Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 10/08/18
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(ACC Mentioned) Connecticut Campaign Increases Recycling of Plastic Film Packaging
Aug 10, 2018 | Recycling Today
By DeAnne Toto
A 2017 consumer awareness campaign in Connecticut has led to an increase in the quantity and quality of recycled plastic film packaging, such as bags and wraps, in the greater Hartford area, according to a recent report. -
(ACC Mentioned) Campaign Boosts Film Recycling in Connecticut
Aug 10, 2018 | Plastics News
By Jim Johnson
A public outreach campaign in Connecticut boosted plastic film recycling, according to the American Chemistry Council. -
(ACC Mentioned) Economists Boost Near Term Projections
Aug 10, 2018 | Floor Daily
Economists are raising 2018 growth projections after a strong second quarter, but disputes with U.S. trading partners, a fading boost from fiscal stimulus and rising short-term interest rates lead many to believe the boom won’t last much beyond that, according to The Wall Street Journal. -
Former Chief Meets Wheeler, Offers Advice
Aug 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
Acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler sat down last week with one of his predecessors who has been an outspoken critic of Scott Pruitt and the Trump administration. -
China Imposes Anti-Dumping Duties on Synthetic Rubber From U.S, EU, Singapore
Aug 10, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Tom Daly
China's Ministry of Commerce said on Friday it would levy anti-dumping duties ranging from 23.1 percent to 75.5 percent on halogenated butyl rubber from the United States, the European Union and Singapore starting from Aug 20. -
(ACC Mentioned) E.P.A. Staff Objected to Agency’s New Rules on Asbestos Use, Internal Emails Show
Aug 10, 2018 | The New York Times
By Lisa Friedman
Top officials at the Environmental Protection Agency pushed through a measure to review applications for using asbestos in consumer products, and did so over the objections of E.P.A.’s in-house scientists and attorneys, internal agency emails show. -
EPA Staff Objected to Trump Administration's Asbestos Plan, Emails Show
Aug 10, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Career staff at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) objected to the Trump administration’s plan for a new regulatory approach toward asbestos. -
PETA Defends EPA's Stalled TSCA Framework
Aug 10, 2018 | Inside EPA
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is seeking to support EPA's draft framework for reviewing new chemicals under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a measure that the agency appears to have shelved, arguing that it is consistent with TSCA's directive to reduce animal testing, which the group claims has spiked under the new law. -
Wall Street's First: Goldman Sachs Looks To Venture Into LNG
Aug 10, 2018 | Oilprice.com (In Nasdaq)
By Tsvetana Paraskova
Goldman Sachs, the leading commodities trader among Wall Street’s largest investment banks, is looking to reverse the fortunes of its commodities trading business that posted its worst performance on record last year. -
Analysis: US LNG Export Demand Faces Steep Ramp Up
Aug 10, 2018 | S&P Global Platts
By J. Robinson, Tyler Jubert, Harry Weber, and Ross Wyeno
Natural gas demand from US LNG export terminals is set to double over the next year as a spate of new liquefaction projects now nearing completion enters service. -
Oil Supply Fears Have Abated as Production Rises, IEA Says
Aug 10, 2018 | Bloomberg (In Houston Chronicle)
Fears about global oil supplies have receded after producers pumped more, according to the International Energy Agency, which a month ago warned of a potential shortage. -
Natural Gas Pipeline Capacity to South Central Region and Export Markets Increase in 2018
Aug 10, 2018 | American Journal of Transportation
By the end of 2018, EIA expects natural gas pipeline capacity into the South Central region of the United States to reach almost 19 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). -
GAO Urges DHS to Share More Info on Chemical Facilities with First Responders
Aug 10, 2018 | Homeland Preparedness News
By Chris Galford
Warning of the potential danger presented by attackers targeting hazardous chemical facilities, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share more information with first responders who may need to respond to security incidents. -
Congress Moves to Delay Portion of Port-Based Transportation Worker ID Program
Aug 10, 2018 | Commercial Carrier Journal
By Jill Dunn
The deadline for high-risk maritime facilities to implement biometric card readers for truck drivers and other transportation personnel has been postponed until Homeland Security reports to Congress on its Transportation Worker Identification Credential program. -
Calif. Looks to Streamline Project's Environmental Reviews
Aug 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Courtney Columbus
House lawmakers yesterday pressed the leader of California's high-speed rail project about rising costs, delays and the status of environmental reviews. -
Railroad Acknowledges Iowa Derailment Was Flood Related
Aug 10, 2018 | AP (In The Washington Post)
BNSF Railway has acknowledged flooding played a role in a derailment that loosed thousands of gallons of oil into northwest Iowa floodwaters. -
Koch Network Weighs in on NEPA Rollback
Aug 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk
Americans for Prosperity — the political network affiliated with the billionaire Koch brothers — weighed in yesterday to support one of the Trump administration's most wide-ranging environmental rollbacks.
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(ACC Mentioned) Connecticut Campaign Increases Recycling of Plastic Film Packaging
Aug 10, 2018 | Recycling Today
By DeAnne Toto
A 2017 consumer awareness campaign in Connecticut has led to an increase in the quantity and quality of recycled plastic film packaging, such as bags and wraps, in the greater Hartford area, according to a recent report.
Connecticut began its Wrap Recycling Action Program (WRAP) in early 2017 as a partnership among its Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP), the Connecticut Food Association, grocery stores, plastics makers and other recycling advocates. Through various communications efforts, including advertising and media coverage, the campaign encouraged consumers to recycle plastic film packaging at retail stores and to keep it out of curbside recycling bins.
Connecticut officials say the state’s program was built on best practices and lessons learned in previous WRAP campaigns. These best practices are designed to leverage existing recycling infrastructure for plastic film packaging, which includes more than 20,000 drop-off locations across the country, predominately at major grocery and retail stores.
Connecticut’s campaign focused on the greater Hartford area. Following months of outreach, audits of material collected at retail stores found an 11 percentage point increase in the amount of plastic bags collected, a 7 percentage point increase in the amount of “other film” collected and a 23 percentage point decrease in nonfilm packaging “contamination.”
