Preview Newsletter
AM ACC 8/8/2018
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(ACC Mentioned) Chemicals Among $16B in Tariffs on Chinese Goods Set for Aug. 23
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew Mayeda
The U.S. said it will begin imposing 25 percent duties on an additional $16 billion in Chinese imports in two weeks, escalating a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. -
(ACC Mentioned) APK, MOL Group Sign Deal on Plastics Recycling Plant
Aug 8, 2018 | Recycling Today
By Dan Sandoval
MOL Group, an integrated oil and gas company based in Budapest, Hungary, and Merseburg, Germany-based APK AG have signed an agreement under which MOL will support the completion of APK’s Merseburg, Germany, plant. -
NRDC Opposes Kavanaugh, Citing 'Bad' Record on Environment
Aug 7, 2018 | Inside EPA
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is declaring that it will mobilize opposition to Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for a seat on the Supreme Court due to “bad” rulings in environmental policy cases, the first time the group has opposed a high court nominee... -
Harvard Researchers — Secret Science Plan 'Irrational at Best'
Aug 7, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
An EPA plan to limit the types of studies that can be used in drafting new environmental regulations would spawn "chaos and confusion detrimental to the protection of public health," dozens of Harvard University researchers and physicians warned in comments filed today. -
Designing the Death of a Plastic
Aug 8, 2018 | New York Times
By Xiaozhi Lim
Adam Feinberg had no sooner made a bright yellow thin sheet of plastic than he had to shred it into little pieces. He chose an “I”-shaped mold for the logo of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he is a chemist. Then, he filled it with the plastic bits and stuck it in a hot oven. -
EPA Seeks Partial Remand of TSCA Risk Rule but Defends Rest of Policy
Aug 7, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Dave Reynolds
EPA is asking a federal appeals court to remand several provisions of its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule for evaluating the risks of existing chemicals so that it can revise them, but is defending the rest of the policy, arguing that Congress gave the agency broad discretion... -
EPA Rule Doesn't Go Far Enough to Ban Asbestos, Activists Say
Aug 8, 2018 | ABC News
By Stephanie Ebbs
The Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward on a proposal that would require companies to get EPA approval to manufacture and import asbestos, but activists say they are concerned the U.S. hasn't gone far enough to ban the dangerous material completely. -
Could EPA Proposal Lead to New Uses for Cancer-Causing Asbestos?
Aug 8, 2018 | NBC News
By Jessica Spitz
Despite decades-old research identifying asbestos as a dangerous carcinogen, the Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed a new framework that could allow new uses for the toxic chemical in manufacturing. -
N.Y. Town Wants 3M, Others to Provide Water During Reservoir Cleanup
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By John Herzfeld
3M Co., Johnson Controls Inc., the U.S. Air Force, and others should provide an upstate New York town with drinking water until the fluorinated chemicals from firefighting foams have been removed from its lake, according to a lawsuit. -
EPA Tackles Fluorinated Chemicals in $19 Million Superfund Fix
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
The EPA is taking its first steps toward tackling a family of chemicals found in drinking water across the country with a new $19.5 million plan for a Superfund site in New Jersey. -
US NGO Finds Hazardous Chemicals in School Supplies
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A study of school supplies by a US NGO has found that although the majority of products tested were safe, some contained asbestos, lead, benzene and other hazardous chemicals. -
Closing Arguments Begin in California for Monsanto Cancer Case
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Emily C. Dooley
Closing arguments begin Aug. 7 in San Francisco in a widely watched case of a former school groundskeeper who said his exposure to a Monsanto Co. weedkiller caused his blood cancer. -
UK Post-Brexit Chemicals It System Could Be 'Ready Tomorrow'
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton and Nick Hazlewood
The UK's IT capability to enable the registration and regulation of chemical substances placed on the national market after Brexit, is mostly built and "would work" tomorrow if needed, the Health and Safety Executive has said. -
UK HSE Outlines Contingencies for No-Deal Brexit Workforce
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
Preparations are underway at the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for changes to the chemicals regulation division workforce, in the event of Britain leaving the EU next year without a deal. -
Textile Trade Groups Raise Concerns over Possible Skin Sensitiser Restriction
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
A proposal to restrict skin sensitisers and irritants in textiles and leather articles risks contradicting and overlapping with current regulation, says textiles trade group, the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry. -
JRC Releases Report on PAH Migration from Plastic, Rubber Items
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has published a technical report on the migration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from plastic and rubber items. -
Benzophenone: Canada Provisionally Finds Cosmetics Ingredient Harmful
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Andrew Turley
Cosmetics ingredient benzophenone is harmful to humans at current levels of exposure, according to a draft screening assessment by the Canadian government. -
The Summer of Plastic-Straw Bans: How We Got There
Aug 7, 2018 | Wall Street Journal
By Corinne Ramey and Bob Tita
When reality-TV star Kim Kardashian West told her 115 million Instagram followers that her household had stopped using plastic straws, the head of an environmental nonprofit responded in disbelief. -
America’s Gas Exports Seen Jumping to 15 Percent of Output Next Year
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Naureen S. Malik
America’s natural gas exports will account for 15 percent of the country’s record production in 2019, becoming an increasingly important outlet for fuel pumped from shale reserves. -
Brace for Priciest Gas Since 2014 on U.S. Exports Drain
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Naureen S. Malik
Natural gas prices could be poised to double this winter as exports from the nation’s shale basins help push demand to a record high, draining stockpiles. -
U.S. Cuts Oil Output Outlook as Permian Constraints Threaten
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jessica Summers
The pace of U.S. crude production growth might be slowing—or at least that’s what the government is seeing for now. -
Atlantic Coast Pipeline Faces Delays, Uncertainty With Court Ruling
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew M. Ballard
The $6 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project faces potential delays and increased costs after a federal court voided an important right-of-way permit. -
BLM Kicks off Review of Calif. Fracking Impacts
Aug 8, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
Federal officials are moving forward with a plan to study the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on public lands in California. -
Zinke Sued Over ‘Stacked’ U.S. Panel on Oil, Gas, Coal Royalties
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Erik Larson
The Trump administration panel that helps set royalty payments for coal, oil, and gas extracted from public lands is stacked with industry insiders who stand to directly benefit from lower payments to the public, a U.S. environmental group said in a lawsuit. -
Colorado’s One Step Closer to Limiting Oil and Gas Drilling
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Catherine Traywick
A Colorado battle over drilling is heating up as backers of a measure to block oil and gas development in much of the state met a key deadline to get their proposal on the November ballot. -
Deep-Pocketed Arkema Tough Target for Texas Prosecutors (1)
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sam Pearson
Texas prosecutors have a tough fight ahead with Arkema Inc. as they attempt to secure rare criminal convictions against the chemical company and two executives after heavy flooding from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 caused one of the firm’s plants to explode. -
Utilities Prepare for Increased Cyberattacks on the Electric Grid
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rebecca Kern
More electric utilities and energy companies are turning to cybersecurity vendors for protection against attempted attacks, a growing threat highlighted by the recent disclosure of Russian hacking into their communications networks last year. -
EPA Allows Use of Larger Amounts of Climate-Friendly Coolants
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Abby Smith
The EPA is allowing manufacturers to use larger amounts of climate-friendly chemicals in household refrigerators and freezers—eliminating what industry has long identified as a barrier to limiting potent greenhouse gas refrigerants. -
Yale Data: Broad Support for Carbon Tax, Even in Red States
Aug 8, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Adam Aton
Who wants a carbon tax? Majorities in every single congressional district, according to a report released yesterday by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
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(ACC Mentioned) Chemicals Among $16B in Tariffs on Chinese Goods Set for Aug. 23
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew Mayeda
The U.S. said it will begin imposing 25 percent duties on an additional $16 billion in Chinese imports in two weeks, escalating a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies.
Customs will begin collecting the duties on 279 product lines, down from 284 items on the initial list, as of Aug. 23, the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office said in an emailed statement on Aug. 7.
It will be the second time the U.S. slaps duties on Chinese goods in about the past month, despite complaints by American companies that such moves will raise business costs and eventually consumer prices. The U.S. levied 25 percent duties on $34 billion in Chinese goods on July 6, prompting swift in-kind retaliation from Beijing. China has vowed to strike back again, dollar-for-dollar, on the $16 billion tranche.
The total could increase soon. The USTR is reviewing 10 percent tariffs on a further $200 billion in Chinese imports, and is even considering raising the rate to 25 percent. Those duties could be in place after a comment period ends on Sept. 5.
President Donald Trump has suggested he may tax effectively all imports of Chinese goods, which reached more than $500 billion last year.
Chemical Exports Targeted
he new tariffs amount to a growing headache for the U.S. petrochemical industry, which has warned of mutually destructive series of events that could ultimately costing billions of dollars in profits and thousands of jobs.
“Chemicals are used in almost every manufacturing activity here in the United States and chemicals are essential to creating the downstream products that are consumed domestically and exported,” according to a statement provided to Bloomberg Environment by the American Chemistry Council (ACC).
On the USTR list of products to be taxed include a broad range of industrial solvents, polymers, resins, and adhesive coatings.
China announced counter tariffs on Aug. 3 for U.S. exports totaling $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, including a 25 percent duty on imports of liquefied natural gas. China is currently the third largest importer of LNG and is poised to become the largest importer globally over the next four years.
“Higher tariffs in China as a result of retaliation will shut out U.S. chemicals exports to the benefit of competitors in China, Europe, and the Middle East. The overall uncertainty in the trading environment will lead to less wage and job growth in the United States,” according to the ACC.
Upper Hand
Over the weekend, Trump said he had the upper hand in the trade war, while Beijing responded through state media by saying it was ready to endure the economic fallout.
The U.S. and China have been trying to restart high-level talks that broke off after Trump followed through on his tariff threats. Representatives of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He are having private conversations as they look for ways to reengage in negotiations, according to two people familiar with the efforts.
The two sides held three rounds of formal talks, beginning with a delegation to Beijing led by Mnuchin in May. After Liu visited Washington later that month, the nations released a joint statement pledging to reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China, among other things. But within days, Trump himself backed away from the deal, saying talks would “probably have to use a different structure.”
Negotiations broke off after the Trump administration imposed the tariffs on $34 billion in Chinese imports, a move the Chinese said would void any promises they’d made in negotiations.
Trump’s mission to reduce the U.S. trade deficit via the threat of tariffs has brought him into conflict with China as well as U.S. allies, roiling financial markets and raising fears of a global trade war the International Monetary Fund has warned may undermine the strongest economic upswing in years.
—With assistance from Adam Allington (Bloomberg Environment).
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/chemicals-among-16b-in-tariffs-on-chinese-goods-set-for-aug-23
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(ACC Mentioned) APK, MOL Group Sign Deal on Plastics Recycling Plant
Aug 8, 2018 | Recycling Today
By Dan Sandoval
MOL Group, an integrated oil and gas company based in Budapest, Hungary, and Merseburg, Germany-based APK AG have signed an agreement under which MOL will support the completion of APK’s Merseburg, Germany, plant. The plant will serve as a pilot for APK’s Newcycling project, which is geared toward allowing the company to recover materials from complex LDPE, HDPE and polypropylene multi-layer packaging.
