Preview Newsletter
PM ACC Clips Report - September 21, 2018
-
Uneven Enforcement Follows Pruitt Edict on Science Panels
Sep 21, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
For then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, it was an occasion worthy of a biblical decree. -
European Parliament Draft Report Debates Glyphosate Risks
Sep 21, 2018 | Horticulture Week
By Matthew Appleby
The new European Parliament draft PEST report on pesticides has been published and on 27 September, the co-rapporteurs Norbert Lins and Bart Staes will present their draft report on the EU authorisation procedure for pesticides to the Committee. -
Unsafe Lead, Copper Levels Found at Half of Detroit Schools
Sep 21, 2018 | AP (In E&E Greenwire)
Unsafe levels of lead or copper have been found in drinking water fountains and other fixtures at more than half of Detroit Public Schools Community District buildings. -
What Does China’s LNG Import Tax Mean for the US?
Sep 21, 2018 | Oil and Gas Facilities
By Stephen Whitfield
China has imposed a 10% tariff on US liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, continuing its ongoing trade dispute. -
EPA Pushes RFS 'Transparency' with Details on Waivers, RINs
Sep 21, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA has revamped its website for the renewable fuel standard (RFS) biofuels production program to provide a host of new data that the agency says will provide more “transparency” of the RFS, including the fact it has received 11 applications from small refiners for hardship waivers that biofuels supporters strongly oppose. -
State Department to Air Draft Study of Pipeline Route
Sep 21, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Pamela King
The Trump administration is following through on its plans for a quick review of the environmental impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline's updated path. -
Herrgott Tapped to Lead Federal Permitting Council
Sep 21, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Tanya Snyder
Alex Herrgott of the Council on Environmental Quality is set to become executive director of a key interagency permitting council, POLITICO has learned. -
Lawmakers Wary of Safety, Inspection Waiver Request
Sep 21, 2018 | Transportation Today
By Douglas Clark
A group of lawmakers sent correspondence this week to the Department of Transportation (DOT) in opposition to the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCSR) petition seeking a federal safety and inspection requirements waiver. -
Hazmat Agency Says California Meal, Rest Break Laws Pre-Empted by Federal Rules
Sep 21, 2018 | The Trucker
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a ruling that says California’s meal and rest break requirements are pre-empted for all operators of motor vehicles transporting hazardous materials. -
The Energy 202: Trump's Epa Is Targeting Rules for yet Another Greenhouse Gas
Sep 21, 2018 | The Washington Post
By Dino Grandoni
First it was carbon dioxide, when the Environmental Protection Agency proposed in August relaxing pollution standards for coal-fired power plants meant to curb emissions of that most common greenhouse gas. -
New Law Prohibits Restaurants from Offering Plastic Straws
Sep 21, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Debra Kahn
Restaurant patrons in California desiring plastic straws for their beverages will have to ask for them, under a new law signed yesterday by Gov. Jerry Brown (D). -
Ewire: Do 'Achievements' Match States' Lofty Climate Goals?
Sep 21, 2018 | Inside EPA
After all of the hoopla surrounding the Global Climate Action Summit last week in San Francisco – including various greenhouse gas pledges from states, cities, businesses and other countries – some are wondering: What does it all mean? -
Wheeler, German Counterpart Meet in Canada During G-7
Sep 21, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Maxine Joselow
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler met yesterday with the German environment minister about vehicle standards, as Germany moves in the opposite direction on tailpipe pollution.
Industry and Association News
LCSA News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Transportation and Infrastructure News
Environment News
-
Uneven Enforcement Follows Pruitt Edict on Science Panels
Sep 21, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
For then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, it was an occasion worthy of a biblical decree.
Just as the Old Testament prophet Joshua told the people of Israel to "choose this day whom you're going to serve," so, too, would members of EPA advisory committees have to choose, Pruitt announced last October.
The choice: Give up their EPA grants or get off their respective panels. The new policy would take effect immediately, Pruitt said.
But almost a year later, EPA hasn't followed up with the same zeal in evenhandedly enforcing that unprecedented and divisive directive across all 22 advisory committees, according to interviews and email exchanges.
While Pruitt swiftly forced out members from two particularly influential panels after unveiling the directive, participants on nine of 12 others sampled by E&E News in recent weeks said they've since heard nothing from EPA.
How many people on those other panels could run afoul of the grants prohibition is uncertain. But to Ohio State University professor Robyn Wilson, the patchy enforcement is evidence that Pruitt's stated rationale for the policy — to ensure members' objectivity — was a sham.
"It just seems like a very targeted move, an oddly targeted move," she said.
Wilson, who was ousted from EPA's Science Advisory Board last year rather than drop out of an agency-funded project, is now a plaintiff in one of three lawsuits seeking to overturn the policy (Greenwire, Jan. 19).
Records released in another of those lawsuits suggest the Trump administration followed the lead of Republican lawmakers preoccupied with the two panels singled out by Pruitt: the Science Advisory Board (SAB) and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (Greenwire, May 24).
The seats previously held by Wilson and other academic researchers were in some cases filled by replacements with industry ties.
But Pruitt's written directive makes clear — and EPA spokesman Michael Abboud confirmed at the time — that the new membership standard applied to all 22 committees.
"Right now, we're in the process of reviewing all the other boards and speaking with their members so they are in compliance," Abboud said last November shortly after the policy was announced (E&E News PM, Nov. 2, 2017).
EPA staffers who currently work with the committees referred recent queries from E&E News about the directive's implementation to the agency's press office. But spokeswoman Enesta Jones didn't respond to emailed questions asking whether EPA has applied Pruitt's requirements to any of the others and, if so, which ones.
Pruitt, who resigned two months ago in the face of alleged spending and ethical improprieties, didn't reply to an interview request placed with a lawyer representing him.Uneven enforcement
In all, E&E News contacted members of a dozen committees. Of those, participants on only three — the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) Scientific Advisory Panel; the National Advisory Committee; and the Environmental Financial Advisory Board — said EPA had checked on whether they were current grant recipients.
