of understanding with third-country authorities and other EU agencies.
https://chemicalwatch.com/68120/echa-eurometaux-to-sign-agreement-to-tackle-reach-dossier-compliance
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Substance Grouping Collaboration Not the Way Forward – Echa
Jun 28, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A collaborative approach to address chemicals by groups is costly and not necessarily an efficient or effective way to speed up substance evaluation processes, Echa has concluded in a report.
It launched the ‘Colla’ pilot projects last year to explore how to address groups of related substances in collaboration with member states and concerned registrants or industry groups as part of measures to accelerate substance evaluation.
The pilot projects involved five groups of substances – one group (EDTA derivatives) comprising 22 substances and four others with six to eight substances. The projects ran until February and March this year.
In March, Echa’s director of evaluation, Leena Ylä-Mononen said grouping plays a "big role" in effectively addressing the agency’s initiative of ‘mapping the universe’ of the large number of substances with unknown properties.
Echa processes, she added, have so far been "designed for single substances". Using read-across and categories forms a "complex landscape" of substances, which are linked to each other.
Evaluating individual chemicals is "quite a challenge" for member state authorities, as well as Echa, "because they are scientifically and technically very complex", she added.Conclusions
In its final report on the pilot projects, Echa said addressing substances in groups, intensifying collaboration between authorities and initiating early interaction with registrants "can all be seen as useful elements".
However, it did not recommend formalising these aspects under a specific ‘collaborative approach’ process.
The agency said it cannot "draw firm conclusions" regarding the efficiency and effectiveness of the collaborative approach. Even in principle, it added, these aspects could only be evaluated once industry actions and REACH processes have been completed.
The pilot projects demanded "significant" resources, Echa said, and it was difficult to distinguish between the benefits obtained from addressing substances by groups and those from early interaction with registrants.
Instead, the agency proposed to continue with a more flexible early interaction at the manual screening phase. It made recommendations to the member state competent authorities for their meeting of the competent authorities for REACH and CLP (Caracal) on 27 June.
https://chemicalwatch.com/68124/substance-grouping-collaboration-not-the-way-forward-echa
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Jun 28, 2018 | Environmental Working Group
By Grant Smith
Sixty percent more methane escapes from U.S. oil and gas operations than the Environmental Protection Agency currently estimates, according to a study led by the Environmental Defense Fund.
The study, to which 15 universities and research institutions contributed, attributes the difference to the agency’s failure to account for equipment malfunctions at drilling sites, and processing and pipeline facilities.
According to the study, 13 million metric tons of methane – the main component of natural gas – are leaked from these facilities, amounting to more than 2 percent of total oil and natural gas production. The leaked methane is worth $2 billion. This would be enough to supply 10 million homes with gas each year.
The new estimate undermines the argument that natural gas is helping combat climate change, as methane is 80 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.
At the same time, Bloomberg’s New Energy Outlook 2018 forecasts an unstoppable global move toward renewables and energy storage, with coal and nuclear power virtually eliminated from the U.S. power mix by 2050. The report predicts this change based on the confluence of falling prices, growing efficiencies in wind and solar technology, and increasing electric vehicle sales.
The number of natural gas plants will increase globally, but the plants will run less because of the expanding penetration of renewables and storage technology. As a result, natural gas usage in the electric sector will remain virtually flat through 2050, Bloomberg predicts. This would be cause for concern, as burning natural gas has not only serious climate change repercussions, but also severe public health impacts.
However, 40 to 50 percent of methane emissions from natural gas infrastructure could be eliminated at no cost, a 2017 report by the International Energy Agency found.
But as EWG recently reported, fracking cannot be done without threatening human health. The health risks include increased risk of cancer, asthma and birth defects near fracking wells, due to the array of toxins fracking emits into the air and water.
The Bloomberg report projects the shift toward renewable energy will continue as solar and storage costs drop by about 70 percent, and wind costs drop by 60 percent. By 2050, wind and solar will comprise half of the global energy mix, and fossil fuel electric generation will fall from 60 percent to under 30 percent, the report said.
And, as EWG reported, both coal and natural gas generation fell last year for the first time ever, as these forms of energy lost ground to cheaper wind and solar technology.
https://www.ewg.org/news-and-analysis/2018/06/world-shifts-renewables-methane-leaks-oil-and-gas-production-60-percent#.WzSxd1Uzbco
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Gas Industry: We're a Destination Fuel, Not a Transition
Jun 28, 2018 | PoliticoPro
By Eric Wolff
Gas industry officials at the World Gas Conference have a message for renewable energy advocates: We're not your transition fuel.
Natural gas has long been touted as an energy source that can displace coal around the world and serve as a bridge fuel until cleaner power systems that run on renewables like wind and solar can take over. But gas industry executives said renewables alone won't be able to meet global energy needs, and they'll need gas to run power plants when sunlight and wind aren't available.
"I like the expression of gas as a destination fuel and not a transition (fuel)," Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of Total S.A. told the conference this week.
Gas executives argued that renewables can't keep up with growing energy demand, and natural gas will be needed for decades to come. Even European Union countries that have agreed to sharp cuts in greenhouse gas emissions are hoping to build new pipelines and LNG terminals that will keep gas flowing in for several decades, a trend will require capturing and sequestering the carbon dioxide it produces.
"Yes, renewable electricity will be grown massively, but it needs a partner," said Klaus Schäfer, CEO of German energy company Uniper SE. "Obviously gas need to become decarbonized itself, gas needs become green if it wants to be part of a decarbonized future in Europe."
Other energy executives said the vast scale of the power grid would require a fuel like gas for decades. Even with their fast growth in recent years, wind and solar only provide less than 8 percent of the U.S. power supply.
"We have to get to a point of not talking about 100 percent renewables, it just cannot happen," Barry Perry, CEO of Fortis, a gas and power company with operations in the U.S. and Canada, told POLITICO. "When we talk about the big grid, you need that base generation to make it all work. ... We can do more renewables over time, but the grid is going to need some of the base generation for a very long time into the future."
Gas executives acknowledged that renewables will continue their fast growth, and they said gas turbines will provide critical ramping services on the power grid as well as keeping the lights on when the wind and solar can't. And with recent studies by the Energy Information Administration, the International Energy Agency, and others suggesting the world energy demand is likely to jump as developing nations electrify, gas will still be required.
