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ACC PM 07/09/18
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(ACC Mentioned) Lawmakers Tee Up Energy Approps Deal
Sep 7, 2018 | Politico
By Kelsey Tamborrino
MAKING PROGRESS: With just weeks to go before government funding runs dry, the House agreed Thursday to conference negotiations on a spate of three separate spending packages, including H.R. 6147 (115), the package that includes funding for Interior-EPA, Pro’s Jennifer Schultes and Sarah Ferris report, setting up a healthy timeline for what’s to come. -
(ACC Mentioned) Still Putting the NAFTA Pieces Together
Sep 7, 2018 | Politico
By Megan Cassella
STILL PUTTING ALL THE NAFTA PIECES TOGETHER: Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will return to the Winder Building today for more talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer after a 15- to 20-minute meeting Thursday evening to discuss a couple of the difficult remaining issues “face to face.” -
McCarthy Announces Vote on ‘Minibus,’ But Deal Remains Elusive
Sep 7, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Sarah Ferris
House GOP leaders plan to hold a vote on the so-called “minibus” spending package next week, even as negotiators remain unsure when they’ll reach a long-awaited deal. -
Canada Develops Microbeads Test Method
Sep 7, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The Canadian government has issued a laboratory test method to identify microbeads used in consumer products. -
EU Parliamentary Committee Approves Rules on Consumer Product Safety
Sep 7, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The Internal Market Committee of the European Parliament has approved a package of rules to ensure better checks on the safety of goods across the EU. -
Senate's Quiet Workhorse Was 2 for 2 on Big Energy Bills
Sep 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey
Former Sen. Jeff Bingaman is watching the days of big energy bills fade in his rearview mirror. -
Shale Rules, But Offshore Poised for Comeback, Says Construction Executive
Sep 7, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Katherine Blunt
Christian Brown is president of the oil and gas division of SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal engineering and construction company. -
Exxon Mobil Exporting the Gulf Coast’s Petrochemical Boom
Sep 7, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Jordan Blum
Exxon Mobil is riding the petrochemical boom along the Texas Gulf Coast with massive, multibillion-dollar chemicals and plastics expansions in the Houston, Beaumont and Corpus Christi regions. -
(ACC Mentioned) EPA Releases Interactive Sector Snapshots of Industry Environmental and Economic Performance
Sep 6, 2018 | National Law Review
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new interactive, web-based tool that provides information about the environmental and economic performance of industry sectors. Developed by EPA’s Smart Sectors Program, the sector snapshots application shows comprehensive, historical environmental and economic performance on a sector basis and allows users to visualize the data over the last 20 years. -
EPA Releases Public Tool To See Emissions Data of Industries
Sep 6, 2018 | The Washington Post
By John Siciliano & Josh Siegel
The EPA, as part of a new program to work closer with industry, launched an online tool on Thursday for the public to see a sector by sector breakdown of environmental performance. -
EPA Pulls 20 Years of Environmental, Economic Data Into ‘Sector Snapshots’
Sep 6, 2018 | Federal News Radio
By Jory Heckman
The Environmental Protection Agency has launched a new online dashboard, taking a different approach to how the agency presents government data on the environmental and economic performance of industrial sectors. -
On Environmental Record, Did Kavanaugh Lie to Senate?
Sep 7, 2018 | Environmental Working Group (In EcoWatch)
By Scott Faber
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh grossly misrepresented his record on the environment. -
Kavanaugh Would Undermine Climate Action — Hillary Clinton
Sep 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
Hillary Clinton said this morning that Brett Kavanaugh could make action on climate change "virtually impossible," as senators continue to mull his nomination to the Supreme Court. -
Former Official Doubts Chance of Hitting Obama's 2025 GHG Target
Sep 7, 2018 | Inside EPA
A former official is expressing doubts that the United States will achieve the Obama administration's 2025 greenhouse gas reduction target under the Paris Agreement, while also warning that the Trump administration's retrenchment on climate mitigation might cause other countries to lower the ambition in their own Paris targets.
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(ACC Mentioned) Lawmakers Tee Up Energy Approps Deal
Sep 7, 2018 | Politico
By Kelsey Tamborrino
MAKING PROGRESS: With just weeks to go before government funding runs dry, the House agreed Thursday to conference negotiations on a spate of three separate spending packages, including H.R. 6147 (115), the package that includes funding for Interior-EPA, Pro’s Jennifer Schultes and Sarah Ferris report, setting up a healthy timeline for what’s to come.
The minibus that includes the Energy-Water bills, H.R. 5895 (115), will most likely be the first to reach a resolution, with multiple lawmakers and aides suggesting a final product could come by this weekend. That would mean the House would then vote when lawmakers return on Wednesday, while the Senate could also vote “as soon as next week,” according to Sen. Lamar Alexander, who called a deal “very close.”
A surprise finish: Count Rep. Marcy Kaptur among the lawmakers caught off guard by the apparent success of Congress’ first minibus spending bill of the season. “Some of the issues I thought would be big speed bumps have been resolved,” the Ohio congresswoman, the top Democrat on energy and water appropriations, said. “I guess I’m more hopeful. I wasn’t expecting that this would get to first base but I think maybe it’s on third base right now.” There only seem to be one or two issues holding things up and expected everything to line up this week, she said. A dispute over a provision that impacts salmon runs in the Columbia and Snake River in Washington State seems to have been addressed, but Kaptur wouldn’t say how.
Rep. Mike Simpson, who chairs the energy and water spending panel, said there was “pretty much” a deal on the bill. “It’s down to a couple little things. They’ll be solved,” the Idaho Republican told reporters Thursday. “It’s not everything I want. It’s a good bill.” Simpson said that leadership had hoped to have the bill done Thursday night but he said it’s more far more likely today, which lines up with other accounts of the measure’s progress.
FINALLY FRIDAY! I'm your host, Kelsey Tamborrino. Andeavor’s Stephen Brown was first to correctly name House Science ranking member Eddie Bernice Johnson as the first registered nurse elected to Congress. For today: How many former House members have received at least one Electoral College vote for both president and vice president in separate elections? Send your tips, energy gossip and comments to ktamborrino@politico.com, or follow us on Twitter @kelseytam, @Morning_Energy and @POLITICOPro.
HE MADE IT: Sen. Tom Carper fended off a fierce primary challenge Thursday evening to secure renomination for what would be his fourth Senate term over political newcomer Kerri Evelyn Harris. Carper, top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee was comfortably ahead by a nearly two to one margin when the AP called the race around 9 p.m. Carper racked up endorsements from former Vice President Joe Biden and environmental groups, like the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and NRDC Action Fund, while Harris got a boost from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and several Bernie Sanders-aligned groups.
Hustling until the end: Carper was spotted in Washington as late as 3 p.m. on primary day where he held a press conference opposing Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s environmental record. “I voted and then headed to work in DC where I joined my Democratic colleagues and advocates to highlight #WhatsatStake & speak out on #Kavanaugh’s disastrous environmental record,” he tweeted along with a picture of him boarding Amtrak home.
OPEN FOR BUSINESS: Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced plans Thursday to keep all 10 of EPA’s regional offices open — allaying concern among employees that the Trump administration was aiming to close several offices. Wheeler aims to reorganize the offices to more closely mimic the operational structure at the agency’s headquarters, Pro’s Alex Guillén reports.
Wheeler wrote in a memo: “The contributions of EPA’s regional office employees, who constitute nearly half of the agency’s workforce, are vital to the protection of human health and the environment.” The plan, which Wheeler said will be submitted to Congress for review, would make it so each region houses eight main program offices covering air, water, land, Superfund and emergency response, enforcement, labs, regional counsel and administration.
WHERE’S WHEELER? Wheeler heads to Montana today to visit the Butte-Anaconda Superfund complex, the first EPA head to do so since former Administrator William Reilly. Wheeler will be joined by GOP Sen. Steve Daines, as well as Region 8 Administrator Doug Benevento and local and state officials, according to Katie Schoettler, Daines’ press secretary. Wheeler will also hold meetings with stakeholders in both cities.
