Preview Newsletter
AM ACC 11/2/2018
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(ACC Mentioned) Pledge to Curb Ocean Plastics Comes Under Fire
Nov 1, 2018 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Alex Scott
More than 290 corporations responsible for 20% of the world’s plastic packaging have signed the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment to recycle more plastic as part of a series of measures to curb ocean pollution. -
Democrats Eye Broad Options for EPA Scrutiny but Policy Prospects Limited
Nov 1, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Doug Obey and Dawn Reeves
Democrats' current criticisms of the Trump EPA agenda highlight numerous opportunities for party leaders to scrutinize a range of air, climate, water and toxics policies -- assuming they take control of the House as expected -- as part of a broader plan to link EPA's agenda... -
Pricing Power Lifts Chemical Earnings
Nov 1, 2018 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Melody M. Bomgardner
Sales and earnings for leading chemical companies continued to grow in the third quarter, thanks to broad-based demand from consumers and industrial customers. Among the raft of positive numbers, higher profits from specialties stood out. -
California Adds Purple Dye, Ejector Seat Explosive to Cancer List
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Emily C. Dooley
A dye used in antibacterial treatments and a chemical for explosives in fighter jet ejector seats will be added to California’s list of compounds known to cause cancer. -
Chemicals in Your Bottled Water? Companies Could Test to Find Out
Nov 2, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
Bottled water has been used as a stopgap for communities whose drinking water is contaminated with dangerous chemicals, and many bottling companies could begin testing as early as next year to ensure their own products are free of those same substances. -
Engineered Wood Industry Pleased With EPA Formaldehyde Proposal
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Companies that make and use composite wood could more easily meet California and federal formaldehyde emissions limits under a rule the EPA proposed Nov. 1, trade association representatives said. -
Toxic Chemicals Found in Major EU Retailer Carpets
Nov 2, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Tests on samples of carpets sold by seven of the largest manufacturers in Europe have found that some contain harmful chemicals including phthalates and per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFASs), a major study has revealed. -
Monsanto Cancer Victim Accepts $78.6 Million Roundup Award
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Peter Blumberg
A former school groundskeeper says he won’t contest a California judge’s decision to reduce a jury’s punitive damages award to $39.3 million in a lawsuit in which he claimed exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup caused his terminal cancer. -
Bayer CEO Says Would Consider Glyphosate Settlement Depending on Costs
Nov 2, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Tina Bellon
Bayer AG's chief executive said this week the company might consider settling lawsuits over Monsanto's glyphosate-containing weed-killers depending on how high court costs rise, but stressed it remained focused on defending the combined company against claims they cause cancer. -
States Sharply Divided over Legality of EPA ACE Power Plant GHG Plan
Nov 1, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Dawn Reeves
A sharp and mostly partisan divide is emerging between states over the legality of EPA's proposal to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) utility greenhouse gas rule, with Democratic-led states urging the agency to drop its “unlawful” plan... -
Perry to Visit Ukraine, Poland to Discuss Alternatives to Russian Energy
Nov 2, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By John Bowden
Energy Secretary Rick Perry will visit Ukraine and Poland next week as part of the Trump administration's efforts to entice the two countries into pursuing alternatives to buying coal and natural gas from Russia. -
AGs on Trump Carbon Rule: 'This Will End up in the Courts'
Nov 2, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Pamela King
President Trump's proposed Clean Power Plan replacement wouldn't stand a chance in court, a coalition of attorneys general wrote this week. -
Explosions Spark Massachusetts to Hire Firm to Inspect Gas Lines (1)
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Adrianne Appel
A Texas company will scour all 21,500 miles of Massachusetts’ antiquated natural gas pipeline system for weak spots in an effort to prevent accidents like last month’s explosions. -
Landowners Dispute Neb.'s Approval of New Route
Nov 2, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Pamela King
A challenge to Nebraska's approval of an alternate path for the Keystone XL pipeline yesterday reached the state's highest court. -
Tribe Asks Court to Require Fresh Pipeline Review
Nov 2, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Pamela King
Opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline want the federal government to take a second look at the project's effect on American Indian tribes. -
It’s Not Just Facebook and Google Buying Clean Power Anymore
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Eckhouse
Companies don’t have to be as big as Walmart Inc. or Facebook Inc. to buy solar or wind power anymore. -
Democrats Seek IG Review of EPA's Handling of Sterigenics Data
Nov 1, 2018 | Inside EPA
