Preview Newsletter
AM ACC Clips Report - September 6, 2018
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(ACC Mentioned) Manufacturing Summit Will Focus On Petrochemical Industry Efforts
Sep 6, 2018 | Oil City Derrick
By Judith O.Etzel
Efforts to pump up the petrochemical industry in western Pennsylvania, including plastics-related businesses in this region, will be the top subject of a manufacturing summit set for Tuesday at Cross Creek Resort. -
EPA’s Big Data Headaches Impair Citizen Research: Watchdog
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
The EPA’s struggle to manage vast amounts of environmental data is holding back its enforcement efforts and its ability to use research that citizens collect in their communities, the agency’s inspector general reported Sept. 5. -
EPA Advances Final TSCA Fees Rule
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA has sent for White House review a draft final rule governing the fees the agency will collect from businesses to defray costs of implementing the revised toxics law, teeing up a measure that has sparked debate among industry and environmentalists over the level of any fees though the agency has previously defended its proposed approach. -
Democrats on House Energy and Commerce Committee Renew Request for Hearing on Implementation Of TSCA Amendments
Sep 5, 2018 | The National Law Review
By Lynn L. Bergeson
On August 29, 2018, the Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce issued a press release announcing that they have renewed their request for a hearing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the amendments made by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). -
Bayer CEO Has ‘No Regrets’ for $63 Billion Monsanto Purchase
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Naomi Kresge and Tim Loh
Bayer AG’s $63 billion Monsanto purchase has suffered regulatory delays, mounting legal claims and now will yield lower earnings for the year than earlier forecast. Still, the company’s CEO says he has “no regrets.” -
Chemours Defends Contact With Putative N.C. Class Members
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Peter Hayes
Chemours Co.'s communications with unrepresented putative class members over Cape Fear, N.C., water contamination are legal and proper, the company told the Eastern District of North Carolina. -
Environmentalists Sue Over GenX Releases Ahead Of EPA Risk Values
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Suzanne Yohannan
As EPA and other regulators prepare risk values for GenX, a perfluorinated chemical, environmentalists are stepping up their efforts to block releases of the substance, suing a major manufacturer in a bid to halt its air emissions and water discharges on the grounds that it is failing to comply with EPA and state consent orders. -
More Than 800 REACH 2018 Dossiers Awaiting Registration Number
Sep 6, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Nearly 850 REACH dossiers submitted to Echa by the 31 May deadline are yet to be granted registration numbers, the agency said. -
EU Chemicals Agency Lists 18 Substances For Possible Phase-Out
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Gardner
AkzoNobel N.V. and Merck Group are two of many chemical companies that could be affected by a proposed ban on eighteen hazardous substances in the European Union. -
EPA Floats Groundwater Cleanup Advice For PFAS
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA has sent to the White House for review draft recommendations for addressing two perfluorinated chemicals in groundwater, moving forward on one of four commitments EPA leadership made earlier this year in response to growing public concern over the class of emerging chemicals. -
Bipartisan Support For LNG Export Certainty
Sep 6, 2018 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) and Gene Green (D-Texas)
The House of Representatives today will consider H.R. 4606, the Ensuring Small Scale LNG Certainty and Access Act, which provides that applications under the Natural Gas Act (NGA) for the importation or exportation of small volumes of natural gas will be granted without delay if they do not require an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act. -
Flint Hills To Expand Ingleside Oil Export Facility
Sep 5, 2018 | Chron
By Rye Druzin
Flint Hills Resources is planning to expand its Ingleside crude oil export facility as exports of U.S. crude continue to ramp up along Texas' Gulf Coast. -
Sumitomo to Negotiate 2.2 MPTA Purchase from Freeport LNG
Sep 6, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (SCOA) has agreed to negotiate with FLNG Liquefaction 4 LLC for a 20-year liquefaction tolling agreement (LTA) from the Freeport liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Southeast Texas, the companies said Wednesday. -
State Department Plans New Keystone XL Review in December
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Adams-Heard
The State Department expects to publish a final supplemental environmental impact statement for TransCanada’s Keystone XL crude oil pipeline project in December, the agency said in a court filing. -
(ACC Mentioned) Bill Would Reauthorize High-Risk Facility Safety Program
Sep 6, 2018 | E&E Daily
By Courtney Columbus
A new bill would reauthorize a Department of Homeland Security regulatory program for high-risk chemical facilities. -
(ACC Mentioned) Backing Current Rule, EPA Urges D.C. Circuit To Reject Obama's RMP Update
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Dave Reynolds
EPA, chemical manufacturers, and GOP-led states are urging a federal appellate court to reject environmentalists' request to compel the agency to quickly implement an Obama-era update to the agency's facility accident prevention rule, arguing petitioners have failed to show the rare move is needed and that a prior RMP rule reduces risks. -
Senate Moves on Anti-Terror Chemical Program Would Ease Compliance (1)
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sam Pearson
Facilities holding high-risk chemicals would see an easier path to compliance with a federal chemical security program for the next five years under legislation introduced in the Senate Sept. 4. -
CASAC Urges Greater Ammonia Focus In EPA NOx-SOx-PM NAAQS Review
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA science advisers are reiterating calls for the agency to boost its focus on the environmental effects of ammonia air pollution as part of an ongoing review of the “secondary” environment-based ambient air limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM) due to concerns about ammonia's adverse impacts. -
Climate Envoys Seek Successor to $33 Billion UN Carbon Market
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Mathew Carr
After the United Nations’s first attempt to build a global carbon market fizzled from $33 billion to almost nothing, climate envoys from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Bangkok this week to give it another go. -
Stronger Procedures Needed For Air Model Changes — IG
Sep 6, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
EPA should tighten its procedures for making changes to the complex models that often play a critical role in predicting the impact of pollutant emissions, the agency's inspector general said in an audit released today. -
Kavanaugh Hints At CPP Opposition With Attack On Agency Policymaking
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
By David LaRoss
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is hinting that he would vote to strike down the Obama EPA's Clean Power Plan (CPP) utility greenhouse gas rule, attacking agencies for relying on ambiguities in “old law” to justify novel new policymaking efforts after they fail to convince Congress to approve legislation to authorize the policies.
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Transportation and Infrastructure News - There are no clips to report at this time.
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(ACC Mentioned) Manufacturing Summit Will Focus On Petrochemical Industry Efforts
Sep 6, 2018 | Oil City Derrick
By Judith O.Etzel
Efforts to pump up the petrochemical industry in western Pennsylvania, including plastics-related businesses in this region, will be the top subject of a manufacturing summit set for Tuesday at Cross Creek Resort.
"We are trying to get manufacturers to take a long-term view of what the opportunities will be from the cracker plant (at Beaver) as well as other ones that are planned," said Deb Lutz, a coordinator for the all-day session.
.... The economic impact of chemical and plastic manufacturing in Appalachia will be discussed by Martha Moore of the American Chemistry Council and Abby ..
http://www.thederrick.com/news/front_page/manufacturing-summit-will-focus-on-petrochemical-industry-efforts/article_5f454807-fc0e-5c1c-9c1c-6614ca68153f.html
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EPA’s Big Data Headaches Impair Citizen Research: Watchdog
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
Agency’s collection of citizens’ research lacks direction, inspector general says
EPA office’s data management strategy, now being developed, omits citizen science data
The EPA’s struggle to manage vast amounts of environmental data is holding back its enforcement efforts and its ability to use research that citizens collect in their communities, the agency’s inspector general reported Sept. 5.
The Environmental Protection Agency supports more than 20 citizen science projects, which range from air pollution monitoring in Portland, Ore., to testing water quality in the Chesapeake Bay to documenting algal blooms along coastlines.
Some citizen science data is used to assess the need for enforcement monitoring and investigations, the agency’s enforcement officials told the EPA’s inspector general.
The agency’s Office of Environmental Information, which ensures the quality of EPA’s information, “does not have the capacity or resources to handle challenges posed by ‘big data,’” the inspector general said.
Those problems stem from the amount and the variety of data the agency handles, as well as storage, ownership, and data access issues. Big data is too large and complex for traditional database management tools, according to the inspector general.