NEW MEXICO LEASE SALE RAKES IT IN: A third-quarter oil and gas lease sale in New Mexico broke previous records by bringing in nearly $1 billion in bonus bids for 142 parcels, the Bureau of Land Management announced. The two-day sale grossed more revenue than all of BLM's oil and gas sales in 2017 combined. It also beat out BLM’s previous best sales year, with a revenue total of $972,483,619.50. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke declared the sale an example of the Trump administration's commitment to "energy dominance."
IN THE CLEAR: The House passed legislation Thursday that would speed up export approval for small quantities of liquefied natural gas that qualify for categorical exclusions under the National Environmental Policy Act. The bill, H.R. 4606 (115), from Rep. Bill Johnson cleared the chamber 260-146, Pro’s Anthony Adragna reports. The legislation codifies an existing DOE rule that went into effect in August that allows the agency to expedite applications to export LNG in quantities up to 140 million cubic feet per day.
ATTRACTIONS YET TO COME: The House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee will hold a hearing Sept. 13 to examine the air quality impacts from wildfires. “This hearing will call attention to the impact of wildfire smoke on our health, and examine improvements that can be made to the way we manage our forests to help prevent the unnaturally catastrophic wildfires season that we are battling once again,” Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said in a statement. Witnesses have yet to be announced. Wildfires once again ravaged the western U.S. this summer, prompting widespread air quality alerts and warnings for residents to stay indoors when possible.
TO THE SENATE: The White House formally sent a slate of nominations to the Senate, including Alexandra Dunn, who is tapped to lead EPA’s chemicals office. Dunn, who currently leads EPA’s Region 1 in New England, previously served as executive director of the Environmental Council of the States. President Donald Trump also sent David Vela’s nomination to lead the National Park Service.
IT WASN’T ME: While speculation ran rampant over which “senior official in the Trump administration” penned an op-ed in The New York Times criticizing the president, some key energy chiefs went on record Thursday to clear their names. Energy Secretary Rick Perry tweeted, “I am not the author of the New York Times OpEd, nor do I agree with its characterizations.” An Interior spokeswoman said that neither Zinke nor Deputy Secretary Dave Bernhardt wrote the letter. (Zinke also took to Twitter to scold the author: “Whoever this author is should be embarrassed at both their dishonesty and their cowardice.”) And Wheeler supports Trump 100 percent “and is honored to serve in his Cabinet,” EPA spokesman John Konkus said. The EPA chief “also believes whoever wrote the op-ed should resign,” Konkus added.
SAGE ADVICE: The Senate consented to a measure S. 1417 (115) Thursday to require the Interior secretary to develop a categorical exclusion for covered vegetative management activities carried out to establish or improve habitat for greater sage-grouse and mule deer. The bill was introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch in June of last year.
GET IN FOR FREE: Interior's Office of Inspector General flagged "ethical concerns" over free tickets given to the secretary, according to a new report from the agency's watchdog arm released Thursday. The report investigated the National Park Service's spending of philanthropic partner funds and identified six concerns within an existing agreement with the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts — a nonprofit organization and national park in Vienna, Va. While two of the six recommendations went unresolved and related to separate issues, one of the more eyebrow-raising findings revolved around a package of eight free tickets given to the secretary for every performance at Wolf Trap.
Those free tickets rack up an estimated value of about $543 per performance and an overall annual value of about $43,000. The giving away of tickets, however, isn't exclusive to Zinke, the OIG said, but dates back to at least the late 1970s. The OIG concluded in 1979 that NPS "would be better served by strictly prohibiting free tickets for employees," and recommending nixing the policy — which Interior didn't do. The OIG this time around recommended NPS obtain an ethics review and legal opinion on the tickets. NPS said it is consulting with an Interior ethics officer to review the "long-standing practice," according to spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles. In the meantime, Jethro Tull is playing at the venue tonight.
DEMS RESPOND TO ZINKE LETTER: Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee are honing in on a letter sent this week to Zinke from Chairman Rob Bishop that praises the department's handling of workplace misconduct policies under Zinke. The letter highlights issues of misconduct at Interior under previous administrations and applauds Zinke for his efforts to resolve some of the outstanding ones. Still, Bishop writes that the committee is "conducting ongoing oversight of employee misconduct issues" and requests additional documents related to the status of the department's anti-harassment policy, enforcement of ethical standards and the number of terminated or disciplined employees dating back to 2015. Ranking member Raúl Grijalvacompared the letter to “Inspector Clouseau” in a statement. “It takes courage to ask the target of more than a dozen federal investigations how he keeps his nose so clean,” he said.
NEW ANALYSIS SHOWS RFS WAIVER PRICE: EPA's small refinery waivers under the Renewable Fuel Standard could cost the ethanol industry 4.6 billion gallons of domestic demand and close to $20 billion in sales revenue over the next six years, according to a recently updated analysis by the University of Missouri’s Food and Agriculture Policy Research Institute. The Renewable Fuels Association will tout the analysis today arguing for the need to reallocate those exemptions to larger refiners. The oil industry, meanwhile, argues the data show there's in fact been increased U.S. ethanol production.
MAIL CALL! DON’T FORGET eRINS: More than 100 organizations signed onto a letter to Wheeler calling for renewable electricity to be included in the RFS. EPA doesn’t currently recognize RINs for electricity producers, also known as “eRINs,” under the standard. “By whatever mechanism biomass and biogas electricity is produced, when our energy is used as transportation fuel, it qualifies as an RFS fuel, and we are entitled, by law, to participate in the RFS program,” the letter states.
ME FIRST — IN SUPPORT OF THE LWCF: The National Wildlife Federation is launching a $300,000 ad campaign today focusing on reauthorization of the Land and Water Conservation Fund. The ads will urge lawmakers to permanently reauthorize and fully fund the conservation program, and will run in a dozen states through the end of this month. “This ad campaign will remind our elected officials and the public of how this remarkable program has connected Americans with wildlife, neighborhood parks and public lands,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, associate vice president for public lands at the NWF. See sample ads here.
MARCH ON: This Saturday marks the nationwide “Rise for Climate” day of action, when marches will be held across the country in support of a “fossil free world.” Organizers expect tens of thousands to mobilize across cities like San Francisco, New York City, Boston and Albuquerque. The AFGE Local 1003 union, which represents more than 500 EPA workers in Region 6 and Dallas headquarters, and the AFGE Council 238, representing more than 8,000 EPA workers, will both join their cities’ marches.
UTILITY SUED OVER FIXED FEE: The Center for Biological Diversity and four other environmental groups have filed a lawsuit against the Tennessee Valley Authority for what they argue are discriminatory electricity rates that discourage investment in renewable energy and energy efficiency. The lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Alabama, particularly hits the TVA’s “grid-access charge,” which mandates a fixed electricity fee regardless of energy usage.
MOVER, SHAKER: The American Petroleum Institute will announce this morning that Debra Phillips will join the trade association as vice president of global industry services on Oct. 1. Phillips comes from the American Chemistry Council, where she serves as vice president of sustainability and market outreach.
QUICK HITS
— “U.S. expects India to buy energy products, aircraft to fix trade gap: Pompeo,” Reuters.
— "California fire agency requests more money," Associated Press.
— “Latest Zinke calendars stripped of most details about his meetings,” CNN.
— “U.S. shale boom begins to cool,” Financial Times.
— “California passes 100 percent clean energy bill, but punts on several plans for getting there,” Desert Sun.
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(ACC Mentioned) Still Putting the NAFTA Pieces Together
Sep 7, 2018 | Politico
By Megan Cassella
STILL PUTTING ALL THE NAFTA PIECES TOGETHER: Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will return to the Winder Building today for more talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer after a 15- to 20-minute meeting Thursday evening to discuss a couple of the difficult remaining issues “face to face.”
Freeland declined to tell reporters how close the two sides were to a deal or whether one could come today. But she noted: “One of the things that is true of any trade agreement is nothing is done until everything is done. A trade agreement is about all the pieces coming together. We are making good progress. We continue to work in a constructive atmosphere with real good faith on both sides.”
Freeland also said she had spoken “a couple of times” by phone with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday to keep him updated on the talks. She declined to say which issues she discussed Thursday night with Lighthizer, saying the two sides agreed not to negotiate in public. “I think it has really helped us to have a professional atmosphere for the negotiations,” she said. The evening meeting came after she and Lighthizer held a roughly two-hour discussion earlier in the day.