Illinois Democrats are urging EPA's Inspector General to investigate whether EPA “intentionally withheld” public release of data that came to light eight months ago indicating an increased cancer risk from ethylene oxide (EtO) releases from a Chicago-area Sterigenics sterilizing plant. -
Draft EPA Plan Accelerates Timeline for Review of Obama Ozone NAAQS
Nov 2, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA's draft plan for the review of its 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) adopts a faster process than previous NAAQS reviews that will involve less review by agency science advisers, but it does not compress the schedule... -
EPA Guidance Could Raise Ozone Levels — Report
Nov 1, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
Recently issued EPA guidance could ultimately lead to higher ozone levels in some states, an advocacy group said today. -
Enviros Meet with White House Staff over EPA Rule Overhaul
Nov 1, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
Two Environmental Defense Fund staffers met Tuesday with White House regulatory officials about EPA's proposed reconsideration of its power plant mercury standards. -
EPA Guidance Grants States 'Flexibilities' to Avoid Interstate Air Mandates
Nov 1, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA has issued fresh guidance to states on how they can use “flexibilities” to avoid having air quality monitoring locations labeled as “maintenance” for the agency's 2015 ozone standard, part of an ongoing effort to give states the ability to avoid Clean Air Act... -
These Red and Blue States Are Tackling Climate Change Since Trump Won't
Nov 2, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Keith Zukowski
If you’ve been focused on recent reports of climate disaster, or on the Trump administration’s relentless attacks against environmental safeguards and climate science, you’re probably worrying we’re not making progress – at all. -
3 Republican Governors Who Are Pro-Climate
Nov 2, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Storrow
Last month, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker sauntered to the podium at a forum hosted by the Environmental League of Massachusetts and ticked off a list of his administration's environmental accomplishments.
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(ACC Mentioned) Pledge to Curb Ocean Plastics Comes Under Fire
Nov 1, 2018 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Alex Scott
More than 290 corporations responsible for 20% of the world’s plastic packaging have signed the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment to recycle more plastic as part of a series of measures to curb ocean pollution. Environmental organizations are criticizing the agreement, though, for being light on targets and sidestepping any reduction in the volume of virgin plastic being produced.
Signed on Oct. 29 at the Our Ocean Conference in Bali, Indonesia, the agreement sets companies on a path to recycle more plastic and eliminate plastic items that are not needed. The agreement includes a clause that incineration, waste-to-energy, and plastic-to-fuel operations cannot be considered a form of recycling.
Millions of tons of plastic enters the oceans each year. Signatories included Coca-Cola, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Target, Unilever, and Walmart.
The agreement was brokered by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a British charitable organization, in association with the United Nations. The commitment is the most ambitious international effort yet to tackle plastic waste at the source, according to United Nations Environment Programme Executive Director Erik Solheim.
But environmental organizations say the agreement does not solve the problem. “I hesitate to even call today’s corporate announcements a step in the right direction,” Jacqueline Savitz, chief policy officer for Oceana, says in a statement. “To have an impact, these companies must reduce the amount of single-use plastic at the source—in the factory—before it gets to consumers.”
Greenpeace also criticized the agreement. “Individual commitments being made by companies to date just don’t go far enough,” said Greenpeace UK Senior Oceans Campaigner Louise Edge. “Making packaging more recyclable is a step forward, but making more recyclable packaging isn’t.”
As You Sow, a U.S. advocacy group, signed the agreement while acknowledging that the pact could help corporations avoid taking responsibility for plastic pollution. “This is a big disappointment as it allows companies to continue to do nothing—or make largely symbolic voluntary one-time or sporadic contributions to groups doing the actual heavy lifting on recycling,” As You Sow’s Conrad MacKerron says in a blog post.
Still, the agreement in Bali spawned a series of actions by companies associated with plastic packaging, including a three-year partnership between Unilever and the waste management firm Veolia to develop plastic recycling technologies for use in India and Indonesia.
New funds for companies dedicated to preventing ocean plastics were also announced in Bali. Circulate Capital, an investment firm that receives support from the American Chemistry Council, a trade group, said it expects to receive over $100 million in funding from several leading consumer goods and chemical firms to finance companies and infrastructure that prevent ocean plastics in Asia.
The European Commission announced in Bali that it is putting $340 million into 23 initiatives aimed at curbing ocean pollution. About one-third of the money will be for R&D. The European Parliament recently voted to strengthen the EC’s plan to ban some single-use plastic items.