"This is a challenge on a scale not faced before by humanity," De la Rey Venter, executive vice president for Shell's Integrated Gas Ventures, told an audience on Tuesday. "Renewable energy will play a major role in meeting this challenge. But renewables alone cannot transform the power sector. Today gas is ideal to handle to variability of the solar and wind."
Executives like Perry and Didier Holleaux, executive vice president for French utility Engie, said they doubted whether renewables could to handle the enormous projected energy demand needed as Asian countries expand their electricity networks and vehicles shrink their dependence on oil-based fuels. And despite some recent successes of renewables-plus-storage projects in the U.S., they don't believe batteries can compete with natural gas to supply the amount of energy that will be needed.
"In comparison batteries will always be an order of magnitude in cost — 1,000 times more expensive, today it’s 2,000 times more expensive," Holleaux said. "Even if you think the cost will decrease, the cost of storing energy in gas is far cheaper."
Gas executives still see coal as their chief competition, not renewables.
"Outside the developed world, the whole point is to get energy in increasing amount," said Laurent Vivier, president for gas for Total. "There is a choice that is very obvious to them: there is coal on the one side and gas on the other."
"America has 100 years of gas of proven reserves, Canada has 200 years," he added. "It’s an amazingly abundant resource, it is a foundational fuel, not a transitional fuel."
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/article/2018/06/gas-industry-were-a-destination-fuel-not-a-transition-656532
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World Gas Conference A Historic Marker for U.S. Natural Gas
Jun 28, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
An estimated 12,000 attendees, including 600 speakers from more than 40 countries around the world, have filled the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC, this week to assess, discuss and celebrate the 27th World Gas Conference (WGC).
The U.S. natural gas industry and its customers have come a long way since the triennial world conference was last held in this country in 1988, at a time when the competitive natural gas market was gradually being established across North America.
This year’s upbeat event, which is held every three years in the country holding the presidency of the International Gas Union (IGU), started off June 25 with the Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corp, leading up to the welcome speech by U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry and followed by a performance by the Harlem Globetrotters.
Getting down to business, the CEOs of prime sponsors ExxonMobil and Chevron Corp. decried the Trump Administration’s new tariffs, which may harm world trade and slow energy growth.
Following up, an impressive panel of the leading global CEOs proclaimed natural gas a destination fuel, not just a bridge. Participants included BP plc CEO Bob Dudley, who shared an afternoon plenary with Qatar Petroleum CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Total SA CEO Patrick Pouyanne, ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance and Equinor ASA’s Tor Martin Anfinnsen, executive vice president of marketing, midstream and processing.
Producers and customers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) held more than one discussion session, with confirmed speakers including Yalan Li, Board Chairperson of the Beijing Gas Group Co. Ltd., along with representatives of Korea, Japan and Indonesia.
At least two LNG contracts were actually signed on-site. The utility Polish Oil & Gas Co. (PGNiG) on Tuesday agreed to take natural gas exports over 20 years from two separate proposed projects: one for exports from Venture Global LNG’s two planned Louisiana projects -- Calcasieu Pass and Plaquemines LNG -- and a second for supplies from Port Arthur LNG, a subsidiary of Sempra LNG & Midstream.
The WGC is the creation of the IGU. As a member of IGU, the American Gas Association is the official host of this year’s week-long event.
"The United States is both the world's largest gas producer and consumer, making us the ideal host for this global conversation," said AGA CEO Dave McCurdy. "Natural gas has been playing a crucial role in revitalizing domestic industries, reducing emissions to their lowest point in 25 years, and creating important jobs in our economy."
The 350 companies filling booths and pavilions in the exhibit hall include all the major producers, plus exhibits featuring sustainable energy, robotics, automation and gas-for-transportation.
"WGC is committed to providing speakers on all segments of the gas value chain, and at various breakout sessions will address additional critical business issues facing the industry currently," said a conference spokesperson.
(As an exhibitor at WGC, NGI is drawing continuous interest at its booth and helping spread diversity with the live streaming of World Cup Soccer matches. At one point, several WGC viewers from Denmark were shoulder-to-shoulder with France supporters, as the two teams battled each other on the field. It was a scene to be repeated later with conference attendees from Nigeria and Argentina. Stop by and say hello at Booth 1208, where NGI is featuring its newsletters, data and maps. Be sure to check out our latest service, Mexico Gas Price Index. In addition to checking the latest World Cup score, enter to win an autographed and framed Lionel Messi jersey.)
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/114865-world-gas-conference-a-historic-marker-for-us-natural-gas
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Exxon, Chevron Take Shots at Donald Trump’s Trade Skirmishes
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Kevin Crowley
Big Oil is losing faith in President Donald Trump’s pledges to build the U.S. into a self-reliant energy superpower.
Top executives from Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp., and Total SA all took shots at Trump’s trade plans at the World Gas Conference in Washington, expressing concern that U.S. tariffs are a risk to oil and gas demand, and that restrictions on importing steel could impede one of the country’s fastest-growing major industries. An executive from BP Plc targeted Trump’s plan to “bail out” unprofitable coal and nuclear power plants.
The common thread: Restricting trade hurts investor confidence, risking major energy projects from shale pipelines to gas export terminals. It’s a reversal from six months ago when Big Oil was singing Trump’s praises for slashing corporate taxes.
“The risk of trade skirmishes or trade wars starts to weigh on people’s perceptions of economic growth in the future,” Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said in a panel discussion with Exxon chief Darren Woods. “From a demand standpoint I think that’s a risk.”
Last year’s tax reform seems like a long time ago. Exxon praised the tax cut and pledged to invest $50 billion in projects along the Gulf Coast, although many of them were already in the works.
“Early on with tax reform, the deregulation you’ve seen in the U.S., those have enhanced the projects we were looking to do for our company,” Woods said June 26. They “are steel intensive projects. When tariffs come on and with threats of a trade war, you risk making those projects less competitive and less attractive.”
Trump Bets on EnergyTrump has made energy a centerpiece of his plan to boost economic growth, and until now executives have been largely supportive of his policies, such as a plan to open up more than 90 percent of the U.S. coastline to oil exploration.
The ability of companies to extract oil and gas from shale has transformed global energy markets, with the U.S. now rivaling Russia and Saudi Arabia as one of the biggest producers of crude. Trump’s administration has been keen to push this trend. The U.S. will become “the strongest energy superpower this world has ever known,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in January.