It was another anticlimactic end to a long day for reporters hanging out on 17th Street in the swampy Washington heat. Several softball teams returning from games on the National Mall noticed the cameras set up outside USTR and pretended to hold impromptu press conferences. However, Lighthizer and other U.S. officials remained noticeably absent from the mikes, as has been their practice for months.
Stay tuned for more from the seemingly ever-present NAFTA stakeout scene later today.
IT’S FRIDAY, SEPT. 7! Welcome to Morning Trade, where your host is hopping on a plane this evening to spend a few weeks on the other side of the pond. I’m starting with a week working in Brussels beginning on Monday, so if you’re free for coffee or have any recommendations for the best frites in town, let me know: mcassella@politico.com or @mmcassella.
BUSINESS COUNCIL TO TRUMP: DON’T PULL A CHINA ON TARIFFS:President Donald Trump could move to impose new tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods as early as today after a public comment period ended at midnight on Thursday. But that would resemble the sort of questionable rulemaking process that U.S. business groups have accused China of following, in violation of its World Trade Organization commitments.
Two years ago, for example, the U.S.-China Business Council and other business groups were alarmed when China proposed implementing new technology regulations just one day after the public comment period ended. That posture clearly suggested “regulators do not intend to make any modifications to the provisions based on the comments that are submitted,” the groups said in a letter to Chinese officials.
The WTO Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement requires members to publish notices early enough for interested parties to review it and provide “sufficient time for comments taken into account in final measures,” the groups added.
As of midnight, USTR had received thousands of submissions about the proposed tariffs, which would bring the total value of Chinese goods on which Trump has imposed tariffs to about $253 billion — or about half of current U.S. imports from the Asian manufacturing giant. China, in turn, has threatened to retaliate on another $60 billion worth of U.S. goods, bringing its total to about $113 billion of its $130 billion in imports from the United States.
“Our hope is with that many submissions, the U.S. government that will take time to genuinely review all the input that they received,” said Erin Ennis, senior vice president at the U.S.-China Business Council. “The reason you have a public comment period is to make sure you understand what the impact is going to be before you take the action.”
Trump originally proposed hitting the $200 billion in Chinese goods with a 10 percent tariff, but later asked U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to consider a 25 percent tariff instead. Industry aides said various permutations are possible, with duties ranging from 5 percent to 25 percent, depending on the product. In addition, Trump might decide not to hit all $200 billion at once.
One industry source, speaking on the condition he not be identified, said his hunch was Trump would wait at least until next week before imposing the tariffs on Beijing.
Another source noted that if the administration were intent on following standard procedures, then there is “no way” tariffs would be announced today. But the caveat, the source added, is that “we’re dealing with a president who could change the calculus at any time.”
INDUSTRY MOUNTS A UNIFIED ANTI-TARIFF OFFENSIVE: Hours before the public comment period ended at midnight, more than 150 business and industry groups banded together to present a unified front to pressure the Trump administration against the tariffs, warning that doing so would likely backfire on the same businesses and workers it’s trying to help.
"Continuing the tit-for-tat tariff escalation with China only serves to expand the harm to more U.S. economic interests, including farmers, families, business, and workers," the National Retail Federation and 150 other business groups said in a letter to Lighthizer. "Unilaterally imposing tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars in goods invites retaliation and has not resulted in meaningful negotiations of concessions." Doug has more here.
Critics have sounded the alarm on the $200 billion list of goods, not only because it would far increase the overall amount of imports from China that will be hit with tariffs fivefold but also because the latest list veers much more heavily into consumer products, meaning everyday Americans are likely to feel the hit more directly than after previous rounds of duties. Organizations included in the NRF’s letter, for example, represented the apparel sector, farmers, food companies, beverage makers, toy retailers, home appliance manufacturers, services industries, fashion designers, internet companies, lobster dealers, candy makers, meat producers, bike shops and pet stores.
Power in numbers: Besides the broad-based coalition letter, dozens of business groups representing other industries also came together to submit comments to Lighthizer as an industry and warn him of what they saw as the harmful effects of the tariffs, particularly to consumers. Groups representing agriculture producers, suppliers, manufacturers, retailers and restaurants wrote one letter, for example, warning that tariffs threaten to raise the costs of basic food items and “will disproportionately harm low and middle-income American families while putting at risk hard-won, efficient supply chains that feed a complex and vibrant economic system.”
A similar letter sent by members of the personal care and household products industry — a coalition that included the Grocery Manufacturers Association, Personal Care Products Council — issued a similar warning.
“Any increase in costs of these common household items will be felt by all Americans, but most acutely by low and middle-income consumers,” they wrote. “At a time when the administration has worked so hard to advance tax reform, higher prices for consumers and manufacturers resulting from these tariffs will hinder domestic economic gains while doing little to punish Chinese bad practices.”
Chemicals at risk: The American Chemistry Council also released a new study on Thursday showing that moving forward with the latest round of tariffs would spark retaliation from China that would put nearly 55,000 jobs and around $18 billion in U.S. domestic activity at risk.
“If numbers are the universal language, then there should be no language barrier preventing the U.S. and China from understanding the damage that tariffs are ready to inflict on one another’s economies,” said Ed Brzytwa, ACC’s director of international trade. The report is here.
DIM FUTURE FOR TRUMP TRADE RESOLUTION: The debate Wednesday in the House Ways and Means Committee over a resolution urging Trump to turn over documents explaining his China trade strategy and related trade moves was probably the high-water mark for the legislation, a Democratic aide acknowledged on Thursday.
There is little expectation that House Republican leaders will schedule a vote on the measure, even though it was not formally rejected by the panel and was reported out of committee with “no recommendation.” Still, the debate gave Democratic lawmakers the opportunity to express pent-up frustration about how Trump’s trade moves are affecting businesses in their districts and reassert that Congress has constitutional authority over trade, even though it has ceded a lot of power in that area to the White House.
“There is nothing more important, in my view, than the Constitution. Trade authority rests in Congress ultimately — Article I, Section 8 — and we need to take the reins and seek a sensible strategy here,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-N.J.), the author of the provision.
A number of other Democrats echoed that view, especially the assertion that there is no clear strategy behind Trump’s tariff moves. “On China, we have no idea what the end game is,” Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) said. “For now, the administration only seems to want to escalate the conflict and not engage in any meaningful negotiations. ... Meanwhile, our farmers and businesses are getting locked out of a key market for their products.”
TEAMSTERS: CANADA MUST BE IN PACT TO GET OUR SUPPORT: The Trump administration is hoping to get widespread union support for a new NAFTA deal, but one major group is warning that would be impossible unless Canada is part of the agreement. “Canada’s inclusion in any revamped trade deal is necessary if the Teamsters are ultimately going to endorse this pact,” Jim Hoffa, president of the Teamsters General union, said in a joint statement with Francois Laporte, president of Teamsters Canada.
They also warned the final deal must include a “freight rail fix” that would basically bar rail workers from one nation from working in another when a train crosses a border. Rail unions in the three countries agreed on that concept two decades ago, and a provision barring foreign rail workers from working in Mexico was included in the original agreement signed by the three countries in 1992.
That provision is expected to remain in any new NAFTA deal, and “therefore we call on the U.S. and Canadian governments to similarly protect our freight rail crew members,” the Teamster leaders said. Some Mexican rail workers have been working inside the United States this year, in violation of federal law, they added.
CANADIAN, MEXICAN STEEL INDUSTRIES CALL FOR FREE TRADE: Steel industry groups from Canada and Mexico want the U.S. to eliminate “all trade restrictions” on steel and aluminum in any final NAFTA agreement.
“A NAFTA with steel and aluminum tariffs substantially counters the specific FTA’s main purpose,” Maximo Vedoya, president of CANACERO, the Mexican steel industry organization, said in a joint statement with the Canadian Steel Producers Association.
U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, which Trump imposed in the name of national security, remain in place as the three countries try to strike a revised NAFTA deal. Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo said that those tariffs — as well as Mexico’s retaliatory duties on $3 billion in U.S. products like agricultural goods — would be enforced until the countries are closer to signing an agreement later this year.