And the U.K. government said it will introduce a tax on plastic packaging that contains less than 30% recycled material.
https://cen.acs.org/environment/pollution/Pledge-curb-ocean-plastics-comes/96/i44
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Democrats Eye Broad Options for EPA Scrutiny but Policy Prospects Limited
Nov 1, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Doug Obey and Dawn Reeves
Democrats' current criticisms of the Trump EPA agenda highlight numerous opportunities for party leaders to scrutinize a range of air, climate, water and toxics policies -- assuming they take control of the House as expected -- as part of a broader plan to link EPA's agenda to special interests across a broad array of programs.
Such ongoing concerns -- directed against EPA's regulatory agenda as well as management practices -- reflect a combination of the lawmakers' unmet oversight demands, as well as blowback against deregulatory or passive Trump administration policies and the lingering consequences of former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt's scandal-ridden tenure.
But it remains to be seen how Democrats will strike a balance between oversight of current policies -- an effort to change or slow them -- and efforts to drive a broader legislative agenda that may be unlikely to reach the finish line as long as the Trump administration is still in office.
One former Republican Hill staffer does not expect the oversight to make much of a difference in the direction or outcome of EPA's deregulatory policies given Democrats' expected continued minority status in the Senate.
Democrats will have "zero ability to affect the agenda and only a modest ability to affect the result," the source says. "I am reasonably certain the current agenda is going to continue. At the end of the day, without the Senate, they are not going to be able to pass anything, they are not going to be able to block anything . . . I guess [the oversight] does affect things, sure, but it's on the margins."
Nevertheless, former Hill and agency employees see the potential for Democrats' oversight to be aided further by fresh leaks from current agency staff who may feel emboldened by newly empowered Democratic House critics of Trump administration policies. “A lot of documents that have not leaked are going to leak," including internal criticism raised by career staff of proposed rollbacks, says one former EPA staffer who has observed prior changes in Hill control.
“It definitely will be an oversight Congress,” adds a former Democratic staffer, citing numerous topics to choose from with respect to EPA oversight.
And the former GOP staffer adds such oversight would come with the 2020 presidential election looming as an increasingly real deadline for what remaining Trump EPA agenda items can be completed before “time runs out” on the first term of the Trump White House.
Democrats will seek to slow the agenda or at least call attention to it, given that they do not have control of the agency itself, the source says.
While Democrats have not signaled specific oversight plans, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), the ranking Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee who is expected to chair the panel should Democrats take control, said in a recent statement to Inside EPA that he generally plans to draw out the “special interests “ benefiting from the Trump administration' policies and to seek to hold the White House accountable for policies that worsen climate change.
“We would . . focus on the need to address climate change by looking at its impacts on our communities and economy, and by holding the Trump Administration accountable for dangerous policies that only make it worse,” Pallone said.
“We also have serious concerns with how Trump’s EPA has consistently sided with the special interests over people’s health and the environment, and we will look to restore the environmental protections that have been gutted over the last two years,” he added, noting that he and his colleagues would get more specific after the election on Democrat's agenda in the next Congress.
Detailed Grab Bag
With respect to climate change, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), has already indicated plans to revive a select committee that a decade ago teed up public discussion of energy and climate issues. Pelosi said the panel would “prepare the way with evidence” for energy conservation and other climate mitigation legislation.
While Pallone is, for now, refraining from detailing his oversight agenda, a look at recent statements and oversight requests from energy committee Democrats offers a more detailed grab bag of potential topics coupled with the references to Trump administration policies that Democrats say favor industries over the public.
On climate change, for example, Pallone and others have criticized the Trump administration's rollback of methane emissions controls, suggesting the administration is “siding with the worst actors in the oil and gas industry.”
Similarly, Pallone branded the proposed rollback of vehicle fuel economy standards as a plan “terrible for consumers [that] imperils public health,” while the administration's efforts to scuttle the Clean Power Plan and replace it with a weaker alternative is a way of “choosing polluters' profits over public health.”
Pallone and the Democrats have similarly targeted other issues, including EPA's efforts to ease monitoring for coal ash disposal; drinking water lead contamination and the need for a stronger lead and copper rule and guidance to protect public schools; EPA's decision to withhold new rules for chemical spills; concerns over EPA's alleged inadequate enforcement activities as evidence by a prior Democratic request for a Government Accountability Office study on agency oversight of state enforcement programs; agency decisions not to address “legacy uses” of asbestos, and criticism of a Republican bill to weaken the Clean Air Act new source review program.