A post-campaign survey of adults in the greater Hartford area found:a 9 percentage point increase in respondents who heard to recycle flexible plastics at grocery stores (63 percent versus 54 percent);significant increases in those who said they knew which items to take back to stores (e.g., plastic bags, 15 percentage point increase; plastic bread bags, 17 points; plastic newspaper bags, 13 points); anda 10 percentage point increase in those who said they take plastic film packaging back to stores either “most of the time” or “always/all of the time” (40 percent versus 30 percent).
“These results are very encouraging and will help us meet Connecticut’s goal of diverting 60 percent of our waste from disposal by 2024,” says Sherill Baldwin of DEEP. “The WRAP campaign builds on RecycleCT’s “What’s In. What’s Out” campaign and reminds us to keep plastic bags and wraps out of curbside recycling bins and to bring them back to retail stores for recycling.”
In addition to the report, the campaign released five short videos featuring the campaign’s retail partner, Price Chopper. The videos highlight the benefits to retailers of collecting and recycling plastic film packaging.
In its next phase, Connecticut’s WRAP campaign will encourage people, companies and local governments to help increase demand for products made with recycled film packaging. “If we aren’t buying recycled, then we’re not really recycling,” Baldwin says.
“Like WRAP campaigns conducted in other areas, Connecticut demonstrated that a dedicated team of recycling advocates can make a difference,” says Shari Jackson of the Flexible Film Recycling Group, part of the American Chemistry Council, which helped fund the campaign. “We look forward to continuing to support Connecticut and DEEP in elevating the importance of increasing demand for products made with recycled film.”
More information on plastic film packaging recycling and WRAP is available at http://plasticfilmrecycling.org.
http://www.recyclingtoday.com/article/connecticut-study-shows-film-recycling-increase/
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(ACC Mentioned) Campaign Boosts Film Recycling in Connecticut
Aug 10, 2018 | Plastics News
By Jim Johnson
A public outreach campaign in Connecticut boosted plastic film recycling, according to the American Chemistry Council.
ACC's Wrap Recycling Action Program expanded into the Greater Hartford market last year and increased the amount of plastic bags collected by 11 percent.
WRAP promotes store drop-off locations for the recycling of film including bags and wraps as a way to...
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Story can be found here: http://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20180810/NEWS/180819992/campaign-boosts-film-recycling-in-connecticut
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(ACC Mentioned) Economists Boost Near Term Projections
Aug 10, 2018 | Floor Daily
Economists are raising 2018 growth projections after a strong second quarter, but disputes with U.S. trading partners, a fading boost from fiscal stimulus and rising short-term interest rates lead many to believe the boom won’t last much beyond that, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The average estimate for economic growth this year increased to 3%, up from projections of 2.9% last month and 2.4% a year ago, according to The Wall Street Journal’s monthly survey of private economists. They also see the unemployment rate falling to 3.6% by June, which would be the lowest unemployment rate in nearly 50 years. The jobless rate in July was 3.9%.
Consumer spending and business investment were robust in the spring, thanks in part to tax cuts that put more money in household pockets and gave businesses a higher after-tax return on their investments.
“The tax cuts and jump in federal spending will keep the economy buzzing for another 12 months,” said Bernard Baumohl, chief economist of the Economic Outlook Group. “Beyond that, however, I expect to see dark clouds forming that would signal a recession is near.”
Mr. Baumohl isn’t alone in predicting a slowdown after the boost from last year’s tax cuts begins to fade and because rising tariffs between the U.S. and its trading partners could lead to repercussions for the economy. Businesses that were enthused about the tax relief could hold off hiring and investing in the face of trade uncertainty, several economists said.
“Prospects of trade war are eroding business confidence from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,” said Kevin Swift, the chief economist of the American Chemistry Council. The chemicals industry is among those facing tariffs on imports, and the association has criticized the tariffs.
The average forecast for growth in 2019 was 2.4%, little changed in recent months. By 2020, the average forecaster projects economic growth will slow to 1.8%. That is down from estimates earlier this year of 2%.
The differences might look small, but they have huge impacts on budgets and well-being. Maintaining 3% growth or higher could help the economy grow out of looming trillion-dollar budget deficits. Moreover, if the administration’s growth forecast is maintained, the economy would double in size over the next 24 years. At the 1.8% rate forecast by economists for the year 2020, it would take 39 years.
At the root of the differing views between the administration and other forecasters is a debate about how tax cuts and regulatory rollbacks will affect growth. The administration has argued tax cuts and deregulation will lead to lasting increases in worker productivity as firms invest more and greater labor-force participation, meaning more workers with greater output.
While the immediate outlook for the rest of 2018 is strong, economists see an 18% chance of a recession beginning in the next 12 months. Those are the highest odds since President Trump’s election 21 months ago.
https://www.floordaily.net/flooring-news/economists-boost-near-term-projections
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Former Chief Meets Wheeler, Offers Advice
Aug 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Robin Bravender
Acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler sat down last week with one of his predecessors who has been an outspoken critic of Scott Pruitt and the Trump administration.
William Reilly, who led EPA during the George H.W. Bush administration, met Wheeler at agency headquarters, according to the acting administrator's public calendar.
Such meetings are standard practice for agency leaders, who frequently solicit advice from their predecessors — including those from opposing political parties. But the sit-down is particularly noteworthy for Wheeler, given that Pruitt — President Trump's first EPA boss, who resigned in July amid a hailstorm of ethical scandals — didn't reach out to some of the ex-EPA administrators who criticized him.
Wheeler and Reilly met for about 45 minutes in Wheeler's third-floor office, Reilly said yesterday in an interview.
Reilly called Wheeler a "very good listener" who "started very well" at the agency, even if they're likely to disagree on "many, if not most" policy items. Reilly was actually Wheeler's boss in the 1990s, when Reilly led the agency and Wheeler was a young career staffer in the toxics office (Greenwire, July 31).
"Essentially, I see him as a serious and responsible professional with integrity," Reilly said.
Reilly didn't feel that way about Pruitt.
During Pruitt's tenure, Reilly criticized his approach to EPA career staff, his round-the-clock security detail (a first among EPA administrators) and his regulatory rollbacks. Reilly is no fan of Trump, either — he backed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race and accused the administration in a Washington Post op-ed written with two other former EPA chiefs of putting the nation on a "dangerous path" when it comes to environmental policy.