A NAFTA steel quota in the making? The U.S. could move toward establishing import quotas on Mexico and Canada as a replacement for the tariffs, and some industry sources told Morning Trade that there is discussion in that direction although nothing formal has been announced. South Korea was granted a quota rather than tariffs when it struck a deal to tweak its trade deal with the U.S. Other countries without U.S. trade deals have also negotiated quotas.
As part of its NAFTA deal, Mexico has already agreed to voluntary export restraints on cars. The Trump administration is considering tariffs on car imports using the same national security law applied to steel and aluminum.
But Canadian Steel Producers Association President Joseph Galimberti said he was not aware of any similar side deals on steel and aluminum.
"I know of no side letter agreement on [steel] quotas between the government of Canada and the United States. I'm not aware of any active negotiations in that regard between the government of Canada and the United States," he told Morning Trade.
MACRON: PARIS CLIMATE DEAL A PREREQUISITE FOR TRADE TALKS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday reiterated that the EU should not negotiate trade deals with countries that do not implement the Paris climate accord — and explicitly excluded talks with the U.S. in that context.
"I'm extremely strict about that point: We must not have trade negotiations with countries that don't respect the Paris agreement," Macron said in Luxembourg. "And if certain people say we can resume making big deals with the United States of America that say they don't want to respect the Paris agreement: No, no," he said.
Lighthizer is scheduled to be in Brussels on Monday for preparative discussions on a potential trade agreement with the EU.
WOODWARD KEPT HIS RECEIPTS: If you were wondering what a formal notice withdrawing the United States from one of its trade agreements might look like, look no further: Bob Woodward has a copy. In his forthcoming book “Fear” about the Trump White House, Woodward reports that top aides were able to steer the president away from making certain decisions they felt would be bad for national or economic security by simply stealing papers off his desk in the Oval Office.
One such incident involved the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, which Trump was ready to withdraw from. But then-National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn took the draft of the withdrawal letter from his desk so that it could never be signed and sent. Woodward included a copy in his book, according to a phototweeted by journalist Ryan Lizza.
“The United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (Agreement), in its current form, is not in the overall best interests of the United States economy,” reads the one-paragraph letter, dated Sept. 5, 2017. “Thus, in accordance with Article 24.5 of the Agreement, the United States hereby provides notice that it wishes to terminate the Agreement.”
TRUMP TRADE SUPPORTERS REBUT JOHN OLIVER: The Coalition for a Prosperous America, a group aligned with Trump on trade, has put together a video rebuttal to John Oliver’s recent takedown of Trump’s trade policy. The group makes the case that China will bear some of the cost of Trump’s tariffs, rather than just U.S. companies and consumers.
INTERNATIONAL OVERNIGHT
— German industrial orders are slowing amid Trump’s trade threats, Reuters reports.
— The dollar is easing against the Japanese yen amid a report that Trump is considering next taking up trade issues with Japan, Reuters reports.
— Asian markets opened mixed Friday morning amid concerns over possible escalation in the U.S.-China trade war, CNBC reports.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-trade/2018/09/07/still-putting-the-nafta-pieces-together-333489
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McCarthy Announces Vote on ‘Minibus,’ But Deal Remains Elusive
Sep 7, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Sarah Ferris
House GOP leaders plan to hold a vote on the so-called “minibus” spending package next week, even as negotiators remain unsure when they’ll reach a long-awaited deal.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced this morning that the three-bill spending package, H.R. 5895 (115), will come up for a vote as soon as lawmakers return midweek.
But some lawmakers and aides today cast doubt that the bill, which was supposed to be the easiest of all the minibuses, would be completed tonight. They say the bill's finish could now slip until the weekend, or even Monday.
Negotiators — including the highest levels of leadership — were still hammering out policy issues and technical details as of this afternoon.
“Not today,” Rep. Nita Lowey, (D-N.Y.), the top Democratic appropriator in the House, told reporters just minutes before McCarthy’s floor comments.
One senior GOP aide said it was "very likely" that the final report wouldn't be filed today: "There are still issues and processing to do."
Still, McCarthy said on the floor that negotiators were down to the last few items.
“I expect it to be done today,” McCarthy said.
Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), one of the top House GOP negotiators, also assured reporters this morning that the bill remains close.
The bill includes the Energy-Water, Military Construction-VA and Legislative Branch titles.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
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Canada Develops Microbeads Test Method
Sep 7, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The Canadian government has issued a laboratory test method to identify microbeads used in consumer products.
The method details a process for extracting and analysing microbeads to determine their composition.
It has been developed to support the Microbeads in Toiletries Regulations, which prohibit the manufacture and import of personal care products containing microbeads equal to or less than 5mm in size. A sales prohibition on these products took effect in July.
https://chemicalwatch.com/70141/canada-develops-microbeads-test-method
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EU Parliamentary Committee Approves Rules on Consumer Product Safety
Sep 7, 2018 | Chemical Watch
The Internal Market Committee of the European Parliament has approved a package of rules to ensure better checks on the safety of goods across the EU.
The so-called "goods package" has legislative proposals on:compliance and enforcement – which was passed by 24 votes to 10; andmutual recognition – which passed by 28 votes to five.
The rules would give EU authorities responsible for market surveillance the ability to cooperate better and share information.
The aim is to help strengthen checks made by national authorities to prevent the sale of unsafe products and make it easier for companies, particularly SMEs, to sell their products across Europe.
The initiative was prompted by concerns over the number of unsafe and non-compliant goods on the EU market. Joint inspections by authorities have found 32% of toys and 58% of electronic devices do not meet the safety or consumer information requirements. A European surveillance exercise found a fifth of toy samples non-compliant with regulations restricting the content of substances of concern.
The rules will also require member states to ensure proper market checks of products sold online to protect consumer safety and health.
Nicola Danti, rapporteur on the compliance and enforcement proposal, said: "Many recent scandals have demonstrated that unsafe and non-compliant products are still a reality in the European market ... I believe that this proposal is an important step towards improving checks to ensure the conformity and the safety of goods circulating in Europe."
Mr Danti's counterpart on the mutual recognition proposal, Ivan Štefanec, said the proposal would "increase legal certainty for producers and will improve administrative cooperation among national authorities."
The committee's vote gives the rapporteurs the go-ahead to open talks with the Council of Ministers on agreeing final rules.
https://chemicalwatch.com/70081/eu-parliamentary-committee-approves-rules-on-consumer-product-safety
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Senate's Quiet Workhorse Was 2 for 2 on Big Energy Bills
Sep 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Hannah Northey
Former Sen. Jeff Bingaman is watching the days of big energy bills fade in his rearview mirror.
The New Mexico Democrat and former chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee would know. He shepherded the passage of two big energy packages in 2005 and 2007.
Now retired and living in Santa Fe, Bingaman said brawls over climate change will likely derail chances for energy action anytime soon, even if Democrats retake the House in November.E&E SERIES
Energy and environmental newsmakers dish on politics, pet peeves and their TV addictions. Click here to read more stories in this series.
"It's unlikely that a Democratically controlled House and a Republican-controlled Senate could pass something that this president would sign," he said. "As far as any kind of major energy legislation, I think Democrats would insist it reduce greenhouse gas emissions."
Bingaman, 74, was widely regarded as a rock-solid legislator during his 30-year stint in the Senate.
From his upset election in 1983 until his retirement in 2013, Bingaman's bipartisan work and low-key demeanor earned him nicknames like "quiet diplomat" and "workhorse." He was the top Democrat on Energy and Natural Resources when the first energy package passed in 2005 and chairman when the second passed two years later.
The son of a college chemistry professor and an elementary school teacher, Bingaman was elected to the Senate in 1982 after a four-year stint as New Mexico's attorney general, knocking off incumbent Republican Sen. Harrison Schmitt, a former astronaut. After retiring, he returned to his alma mater, Stanford Law School, to complete a one-year fellowship at the Steyer-Taylor Center for Energy Policy and Finance.
These days, Bingaman is busy planning trips abroad with his wife, Anne, and spending time with his 4-year-old granddaughter, Laura.