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Democrats, who are also expected to scrutinize EPA and other agencies, have up to this point been more broadly focused on an array of Trump administration scandals outside of EPA's purview.
But prior Democratic oversight requests with relevance to the agency include calls for for panel hearings on administration plans for downsizing federal agencies and the resulting impacts on agency staffing and government services.
House Natural Resources Committee Democrats are also expected to scrutinize and jawbone administration environmental policies, and are already pledging to limit fossil fuel and other industry views at any hearings. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-NM), who is expected to lead the panel, released an Oct. 31 report pledging to end alleged GOP favoritism toward fossil fuel companies.
“Democrats recognize that industry representatives provide a unique perspective in understanding how to best manage our public lands and waters,” the report says.
“However, they are only one piece of a large and complex puzzle,” the report adds, suggesting that academics, policy, legal and other experts, climate scientists, sportsmens' groups and others affected by public land decisions “must also have an equally large seat at the witness table.”
Beginning In January
The former Democratic Hill staffer says it is conceivable the first oversight hearings could happen as soon as January or soon after -- in cases where information for such proceedings is already available -- while oversight that requires procuring of new documents could take longer.
One possible analog could be when Democrats shortly after taking over the chamber in 2007 held January hearings to discuss alleged political interference by Bush administration officials into the work of climate scientists.
The former Democratic staffer says it is reasonable to expect multiple flavors of oversight that may be geared toward different objectives but which could also overlap. These could include scrutiny of internal agency operations in an effort to force greater accountability of government, but also oversight that more squarely targets specific deregulatory policies or tries to build the case for legislation.
The source offers as an illustrative example of possible operational oversight delving into how climate change information was removed from EPA's website early during the Trump administration and how the decision was made.
A broad theme ripe for Democrats is likely to be scrutiny of the the extent to which current air quality policies benefit former clients of current Trump appointees, and what safeguards are -- or are not -- in place to address concerns over such conflicts of interests, several sources note.
The former Democratic Hill aide in this vein cites as an example of potential targets EPA air chief and former industry attorney William Wehrum, given the agency's efforts to scale back the Clean Air Act new source review permitting program and scuttle the “once in always in” policy that kept sources in EPA's air toxics program once they triggered its requirements.
And several observers say that pending vehicle GHG and fuel economy standards rollback are likely to be an extremely ripe target given already public battles between EPA and the Transportation Department as the administration sets a public goal of finalizing new rules in March 2019 -- though several observers suggest that timeline is likely to slip.
A host of other deregulatory policies are also slated to be completed in March 2019, including those for power plant greenhouse gases and Clean Water Act jurisdiction, broadly suggesting that Democrats will have to act quickly if they hope to shine a spotlight on those measures.
The former Democratic aide calls the vehicle regulations a “classic example” of where lawmakers are likely to want to delve into the details of how the decision to put out the proposal was made, given widely reported EPA objections to its contents. Those include EPA staff objections to the modeling assumptions behind the regulation during the interagency process, and the freezing out of EPA technical staff to the extent that the agency asked to have its name removed from the regulatory impact analysis for the regulation.
EPA's name subsequently remained but a reference to EPA's technical experts at the Office of Transportation and Air Quality was deleted from the analysis.
Those efforts could be aided by press reports that suggested that acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler feared a court loss should the administration follow through with a related effort to target California's authority to implement strong vehicle GHG programs, even as DOT urged a hard line on the issue, the former aide adds.
Other oversight questions include how Democrats will choose to target internal management or structural issues at EPA -- including revisiting or expanding management scandals during former Administrator Pruitt's tenure on everything from travel expenses to his widely publicized security booth.
“They won't be able to resist,” the former Republican staffer says, regarding Pruitt's travails. The source adds that Pruitt could be called to testify or even be subpoenaed, but that would be tricky since he is no longer an administration official. He will not “be the first person you see” because any effort to bring him back to D.C. “will take awhile.”
For current EPA political officials, however, the Democrats' oversight gavels means they will almost have to accept Democrats' requests to testify, the former GOP staffer argues. "It is not only bad form" to refuse "but it's against your long-term interests.”
The source predicts there will likely be “multiple requests for [Wheeler] and other assistant administrators to come up and testify,” and suggests that oversight of the agency's science policies will likely be a ripe policy target.