The Office of Environmental Information’s data management strategy, currently in development, omits citizen science data, the inspector general said.
In response to the inspector general’s findings, the EPA will create a work group to establish a strategic vision for citizen science and a separate assessment and action plan for managing citizen science data. It anticipates completing those actions by the end of 2020.
The inspector general’s review included citizen science efforts that created data for the agency, whether or not the EPA funded the efforts.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/epas-big-data-headaches-impair-citizen-research-watchdog
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EPA Advances Final TSCA Fees Rule
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA has sent for White House review a draft final rule governing the fees the agency will collect from businesses to defray costs of implementing the revised toxics law, teeing up a measure that has sparked debate among industry and environmentalists over the level of any fees though the agency has previously defended its proposed approach.
EPA Aug. 31 sent for Office of Management Budget (OMB) review the draft final rule detailing how it will assess industry fees to help fund a host of actions under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), including new and existing chemical reviews, issuing test orders, and weighing claims of confidential business information.
OMB review generally takes 90 days but can take more or less time.
EPA sought comment through April 27 on a Feb. 26 proposed rule that environmentalists argue low balls the agency's implementation costs, resulting in inadequate fees on manufacturers. But industry has faulted the proposed fees as too high, and argued that the rule fails to adequately address refunds for when EPA misses deadlines.
EPA says it will begin collecting fees in fiscal year 2019 and will adjust the schedule for inflation every three years.
While EPA officials are eager to issue the rule and begin collecting fees, they also expect implementation challenges. For example Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics Director Jeff Morris told staff during a Feb. 27 meeting that money from fees could bring new hires but that he does not expect to begin receiving fees until 2020.
EPA sought comment on a proposed methodology and two alternatives for assessing industry fees that are intended to fully recover the amount specified by the revised TSCA, which is 25 percent of the costs of implementing several key programs under the chemical safety law, or up to $25 million, whichever number is lower.
The agency sought comment on alternative methodologies for calculating fees, and on steps it has proposed to ease burdens on processors and small businesses. For example, the agency proposed limiting fees on processors, and broadening a prior TSCA regulatory definition of small businesses that are eligible for reduced payments under the rule.
In comments, both industry and environmentalists sought greater transparency in EPA's estimates of costs of running the program, from which fees are derived. But while advocates warned that EPA must assess fees sufficient to support the program, industry contends that the proposed fees are excessive and would stifle innovation.
During a March industry conference in Washington, DC, Mark Hartman, acting OPPT deputy director, backed the proposed rule as a strong start, but also left the door open to significant changes.
“There is a great deal of uncertainty in trying to come up with a reasonable cost estimate for something that has not been done before,” Harman said. “But we tried to minimize that uncertainty and find a space we thought was a reasonable starting point for this effort.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/epa-advances-final-tsca-fees-rule
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Sep 5, 2018 | The National Law Review
By Lynn L. Bergeson
On August 29, 2018, the Democrats on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce issued a press release announcing that they have renewed their request for a hearing on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implementation of the amendments made by the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
The Democrats note this is the fourth request they have made for hearings to be held on EPA’s management of toxic chemicals. According to the press release, the Democrats “remain concerned that EPA’s implementation of the reformed TSCA program contradicts the new law’s language and intent and undermines public confidence in the program.”
The press release states that the Democrats “are concerned that EPA is ignoring its own scientific evidence and the recommendations of its experienced career staff regarding TSCA implementation at the expense of public health.
They point to a recent report from the New York Times that found EPA officials proposed a rulemaking to review applications for use of asbestos in consumer products over the objections of EPA attorneys and scientists.”
The Democrats “also charge that EPA has abandoned its statutory mandate to review all new and existing chemicals known or foreseeable uses and exposure putting human health and the environment at risk,” possibly resulting in an incomplete evaluation of the health and environmental risk of a number of “extremely toxic chemicals, including asbestos, perchloroethylene (PERC), methylene chloride, and trichloroethylene (TCE).”
The letter was signed by Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Environment Subcommittee Ranking Member Paul Tonko (D-NY), Raul Ruiz (D-CA), Scott Peters (D-CA), Gene Green (D-TX), Diana DeGette (D-CO), Jerry McNerney (D-CA), Tony Cardenas (D-CA), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), and Doris Matsui (D-CA).
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/democrats-house-energy-and-commerce-committee-renew-request-hearing-implementation
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Bayer CEO Has ‘No Regrets’ for $63 Billion Monsanto Purchase
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Naomi Kresge and Tim Loh
Delayed closing will hurt results for this year, company says
Bayer sees 8,700 people seeking damages on Roundup herbicide
Bayer AG’s $63 billion Monsanto purchase has suffered regulatory delays, mounting legal claims and now will yield lower earnings for the year than earlier forecast. Still, the company’s CEO says he has “no regrets.”
The German company lost out on revenue from Monsanto’s busy spring season, when farmers in the Northern Hemisphere plant the bulk of their crops, because antitrust challenges slowed the acquisition of the maker of Roundup weed killer. The shares fell as much as 3.7 percent in Frankfurt, and have lost about 23 percent this year.
“The Monsanto business is very healthy,” Chief Executive Officer Werner Baumann said Sept. 5 in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “We are as excited as we have ever been about the combination, and there are absolutely no regrets.”
While acquiring Monsanto made Bayer the biggest seed and agricultural-chemicals maker in the world, the purchase has been dogged by a series of challenges from regulators and legal pitfalls. After officials around the world scrutinized the deal’s effect on competition in the consolidating agriculture industry, a legal battle over Roundup came to the fore.
Regulatory ScrutinyClosing the deal required nearly two years of wrangling with regulators. Bayer filed some 40 million pages of paperwork, eventually agreeing to sell 7.6 billion euros ($8.8 billion) in agriculture assets—including its vegetable-seeds business—to German competitor BASF SE to placate antitrust authorities. The delays pushed the deal to June. Monsanto’s sales in the second quarter of 2017 were $5.07 billion, compared with $2.69 billion in the fourth quarter.
The deal continued to generate headaches when a California court last month awarded $289 million to a school groundskeeper who claimed that the herbicide had helped cause his cancer. As of late August, some 8,700 people were seeking damages over glyphosate, the main ingredient in Roundup—a number that has risen steadily in recent months. More cases are expected, Bayer said.
Bayer contends that Roundup is safe. The company said it’s set aside money for a “vigorous” defense, without saying how much.
Hard to PredictThis year’s Bayer earnings were always going to be hard to predict because of the Monsanto deal, and next year’s will be more telling, said David Evans, an analyst at Kepler Cheuvreux. Bayer’s weaker-than-expected 2018 earnings forecast was a result of Monsanto’s “extreme phasing of seasonal earnings,” he said in a phone interview. “It certainly doesn’t really help sentiment on the stock.”
Boosted by the acquisition, sales will exceed 39 billion euros this year, Bayer said. Without Monsanto, Bayer had previously predicted that sales would be less than 35 billion euros and earnings by that measure would decline by a low-single-digit percentage.
The company had earlier said that 2018 earnings would equal those for 2017, 6.74 euros a share. Bayer revised last year’s core EPS downward, to 6.64 euros per share, to reflect changes after its rights offering in June.
While the share drop is “understandable” given the Monsanto delays, the company’s performance and outlooks for its segments haven’t changed, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Christopher Perrella and Michael Shah said in a note.
Bayer-Monsanto is the last of a trio of a mega-deals to reshape the market for seeds and pesticides. DuPont Co. merged with Dow Chemical Co. last year, while China National Chemical Corp. acquired Syngenta AG.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/bayer-ceo-has-no-regrets-for-63-billion-monsanto-purchase
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Chemours Defends Contact With Putative N.C. Class Members
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Peter Hayes
Chemours defends communication with unrepresented putative class members over water contamination from company’s N.C. plant
Class counsel challenge company’s offer of water filtration systems to affected residents
Chemours Co.'s communications with unrepresented putative class members over Cape Fear, N.C., water contamination are legal and proper, the company told the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Chemours made no misleading statements or coercive communications in offering water filtration systems to residents affected by contamination from its Fayetteville plant, the company said.
And there is no justification for restricting the company’s First Amendment rights, Chemours told the court.