However, the industry’s success has been built upon free trade, Woods said. On June 25, Total SA’s chief executive officer, Patrick Pouyanne, warned that a trade war could “be detrimental” to the U.S.’s nascent liquefied natural gas industry. LNG currently has no tariffs, but the industry, which has potential for long-term growth, depends on good relations with China, the fastest-growing consumer of the fuel, Pouyanne said.
Steel is another flashpoint. Heavily used by the oil industry, it has been subjected to levies and counter-levies contributing to mounting concerns of a full-blown trade war between China and the U.S., the world’s two largest economies.
“We certainly try to buy steel in the U.S.,” Wirth said. But “not everything we need here is made here. Certain alloys and sizes of pipe are not made by U.S. steel manufacturers. We have to procure those elsewhere. It runs the risk of being a drag rather than a huge negative.”
Defending NAFTATrump has also been critical of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which he says benefits Canada and Mexico to the cost of U.S. companies and workers. Woods made a point of defending the agreement.
“We import raw materials from Canada and Mexico,” he said. “We convert those to high value fuel projects and high value chemical products. We export those around the world and back into the US and Canada. Those are high value U.S. jobs. It benefits our country, benefits Mexico and Canada.”
Meanwhile, the Trump administration’s plan to “bail out” unprofitable coal and nuclear power plants is an example of “regulatory uncertainty,” BP Energy CEO Orlando A. Alvarez said at the conference.
“We don’t want something that is going to just benefit one of the fuels; it needs to be a competitive market that works,” he said.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/exxon-chevron-take-shots-at-donald-trumps-trade-skirmishes
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Shell Working to Address Gaps in Pennsylvania Cracker Pipeline Permit Applications
Jun 27, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Jamison Cocklin
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has sent three technical deficiency letters asking Shell Pipeline Company LP to address gaps in its water obstruction and encroachment permit applications for the Falcon Ethane Pipeline System.
The system would serve Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC’s multi-billion dollar ethane cracker that’s currently under construction in Beaver County, PA. DEP said it identified technical deficiencies with the applications and has requested more information about project activities in Allegheny, Beaver and Washington counties.
While it’s a normal part of the permitting process, it’s unclear how the request might affect the project’s permitting timeline, if at all. Shell said it would “work diligently” with the agency to provide the information. The letters were sent on June 1, and Shell has 60 days from that date to submit the information. It can also file for an extension.
A company official said last week at Hart Energy’s Dug East Conference and Exhibition in Pittsburgh that Shell expects to begin construction on Falcon Ethane in 2019 and be finished with the project by the end of the year. It is slated to be commissioned in 2020.
Shell filed for its permits late last year. Major Projects Manager Doug Scott said at the conference last week that the company anticipates receiving its permits “in the next few months.”
DEP has asked the company to address and provide more information on dozens of deficiencies. They include further identifying and describing wastewater discharge; stormwater management plans; better detailing the presence of wetlands in the project area; the impacts the pipeline might have on wetlands and public water systems; and addressing zoning issues along the route and certain public comments, among many other issues.
The 97.5 mile, two-leg system would run south in western Pennsylvania to pick up ethane from MarkWest Energy Partners LP’s Houston Processing and Fractionation facility in Washington County. It would also stretch west into Ohio, where it would pick up ethane produced in that state and in West Virginia at MarkWest’s Cadiz Complex in Harrison County, OH, and from Utica East Ohio’s nearby Harrison Hub fractionation plant in Scio, OH. The 12-inch diameter system would have the capacity to move about 100,000 b/d of ethane.
http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/114866-article-headline
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Push to Open Up Drilling Reflected in Bills Headed to House Floor
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Stephen Lee
Oil and gas drilling permits would come easier under Republican legislation that the House Natural Resources Committee agreed June 27 to move to the House floor.
The Senate has yet to act on any of these four bills, but the measures reflect conservative, free-market, pro-drilling priorities that the Trump administration shares.
One bill, the Streamlining Permitting Efficiencies in Energy Development (SPEED) Act (H.R. 6088), would create a new, faster permitting system for drilling projects. It would let operators start drilling in “less controversial” areas, such as oil and gas fields that already have undergone environmental reviews, according to Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), the bill’s sponsor. The bill was reported to the House on an 18-12 vote.
Similarly, the Ending Duplicative Permitting Act (H.R. 6107) would forbid the Bureau of Land Management from requiring drilling permits on state or private land unless the federal government owns at least a 50 percent ownership stake in the subsurface minerals.
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-N.M.), who introduced the bill, said the BLM permitting delays cost his state “thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.” The bill was approved 18-13.
Stemming Fees, Boosting TrainingOther bills on the docket represent a mixed bag of energy priorities.
The Removing Barriers to Energy Independence Act (H.R. 6087), sponsored by Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), imposes a $150 fee for any formal protest against an energy project. Cheney said the bill is meant to put obstacles in the way of groups that flood agencies with frivolous protests. Her bill moved forward on an 18-13 vote.
The Education and Energy Act (H.R. 5859), from Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.), would send 33 percent of the federal portion of mineral and geothermal revenues back to the state in which the revenue was generated, where it would be used to fund grades K-through-12 and public higher education. The bill also would take 17 percent of revenues from new leases and divide it among all 50 states. The bill was reported 16-11.
The only Democratic-sponsored bill that had been on the agenda was ultimately not taken up.
The Offshore Wind Jobs and Opportunity Act (H.R. 5291), sponsored by Rep. Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.) would create a new federal grant program to train people in offshore wind jobs. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), the panel’s chair, said the Tsongas bill will be marked up later.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/push-to-open-up-drilling-reflected-in-bills-headed-to-house-floor
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In the Age of Trump and Putin, Europe Faces Hard Choices on Gas
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Naureen S. Malik and Anna Shiryaevskaya
Europe’s shrinking production of natural gas has made it an enticing target for exporters. It’s also left the region facing hard choices ahead at a time of growing political uncertainty.
Imports to the continent are poised to rise almost 20 percent by 2040 from 2016 levels, according to International Energy Agency. While Russia has long been the region’s top supplier, it’s now facing significant challenges from both the U.S. and Qatar, rivals with vast natural gas reserves.
For Europe, there’s both opportunity and risk. While competition can drop prices, geopolitics are becoming increasingly tricky in an age dominated by the strong headwinds coming from both U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
The result: “Things that jeopardize security of supply are going to be at the forefront” of Europe’s decisions on who to buy from moving forward, according to Breanne Dougherty, an New York-based analyst with Societe Generale SA.