Members of the other nine said they knew of no effort to apply the directive to their respective panels.
"We've gotten no further instructions," said Barbara Morrissey, chairwoman of the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee.
Said Paul Ganster, chairman of the Good Neighbor Environmental Board, "It hasn't come up yet."
"There has been no activity around this area," said Leyla McCurdy, who sits on the Pesticide Program Dialogue Committee. "I've been kind of curious, too."
Janice Beecher, a member of the Environmental Financial Advisory Board who shared an EPA grant as part of a consortium of researchers, said the inquiry about her status arose only when her appointment came up for renewal this spring.
The financial board is charged with helping EPA make good use of taxpayer dollars. Beecher, who heads the Institute of Public Utilities at Michigan State University, said she then ended her participation in the EPA-funded study of water system issues.
"I voluntarily chose to resolve it," she said.
But, Beecher added, EPA left the impression her status as a grant recipient wasn't a "black-and-white issue" and could have been settled in some other way.
That seemingly casual approach contrasts sharply with the by-the-book rigor used last fall to recast the SAB and Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee.
In those cases, EPA employees systematically consulted public records to determine which participants were on the receiving end of agency dollars and then followed up with every member to confirm his or her status one way or the other, said Chris Zarba, who headed the SAB staff office at the time.
"There was never any deviation from the directive," Zarba said. "In the end, if you had a grant, you were out."
Zarba retired early this year. In a June court filing on behalf of Wilson and other plaintiffs in her lawsuit, he reiterated his understanding that the policy was mandatory, adding that it had "seriously damaged" EPA's ability to attract qualified scientists for advisory work and that the quality of the agency's decisionmaking would suffer accordingly.
"These problems will recur and may become even more pronounced during the next around of appointments and removals, scheduled for September 2018, when a larger percentage of the current committee members will term-out," Zarba wrote in reference to the SAB and the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
As grounds for barring service by grant recipients, Pruitt cited the need for official EPA advisers to provide independent views. In recent years, members of the SAB, CASAC and a third panel, the Board of Scientific Counselors, had received tens of millions of dollars in grants, Pruitt said in last October's announcement, preserved in a video on the agency's website.
"To the American people across the country, we want to ensure that there's integrity in the process and that the scientists that are advising us are doing so with not any type of appearance of conflict," Pruitt said.
He offered no examples to support the claim that receipt of EPA funding was compromising advisers' objectivity. A 2013 review by EPA's inspector general concluded that the agency had adequate procedures for flagging potential ethics concerns involving the CASAC, while noting that some decisions could be better documented.Where does Wheeler stand?
Two years ago, Justice Department lawyers defending EPA in a lawsuit disputed the contention that agency funding would slant advisers' views.
A "scientist's ability to offer independent scientific advice free from improper influence is not impaired by the mere fact that he or she has received government research grants obtained through investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed competition," DOJ said in seeking dismissal of the suit brought by the Energy and Environment Legal Institute, an industry-allied organization.
The institute had sought to disband a CASAC air quality review panel on the grounds that most of its members had received agency funding at some point and were thus allegedly biased in favor of more EPA regulation (Greenwire, May 17, 2016).
The institute ultimately dropped the suit after the government challenged its legal "standing" to show that it had suffered an injury that could be redressed through court action (Greenwire, Aug. 2, 2016).
As DOJ attorneys now defend Pruitt's policy, they are similarly questioning the standing of Wilson and the other plaintiffs in the three suits, pending in federal courts in New York, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia. They also assert that EPA's administrator has largely unfettered discretion in making advisory committee appointments and that the directive — which included more nebulous provisions such as one calling for regular rotation of advisory committee members — is intended to strengthen the system as a whole.
Andrew Wheeler, the agency's acting chief, told E&E News in a July interview that he intends to continue the policy. Fundamentally, he said, "I believe we've been meaning to make sure that people who serve on those boards don't have a conflict of interest" (Greenwire, July 13).
Early last month, the Union of Concerned Scientists, a lead plaintiff in another of the suits challenging the grants prohibition, and more than 20 other advocacy groups nonetheless urged Wheeler to rescind it (E&E News PM, Aug. 6).
As of this morning, UCS had not received a response, Genna Reed, a lead science and policy analyst with the group, said in an email.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/09/21/stories/1060099261
-
European Parliament Draft Report Debates Glyphosate Risks
Sep 21, 2018 | Horticulture Week
By Matthew Appleby
The new European Parliament draft PEST report on pesticides has been published and on 27 September, the co-rapporteurs Norbert Lins and Bart Staes will present their draft report on the EU authorisation procedure for pesticides to the Committee.
The report includes sections on 'application for approval of active substances’; ‘EFSA opinion on draft assessment report and ECHA classification of active substances’; ‘Commission approval of active substances’; and, ‘Authorisation of plant protection products by Member States’.
The report aims to "bring about improvements regarding the transparency of scientific assessments as well as the quality and independence of the scientific studies assessed by [European Food Standards Agency] EFSA".
EFSA says glyphosate is not a cancer risk. In August, a US court has ordered that chemical company Monsanto has to pay $289m (£226m) damages to a groundskeeper who claimed herbicides containing glyphosate had caused his cancer.
The draft report noted: "Decreasing trust in EFSA is a concern," adding "there is an imbalance of national expertise at EFSA as currently about two thirds of national experts working for EFSA come from only six Member States." It also noted: "The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified glyphosate as probably carcinogenic to humans according to its nomenclature, while EFSA and ECHA concluded that no classification as carcinogenic was warranted...while IARC based its conclusion solely on published literature, EFSA and ECHA used unpublished studies submitted by the applicant according to Article 8 of the Regulation as the core basis of their evaluation."
As shown by a comparison carried out by EFSA in 2017 of 54 pesticides that had been assessed under both the EU and IARC systems, in 14 cases the EU classification was more conservative (and thus stricter) than IARC, in 11 cases (glyphosate and 10 other active substances) less strict, and in 29 cases equivalent.