The filing comes in response to an Aug. 13 motion by plaintiffs’ counsel, challenging Chemours’s contact with putative class members in three consolidated class actions.
Plaintiffs asked the court to require Chemours to inform putative class members that a class action is pending, and that acceptance of the filtration unit from the company would have no effect on class members’ rights or remedies.
They argued that Chemours’s letter offering the filtration unit “misleadingly attempts to cloak its ‘studies’ with governmental legitimacy,” and asked that all further communications with represented plaintiffs be made through plaintiffs’ counsel.
The suits allege Chemours contaminated the property owners’ groundwater, soil, and surface water with polyfluorinated chemicals, including GenX.
GenX was designed as an alternative to perfluorooctanoic acid after the EPA said PFOA is a “likely human carcinogen.”
DuPont owned and operated the Fayetteville plant from 1971 until 2015. Chemours spun off from DuPont in July 2015 and is the current owner and operator.
The class action allegations have been consolidated in the Eastern District of North Carolina.
Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC represents the plaintiffs.
Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP represents Chemours.
The case is Carey v. E. I. Du Pont De Nemours and Co., E.D.N.C., Nos. 17-cv-189, 17-cv-197, 17-cv-201, response filed 9/4/18.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/chemours-defends-contact-with-putative-nc-class-members
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Environmentalists Sue Over GenX Releases Ahead Of EPA Risk Values
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Suzanne Yohannan
As EPA and other regulators prepare risk values for GenX, a perfluorinated chemical, environmentalists are stepping up their efforts to block releases of the substance, suing a major manufacturer in a bid to halt its air emissions and water discharges on the grounds that it is failing to comply with EPA and state consent orders.
The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) on Aug. 29 filed suit on behalf of environmentalists, seeking enforcement action against the Chemours Company under the citizens suit provisions of the Clean Water Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
The suit, Cape Fear River Watch v. Chemours, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, is focused on discharges and emissions from Chemours' Fayetteville Works Facility, which the group alleges is contaminating the Cape Fear River and the drinking water supply of over 250,000 people.
“Hundreds of thousands of North Carolinians get their drinking water downstream from Chemours' toxic discharge,” Cape Fear Riverkeeper's Kemp Burdette says in an Aug. 29 SELC press release. “This illegal contamination can't stop soon enough for them and Chemours and DuPont [the plant's former owner] must be held accountable for their reckless behavior.”
The suit comes as EPA is set in September to release a toxicity value for GenX, one of a series of steps the agency has pledged to take to address GenX and other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS).
In addition, the North Carolina Secretaries' Science Advisory Board recently endorsed, in a final draft report, its state health department's drinking water provisional health goal of 140 parts per trillion (ppt) and reference dose of 1x10^-4 milligram/kilogram/day for the chemical.
The board is now taking public comment on an updated draft of the report, which will eventually make recommendations on the reference dose -- used to set regulatory standards -- and on the health goal for GenX.
In addition, the suit alludes to the draft toxicological profile the federal Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry (ATSDR) released in June, that proposed more conservative values for two PFAS than EPA had used when setting drinking water advisory levels.
GenX was not one of the chemicals for which ATSDR proposed a risk level, but the plaintiff notes in the suit that the profile suggested that many of the PFAS “are much more harmful than previously thought.”
The issue is also getting attention in Congress, where the House Energy and Commerce Committee's environment panel is slated to hold a Sept. 6 hearing that will update lawmakers on “the response to [PFAS] contamination and challenges presented.”
GenX has been used by manufacturers as a replacement for older PFAS, such as perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, that have been phased out.
PFAS, some of which have been linked to adverse health effects including certain cancers, ulcerative colitis and thyroid disease, are comprised of thousands of perfluorinated chemicals known for their non-stick qualities used in a variety of commercial and industrial applications but are now raising alarm bells among communities across the country for their presence in drinking water systems.
Alleged Violations
In its press release, SELC contends Chemours is continuing to emit and discharge PFAS from the Fayetteville plant through stack emissions, leaking pipes, unlined pits, wastewater ditches and contaminated equipment. This is occurring despite a 2017 complaint filed by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for violations of a water discharge permit and a subsequent consent order with the state to halt discharges of GenX and other PFAS-contaminated wastewater from an outfall directly into the Cape Fear River, according to the suit.
It is also occurring despite a TSCA consent agreement Chemours signed with EPA to block 99 percent of GenX and other PFAS emissions, according to the suit.
The litigation charges that Chemours and its predecessor, DuPont, through the Fayettesville plant have been knowingly contaminating air, water and groundwater and the nearby Cape Fear River for almost four decades.
At the time the public learned of the contamination in June 2017, “Chemours was dumping wastewater into the Cape Fear River that had GenX levels of up to 39,000 [ppt] and GenX levels in the finished drinking water from the downstream Cape Fear Public Utility Authority's Sweeney Water Treatment Plant reached levels of up to 1,100 ppt--nearly 8 times the state's health goal for GenX of 140 ppt,” the suit says.
Despite Chemours' agreement in September 2017 to discontinue pumping PFAS-contaminated wastewater directly into the river, GenX levels persist in the river because of extensive contaminated groundwater that continues to seep into surface waters, it says. The suit also alleges that air emissions of PFAS are a direct and indirect source of surface water pollution.
River Watch contends Chemours is violating multiple provisions of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit, including removed substances, duty to mitigate and operate and maintenance provisions. For instance, the duty to mitigate provision requires that permittees “take all reasonable steps to minimize or prevent” discharges that are reasonably likely to adversely affect human health or the environment. But, it says, Chemours for decades has discharged toxic PFAS through Outfall 002, as well as air emissions, and leaking pipes and ditches.
Further, the suit notes that DEQ filed a complaint in September of last year against the company for violating its NPDES permit, the Clean Water Act and state water quality laws. Chemours then signed a consent order with the state, agreeing to halt its discharges of wastewater containing GenX and two other PFAS from Outfall 002 into the river.
In response to the alleged violations of the NPDES permit, the plaintiff asks the court to enter an “appropriate preliminary and permanent” injunction against Chemours to block the waterwater discharges into the Cape Fear River and other waterways, and declare the company in violation of its NPDES permit by allowing removed substances to contaminate state waters, failing to “take all reasonable steps” to prevent discharges likely to harm the environment, failing to properly operate the plant and violating other permit requirements. It also asks the court to assess civil penalties against the company for the alleged Clean Water Act violations of up to $37,500 per violation per day.
Further, the group says a TSCA consent order between DuPont -- now Chemours -- and EPA requires the company “to 'recover and capture (destroy) or recycle the [pre-manufacture notice] substances at an overall efficiency of 99 [percent] from all the effluent process streams and the air emissions (point source and fugitive).'”
But Chemours testing shows it released approximately 2,302 pounds of GenX compounds last year, from both process emissions and equipment leaks, it says.
The company last May installed carbon adsorption bed technology that officials said would remove just 40 percent of the plant's PFAS emissions, the suit says. The plaintiff says the company has failed to meet the 99 percent air emissions capture requirement in the TSCA consent order, and that violation has harmed River Watch members, who have avoided associated drinking water and fishing and swimming activities in affected parts of the river.
On the alleged air emissions violations, River Watch asks that the court declare that Chemours violated the TSCA order, and enjoin the company to meet the 99 percent emissions capture requirement. It also asks that civil penalties be assessed against Chemours for each TSCA violation of up to $37,500 per day.
The attention environmentalists are giving to air emissions comes as some states, such as North Carolina, are moving toward evaluating air emissions from operating PFAS plants and looking to take action.
A Chemours spokesperson did not respond by press time seeking comment on the suit.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/environmentalists-sue-over-genx-releases-ahead-epa-risk-values
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More Than 800 REACH 2018 Dossiers Awaiting Registration Number
Sep 6, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Nearly 850 REACH dossiers submitted to Echa by the 31 May deadline are yet to be granted registration numbers, the agency said.
Echa finished its check on the completeness of each registration On 31 August. It has to do this within three months of the deadline if the registration for an existing (phase-in) substance was submitted in the two months before the 31 May cut off.