The former EPA staffer similarly says the agency is now "getting ready for a hurricane" that will include "oversight investigations all the time.”
The prospect of gavels in Democratic hands raises the question of whether they might overreach -- or at a minimum be branded as doing so by critics -- after years of pent up frustration out of power, some say.
“Maybe they should be concerned about [that] but I don't think they will be,” the former Republican Hill staffer says. “There is a bit of headiness when you assume the reign of power again after being out for a while" that is akin to the "dog-caught-car phenomenon.”
But the source adds “it is hard to go overboard . . The hardest thing in oversight is getting the attention-grabbing headline, finding the smoking gun. . . . So I think they'll dig pretty hard to get that and then worry about long-term appearances. The source adds that any potential blowback from oversight in January 2019 “will not affect November of 2020."
https://insideepa.com/weekly-focus/democrats-eye-broad-options-epa-scrutiny-policy-prospects-limited
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Pricing Power Lifts Chemical Earnings
Nov 1, 2018 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Melody M. Bomgardner
Sales and earnings for leading chemical companies continued to grow in the third quarter, thanks to broad-based demand from consumers and industrial customers. Among the raft of positive numbers, higher profits from specialties stood out. Firms have raised prices across the board, staying ahead of cost increases for energy and raw materials.
DowDuPont reported sales up 10% for the quarter compared with 2017 pro forma third-quarter results. Its growth came half from higher sales volumes and half from higher prices. Earnings soared 33% to $1.7 billion.
The company wasted no time with a plan to reward shareholders; it announced a $3 billion share-buyback program to wrap up on April 1. That’s when DowDuPont will spin off Dow Holdings, its materials science company and the first of three firms to be carved out of the combined chemical giant. DowDuPont also raised its target for cost savings from the merger to $1.6 billion from $1.4 billion last quarter.
The cost synergies helped DowDuPont overcome higher raw material costs. Hot spots of demand also helped, including in consumer packaging, probiotics, specialty proteins, elastomers, and chemicals used in displays. In contrast, the company noted weakness in construction chemicals for the U.S. residential market.
The scale of DowDuPont’s investor giveback and synergy savings was “more aggressive than we expected,” said Laurence Alexander, an analyst at the investment bank Jefferies. In a research note, he wrote that demand trends and the quarter’s strong results will help the company shift attention to its long-term plans.
Trends favoring nutrition products lifted earnings at DSM by 26% over last year’s third quarter. Standouts included nutrition products for poultry, and dietary supplements and drug ingredients for humans.
It was not only specialties that boosted earnings, however. At Celanese and Eastman Chemical, sales of basic acetyl chemicals benefited from favorable market conditions. Celanese booked a 28% profit margin on its $1 billion in acetyl chemical sales. Meanwhile, Eastman’s sales of its Tritan-brand copolyester exceeded those of last year.
BASF’s third quarter saw the German firm complete its $9 billion acquisition of several of Bayer’s agriculture businesses and a deal to place its oil and gas business in a joint venture with LetterOne. With the new structure, BASF’s sales and earnings both increased more than 7%, mostly because of higher prices for petrochemicals and performance chemicals, compared with the third quarter last year.
In a conference call with analysts, BASF CEO Martin Brudermüller cautioned that factors outside management’s control have cast a shadow. Low waters in the Rhine River have restricted material flow in and out of the firm’s main complex in Ludwigshafen, Germany, forcing output to be turned down. He also noted a slowdown in the auto industry, an important outlet for the company.
“This development concurs with the increasing uncertainties regarding the world economy in light of the trade conflicts, in particular between the U.S. and China,” Brudermüller said.
https://cen.acs.org/business/finance/Pricing-power-lifts-chemical-earnings/96/i44
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California Adds Purple Dye, Ejector Seat Explosive to Cancer List
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Emily C. Dooley
A dye used in antibacterial treatments and a chemical for explosives in fighter jet ejector seats will be added to California’s list of compounds known to cause cancer.
A scientific advisory board that reports to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment voted unanimously Nov. 1 to add gentian violet and N-Nitrosohexamethyleneimine, or NHEX, to the Proposition 65 list, which cites chemicals that cause cancer, birth defects, or reproductive harm.
Evidence for both chemicals showed a cancer risk, OEHHA Director Lauren Zeise said.
The purple-colored gentian violet has long been used as a dye or stain for examining bacteria. It also is used in inks and toners and to color paper and textiles. But it also has antiviral and and antifungal treatment applications, including for breastfeeding mothers, according to state documents.