The report said: "Whereas concern has been and is still being raised over the opinions by EFSA and ECHA concerning their conclusions in favour of not classifying glyphosate as carcinogenic.
"The decision to renew the approval of glyphosate did not contain legally binding risk mitigation measures, even though a high long-term risk was found for almost all uses of glyphosate for non-target terrestrial vertebrates, including mammals and birds.
"It is not clear under what conditions the Commission considers a risk to be unacceptable for the environment
"The Commission, with the support of the Member States, approves active substances found by EFSA to pose high risks to the environment and biodiversity is a concern, given that according to Article 4(3)(e) of the Regulation a plant protection product shall have no unacceptable effects on the environment."
The report suggested: "All confirmatory information should be systematically subject to an EFSA peer review and whether the guidance documents should be amended accordingly."
The final objective of the report will be to present recommendations with regard to the EU’s authorisation procedure for pesticides in order to achieve a high level of protection of both human and animal health and the environment.
Two studies commissioned by the Committee (on the guidelines for submission and evaluation of applications for the approval of active substances, and, on the impact of Regulation (EC) 1107/2009 on innovation and the development of alternatives and new plant protection products) will be presented.
Nine years after the adoption of the Plant Protection Products Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1107/2009) and following the controversy about the renewal of glyphosate, the European Parliament, on 6 February 2018, adopted a decision on setting up a Special committee on the Union’s authorisation procedure for pesticides, its responsibilities, numerical strength and term of office (the so-called ‘PEST Committee’).
The PEST Committee’s mandate, as laid down in Parliament’s decision of 6 February 2018, requires the special committee to look into the Union’s authorisation procedure for pesticides as a whole.The committee, consisting of 30 members, is required to present a final report to Parliament containing factual findings and recommendations as to measures and initiatives to be taken within nine months of starting its work (by 12 December 2018)
Report general observations:
1. Considers that, although the EU has one of the most stringent systems in the world, both the Regulation as such and its implementation need to be improved;
2. Welcomes the recommendation of the Scientific Advice Mechanism that the Commission facilitate a broader discussion throughout society in order to establish an EU-wide shared vision for food production, including the role of plant protection products therein; whereas such considerations should take into account, among other factors, affordability of food for consumers, income and long-term viability of agricultural production, as well as the risks and benefits to human and animal health and the environment associated with different scenarios for the use of plant protection products, including a zero use scenario;
3. Calls on the Member States to allocate sufficient resources to the assessment of active substances and plant protection products and to ensure independent, objective and transparent assessment;
4. Calls on the Commission and the Member States in their role as risk managers to duly apply the precautionary principle when deciding whether or not to authorise active substances / plant protection products, and under what conditions, and to communicate systematically on how this principle has been taken into account;
5. Considers that greater attention should be paid to the widespread and prophylactic use of plant protection products and the effects thereof on the environment in the EU system;
6. Calls for the creation of an effective post-market vigilance system to monitor the impacts of the use of plant protection products on human and animal health and on the environment as a whole;
7. Welcomes EFSA’s ongoing project to model DNT effects, but considers this to be insufficient until there is a legal requirement for active substances and other pesticide components to be assessed for DNT effects as part of the authorisation process; calls on the Commission to propose amending the Regulation to ensure that active substances and other components in plant protection products be assessed for DNT effects;
8. Calls for Horizon Europe to provide sufficient funding to promote independent research on the adverse effects of plant protection products on human and animal health and the environment;
9. Calls on EFSA and the Commission to improve their risk communication.https://www.hortweek.com/european-parliament-draft-report-debates-glyphosate-risks/plant-health/article/1493688
-
Unsafe Lead, Copper Levels Found at Half of Detroit Schools
Sep 21, 2018 | AP (In E&E Greenwire)
Unsafe levels of lead or copper have been found in drinking water fountains and other fixtures at more than half of Detroit Public Schools Community District buildings.
Tests show elevated levels in 57 schools. The 106-school district relies on federal protocols to determine water safety. Results are pending for 17 more.
The problems at Detroit schools follow a lead-tainted water crisis in Flint, Mich. Flint didn't properly treat corrosive river water in 2014 and 2015, causing lead in old pipes to contaminate water in homes and businesses.
Some Flint children later were found with elevated blood lead levels, which can cause developmental delays and other health problems.
Detroit officials believe old fixtures could be to blame for the contamination in schools, where water coolers and bottled water are currently provided.
In Vermont, the state Department of Health is recommending that every school test its water for lead after the state found contamination in 16 schools.
Vermont Public Radio reported yesterday that test results released this week show each of the 16 schools had at least 1 part per billion of lead in the drinking water. Five schools had levels at or above 15 parts per billion, which is EPA's "action level."
Lead is a toxic metal, and there is no safe level in the body.
While the report recommends testing, it acknowledges the state does not have the resources available to visit every school and conduct testing. Schools wanting to do their own test would pay about $12 per sample. — Associated Press
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/09/21/stories/1060099239
-
What Does China’s LNG Import Tax Mean for the US?
Sep 21, 2018 | Oil and Gas Facilities
By Stephen Whitfield
China has imposed a 10% tariff on US liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, continuing its ongoing trade dispute. The decision comes on the heels of the US’ announcement of an additional round of tariffs on China, covering $200-billion worth of Chinese goods. The LNG tariff will come into effect on 24 September.
The tariff is lower than the 25% level China had initially threatened, but it could still spell bad news for US LNG producers. China accounted for 15% of US LNG exports in 2017—the third-largest figure behind Mexico and South Korea—and imported 44.4 Bcf of LNG from the US in the first half of this year. Reuters reported that the country has taken delivery of just 4 vessels since June, compared to 17 during the first 5 months of the year.
China is expected to be a primary driver in LNG demand growth over the next few years, as the country shifts away from crude oil to cleaner fuels. Wood Mackenzie reported this week a 45% growth in Chinese LNG demand from last year, a jump to 52 million tons from 38 million. Reuters cited industry data stating that proposed US export terminals, many of which are expected to supply Chinese customers, could account for 60% of all new LNG production coming to market by 2023.