Ferenc Horvath, MOL Group’s executive vice president for downstream operations, says, “In line with MOL 2030 strategy, we are taking steps to grow our petrochemicals business and enter knowledge-intensive industries together with strategic partners. We see a growing demand from our customers for recycled plastics, and at the same time we are also fully committed to the idea of circular economy and sustainability.”
Continues Horvath, “We aspire to become leaders in recycling in Central and Eastern Europe, and with today’s agreement we are marking the first milestone on this journey. MOL, as an established polymer player, together with an innovative partner as APK, will work on further developing the Newcycling technology and bringing it to our core region, where the need and the potential for plastic [scrap] recycling is significant.”
Klaus Wohnig, APK’s speaker of the management board, says that over the past several years APK has developed the technology and is reaching market maturity that has been helped along by joint projects with in the plastics industry.
“We are proud to enter now into a strategic partnership with MOL, a highly-reputable player in the polymer industry, in order to finalize our new plant in Merseburg,” says Wohnig. “And with MOL’s strong roots in this region, we think MOL is the perfect partner to step into Central and Eastern Europe.”
http://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/mol-apk-plastic-layered-packaging-recycling-germany-hungary/
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NRDC Opposes Kavanaugh, Citing 'Bad' Record on Environment
Aug 7, 2018 | Inside EPA
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is declaring that it will mobilize opposition to Brett Kavanaugh's nomination for a seat on the Supreme Court due to “bad” rulings in environmental policy cases, the first time the group has opposed a high court nominee since its unsuccessful attempt to block Justice Samuel Alito from winning confirmation in 2005.
In an Aug. 7 blog post, NRDC President Rhea Suh writes, “We don't oppose a Supreme Court nominee lightly: we haven’t done so in 13 years. In Judge Kavanaugh's case, we must make an exception, because his record suggests he'd be exceptionally bad for our environment and health. That's something we cannot accept. We'll fight this nomination and work to defeat it.”
Environmentalists have faulted Kavanaugh for issuing rulings that would narrow or scrap various EPA programs in his current role as a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit judge. For example, he authored a dissenting opinion in litigation over the Obama-era mercury and air toxics standards for power plants that became the basis of a 5-4 Supreme Court decision holding that EPA had failed to consider costs in finding that the rule was “appropriate and necessary.”
Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump's nominee to replace retired Justice Anthony Kennedy, is headed for a September confirmation hearing, setting up a vote that could have him on the high court before it starts its 2018-19 term on Oct. 1 -- and ahead of the upcoming midterm elections.
If the Senate votes for confirmation, observers expect he would provide a reliable fifth vote for narrowing EPA's authority on a host of controversial issues such as climate regulation and Clean Water Act jurisdiction.
Democrats and other Trump opponents are both urging more review of Kavanaugh's papers from his time as a lawyer in the George W. Bush White House, and citing his record of ruling against EPA in environmental cases to pressure moderates to vote against confirmation.
Suh's post signals that NRDC will be adopting both of those tactics, attacking both Kavanaugh's decisions as a judge on the D.C. Circuit and the GOP push to hold a hearing after only a partial review of his White House writing.
“Our courts often get the final say in the kind of world we leave to our children. Getting that right means ensuring our citizens have access to the courts and a shot at fairness and justice. And it means respecting Congressional direction to federal agencies to implement and enforce the law, even in the face of opposition from industrial polluters and other special interests. Those are the pillars of environmental defense, the standards by which we review the record and assess the fitness of a judicial nominee. Judge Kavanaugh fails the test on every count,” Suh writes.
On his White House record, she continues, “For additional clarity on Judge Kavanaugh’s approach to these and other key environmental concerns, the Senate and the public must review the written correspondence he provided as White House staff secretary to President George W. Bush. That correspondence is part of the public record. The public has the right to see it, the Senate has an obligation to demand it and it should be released immediately.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/nrdc-opposes-kavanaugh-citing-bad-record-environment
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Harvard Researchers — Secret Science Plan 'Irrational at Best'
Aug 7, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
An EPA plan to limit the types of studies that can be used in drafting new environmental regulations would spawn "chaos and confusion detrimental to the protection of public health," dozens of Harvard University researchers and physicians warned in comments filed today.
Not only could EPA's approach disqualify numerous studies that have already helped build the case for key safeguards, but it contains "significant ambiguities," they wrote.
Among them: Will EPA "arbitrarily exclude" studies for which the underlying raw data are not available? How will the agency use its authority to grant exemptions from the proposed data availability requirements? And how will the proposal affect measures taken by other agencies that rely on EPA findings or decisions?
The draft rule "is irrational at best and detrimental to public health and safety at worst," the approximately 90 signers said in calling for it to be scrapped.
The proposal, "Strengthening Transparency in Regulatory Science," would effectively bar EPA from using specific studies for developing new regulations unless the underlying data "are publicly available in a manner sufficient for independent validation," according to the text. Since its release this spring, the proposal has met with a torrent of opposition from scientific and public health groups. Industry organizations have been more supportive.
Some observers views the proposal's genesis as rooted in a 2013 bid by House Science, Space and Technology Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) to obtain the underlying data for studies by Harvard and American Cancer Society researchers that led to first-ever air quality standards for fine particulates.
When Smith's attempt to subpoena the data from EPA fell short, he and other GOP lawmakers introduced legislation, initially known as the "Secret Science Reform Act," to block the agency from crafting new regulations based on science "that is not transparent or reproducible."
After several versions of the bill repeatedly failed to pass Congress, Smith early this year pitched then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on implementing the restrictions administratively, according to records obtained by the Union of Concerned Scientists under the Freedom of Information Act (Climatewire, April 20).
Pruitt, dogged by ethics and spending controversies, resigned last month. His successor, acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler, recently told E&E News that he would take "a hard look" at the proposal but wanted to move forward with it (E&E News PM, July 13).
With a FOIA lawsuit filed today, the Environmental Defense Fund is seeking to force EPA to release more records related to the "consideration and implementation of ideas" derived from the House legislation.
The advocacy group, which had sought the records in two requests made in March and May, said EPA's failure thus far to respond runs afoul of a statutory deadline and "deprives the public of important information that could reveal the impetus for the proposed rule, and, thus, offer significant insight into EPA's decision-making process," according to the suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Given that the deadline for written comments on the proposal is Aug. 16, the suit added, "any further delay could prevent EDF and other interested parties from thoroughly evaluating and responding to subsequent actions" related to the proposal.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/08/07/stories/1060092961
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Designing the Death of a Plastic
Aug 8, 2018 | New York Times
By Xiaozhi Lim
Adam Feinberg had no sooner made a bright yellow thin sheet of plastic than he had to shred it into little pieces. He chose an “I”-shaped mold for the logo of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he is a chemist. Then, he filled it with the plastic bits and stuck it in a hot oven.
“I opened up the mold and there was this beautiful yellow ‘I’,” he recalls. His new plastic passed the first test — it was moldable with heat like regular plastic. But there was another important step left in rethinking the world of durable plastics.
Dr. Feinberg placed the I under a white light, and five minutes later, only half of it remained. The other half had fallen on the ground. Pieced back together, the I had a hole in the middle and in its place was yellow goo.
The plastic did not simply melt. Its building blocks, the synthetic polymers within, had reverted to their molecular units. “It was a phenomenal feeling,” he said of the successful experiment.
Most synthetic polymers — Greek for “many parts,” because they are long chains of many identical molecules — were not designed to disintegrate or disappear. On the contrary, they were meant to last as long as possible once they began replacing metals and glass in long-lasting things like automobiles and airplanes.
But synthetic polymers became so popular and adaptable that decades later, they’re at the root of the global burden of billions of tons of plastic waste. The latest villains in environmental campaigns are disposable plastic products formed from synthetic polymers — straws, cigarette filters, coffee cup lids, etc. Over the past few decades, this mismatch between material and product life span has built up plastic waste in landfills and natural environments, some drifting in oceans until mounds and mounds have reached the ends of the world and bits have been ingested by marine life. Too little gets recycled; in fact some estimates indicate that a mere 10 percent of all plastics are recycled every year.
The European Union has proposed banning single-use plastics, seeking to cut production of items ranging from fishing gear to cotton swabs. Cities in the United States have also been trying to ban some plastics, including grocery bags and those ubiquitous straws that have suddenly turned into the symbol of all that’s wrong with our throwaway culture.
The environmental effects of plastic buildup and the declining popularity of plastics have helped to spur chemists on a quest to make new materials with two conflicting requirements: They must be durable, but degradable on command. In short, scientists are in search of polymers or plastics with a built-in self-destruct mechanism.
“It’s two diametrically opposed criteria that we’re trying to juggle,” Dr. Feinberg said. It’s easier to mold a robust plastic without destroying it, he says, but at the same time, it should not last forever.
“The real trick is to make them stable when you’re using them, and unstable when you don’t want to use them,” says Marc Hillmyer, who leads the Center for Sustainable Polymers at the University of Minnesota.
While not a silver bullet for the problem of plastic waste, self-destructing plastics could also enable new applications in drug delivery, self-healing materials and even some electronics.
The starting point requires picking polymers that are inherently unstable, and often historically overlooked because of their fragility. Given a choice, their units would rather stay as small molecules. What scientists do is force those molecules to link up into long chains, and then trap the resulting polymers.
Dismantling these polymers is sometimes called unzipping them, because once the polymers encounter a trigger that removes those traps, their units fall off one after another until the polymers have completely switched back to small molecules.
“As soon as you start the process,” explains Jeffrey Moore, Dr. Feinberg’s supervisor at the University of Illinois, “they just keep going.”
Dr. Feinberg’s polymers were imprisoned in circular loops instead of being open-ended chains. By themselves, the loops were stable. For the self-destructing plastic, Dr. Feinberg mixed the polymers with a little bit of yellow, light-sensitive dye. When light shines on the plastic, the energized dye molecules rip electrons out from the polymers. The loops break, exposing the polymer ends, and the polymers unzip.
Other scientists trap their polymers by capping the ends of the long chains or linking the chains together into networks. By designing these traps to fail upon meeting certain triggers like light or acid, scientists can control exactly how and when their polymers unzip.
“We can have a big change in properties or complete degradation of the polymer just from one event,” says Elizabeth Gillies, a polymer chemist at Western University in London, Ontario. On-demand, rapid disintegration gives unzipping polymers an edge over biodegradable ones, she says, as biodegradation is often slow and difficult to control.
In theory, these next-generation polymers could help mitigate pollution problems associated with plastic products. If the units were collected after unzipping to make new polymers, that would lead to chemical recycling. Most recycling done today simply involves melting the plastic and remolding it.
“In my view it has great potential, the problem is to make it cheap enough and to make the properties competitive enough to be useful and have market penetration for the consumer,” Dr. Hillmyer said.
Economically speaking, replacing the most widely used polymers like polyethylene (grocery bags), polypropylene (fishing nets) or polyterephthalate (single-use bottles) with unzipping polymers is not feasible.
“Packaging plastic is the cheapest thing ever,” Dr. Gillies said.
Instead, scientists like Dr. Hillmyer are focusing their attention on higher-value materials like the polyurethane foams commonly found in mattresses and car seats. In 2016, Dr. Hillmyer and his team made a polyurethane from unzipping polymers that was chemically recyclable. Molecular units derived from sugar linked up to make the polymers, which then cross-linked into polyurethane networks. The foam remains stable at room temperature but unzips into units if heated above 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Using chemically recyclable materials could become practical especially if companies begin taking responsibility for their products after their useful life, Dr. Hillmyer said. He co-founded a start-up company Valerian Materials to commercialize the recyclable polyurethane. If car companies had to take back a used car, for instance, it might make sense to have an internal chemical recycling system to make new materials from old ones, he says.