In rats and mice, exposure to gentian violet caused liver, thyroid, and reproductive gland tumors, state health officials said.
NHEX, which does not occur naturally, has been used in industrial-synthesis processes and as an explosive in ejector seats for fighter jets, but not much is known about current uses, according to OEHHA.
Rats, mice, and hamsters exhibited multiple tumors when exposed to NHEX, according to OEHHA.
Chemicals added to the state’s Proposition 65 list must provide warning labels if the concentration of the chemical is at a level the state has determined poses a health risk. The warning label requirement takes effect one year after listing.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/california-adds-purple-dye-ejector-seat-explosive-to-cancer-list
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Chemicals in Your Bottled Water? Companies Could Test to Find Out
Nov 2, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
Bottled water has been used as a stopgap for communities whose drinking water is contaminated with dangerous chemicals, and many bottling companies could begin testing as early as next year to ensure their own products are free of those same substances.
The compounds in question, known collectively as PFAS, can cause health problems, including liver tissue damage, immune system or thyroid issues, and changes in cholesterol, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Some companies, including Nestle S.A. and Coca-Cola Co., already voluntarily test their bottled water for the contaminants, but federal regulations don’t mandate it.
But the International Bottled Water Association, which represents more than 600 other bottlers and bottled-water distributors—many in the U.S.—ranging from locally owned businesses to international giants, may also require its members to test their products for poly- and perfluorinated compounds, said Jill Culora, vice president of communications for the association.
Mandatory testing for members could begin as early as next year if the association decides to go that route, Culora told Bloomberg Environment.
International Bottled Water Association members include Danone S.A., Fiji Water Co. LLC, Crystal Clear Bottled Water, and Culligan International.
Per- and Polyflurorinated CompoundsPer- and polyflurorinated compounds, which towns across the U.S. are discovering in their drinking water supplies, are used in nonstick and waterproof products as well as in firefighting foam.
In Kalamazoo County, Mich., the amount of the chemicals in municipal supplies in July was high enough that about 3,000 people couldn’t drink the water coming from their taps. Instead, like many other communities with PFAS in their water, residents used bottled water while their municipal systems were flushed and treatment plants were upgraded to filter out the contaminants.
In Michigan, the source for bottled water has to meet state drinking water requirements, but PFAS compounds aren’t yet covered by the law. However, if a bottled water company gets its water from a municipal supply, it is covered by statewide PFAS testing, Angela Minicuci, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, told Bloomberg Environment.
‘We Have Conducted Tests’“We have conducted tests of our six bottled regional spring water products, and haven’t detected any PFAS in those products,” a spokesperson for Nestle Waters told Bloomberg Environment in an email Oct. 23. Nestle Waters is a member of the International Bottled Water Association.
The company is starting to monitor for the compounds regularly across its brands and plans to add PFAS testing to its annual water quality reports by 2020.
Testing bottled water would assure states, local governments, and disaster relief personnel that the products are safe for both daily and emergency use, Culora said.
The International Bottled Water Association tested 200 blind samples from its member companies, according to Culora. PFAS were found in trace amounts in three of the samples.
The EPA’s recommended exposure limit for the combination of two PFAS compounds, PFOA and PFOS, is 70 parts per trillion in drinking water over one’s lifetime. States, especially those on the East Coast, are setting their own limits for PFAS compounds in drinking water that are stricter than EPA’s.
Getting the Word OutMassachusetts is releasing bottled water company test results to give residents more information about what they’re drinking.
But Minnesota, which encourages residents to drink tap water because it’s more tightly regulated than bottled water, has no plans to ask the companies whether they’re testing.
Sampling results in Rhode Island didn’t find PFAS in drinking water at levels over the EPA’s recommended exposure limit. That state aims to have PFAS sampling data from all bottlers there.
In New York, the village of Hoosick Falls has been working with Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International Inc. to address PFOA in groundwater and drinking water.
New York evaluates source waters and treatment processes for all bottled water used or sold in New York, regardless of where it’s produced, Jeffrey Hammond, spokesman for the state’s health department, told Bloomberg Environment in an email.
“We have no evidence any bottlers are using water considered vulnerable to PFAS contamination,” he said.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/chemicals-in-your-bottled-water-companies-could-test-to-find-out
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Engineered Wood Industry Pleased With EPA Formaldehyde Proposal
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
Companies that make and use composite wood could more easily meet California and federal formaldehyde emissions limits under a rule the EPA proposed Nov. 1, trade association representatives said.