European countries have fought with Russia over pricing, and been hit with key stoppages. A burgeoning trade war with the U.S. spurred by Trump’s tariff decisions is complicating that relationship. And Qatar is in the midst of an antitrust probe brought by the European Union.
Still, U.S. companies are getting ready to jump into the competition in a big way.
After Cheniere Energy Inc. began shipping gas two years ago from its Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana—the first to send shale output abroad—the U.S. became a net exporter of the fuel for the first time since the 1950s. This year, Dominion Energy Inc. opened the first export facility on the East Coast, providing a quicker route to European buyers.
Meanwhile, four more U.S. terminals may start up by the end of 2020, to make America the world’s third largest LNG supplier, behind Qatar and Australia.
But concerns about a potential trade war are not making things easy. After the Trump administration hiked tariffs on the continent’s steel and aluminum, the E.U. retaliated with duties on a range of U.S. products. Though natural gas isn’t directly affected, political friction could make it more difficult to ship U.S. supply overseas, according to Societe Generale.
“The U.S. influence on European policy makers isn’t particularly strong at the moment,’’ said Trevor Sikorski, head of natural gas and carbon research at Energy Aspects Ltd. in London.
Meanwhile, the European Union is investigating whether contract restrictions have prevented importers from reselling gas bought from Qatar Petroleum.
Europe has become an enticing target for gas exporters as the Netherlands winds down production from the Groningen field—the continent’s largest—to limit damage from drilling-induced earthquakes.
Many of the continent’s buyers, particularly in Eastern Europe, are eager for alternatives to Russian supply. Gas flow to Europe was disrupted twice, in 2006 and 2009, over a pricing dispute between Russia and Ukraine. Meanwhile, Lithuania and Poland have built terminals to import cargoes of liquefied natural gas from overseas, reducing their reliance on Russia.
“Everything’s quite bullish at the moment” in Europe, Sikorski said. “Next winter, the global gas market will be quit tight’’ before probably easing as new U.S. export terminals come online in 2019 and in 2020, he said.
Europe is “one of the biggest surprises” in terms of rising demand for gas, Tom Earl, chief commercial officer at U.S. LNG developer Venture Global LNG, said at conference in Amsterdam in May. Venture Global, which is building an export terminal in Louisiana, has already signed supply deals with BP Plc and Portugal’s Galp Energia SGPS SA.
Gazprom, which already supplies about 35 percent of Europe’s gas, is taking steps to preserve its slice of the European market. Russia’s share could jump to 45 percent or higher, according to Energy Aspects, as the nation pushes ahead with Nord Stream 2, a controversial pipeline that would carry Russian supplies of the fuel to northern Germany.
Russia relies on gas exports for its budget revenue and Europe is its biggest customer, meaning the nation will “protect its turf at all costs” by laying new pipelines and selling as much gas as it can, Manas Satapathy, a managing director for energy at Accenture Strategy, said in a telephone interview.
For most of Europe, it “comes down to economics and the economics of it is that Russian pipeline gas can always price cheaper than full-cost LNG from the United States,’’ which right now is about $7 per million British thermal units, Sikorski said. That compares with about $6.30 for Gazprom supplies.
“The Russians don’t need to battle for market share, they’ll just increase it naturally,’’ Andree Stracke, chief commercial officer of German utility RWE AG’s supply and trading unit, said in an interview May 16.
Still, declining European supply has created an opening for rivals to Russian output. Though LNG accounted for just 10 percent of Europe’s gas supply last year, Societe Generale sees it climbing to 25 percent by 2020.
The U.S. “will continue to be one of the lower cost suppliers of LNG,” Accenture’s Satapathy said. “It will continue to have a bigger and bigger share in the market, including in western Europe.”
But the continent may have a tough time attracting cargoes if prices are higher in other regions.
“The issue about LNG is that it’s flexible, it can go anywhere,” and that’s both a benefit and a risk for Europeans looking for secure gas supplies, Sikorski said. While the continent’s terminals can receive gas from around the world, “there’s no guarantee that it will go there in the middle of a cold winter.”
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/in-the-age-of-trump-and-putin-europe-faces-hard-choices-on-gas
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Oil Exports Hit New 3 Million Barrels Record
Jun 27, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Jordan Blum
U.S. crude oil exports hit a new high of 3 million barrels a day last week, shipping out more than a quarter of the nation's record volumes of oil production.
Crude oil prices continued surging Wednesday, driven in part by falling petroleum stockpiles. One key reason for the inventories dip is the uptick in exports.
Led by West Texas' booming Permian Basin, the U.S. is producing oil at a record high of 10.9 million barrels a day, according to the U.S. Energy Department, and companies are increasingly shipping more of those supplies to foreign markets.
Congress lifted the nation's decades-old crude export ban at the end of 2015. After a slow start during the oil bust, export volumes picked up last year and started routinely hitting at least 2 million barrels a day by the end of last year.
That pace has continued this year, reaching 3 million barrels a day for the first time as 2018 nears its mid-point.
It's not just the lighter grades of crude from Texas shale shipping out. There's also a growing international appetite for thicker, sour grades produced in the Gulf of Mexico, especially in Asia.
Most of those exports are coming from port hubs in the Houston Ship Channel and Corpus Christi. It's no coincidence that last week saw the first docking of a Very Large Crude Carrier vessel in Texas City.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Oil-exports-hit-new-3-million-barrels-record-13030992.php
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Anti-Terror Program for Chemical Facilities Expects Four-Year Approval
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Joyce E. Cutler
Federal regulators responsible for ensuring chemical facilities operate securely to prevent chemical releases and sabotage, such as terrorism, say they expect their program to be reauthorized for another four years.
Threats, both physical and cyber, against the safety of businesses holding and using chemicals are as real and as dynamic as they’ve ever been, David Wulf, the Department of Homeland Security’s acting deputy assistant secretary for infrastructure protection, said June 27.
The chemical, oil, natural gas, and other sectors in which chemicals are prevalent “are absolutely an attractive focus” for cyberactivity, Wulf said in Oakland, Calif., at the first of three regional talks the agency scheduled this summer around the U.S. “The threat of chemical terrorism has never been more relevant than it is today.”
Agency officials told company and group representatives ranging from California Dairies Inc. and Apple Inc., to Chevron and Dow Chemical Co., that they expect Congress to reauthorize the anti-terrorism program before it expires in January 2019. Long-term authorization actually helped some of the facilities to come into compliance and engage with the department, Amy Graydon, acting director of the Infrastructure Security Compliance Division within the department’s National Protection and Programs Directorate.