While Pruitt was criticized by many of his predecessors — Republicans and Democrats alike — he found an early ally in former George W. Bush-era EPA boss Stephen Johnson. In a request last year to schedule a call with Pruitt, Johnson told an assistant that he hadn't been critical of Pruitt and "that he knows 'where the warts are in the agency' and hopes to be of help," according to an internal email released under the Freedom of Information Act (Climatewire, June 25).
Pruitt's public calendar shows that he had a call with Johnson later that month, on May 22. Pruitt's calendar also shows that he met with President Obama's former EPA deputy administrator, Bob Perciasepe, on May 25 last year at EPA headquarters.
EPA's press office declined to comment on why Wheeler sought the meeting with Reilly or whether he has asked for meetings with other ex-EPA bosses.
In addition to Reilly, former EPA Administrators William Ruckelshaus, Christine Todd Whitman and Carol Browner told E&E News last month that they'd be willing to talk to Wheeler if he reached out. Ruckelshaus led the agency under Presidents Reagan and Nixon, Whitman was administrator under President George W. Bush, and Browner was President Clinton's EPA boss (Greenwire, July 13).
Reilly said Wheeler strikes him as someone who "cares about the mission" of EPA, "which is something that I never saw an indication that Pruitt did."
During their meeting last week, Reilly offered advice: "I think it's very important to identify one or more areas where the rationale is the protection of the environment rather than the reduction of cost or regulatory responsibilities."
Asked about Wheeler's response, Reilly said, "He's a very good listener."
Reilly also urged him to convene a stakeholder group to review wetland regulation, he said, and to "reconstitute a credible science advisory committee" after Pruitt put in place a policy that generally bars agency grant recipients from serving on advisory committees.
"I should not imply that he indicated receptivity or support for either one," Reilly said. "He listened, and he heard me out."
Reilly said he was encouraged by Wheeler's support for international work and for recognizing the importance of EPA in setting an example for other countries. "That impressed me," Reilly said. "He spoke with, I thought, convincing concern about continuing to keep the banner high for the important role it plays for the rest of the world."
Reilly isn't the only noteworthy meeting on Wheeler's public calendar.
Late last month, the EPA chief met with Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), one of the Senate's top critics of the Trump administration's environmental policies.
And Wheeler met last week with former acting EPA Deputy Administrator Mike Flynn, a decadeslong career official who retired in April just before Wheeler was confirmed to be EPA deputy administrator under Pruitt.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/10/stories/1060093881
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China Imposes Anti-Dumping Duties on Synthetic Rubber From U.S, EU, Singapore
Aug 10, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Tom Daly
China's Ministry of Commerce said on Friday it would levy anti-dumping duties ranging from 23.1 percent to 75.5 percent on halogenated butyl rubber from the United States, the European Union and Singapore starting from Aug 20.
The ministry, which had imposed temporary anti-dumping duties on the synthetic rubber from those countries in April, said the 75.5 percent tariff would apply to U.S. rubber made by Exxon Mobil and other U.S. companies.
Arlanxeo Belgium faces a 27.4 percent tariff, while Exxon Mobil Chemical and other companies in the EU face 71.9 percent. Arlanxeo Singapore has been hit with a 23.1 percent tariff and other Singapore firms 45.2 percent.
A spokeswoman for Arlanxeo, a 50-50 joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Cologne-based Lanxess AG, said in an email that the company continued to work with the Ministry of Commerce on the matter. Aramco said on Wednesday it planned to acquire Lanxess' 50 percent stake in Arlanxeo.
Exxon Mobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/08/10/world/europe/10reuters-china-trade-rubber.html
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(ACC Mentioned) E.P.A. Staff Objected to Agency’s New Rules on Asbestos Use, Internal Emails Show
Aug 10, 2018 | The New York Times
By Lisa Friedman
Top officials at the Environmental Protection Agency pushed through a measure to review applications for using asbestos in consumer products, and did so over the objections of E.P.A.’s in-house scientists and attorneys, internal agency emails show.
The clash over the proposal exposes the tensions within the E.P.A. over the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back environmental rules and rewrite other regulations that industries have long fought.
Asbestos, a naturally occurring mineral and known carcinogen, was once common in insulation and fireproofing materials, but today most developed countries ban it. The United States still allows limited use in products including gaskets, roofing materials and sealants.
The proposed new rule would create a new process for regulating uses of asbestos, something the E.P.A. is obliged to do under a 2016 amendment to a toxic substances law.
The E.P.A. says it is toughening oversight. However, the way its new rule is written has spawned a spirited debate over whether it will actually make it easier for asbestos to come back into more widespread use. Consumer groups say the agency should be looking for ways to prohibit asbestos entirely.
“The new approach raises significant concerns about the potential health impacts,” wrote Sharon Cooperstein, an E.P.A. policy analyst, in one of the emails. She, along with a veteran E.P.A. scientist and a longtime agency attorney, said the proposal as designed left open the possibility that businesses could start using asbestos in some cases without getting the government’s assessment, putting the public at risk.
The asbestos plan, which was introduced with little fanfare in June, stems from the E.P.A.’s responsibility to regulate chemicals under the Toxic Substances Control Act and fulfill an Obama-era amendment that requires the agency to regularly re-evaluate the harmfulness of toxic materials. Asbestos is the most prominent of the current batch of substances the E.P.A. is deciding how best to regulate in the future.
Andrew R. Wheeler, E.P.A.’s acting administrator, said the E.P.A.’s plan would make it more difficult to use asbestos in products. The E.P.A., he wrote on Twitter, “is proposing a new rule that would allow for the restriction of asbestos manufacturing and processing of new uses of asbestos.”EDITORS’ PICKSIsrael Is Said to Have Assassinated Syrian Rocket ScientistStar Pastor’s Ex-Assistant Says He Groped Her RepeatedlyWhat the Mystery of the Tick-Borne Meat Allergy Could Reveal
The Trump administration has made government deregulation — of environmental rules, banking guidelines and myriad other regulatory areas — a centerpiece of its policy agenda, and the E.P.A. has been at the forefront of the effort. In recent weeks the agency detailed one of its most significant efforts, a major weakening of federal auto-emissions regulations.