Charlie Riedl, executive director of the Center for Liquefied Natural Gas, said in a statement that the tariff has the power to price US LNG out of the Chinese market and make long-term contracts more difficult to negotiate.
“We are disappointed with this development and would like to see the two countries reach a resolution quickly, which is in the best interest of all parties,” Riedl said. “Certainty is key for the US LNG industry, where timelines are years long and investments are worth billions, and these tariffs cause serious uncertainty.”
Giles Farrer, a research director at Wood Mackenzie, said the impact of the Chinese tariffs on the short-term LNG market is likely to be less than the agency had previously thought. Also, Wood Mackenzie projects that China has already completed the majority of its procurement for the winter. According to US Energy Information Administration data, China imported 68.9 Bcf of LNG from the US from October to December 2017, accounting for 66.6% of its 2017 US import total.
Farrer said that if China still needs to procure spot cargoes of LNG, this will likely result in a premium of up to 10% on supply from sources outside the US. In addition, the effects of the tariffs on the long-term market are likely to be felt on new supply developments.
“[The tariff] restricts the target market for developers of new US LNG projects trying to sign new long-term contracts,” Farrer said. “However, there is still plenty of appetite for second-wave US LNG projects from other buyers in Asia and Europe, as evidenced by recent contracting momentum at Freeport, Calcasieu Pass, and Sabine Pass Train 6. The first wave of projects was successful despite not signing contracts with Chinese buyers.”
Wood Mackenzie also projected that the tariff could support development of other projects outside of the US targeting the Chinese market, including potential pipeline projects in Russia. This would potentially allow exporters to push for higher long-term contract prices, because the US will not be considered a low-cost source of LNG.
The lower-than-expected rate proved good for US LNG companies on Wall Street this week. Tellurian shares went up 5.4% on Tuesday and Cheniere Energy was up 1.3%.
https://www.spe.org/en/ogf/ogf-article-detail/?art=4649
-
EPA Pushes RFS 'Transparency' with Details on Waivers, RINs
Sep 21, 2018 | Inside EPA
EPA has revamped its website for the renewable fuel standard (RFS) biofuels production program to provide a host of new data that the agency says will provide more “transparency” of the RFS, including the fact it has received 11 applications from small refiners for hardship waivers that biofuels supporters strongly oppose.
Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler announced the release of more information as part of an overhaul to the agency's website, which will now display a host of new data on the RFS, including data on trading of RFS compliance credits, known as renewable identification numbers (RINs), and small refiner waivers. The announcement comes after criticism of EPA from biofuels groups about a lack of transparency on the waivers and other RFS issues.
“For the first time, EPA is providing new information to the public on small refinery exemptions and RIN trading,” said Wheeler. “Increasing transparency will improve implementation of the RFS and provide stakeholders and the regulated community the certainty and clarity they need to make important business and compliance decisions.”
A new “dashboard” will provide information on the number of small refinery exemption petitions received, approved and denied each compliance year; the weekly average price of RINs traded; and the weekly volume of RINs traded.
Biofuels groups supporting the RFS and some oil industry groups opposed to it have long criticized the RIN market as opaque and prone to manipulations by speculators, distorting the price of RINs. Prices for RINs are currently low, but have previously been volatile, adding further uncertainty into the RFS program.
Biofuels groups have further strongly criticized the Trump EPA for its award of dozens of small refiner waivers based on economic hardship grounds. The waivers are subject to strong protections for data considered confidential business information, meaning that the names of applicants and the particulars of their petitions, and EPA's decisions on those petitions, are kept secret.
The new data on EPA's website show that for compliance year 2018, EPA has so far received 11 applications for small refiner waivers, but granted none. EPA air policy chief William Wehrum told Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) in a July 12 letter that at that point, the agency had not yet received any applications for 2018.
Biofuels groups broadly welcomed EPA's new transparency, but again said it does not go far enough. Calling the move “a step in the right direction,” the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) said it “may prevent small refiners from obtaining market-moving information before other participants in the marketplace.”
However, “more information and transparency are still needed. Market participants and the public deserve to know exactly who is receiving small refinery exemptions and what criteria is being used by EPA in making the decision to grant or deny a waiver request,” RFA said.
The National Biodiesel Board (NBB) said, “Additional transparency in the RFS program is welcome, but it comes very late and doesn’t solve the problems EPA has recently created. EPA’s dashboard validates what we’ve been saying all along, that retroactive reductions to the annual volumes have reduced demand for biodiesel by about 300 million gallons.”
NBB and the American Soybean Association (ABA) in a Sept. 20 letter to President Donald Trump call on the administration to boost biofuel blending volumes for biodiesel, saying EPA's proposed RFS volumes rule for 2019 provides too little “room for growth.”
The groups say, “we would encourage you to provide additional help to the nation’s farmers and rural communities by supporting policies that expand production and use of biodiesel."
Meanwhile, 24 members of the House Biofuels Caucus wrote to Wheeler Sept. 13, also urging him to boost biodiesel volumes, to stop small refiner waivers until the secrecy cloaking them can be lifted, and to authorize year-round sales of 15 percent ethanol fuel, which is currently prohibited in the summertime due to air quality concerns.
“We urge the EPA to put an end to these secret waivers until a process is established to make the name of the refinery, the gallons waived, and other relevant information publicly available,” the Congressmen of both parties write.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/epa-pushes-rfs-transparency-details-waivers-rins
-
State Department to Air Draft Study of Pipeline Route
Sep 21, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Pamela King
The Trump administration is following through on its plans for a quick review of the environmental impacts of the Keystone XL pipeline's updated path.
State Department officials on Monday will publish their draft supplemental environmental impact statement (SEIS) analyzing the pipeline's new route through Nebraska. The U.S. District Court for the District of Montana last month said the change triggered the need for a fresh review of the department's permit for the pipeline to cross the U.S.-Canada border (Energywire, Aug. 16).