Some 350 facilities in California are covered under the program, and the Western region accounts for a quarter of the facilities the regulations cover, Graydon said, adding that within a 100-mile radius of the meeting in Oakland are 125 high-risk chemical facilities.
Wide TargetsWulf’s program, Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards, is responsible for ensuring at-risk facilities operate with appropriate security measures to prevent chemical releases, theft, diversion, or sabotage through intentional acts.
The program requires facilities holding certain chemicals above specified quantities to submit information to Homeland Security, complete security assessments, write security plans, and establish security measures to meet risk-based performance standards.
Dairies, wineries, chemical manufacturing plants, refineries, and breweries are among the facilities that possess any of the 332 chemicals, including chlorine, hydrofluoric acid, and anhydrous ammonia, that are covered under the program.
4-Year Reup?Recognizing the extent of facilities that could be targeted because of the chemicals they hold and use in part led Congress in 2014 to approve a four-year authorization for the program. That was a change from the annual authorization the program had since its inception in 2007.
The four-year authorization provided some stability to industry and the agency to make some long-term planning decisions, sending a clear message to facilities holding those chemicals that the program is here to stay, Graydon said.
“We anticipate Congress reauthorizing the program because returning to a short-term renewal of the CFATS authorization process would represent a significant step backwards for the nation’s chemical security effort,” including planning and confidence in the program, Graydon said.
“We believe we have the momentum to get the program reauthorized,” Graydon said.
Homeland Security plans to hold two more talks this summer: July 19 in Chicago and Aug. 2 in Philadelphia.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/anti-terror-program-for-chemical-facilities-expects-four-year-approval
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Trump Plan Aside, Hill Still Focused on Permit Streamlining
Jun 28, 2018 | E&E Daily
By Maxine Joselow
President Trump may not get his broad infrastructure bill this year, but Congress and experts are still keen on streamlining the permitting process for large infrastructure projects.
That was a key takeaway of a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee roundtable yesterday featuring experts from the federal government and the private sector.
Given the roundtable format, unlike a hearing, the discussion was more free-wheeling, with witnesses urged to jump in at any time rather than responding directly to questions.
Much of the discussion focused on legislation from Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), the panel's chairman, and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), the panel's ranking member.
The "Federal Permitting Reform and Jobs Act," S. 3017, introduced earlier this month, seeks to amend the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, which passed Congress in 2015 with bipartisan fanfare and was signed into law by President Obama.
Title 41 of the FAST Act established the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC) to coordinate permits across multiple agencies. The council is set to expire after seven years if not renewed.
The new legislation would eliminate the "sunset provision" by making the council a permanent fixture. It would also encourage agencies to conduct reviews of large infrastructure projects concurrently, rather than sequentially, among other things.
Portman sought to conduct a litmus test of the witnesses' support for what he called his "commonsense" measure.
Joe Johnson, executive director of federal regulatory process review and analysis with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, heartily endorsed the part of the bill targeting the sunset provision.
"It's absolutely critical that we remove the sunset provision to ensure that we can do that in a timely way," Johnson said. "Seven years is just too short to make sure that we get this fully implemented, that we have success stories."
McCaskill, who stayed for the first half of the roundtable before departing for another hearing on immigration, used her brief time to solicit feedback on the bill and lament the fact that the FPISC currently lacks a permanent director.
Portman, meanwhile, questioned Angela Colamaria, the council's acting executive director, about whether the FPISC has adequate funding.
Through appropriations last year, the FPISC received $1 million, significantly lower than the $10 million requested in Trump's fiscal 2018 budget. Appropriators in both chambers are now considering bills that would allocate $6 million.
"We are kind of skating by on a skeleton budget right now," Colamaria said. But "given the current project workload," $6 million would be an "adequate amount," she said.Other streamlining efforts
The roundtable also coincided with news yesterday that the Western Governors' Association adopted a resolution urging the federal government to streamline permitting for infrastructure projects (E&E News PM, June 27).
The roundtable also came after at least a dozen agencies signed an April memorandum of understanding to expedite the permitting process (Greenwire, April 9).
One federal agency will take the lead on permitting under the MOU, issuing a single environmental impact statement for the entire federal government. The lead agency will be able to set timetables for other agencies, with the goal of getting the entire process down to two years.
Alex Herrgott, associate director for infrastructure at the Council on Environmental Quality, called the MOU a step in the right direction. But he said there's still plenty of work to be done, pointing to a poster behind him showing the many steps of the permitting process.
"By looking at the chart behind me, you can see that you need a Ph.D. or you need to hire a consultant to navigate the 29 statutes and five executive orders that dictate a process just to build a highway project," said Herrgott, who helped negotiate the FAST Act while serving as a senior staffer for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.).
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2018/06/28/stories/1060087189
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Western Governors Urge Feds to Streamline Permitting
Jun 28, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Jennifer Yachnin
The Western Governors' Association today adopted a resolution urging the federal government to streamline permitting for infrastructure projects, while also ensuring an equitable role for state officials.
The coalition — which includes 19 Western states and three U.S. territories — also focused on addressing what it described as "inconsistencies in environmental reviews."
"The federal infrastructure permitting and environmental review process must be transparent, predictable and consistent for states and project developers," the resolution states. "Federal processes must ensure that agencies set, and adhere to, timelines and schedules for completion of reviews and develop improved metrics for tracking and accountability."
Among the changes it endorsed, WGA called for joint National Environmental Policy Act reviews conducted by both state and federal officials, as well as amendments to allow state environmental policy review processes to stand in for federal requirements.
"Federal agencies, in their NEPA implementation guidelines, should encourage joint reviews with the states where possible," the resolution states.
The resolution also seeks to ensure that state, local and tribal governments are guaranteed status as "cooperating agencies" in the NEPA process, rather than as "ordinary stakeholders."
"Federal agencies should be required to engage with states and state agencies in early, meaningful, substantive and ongoing consultation," the resolution states.
The resolution cites a range of infrastructure projects that would be affected — from bridges and airports to electric generation and transmission — noting the majority of federal lands are located in the West.
The resolution was among 11 decrees adopted by the WGA at its annual meeting this week. The bulk of those resolutions, which also focus on water quality, abandoned mine cleanup, radioactive waste storage, oil recovery and methane emissions, are updates to policy positions previously adopted by the association.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/06/27/stories/1060086661
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Draft EPA Science Review's Focus On Ammonia May Boost Bid For NAAQS
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA's latest draft scientific assessment for its review of the “secondary” nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulfur oxides (SOx) ambient air standards appears to place a significant new emphasis on the environmental effects of ammonia, a move that could bolster environmentalists' bid for the agency to establish an ambient air limit for ammonia.