The United States tried to ban asbestos use in the 1970s, but that effort was overturned by the federal courts in 1991. However the ruling did retain a ban on new uses of asbestos. Because of that (and the potential legal liability), use of asbestos declined in the United States.
Attorney General Maura Healey of Massachusetts is leading an effort among Democratic state attorneys to fight the asbestos plan, calling it a threat to human health. Exposure to asbestos has been linked to lung cancer, mesothelioma and other ailments.
“In recent years, tens of thousands have died from mesothelioma and other diseases caused by exposure to asbestos and other dangerous chemicals,” she said. “If the Trump administration’s erosion of federal chemical safety rules continues, it will endanger our communities and the health of all Americans.”
The United States no longer mines or manufactures asbestos. Until recently, Brazil had been the source of about 95 percent of all asbestos used in America, according to the E.P.A., but last year that country banned its manufacture and sale. Since then, Russia has stepped in as a supplier.
One Russian producer recently signaled enthusiasm for the American market. Last month, the Russian firm Uralasbest posted on Facebook an image of its asbestos packaging that featured President Donald J. Trump’s face along with the words: “Approved by Donald Trump, 45th president of the United States.” The company is one of the world’s largest producers and sellers of asbestos.
Uralasbest did not respond to a request for comment.
The new E.P.A. proposal is called a “significant new-use rule” that sets out the guidelines for what types of asbestos uses the federal government considers risky enough to evaluate and perhaps restrict or ban.
The internal E.P.A. emails indicate that, this year, top E.P.A. officials sought a last-minute change in the language of the rule.
“Upper management asked us to take a different approach,” wrote Robert T. Courtnage, an associate chief in E.P.A.’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, in an April 25 email sent to 13 members of an agency group working on the then-forthcoming proposal. Specifically: Rather than call for all new uses of asbestos to come before the E.P.A. for a risk review, the rule would include just 15 specific uses that would trigger a federal assessment.
The list of 15 included a number of specific and relatively common uses for asbestos, including as separators in fuel cells and batteries and as a component in vinyl-asbestos floor tile and high-grade electrical paper.
Mr. Courtnage in his email did not identify who had sought the change. He and other E.P.A. officials who wrote the emails did not respond to requests for comment.
Critics of the rule argue that limiting the review to 15 uses means other potential uses would avoid examination.Climate Change Is Complex. We’ve Got Answers to Your Questions.
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“This is presuming there’s nothing under the sun you could ever do with asbestos other than these 15 things,” said Betsy Southerland, former director of the E.P.A.’s office of science and technology, in an interview. Ms. Southerland resigned from E.P.A. last year over the Trump administration’s leadership of the agency and is working on opposing the asbestos rule and others for the Environmental Protection Network, a group of agency alumni.
Narrowing the list to 15 potential uses took E.P.A. scientists and attorneys by surprise, the emails indicate. Three staff members argued in the emails that the agency could not anticipate all future uses of asbestos, and therefore risked letting some uses take place without being weighed for safety risks.
Under the E.P.A.’s approach, if the agency “failed to correctly anticipate some other new use, then it seems to me that the manufacture of such a product would not be subject to” the new-use rule, wrote Susan Fairchild, an environmental scientist who has worked at the agency since 1991.
“Asbestos is an extremely dangerous substance with no safe exposure amount,” Mark Seltzer, an attorney who has been with E.P.A. more than a decade, noted in another email
A spokesman for the E.P.A., James Hewitt, said the emails indicated staff and other members of the working group on asbestos “did not fully understand the proposal being developed.”
In a telephone interview this week, Nancy B. Beck, the E.P.A.’s deputy assistant administrator in the agency’s chemical safety office, said the rules would to restrict and perhaps even ban some uses of asbestos where no means of doing so currently exist. “Obviously someone out there thinks we are increasing exposure to asbestos when we are doing the opposite,” she said.
The E.P.A. has set a Friday deadline for the public to comment on the asbestos rule, which it intends to finalize this year.
Before joining the E.P.A. Ms. Beck served as an executive at the American Chemistry Council, the chemical industry’s main trade association. (An E.P.A. spokeswoman also noted that Ms. Beck also previously worked for the Washington State Department of Health and served in the Office of Management and Budget under two former presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.)
The American Chemistry Council has not weighed in directly on the proposed asbestos rule.
Ms. Beck said that, since there is no ban on asbestos, no regulatory process currently exists to stop a company that chooses to put it in something like flooring or roofing materials. But under the rule, some of those ways of employing asbestos — which had over the decades become less common — would now be considered a significant new use. That will force companies to notify the E.P.A. and face an evaluate the risks.
“If you want to put asbestos in flooring materials you have to come to us first and we have to do a thorough risk evaluation and approve it,” she said. “Or we simply prohibit it.”
Asked why the rule specified 15 uses instead of applying to all prospective uses, Ms. Beck said the agency was confident it had included all foreseeable uses of asbestos. “We think we have identified all of the potential possible uses that are out there and could come back into manufacturing,” Ms. Beck said. “The universe is covered.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/10/climate/epa-asbestos-rule.html
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EPA Staff Objected to Trump Administration's Asbestos Plan, Emails Show
Aug 10, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Career staff at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) objected to the Trump administration’s plan for a new regulatory approach toward asbestos.
Internal emails obtained by the New York Times show that career staff involved with the development of a key proposal meant to prevent companies from returning to use of the carcinogenic chemical felt that steps being taken by senior officials could allow for some legacy uses to return anew.
Asbestos is not banned on the federal level, except for a few specific uses. A 2016 law gave the EPA new authority to prohibit the carcinogen.
The EPA’s proposal, released publicly in June, has come under scrutiny in recent days following allegations that it would open the door to widespread uses of asbestos. EPA officials have vociferously denied the accusations and say the proposed regulations would effectively ban the substance.
But staff emails from the spring show significant concerns among employees regarding part of the agency’s approach to what's known as a significant new use rule (SNUR).
The agency chose to list 15 known uses of asbestos, even though none are currently in use, and proposed companies be required to notify the EPA if they want to use asbestos in those situations, a move that would give the agency time to examine and potentially ban them.
Career staff pushed instead for a wider rule that would have encompassed all legacy uses of asbestos.
Mark Seltzer, an attorney in the EPA’s enforcement office, told his colleagues in April that scientists and others in the workgroup assembled for the asbestos rule objected to it.