"Federal Defendants first argued that it was too early to evaluate the Mainline Alternative route before the approval of the Presidential Permit," Judge Brian Morris, an Obama appointee, wrote in the order. "They now argue that it remains too late to evaluate the Mainline Alternative route. NEPA requires a hard look."
The agency had argued that the 2014 National Environmental Policy Act review was still sufficient to support the cross-border permit.
After Morris handed down his order, the State Department indicated to the court that it would complete the draft analysis in September and submit its final review in December (Energywire, Sept. 6).
Since the project's proposal in 2008, Keystone XL has been subject to multiple rounds of legal action and NEPA reviews. The Obama administration denied permits to support the pipeline in 2015, but President Trump urged developer TransCanada Corp. to resubmit its application shortly after his inauguration.
Monday's publication of the draft SEIS will trigger a 45-day comment period, the State Department wrote in its notice of availability of the document.
The agency has scheduled an Oct. 9 public meeting in Lincoln, Neb., to discuss the draft environmental review.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/09/21/stories/1060099253
-
Herrgott Tapped to Lead Federal Permitting Council
Sep 21, 2018 | PoliticoPro - Whiteboard
By Tanya Snyder
Alex Herrgott of the Council on Environmental Quality is set to become executive director of a key interagency permitting council, POLITICO has learned.
Herrgott, currently associate director for infrastructure at CEQ, previously served as a key aide on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee for more than a decade.
He will lead the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council, which was established by the last highway and transit law, to act as a “one-stop shop” coordinating permits across 15 departments and federal agencies.
FPISC has yet to hit its stride, according to a paper by the Brookings Institution, and the permitting dashboard it hosts has been criticized for adding another layer of bureaucracy on infrastructure applications instead of streamlining the process.
The first executive director of the council was Richard Kidd, who had previously held senior positions in the Departments of State and Energy and the Army. But Kidd served for just six months before President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Since March 2018, the office has been held by Acting Executive Director Angela Colamaria, who kept her job at OMB and split her time between the two.
The position does not require Senate confirmation.
During the transition, Herrgott had helped draft an early version of what would become the administration’s infrastructure plan. In his current role at CEQ, Herrgott worked to garner support among lawmakers and other key stakeholders for the plan, focusing specifically on speeding project permitting times. He was reportedly key to Trump’s promise to bring infrastructure permitting times down to two years or less, a promise he will be in a position to implement at FPISC.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard
-
Lawmakers Wary of Safety, Inspection Waiver Request
Sep 21, 2018 | Transportation Today
By Douglas Clark
A group of lawmakers sent correspondence this week to the Department of Transportation (DOT) in opposition to the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCSR) petition seeking a federal safety and inspection requirements waiver.
House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Ranking Member Michael Capuano (D-MA) joined 27 members of Congress in forwarding a letter to DOT Secretary Elaine Chao regarding the company’s request.
“Freight railroads have long sought the ability to allow Mexican crews to operate trains in the United States,” the legislators wrote. “We oppose any groundwork that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) might be laying toward that effort. We strongly urge you to deny the petition and rescind the process of allowing Mexican rail crews to operate within the United States.”
Opponents of the action maintain the petition is the latest in a series of actions taken by KCSR to allow Mexican workers, who are not subject to FRA regulations regarding pre-employment screening and random drug and alcohol testing, to operate trains in the United States, thus moving American rail jobs to Mexico.
Sheet Metal Air Rail Transportation (SMART) Transportation Division and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen officials said the organizations filed a court petition challenging KCSR’s actions.
https://transportationtodaynews.com/news/10746-lawmakers-wary-of-safety-inspection-waiver-request/
-
Hazmat Agency Says California Meal, Rest Break Laws Pre-Empted by Federal Rules
Sep 21, 2018 | The Trucker
The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has issued a ruling that says California’s meal and rest break requirements are pre-empted for all operators of motor vehicles transporting hazardous materials.
The ruling is the result of a petition submitted by the National Tank Truck Carriers Association (NTTC), which had applied to PHMSA for a determination as to whether the Federal Hazardous Material Transportation Law preempted California’s meal and rest break requirements, as applied to the transportation of hazardous materials.
California’s meal and rest break law is considered by many in the trucking industry as being inconsistent — and some consider in conflict — with federal regulations.
The trucking industry is currently asking Congress to pass legislation that would prohibit states from having their own meal and rest break laws, or for that matter, any commercial motor vehicle regulation deemed to be contradictory to federal regulations.
PHMSA granted the petition to “ensure public safety, maintain security and reduce delays.”
Under California law, an employer is required to provide employees a 30-minute meal break during a work period longer than five hours with some exceptions. Further, an employer is required to provide a second 30-minute meal break if an employee works more than 10 hours in a day and are required to provide 10-minute rest periods for every four hours worked by an employee.
The agency said it found that the California meal and rest break requirements create an unnecessary delay in the transportation of hazardous materials.
In addition, California’s rules create compliance incompatibilities with respect to operators carrying explosive materials because it is not possible to simultaneously comply with the off-duty requirement of the California rule and federal safety requirements, the agency said in a news release.
Finally, the PHMSA said the California meal and rest break rules are preempted for motor carriers with security plans requiring constant driver attendance for hazardous materials cargo.
NTTC Chairman John Whittington, vice president of government relations at Grammer Industries noted that carriers and drivers no longer have to choose between following the hazardous materials regulations (HMRs) to avoid the threat of hazmat releases in densely populated environments or complying with California’s meal and rest break requirements.
“Our carriers are very pleased that the professionals at PHMSA share our commitment to safety, particularly when it comes to transporting hazardous materials,” Whittington said. “We thank the organizations that stood with us, like NTTC member Cox Petroleum, the American Trucking Associations, the California Trucking Association, the American Pyrotechnics Association, the National Association of Chemical Distributors, the Western States Trucking Association, and the California Independent Oil Marketers Association.”
NTTC presents three main arguments for why it believed the meal and rest break requirements should be preempted, PHMSA said in a notice published Friday in the Federal Register.
First, NTTC contended that the California requirements “were not promulgated with an eye toward safe transportation of hazardous materials,” and thus create the potential for unnecessary delay when a driver must deviate from his or her route to comply with the requirements.