The most recent version of the NOx-SOx ISA, released this month, provides the scientific underpinning for the ongoing review of the secondary national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS), which are designed to protect the environment -- in contrast to primary NAAQS which are designed to protect public health.
The ISA further considers the ecological effects of particulate matter (PM), to the extent that they overlap with NOx and SOx, which can be found in the air in PM form.
EPA under the Obama administration considered issuing a novel joint NOx-SOx secondary NAAQS, using a new “indicator” based on acid deposition in water bodies rather than concentrations of the pollutants in ambient air.
The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), which advises EPA on how to set NAAQS, has supported the concept.
However, the Obama EPA stopped short of proposing such a standard, citing a lack of technical knowledge in how to implement the novel concept.
CASAC in reviewing the first draft NOx-SOx-PM ISA for the current NAAQS review recommended a greater focus on the adverse environmental effect of ammonia and nitrogen in general.
In a Sept. 28 letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on the first draft CASAC wrote, “Ammonia emissions are increasing in many regions of the U.S. and the CASAC recommends that EPA consider the need for developing National Ambient Air Quality Standards that encompass reduced forms of nitrogen during the Risk and Exposure Assessment and Policy Analysis phases of this NAAQS review."
EPA has not so far expressed interest in establishing an ammonia NAAQS, however, despite petitions from some environmentalists to do so.
The new version of the ISA is substantially longer than the first draft at over 1700 pages compared to some 1400, and makes reference to ammonia more times, although consideration of ammonia impacts is a central element of both drafts. The new draft draws essentially the same conclusions with regard to causal relationships between NOx and SOx pollution and its environmental effects as the first draft.
The ISA synthesizes scientific evidence on the pollutants' effects, with emphasis on new evidence gathered since the last NOx-SOx secondary NAAQS review concluded in 2012. The current review of those standards will not conclude until 2020 or later, and may include a risk and exposure assessment, estimating risk to the environment, and a policy assessment outlining options for the administrator. But Pruitt in a May 9 memo on streamlining the NAAQS process indicated he may condense these elements into fewer steps.
EPA reviewed the secondary NAAQS for NOx in 2012, retaining the annual limit of 53 parts per billion (ppb) first set in 1971. The agency further reviewed the SO2 secondary standard in 2012 and retained the 50 ppb limit over three hours also set in 1971.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/draft-epa-science-reviews-focus-ammonia-may-boost-bid-naaqs
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Shell on Hot Seat in Climate Suit Seeking Fortified Facility
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By Adrianne Appel
A Shell Oil terminal in Providence, R.I., is not vulnerable to climate-induced storm surges, the company told a federal judge, seeking to bat away a lawsuit pushing for the facility to be fortified.
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 28, 2017, by the nonprofit Conservation Law Foundation, alleges Shell Oil Product’s 75-acre gas and oil terminal at the mouth of Narragansett Bay has not been properly reinforced to guard against more intense storms brought on by climate change.
The petroleum stored there could be released during a big storm, such as happened in 2011, sending pollutants cascading into Narragansett Bay, in violation of the federal Clean Water Act and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Allan Kanner, of Kanner & Whiteley LLC, who is representing the Conservation Law Foundation, told Chief Judge William E. Smith June 27 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.
“It seems you are asking the court to step in and create a new process for what hapapens at this terminal. But [Shell] is saying that state and federal agencies are already regulating the heck out of them. What do you say to that?” Smith asked Kanner.
The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and the federal Environmental Protection Agency have for years failed to enforce the terms of Shell’s permit under the Clean Water Act, Kanner said.
“Citizens have the right to sue to enforce the Clean Water Act,” Kanner said.
The Shell terminal “has an ongoing pattern of discharges that happen almost every time it rains,” Kanner said. “It is a facility out of control and leaking like crazy,” Kanner said.
WeatherThe weather described by CLF is speculative and unlikely in the short term, Shell attorney John Guttmann of Beveridge & Diamond PC said. The company filed its motion to dismiss Jan. 12.
“The CLF has no standing to bring those claims,” Guttmann said. Shell attorney Bina Reddy said the CLF also had no standing to bring claims related to climate change under RCRA.
The CLF also doesn’t explain how Shell’s alleged failure to harden its facility to withstand what some expect could be more intense storms because of climate change violates the CWA, Guttmann said. He argued that Congress didn’t intend for the CWA to provide relief under these circumstances.
“Why shouldn’t this matter proceed so I can hear from experts on this point?” Smith asked Guttmann.
“Experts should only weigh in if CLF has alleged a substantial risk,” and that is not the case, Guttmann said. “CLF talks about events that are way off in the future, without any specifics. There is no risk of imminent harm,” Guttmann said.
The CLF complaint includes 21 claims. Shell wants the claims related to climate change to be dismissed. At the conclusion of the two-hour hearing, Smith told the parties they should prepare for the case to move ahead on those claims that Shell is not asking to be dismissed.
Large EstuaryThe 147-square-mile Narragansett Bay—New England’s largest estuary—had been polluted with stormwater and sewage that had poured in over the years, and took 10 years to clean up, CLF said in its amended complaint.
Shell’s failure to fortify its facility poses an immediate danger to the bay and nearby rivers, CLF said. A category 1 storm would partly or entirely inundate the terminal with water, CLF said in its amended complaint. The company needs to assess how to shore up the tanks and pipes at the terminal, CLF said.
The CLF wants the judge to order Shell Oil Products, a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, to adapt its facility to sea-level rise and storm surges that result from climate change, and for the company to pay civil penalties and attorney’s fees.
Suit Against ExxonThe CLF has a similar suit pending against ExxonMobil Corp., regarding its terminal in Everett, Mass. The group intends to sue other gas and oil terminals in New England, CLF attorneys have told Bloomberg Environment.
The CLF is represented by their attorneys Amy Moses, Christopher Kilian and Heather Murray, with Allan Kanner of Kanner & Whiteley LLC in New Orleans.
Shell is represented by attorneys John Guttmann and Bina Reddy, of Beveridge & Diamond, PC, in Washington, D.C., and Robert Fine, an attorney with Chace, Ruttenberg & Freedman LLP, in Providence, R.I.