“It is literally feedstock recovery,” says Jeannette Garcia, a polymer chemist at IBM.
Unzipping polymers could also produce adhesives that can be turned off. That would help separate complex objects and materials like toys or Formica surfaces into their individual components for recycling. “We do a terrible job of recycling laminates, composites and even electronics,” says Scott Phillips, a polymer chemist at Boise State University.
Dr. Phillips and Hyungwoo Kim, now at Chonnam National University in South Korea, introduced a tiny amount of unzipping polymer into a common, cheap polymer. By themselves, neither polymer is sticky. But when mixed, they cross-link into networks, turning into a sticky, gray goo. To turn the adhesive off, Dr. Phillips and Dr. Kim applied fluoride to the edges of two microscopic glass slides stuck together, and the glass slides fell apart within minutes.
Having unzipping polymers and fully recyclable products is a step forward, but consumers still have to do their recycling right. “Pollution exists because the material wasn’t collected,” says Steve Alexander who leads the Association of Plastic Recyclers. “If you can’t sort properly, no matter what it is, it is just trash.” Collection and sorting remain the biggest problems for recyclers today, he says.
The key, says Ramani Narayan, a polymer chemist at Michigan State University, is to have clear, well-defined disposal environments for any object that’s reached its end-of-life.
Arguably, he says, biodegradable plastics also have a self-destruct mechanism, provided they end up in the right place with the right microbes. But they’ve suffered from years of false advertising and consumer confusion. For that, Dr. Narayan is leading a push toward compostable plastics, starting with disposable utensils and food packaging from his spinoff company Natur-Tec. Compost could divert not only single-use plastics associated with food, but also food waste.
“By using the word ‘compostable,’ it defines the environment,” he says, and that, for consumers trying to pick the right bin, is “critical.”
Beyond recycling, unzipping polymers can enable new applications ranging from drug delivery to materials that automatically heal themselves, Dr. Moore said.
While self-destructing biomedical implants or electronics are still far-off into the future, scientists like Dr. Gillies are making smart packaging from unzipping polymers. Not to carry groceries, but for payloads like cancer drugs that could be released in tumors or fertilizer only when needed in fields.
For these applications, the units must be safe and benign. A potential candidate is glyoxylate, says Dr. Gillies, which is a molecule that occurs naturally in soil microorganisms. Dr. Gillies’ team made unzipping polymers from glyoxylate units and put different caps on them so that they could be deployed in many different scenarios.
“We have a universal backbone and we can just change the end cap to make it responsive to different things,” says Dr. Gillies, like light in the fields or a low oxygen environment in tumors.
For Dr. Moore, the goal is to make materials that can heal themselves. “We want our materials to be able to recover from damage and maintain performance over long periods of time,” he says.
Dr. Moore envisions filling tiny capsules made from unzipping polymers with healing agents and then embedding the capsules in coatings. Perhaps they respond to light, he says, so that when a cellphone’s coating cracks, for example, the light that penetrates will trigger capsule degradation. Those healing agents then spill out to fill the cracks. Then, the coating will automatically be good as new, reducing the need to get a new device.
While waiting for these next-generation polymers to appear, current commercial plastics are still being pumped out on the scale of 400 million metric tons a year. And those plastics were intended to be as strong, as robust and to last as long as possible, says Dr. Garcia.
“Designing new polymers is going to be absolutely important and absolutely necessary,” says Dr. Garcia. But a bigger problem, she says, is learning how to break down legacy polymers of plastic waste in a similar way, ideally into their building blocks.
“It’s almost like a holy grail challenge.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/06/science/plastics-polymers-pollution.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience
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EPA Seeks Partial Remand of TSCA Risk Rule but Defends Rest of Policy
Aug 7, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Dave Reynolds
EPA is asking a federal appeals court to remand several provisions of its Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule for evaluating the risks of existing chemicals so that it can revise them, but is defending the rest of the policy, arguing that Congress gave the agency broad discretion in how to craft rules under the revised TSCA.
In an Aug. 6 filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which is hearing litigation over TSCA rules for reviewing chemicals' risks, the agency also argues that environmentalists lack legal standing to bring some of the claims in their lawsuit.
The rules at issue are intended to create a framework for prioritizing and evaluating risks of existing chemicals, implementing a key provision in the law targeting for the first time substances that were in commerce when the original TSCA was first adopted in 1976, but which were largely grandfathered from regulation. Congress overhauled the law in 2016, and former President Barack Obama signed the revised TSCA on June 22, 2016.
In the new filing, the Trump administration is now signaling that it plans to consider revising at least the provisions of the risk evaluation rule that it wants the court to remand to the agency, without ruling on their merits. However, it is willing to proceed with litigation over the other provisions it supports and for which it argues it has discretion from Congress for how it crafted them.
The request for voluntary remand applies to several provisions that govern gathering of information that will inform the agency's reviews of existing chemicals under the revised TSCA so that the agency may revise the language.
EPA acknowledges that petitioners' arguments in the suit prompted the agency to review, and subsequently identify, flaws in the provisions that generally govern when a submitter may face criminal penalties for providing incorrect information, and for ensuring that submitted information is relevant to the review and consistent with the scientific standards outlined in TSCA.
“In light of arguments raised by Petitioners in their opening brief and upon further consideration and review by EPA, EPA intends to reconsider these provisions and take appropriate agency action,” the agency says. “Because EPA intends to revisit the challenged provisions, remand would best serve the interests of judicial economy.”
EPA requests remand with vacatur of the risk evaluation rule's penalty provision, noting that the final rule expanded the provision to apply to submitters other than manufacturers, and citing petitioners' arguments that the provision is unconstitutionally vague and could have a chilling effect on information submitted to EPA during public comments.
For the other two provisions, EPA requests remand without vacatur, and notes that environmentalists have argued that the provisions' wording suggests that chemical manufacturers who submit data may determine the scope and quality of information needed for review rather than the agency.
Ongoing Litigation
The pending 9th Circuit case could -- depending on how the court rules -- pose a significant hurdle to EPA's TSCA implementation. Environmentalists have threatened to ramp up calls for state rules, creating a patchwork of regulation that industry fears, if EPA fails to adequately consider chemical risks.
In the case Safer Chemicals Healthy Families et al. v. U.S. EPA et al., groups including Safer Chemicals Healthy Families, the Natural Resources Defense Council and United Steelworkers are faulting EPA's claim of authority to exclude certain conditions of use and their resulting exposures from review as inconsistent with the revised TSCA.
But while EPA appears to back some of the environmentalists' arguments relating to the narrow provisions on information gathering, the agency is broadly defending its discretion to limit the conditions of use that it will consider in reviews, a central issue in the litigation.
EPA also faults other environmentalist arguments seeking to limit the scope of reviews as challenging non-binding statements in the rule's preamble that are not judicially reviewable.
In an Aug. 6 response, EPA argues that TSCA grants the agency broad discretion to determine the conditions of use it will evaluate in reviews and that recent legislative history supports the agency's focus on the most pressing risks.
“Petitioners’ challenge to EPA’s interpretation of the definition of 'conditions of use,' fails because Congress gave EPA discretion to determine what circumstances meet the definition and EPA appropriately exercised its discretion,” the filing says. “EPA reasonably determined that Congress intended it to focus on the prospective and ongoing flow of chemicals in commerce.”
While environmentalists are faulting EPA's exclusion of chemicals' legacy uses, EPA says that it reasonably exercised its discretion to determine that such uses, which it has limited ability to regulate, should not form the basis of unreasonable risk findings.
“Because EPA has limited and, under some circumstances, no authority to regulate legacy activities under section 6(a), EPA believed that Congress did not intend it to determine whether such activities pose an unreasonable risk that EPA would be required to regulate,” EPA says in its response.
“Without such exclusions, the concept of conditions of use would render risk evaluations unmanageable -- an outcome EPA did not believe Congress intended.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-seeks-partial-remand-tsca-risk-rule-defends-rest-policy
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EPA Rule Doesn't Go Far Enough to Ban Asbestos, Activists Say
Aug 8, 2018 | ABC News
By Stephanie Ebbs
The Environmental Protection Agency is moving forward on a proposal that would require companies to get EPA approval to manufacture and import asbestos, but activists say they are concerned the U.S. hasn't gone far enough to ban the dangerous material completely.
A rule proposed by the EPA says the agency has identified several areas where asbestos is no longer used, such as roofing materials, and would require that any company that wants to manufacture or import asbestos for that purpose has to notify the agency at least 90 days in advance
When the rule was announced the EPA saidthe proposal was part of "important, unprecedented action on asbestos" and EPA spokesman James Hewitt said the rule would actually give the agency the grounds to restrict new uses of asbestos.
"The EPA action would prohibit companies from manufacturing, importing, or processing for these new uses of asbestos unless they receive approval from EPA," Hewitt said in a statement.
The uses for asbestos that the rule covers are not illegal. The EPA has banned some uses for asbestos, like spray-on insulation, but a ban on most products that contain asbestos proposed in 1989 was later overturned by a federal appeals court.
But advocates say the rule still opens the door to give some companies that approval and that the EPA should ban asbestos completely because of the health risks.
Breathing asbestos can increase the risk of lung cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and people who work with asbestos are even more likely to develop lung problems. A campaign by the Environmental Working Group says that between 12,000 and 15,000 Americans die from asbestos-related illnesses every year.
That group also pointed out last month that a Russian company that is one of the world's biggest asbestos producers stamped President Donald Trump's face on its palettes of asbestos and posted on Facebook thanking him and former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt for excluding some uses of asbestos from the agency's risk assessment.
Melanie Benesh, legislative attorney for Environmental Working Group, said the EPA is not considering the impact of exposure to asbestos from old buildings or health effects other than cancer in its analysis under the toxic chemicals law passed in 2016. She said the EPA is behind other developed countries by not banning asbestos and that its a "very big public health concern" if the agency is limiting the scope of its risk evaluation in a way that makes it more likely to find less risk associated with asbestos.
"Asbestos is a carcinogen regardless of whether it's in building material that was installed 40 years ago or whether it's in a newly manufactured product," she said. "Cancer doesn't distinguish between these two uses so when EPA is evaluating asbestos we think they should take a comprehensive look."
On Tuesday, Chelsea Clinton tweeted an article about the EPA proposal in The Architects Newspaper that reported the EPA rule allowed asbestos in construction materials, which Hewitt said was inaccurate, commenting that the Trump administration is "making asbestos great again."
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization President Linda Reinstein tweeted that the proposal was "shocking" and "disgusting" and said it would increase asbestos imports to the U.S.
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, tweeted that voters need to support Democrats in the midterms because the Trump administration is the "worst in modern history" for the environment.
The full text of the EPA rule proposed on June 1 is available here for public comment until Aug. 10.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/activists-epa-rule-ban-asbestos/story?id=57090547
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Could EPA Proposal Lead to New Uses for Cancer-Causing Asbestos?
Aug 8, 2018 | NBC News
By Jessica Spitz
Despite decades-old research identifying asbestos as a dangerous carcinogen, the Environmental Protection Agency recently proposed a new framework that could allow new uses for the toxic chemical in manufacturing.