He's been out of the spotlight for some time. The last time he grabbed attention was in 2012, when he appeared on comedian Stephen Colbert's "Colbert Report."
"Do you have the power as a senator to just walk up to anyone in Congress and give them a wedgie?" Colbert asked.
Bingman's reply: "Uh, yeah, I guess I do."
"That was the high point of my television career," he said in an interview. "I'm not out looking to get in the news. I never did too much of that."
Bingaman ventured back into spotlight recently at the request of E&E News.
What are you up to these days?
I'm on three different nonprofit boards that meet occasionally, and that takes time. We're getting ready to take a trip to Scotland and Ireland in September. We're out in the country a little ways. We were able to keep the house during the 30 years that we were in Washington, so we now are living there again and enjoying it very much.
Do you miss Congress?
I don't miss Capitol Hill, and I wouldn't run for office again.
You've been called the "quiet diplomat," a "workhorse and not a show horse," one of the "adults" in Congress.
Oh, I think there are quite a few adults in Congress, so I don't claim any exclusive label like that. I tried to focus on trying to get some things done while I was there in the Senate, and felt good about what we've been able to do given all the circumstances by the end of time I was there.
Any regrets from your time on the Hill?
I would like to have seen us pass legislation to implement the recommendations of the blue-ribbon panel that Energy Secretary Steven Chu set up to advise on what to do about nuclear waste. Obviously I would like to have seen us do something on the issue of climate change, and we tried to do that, but obviously the votes weren't there to get it done during the time I was in the Senate.
Are the days of big energy and climate bills over?
I still have hopes that we could develop a consensus nationally to go ahead with some type of carbon tax or some type of regime to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. But that's proven very difficult to do, and until we get more support on the Republican side, I don't see that happening.
How did you see climate awareness change on the Hill?
When I got there in '83, nobody was talking about climate change. When you talked about energy legislation, it was all about supply and price. Once climate change became a major point of discussion, the parties diverged and Democrats have wanted to continue considering supply and price but also focus on climate problems.
Republicans have generally opposed that, but early on they did not. [The late Arizona Sen.] John McCain was obviously ahead of his time with the McCain-Lieberman legislation. There were other Republicans who favored dealing with greenhouse gas emissions, but they're far and few between now.
Are Democrats doing enough to promote climate action?
Until the issue of climate change becomes a campaign issue, we're not going to have the public concern about it that's required to change the minds of people who get elected to Congress. I would like to see more discussion of it, and I'd like to see more people vote on the basis of which candidate takes a responsible position on that issue.
Looking out West, what's the best way to deal with these raging wildfires? Should the federal government have more flexibility to thin forests, for instance?
I think they clearly need the ability to do forest thinning, and they have that in most areas. I think they also need the resources to do that. One of the problems we had when I was there in the Senate, and I think we still have today, is that a lot of the resources for thinning forests and preventing wildfires, a lot of that money gets used up in fighting fires. And so you always have to address the immediate problem, which is fighting the fires, at the expense of the longer-term, chronic problem of needing to better manage the forests.
What do you think of Trump administration officials downplaying the role of climate change in those fires?
I think it's very detrimental because, clearly to my mind, the increase in the frequency and severity of forest fires in the West is directly tied to warmer temperatures, more drought that we're seeing that results from climate change. I think recognizing what's happening with the climate is an essential part of trying to effectively manage the national forests.
What would it take to prompt national action on climate?
Congress is not very good at leading on major national issues. I think the way our government is structured, you've got to have a president who's willing to point the direction we ought to be moving in, and we don't have that today on energy and climate. And we're going to have to have some courageous folks in the Republican Party rally and begin to embrace a reasonable policy on the subject.
Do have any interest in getting back to Capitol Hill?
Well, I watch what's going on from a distance, and it all looks pretty familiar to me. I miss some of the people that I worked with, both members of Congress but also staff, and that's the part of it that I do miss.
But the frustrations that are built into the system with the inability to make progress on constructive legislation and things like that, those frustrations I don't miss.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/09/07/stories/1060096285
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Shale Rules, But Offshore Poised for Comeback, Says Construction Executive
Sep 7, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Katherine Blunt
Christian Brown is president of the oil and gas division of SNC-Lavalin, a Montreal engineering and construction company. He joined the firm in 2014 when it acquired another engineering and construction firm, Kentz Corp., where he was CEO.
In 2017, Brown began leading the company’s oil and gas operations, which employ about 22,000 people in the United Statea, Asia and the Middle East. His division, based in Houston, oversees the planning, engineering and construction of projects from petrochemical plants to offshore developments.
Brown expects the United States will continue to attract substantial investments in shale basins such as the Permian in West Texas, where abundant production on natural gas has spurred the development of petrochemicals plants and facilities to process and export liquefied natural gas. But he also anticipates offshore exploration and production to make a comeback as oil demand — and prices — rise.Unlimited Digital Access for 99¢Read more articles like this by subscribing to the Houston Chronicle SUBSCRIBE
He recently spoke with the Houston Chronicle. Edited excerpts follow.
You’ve done a lot of work on liquefied natural gas projects around the world. Which regions do you expect will attract the most export development in the coming years?
When you’ve got a low cost of capital and large supply of cheap natural gas, that’s where the projects will happen. That fits well with the U.S. And if you look at Mozambique and Tanzania, you’ve got very, very cheap gas and a very low cost of capital.
Qatar may be more difficult for international companies now, because the country wants to develop more on its own. That might force the bigger players in LNG to look more at aggressively at southeast Africa, or even Australia Australia will absolutely have one more liquefaction train, maybe two, but I believe most of the trains will come to the U.S., Africa and Qatar.
You’ve really got an abundance of gas in all three of those locations.
Do you expect Asia to continue to account for the majority of LNG import demand?
I think it will, but you have to wonder about Europe. If you listen to (chemical maker) Ineos founder and CEO Jim Ratcliffe, he’s concerned about gas imports to feed his petrochemical agenda in Europe. Where is the gas going to come from?
Look at the disconnect with Russia and the Europe’s reliance on its pipeline supply of gas. Unless relationships change, European countries have got to look for more security in supply. They can’t be beholden to Russia. People want contingency plans, so I think Europe will need more LNG than it has traditionally needed. Whether it comes from Qatar or this side of the world will all come down to price.
Do you expect tariffs on steel and aluminum imports to affect industry plans to build new petrochemicals projects?RelatedBOYS' SOCCER: New era set to begin for Metro boys’ soccerBOYS' SOCCER: Griffins beat Knights in openerBOYS' SOCCER: Metro cruises to win over Christ Our Rock
If you look at building a greenfield asset here in the U.S., most of the simple carbon steel comes from China. The tariff probably adds between 2 and 5 percent in project costs. That will get priced in. But U.S. steel manufacturers are putting their prices up, and they’re not adding capacity. So you end up, essentially, with cost escalation.
A cost increase of 2 or 5 percent isn’t going to affect an investment decision. But what happens if this gets extended? What happens if the administration extends it to other commodities that affect 30 or 40 percent of the capital cost of an asset in the U.S.? There’s been a lot of good work here to drive the cost of capital down, but if you extend tariffs to other commodities, I do fear it’ll make us uncompetitive here. That’s what worries me.
What have you seen in terms of interest offshore?
U.S. shale absolutely will account for a substantial portion of future oil demand, but I don’t think that will be enough. That’s why you’re starting to see customers, particularly the international oil companies and the independents, building some capacity offshore because they believe the market will be there for bigger developments.
If you look at some of the leading indicators, there will be 92 projects expected to be sanctioned offshore this year. You see the bidding activity in the Gulf, western Africa, the Middle East and Asia, and it’s a substantial change from where it was last year.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Shale-rules-but-offshore-poised-for-comeback-13212115.php
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Exxon Mobil Exporting the Gulf Coast’s Petrochemical Boom
Sep 7, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Jordan Blum
Exxon Mobil is riding the petrochemical boom along the Texas Gulf Coast with massive, multibillion-dollar chemicals and plastics expansions in the Houston, Beaumont and Corpus Christi regions.
All this growth is driven by the shale boom and the surplus of cheap natural gas liquids that serve as petrochemical feedstock, giving U.S. chemical makers a cost advantage over their international rivals.