The lawsuit is Conservation Law Found. Inc. v. Shell Oil Products, D.R.I., No. 17-cv-00396, Motion to Dismiss 1/12/18.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/shell-on-hot-seat-in-climate-suit-seeking-fortified-facility
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EPA Tells States To Account For Climate Change In Chesapeake Bay Plans
Jun 27, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Lara Beaven
EPA is instructing states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to address the impacts of climate change in their next set of implementation plans for reducing nutrient and sediment levels, beginning in 2021, a consideration that may require strengthening best management plans (BMPs) to reduce additional loading from agricultural and other runoff.
While the inclusion of climate change requirements was expected, it nevertheless underscores the Trump administration's paradoxical approach to the issue.
Although the president, EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and other officials continue to cast doubt on the science of climate change and are rolling back rules regulating greenhouse gas emissions, officials continue to incorporate the issue into other decisions, such as Superfund cleanups and the Chesapeake Bay total maximum daily load (TMDL).
The recently released document outlining the elements EPA expects to see in states' Phase III watershed implementation plans (WIPs) for the Bay TMDL also notes the agency's continued scrutiny of Pennsylvania's actions due to the state's failure to consistently address a number of commitments made in the Phase I and II WIPs.
“The Phase III Watershed Implementation Plans will provide clear roadmaps for how federal, state, and local partners will work together to achieve their Bay TMDL nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment reduction goals,” EPA Region 3 Administrator Cosmo Servidio said in a June 20 statement. “EPA worked hand in hand with the seven Bay jurisdictions in developing the expectations for these plans."
Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia are the jurisdictions subject to the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.
The inclusion of the climate change language was expected, given discussions last year of an advisory panel comprised of top officials from EPA, other federal agencies and the jurisdictions in the bay watershed and March recommendations from the panel, known as the Principals' Staff Committee (PSC).
Preliminary modeling estimates predict that climate change by 2025 will result in roughly an additional 9 million pounds of nitrogen and 0.5 million pounds of phosphorus in the bay, EPA says.
With the caveat that additional modeling information is needed on how these load estimates were derived, the agency says states should include a narrative strategy in the Phase III WIPs that describes the state and local jurisdictions’ current action plans and strategies to address climate change and commit to adopting climate change targets by 2021. The Chesapeake Bay Program's (CBP) Climate Resiliency Workgroup, in coordination with the Water Quality Goal Implementation Team, is currently drafting and reviewing a draft narrative template as a potential method for implementation of the PSC-approved policy provisions for addressing climate change in Phase III WIPs,” EPA says in a footnote.
While the PSC recommended only narrative climate change language for the Phase III WIPs, the panel agreed with comments from the District of Columbia that jurisdictions still have the option to include specific climate-affected loading targets in the plans and work towards them if they choose to do so.
EPA Expectations
EPA's expectations document says that in March 2021, the CBP partnership will consider the results of updated information and refine estimated loads due to climate change for each jurisdiction. Then in September 2021, jurisdictions will account for additional nutrient and sediment pollutant loads due to 2025 climate change conditions in a Phase III WIP addendum and/or two-year milestones beginning in 2022.
Additionally, the document notes the PSC agreed that starting with the 2022-2023 milestones, the CBP partnership will determine how climate change will impact the BMPs included in the WIPs and address these vulnerabilities in the two-year milestones.
A second area of PSC recommendations involves the Conowingo Dam and reservoir on the Lower Susquehanna River, where U.S. Geological Survey studies have shown the reservoir is at near-full capacity and more nutrients and sediment are coming over the dam than was assumed when EPA developed the 2010 bay TMDL.
“[T]his loss of trapping capacity will need to be addressed in order to attain applicable state water quality standards in the Chesapeake Bay,” the expectations document says. Because this issue affects all jurisdiction in the bay's watershed, the PSC agreed to develop a separate and collaborative Conowingo WIP that will provide details on how to reduce adverse water quality impacts to the Chesapeake Bay resulting from Conowingo Dam infill, as well as a timeline at which it can be accomplished, the document says.
Regarding Pennsylvania, an appendix to the expectations document says the state has a significant impact on the bay and has a pivotal role in the ongoing restoration effort. But Pennsylvania faces a number of challenges in meeting its commitments to reduce nutrient and sediment loading.
While the state has managed to reduce its loadings of nitrogen to the bay by 14 million pounds over the past 32 years, it should have reduced its loadings by 28 million pounds, EPA says. “Between 2018-2025, Pennsylvania needs to reduce its nitrogen loadings by 35 million pounds in order to achieve its Phase III WIP nitrogen target.”
Pennsylvania has long struggled to meet its existing WIP milestones, resulting in EPA strengthening the state's oversight status to “backstop actions level,” the only state to have this increased level of federal oversight.
EPA says that given the deficits in Pennsylvania's projected load reductions in the agricultural and urban/suburban stormwater sections, the agency is committed to continue working closely with the state on the development of its Phase III WIP by providing technical assistance and feedback.
“EPA will review the details of Pennsylvania’s draft Phase III WIP in 2019 to assess the adequacy of the programs and policies for confirmation that the Commonwealth will meet its 2025 Bay TMDL goals,” the agency says. “As long as Pennsylvania remains far off track for nitrogen and phosphorus reductions, EPA expects more frequent and detailed reporting of progress by Pennsylvania as part of EPA’s enhanced oversight of Pennsylvania.”
Among the state's shortcomings are consistently failing to: increase levels of BMP implementation; target geographic areas with the greatest nutrient pollutant load reduction potential; revise its October 2010 Nutrient Trading Program regulations to reconcile them with announced changes to program in 2014 and 2016; ensure farms are implementing manure management plans and use its authority to ensure BMPs are being implemented per those plans; pursue advanced technologies to address manure and provide additional BMP alternatives if technologies are not providing the intended results; revise the stormwater management BMP manual.
Pennsylvania's Requirements
EPA outlines detailed expectations from Pennsylvania's Phase III WIP, including showing at the county, municipal and/or sub-watershed scales, especially in priority areas, how the WIP goals will be achieved, and committing to programmatic, policy, legislative and regulatory changes needed to implement the Phase III WIP and meet bay TMDL goals.
Examples of the latter commitment include developing and implementing a state agricultural cost share program to assist farmers in implementing priority agricultural conservation practices and developing agricultural tax credit programs that incentivize compliance with state regulatory requirements and higher levels of agricultural conservation practice implementation. “For example, link the Clean and Green tax credit program to compliance with the state agricultural regulatory requirements and consider higher tax credits for higher levels of agricultural conservation practice implementation,” EPA says.