The United States has imposed strict regulations on asbestos use rather than banning it altogether, unlike dozens of other developed nations. Asbestos was widely used in construction until the 1970s, when research linked the chemical to lung cancer and mesothelioma, among other diseases.
The EPA released the new proposal, known as a "significant new use rule," in June, detailing how companies can find new ways to use asbestos that will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Some of the products that may now involve asbestos in the manufacturing process include adhesives, sealants, pipeline wrap, and several others.
In a statement sent to NBC News, EPA spokesman James Hewitt wrote that "the press reports on this issue are inaccurate. Without the proposed Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) EPA would not have a regulatory basis to restrict manufacturing and processing for the new asbestos uses covered by the rule. The EPA action would prohibit companies from manufacturing, importing, or processing for these new uses of asbestos unless they receive approval from the EPA."
The EPA's report comes after the agency conducted its first review of 10 chemicals, as required by a 2016 Obama-era amendment to the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, which requires the agency to constantly reevaluate the harmfulness of toxic chemicals.
But the way the EPA is approaching evaluating chemicals changed under the Trump administration and former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt. The agency now focuses on how chemicals potentially cause harm through direct contact in the workplace, not taking into account improper disposal or other means of contamination that could affect the public — a huge win for chemical industry lobbyists.
While the proposal does not appear to roll back regulations that are already in place, it opens the door to new uses for asbestos as long as companies notify the EPA at least 90 days in advance and are approved. The proposal is open for comment until August 10.
Asbestos-related disease advocacy groups have come out as strongly critical of the proposed rule, arguing that providing more ways for companies to use the chemical is undeniably dangerous.
"I think that we need to look at an absolute ban," said Mary Hesdorffer, executive director of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation. "We're supposed to be a leading nation, setting an example... We have really let down all of our partners by not banning this substance, there's just no excuse because there's no doubt — it's a known carcinogen."
Hesdorffer also noted that mesothelioma-related deaths have been on the rise for years. According to a 2017 Center for Disease Control report, this trend "suggests ongoing occupational and environmental exposures to asbestos fibers and other causative EMPs, despite regulatory actions by the Occupational Safety and health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency aimed at limiting asbestos exposure."
Hersdorffer added that "any fiber of asbestos can be deadly" and that this new framework would only add to the number of mesothelioma diagnoses in young people.
"Most people only know about mesothelioma from the commercials," Hersdorffer said. "It's not the 70-year-old white guy with the oxygen tank any longer. The public has a skewed perception of who the mesothelioma patient is today. It could be your daughter, son, your niece or nephew. It's mind-boggling."
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/could-epa-proposal-could-lead-new-uses-cancer-causing-asbestos-n898546
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N.Y. Town Wants 3M, Others to Provide Water During Reservoir Cleanup
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By John Herzfeld
3M Co., Johnson Controls Inc., the U.S. Air Force, and others should provide an upstate New York town with drinking water until the fluorinated chemicals from firefighting foams have been removed from its lake, according to a lawsuit.
The city of Newburgh, N.Y., switched its water source in 2016 after contamination was found in its Washington Lake supply. But now that second source, the Catskill Aqueduct, will shut down for repairs for 10 weeks this fall.
In a lawsuit announced Aug. 7, the city argued that the companies that made the firefighting foams and several state and federal agencies should be required to not only fund the cleanup efforts but also provide Newburgh’s 28,000 residents with clean water in the interim.
“The city cannot and will not use Washington Lake water during the shutdown of the Catskill Aqueduct because of the ongoing contamination of the drinking watershed, inadequate treatment, and lack of standards,” City Manager Michael Ciaravino said in a statement.
The chemicals found in the Newburgh water are perfluoralkyl and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS). Sampling has found 12 different types of chemicals in Washington Lake, including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) as well as 10 others, the city said.
Those chemicals, often used in nonstick coatings and firefighting foams, can cause adverse health effects, including liver tissue damage, immune system or thyroid effects, and changes in cholesterol, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
‘Vigorously Defend’
The lawsuit, filed Aug. 6 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, follows similar lawsuits over Washington Lake pollution filed by New York State and private plaintiffs.
The 23 defendants in the latest case include the U.S. Air Force, Air National Guard, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey—which run the airfield that serves as Stewart Air National Guard Base and a commercial airport—as well as 3M and other manufacturers of firefighting foam containing the toxic chemicals.
In a statement, 3M said it will “vigorously defend” itself, adding that it “acted responsibly in connection with its manufacture and sale of AFFF [aqueous film-forming foam] and will defend its record of environmental stewardship.” Three other defendants—Johnson Controls, United Technologies Corp., and the Port Authority—declined to comment on pending litigation. Others didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The lawsuit also seeks a ban on using firefighting foam using some fluorinated chemicals. While the airfield stopped using foams containing some of those chemicals, it uses replacement foams that contain other fluorinated chemicals despite two years of complaints, the city said.
The lawsuit cited federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry findingsthat those chemicals are linked to toxicological effects and health problems.
The case is Newburgh v. United States, S.D.N.Y., No. 7:18-cv-07057, 8/6/18.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/ny-town-wants-3m-others-to-provide-water-during-reservoir-cleanup
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EPA Tackles Fluorinated Chemicals in $19 Million Superfund Fix
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
The EPA is taking its first steps toward tackling a family of chemicals found in drinking water across the country with a new $19.5 million plan for a Superfund site in New Jersey.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Aug. 6 released a proposed plan for the Fair Lawn Well Field Superfund site in Fair Lawn, N.J. The site is contaminated with perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), part of a group of perfluorinated chemicals that can cause adverse health effects, including liver tissue damage, immune system or thyroid effects, and changes in cholesterol, according to the EPA.
The proposed plan for the site will be open to public comment before the EPA makes a final decision. Companies presently or formerly involved at the site include Fisher Scientific Co., Nabisco Brands Inc., Sandvik Inc. and Eastman Kodak Co.
The proposed plan comes at a time when New Jersey is finalizing its own standard for a perfluorinated chemical in groundwater and drinking water. New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Catherine R. McCabe is expected to sign off Aug. 7 on a statewide standard for perfluorononanoic acid, or PFNA.
Modifying Treatment System
The EPA and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection plan to treat the chemicals in the Fair Lawn site’s groundwater by modifying a groundwater treatment system that had already been installed at the site to treat other contaminants. Using this method, the agencies expect the cleanup process to take more than five years.
The treatment system will also address 1,4-dioxane contamination at the site. The chemical is a likely human carcinogen, according to the EPA.
PFOA, PFOS, and 1,4-dioxane are also known as emerging contaminants, as many states and the EPA have not yet set enforceable standards or determined how much of the chemicals are safe for humans. Most people in the U.S. already have PFOA or PFOS in their blood, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry in Atlanta.
“A trend that we’re seeing is that when emerging contaminants come up, they’re added to existing treatment systems because that’s the most effective way to do them,” Seth Kellogg, senior geologist at Geosyntec Consultants in Princeton, N.J., and a National Ground Water Association board member, told Bloomberg Environment.
As of January, about 17 Superfund sites that aren’t federal properties are known to be contaminated by perfluorinated or polyfluorinated chemicals, according to the EPA.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/epa-tackles-fluorinated-chemicals-in-19-million-superfund-fix
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US NGO Finds Hazardous Chemicals in School Supplies
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
A study of school supplies by a US NGO has found that although the majority of products tested were safe, some contained asbestos, lead, benzene and other hazardous chemicals.
The US Public Interest Research Group's report, Safer School Supplies: Shopping Guide, advises consumers on which products to avoid and offers suggestions for safer alternatives.
Researchers conducted laboratory tests on 27 items, including marker pens, crayons, glue, ring binders, spiral notebooks, lunchboxes and water bottles.
They found six items containing asbestos, lead, benzene and other chemicals they say are hazardous to children’s health.
"Based on our testing, we know that most manufacturers make safe school supplies. We're calling on the makers of unsafe products to get rid of toxic chemicals and protect American schoolchildren," said Kara Cook-Schultz, toxics director at US PIRG's education fund.
The items tested were purchased at a variety of retailers including superstores, dollar stores, drug stores, online retailers and arts and crafts stores.
https://chemicalwatch.com/69383/us-ngo-finds-hazardous-chemicals-in-school-supplies
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Closing Arguments Begin in California for Monsanto Cancer Case
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Emily C. Dooley
Closing arguments begin Aug. 7 in San Francisco in a widely watched case of a former school groundskeeper who said his exposure to a Monsanto Co. weedkiller caused his blood cancer.
Dewayne Lee Johnson, who worked for the Benicia Unified School District from 2012-2016, is suing Monsanto for punitive and compensatory damages. He blames the herbicide glyphosate for his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Monsanto manufactures the popular Roundup and Ranger Pro with glyphosate as their active ingredient.
How this case is decided by the jury in California Superior Court could affect 4,000 other cases filed by people who blame their ill health on exposure to the world’s most popular weedkiller, Bloomberg Environment previously reported.
Training and Preparation
“I knew I was applying chemicals, and I knew if it could kill weeds, I was pretty sure it could kill me,” Johnson testified July 23, saying he used Monsanto’s Ranger Pro, which had “more kick to it” than Roundup.
During cross-examination, Monsanto’s attorney focused on Johnson’s training and how long he prepared to get licensed to apply pesticides.
Whether or not glyphosate causes cancer is a matter of disagreement. In 2015, the European Food Safety Authority said it wasn’t carcinogenic but the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer said it was. California listed glyphosate as a known carcinogen in 2017.
The St. Louis-based Monsanto develops seeds and treatment to control weeds and insects. Its revenue in 2017 was $14.6 billion, according to Bloomberg data.
The case is Johnson v. Monsanto Co., Cal. Super. Ct., No. CGC-16-550128, unpublished 8/7/18.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/closing-arguments-begin-in-california-for-monsanto-cancer-case
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UK Post-Brexit Chemicals It System Could Be 'Ready Tomorrow'
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton and Nick Hazlewood
The UK's IT capability to enable the registration and regulation of chemical substances placed on the national market after Brexit, is mostly built and "would work" tomorrow if needed, the Health and Safety Executive has said.
The Department for Food, Environment and Rural Affairs is constructing the system with HSE input. Earlier this year, MPs said the UK’s chemicals industry could be at "substantial risk" if Defra is unable to properly update its IT systems before the UK leaves the EU.
But at a HSE workshop in Liverpool last week, Dave Bench, the executive's director of EU Exit – Chemicals, said "even if we do nothing else with it between now and March it would work".
The workshop was organised as part of HSE's ongoing contingency planning. Others are likely to take place as the negotiations progress in the coming months.
The event, which was swiftly organised after the government gave permission for it to go ahead, aimed to give the almost 120 stakeholders present an overview of the current state of preparations and seek their input on the way forward.
"We would be able to run a registration system," Mr Bench said. "Certainly we are seeking to refine it and make it more user-friendly just in case we need to use it. But the level of resource required is not enormous and is certainly comfortably handleable over the time period we are talking about."
The system has become a key part of the debate on future chemicals regulations. At a House of Lords select committee on 18 July, Defra's deputy director of EU environment, Gabrielle Edwards, said the department is trying to build a system that will "replicate what the Echa system does" as far as possible.
Some of the fuller functionality that is not required necessarily on day one would come on board on a "slightly slower" time scale, Ms Edwards added. "The critical thing for day one is to have that registration function in place."