So what’s next up for Exxon Mobil? China.Unlimited Digital Access for 99¢Read more articles like this by subscribing to the Houston Chronicle SUBSCRIBE
Exxon Mobil said last week it’s planning to build a multibillion-dollar chemicals and plastics complex in the south of China in Guangdong province.
While building in the United States still has advantages, most of the world’s petrochemical demand growth is expected to come from Asia, especially in China, where emerging middle classes are demanding more consumer products, invevitably made from or packaged in plastic. So why not build there and cut out most of the transportation costs?
The project, which also would include a liquefied natural gas import terminal, is slated for completion in 2023. That means that Texas shale gas could still be used to manufacture the plastics, albeit in China.
A second wave petrochemical boom is taking root along the U.S. Gulf Coast, but other major expansions are ongoing in the Middle East and Asia, according to a new report from the analytics firm GlobalData. China and the U.S. are almost even with about $52 billion each in planned petrochemical investments from 2017 to 2026, GlobalData estimates. Chinese companies such as China Petrochemical, Zhejiang Petrochemical and Wanhua Chemical are leading much of that growth.
Exxon Mobil is now joining the fray in China. While Exxon already has a massive Asian petrochemical presence in Singapore, the company only has a small foothold — for now — in China with investments in some projects and a recently completed expansion of Exxon’s research center in Shanghai.
Timing is everything
Mired in protests and lawsuits, Houston pipeline giant Kinder Morgan sold its Canadian Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion just in time.
In the end of May, the Canadian government agreed to purchase the pipeline from Kinder Morgan for nearly $3.5 billion after Kinder Morgan threatened to scrap the project over the incessant bickering of federal and provinicial official. But just days prior to the sale being finalized last week, a Canadian federal appeals court ordered the project to stop and for the Canadian government to redo its initial environmental review.
Needless to say, the legal wrangling will continue, but Kinder Morgan can walk away with billions of dollar and focus on its as pipeline projects in Texas. The company is now weighing whether to sell its other Canadian assets.
Canada, meanwhile, is investing in Texas pipelines as well. The Canadian pension fund, called OMERS, recently agreed to pay $1.4 billion to buy a 50 percent stake in the BridgeTex oil pipeline that runs hundreds of miles from West Texas’ Permian Basin to Houston. Houston’s Plains All American Pipeline and Oklahoma’s Magellan Midstream will combine to own the remaining 50 percent.
That’s a lot of pipeline activity, eh?
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Exxon-Mobil-exporting-the-Gulf-Coast-s-13211035.php
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Sep 6, 2018 | National Law Review
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a new interactive, web-based tool that provides information about the environmental and economic performance of industry sectors. Developed by EPA’s Smart Sectors Program, the sector snapshots application shows comprehensive, historical environmental and economic performance on a sector basis and allows users to visualize the data over the last 20 years.
“The sector snapshots released today show in a transparent and accessible way how a specific industry’s environmental and economic performance has changed over the last two decades,” said EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “This type of data can help the public, the regulated community, and EPA gains a common understanding of sector performance that will better inform environmental improvement strategies moving forward.”
“The Smart Sectors Program is dedicated to improving the way EPA engages with different sectors of the economy,” said EPA Acting Deputy Administrator Henry Darwin. “As the Agency pursues better environmental outcomes, it is important to present measurable, understandable data.”
The first modules to be released showcase three sectors: iron and steel, chemical manufacturing, and utilities and power generation. The program plans to release modules for other sectors participating in the Smart Sectors program on a rolling basis.
“We are pleased to collaborate with EPA in showcasing the iron and steel sector’s commitment to strong environmental performance and working toward a smarter, more sensible regulatory framework,” said American Iron and Steel Institute President and CEO Thomas J. Gibson. “The domestic steel industry, which supports more than two million American jobs, continues to strive toward the goal of protecting human health and the environment. These data demonstrate that this goal is being realized.”
“The Smart Sectors program is illustrating the positive environmental and economic impact of 21st century steelmaking,” said Steel Manufacturers Association President Philip K. Bell. “I am incredibly proud of our partnership with EPA in the development of the sector snapshot, which provides the public with easily accessible information about how the iron and steel industry safely and sustainably operates while continuing to improve its performance.”
“America’s chemical manufacturers are leaders in providing materials and technologies that enhance sustainability while helping our economy grow,” said American Chemistry Council Vice President of Regulatory and Technical Affairs Michael Walls. “We are equally committed to making strides in our own operations, as reflected in our participation in Responsible Care®, the industry’s environmental, health, safety and security performance initiative. EPA’s new sector snapshot will be a valuable tool to help guide future efforts to ‘connect the dots’ between environmental and economic progress.”
“SOCMA is a strong supporter of the Smart Sectors Program, and we applaud EPA on the new online tool that will serve as a visual benchmark for key trends within the specialty chemical sector,” said Society of Chemical Manufacturers and Affiliates President & CEO Jennifer Abril. “SOCMA appreciates the collaboration we have with Smart Sectors on a variety of issues and believe this new tool is another step in the right direction. It will be instrumental in helping the public understand the positive economic impact the chemical industry has on our society, as well as showcasing the significant strides our sector continues to make in environmental stewardship.”
“The Edison Electric Institute (EEI) appreciates EPA’s Smart Sectors program, which highlights the electric power industry’s progress in environmental protection and the significant contributions our industry makes to the U.S. economy,” said EEI Vice President of Environment and Natural Resources Quin Shea. “The electric power industry contributes 5 percent to our nation’s GDP; we call this the first 5 percent of the American economy because virtually every other sector of the economy depends, to a significant degree, on safe, reliable, affordable, and increasingly clean energy delivered by the men and women of the electric power industry. As a whole, the industry supports more than 7 million jobs in communities across the United States. Our industry has made tremendous progress to transition to a cleaner generating fleet, reducing greenhouse gas emissions 27 percent below 2005 levels as of the end of 2017, while providing affordable and reliable energy for all customers. Additionally, our industry has reduced emissions of nitrogen oxides by 84 percent and sulfur dioxide by 92 percent compared to 1990 levels.”
“EPA’s Smart Sectors snapshot highlights the electric utility industry as a powerful economic engine that is making great strides to improve our environmental performance, “said Delia Patterson, American Public Power Association’s Senior Vice President of Advocacy & Communications and General Counsel. “The industry provides public power utility jobs to 93,000 people (in addition to the 387,000 private-sector jobs identified in this snapshot). As community-owned, not-for-profit electric utilities, public power is committed to serving our customers with reliable, affordable, and environmentally responsible power,”
“Today’s manufacturing is cleaner, more efficient and more responsible than ever—as this new tool illustrates so well,” said Ross Eisenberg, Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy, National Association of Manufacturers. “Working with the EPA and the public, manufacturers are driving innovation and keeping our promise to be good stewards of the environment and supporters of our communities. The NAM appreciates the EPA’s work to provide the public the best data available on the manufacturing sector’s environmental performance.”
The sector snapshots tool uses public data from EPA and other federal sources. The application offers users access to information about general sector characteristics, environmental performance indicators, and economic data through interactive graphics. Users can select environmental and economic indicators individually, or paired combinations of indicators, to view trends over time.
EPA Smart Sectors is a partnership program that provides a platform to collaborate with regulated sectors and develop sensible approaches that better protect the environment and public health. To learn more about the program, visit: www.epa.gov/smartsectors.
To access the snapshots, visit: https://epa.gov/smartsectors/sector-snapshots.
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
The original press release is available on the EPA website.
https://www.natlawreview.com/article/epa-releases-interactive-sector-snapshots-industry-environmental-and-economic
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EPA Releases Public Tool To See Emissions Data of Industries
Sep 6, 2018 | The Washington Post
By John Siciliano & Josh Siegel
The EPA, as part of a new program to work closer with industry, launched an online tool on Thursday for the public to see a sector by sector breakdown of environmental performance.
The EPA unveiled its “Sector Snapshots” project, which is an online hub that assembles a range of environmental and economic data from publicly-available sources for various sectors over the last 20 years.
EPA officially launched the project Thursday, revealing data for three sectors: utilities, chemical manufacturing, and iron and steel. The agency will eventually provide data for 13 sectors.