A total of 32,515 dossiers out of 33,363 submitted by that date have received registration numbers, according to the latest statistics. They cover 10,708 chemicals manufactured or imported in quantities of between 1 and 100 tonnes/year.
The remaining 848 dossiers "still lack information", Echa said. The agency is now waiting for companies to update them before it can grant registration numbers.
These include 477 cases where companies faced "exceptional circumstances" as defined by the REACH Directors’ Contact Group (DCG). When submitting their dossier these companies applied for a DCG solutionand were granted an extension.
The "vast majority" of companies have submitted complete dossiers, the agency said, adding it expects to conclude on all pending cases by May 2019. It has so far rejected around 1% of the 2018 dossiers, in addition to those awaiting registration numbers.
The dossiers awaiting registration numbers cover around 406 substances, according to data disclosed on 1 June that showed 11,114 substances were registered.
Echa has published the non-confidential data of 99.7% of all completed registrations on its website. The rest are expected online shortly after they have been fully processed, the agency said.Latecomers
Echa has received a "steady flow" of dossiers after 31 May, it said, including some linked to the 2018 deadline for the 1-100 tonnage band. These are not included in the final figures.
Some may be submissions by latecomers that have missed the deadline. "If this is the case", it said, "companies are reminded that they can only continue to manufacture or import their substance after they have received the registration number".
The precise number of latecomers is not yet known. However, Echa said it receives around 400 submissions each week – roughly half of which are new submissions covering 150 substances on average. Echa said some of these could be from companies that have missed the deadline or from new market entrants.
The agency said it will process the late registrations and the completeness check of these dossiers will be done within three weeks.Updates
The agency reiterated that companies have legal obligations to keep their registrations up to date to reflect:the correct production volume;new uses; andthe most recent safe-use advice.
In November the agency plans to launch Phase 7 of its REACH 2018 roadmap which deals with keeping registrations up to date and will provide advice and information on what companies should do.
Inspections on REACH registrations will be carried out in 2019 under the seventh REACH enforcement project (Ref-7). The project will examine the extent to which European companies have fulfilled their obligations.
https://chemicalwatch.com/70098/more-than-800-reach-2018-dossiers-awaiting-registration-number
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EU Chemicals Agency Lists 18 Substances For Possible Phase-Out
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Gardner
EU toxics agency starts consultation on 18 hazardous chemicals that may be phased-out under REACH
Substances, including BPA, would be added to list of those usable only with specific authorizations
AkzoNobel N.V. and Merck Group are two of many chemical companies that could be affected by a proposed ban on eighteen hazardous substances in the European Union.
The European Chemicals Agency’s proposal, released Sept. 5, would make the substances subject to authorization under the EU’s REACH chemicals law. Most substances on the list are manufactured or used in low volumes in the EU with only a limited number of suppliers, except for the widely-used chemical bisphenol A (BPA).
The main use of BPA—in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastics—wouldn’t be covered by the authorization listing because only traces of BPA are left in finished products. The bloc produces up to 10 million metric tons annually, of which up to 10,000 metric tons that’s used in other applications, such as food can linings, could be affected by the authorization listing.
A number of BPA uses are already restricted in the EU, while some countries have national bans on certain uses of the substance, such as France, where it’s banned in food packaging and containers. BPA is classified in the EU as toxic and hormone-disrupting.
Although the authorization would affect only a small proportion of the total BPA volume, it would “foster a stigmatization and create market uncertainty,” said Jasmin Bird, spokeswoman for the Plastics Europe Polycarbonate/BPA Sector Group, which represents BPA and polycarbonate producers. The group is opposed to making BPA subject to authorization.
Under REACH, phase-out dates can be set of the most hazardous substances. After that, companies wishing to use them in the EU must file authorization requests detailing how they can be safely handled in specific applications. They also must demonstrate that safer alternatives are not available.
So far, 43 substances have been made subject to authorization in the EU.
Range Of SubstancesOther substances on the European Chemicals Agency list issued Sept. 5 included a number of lead compounds and the solvents 2-methoxyethanol and 2-ethoxyethanol, which are classified in the EU as toxic for reproduction.
The lead substances—including trilead dioxide phosphonate, [phthalato(2-)]dioxotrilead and lead oxide sulfate—are used in applications such as artists’ paints and backings for mirrors and in practice are already being phased out, Hywel Jarman, spokesman for the International Lead Association, told Bloomberg Environment Sept. 5.
The association represents companies including battery manufacturers and recyclers such as Exide Technologies and RSR Corp. Lead is a neurotoxin which impairs cognition, development and behavior, especially in children.
The Merck Group—which has REACH registrations for 2-methoxyethanol and 2-ethoxyethanol—would be unaffected by the authorization requirements where substances are used for laboratory research, such as in life sciences, because those uses are exempted, Merck spokesman Gangolf Schrimpf told Bloomberg Environment Sept. 5.
For substance uses that might be affected by the need to obtain authorization, Merck has “solid processes to monitor, evaluate, and communicate potential impacts on its portfolio,” and has experience applying for authorizations Schrimpf said.
AkzoNobel, which has REACH registrations for BPA and some other affected substances, didn’t respond to a request for comment Sept. 5.
The European Chemicals Agency said during the consultation period, which lasts through Dec. 5, comments should be provided on “the uses of the substances and possible exemptions from the authorization requirement, as well as information on the structure and complexity of the supply chains.”
After the consultation period, the chemicals agency said it would make a formal proposal to the European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, on inclusion of the substances on the REACH authorization list.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/eu-chemicals-agency-lists-18-substances-for-possible-phase-out
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EPA Floats Groundwater Cleanup Advice For PFAS
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA has sent to the White House for review draft recommendations for addressing two perfluorinated chemicals in groundwater, moving forward on one of four commitments EPA leadership made earlier this year in response to growing public concern over the class of emerging chemicals.
The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) Aug. 31 received EPA's draft interim recommendations for addressing groundwater contaminated with perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), two of the more commonly found per- and polyfluoroalky substances (PFAS), according to OMB's website.
Former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt told the agency's “National Leadership Summit” on PFAS earlier this year that officials would develop groundwater cleanup recommendations for PFOA and PFOS at contaminated sites by this fall -- one of four policy items the agency is developing.
But the agency appears to be questioning its plans to consider developing a federally-enforceable drinking water standard -- another one of Pruitt's commitments.
Peter Grevatt, director of EPA's Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, who is leading agency efforts to address PFAS, recently reiterated his past concerns that a single national standard may be inappropriate given that a recent agency survey of systems that supply drinking water to 80 percent of users found PFAS in less than 2 percent of those systems.
“It matters where you look,” he said, noting that contamination is more common near locations used for bio-solid disposal or spraying firefighting foam. “If you go there, you would likely find elevated levels in the drinking water systems. From EPA's side this prompts the question, what is the best tool to develop, what are the most useful for the states.”
Lawmakers, community groups across the country, environmentalists and states have pressured EPA to take action to address PFAS in a growing number of drinking water supplies as well as at contaminated sites. Some PFAS have been linked to adverse health effects including certain cancers, ulcerative colitis and thyroid disease.
Contamination of groundwater has become an issue at sites near manufacturing facilities and where fire fighting foam was used.
While EPA grapples with whether to craft a drinking water standard, the upcoming groundwater recommendations could have an impact on the Defense Department (DOD), which faces significant potential cleanup liability for PFAS due to its use of firefighting foam, which contains the chemicals.
According to DOD data presented at the national summit, in sampling groundwater DOD identified 401 active and closed installations with at least one area with a known or suspected release of PFOA or PFOS.
In its four-step action plan, EPA has also pledged to take steps to designate PFOA and PFOS as “hazardous substances,” and to develop toxicity values for two newer PFAS: GenX and perfluorobutane sulfonate, or PFBS. EPA has indicated it hopes to release the toxicity values this month.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/epa-floats-groundwater-cleanup-advice-pfas
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Bipartisan Support For LNG Export Certainty
Sep 6, 2018 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Bill Johnson (R-Ohio) and Gene Green (D-Texas)
The House of Representatives today will consider H.R. 4606, the Ensuring Small Scale LNG Certainty and Access Act, which provides that applications under the Natural Gas Act (NGA) for the importation or exportation of small volumes of natural gas will be granted without delay if they do not require an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act.