Next, NTTC argued that the meal and rest break requirements conflict with the attendance requirements that the HMR imposes in certain situations, because under certain circumstances, the HMR “implicate the driver ‘working’ under California law.” As such, NTTC argues that a carrier (employer) cannot comply with both the state and federal requirements.
Lastly, NTTC pointed out that many motor carriers include a “constant attendance of cargo” requirement in the written security plans required by the HMR. NTTC contended that the California meal and rest break requirements are inflexible and may require that the drivers make unnecessary stops or prohibit constant attendance by the driver.
California has 20 days to file a reconsideration of the ruling, and 60 days to seek judicial review. NTTC encourages the state to recognize that PHMSA’s decision is consistent with federal law and accept it is the right way to promote safety. If California does appeal, the preemption decision will remain in force while the appeal is adjudicated.
https://thetrucker.com/hazmat-agency-says-california-meal-rest-break-laws-pre-empted-by-federal-rules/
-
The Energy 202: Trump's Epa Is Targeting Rules for yet Another Greenhouse Gas
Sep 21, 2018 | The Washington Post
By Dino Grandoni
First it was carbon dioxide, when the Environmental Protection Agency proposed in August relaxing pollution standards for coal-fired power plants meant to curb emissions of that most common greenhouse gas.
Then it was methane, when both the EPA and Interior Department each took steps in recent weeks toward replacing Obama-era rules regulating the leaking of that climate-warming gas from oil and natural gas infrastructure.
Now, the Trump administration is trying to replace regulations for an even more obscure set of greenhouse gases in an effort apparently aimed at slowing down the Obama administration's efforts to deter global warming.
On Wednesday, the EPA announced it wanted to get rid of rules meant to prevent the leaking and venting of a set of organic compounds called hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, from large refrigerating and air-conditioning units.
The new rule, which has yet to be finalized, is the latest in a flurry of EPA proposals over the past month or so further attempting to unwind Obama's climate legacy. The actions — on CO2, on methane and now on HFCs — demonstrate the agency still has much of the same attitude toward climate regulations under acting administrator Andrew Wheeler, who took over the agency in July, as it did under former EPA chief Scott Pruitt.
In the case of HFCs, even tiny amounts leached into the atmosphere pack a wallop of a punch to the climate. On a pound-for-pound basis, those compounds have a warming potential thousands of times greater than that of carbon dioxide.
“This is climate vandalism,” contended David Doniger, director of the climate and clean air program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “They're just going through all these things that Obama did and trying to destroy them all.”
Some Democrats held up the proposal as yet more evidence the Trump administration is unwilling to do even the bare minimum to address climate change.
“Unfortunately, this action is yet another reminder the Trump Administration isn’t willing to take even the smallest step to address climate change or protect Americans from the threats of extreme weather,” Sen. Thomas R. Carper (Del.), the ranking Democrat on the Environmental and Public Works Committee, said in a statement.
If the new rule goes through, large commercial and industrial appliances using HFCs will no longer need to conduct certain leak rate calculations and make repairs when the machines are letting off too much of the gas. Facilities such as supermarkets, ice rinks and factories, which use such units, will also no longer need to report to the EPA on chronic leaking problems or retire units that are not fixed.
Like with most of Trump-era decisions, the EPA justified the new rule by pointing out the benefit to businesses if it is finalized. The agency said its new rule would save companies $39 million annually in regulatory costs.
But the cost of the rule could be borne by the rest of society in the form of higher temperatures later on. If enacted, the estimated annual leakage would have an effect on the climate equal to that of an additional 642,000 passenger cars on the road per year.
Not all companies are on board with Obama-era efforts regulating the chemicals. In particular, makers of chemical alternatives to HFCs, Honeywell and Chemours, have petitioned the Supreme Court to reverse a ruling on another set of HFC regulations on manufacturers of air conditioners, refrigerators and other appliances.
Last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, a court one step below the Supreme Court, struck down those rules. The opinion was written by Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who is now President Trump's nominee for the high court.
The decision was classic Kavanaugh. Throughout his time on what many call the second-most important court in the country, the judge consistently gave more regulatory power to federal bureaucrats only when Congress clearly spelled out in the law that that is what it wanted.
“EPA’s well-intentioned policy objectives with respect to climate change do not on their own authorize the agency to regulate,” Kavanaugh wrote. “The agency must have statutory authority for the regulations it wants to issue.”
— Hurricane Maria, one year later: Thursday was the first anniversary of Hurricane Maria's landfall on Puerto Rico. Here are two takes worth reading;The Atlantic explores the questions Puerto Rico is grappling with after Maria. “What have we learned since Hurricane Maria? Most of the attention in the past few weeks has been focused on how to quantify the damage done by the storm and its aftermath,” per the report. “But the responsibility for Maria’s aftermath doesn’t just rest with the federal government, either… The fact is that last year, Hurricanes Irma and Maria struck an island that was uniquely fragile, in political and financial turmoil, and probably in the worst shape possible for a major disaster.”This New York Times interactive describes an island that in places looks like the hurricane had just hit, based on visits to 163 homes in two neighborhoods. In Punta Santiago, the Times “found a community with signs of fresh paint and, in some of the middle-class parts of town, rebuilt rooms and new furniture… But in neighborhoods where residents live on meager pensions and disability checks, there were gutted kitchens and electrical wires running randomly along unfinished walls. Roofs were covered with plywood or plastic, many near collapse. Some houses still had no running water.”
An opportunity for statehood: Puerto Rico Gov. Ricardo Rosselló used the anniversary to re-up his call to make the U.S. territory a state. “The case has essentially been made to the world in the aftermath of Maria,” Rosselló saidduring an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “The truth of the matter is we’ve been treated like second-class citizens… It’s time for decision-makers to put up or shut up and state if they will welcome Puerto Rico as the 51st state, if they will do what’s in their power to make it happen, or if they will reject the right side of history."
And Hurricane Florence, now: Here's more on the aftermath of the most recent hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland.