“These are important technical amendments that we’ve supported,” Jackson Morrill, president of the Composite Panel Association, told Bloomberg Environment Nov. 1.
The Environmental Protection Agency proposed minor tweaks that would make the requirements in its rules better align with California’s, Steve Orlowski, senior director of standards and technical activities for the Window and Door Manufacturers Association, said.
The EPA’s proposed rule (RIN:2070–AK47) would revise another regulation(RIN:2070–AJ44) the agency adopted in December 2016 to reduce formaldehyde emissions from composite—or engineered—wood products.
These products include hardwood plywood, medium-density fiberboard, and particleboard. Companies such as Weyerhaeuser and Georgia-Pacific Chemicals LLC make these materials by binding wood strands, fibers, particles, and other components together with adhesives to create a product that is denser, stronger, and heavier than wood alone.
Composite wood is used in home construction, flooring, plywood, furniture, kitchen cabinets, and recreational vehicles.
The 2017 North America market for structural panels, a subset of the broader category of composite woods, was about $15 billion, Joshua Zaret, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, told Bloomberg Environment Nov. 1. Those panels are made with glues of varying concentrations of formaldehyde including those that release low and ultralow emissions or none at all, he said.
The glues used in some composite woods, though, can include levels of formaldehyde that can irritate the skin, eyes, nose, and throat. High levels of exposure may cause some types of cancers.
ConsistencyLumber Liquidators agreed in 2017 to settle a $36 million class action over its sale of Chinese-made laminate flooring that exceeded California’s standards. The EPA’s limits were not yet in effect at that time.
In 2010, Congress required the EPA to set emissions limits for formaldehyde from composite wood. The agency’s standards were to be consistent with those California set in 2008 and since updated.
The goal is to have EPA’s and California’s regulations as aligned as possible, Morrill said.
The EPA’s proposal would help panel producers, for example, by allowing them to use one laboratory test method to demonstrate compliance with both California’s limits and the national standards, he said.
“It’s a big help to have that consistency,” Morrill said. “We fully support that.”
North American lumber mills are accustomed to meeting California’s requirements, and that state’s procedures have a proven track record, he said.
“Consistency makes a a lot of sense from enforcement and technical perspective,” Morrill said.
Supply Chain RequirementsThe EPA’s proposed rule also would clarify supply chain questions that have arisen since the EPA’s rule was issued, Mark Duvall, a principal at Beveridge & Diamond PC in Washington told Bloomberg Environment Oct. 31.
The proposal, for example, clarifies the responsibilities of various companies in the supply chain if a lot of composite wood fails to meet EPA’s emission limits after it already has been shipped, said Duvall. He has advised the Retail Industry Leaders Association, whose members include companies such as Lowe’s, Home Depot, and Walmart, about the federal formaldehyde standards.
The agency’s proposal also will codify guidance it already has issued through answers to frequently asked questions that are posted on a formaldehyde webpage, Duvall said. Codifying those questions is helpful to the regulated community, he said.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/engineered-wood-industry-pleased-with-epa-formaldehyde-proposal
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Toxic Chemicals Found in Major EU Retailer Carpets
Nov 2, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Tests on samples of carpets sold by seven of the largest manufacturers in Europe have found that some contain harmful chemicals including phthalates and per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFASs), a major study has revealed.
Of 15 samples, 12 were found to contain toxic substances, a report compiled by NGOs including the Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) found. It is based on tests carried out by three research institutions – Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the US Ecology Center and the University of Notre Dame.
The companies and carpets that were found to contain toxic substances are:
· Associated Weavers: Stainaway Harvest Heathers Deluxe and Disney & Kids;
· Balta: Gala and Stripes, and Amaize;
· Beaulieu International Group: Orotex;
· Forbo: Tessera and Westbond;
· Interface: Conscient with CircuitBac Green;
· Milliken: Nordic Stories (Tectonic) and Light Trails; and
· Tarkett: Desso Essence.
Three types of phthalates including DEHP were present, the report said. Additionally, the flame retardants TCPP and TDCPP, eight PFASs, and "indications" of antimicrobials, bisphenol A (BPA), isocyanates and nonylphenol were also detected.
DEHP was banned by the EU in 2015 but an exemption for the use in recycled PVC for certain products, such as carpets, was granted.