This legislation will help the United States fully realize its economic potential regarding small-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports and associated technologies. Emerging markets within the Caribbean, Central America, and South America are looking to U.S. natural gas to help meet their growing energy needs, and this legislation will help ensure our domestic producers and exporters are able to meet that demand, along with providing new job opportunities throughout our country.
Despite the U.S. being the world’s leading producer of oil and natural gas, American companies are unable to export small quantities of natural gas to neighboring countries in an efficient manner. By reducing regulatory constraints and codifying a similar rule issued by the Department of Energy (DOE), H.R. 4606 will better allow our domestic providers the opportunity to provide a stable source of U.S. energy to countries currently reliant on Venezuelan fuel oil, which has been used to gain influence within countries in the region. This effort to increase U.S. energy opportunities within this area of the world is not new, as the previous administration also sought increased engagement through the creation of the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative.
As many independent studies and DOE commissioned studies have confirmed, the benefits of natural gas exports are clear - these exports are a net positive to our domestic economy. But, that is not the only benefit. As Puerto Rico continues to rebuild after the devastating hurricane in 2017, increased shipments and availability of reliable U.S. LNG can help the island meet its energy needs. Additionally, LNG exports can only serve to strengthen U.S. ties with countries throughout the region.
With U.S. natural gas reserves as large as they are, and with new technological advancements allowing our producers to access an increasing amount of natural gas each and every day, it’s imperative that the U.S. takes full advantage of this important and abundant energy resource. H.R. 4606 is a step in that direction, and it will strengthen U.S. geopolitical ties, increase job creation, and promote domestic economic growth as a result.
In short, America has this incredible source of energy at our fingertips - let’s use it to our advantage.
Johnson and Green are members of the Energy and Commerce Committee. Both are co-chairs of the Congressional Natural Gas Caucus.
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/405293-bipartisan-support-for-lng-export-certainty
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Flint Hills To Expand Ingleside Oil Export Facility
Sep 5, 2018 | Chron
By Rye Druzin
Flint Hills Resources is planning to expand its Ingleside crude oil export facility as exports of U.S. crude continue to ramp up along Texas' Gulf Coast.
The terminal expansion will include four new crude oil storage tanks and 60,000 barrels per hour of loading capability. The Wichita, Kansas company said the terminal will have a loading capacity of 380,000 barrels a day and storage capacity of about 4 million barrels when the work is completed by October 2019.
Flint Hills did not disclose the cost of the project.
The Ingleside facility is located along the Corpus Christi Ship Channel, which is undergoing a multi-year, $327 million deepening and widening project.
The current terminal use two docks that can handle Suezmax-sized crude oil tankers, which can load 1 million barrels of oil. Flint Hills, which is a subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc., said it is evaluating a separate project that would allow for Very Large Crude Carriers or VLCCs, which have a capacity of 2 million barrels, to be loaded.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Flint-Hills-to-expand-Ingleside-oil-export-13206263.php
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Sumitomo to Negotiate 2.2 MPTA Purchase from Freeport LNG
Sep 6, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (SCOA) has agreed to negotiate with FLNG Liquefaction 4 LLC for a 20-year liquefaction tolling agreement (LTA) from the Freeport liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal in Southeast Texas, the companies said Wednesday.
Access to full text unavailable – subscription required. For full story: http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/115667-sumitomo-to-negotiate-22-mpta-purchase-from-freeport-lng
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State Department Plans New Keystone XL Review in December
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Adams-Heard
The State Department expects to publish a final supplemental environmental impact statement for TransCanada’s Keystone XL crude oil pipeline project in December, the agency said in a court filing.
The first steps in that process—a notice announcing the administration’s intent to prepare a supplemental analysis and release of a draft analysis for public document—will happen in September, according to the filing.
The department also anticipates that the Bureau of Land Management and Army Corps of Engineers will issue decisions regarding their permitting actions in early 2019.
“As the process moves farther along, the parties can confer and propose a schedule for the Court’s review of the SEIS and the briefing of any additional claims involving the actions by BLM and the Corps,” the department said in its filing.
The case is Indigenous Envtl. Network v. Dep’t of State, D. Mont., No. 4:17-CV-00031, 9/5/18.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/state-department-plans-new-keystone-xl-review-in-december
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(ACC Mentioned) Bill Would Reauthorize High-Risk Facility Safety Program
Sep 6, 2018 | E&E Daily
By Courtney Columbus
A new bill would reauthorize a Department of Homeland Security regulatory program for high-risk chemical facilities.
The measure by Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) would extend the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program for five years. The program, created in 2007 and extended in 2014, is currently set to expire in January 2019.
The effort "regulates 'high-risk' chemical facilities to reduce the risk of terrorist attacks," Johnson said in a news release announcing the bill's introduction Tuesday.
More than 3,000 high-risk facilities are currently regulated under the program. They contain chemicals including ammonium nitrate and chlorine.
Along with extending CFATS, the bill "introduces management reforms to the CFATS program to bring much-needed regulatory relief to the U.S. chemical industry without compromising the safety and security of these facilities," Johnson said.
Johnson floated the measure as a marker, according to spokesman Ben Voelkel — meaning it essentially acts like a starting point for negotiations.
"We hope to achieve bipartisan support as this legislation balances safety and security with much-needed regulatory relief," Voelkel said.
In a statement, a DHS official called CFATS "a cornerstone of chemical security" and said getting it reauthorized this year is one of the department's top priorities. DHS is currently reviewing the bill.
"The threat of chemical terrorism remains a very real and a very relevant one," David Wulf, who heads the DHS office that runs CFATS, told E&E News last month (Greenwire, Aug. 13).
The National Association of Chemical Distributors and American Chemistry Council expressed support for the legislation.
The bill "will give much needed stability to this program and support industry's efforts to safeguard facilities, employees and communities," ACC said in a statement.
The bill would create an industry stewardship program that would provide "regulatory recognition to covered chemical facilities that meet industry best practices," according to the bill text.
Perks of that program would include less-frequent compliance inspections, streamlined processes for vulnerability assessments and site security plans, and "any other regulatory relief as deemed appropriate."
The proposal would also prohibit explosive material regulated by either the Justice Department or Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from being considered a "chemical of interest."
Johnson said at a committee hearing in June that he would focus on streamlining the program during the reauthorization process.
DHS had been in favor of extending the program indefinitely — a position that Johnson said he does not support.
"Permanency is, from my standpoint, off the table," he said at the hearing (E&E Daily, June 13).
https://www.eenews.net/eedaily/2018/09/06/stories/1060095961
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(ACC Mentioned) Backing Current Rule, EPA Urges D.C. Circuit To Reject Obama's RMP Update
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Dave Reynolds
EPA, chemical manufacturers, and GOP-led states are urging a federal appellate court to reject environmentalists' request to compel the agency to quickly implement an Obama-era update to the agency's facility accident prevention rule, arguing petitioners have failed to show the rare move is needed and that a prior RMP rule reduces risks.
In separate Sept. 5 filings, EPA as well as state and industry intervenors urge a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to follow normal procedure, allowing the agency and other litigants adequate time to consider appealing the court's Aug. 17 ruling vacating the Trump administration's nearly two-year delay of an Obama-era update to the agency's Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention rule.
The groups fault petitioners' claims that speedy implementation of the Obama-era rule is necessary to protect facility workers and communities, arguing that speedy implementation would affect only the rule's provisions for improved coordination with emergency responders, given later compliance dates for other provisions, and that the existing regulations already provide for such coordination.
“Without this Court’s mandate, local emergency planners have and will continue to have a variety of tools to plan for and mitigate chemical accidents and releases,” EPA says in its brief.
“While the Delay Rule deferred the initiation of coordination activities under the auspices of the RMP Amendments, EPA’s long-standing Risk Management Program and [the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)] still require source coordination with emergency responders.”
EPA also argues that rules of federal appellate procedure generally allow a federal agency at least 52 days before the entering of a final judgment to allow consideration of an appeal as well as orderly implementation of a rule.