How it works: The interactive visual tool includes graphs showing how environmental indicators such as air emissions, greenhouse gases, hazardous waste generation, water discharges, and criteria air pollution have changed for each industry over time. It compares how these environmental outcomes have changed in comparison to economic indicators, such as employment, gross output, and, for the utility industry, the amount of electricity generated.
EPA’s attempt at transparency: “By making this data easily accessible, you can look at the environmental and economic performance of each sector for many years,” Daisy Letendre, senior advisor for policy and strategic communications in the EPA’s Office of Policy, told reporters at agency headquarters Thursday morning. “It’s all in one spot. This is a way to portray public information in a different way that’s more accessible.”
The data looks good for industry: Data for the three sectors made available so far shows steady improvements in most environmental outcomes. For example, air emissions in the utility industry fell from 790 million pounds in 1998 to 86 million pounds in 2016. The chemical manufacturing industry saw its air emissions drop from 425 million pounds in 1998 compared to 159 million pounds in 2016.
But it’s not a gift to them: EPA officials claim the new data tool is not meant to make industries look good, as the agency rolls back environmental regulations -- often by claiming that industry is already doing its part to limit emissions.
“This is meant to be a resource internally or externally for any one who is interested,” Letendre said. I don’t foresee us using this as reasoning for any regulatory relief outside of EPA’s normal processes.”
EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler, however, said the data will inform his decisions on how to regulate industry.
“This type of data can help the public, the regulated community, and EPA gain a common understanding of sector performance that will better inform environmental improvement strategies moving forward,” Wheeler said in a statement.
It’s part of a bigger program: The data project is part of EPA’s new "Smart Sectors" program, announced by former Administrator Scott Pruitt last year, that aims to allow miners, drillers, utilities, and chemical manufacturers to collaborate on how to best regulate its industries.
It is modeled after a similar 2003 initiative started by the George W. Bush administration. The Obama administration halted the program in 2009.
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/daily-on-energy-presented-by-gain-ryan-zinke-spending-a-lot-of-time-on-national-security
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EPA Pulls 20 Years of Environmental, Economic Data Into ‘Sector Snapshots’
Sep 6, 2018 | Federal News Radio
By Jory Heckman
The Environmental Protection Agency has launched a new online dashboard, taking a different approach to how the agency presents government data on the environmental and economic performance of industrial sectors.
The agency’s Smart Sectors program launched its “sector snapshots” application Thursday, which tracks industry’s output of air emissions and greenhouse gasses, as well as its energy use, over the past 20 years.
The “sector snapshots” web app will release 13 industry snapshots on a rolling basis. On Thursday, it released the first three — iron and steel, chemical manufacturing, and utilities and power generation. It expects to release more snapshots next December or January.
“The most important thing about this web application is that it does something that we don’t think has ever been done before, which is to bring together environmental media on a sector basis, all in one spot with roughly 20 years of historical data,” Robert Sachs, an environmental scientist with EPA’s Smart Sectors program, told reporters at a press briefing at the agency’s headquarters.
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The sector snapshots pull environmental data from across the government — including the Census Bureau, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“Different data is coming from different government sources. Some of it might be on [the Energy Department], and then you have to go to DoE and then combine it with something from EPA. So this is kind of pulling all of the government sources,” said Elizabeth Corona, another member of the Smart Sectors program. “By making this data that’s already publicly available easily accessible, we’re able to look at both environmental and economic performance of each sector for many years.”
The EPA used to publish this industry data in annual “Smart Sectors” written reports, but Daisey Letendre, senior adviser for policy and strategic communications for the Office of Policy, said the new app gives users an at-a-glance look at the environmental data trends.
“We walked Administrator [Andrew] Wheeler through this, and I think that’s one of the most compelling things he saw, is that it’s not just the air trends for across the country, but it’s per each sector, and it’s every source of data that we have.”
Sachs said the 20-year view of data allows users to make better sense of the trend lines, compared to the paper reports.
“Those reports were really single data points,” he said. “There was very, very little historical data, and so that’s probably the biggest change, that instead of just 2014, which is, for instance, what the old reports would have, is we’ve got 20 years of data. So you really are able to see the trends.”
Trump’s planned pay freeze earns criticism from at least 1 House Republican
Across the board, the first three snapshots show that industry has made significant progress on most of the environmental benchmarks.
“For these three sectors, for nearly every environmental indicator, I didn’t think everything would be going down as much as it does over 20 years,” Sachs said. “In this instance, luckily, most of the trend lines go down, but we haven’t seen the next three snapshots come out.”
In 2002, under the George W. Bush administration, the agency launched its sector strategies program, which Corona described as an “outgrowth” of former President Bill Clinton’s Reinventing Government Initiative.
However, the Obama administration halted the program in 2009, and was brought last year under the Trump administration.
“We used Smart Strategies as our jumping-off point when we were launching Smart Sectors,” Letendre said. “We saw value in the report, and I think at the time, industry also found value in both the sector strategies program and the report that followed, but nobody reads reports anymore. It’s hard to find any information of use, and so this is a way to portray similar information in a different way that’s more accessible.”
The Smart Sectors team can load new data into the sector snapshots app as they get it — like the greenhouse gas inventory, which gets updated every two years.
“As we get the next batch of information, we’ll put that in,” Letendre said.
In addition to working with a handful of agencies to pull together the data, the Smart Sectors teams also collaborated with about 25 trade groups representing the industry sectors.
“In the development of these sector snapshots, we communicated what the process was with the trade associations so that there’d be no surprises,” Letendre said.
Sachs said the new app, by comparing environmental and economic trends, could pave the way to future policy discussions.
“When you take a sector-based view, regulations and the regulatory framework stack up differently depending on which sector you are. If you’re water, and you’re land and you’re air, what the comprehensive, overall view of the regulations look like to you is not the same. One of our core values and core goals is to take a look at that and see where the opportunities are,” he said. “Is there some kind of policy, is there guidance, is there implementation in the Smart Sectors Program that we can focus on that will unlock better and faster environmental improvement?”
Letendre said that the app is meant to be used as a data resource, and wouldn’t play a major role in the Trump administration’s campaign to cut outdated federal regulations.
“First and foremost, this is meant to be a resource both internally and externally, to anyone who’s interested,” she said. “I don’t foresee us using this as reasoning for any sort of regulatory relief that would be outside of the EPA’s normal processes,
“It could be a data point to provide a general view, but there’s no intent to use it for regulatory development,” Sachs added.
https://federalnewsradio.com/big-data/2018/09/epa-pulls-20-years-of-environmental-economic-data-into-sector-snapshots/
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On Environmental Record, Did Kavanaugh Lie to Senate?
Sep 7, 2018 | Environmental Working Group (In EcoWatch)
By Scott Faber
In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh grossly misrepresented his record on the environment.
Kavanaugh, President Trump's nominee to fill the court's critical swing seat, cited four cases as evidence of his willingness to rule against industry to protect the environment.
But in one of those cases, Kavanaugh actually ruled in favor of weakening air quality rules for cement plants. In another, Kavanaugh doubled down on his position that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lacks the legal authority to regulate the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. In a third case, Kavanaugh's concurring opinion laid the groundwork for challenges of EPA regulations by polluting industries.
What's more important are the cases he failed to mention. The fact is that in 16 of 18 cases, Kavanaugh has ruled in favor of more air and water pollution, and in 17 of 18 cases, he has ruled to weaken protection for endangered species.
So, when it comes to the environment, Judge Kavanaugh has ruled for industry 32 out of 35 times. That's good news for industry, but really bad news for the rest of us.
Kavanaugh has ruled that the EPA lacks the authority to regulate greenhouse gases. He ruled against regulating cross-state air pollution. He ruled in favor of dumping coal waste and dumping hazardous waste. He ruled that it's okay for factory farms to foul the air of their neighbors.
When the Trump administration sought to delay rules designed to reduce climate-changing emissions of methane, Kavanaugh sided with polluters. When the EPA sought to replace fluorinated chemicals known as HFCs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, he complained that the proposed rule pulled the rug out from under polluters—even though replacement chemicals are readily available. Kavanaugh also supported giving large plants and factories more time to comply with greenhouse gas rules.