Duke Energy activated a high-level emergency alert for state regulators — "Urgent! Dam failure is imminent or in progress" — for a retired coal power plant in North Carolina after a nearby river overtook an embankment and inundated a lake near three toxic coal-ash dumps, the Associated Press reports. However, a Duke Energy spokeswoman told the AP the dam containing Sutton Lake, a former cooling pond, "appeared stable" and was being monitored "with helicopters and drones."
Before Florence hit, officials in Lumberton, N.C. made a desperate attempt to construct a temporary sandbag bank across railroad tracks to fill a gap in the city’s levee system as they tried to prevent getting inundated by floodwaters. City officials requested permission from CSX Corp., one of the country’s largest railroad companies, but the company refused, and threatened to retaliate with legal action, HuffPost reports. Gov. Roy Cooper (D) eventually issued an emergency order to allow the berm to be constructed. “I am sure that the last-minute efforts that were made bought time and saved some lives and property, but if CSX had been cooperative, we could have done so much more sooner,” Stephen McIntyre, a local attorney, told the publication.
In total, nearly 9 trillion gallons of water fell over North Carolina during Florence. The deluge “utterly changed the landscape, especially in the southeast part of the state,” The Post’s Jason Samenow reports.
At this rate, Earth risks sea level rise of 20 to 30 feet: A vast part of the East Antarctic ice sheet melted in Earth’s past when the planet’s temperatures were not that much warmer than they are now, according to a historical analysis released Wednesday. And scientists behind the research warn sea levels were as much as 20 or 30 feet higher than they are, a reality that can emerge again if temperatures continue to rise at the current rate, The Post’s Chris Mooney reports. “What the new science adds is that during past warm periods in Earth’s history, some or all of the ice in the Wilkes Subglacial Basin seems to have gone away,” Mooney explains, adding “we are already on a course that could heat the planet enough to melt some or all of the Wilkes Basin.”
Golfing trumps canoeing: Paddlers who use the Potomac River in the area near Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Va. have filed a lawsuit against the Coast Guard to reverse a policy that closes off a two-mile stretch of the river when the president hits his own links. Last summer, the Coast Guard initiated a policy to create a security perimeter when Trump is at the golf course. “Democracy Forward, a nonprofit formed last year that focuses on executive branch actions, is representing the Canoe Cruisers Association of Greater Washington DC, which is based in Montgomery County,” The Post’s Jenna Portnoy reports. “The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for Maryland, Southern Division, says Trump has made more than three dozen visits to the golf club since the rule was put in place."
A new gig for the EPA's inspector general: Arthur A. Elkins, who announced Tuesday he will retire from federal government, will take on the role of inspector general at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), Maryland's largest water utility. WSSC announced the news on its website this week.
"Massive" spike in oil smuggling is easing economic pressure on North Korea: Over the spring and summer, U.S. and East Asian intelligence officials tracked a large amount of oil-smuggling runs in North Korea that appears to have contributed to stabilizing its economy. By late August, the agencies had “counted 148 of these secret maritime transfers — for a total of between 800,000 and 1.4 million barrels of oil, gasoline and diesel,” The Post’s Joby Warrick and Simon Denyer report. "The flurry of activity is coinciding with what intelligence officials described as a steady erosion in sanctions enforcement in the region,” Warrick and Denyer write. “With tensions on the Korean Peninsula cooling — and with a U.S.-China economic cold war looming — Russia and China have shown little enthusiasm for cracking down on the profiteers who are helping supply crucial fuel for Pyongyang’s vehicles and factories.”
The last straw: California is at the forefront of another initiative. Gov. Jerry Brown signed the first state law in the nation prohibiting dine-in restaurants from giving customers plastic straws unless they explicitly request them. “The new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, exempts fast-food restaurants and provides full-service restaurants with a written warning on the first two violations and a fine of $25 a day for subsequent infractions,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
Oil watch: Oil prices eased Thursday after Trump called on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to “get prices down now!” on Twitter. OPEC and other producers, including nonmember Russia, are set to meet Sunday in Algeria "to discuss how to allocate supply increases to offset the loss of Iranian barrels” following U.S. sanctions there, Reuters reports. “The meeting is unlikely to agree to an official rise in crude output, although pressure is mounting to prevent a spike in prices.”
U.S. oil companies joins climate coalition: ExxonMobil, Chevron and Occidental Petroleum said Thursday they will join a corporate climate coalition that will work toward achieving standards set by the Paris climate agreement. “Founded in 2014, the coalition now includes 13 of the largest oil and natural gas companies representing 30 percent of the world's oil and natural gas production,” per the Dallas Morning News. Until this week, the coalition did not yet have any U.S.-based companies.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-energy-202/2018/09/21/the-energy-202-trump-s-epa-is-targeting-rules-for-yet-another-greenhouse-gas/5ba3eda31b326b7c8a8d158e/?utm_term=.e481787662d4
-
New Law Prohibits Restaurants from Offering Plastic Straws
Sep 21, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Debra Kahn
Restaurant patrons in California desiring plastic straws for their beverages will have to ask for them, under a new law signed yesterday by Gov. Jerry Brown (D).
A.B. 1884, by Assemblymember Ian Calderon (D), bans restaurants from automatically distributing plastic straws, a move intended to reduce plastic waste and water pollution.
The rule applies to full-service restaurants — fast-food restaurants are exempted — and to plastic straws derived from either petroleum or plant-based plastics, including corn. Restaurants can still freely distribute non-plastic straws; the law lists several acceptable materials, including paper, pasta, sugar cane, wood and bamboo.
"It's a small but significant step forward and will hopefully set the precedent for the rest of the nation to adopt similar policies that will ensure less plastic ends up harming the environment," Calderon said in a statement. The state's Coastal Commission has collected 835,000 straws on state beaches from 1988-2014, according to a legislative analysis of the law.