And EPA, as well as petrochemical industry intervenors and a dozen GOP-led states argue that environmentalist petitioners fail to show how expedited issuance of the mandate, a procedural step that in this case would step up the agency's implementation of the rule by one month, would improve safety.
“Petitioners offer a conclusory assertion that there will be 'serious and irreparable harm and imminent threats to public health and safety' if the mandate issues on October 8, 2018 (52 days from judgment), rather than on September 7, 2018,” EPA says.
“But they point to no specific provision of the RMP Amendments that, if not immediately applicable, will cause irreparable harm during the 31-day interim period between when the mandate is supposed to issue under Court rules and when Petitioners request that the mandate be issued.”
Delay Case
EPA and its supporters' calls came after the panel, in an Aug. 17 ruling in the case, Air Alliance Houston, et al., v. EPA and Andrew Wheeler, vacated the Trump administration's nearly two-year delay of the rule as a violation of the Clean Air Act.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh and two other judges heard oral argument in the case, but Kavanaugh did not participate in the ruling while his nomination to be the next Supreme Court justice is pending in the Senate.
The two remaining judges later granted environmentalists' request to speed implementation of the Obama-era update rule to protect facility workers and communities from future disasters.
But in a Sept. 4 order, the panel withdrew the mandate, saying its Aug. 31 issuance was “inadvertent,” after EPA and state intervenors argued that judges' granting the request without giving litigants a chance to weigh in violated rules of appellate procedure, which allows for a 10-day response period.
EPA and intervenors said that they had planned to file on Sept. 4 responses to environmentalists' Aug. 24 request for an expedited mandate. The two-judge panel gave the parties until 4 pm Sept. 5 to file those responses.
Uncertainty from the court's action comes as the Trump administration is working to largely scrap the Obama-era rule, which brought new hazard analysis and auditing requirements and bolstered requirements for facilities to coordinate with and disclose data to emergency responders.
In the recent filings, EPA and intervenors argue that granting the request for an expedited mandate would undercut consideration of whether to seek rehearing of the Aug. 17 decision, and that forcing the agency to implement the rule a month early would not improve safety.
The parties also argue that compliance deadlines for most provisions of the Obama-era rule are several years in the future so expedited implementation would affect only the requirement that facilities coordinate with local responders. EPA also says that facilities are seeking guidance on how to comply with the new coordination provisions, suggesting implementation will be complex.
Industry intervenors, including the American Chemistry Council and the Chamber of Commerce of the United States argue that hasty implementation of the RMP rule could increase security concerns given the rule's provisions streamlining disclosure of facility data to first responders.
“[S]ecurity risks are a real concern,” intervenors say. “Time is needed to coordinate with other stakeholders, inside of and outside of the federal government, who are deeply concerned about this provision of the RMP Amendments,” the groups say.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/backing-current-rule-epa-urges-dc-circuit-reject-obamas-rmp-update
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Senate Moves on Anti-Terror Chemical Program Would Ease Compliance (1)
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sam Pearson
Senate proposes five-year extension of Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program
Program would see changes to reduce compliance cost for companies
House, Senate must approve legislation by early 2019
Facilities holding high-risk chemicals would see an easier path to compliance with a federal chemical security program for the next five years under legislation introduced in the Senate Sept. 4.
The Protecting and Securing Chemical Facilities from Terrorist Attacks Act (S. 3405), introduced by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), addresses the need to reauthorize the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program before early 2019. House lawmakers haven’t yet introduced companion legislation.
The Department of Homeland Security program sets requirements for at-risk facilities to operate with appropriate security measures to prevent chemical releases, theft, diversion, or sabotage, including in acts of terrorism.
Johnson, chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said in a statement Sept. 5 the bill “introduces management reforms to the CFATS program to bring much-needed regulatory relief to the U.S. chemical industry without compromising the safety and security of these facilities.”
No lawmakers have co-sponsored the legislation. A spokesman for Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), the panel’s ranking member, didn’t respond to a Sept. 5 request for comment from Bloomberg Environment.
Homeland Security spokeswoman Sara Sendek said the agency is reviewing the bill but didn’t respond to additional questions from Bloomberg Environment.
The program, launched in 2007, requires facilities holding more than 300 chemicalsabove specified quantities to submit information to department officials. They use the information to place facilities in four categories, or tiers, based on their risk. Facilities then have to submit site security plans to show the risk is addressed.
Industry ChangesCongress reauthorized the program for four years in 2014, with a scheduled expiration of January 2019. Homeland Security officials have said they need a long-term reauthorization to provide greater stability to focus on making the program work.
At the same time, chemical and explosives industry groups have pushed for changes to reduce costs to companies, a concern Johnson addressed in the bill.
The bill grants a request by the explosives industry to be exempted from the requirements in favor of existing regulations by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The changes are a top priority for explosives companies such as Austin Powder Co., Davey Bickford North America, Dyno Nobel Inc., and others, the Institute of Makers of Explosives in Washington said in a statement to Bloomberg Environment Sept. 5.
“Layering the program across facilities already regulated by ATF has imposed significant costs that impact jobs and industry investment, with no discernible increase in security,” Debra Satkowiak, the group’s president, said in a statement.
The bill also bans the department from inspecting a facility more often than once every two years, or every three years if it’s in a new voluntary recognition program. The legislation also lets facilities in the two lowest-risk categories opt out from a requirement that they submit employee information to be screened for terrorist ties. The department couldn’t include cybersecurity mandates in what it requires from facilities under the program.
In addition, the legislation would require the department to conduct a formal rulemaking if it adds new chemicals to the program and would give facility operators more information explaining how they were evaluated for security risk. A formal rulemaking would take longer but give companies a greater chance to weigh in before the changes take place.
While the revisions could be appropriate to streamline the program, making the reauthorization more complex could complicate its chances of passage, Judah Prero, an attorney with Sidley Austin LLP in Washington, told Bloomberg Environment.
“It potentially opens up the door to others coming up with suggestions and tinkering with it,” Prero said.
(Updates with comments from the Department of Homeland Security, Institute of Makers of Explosives, and Judah Prero, an attorney with Sidley Austin LLP.)
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/senate-moves-on-anti-terror-chemical-program-would-ease-compliance-1
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CASAC Urges Greater Ammonia Focus In EPA NOx-SOx-PM NAAQS Review
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA science advisers are reiterating calls for the agency to boost its focus on the environmental effects of ammonia air pollution as part of an ongoing review of the “secondary” environment-based ambient air limits for nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM) due to concerns about ammonia's adverse impacts.
During a Sept. 5 Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) meeting in Durham, NC, panelist and air quality consultant Praveen Amar said, “You have to treat ammonia with respect,” calling for more analysis of future ammonia emissions trends, and on concentrated animal feeding operations, which are large emitters of ammonia. Ammonia emissions are increasing, while emissions of SOx and NOx are trending down, he noted.
Several panelists during the meeting also suggested a need for EPA's review to focus on ammonia's effects in a section on “gas-phase phytotoxic effects,” examining toxicity of NOx, SOx and PM to plants.
The panel met to consider the agency's draft integrated science assessment (ISA) that synthesizes the scientific data newly available since the last NOx-SOx secondary national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) review, which concluded in 2012. Although the agency considers the effects of reduced nitrogen in its ISA, it does not consider direct phytotoxic effects of ammonia in the document, EPA staff said at the meeting.
Secondary NAAQS are intended to protect the environment, unlike primary standards that are designed to protect public health, but EPA has to date declined environmentalists' calls to establish an ammonia NAAQS.
The ISA considers NOx, SOx and PM secondary standards together for the first time, after the agency in a prior review considered only the combined effects of NOx and SOx. In the 2012 review, EPA staff, supported by CASAC, suggested that the agency shift toward a novel NAAQS based on deposition of air pollutants in waterbodies, rather than concentration of the pollutants in ambient air. But then-Obama EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson decided there was still too much uncertainty associated with the new approach to implement it.
CASAC in reviewing the first draft NOx-SOx-PM ISA for the current NAAQS review, released in March 2017, recommended a greater focus on the adverse environmental effect of ammonia and nitrogen in general.
EPA in the second draft released in June responded with more focus on ammonia, and also reacted to CASAC criticism of the document's organization by creating a more streamlined summary section, supported by a series of appendices detailing scientific evidence.