Preparation
The HSE is currently the UK's lead authority for the biocides, CLP and prior informed consent (Pic) Regulations. If negotiations with Brussels fail, and Britain leaves the EU on 29 March 2019 without an agreement, the agency would take on most of the responsibilities currently carried out by Echa. These include REACH and parts of the plant protection products Regulations.
Speaking at the House of Lords select committee, junior environment minister Thérèse Coffey said Defra is working on drafts of statutory instruments that would transfer the "responsibilities and operability" of Echa to a UK agency in the event of a no-deal Brexit scenario.
Mr Bench told workshop delegates that even if things do get "bumpy" next year, chemical regulation will not stop, "it just might not look as slick as it currently does".
Most of the chemicals-related preparation work has, the workshop learned, been divided between the HSE and Defra along the lines:
· HSE – CLP, Pic, BPR and the PPP (fees and charges); and
· Defra – REACH, PPP, MRLs, detergents, POPs and mercury.
For now, the aim is to ensure that the chemicals regulation division of the HSE is fully operational, and the central IT system is working well enough from day one to allow it to carry out its functions as regulator if a no-deal scenario prevails.
On running the day based on a no-deal outcome, Mr Bench told Chemical Watch that it is the easiest scenario to think about. This is "because it's easier to make the assumptions about what that might mean, but clearly that's not the government's preference. The preference is to have a deal."
In keeping with that, technical notices on contingency preparations for a no-deal for a number of industrial sectors, including chemicals, are due to be released later in August or September, the workshop heard.
https://chemicalwatch.com/69382/uk-post-brexit-chemicals-it-system-could-be-ready-tomorrow
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UK HSE Outlines Contingencies for No-Deal Brexit Workforce
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
Preparations are underway at the UK's Health and Safety Executive (HSE) for changes to the chemicals regulation division workforce, in the event of Britain leaving the EU next year without a deal.
Extra staff would be needed, Dave Bench, the executive's director of EU Exit – Chemicals, told 120 stakeholders at a HSE workshop in Liverpool last week, but "the numbers are not enormous."
The workshop was the first of several the HSE plans for stakeholders in the coming months as negotiations with Brussels proceed.
The no-deal scenario, Mr Bench told Chemical Watch, is the easiest to think about "because it's easier to make assumptions about what that might mean, but clearly that's not the government's preference. That is to have a deal."
REACH Regulation
Arguably REACH is the EU chemicals regulation over which UK parties have raised most concerns, since the referendum in 2016.
The HSE is currently the UK's lead authority for the biocides, CLP and Pic Regulations. If Britain were to leave the EU on 29 March 2019 without an agreement, the HSE would take on most of the responsibilities currently carried out by Echa. These include parts of the plant protection products Regulation and REACH.
REACH is a piece of legislation, Mr Bench said, that is "mostly about supply chain obligations. There has never been a requirement to have hundreds of people in government working on it. The numbers are measured in tens." For the HSE specifically, it is "low tens at present, and it will be a bit more than low tens in future, but will still be measured in tens".
And, Mr Bench told Chemical Watch that preparations for Brexit have "largely been done by diverting existing staff with the right skills. We've also brought in extra people from around different parts of government. We borrowed them on loan terms because they have the right type of skills to help us."
Kären Clayton, director of the HSE's chemicals regulation division, told workshop delegates that the organisation is "not ready yet, but we are investing a lot of time and effort into making sure we are".
It has built a team to manage the transition. This is working "alongside the EU exit programme and alongside 'business as usual' people. So we are working very closely together to make sure we get this right for whatever scenario results in March next year."
The question of funding has also been addressed. Mrs Clayton said the HSE has received additional funds from Defra for the PPP and REACH regimes and from Department for Work and Pensions for biocides, CLP and prior informed consent (Pic) Regulations.
Transparency and scientific expertise
Once Britain leaves the EU, it will no longer be part of the trade bloc’s scientific committees.
At a House of Lords select committee on 18 July, Defra's deputy director of EU environment, Gabrielle Edwards, said that with a no-deal scenario, the HSE would have to ensure transparency in its dealings and get external advice to replace work done by Echa and the various committees.
At the workshop, Mr Bench said transparency in EU committees, as they stand, is as much "about collective decision making and about finding a way for the 28 countries to make a decision together.
"We don't have that issue if we end up in a truly UK only situation. But what I think we do have is an issue about how do you make the whole process that leads to a decision transparent enough that everybody can have confidence in a decision when it’s made."
On scientific expertise, he said Echa's Risk and Socio-economic Analysis Committees (Rac and Seac), and the EU's other working groups and technical committees, are largely populated by member state authority experts, regulatory scientists and specialists.
"Now in most of those groups we are sending one or two people, as are most of the member states. We're only sending one member of a team and actually we've got all the other members of the team with the same or complementary knowledge.
"There are very few things that Rac and Seac deal with that I can think of that would require expertise that we don't actually already have," he said.
https://chemicalwatch.com/69388/uk-hse-outlines-contingencies-for-no-deal-brexit-workforce
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Textile Trade Groups Raise Concerns over Possible Skin Sensitiser Restriction
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Tammy Lovell
A proposal to restrict skin sensitisers and irritants in textiles and leather articles risks contradicting and overlapping with current regulation, says textiles trade group, the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry.
Its comments relate to an intended restriction proposal under REACH Annex XV, which France and Sweden plan to submit in January next year. This will cover the placing on the market of textile and leather articles intended to come into direct and prolonged contact with the skin.
A call for evidence on a list of 358 substances in the scope of the proposed restriction is running until 1 September.
Fesi secretary general, Jérôme Pero, told Chemical Watch that many of the listed chemicals are already regulated in the EU. And a "significant number" are restricted by apparel and footwear brand restricted substances lists (RSLs) that minimise their use in the supply chain.
For example, he said, there are already existing restrictions under REACH Annex XVII on the use of mercury compounds, nonylphenol ethoxylates, cadmium, azocolourants and azodyes in textiles.
The proposed restriction may also overlap with the upcoming REACH restriction on 33 carcinogenic, mutagenic or reprotoxic (CMR) substances in textiles, which is considering some of the same substances, such as formaldehyde, he added.
Additionally, Mr Pero said there is no data to indicate that many of the chemicals mentioned in the Echa call for comments were being used in the textile or leather supply chain.
"For those that are, most are used in upstream processes and are not in a final consumer product," he said.
Mr Pero called on Echa to "avoid any overlapping and potentially contradictory regulations and limits". And he said the proposal should concentrate on "substances of scientifically justified concern to the environment and consumers".'
Always costly'
Concerns about the proposed restriction were also raised by John Saunders, CEO of trade group, the British Footwear Association, who told Chemical Watch they could cause difficulties for SMEs.
"Additional testing and compliance is always costly in terms of time and money and could be challenging for smaller companies of which there are many in the sector," he said.
But, Greenpeace Detox campaign strategist, Yannick Vicaire, told Chemical Watch the NGO supports Anse’s recommendations, particularly restrictions on alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs), heavy metals and hazardous dyes.
Thresholds for these substance groups should be "set low enough to trigger their elimination at source and help clean up the supply chain, as well as benefit workers and the environment," he said.
The French Agency for Food, Environment and Occupational Health and Safety (Anses) recently carried outtesting to support the restriction proposal, which found the presence of 20 potential allergens and skin irritants in clothing and 50 in footwear.
https://chemicalwatch.com/68956/textile-trade-groups-raise-concerns-over-possible-skin-sensitiser-restriction
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JRC Releases Report on PAH Migration from Plastic, Rubber Items
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission's Joint Research Centre has published a technical report on the migration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from plastic and rubber items.
The study makes available new data and scientific information on the migration behaviour of certain PAHs. The work, for DG Grow, supports the Commission's legal obligation to review restrictions on the substances under REACH.
The JRC was tasked with developing a reliable methodology to determine migration under conditions simulating, to the best possible extent, dermal contact (including the oral cavity).
The in-house method it developed could speed up work on standardising PAH content analysis in consumer products the European Standardisation Committee has been undertaking.
https://chemicalwatch.com/69270/jrc-releases-report-on-pah-migration-from-plastic-rubber-items
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Benzophenone: Canada Provisionally Finds Cosmetics Ingredient Harmful
Aug 8, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Andrew Turley
Cosmetics ingredient benzophenone is harmful to humans at current levels of exposure, according to a draft screening assessment by the Canadian government.
If confirmed, the finding would see the substance listed on the toxic substances list (Schedule 1) of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (Cepa) and open the door to regulatory risk management measures. The assessment covers risk to human health – or all populations except workers – and the environment.
Benzophenone, also known as diphenylmethanone, occurs naturally in some plants, but is synthesised for commercial use.
The substance is used in a range of products available to consumers, in which it performs several different roles, primarily related to its ability to absorb UV radiation. In some inks, toners and colourants, it reacts to light by initiating chemical reactions in the curing process. It is added to some types of plastic packaging to prevent UV-catalysed degradation.
Benzophenone is also used in:
· cosmetics;
· paints;
· coatings;
· adhesives;
· sealants; and
· pest control products.
The assessment identifies carcinogenicity and kidney toxicity as the critical effects for risk calculations. And consumer use of nail polish or paint containing the substance as the critical exposure scenarios.
It concludes that benzophenone meets the criteria under paragraph 64(c) of Cepa, which relates to danger to human health. But does not meet the criteria under paragraphs 64(a) or 64(b), which relate to danger to the environment.
The government has published an accompanying "risk management scope" document, outlining proposed risk management options.
A 60-day public consultation period on the documents ends on 3 October.
In the EU
Benzophenone has no mandatory classifications under EU CLP currently, but Denmark intends to propose category 2 carcinogenicity by December.
EU member states originally scheduled REACH evaluation of the substance for 2013, based on concerns about possible carcinogenicity and wide dispersive use. But the evaluation conclusion did not become available until April this year.
Denmark, which undertook the work, found additional concern about possible endocrine disruption. However, in conclusion, it says that the substance meets the criteria for classification as category 2 carcinogenic, but is not a priority for further action with respect to endocrine disruption.
Benzophenone UV filters are among substances or substance groups prioritised under the EU's landmark human biomonitoring project, HBM4EU. The filters are one of nine entries on the second priority list, finalised last month.
https://chemicalwatch.com/69385/benzophenone-canada-provisionally-finds-cosmetics-ingredient-harmful
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The Summer of Plastic-Straw Bans: How We Got There
Aug 7, 2018 | Wall Street Journal
By Corinne Ramey and Bob Tita
When reality-TV star Kim Kardashian West told her 115 million Instagram followers that her household had stopped using plastic straws, the head of an environmental nonprofit responded in disbelief.
“I thought, ‘Did we culture-hack this?’ ” said Dune Ives, executive director of Lonely Whale, whose #StopSucking social-media campaign advocates banning single-use plastic straws. “Did we change the conversation around straws?”
This is the summer of the plastic-straw ban. Bans on straws have swept through U.S. cities, businesses, restaurants and even sports venues at a surprising speed. In recent months, officials in cities including New York, San Francisco, Miami Beach, Fla., Santa Barbara, Calif., and Portland, Ore., have either proposed or passed bans on single-use plastic straws. Last month, Seattle became the first major U.S. city to put a ban into effect.