Brown also signed S.B. 1335, by state Sen. Ben Allen (D), which prohibits — beginning in 2021 — nonrecyclable or uncompostable takeout food packaging at state facilities, including parks, colleges and fairgrounds. Legislation sponsored by state Sen. Anthony Portantino (D), S.B. 1263, which requires the state to develop a strategy for reducing the amount of microplastics in the ocean, also by 2021, was also signed.
Some cities in California, including San Francisco, Santa Cruz and San Luis Obispo, have already passed laws banning plastic straws outright or requiring customers to ask for them. Starbucks and several hotel chains, including Marriott, Hilton and Hyatt, all also announced plans earlier this year to phase out plastic straws. California also has enacted statewide bans on single-use plastic bags and plastic microbeads in personal care products.
Compared to the fines for violating the bag ban, the fines for handing out plastic straws are relatively minor. Restaurants will receive two warnings before being fined $25 per day for infractions, with fines not to exceed $300 per year.
Brown also called the bill a "small step" in addressing the plastics that are "choking our planet."
"Plastic has helped advance innovation in our society, but our infatuation with single-use convenience has led to disastrous consequences," he wrote in a signing message accompanying the bill. "It is a very small step to make a customer who wants a plastic straw ask for it. And it might make them pause and think again about an alternative. But one thing is clear, we must find ways to reduce and eventually eliminate single-use plastic products."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/09/21/stories/1060099265
-
Ewire: Do 'Achievements' Match States' Lofty Climate Goals?
Sep 21, 2018 | Inside EPA
After all of the hoopla surrounding the Global Climate Action Summit last week in San Francisco – including various greenhouse gas pledges from states, cities, businesses and other countries – some are wondering: What does it all mean?
While supporters of the confab stressed its potential to shift climate politics, others are taking a more glass-half-empty view. The event underscores the “widening gap between ambitions and achievements,” surmises Daniel Cohan, an environmental engineering professor at Rice University, in a Sept. 19 op-ed in the Houston Chronicle.
Cohan cites a report released at the summit quantifying the collective GHG effects of states, cities and others – and finding they likely will fall short of meeting the Obama administration's GHG target set under the Paris Agreement.
The report outlined 10 near-term actions that states and others can take in the absence of federal engagement under the Trump administration. However, Cohan argues that “it's hard to imagine all 10 being achieved any time soon, let alone the additional 'enhanced engagement' measures that would still be needed to push down U.S. emissions 'within striking distance' of the 2025 target.”
He adds: “That's like layering wishful thinking on top of hopes and prayers – and still coming up a little bit short.”
To be sure, environmentalists and other observers have long pointed out that Obama's Paris target was a “stretch” goal, and would have required significant new steps at the federal level to achieve. While state efforts are important, particularly during the Trump era, they argue, they are far from sufficient.
Meantime, some environmentalists say the recent summit could have benefits that are harder to quantify.
“I think the summit will make a difference on politics, [election] results and on giving [assurance to] both businesses and members of both parties that feel like they really have a higher bar for speaking out,” one source tells Inside EPA's Curt Barry. “This gives them a lot of ammunition and evidence that there's really a lot going on and that getting on the train -- as opposed to staying on the platform -- is an increasingly desirable place to be.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-do-achievements-match-states-lofty-climate-goals
-
Wheeler, German Counterpart Meet in Canada During G-7
Sep 21, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Maxine Joselow
Acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler met yesterday with the German environment minister about vehicle standards, as Germany moves in the opposite direction on tailpipe pollution.
The meeting between Wheeler and German environment minister Svenja Schulze took place as part of the Group of Seven summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The two leaders discussed "the importance of enforcement for vehicle standards," among other things, according to an EPA news release.
The meeting came on the heels of EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposing last month to dial back Obama-era clean car standards.
The two agencies outlined a series of options for the car rules. The preferred option was freezing fuel economy targets at 2020 levels through 2026, rather than increasing their stringency each year as President Obama had envisioned.
Schulze, on the other hand, has sought to crack down on pollution from the transportation sector in order to meet her country's climate goals.
In June, Schulze announced Germany would likely not meet its goals under the Paris climate agreement. She singled out the transportation sector for not pulling its weight. Emissions from that sector have remained flat since 1990, and "the least has happened there," she said.
Germany's Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety has also drawn up a position paper suggesting carbon dioxide emissions from light-duty vehicles should be halved by 2030 compared with 2021 levels, according to documents viewed by Reuters.
EPA's press office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about the meeting and what was discussed.
But Anup Bandivadekar, a program director with the International Council on Clean Transportation, said the meeting may have focused on compliance and enforcement of standards for criteria pollutants in the wake of the Volkswagen AG emissions-testing scandal.
The scandal began three years ago, when German automaker Volkswagen admitted nearly 11 million diesel vehicles were equipped with "defeat devices" used to cheat on emissions tests.
While the company had touted the vehicles as "clean diesel," they emitted up to 40 percent more nitrogen oxides (NOx) than allowed by law. The scandal rocked the company's top brass and led to investigations in the U.S. and Europe.
"I think the reference in the EPA press release is really going back to the whole diesel issue," said Bandivadekar. "To the credit of Germany, we saw a lot of recalls earlier this year based on subsequent compliance testing they had done. So there is definitely room for the U.S. to learn from the German experience on regulating NOx emissions from heavy-duty vehicles."
Schulze said yesterday in a tweet translated from German, "During the conversation with the current @EPAAWheeler head of the US environmental agency, the @EPA main focus was on not breaking the thread and finding ways to collaborate on environmental protection. #G7Halifax."
While in Halifax, Wheeler also held bilateral talks with Canadian Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna as well as his counterparts from Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and the European Commission.
"I applaud Minister McKenna for hosting a successful G7 environmental ministry," Wheeler said in a statement yesterday. "The United States is pleased with the progress being made by global leaders to advance practical solutions that will reduce marine litter, minimize food waste and improve air quality. We look forward to continuing constructive dialogue."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/09/21/stories/1060099267
Industry and Association News
LCSA News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Chemical Management News
Energy News
Chemical Security News - There are no clips to report at this time.
Transportation and Infrastructure News
Environment News
Add recipients
Suggested