The second draft contains “no change in the main scientific conclusions” from the first draft, which examined whether there are “causal” linkages between the three pollutants at issue and various forms of ecological harm, EPA staff said.
Panelist Donna Kenski, an air quality expert with the Lake Michigan Air Directors' Consortium (LADCO), noted that in several instances, EPA indeed finds such causal relationships exist, and she argued that environmental effects are occurring at current levels of air pollution.
In the draft ISA, for example, EPA concludes that deposition of nitrogen and sulfur causes a range of adverse impacts, including reduction in the productivity and biodiversity of various aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. However, these are broadly similar conclusions to those of the prior ISA for secondary NOx and SOx prepared for the 2012 review.
“Clearly the current standard is inadequate,” Kenski said, although it was unclear which NAAQS she was referring to. Kenski said there is “voluminous evidence” for impacts of the three pollutants on public welfare, yet EPA has omitted explicit statements regarding the adequacy of NAAQS from the ISA, she said.
EPA staff on the call responded that although “there are effects at current levels” of pollution, the actual determination over whether that is adverse is in the hands of Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
NAAQS Reviews
EPA staff on the call said that the new ISA structure will provide a template for ISAs in other NAAQS reviews. The Trump administration has set itself a goal of completing reviews for primary NAAQS for ozone by October 2020, and for PM by the end of 2020.
EPA last updated the ozone standard in 2015 by setting it at 70 parts per billion (ppb).
Current secondary PM limits, set in 2012, stand at 15 micrograms per cubic meter (ug/m3) annually or 35 ug/m3 over 24 hours for fine PM, and 150 ug/m3 over 24 hours for the larger "coarse" PM, or PM10.
EPA reviewed the secondary NAAQS for NOx in 2012, retaining the annual limit of 53 parts per billion (ppb) first set in 1971. The agency reviewed the SOx secondary standard in 2012 and retained the 50 ppb limit over three hours also set in 1971.
“This is an important transition point,” said one EPA staffer on the call. “We are using this as a model” for the ozone review, the staffer said of the ISA for the NOx-SOx-PM review. “You will see that model as we are drafting the ozone assessment.”
EPA staff during the meeting noted that the agency will be “facing a rather challenging time” completing these NAAQS reviews, as the same staff are working on the primary standards as on the secondary NOx-SOx-PM review.
Former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt outlined a streamlined NAAQS review process that could collapse several existing steps in the reviews into fewer steps, but so far the secondary NAAQS review is proceeding according to the traditional, time-consuming process followed by the Obama EPA.
EPA plans to issue a quantitative risk and exposure assessment for the secondary review, to be followed by a policy assessment document outlining possible policy options for the administrator, prior to issuance of proposed and final rules either changing the NAAQS or leaving them unchanged. EPA staff said that the agency expects to complete the final ISA in summer 2019.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/casac-urges-greater-ammonia-focus-epa-nox-sox-pm-naaqs-review
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Climate Envoys Seek Successor to $33 Billion UN Carbon Market
Sep 6, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Mathew Carr
SDM would channel funds for fighting pollution to poor nations
Push to agree on rules for market by the end of this year
After the United Nations’s first attempt to build a global carbon market fizzled from $33 billion to almost nothing, climate envoys from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Bangkok this week to give it another go.
The diplomats gathered in Bangkok this week are working on a so-called Sustainable Development Mechanism that would channel investment into projects that cut pollution in some of the poorest countries of the world. Richer nations that provide much of the finance would get credits in exchange that go to help meet their commitments on reducing emissions, which may allow them to take on more ambitious goals.
The talks are part of a push to set out the rules governing the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change, where nations rich and poor alike vowed to cut greenhouse gas emissions for the first time. To developing nations such as Brazil, which is pushing for the mechanism, a deal would have the potential to raise billions of dollars to clean up energy production and bring in entrepreneurs like the founder of Tesla Inc.
“To transform billions into trillions, you have to send the right signal so that early movers are recognized,” Thiago Mendes, climate change and forestry secretary in Brazil’s Ministry of Environment, said in an interview. “We want to have an ‘Elon Musk guy’ in all countries.”
The SDM, as it is known for short, would replace the CDM, or Clean Development Mechanism, which was born with the UN’s Kyoto Protocol on climate change in 1997. World leaders endorsed the principle of building the SDM when they approved the Paris deal in 2015 but left it to lower-level officials to agree on the details.
Those delegates were forced to organize an additional meeting in Bangkok until Sept. 9. They’re hoping to develop a proposal that their ministers can endorse at the annual UN climate meeting, which this year is being held in December in Katowice, Poland. Technical discussions are continuing on how the new mechanism will work.
“It’s indeed one of the issues being discussed, and we still don’t know, sadly, what’s going to come,” Patricia Espinosa, the UN representative helping coordinate the meeting, said in an interview in Bangkok Sept. 3. “There are different views among the parties and at the same time what we’re seeing are a lot of developments regarding carbon pricing and carbon markets in different parts of the world.”
Initially backed by the U.S., the CDM gave markets a central role to play in slashing emissions by handing an incentive for rich countries to pay for projects to lower emissions in developing ones. China was the biggest beneficiary. The work generated credits that were sold to polluters in industrial countries mainly in Europe, who found CDM offsets a cheaper way to meet their environmental obligations than closing down their most dirty plants.
By some measures, the CDM worked. It created more than 8,000 projects across 114 nations, that will reduce carbon emissions by about 10.3 billion tons by 2020, or the equivalent of what the U.S. releases in 1 ½ years, according to UN data. Those projects brought investment of more than $300 billion to developing nations, which in turn sold credits valued at about 22 billion euros ($26 billion) to industrial nations.
Europe bought most of those credits for use in its emissions-trading system, which started in 2005 and now trades securities valued at more than 60 billion euros a year. When recession hit a decade ago, industrial production collapsed in the region and took down pollution levels, reducing demand for allowances already hurt by expensive subsidies for solar and wind power. Swamped with credits also from outside the region, prices in Europe’s carbon market plunged.
Lower prices in Europe’s carbon market relieved pressure on companies to cut emissions and reduced the value of the system. Authorities have spent the years since the recession working to reduce the number of permits and they’ve also choked off the ability of the CDM credits to cover environmental targets in the emissions market.
The result: Prices of CDM credits have languished below 1 euro a metric ton since 2012 after trading as high as 23.38 ($27) euros in 2008. Prices have risen to 29 euro cents from 18 cents in the past six months, and there’s a chance that talks culminating this year will spur further advances, according to Stefano De Clara, director of international policy at the International Emissions Trading Association, which lobbies for carbon pricing.
Brazil’s AmbitionBrazil expects carbon market demand under Paris will be “much higher” than under Kyoto, according to an emailed reply to questions from the environment ministry.
The transition away from the CDM to the Paris framework is a “key priority” for envoys to sort out this year in order to unlock the flow of money to green projects, De Clara said Sept. 4 from Bangkok. It’s still not clear how the new SDM will relate to existing CDM credits—or whether the new system will even create liquid markets.
There’s still a chance existing credits may die. Countries may prefer to use bilateral emission-reduction deals, also allowed by Paris, instead of the SDM, IETA said.
Envoys must agree on:
Transparency in terms of how the new SDM credits are created and trackedVerification methods to show how much emissions are avoided by each projectOversight of the program, including what organization of individuals will maintain and enforce the rules governing the SDMHow buyers and sellers of SDM credits will account for trades in relation to their emission-reduction pledges over time, andInterlinkages, as in whether the credits will be valid and tradable into other carbon markets, like the European Union Emissions Trading System or programs in the U.S. and China.Like other strands of the UN climate talks, the discussion about the SDM is complicated by finger-pointing between richer and poorer nations about who should move first on climate change and complex debates about who should pay to edge the world away from fossil fuels.
President Donald Trump’s vow to pull the U.S. out of the Paris deal has eroded momentum behind the talks, said Eirik Waerness, chief economist of the Norwegian oil company Equinor ASA.
“It requires an enormous amount of understanding and trust that we’re in the same boat—across countries, across markets, across industries,” Waerness said. “Is the trust there? Right now, no. We’re very far away.”