“This new approach allows asbestos-containing products that are not currently used to be used in the future,” Seltzer argued in one of the emails obtained by the New York Times. “Many manufacturers have stopped using asbestos in their products but would be allowed to through this SNUR if it is not one of the approximately 15 types that the SNUR requires a [notification] for.”
Others reflected Seltzer’s opposition.
Sharon Cooperstein from the EPA’s policy office said in one of the emails that senior officials have “provided the workgroup no clear explanation of why the new approach is preferable” to the previous plan. “The new approach raises significant concerns about the potential public health impacts of the SNUR.”
EPA spokesman James Hewitt told the Times that the emails showed some staffers “did not fully understand the proposal being developed.”
Nancy Beck, a top political appointee in the EPA’s chemical safety office, defended the agency’s approach to The Hill earlier this week.
She said the SNUR, taken together with another proposal to scientifically study current uses of asbestos, creates “a regulatory framework that allows us to evaluate asbestos as it’s never been evaluated before.”
“By doing the SNUR, if someone wants to start the manufacturing and processing, if we find risk, we can prevent it,” she said. “This is a very good story for public health protection.”
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/401230-epa-staff-objected-to-asbestos-plan-emails-show
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PETA Defends EPA's Stalled TSCA Framework
Aug 10, 2018 | Inside EPA
The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is seeking to support EPA's draft framework for reviewing new chemicals under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), a measure that the agency appears to have shelved, arguing that it is consistent with TSCA's directive to reduce animal testing, which the group claims has spiked under the new law.
In an August 8 filing in the case Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) v. EPA, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit, PETA seeks leave to file an amicus curiae brief, and argues that EPA's draft framework advances long-standing efforts to reduce animal testing resulting from the agency's chemical review processes.
Environmental groups are challenging EPA's draft “New Chemicals Decision-Making Framework” issued late last year, that seeks to streamline reviews by dropping use of enforceable orders as an interim step in regulating new chemicals, and allowing the agency to proceed directly from premanufacture notices (PMNs) to issuing significant new use rules (SNURs).
Environmentalists say this approach may allow for some uses of the chemical before the agency issues a SNUR.
While the suit is likely flawed because it challenges a draft policy, it has nevertheless succeeded in dissuading the agency from following its procedures. And the agency now appears to be following a new process for addressing new chemicals, an approach that is also drawing strong criticism from environmentalists.
Despite the draft frawmework's status, PETA is nevertheless seeking to defend it and is warning that “[i]f EPA must consider all conditions of use through orders responsive to pre-manufacture notices rather than having the flexibility to address some uses through SNURs, testing on animals will increase, as illustrated by EPA’s review of new chemicals to date.”
PETA's filing comes as EPA in a July 31 filing, defended its draft review framework as consistent with the revised TSCA, but also said that petitioners lack standing, in part, because the agency has yet to implement the framework and may not.
In its brief, PETA backs the Trump administration's position in the December 2017 draft framework, that EPA can meet the law's requirement to address risks from “reasonably foreseen” conditions of use through the issuance of SNURs, and says the approach has the potential to save agency resources and spare animals' lives.
While noting that the revised TSCA directs EPA to reduce animal testing, PETA argues that since the law was enacted, animal testing for chemical reviews has increased dramatically.
“In 2017, the first year of implementing the amended TSCA, EPA required or requested 331 animal tests for new chemicals,” the filing says. “These tests would use approximately 76,523 fish, guinea pigs, mice, rabbits, and rats,” PETA says. By comparison, the group says, “In 2016 and 2015, prior to implementing the amended TSCA, EPA required or requested only 42 and 27 animal tests for new chemicals, respectively.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/peta-defends-epas-stalled-tsca-framework
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Wall Street's First: Goldman Sachs Looks To Venture Into LNG
Aug 10, 2018 | Oilprice.com (In Nasdaq)
By Tsvetana Paraskova
Goldman Sachs, the leading commodities trader among Wall Street’s largest investment banks, is looking to reverse the fortunes of its commodities trading business that posted its worst performance on record last year.
Goldman now reportedly plans to be the first top Wall Street bank to venture into a new and promising commodity market, in which the biggest trading houses have already entered and taken nearly 10 percent of the global trade: liquefied natural gas (LNG).
Goldman Sachs is in talks with Cheniere Energy—the owner of the first U.S. LNG export terminal Sabine Pass—to buy a cargo of LNG, with the aim to quickly resell it to another buyer, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
The investment bank started looking for an LNG contract to buy at the end of 2017. Goldman and Cheniere are currently negotiating, but talks may not necessarily result in an agreement, according to the Journal’s sources. The bank may also be looking to purchase LNG from another seller.
The average spot cargo of LNG leaving the United States is worth around US$30 million at current prices, the WSJ says, quoting estimates by Wood Mackenzie.
Should Goldman manage to strike a deal for a first LNG cargo, it would set foot on a growing and promising commodities market in which the U.S. is expected to play an increasingly prominent role. A potential LNG cargo acquisition could also help the investment bank to improve the results at its commodities trading business, which suffered a lot last year.
Goldman Sachs’s net revenues in Fixed Income, Currency and Commodities (FICC) Client Execution dropped by 30 percent annually to US$5.30 billion in 2017, due to significantly lower net revenues in commodities, interest rate products, currencies, and credit products amid low levels of volatility and low client activity. This year, the commodities unit performance has been much better, with net revenues at the FICC division surging 45 percent on the year to US$1.68 billion in Q2, with significant increases in commodities.
Goldman is now looking to take advantage of the growing LNG market, in which the world’s largest trading houses have already gained a foothold.
In recent years, Trafigura, Vitol, Gunvor, and Glencore have grown their LNG trading businesses. Last year, these four firms traded approximately 27 Mt of LNG, or 9 percent of total LNG sold worldwide, Wood Mackenzie has estimated.
Early this year, Cheniere Energy and Trafigura struck an LNG sale and purchase agreement, under which Trafigura would buy around 1 million tons a year of LNG from Cheniere on a free on board basis for 15 years beginning in 2019. The purchase price for LNG will be indexed to the monthly Henry Hub price, plus a fee.