In some cases, Kavanaugh has adopted the view that the EPA must always weigh the costs to polluters against the benefits to public health, regardless of Congressional direction. When the EPA was proposing to regulate mercury emissions, Kavanaugh argued that the EPA was obligated to consider the costs of regulatory compliance to polluters.
Likewise, when the EPA proposed to apportion cross-state pollution, Kavanaugh sided with industry by advocating for the regulation that is least costly to industry, not most protective of public health.
In another case, Kavanaugh argued that the EPA had failed to consider the costs to a coal company dumping mine waste into streams, even though the agency had no obligation to consider cost. In one case, Kavanaugh sought to underestimate the public health benefits of reducing mercury pollution by discounting other benefits, like reducing particulate matter.
https://www.ecowatch.com/did-kavanaugh-lie-to-senate-2602840127.html
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Kavanaugh Would Undermine Climate Action — Hillary Clinton
Sep 7, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
Hillary Clinton said this morning that Brett Kavanaugh could make action on climate change "virtually impossible," as senators continue to mull his nomination to the Supreme Court.
"We're not fighting for the planet in some abstract sense," the former Democratic presidential nominee wrote in an Instagram post. "We're fighting for our continued ability to live on it."
Kavanaugh is expected to tilt the court to the right if confirmed, and Clinton said she's worried he could help further limit EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. High temperatures around the world and increasingly destructive natural disasters make climate change impossible to ignore, she said.
"Kavanaugh has consistently argued that the Environmental Protection Agency has limited authority under the Clean Air Act to regulate the carbon and other pollutants that are causing the planet to heat up," Clinton wrote.
She expanded on Kavanaugh's environmental record in a Twitter thread today, noting he would replace Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was the deciding vote in Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court case that paved the way for EPA's regulation of greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
"Replacing Kennedy with Kavanaugh would swing the Court to a new, hard-right majority that would rule against curbing greenhouse gases for years — maybe decades — that we can't afford to waste on inaction," Clinton wrote.
She also referenced his skepticism of the Obama-era Clean Power Plan during D.C. Circuit oral arguments in 2016 and his recent decision to scrap EPA's attempt to phase out hydrofluorocarbons, potent greenhouse gases used in aerosols, air conditioning for new cars, retail food refrigeration and foam blowing.
Senators steered clear of climate issues while questioning Kavanaugh this week, but the issue will arise in expert testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.
Georgetown University law professor Lisa Heinzerling is scheduled to speak to the committee this afternoon. She was a key attorney on the winning side of Massachusetts v. EPA.
According to prepared testimony, Heinzerling plans to criticize Kavanaugh's approach to agency deference. The judge this week repeatedly expressed his frustration with the Chevron doctrine — under which courts typically defer to an agency's reasonable interpretation of ambiguous law. Kavanaugh says it's difficult to fairly and consistently assess when laws are ambiguous.
"The consequences would include legal uncertainty and disruption, as agencies, affected parties, and courts grappled with the new approach to statutory interpretation," Heinzerling's prepared testimony says. "The consequences would also include a large shift in interpretive power away from the expert-driven, externally checked agencies and toward the non-expert, insular courts."
Her testimony also raises concerns about Kavanaugh's application of the "major questions" doctrine, an exception to traditional deference to agencies. The tougher standard holds that agencies can issue regulations with major economic or social impacts only if Congress has spoken clearly on the issue.
She pointed to Kavanaugh's dissent in a case upholding an EPA rule for greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources. Kavanaugh cited the regulation's "major consequences" and suggested a narrower reading of the Clean Air Act
Heinzerling says the approach ignores the other half of the analysis.
"The inescapable implication of his opinion is that if EPA had issued a rule interpreting the Clean Air Act not to require greenhouse-gas permitting of the relevant sources, Judge Kavanaugh would have upheld it," her testimony says. "But that decision would have engaged exactly the same 'economic and environmental policy stakes' as EPA's decision did; indeed, Judge Kavanaugh acknowledged that 'massive real-world consequences' would have flowed from a decision 'in either direction.'
"Judge Kavanaugh's theory on 'major rules' thus limits an agency's legal authority only where the agency has made a decision in what Judge Kavanaugh regards as the wrong direction: toward protective regulatory programs and away from deregulation or inaction," Heinzerling wrote.Senate draws partisan lines
Still, Kavanaugh is expected to pass the Judiciary Committee next week on a partisan vote. Except for a handful of moderates, the full Senate, too, has already drawn lines in the sand.
Senators from outside the panel have weighed in on Kavanaugh throughout the week, while committee questioning often devolved into fights about disclosure of Kavanaugh's full paper trail and potential criminal investigations of President Trump.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) formally announced his opposition today in a statement that mirrored Democratic talking points throughout the week, citing Kavanaugh's environmental record among a slew of other issues.
"I am concerned that Judge Kavanaugh is inclined to turn back the clock on civil rights and civil liberties, voting rights, reproductive choice, equality, the Affordable Care Act, workers' rights, clean air and clean water, and protection from the abuses of corporate and political power, including the President of the United States," Cardin said in a statement.
In another unsurprising announcement from across the aisle, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said yesterday he would support the nomination.
"Despite the rudeness by Democratic senators who tried to turn his hearing into a circus, Judge Kavanaugh kept his cool this week and demonstrated the qualities that I look for in a judge or a Supreme Court justice — good character, good temperament, high intelligence and respect for the law," Alexander said in a statement.
Meanwhile, two key moderate Republicans — Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine — remain officially undecided.
Collins said this week she would review the confirmation hearing over the weekend before announcing a decision.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/09/07/stories/1060096283
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Former Official Doubts Chance of Hitting Obama's 2025 GHG Target
Sep 7, 2018 | Inside EPA
A former official is expressing doubts that the United States will achieve the Obama administration's 2025 greenhouse gas reduction target under the Paris Agreement, while also warning that the Trump administration's retrenchment on climate mitigation might cause other countries to lower the ambition in their own Paris targets.
Harvard University government professor Joe Aldy, a former Obama White House climate and energy adviser, offered the warnings during a Sept. 4 event on implementing Paris hosted by the conservative American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where many speakers touted market-based carbon pricing strategies.
Aldy said emissions in 2020 are likely to be “quite close” to the Obama administration's target for that year, which it first set at the 2009 United Nations climate talks in Copenhagen. However, the 2025 goal, which President Barack Obama outlined ahead of the 2015 Paris negotiations “is tough without any new policies,”Aldy said.
“I don't expect there to be any new policies in the next few years at the federal level. That means we have to rely on the states,” Aldy added, arguing that GHG mitigation efforts in California, Northeastern states and others might keep emissions from rising after years of declines.
However, he said those efforts likely would not be enough to meet Obama's 2025 target of reducing emissions 26-28 percent from 2005 levels.
Hitting that goal would be even more difficult if the Trump administration succeeds in its efforts to roll back vehicle fuel economy standards and to avoid doing “anything meaningfully aggressive in the power sector.”
He added: “I don't think between now and 2025 there is going to be enough to deliver on the Paris pledge.”
Others, including the consulting firm Rhodium Group, have offered a similarly pessimistic outlook on meeting Obama's 2025 target.
Another speaker at the AEI event, Ian Parry of the International Monetary Fund, suggested that the Trump administration's climate rollbacks might create a negative “feedback,” that makes it “more difficult for other countries to deliver” on their own Paris commitments, highlighting pending mitigation policies in Canada and Mexico.
Aldy agreed that scenario is a “real risk,” saying it might not result in countries rolling back their current pledges but instead offer “less ambition in the second round of pledges,” which are due in 2020.
Trump, in a high-profile June 2017 announcement, promised to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, though he is following the terms of the deal that say any departure cannot occur until November 2020. He also said the government would not take steps to achieve the Obama administration's 2025 GHG target.
The president has also floated the possibility of remaining in Paris under more favorable “terms,” though he has consistently declined to elaborate on what conditions he would accept.
Observers say that if a Democrat defeats Trump during his re-election bid in 2020, he or she could easily re-join the Paris deal and offer a new GHG target after taking office in January 2021.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/former-official-doubts-chance-hitting-obamas-2025-ghg-target
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