Starbucks Corp. , Hyatt Hotels Corp. , Disney Co. and the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, among others, said they would phase out single-use plastic straws last month.
The story of how plastic straws went from ubiquitous to utensil non grata is one of psychology, a well-timed turtle and the power of social media. There has also been minimal industry pushback.
Susan Clayton, a professor of psychology and environmental studies at the College of Wooster in Ohio, compared the movement to the Ice Bucket Challenge, a 2014 social-media sensation in which people posted videos of cold water being dumped on their heads and donated to charity.
Activities like avoiding straws can lead to something psychologists call moral licensing, Dr. Clayton said, in which some people feel good about themselves for changing certain behaviors, so don’t feel the need to take further action.
“Do you do this little thing and say, ‘Now I’ve done my part, so I can drive to Starbucks instead of walking’?” she said. “Or do you think, ‘This saving the environment stuff isn’t so hard after all’?”
While calls for straw bans have accelerated in recent months, advocates consider the movement’s major boosters a social-media campaign and a 2015 YouTube video of a bloodied straw being pulled out of a sea turtle’s nostril. The video has 32.6 million views.
The video “opened up a broader question: What are we doing with single-use plastics?” said John Calvelli, director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Give a Sip campaign, which seeks to educate New Yorkers about the impact of plastic pollution.
Some also credit the influence of an oft-cited statistic that Americans use 500 million straws each day. The figure, which has been cited by the National Park Service and others, including The Wall Street Journal, comes from the 2011 research of a then nine-year-old Vermont boy and his mother.
Straws aren’t the only single-use item to have been the subject of environmentalists’ ire. But campaigns to bring recyclable bags to the grocery store or tote around reusable mugs haven’t caught on with the same verve.
“The kind of sacrifice that someone has to make to not get a plastic bag is a bigger sacrifice than not having a straw,” said Melissa Checker, an environmental-psychology professor at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City.
Adding to the movement’s success is its lack of organized opposition. Some advocates for disabled people who need drinking straws have spoken out against the bans, leading to exceptions to some cities’ proposed rules. Others who have opposed bans include owners of bubble tea shops, who say the drinks’ tapioca balls require wide straws.
Some consumers note the convenience of plastic straws; they allow for slurping an iced coffee while driving or walking, without major spills. But such mundane complaints haven’t coalesced into a coalition.
To the extent that a straw-ban backlash has cropped up, much of it has come from people who oppose the craze that has surrounded the bans. Some oppose government working its way into their soft-drink cups. Others question whether the bans aren’t just a self-congratulatory, ecological fad with little environmental impact.
“It’s so trivial,” said Larry Grossman, 53, from Short Hills, N.J., as he left a Starbucks in Manhattan.
“I’ve got a plastic lid,” he said, pointing to his coffee cup. “If they get rid of the lid next, I’d have to find another way not to spill my coffee.”
SOME OF THE COMPANIES DROPPING PLASTIC STRAWS
· Alaska Airlines: Will use white-birch stir sticks and bamboo citrus picks. Nonplastic straws available upon request.
· American Airlines: Will use stir sticks made of bamboo. Lounges will use “a biodegradable, eco-friendly straw.”
· Barclays Center: Will use strawless lids. Compostable straws available upon request.
· Bon Appétit Management: Paper straws available “to guests with physical challenges or who strongly feel they need a straw.”
· Hyatt Hotels: Straws and picks available on request. Will use “eco-friendly alternatives…where available.”
· Marriott International: Will offer alternative straws upon request.
· Royal Caribbean Cruises: Will offer paper straws upon request. Will also use wood coffee stirrers and bamboo garnish picks.
· SeaWorld Entertainment: Will use paper or reusable plastic straws.
· Starbucks: Will use strawless lids. Also plans to use paper or compostable straws with some beverages or upon request.
· Walt Disney: Paper and other kinds of straws will be available upon request.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-summer-of-plastic-straw-bans-how-we-got-there-1533634200?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=2
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America’s Gas Exports Seen Jumping to 15 Percent of Output Next Year
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Naureen S. Malik
America’s natural gas exports will account for 15 percent of the country’s record production in 2019, becoming an increasingly important outlet for fuel pumped from shale reserves.
Total gas sent out of the country on cross-border pipelines or tankers will jump to an average of 13.5 billion cubic feet in 2019 from this year’s 9.9 billion, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in a report Aug. 7. Exports are poised to triple from 2015 levels thanks to demand from Mexico and the startup of U.S. terminals that produce liquefied natural gas for shipment overseas.
The shipments, which will account for about 11 percent of production this year, are helping to soak up output from shale deposits from Appalachia to Texas, keeping prices from cratering.
Gas inventories are poised to start the peak heating season in November at a 13-year low, government estimates show.
One potential wrinkle: China’s threat to impose a 25 percent tariff on cargoes of U.S. LNG in retaliation for levies proposed by the Trump administration. The Asian giant is the third-biggest importer of American LNG, after Mexico and South Korea.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/americas-gas-exports-seen-jumping-to-15-percent-of-output-next-year
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Brace for Priciest Gas Since 2014 on U.S. Exports Drain
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Naureen S. Malik
Natural gas prices could be poised to double this winter as exports from the nation’s shale basins help push demand to a record high, draining stockpiles.
Inventories are poised to start the heating season—when gas stowed in salt caverns and aquifers is used to augment supplies sent via pipeline from production fields—at a 13-year low, according to four analysts and traders surveyed by Bloomberg News. A sweltering summer has kept air conditioners humming, driving power plants to burn more of the fuel than ever for the time of year as nuclear reactors and coal-fired generators have shut.
Though new conduits are shuttling gas to market from shale plays, the intense heat has curbed stockpile gains amid rising exports to buyers from Mexico to South Korea. If temperatures plummet in the next few months, the supply crunch could send prices to $6 per million British thermal units, according to Price Futures Group—the most since the “polar vortex” in the U.S. East roiled the gas market in 2014.
“We will test production this winter to see if it can keep up with demand,” said Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago. “New pipelines on the way are making the storage number, in traders’ minds, less important. Now will that come back to bite them if we get cold weather? It could.”
The U.S. is exporting record amounts of gas, via pipelines to Mexico and tankers heading overseas, and more shipments are on the way. Cheniere Energy Inc. could send LNG from its new Texas terminal as soon as October or November, and Kinder Morgan Inc. plans to start its Georgia LNG terminal in the fourth quarter.
Gas pipeline flows to LNG terminals and south of the border have surged 22 percent so far this year to average 7.3 billion cubic feet a day as of Aug. 2, compared with same period a year earlier, according to ABB Ltd. and Bloomberg NEF data.
These daily flows, which touched a record 8.2 billion at the end March, are poised to expand in the fourth quarter as Mexico completes projects that will absorb more gas from the Permian Basin in West Texas.
With gas production hitting a record last month, the U.S. isn’t about to run out of supply. A mild winter could still send prices tumbling. But the key is to get the fuel to customers when consumption surges—something that could prove to be a challenge if stockpiles remain low.
“It’s been very impressive so far in how the market has been able to consume what we have grown in production over the past year,” said Kent Bayazitoglu, an analyst at Gelber & Associates in Houston. Even so, it’s difficult to “bet against this coming production.”
In the meantime, there isn’t much incentive to store gas. Winter gas prices are barely trading above contracts for next month, meaning there is little profit to be made by buying gas now, storing it, and selling it in the colder months.
Since the end of March, stockpiles have increased by 954 billion cubic feet to 2.308 trillion, 20 percent below than the five-year average, government data show. Even as the weather cools, stockpiles could reach only 3.4 trillion cubic feet by the time the heating season starts, the least since 2005, according to the survey respondents. The U.S. Energy Information Administration sees storage levels peaking even lower at 3.343 trillion at the end of October, according to an Aug. 7 report.
“If you fell from the moon and somebody told you where natural gas storage levels were and then asked you where prices were, you would say at least a couple dollars higher,” said Bob Yawger, director of the futures division at Mizuho Americas in New York.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/brace-for-priciest-gas-since-2014-on-us-exports-drain
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U.S. Cuts Oil Output Outlook as Permian Constraints Threaten
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jessica Summers
The pace of U.S. crude production growth might be slowing—or at least that’s what the government is seeing for now.
The Energy Information Administration forecasts domestic oil output to average 11.7 million barrels a day next year, down from a previous estimate of 11.8 million a day. The agency also lowered its outlook for output this year.
Last month, the agency said the U.S. is set to become the world’s top oil producer in 2019. The EIA still sees production reaching 12 million barrels a day by the end of next year.
The U.S. benchmark crude has jumped more than 14 percent this year. Drilling has plateaued since late June, with the U.S. oil rig count ticking lower for four out of the last seven weeks, with concerns lingering over bottlenecks in the key Permian Basin tempering growth.
“Because crude oil production is forecast to be lower in 2018, it lowered the overall output forecast for 2019,” said Tim Hess, a product manager for the EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook. “The lower forecast for output this year reflects slightly slower than expected growth in middle quarters of this year, possibly related to pipeline constraints out of the Permian basin that have reduced wellhead prices in the region.”
Halliburton Co., the world’s biggest frack provider, warned that second-half profits will suffer on a slowdown in the Permian and other parts of the U.S., citing pipeline shortages and other issues that will delay work in the Permian and Marcellus basins.
The EIA sees domestic crude output averaging 10.68 million barrels a day this year, lower than previous estimate of 10.79 million a day, yet still above the 1970 record of 9.6 million a day, according to the agency’s Short-Term Energy Outlook released Aug. 7.
Meanwhile, globally, OPEC members and allies collectively agreed to boost output by 1 million barrels a day in response to consumers’ concern with high oil and fuel prices.
OPEC’s increase in oil output won’t be enough to offset any imminent losses of Iranian supplies amid a resumption of sanctions against the nation, analysts at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said.
Its global crude production forecast for next year was lowered to 101.94 million barrels a day from 102.54 million previously. The agency also cut its world demand growth estimate for 2019 to 101.66 million barrels a day from 101.91 million.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/us-cuts-oil-output-outlook-as-permian-constraints-threaten
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Atlantic Coast Pipeline Faces Delays, Uncertainty With Court Ruling
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Andrew M. Ballard
The $6 billion Atlantic Coast Pipeline project faces potential delays and increased costs after a federal court voided an important right-of-way permit.
Utility representatives said the loss of the permit would only affect a small portion of the conduit and that construction efforts were continuing.
The Aug. 6 ruling voiding the permit creates “substantial uncertainty” with the project’s schedule, an industry analyst said.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission could order work on the project to stop, as it recently did with the Mountain Valley pipeline following a similar court decision, Katie Bays, senior vice president for Height Capital Markets in Washington, told Bloomberg Environment on Aug. 7. “A reroute is entirely possible” due to the ruling as well, she said.
Tamara Young-Allen, a spokeswoman for the commission, declined to comment on whether a stop work order was under consideration.
600 Miles Long
The planned 600-mile natural gas pipeline would originate in West Virginia, travel through Virginia, and terminate in North Carolina, according to the project website. The pipeline is being developed by Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and Southern Co. Gas, and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019.
In its Aug. 6 ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit revoked a permit issued by the National Park Service allowing the pipeline to cross the Blue Ridge Parkway in Virginia. The appeals court said the agency failed to adequately explain how the permit’s approval fit into the mission of the parkway, which links parks and protects mountain landscapes.