—With assistance from Natnicha Chuwiruch.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/climate-envoys-seek-successor-to-33-billion-un-carbon-market
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Stronger Procedures Needed For Air Model Changes — IG
Sep 6, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
EPA should tighten its procedures for making changes to the complex models that often play a critical role in predicting the impact of pollutant emissions, the agency's inspector general said in an audit released today.
Although EPA already has procedures in place for developing and evaluating new air quality dispersion models, "similar guidance is not available to define the process for model revisions," the audit said.
Inspector General Arthur Elkins' office recommended that the agency come up with standard operating procedures to follow in making changes to models, accompanied by plans to ensure "the desired quality of results."
Without such procedures and plans, "the agency lacks the assurance that all necessary technical activities have been completed to produce a preferred model that generates results of sufficient quality for its intended uses," the audit said.
In a reply memo, EPA air chief Bill Wehrum said the agency has followed a "systematic approach" in updating its preferred model, known as AERMOD. Wehrum acknowledged, however, that those procedures were not "codified" and were instead left to the discretion of an EPA modeling team.
In response to the audit's conclusions, Wehrum said EPA has already developed standard operating procedures for logging enhancements and other features. He also said a summary will soon be released as part of an upcoming report titled "AERMOD System Development and Update Plan."
EPA will also pursue several other suggested changes, Wehrum indicated, and managers of the EPA Air Quality Modeling Group agreed to document the process for model revisions in both the upcoming AERMOD plan and a quality management plan, according to the memo.
Dispersion models can be used to estimate the impact of emissions from new and existing sources on air quality; they also help predict concentrations of pollutants from multiple sources. Their importance is such that the Clean Air Act requires EPA to hold a conference on air quality modeling every three years.
AERMOD (short for American Meteorological Society/EPA Regulatory Model) predicts the movement and dispersion of pollutants up to about 31 miles downwind. In 2005, EPA named AERMOD as a preferred model for determining the effects of emissions from stationary sources and last year awarded it similar status for mobile sources.
State and local regulators use AERMOD for making decisions on New Source Review/Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit applications. More than 40 states have also employed the model for making attainment designations for EPA's national one-hour sulfur dioxide standard, according to the audit.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/09/05/stories/1060095953
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Kavanaugh Hints At CPP Opposition With Attack On Agency Policymaking
Sep 6, 2018 | Inside EPA
By David LaRoss
Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh is hinting that he would vote to strike down the Obama EPA's Clean Power Plan (CPP) utility greenhouse gas rule, attacking agencies for relying on ambiguities in “old law” to justify novel new policymaking efforts after they fail to convince Congress to approve legislation to authorize the policies.
Responding to a question from Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) during the Sept. 5 session of the week-long Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on his nomination, Kavanaugh described “a natural tendency that judges need to be aware of and respond to” where agencies respond to Congress rejecting legislation that would expand their authority by claiming that they already have that authority thanks to ambiguities in existing law, and that judges should defer to those claims.
“[A]n executive branch agency wants to do some new policy, and proposes a new policy to Congress. But Congress doesn't pass the new policy. What often happens, or too often, I've seen, is that the executive then relies on the old law as a source of authority to do this new thing. And they try to say 'well, the old law is ambiguous, so we can fit this new policy into the old law,' as justification for doing this new thing. I've seen this in national security cases, I've seen this in environmental cases -- you see it all over the place,” Kavanaugh said.
While Kavanaugh did not name a specific rule or agency in his example, the scenario he outlined closely tracks the Obama administration's development of its CPP that set GHG standards for existing power plants.
The Trump administration is moving to repeal the CPP and replace it with the much narrower Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule that would limit GHG reduction mandates to steps taken within the fenceline of a power plant. Litigation over the CPP is on hold in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit -- where Kavanaugh currently serves as a judge -- while the agency pursues the repeal and replace plan.
The nominee's comments suggest that if, as expected, he is confirmed and the high court reviewed the CPP then he would vote to find it exceeded EPA's rulemaking authority because Congress never approved climate legislation.
In 2009, Democrats approved a cap-and-trade bill in the House but were unable to muster support for it in the Senate. After the legislation died, EPA invoked its existing Clean Air Act authority to enact the CPP in 2015, saying the law already gave it power to limit GHGs from power plants. Subsequent litigation over the rule focused on whether it was a permissible application of ambiguous language in the air law.
Kavanaugh heard argument over the legality of that rule as a D.C. Circuit judge in September 2016, after the Supreme Court stayed implementation of the CPP that February pending a decision on its merits. But the court never issued a ruling, instead placing it in abeyance after President Donald Trump took office the following year.
His comments as a nominee now could signal that he intended to vote that the CPP is unlawful, and that he would back a more limited policy such as the Trump EPA's newly proposed ACE rule that reads the Clean Air Act as only authorizing GHG control mandates for facility-specific controls, rather than the Obama rule's statewide caps on GHG emissions.
Stricter Policies
However, Kavanaugh also touted what he said are decisions that backed more-stringent environmental policies, such as 2014's Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) v. EPA, where he voted to reject an agency policy allowing an “affirmative defense” against prosecuting industrial facilities for Clean Air Act violations.
Describing the affirmative defense ruling at the hearing, Kavanaugh said, “It's not in the law. Yes, that might be a problem for industry, but we follow the law.”
The nominee also cited the trio of 2015 cases In re: Murray Energy, Murray Energy, et al. v. EPA, et al., and West Virginia, et al. v. EPA, et al., where he voted to reject challenges to a proposed version of the CPP after finding they were filed too early -- calling the suits “premature” at the hearing -- because proposed rules are not final agency actions subject to judicial review.
Kavanaugh said, “I'm a pro-law judge. And in environmental cases, in some cases I've ruled against environmentalists' interest, and in many cases I've ruled for environmentalists' interests, and they're big cases.”
But environmentalists are already pushing back on those claims, arguing that many of the decisions Kavanaugh listed were not actually rulings in their favor.
For instance, in a Sept. 4 blog post, Earthjustice Vice President of Litigation Patrice Simms writes that Kavanaugh's NRDC ruling backed industry on “every one of their claims related to the stringency of the EPA’s clean air standards (the claims that mattered most to public health protection).”
Simms continues that the affirmative-defense portion of the ruling turned not on a standard of protection but “EPA's attempt to infringe on judicial authority by creating procedures for regulatory 'affirmative defenses' to citizen suits. For Judge Kavanaugh, because it involved the EPA usurping power properly reserved for the judiciary, this was a step too far, even in service of letting polluters off the hook.”
Chevron Deference
Kavanaugh's comment on rulemaking procedure came as the response to a broad question from Hatch on the issue of so-called Chevron deference, which is the principle where judges will defer to agencies' “reasonable” interpretations of ambiguous statutory text.
Hatch has been a leading opponent of the Chevron doctrine in recent years, attacking it as counter to the separation of powers because it undermines courts as the sole arbiter of how laws should be interpreted.
While Kavanugh did not directly address whether he would overturn Chevron if confirmed to the high court -- part of a pattern of refusing to state a definitive position on any specific issue that might come before the court -- he said he would clearly enforce what he sees as the “bounds” that Congress has set on agency authority.
“I'm not a skeptic of regulation at all. I'm a skeptic of unauthorized regulation -- of illegal regulation. Of regulation that's outside the bounds that laws passed by Congress have set,” he said.
Prior to Hatch's questioning, Sen. Ben Sasse (R-NE) used his Sept. 4 opening statement to attack Chevron deference as an abuse of the separation of powers -- although without referring to it by name -- when he said that delegating rulemaking authority to “alphabet-soup agencies” undermines the separation of powers.
And in a passing comment during his questions for Kavanaugh, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) praised “the wise words of Sen. Sasse yesterday on separation of powers.”
Kavanaugh did not address that statement in his exchanges with Grassley, but in his answer to a question on the qualities that make a “good” judge, he said one important factor is “Not deferring when the executive rewrites the laws passed by Congress, but respect for the laws passed by Congress, respect for the words put into the Constitution itself.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/kavanaugh-hints-cpp-opposition-attack-agency-policymaking
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