Goldman’s potential LNG cargo purchase would come at a time in which U.S. LNG export capabilities and markets are growing. In 2017, LNG exports quadrupled compared to 2016, and all cargoes originated from Louisiana’s Sabine Pass liquefaction terminal, which was the only LNG export terminal until recently.
The Cove Point LNG export project in Maryland, the second LNG export facility in the continental United States after Sabine Pass, started operations earlier this year. Another fourLNG export projects are underway across the U.S.—Elba Island LNG in Georgia, Freeport LNG in Texas, Corpus Christi in Texas, and Cameron LNG in Louisiana.
Last month, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a final rule—effective August 24, 2018—that will fast-track approval of applications for small-scale exports of natural gas, including LNG, from U.S. export facilities.
As the U.S. and global LNG markets are growing, it looks like a top investment bank such as Goldman Sachs doesn’t want to miss out the opportunity to rake in some more profits from commodity trading.
https://www.nasdaq.com/article/wall-streets-first-goldman-sachs-looks-to-venture-into-lng-cm1005576
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Analysis: US LNG Export Demand Faces Steep Ramp Up
Aug 10, 2018 | S&P Global Platts
By J. Robinson, Tyler Jubert, Harry Weber, and Ross Wyeno
Natural gas demand from US LNG export terminals is set to double over the next year as a spate of new liquefaction projects now nearing completion enters service.
By September 2019, the startup of Elba Island Trains 1-10, Sabine Pass Train 5, Corpus Christi Trains 1-2, Cameron Train 1 and Freeport Train 1 will add a combined 3.7 Bcf/d in new liquefaction capacity, according to a forecast published by S&P Global Platts Analytics. As early as next month, initial feedgas demand from Elba Island Trains 1-6 could come online, eventually ramping up to approximately 210 MMcf/d. The company's full 10-Train Moveable Modular Liquefaction System or MMLS would consume just 350 MMcf/d upon completion, making it the smallest of the first-wave US LNG liquefaction projects.
Following an early July order from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission authorizing the introduction of fuel gas at Cheniere Energy's Corpus Christi Train 1, Texas' first LNG liquefaction facility could be the next in line to begin exporting, with commissioning cargoes expected by first-quarter 2019.
Based on Cheniere's previous timeline from fuel-gas authorization to initial feedgas deliveries, which averaged roughly 120 days at Sabine Pass, it is possible that the Corpus Christi terminal could see a first export cargo as early as February.
According to Cheniere CEO Jack Fusco, exports from Sabine Pass Train 5 won't be far behind.
In a recent interview with S&P Global Platts, the LNG executive said that he expects the Louisiana terminal's fifth train to begin producing LNG by later this year, followed by commissioning cargoes shortly thereafter.H2 2019 AND BEYOND
During the second half of 2019, Platts Analytics is forecasting an even steeper ramp up in LNG demand with the startup of Elba Island's remaining Trains, 7-10 in July, followed by Cameron LNG Train 1, Freeport Train 1 and Corpus Christi Train 2 by next September.
Combined, the seven liquefaction trains would add another 2 Bcf/d in US liquefaction demand.
Looking further ahead, while Cameron, Freeport and Corpus Christi's remaining trains, currently under construction, seem certain to enter service over the next two to three years, LNG export projects still in search of buyers seem less certain now, thanks to an increasingly bitter trade war between Washington and Beijing.
While the two sides' tit-for-tat tariffs have yet to engulf the LNG industry, some industry analysts and market participants worry that the Chinese market, now the third largest for US LNG exports, could soon impose a crippling 25% tariff on US liquefied gas.
https://www.spglobal.com/platts/en/market-insights/latest-news/natural-gas/081018-analysis-us-lng-export-demand-faces-steep-ramp-up
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Oil Supply Fears Have Abated as Production Rises, IEA Says
Aug 10, 2018 | Bloomberg (In Houston Chronicle)
Fears about global oil supplies have receded after producers pumped more, according to the International Energy Agency, which a month ago warned of a potential shortage.
"Concerns about the stability of oil supply have cooled down somewhat, at least for now," the agency, which advises most of the world's major economies, said in a monthly report. "We have seen increases in production, mainly in Saudi Arabia and Russia, a surge in U.S. exports in June" and "a partial, but fragile recovery in Libya."
The more relaxed outlook comes despite an increase in the agency's oil demand estimates. The Paris-based agency also said the calm might prove fleeting, echoing its warning from last month that ongoing losses in Venezuela and U.S. sanctions against Iran could eventually cut more supply than other producers can replace.
Oil prices have fallen for six straight weeks in New York, trading below $67 a barrel on Friday amid concern that the trade dispute between the U.S. and China could hurt economic activity and energy consumption. Prices also retreated as OPEC and Russia agreed to revive output to ease consumer concerns after crude surged to a three-year high earlier in the summer.
Russian oil output is seen rising by more than official estimates The volume of oil in transit gains as OPEC boosts output Pakistan's fuel imports fall despite high seasonal demand Doubts remain about possibility of a Houston WTI benchmark
World oil supplies increased last month because of gains in Russia and Gulf OPEC members Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, the IEA said. Output from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its partners was back in line with the target agreed back in 2016, fulfilling the group's June agreement to end a long period in which cuts were deeper than pledged.Production from OPEC itself was steady in July after an unexpected pullback by its biggest member, Saudi Arabia. After signaling the potential for record output in July, it actually pumped 10.35 million barrels a day, slightly less than June due to subdued interest from Asian buyers, the IEA said.
In order to satisfy demand in the second half of this year, the cartel will have to increase production slightly from the 32.2 million barrels a day it pumped in July, the IEA's data showed.
Any increase would come on top of the additional supply needed to offset ongoing losses in Venezuela and a looming slump in Iran, which faces renewed American sanctions after U.S. President Donald Trump quit a nuclear agreement with the country.
"As oil sanctions against Iran take effect, perhaps in combination with production problems elsewhere, maintaining global supply might be very challenging and would come at the expense of maintaining an adequate spare capacity cushion," the IEA said.