The agency also says Pennsylvania should commit to the level of staff, partnerships, and financial resources needed to fully implement the Phase II planning targets, including performing a workload analysis of state programs to identify the level of staffing necessary to meet implementation goals, and then submit to EPA this analysis and a resource strategy for addressing it.
Environmentalists said in a statement that while EPA's expectations provide a “sound framework” for achieving the 2025 water quality goals, much will depend on how state plans are implemented. “States need to accelerate efforts to reduce polluted runoff from agricultural and urban/suburban areas,” the Chesapeake Bay Foundation said in a statement.
The group added that Pennsylvania has a special responsibility to act, warning that if the state's plan does not “close the gap” in needed reductions, “EPA must compel action.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-tells-states-account-climate-change-chesapeake-bay-plans
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Beyond Bitcoin: The Future of Pollution Tracking With Blockchain
Jun 27, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment
By David Schultz
The same technology that powers bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could unlock the holy grail of real time pollution monitoring as Silicon Valley pitches the power of blockchain to environmental regulators.
Using blockchain for environmental monitoring is still in its embryonic phase, with actual examples of users adopting the data storage technology few and far between. But entrepreneurs are formulating plans to use the technology to change how society keeps track of air pollution, water quality, and even renewable energy generation.
“It’s a new paradigm of computing,” Anna Poberezhna, founder of the London-based startup Smart4Tech that works on water rights trading applications, told Bloomberg Environment. “It’s a technology that allows you to do things cheaper, faster, and better.”
Blockchain can store and encrypt voluminous numbers of transactions on multiple different computers across a system, instead of storing all of this data on one central server.
Because the data is not housed in any one location, and because each transaction is cryptographically linked to every other transaction, blockchain ledgers are often described as nearly impossible to hack. The decentralized, transparent nature of storing information in a blockchain removes the need for third-party verification.
And that could revolutionize how businesses report their pollution or track flows through pipelines, allowing faster transmission of data by speeding up the verification process.
Quest for the Holy GrailThe “killer app” tantalizing everyone in his field is the potential to use blockchain to collect and store data in real time from pollution sensors, said Louis Sweeny, an environmental IT consultant and former Environmental Protection Agency staffer.
“I know those kinds of conversations are happening,” Sweeny told Bloomberg Environment. “I don’t know if any solid business models have emerged.”
As often happens at this stage of a nascent technology’s development, it’s far from clear exactly how, or even whether, blockchain will spread into the environmental monitoring field.
“Clearly it’s going to be a transformative technology, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to transform everything,” said Rebecca Bratspies, an environmental law professor at the City University of New York, who focuses on technology.
Neno Duplan, CEO of the Silicon Valley-based information management company Locus Technologies, said blockchain will be most useful in managing the deluge of data that will be generated by internet-connected pollution sensors of the future.
Managing Large Amounts of DataThese future pollution monitoring devices would be part of the “internet of things,” in which devices ranging from tractors to refrigerators to air conditioners are outfitted with internet connections.
But Duplan said it would be far too labor intensive to use internet-of-things environmental sensors without blockchain. “They’re unmanageable under current internet structure,” he told Bloomberg Environment.
Today, a company that installed an internet-enabled air sensor outside its factory would need to employ people to verify the data it generates and then submit that information to the EPA or another regulator, Duplan said. But by using blockchain, this data could be securely transmitted to the regulator the instant it gets generated.
‘Opportunity to Simplify’“It creates tremendous opportunity to simplify what is now an extremely complex process,” said Duplan, whose company is working with the Energy Department and other federal agencies on blockchain projects.
With blockchain providing the ability to securely store vast amounts of data, one limiting factor is the ability to manufacture sensors that are cheap and energy-efficient enough to be economically viable, Duplan said.
Bratspies told Bloomberg Environment another factor that could limit the value of all this data is how it gets turned into easily understandable information.
“What the blockchain really adds for most things is permanence and a guarantee that it won’t be tampered with,” said Bratspies. But “raw data is often not particularly useful to people. What they need is the data to be synthesized and analyzed.”
Eliminating the MiddlemanEvan Caron, co-founder of the Swiss emissions tracking startup Swytch, said blockchain could theoretically eliminate the “rent-seeking middlemen” who currently package a company’s pollution data and submit it to regulators.
With blockchain, “every time a generator generates an electron or a molecule of gas, you’re able to track that all the way back to creation,” Caron, a former Wall Street energy trader, told Bloomberg Environment. “That’s very powerful because you can trust the data and trust the information. You don’t need to have a third party validate that or attest to that.”
Sam Dibble, a Silicon Valley-based attorney with the firm Baker Botts who works on raising capital in the tech industry, said drilling companies are also looking into using blockchain to track the oil and gas they send through their pipelines at every step of the process. He said blockchain could allow these companies to store more data securely than had previously been conceivable.
Transferring Trust?These drillers are looking into ways to track their product “from the actual drilling or other extraction through the pipelines and through the other end and then onto final use,” he told Bloomberg Environment. “It’s either happening or people are working hard to figure out how to make it work.”
But Bratspies said it would be a mistake to assume that data encoded with blockchain is by definition secure. She said it’s true that, once a block has been created, the technology’s encryption and interconnectedness would make tampering nearly impossible. It would not be hard, however, to imagine data being corrupted before even entering a blockchain, she said.
“The cryptography is probably unhackable,” she said. But “you’re putting a lot of trust in those who are maintaining the blockchain that they’re doing it accurately and with integrity. ... There’s all this rhetoric about replacing trust, but it seems like it just transfers the placement of trust.”
‘Why Wouldn’t We Use It?’Of course, predicting how blockchain will be used in the environmental world assumes that businesses and regulators will want to use it.
This is a problem for Chris Richter, co-founder of the tech startup WaterBot, which is working on a monitoring device that, with the help of blockchain, can sample water quality once a minute. The Milwaukee-based entrepreneur said some of the cities WaterBot has targeted as potential clients told him they worry real-time water monitoring will unearth problems they’d rather not know about.
But Richter said he thought this “ignorance is bliss” attitude will slowly fade away once blockchain becomes more widespread and consumers start to demand it.
“The technology is there for real-time monitoring,” he told Bloomberg Environment. “Why wouldn’t we use it?”
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/beyond-bitcoin-the-future-of-pollution-tracking-with-blockchain
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