Environmental groups have called on FERC to order the utilities to stop work on the pipeline as it had done Aug. 3 with the Mountain Valley conduit.
“It has to be halted everywhere until the final route is determined,” Doug Jackson, a spokesman for the Sierra Club, told Bloomberg Environment on Aug. 7.
The Sierra Club has received funding from Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable organization founded by Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg Environment is operated by entities controlled by Michael Bloomberg.
Dominion Energy and Duke Energy representatives both said the ruling affects only a small portion of the overall route and they will continue working on other parts of the project.
“We believe the extensive public record and mitigation requirements already in place provide ample support for the agency to promptly reissue the permit,” Tammie McGee, a spokeswoman for Duke Energy, said in an Aug. 7 email.
Rerouting Likely
The project might have to be removed from view of the Parkway’s scenic overlooks, Bays said.
“I struggle to see how, given this opinion” a reroute would not be required, Bays said.
That could add a year or more to the construction timeline and boost costs by millions of dollars, she said.
The appeals court’s ruling also could jeopardize other federal and state permits and certifications needed for the project, Bays said.
Brandon Barnes, a Bloomberg Intelligence energy sector litigation analyst in Washington, said he didn’t think the court ruling would affect the project’s completion date on its own.
“It will likely lead to an interim FERC halt, though we expect that and any grounds underlying the decision to be cured” by the end of this year, he told Bloomberg Environment.
Virginia Department of Environmental Quality didn’t comment on the decision.
The case is Sierra Club v. Interior, 4th Cir., No. 18-1082, 8/6/18.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/atlantic-coast-pipeline-faces-delays-uncertainty-with-court-ruling
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BLM Kicks off Review of Calif. Fracking Impacts
Aug 8, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Ellen M. Gilmer
Federal officials are moving forward with a plan to study the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on public lands in California.
The Bureau of Land Management yesterday unveiled plans for a supplemental environmental impact statement to weigh fracking's effects on public lands around Bakersfield and the broader central area of the state. Leasing has been paused in the area since 2017, when BLM reached a settlement with environmentalists concerned about the agency's level of review.
In a Federal Register notice scheduled for publication today, BLM officials kicked off a 30-day comment period to get input on how the agency should conduct its fracking analysis. The supplemental EIS will review development across central California, including the state's central coast, Central Valley, San Joaquin Valley and southern Sierra Nevada. The San Joaquin Valley holds one of California's most productive oil fields.
"This effort supports the Administration's goals of promoting environmentally responsible development of oil and gas on public lands, while creating jobs and providing economic opportunities for local communities," BLM said in a statement.
In fact, the fracking review effort stems from environmental litigation that began in 2015, when the Center for Biological Diversity and Los Padres ForestWatch sued BLM over a resource management plan for more than 1 million acres in the area. They argued that the planning document failed to grapple with various research on potential impacts.
The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California agreed, ruling in 2016 that BLM's analysis had fallen short of the National Environmental Policy Act. The parties then reached a settlement in May 2017 in which BLM agreed to suspend new leasing while conducting additional fracking analysis. The agency has continued to issue drilling permits on existing leases (Energywire, May 4, 2017).
The court ruling and subsequent settlement were big wins for critics of fracking and other modern oil and gas technology. Environmentalists have frequently used litigation to push BLM to study potential impacts, but courts have only sided with the groups in a few cases. In another landmark case, a judge in Northern California ordered BLM to take a closer look during the leasing stage at risks associated with fracking.
BLM's Bakersfield Field Office is now following through on that agreement, preparing a supplemental EIS that may lead to an amended resource management plan.
"The purpose of the supplemental EIS is to analyze the environmental effects of the use of hydraulic fracturing technology in oil and gas development on new leases within the planning area and to determine whether changes are needed to the fluid minerals decisions in the Bakersfield Field Office RMP," the agency said in the notice.
The 30-day comment period opens today.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/08/08/stories/1060092991
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Zinke Sued Over ‘Stacked’ U.S. Panel on Oil, Gas, Coal Royalties
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Erik Larson
The Trump administration panel that helps set royalty payments for coal, oil, and gas extracted from public lands is stacked with industry insiders who stand to directly benefit from lower payments to the public, a U.S. environmental group said in a lawsuit.
The Interior Department’s Royalty Policy Committee—created in September 2017 by Secretary Ryan Zinke—operates “in secret” to advance the goals of so-called extractive industries. Those companies paid a total of almost $7 billion in royalties to the government last year, the Western Organization of Resource Councils said in a complaint filed in federal court in Missoula, Mont.
“Secretary Zinke is breaking the law in order to barter off America’s public resources to his corporate cronies and shield them from paying a fair value for the privilege,” Anne Harkavy, executive director of Democracy Forward, which filed the suit, said in an Aug. 7 statement.
The agency has previously described the 20-member committee as being mostly comprised of nonindustry participants, including representatives from academia, public interest groups, renewable energy, states, and American Indian tribes. The committee conducts open meetings with the stated goal of modernizing the royalty-collecting process to benefit the public.
The committee’s chairman is former Department of Energy official Vincent DeVito, who was initially hired last May to advise Zinke on energy policy. DeVito, a lawyer, ran Zinke’s political-action committee and previously represented extraction industry companies, the environmental group said.
Royalties Put to Use
Money generated from extraction royalties is used by some states to fund schools and other programs. Several public interest and conservation groups applied to join the committee but were denied, according to the suit.
Heather Swift, a spokeswoman for the Interior Department, declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The segment of the committee set aside for academia and public interest includes members who consult for extractive industries, according to the suit. One of those members appears to lack any related experience and was initially supposed to be an industry representative, according to the suit.
The department made the committee even more “lopsided” by adding two non-voting “subject matter experts to represent the public interest,” according to the suit.
These include David Kreutzer of the conservative Heritage Foundation and Paul Blair of Americans for Tax Reform.
Kreutzer said he doesn’t believe the committee is lopsided and he doesn’t represent the industry.
“You want taxpayers to get a fair deal, but you also want to look at the impact on the economy,” Kreutzer said in a phone call. “We want to make sure we’re not stifling the economy, that we can produce more energy and do that efficiently and cleanly.“
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/zinke-sued-over-stacked-us-panel-on-oil-gas-coal-royalties
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Colorado’s One Step Closer to Limiting Oil and Gas Drilling
Aug 8, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Catherine Traywick
A Colorado battle over drilling is heating up as backers of a measure to block oil and gas development in much of the state met a key deadline to get their proposal on the November ballot.
Initiative 97 would increase the buffer zone between occupied structures and oil and gas wells, effectively blocking drilling in more than half the state, according to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. If enacted, it could curb output in one of the country’s most prolific shale plays, the Denver-Julesburg Basin, which helped drive Colorado oil production to a record-high 447,000 barrels a day in April.
Backers of the measure said in a Facebook post that they filed 171,000 petition signatures Aug. 7, well above the threshold for ballot placement. “If accurate, we put the odds at 90 percent that the initiative secures a place on November’s ballot,” Height Securities LLC analysts Katie Bays and Josh Price said in a note.
“If voters approve this measure in November and pass it into law, essentially all new oil and gas well development will be put on ice,” wrote Bays and Price. Most exposed are Colorado explorers such as Extraction Oil & Gas Inc., PDC Energy Inc., and SRC Energy Inc., they said.
Backers of the measure didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
The secretary of state now must determine whether the petition is valid. A similar proposal in 2016 failed after the secretary’s office threw out nearly a quarter of signatures it deemed improper.
Business groups backed by the oil and gas industry filed a counter-measure Aug. 3, which aims to make it easier for landowners to sue for any loss in the market value of drilling rights due to new regulations. That petition included 208,673 signatures, according to organizers. That would be the highest in state history.
The Colorado State Department confirmed that it received signature petitions for both ballot measures, but won’t disclose signature totals until later this month, according to a statement.
The secretary of state has until Sept. 5 to certify the petitions.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/colorados-one-step-closer-to-limiting-oil-and-gas-drilling
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Deep-Pocketed Arkema Tough Target for Texas Prosecutors (1)
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sam Pearson
Texas prosecutors have a tough fight ahead with Arkema Inc. as they attempt to secure rare criminal convictions against the chemical company and two executives after heavy flooding from Hurricane Harvey in 2017 caused one of the firm’s plants to explode.
The Harris County, Texas, district attorney’s office persuaded a grand jury to indict Arkema, CEO Richard Rowe, and plant manager Leslie Comardelle on Aug. 3. Rowe ran the North America division of the multinational chemical company, while Comardelle was overseeing its Crosby, Texas, organic peroxides plant when Hurricane Harvey hit the Houston area.
Arkema’s actions put chemical production and profit above the community’s safety, Alexander Forrest, chief of the district attorney’s environmental crimes division, said in a statement Aug. 3.
Rowe and Comardelle were arraigned Aug. 6 at Harris County District Court in Houston and freed on bail of $20,000 each, according to court documents. Arkema officials said the company is being punished for failing to anticipate the strength of Hurricane Harvey, even though others made the same mistake.
The next hearing for this case is scheduled for Oct. 22.
‘Wrong, Unfair Indictment’
Company attorney Rusty Hardin, a founding partner at Rusty Hardin & Associates, LLP in Houston, said in a statement that Arkema should not be held accountable for that aftermath of “an Act of God of biblical proportions, never before seen and never anticipated by anyone.”
Criminal charges for chemical companies and their employees—especially from state prosecutors—are rare. Among incidents investigated by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board in the past five years, only Freedom Industries in West Virginia and six of its former employees were charged with crimes. Arkema is the first chemical company to face criminal charges in Texas since BP Plc pleaded guilty to more than $50 million in fines over a 2005 refinery explosion in Texas City that killed 15 workers.
The indictments also drew a rebuke from the American Chemistry Council, a Washington trade organization whose members include Arkema and more than 150 other chemical companies.
“The prosecutor’s decision to pursue this course of action is discouraging and sets an alarming and unreasonable precedent of seeking to hold people responsible for acts of nature,” the group said.
The France-based company, which posted about $2.6 billion in sales in the second quarter of 2018, has signaled it will aggressively fight the indictments.
Charges
Prosecutors said Arkema and the two defendants acted recklessly in failing to remove the organic peroxides before the flooding.
Organic peroxides are reactive chemicals that must be kept cool or they can explode. During the storm, Arkema moved the chemicals to refrigerated trailers when the plant lost power, but the trailers lost power when backup generators flooded. Authorities evacuated the area and days later the chemicals exploded.
The defendants are being charged with violating a section of the Texas Water Code, a state law that makes it a crime to recklessly emit an air contaminant or endanger the public, Dane Schiller, a spokesman for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, told Bloomberg Environment.
It isn’t clear if Arkema and its officials mishandled the chemicals willfully, Mark Farley, a partner at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in Houston, told Bloomberg Environment.
“Given the unprecedented nature of the flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey, I think it’s unlikely that a jury is going to conclude that the company or the individuals’ conduct was reckless,” Farley said.
But the charges could be appropriate if prosecutors have additional evidence of the company and its employees’ decision-making during the flood, according to Rena Steinzor, a law professor at the University of Maryland. Prosecutors could examine how Arkema managed the chemicals during the storm by examining phone and email records, Steinzor said. That could show if the company prioritized fiscal considerations over safety.
“They might have emails from the CEO,” Steinzor said. “They might have gotten someone to flip. We don’t know.”
What Did Arkema Do?