Pressure on world markets has also eased with a pullback in demand growth, which "slowed dramatically" in the second and third quarters but is set to rebound after that. The agency boosted its estimate for the consumption increase in 2019 by 110,000 barrels a day to 1.5 million a day, predicting consumers will respond to lower prices.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Oil-supply-fears-have-abated-as-production-rises-13146504.php
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Natural Gas Pipeline Capacity to South Central Region and Export Markets Increase in 2018
Aug 10, 2018 | American Journal of Transportation
By the end of 2018, EIA expects natural gas pipeline capacity into the South Central region of the United States to reach almost 19 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d). The region has shifted from being a source of natural gas supply to a source of growing demand, reversing the historical flows of natural gas in the Lower 48 states. Natural gas pipeline projects scheduled to come online in 2018 will bring additional supply to the Gulf Coast and support growing export markets.Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. natural gas pipeline state-to-state capacity
Of the additional 6.4 Bcf/d of Northeast capacity planned to come online in 2018, more than 2.8 Bcf/d reaches the South Central region directly through three projects that transport natural gas through the Midwest and Southeast: Rayne Xpress, Gulf Xpress, and Atlantic Sunrise. Further west, Natural Gas Pipeline of America’s Gulf Coast Southbound Phase 1 is scheduled to enter service in October 2018. This pipeline will transport up to 0.46 Bcf/d of natural gas from Illinois into south Texas and Louisiana, where it will supply the Corpus Christi LNG export facility and pipelines into Mexico.Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
The LNG export facilities scheduled to come online in 2018 and 2019 represent an additional 6.1 Bcf/d of LNG export capacity, requiring infrastructure to connect them to the interstate pipeline network and deliver large volumes of natural gas to the liquefaction terminals. The United States currently has two operational LNG export facilities, which have a combined export capacity of 3.5 Bcf/d: Sabine Pass Trains 1-4 (2.8 Bcf/d) and Cove Point (0.8 Bcf/d). In addition to Train 5 at Sabine Pass, four new LNG export facilities are under construction, three of which are located in the South Central region. All three of these facilities have associated pipeline projects that are scheduled to be completed this year:
Freeport LNG will be supplied in part by the Coastal Bend Header Project (1.5 Bcf/d)
Cameron LNG will be supplied in part by Columbia Gulf Transmission’s Cameron Access Project (0.8 Bcf/d) and Tennessee Gas Pipeline’s Southwest Louisiana Supply Project (0.9 Bcf/d)
Corpus Christi LNG will be supplied in part by the Cheniere Corpus Christi Pipeline Project (2.25 Bcf/d)EIA expects exports of natural gas to Mexico by pipeline to rise in 2018 as several projects within Texas are completed. U.S. natural gas pipeline exports to Mexico have grown from 0.9 Bcf/d in 2010 to more than 4.3 Bcf/d through April 2018. Over this timeframe, pipeline capacity from Texas into Mexico has more than tripled, reaching 9.3 Bcf/d in 2017. This growth is likely to continue in 2018 with the completion of the 2.6 Bcf/d Valley Crossing Pipeline.
The complementary project under construction on the Mexican side of the border, the Sur de Texas pipeline, is an underwater pipeline along the Gulf of Mexico coast terminating in Veracruz, Mexico. This new pipeline system will be supplied, in part, by Texas Eastern Transmission Corporation’s (TETCO) South Texas Expansion Project and Pomelo Connector Pipeline, which will increase north-to-south flow on TETCO’s system in Texas by 0.4 Bcf/d and create an interconnect between the two pipelines. Increases in natural gas exports to Mexico depend on when the facilities on both the U.S. and Mexican side of the border begin service.Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration
EIA is tracking the development of more than 160 proposed natural gas pipeline projects. Of these projects, 37 have been recently completed or are currently under construction and scheduled to come into service by the end of 2018. More information is available on EIA’s Natural Gas Pipeline Projects tracker, updated quarterly, and EIA’s historical data for U.S. state-to-state pipeline capacities.
https://www.ajot.com/news/natural-gas-pipeline-capacity-to-south-central-region-and-export-markets-increase-in-2018
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GAO Urges DHS to Share More Info on Chemical Facilities with First Responders
Aug 10, 2018 | Homeland Preparedness News
By Chris Galford
Warning of the potential danger presented by attackers targeting hazardous chemical facilities, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) is urging the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to share more information with first responders who may need to respond to security incidents.
Additionally, GAO encouraged DHS to begin measuring facilities’ vulnerability to terrorist attacks, measuring the reduction in vulnerability of these facilities and using that data to assess the performance of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) program. Though that program has been in place since 2013, using a quality assurance review process to verify reported information at high-risk facilities and to conduct risk assessment, GAO found gaps in coverage that could prove problematic.
GAO noted that DHS has made substantial progress over the years in conducting and completing compliance inspections, and has begun to measure facility security. Such measures represent a critical need, given that terrorists could use facilities that produce, use, or store hazardous chemicals to inflict mass casualties, damage, and fear through stealing chemicals and using them to build explosive devices. GAO therefore reviewed DHS reports and data, interviewed officials and assessed information from 11 trade associations representing chemical facilities and 15 emergency planning communities, to get the information for its recommendations.
While the DHS currently shares some information with first responders and emergency planners, they do not get all the information potentially needed to minimize risk of injury or death when responding to critical incidents at high-risk facilities. They get some, but not nearly all, chemical inventory information, and many lack access to CFATS data in DHS’s Infrastructure Protection Gateway.
https://homelandprepnews.com/countermeasures/29907-gao-urges-dhs-to-share-more-info-on-chemical-facilities-with-first-responders/
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Congress Moves to Delay Portion of Port-Based Transportation Worker ID Program
Aug 10, 2018 | Commercial Carrier Journal
By Jill Dunn
The deadline for high-risk maritime facilities to implement biometric card readers for truck drivers and other transportation personnel has been postponed until Homeland Security reports to Congress on its Transportation Worker Identification Credential program.
On Aug. 2, President Donald Trump signed the TWIC Accountability Act, which orders DHS to a deliver a through program assessment to Congress before electronic verification can be mandated. The 2016 Coast Guard and DHS final rule required the readers implemented as access control measures by Aug. 23, but did not clarify which facilities require them. That resulted in industry stakeholders not making investing in the devices and manufacturers hesitant to produce them.
The Aug. 23 compliance deadline was also put on hold by U.S. District Court Judge Leonie Brinkema’s July 24 preliminary injunction against mandating readers at most ports. Still, the Alexandria, Virginia federal court let that deadline stand for roughly 165 U.S. terminals certified to receive vessels carrying more than thousand passengers.