An investigation by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board found that Arkema executives prepared for the possibility of flooding, but not for the severity of what occurred during Harvey. Arkema has cited the safety board’s findings as evidence that it acted appropriately.
The company also was warned in 2016 by its insurer that the site was within a flood plain, but employees at the site “appeared to be unaware of this information,” the safety board found.
The safety board recommended that Arkema take action to reduce flood risk at the Crosby site and study the vulnerability to extreme weather at other facilities using organic peroxides. The board doesn’t attempt to determine if criminal conduct occurred, spokeswoman Hillary Cohen told Bloomberg Environment.
Companies can avoid exposure to criminal indictments by preparing for future storms, Farley said.
“This is certainly new territory in Texas,” he said.
—With assistance from Karn Dhingra.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/deep-pocketed-arkema-tough-target-for-texas-prosecutors-1
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Utilities Prepare for Increased Cyberattacks on the Electric Grid
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rebecca Kern
More electric utilities and energy companies are turning to cybersecurity vendors for protection against attempted attacks, a growing threat highlighted by the recent disclosure of Russian hacking into their communications networks last year.
The U.S. utility sector faces millions of attempted cyber intrusions a day. Duke Energy, one of the largest power companies in the nation serving 7.6 million customers reported more than 650 million attempted cyberattacks in 2017 alone. While a cyberattack hasn’t successfully shut down the U.S. power grid, the threat is real.
“If you want to shut down the infrastructure of a country, you shut down the grid, you shut down the fuel generating refineries,” Eddie Habibi, founder and CEO of PAS, a cybersecurity firm for energy and power industries, told Bloomberg Environment. “That’s what happens at the start of a war, you attack their critical infrastructure.”
A recent alert from the Department of Homeland Security revealed that Russian actors targeted hundreds of energy and nonenergy companies’ networks in 2017, which began through spear-phishing emails sent to vendors serving the power industry in early 2016. The hackers successfully accessed one small power plant’s operational technology network, but didn’t shut it down. Five natural gas pipeline companies’ communication systems were hacked in April, but no pipelines were shut down.
“The energy sector is definitely a target for everything from criminals to nation states,” Jeanette Manfra, assistant secretary for the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, told Bloomberg Environment.Energy Sector in the Cross-Hairs
The frequency of cyberattacks on the energy sector targeting systems that run critical infrastructure, like generation plants has increased at least sevenfold over the last seven years, Habibi said.
A cyberattack refers to an effort to access data or systems remotely, often with the intention to shut down operations, like a power grid. Cyberattackers can use malware or email intrusions to access a system and perhaps a larger computer network.
Energy companies are turning to cybersecurity providers like PAS and Siemens to better prepare for attacks. And their options are growing: There are more than 850 cybersecurity firms in the greater Washington, D.C., region alone, according to research from American University’s Kogod School of Business.
To combat threats, companies have to protect their industrial control systems—the computers that monitor and control physical devices such as valves and pumps at power plants or refineries, Habibi said.
“Operational technology security has become probably one of the hottest topics at the board level of a lot of the major companies,” he said.
Cybersecurity vendors are working specifically in the energy sector to fill gaps due to a growing shortage of cyberprofessionals. There is a projected shortage 1.8 million cyberprofessionals globally by 2022, according to a 2017 study by the Center for Cyber Safety and Education.
Stay Calm, Focus on Tech, Culture
Habibi’s first words of wisdom for utility and energy companies: “Stay calm.”
But, he added, “We have a lot of work to do both on the technology side as well as on the culture side.”
“We need to bring a focus to the culture of cybersecurity,” he said. In any given day, you can find at least 1,000 cybersecurity violations at a power plant, including opening scam emails, using unsecured USB drives, and sharing passwords with co-workers.
DHS has said most cyberattacks are occurring in the energy sector. But that’s largely because it has been one of the best at reporting cyberattacks to DHS, according to Scott Aaronson, vice president of security and preparedness for the Edison Electric Institute, which represents investor-owned utilities, like Duke and Southern Co.
“Are we seeing an increase in threats from sophisticated actors? Yeah I think we are,” he said. “Part of what we’re seeing is not just that we’re seeing more of these threats, it’s that we’re actually catching more of them.”
Cyber Services
“The power of analytics is so important,” Leo Simonovich, vice president and global head of industrial cyber and digital security at Siemens, told Bloomberg Environment.
“We can do a lot through monitoring, visibility, and detection. But it’s not enough to just detect. It’s equally important to understand, to contextualize and to prioritize,” he said.
Siemens partnered with two major cybersecurity firms in 2017 to create a managed cybersecurity business offering, which helps energy clients monitor and detect cyber abnormalities. The first company partner was Darktrace, which specifically works on anomaly detection by helping companies get better visualization into their assets to see attempted intrusions.
“We provide visibility that humans simply can’t see or compute,” Jeff Cornelius, executive vice president of ICS Solutions at Darktrace, told Bloomberg Environment.
The second Siemens partnership is with PAS, which involves asset management.
“We manage, secure, and optimize the performance of the industrial control system,” Habibi said.
A Digital Village
DHS recently announced the formation of a new National Risk Management Center, which solely focuses on sharing cybersecurity information with the energy, financial, and telecommunications sectors.
The Energy Department opened its first cyber-specific office—the Cybersecurity, Energy Security and Emergency Response—in May.
And the Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council is a government and industry group that meets regularly to share information among DHS, Energy Department, energy trade associations, and energy company CEOs, including Southern Co.
“It’s going to take a village,” Simonovich said. “It’s important to establish an ecosystem of partners that are solving discrete problems, but that in combination can provide the complete solution.”
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/utilities-prepare-for-increased-cyberattacks-on-the-electric-grid
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EPA Allows Use of Larger Amounts of Climate-Friendly Coolants
Aug 7, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Abby Smith
The EPA is allowing manufacturers to use larger amounts of climate-friendly chemicals in household refrigerators and freezers—eliminating what industry has long identified as a barrier to limiting potent greenhouse gas refrigerants.
The Environmental Protection Agency rule, to be published Aug. 8 in the Federal Register, will allow household appliance manufacturers to use more than double the amount of climate-friendly replacements for a common hydrofluorocarbon, or HFC, refrigerant. HFCs are greenhouse gases hundreds of times more potent than carbon dioxide.
Household refrigeration makers, such as Whirlpool Corp. and Samsung Electronics America Inc., have long asked the EPA to increase the allowable amount of the chemicals, consistent with safety standards updated in spring of 2017 by the standard-setting group Underwriters Laboratories. Without the update, household appliance makers said they would struggle to meet requirements set by a 2016 global deal to phase down HFCs.
That agreement, known as the Kigali Amendment, has broad support from the refrigeration and chemical industries—which have ramped up lobbying in recent months to urge the White House to back the deal. But the Trump administration, including top EPA officials, have thus far resisted publicly supporting the Kigali agreement, which the Senate would have to ratify.
Flammability Concerns
The Aug. 8 rule follows a direct final rule issued by the EPA last fall allowing the larger amount for three climate-friendly HFC alternatives. The agency had to withdraw that action and undertake a formal rulemaking process on the issue after it received comments outlining concerns about the flammability of the chemicals.
The HFC alternatives, such as isobutane and propane, have a lower global warming potential, but some are mildly flammable.
The EPA, in response to those comments, acknowledged the concerns but noted its analysis of the chemicals didn’t show a flammability risk greater than other alternatives already available for use.
“Moreover, EPA is aware of the longstanding widespread use on a global basis of household refrigerators and freezers using this charge limit,” the agency added.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/epa-allows-use-of-larger-amounts-of-climate-friendly-coolants
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Yale Data: Broad Support for Carbon Tax, Even in Red States
Aug 8, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Adam Aton
Who wants a carbon tax? Majorities in every single congressional district, according to a report released yesterday by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.
Support for a revenue-neutral carbon tax is about 68 percent nationwide, with opposition at around 29 percent, the latest iteration of the Yale Climate Opinion Maps shows. The interactive maps combine large-scale surveys with demographic and election data for a model its creators say can reliably estimate public opinion down to the local level.
The map is a bright spot on the otherwise dark horizon for carbon-tax backers. The carbon tax proposed last month by Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) has attracted only two Republican co-sponsors, while a measure opposing carbon levies from Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) passed the House with support from nearly all Republicans, including most in the Climate Solutions Caucus.
But Yale's data tell another tale: 64 percent of adults in Scalise's fossil fuel-rich district would support a carbon tax, and respondents in House Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) and Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) districts would support it by the same margin.
Even voters in what the Cook Partisan Voting Index calls the most conservative congressional district — Rep. Mac Thornberry's 13th in North Texas — would give a carbon tax 61 percent support, the map shows.
That's not so different from Curbelo's South Florida district, where 73 percent of adults would support a carbon tax, according to the analysis.
Joseph Majkut, director of climate policy at the libertarian Niskanen Center, said it's not unusual to see a wide gulf between politicians and their constituents on climate change.
"Especially for Republicans, where we do most of our work, there is probably a tendency to underweight the acceptability of various climate policies to the public because of the low salience of the issue, an energetic opposition, and the obvious partisan dynamics," he said in an email.
Both Curbelo and Scalise represent coastal areas threatened by sea-level rise and extreme weather, and more than half their constituents worry about global warming: 53 percent for Scalise's district and 67 percent for Curbelo's, compared to 61 percent nationwide, the Yale survey shows.
The Yale program's results have a margin of error around 3 percentage points nationally, and at the district level it's about 7 percentage points.
The program relies on a survey question that asks voters how much they would support requiring "fossil fuel companies to pay a carbon tax and use the money to reduce other taxes (such as income tax) by an equal amount."
Curbelo's carbon tax bill is not revenue neutral, but it would replace the federal gasoline tax with a $24-per-ton tax on emissions while freezing some EPA regulations (Greenwire, July 23).
Other polls suggest slimmer majorities support the policy. A Gallup poll taken in March suggested 53 percent of adults would support a carbon tax.
Yale's more bullish findings align with what carbon-tax promoters have been saying for years: Voters want action on climate change, and a carbon tax could be popular.
"The catch is that the climate issue is a low priority for most voters," said Josiah Neeley of the R Street Institute, a free-market think tank that supports pricing carbon.
"So even if they agree with something like a carbon tax, they are unlikely to change their vote based on whether a candidate supports it. That could change, but I think it helps explain why more Republicans aren't out front on this issue," he said in an email.
The Yale program's other findings:
· Support for the carbon tax runs high among constituents of the two Republicans co-sponsoring Curbelo's carbon tax. Sixty-eight percent of adults in both the Naples, Fla.-based district of Rep. Francis Rooney and the suburban Pennsylvania district of Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick would back the proposal — the same percentage as the nationwide rate of support.
· Seventy-seven percent of American adults think carbon dioxide should be regulated as a pollutant, and 70 percent think environmental protection is more important than economic growth.
· Sixty-two percent of American adults think global warming is affecting the weather. Wyoming and West Virginia are the only states where that view is not held by most people.
· Fourty-nine percent of Americans believe most scientists think global warming is happening.
· Twenty-two percent of adults hear about global warming in the media at least once a week. The rate is even lower in most Southern states — including the congressional districts around Houston, where record flooding from Hurricane Harvey last year has been linked to climate change, and the Miami metropolitan area, which has seen more flooding due to sea-level rise.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2018/08/08/stories/1060092999
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