The National Tank Truck Carriers filed an amicus brief siding with International Liquid Terminal Association and other trade groups suing the agencies. They argued electronic verification will increase delays at ports and the cost to truckers was not adequately considered. Also, the public didn’t learn a far larger number of locations would be affected than proposed rule until the final rule was published.
Federal officials have questioned the program’s effectiveness since it began, following a 2002 law requiring workers have the credential to access secure areas of maritime facilities.
The congressional report accompanying the new law notes the Government Accountability Office reported reliability issues in 2011 and 2013 and recommend reassessing program security. In 2016, the DHS Inspector General found it lacked proper internal control and fraud detection, prompting the House Homeland Security committee to demand the agency thoroughly evaluate TWIC effectiveness, but did not stipulate biometric reader be included in that assessment.
https://www.ccjdigital.com/congress-moves-to-delay-portion-of-port-based-transportation-worker-id-program/
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Calif. Looks to Streamline Project's Environmental Reviews
Aug 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Courtney Columbus
House lawmakers yesterday pressed the leader of California's high-speed rail project about rising costs, delays and the status of environmental reviews.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO Brian Kelly said he was working with the federal government to expedite permitting. Eight of the 10 segments of the project are still under environmental scrutiny, he said during a field hearing in Sacramento.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Chairman Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) questioned why other projects such as sports stadiums have been able to waive California environmental rules.
"I'm not saying [the California Environmental Quality Act] needs to be waived, but there is certainly some streamlining that could be done if this was a real priority," said Denham, a critic of the high-speed rail venture.
Kelly responded, "We have been working for the last eight months to get an agreement where we can assign the [National Environmental Policy Act] responsibilities to the state of California for moving forward on the environmental process. That has been done only on the highway side in this country."
Kelly added, "That's a request that we have before the administration now, and we're just waiting for the approval of that. We think that will also save months and time and money on this project."
Later in the hearing, Kelly said the environmental reviews are scheduled to be completed by 2022.
California voters approved $9.95 billion in bonds for the project in 2008. At the time, the cost of the entire high-speed rail line — which would connect Northern and Southern California, and points in between — was estimated at $33 billion, and it was scheduled to be completed in 2020.
The estimated costs of the project have ballooned since then, with the first phase of the project estimated at $77.3 billion, according to the rail authority's 2018 business plan.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/10/stories/1060093879
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Railroad Acknowledges Iowa Derailment Was Flood Related
Aug 10, 2018 | AP (In The Washington Post)
BNSF Railway has acknowledged flooding played a role in a derailment that loosed thousands of gallons of oil into northwest Iowa floodwaters.
BNSF spokesman Andy Williams said Friday that the derailment was “flood related” but declined to say whether the train engineer knew or should have known about washed-out tracks mentioned in a preliminary federal report released Thursday.
The National Transportation Safety Board report cited heavy rainfall in the area 48 hours before the June 22 derailment just south of Doon, Iowa. The report says the rain and runoff washed out track and flooded a tributary of the nearby Little Rock River. The report stopped short of saying the flooding caused the 32-car derailment.
The federal report also says the train was moving at 48 mph (77 kph) — just below the authorized speed for that stretch.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/railroad-acknowledges-iowa-derailment-was-flood-related/2018/08/10/a8e0efd8-9cb3-11e8-a8d8-9b4c13286d6b_story.html?utm_term=.af12db625979
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Koch Network Weighs in on NEPA Rollback
Aug 10, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk
Americans for Prosperity — the political network affiliated with the billionaire Koch brothers — weighed in yesterday to support one of the Trump administration's most wide-ranging environmental rollbacks.
The White House Council on Environmental Quality in June issued a proposal aimed at streamlining its National Environmental Policy Act regulations (Greenwire, June 19).
In a public comment dated Aug. 9, Americans for Prosperity Chief Government Affairs Officer Brent Gardner said the proposed rewrite is a chance to "enhance and modernize the federal environmental review process."
"As the CEQ embarks on this innovative reform effort, we urge you to streamline interagency coordination by updating obsolete provisions that cause unnecessary delays in infrastructure project approvals," Gardner wrote.
When a company wants to build a pipeline, road or other infrastructure, federal agencies are required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to review the project's environmental impact. But how does NEPA work and why is it controversial? E&E News Explains provides a simple overview.Pamela King/E&E News
The CEQ regulations, which have not been updated since 1986, underpin environmental permitting for the entire federal government.
Americans for Prosperity is among the heaviest-hitting political organizations to weigh in on CEQ's proposal. It's also drawn scrutiny from Democrats in Congress and hundreds of environmental groups.
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee ranking member Tom Carper (D-Del.) earlier this month voted against the nomination of Mary Neumayr, President Trump's pick to lead CEQ, in part because he was "troubled" by the agency's plans to rewrite NEPA (Greenwire, Aug. 1).
The Americans for Prosperity comments, meanwhile, mirror long-held industry criticisms of NEPA, namely that permitting times have ballooned in recent decades and the process has become too costly and bureaucratic.
"Enforceable timelines, better predictability, and more transparency are indispensable features that must be included in order for your reforms to be effective," the group wrote.
Other commenters took the time to answer each of the 20 questions about the regulations CEQ laid out in its advanced notice of proposed rulemaking.
The commission for Duchesne County, Utah, penned an extensive response recommending, among other things, that CEQ limit the page length of environmental impact statements.
Other comments are less than conventional. Karen Alstrup wrote that she would like to see CEQ come up with a solution for "illegal immigrants" who "have trashed the environment" in the Arizona desert.
But most of the more than 3,500 public comments on the proposal favor environmentalists, who fear the Trump administration will cut the teeth out of the regulations and allow the federal agencies to significantly weaken their own NEPA standards.
Many are standard-issue comments circulated by green groups expressing concern about any effort to "streamline" CEQ's regulations.
"This is not the right path for our national parks or our communities, which depend on thoughtful decisions to protect air, water, and lands now and in the future," reads one form comment.
Jeffrey Waggoner kept his two-sentence response simple.
"Now more than ever, we need the procedural safeguards that this bedrock law provides," he wrote. "Leave NEPA alone."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/08/10/stories/1060093877
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