The study findings are "troubling" and point to "a lack of comprehensive chemicals regulation and failings of self-regulation" in the carpet industry, the report concluded.
The European Carpet and Rug Association (Ecra) said there were question marks over the methodology used in the study and the interpretation of the results.
Of the seven manufacturers contacted by Chemical Watch, only one, Tarkett, responded, saying that the report "clearly demonstrates that a non-toxic circular economy is possible".
Interface and Milliken declined to comment, while other companies did not respond in time for publication. Circular economy
The study also showed that recycled content could contain toxic substances similar to those found in virgin materials: four of the carpets with such content had harmful chemicals present.
The findings, the report said, lay bare how toxic chemicals in carpets are hindering the EU's transition to a circular economy.
Despite that, two of the three 'chemical-free' carpets were designed for a circular economy, lending weight to the argument that the circular economy and non-toxicity can be "realised in parallel", it said.
It recommended the following measures for the EU:
· expand bans on hazardous chemicals and close loopholes on how chemicals are addressed in different product groups;
· end exemptions for chemicals in recycled materials through the upcoming revision of the interface between chemicals, products and waste legislation, including regulating chemical groups; and
· put in place measures to realise a circular economy in the carpet sector, including Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes that set minimum requirements and rewards for those that go beyond.
In March, NGOs urged the European Commission to draw up an EU carpet product directive to tackle toxic substances present in carpets and rugs.
https://chemicalwatch.com/71548/toxic-chemicals-found-in-major-eu-retailer-carpets
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Monsanto Cancer Victim Accepts $78.6 Million Roundup Award
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Peter Blumberg
A former school groundskeeper says he won’t contest a California judge’s decision to reduce a jury’s punitive damages award to $39.3 million in a lawsuit in which he claimed exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup caused his terminal cancer.
A jury in San Francisco Superior Court ruled in favor of the groundskeeper, Dewayne Lee Johnson, in August. He claimed his use of Monsanto’s weedkiller caused his non-Hodgkins lymphoma. He was awarded $250 million in punitive damages plus $39.3 million in compensatory damages. Monsanto was acquired by Bayer AG earlier this year.
Bayer failed to persuade Superior Court Judge Suzanne Ramos Bolanos to set aside the verdict. But she ruled Oct. 23 that punitive damages should be the same as the award of $39.3 million in compensatory damages for a total of $78.6 million.
Johnson’s attorneys said in a statement they didn’t think the reduction was appropriate but acknowledged that the ruling considered the liability and punitive conduct evidence in a light favorable to their client.
The verdict, they said, sends a “strong message” to deter Monsanto’s conduct that they said caused Johnson’s illness.
“However, to hopefully achieve a final resolution within his lifetime, Mr. Johnson has accepted the punitive damages reduction,” they said.
Bolanos said she would order a new trial if Johnson didn’t accept the reduction and gave him until Dec. 7 to decide.
“The punitive damages award must be constitutionally reduced to the maximum allowed by due process in this case—$39,253,209.35—equal to the amount of compensatory damages awarded by the jury based on its findings of harm to the plaintiff,” she said, explaining her reason for reducing the award.
Bayer AG has said it plans to appeal the judge’s ruling.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/monsantocancervictim-accepts-786-million-roundup-award
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Bayer CEO Says Would Consider Glyphosate Settlement Depending on Costs
Nov 2, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Tina Bellon
Bayer AG's chief executive said this week the company might consider settling lawsuits over Monsanto's glyphosate-containing weed-killers depending on how high court costs rise, but stressed it remained focused on defending the combined company against claims they cause cancer.
Bayer acquired Monsanto this year for $63 billion.
"If we can settle nuisances at some point where the defense costs in preparing cases are higher than potential settlement amounts, we will of course consider it from an economic standpoint," CEO Werner Baumann told reporters when asked whether there was any scenario in which Bayer would consider settling.
He added: "We will resolutely and with all means defend ourselves in this (glyphosate) litigation."
Baumann was speaking on Monday to German media invited to visit Bayer's new operations in the former research and development facilities of Monsanto in St. Louis, Missouri. The remarks, made on Monday, were embargoed to the end of the week to allow media to return home.
Shares in Bayer have lost 25 percent in value since Aug. 10, when a San Francisco jury awarded $289 million to Dewayne Johnson on grounds Monsanto failed to warn the school groundskeeper and other consumers of the cancer risks posed by glyphosate-based RoundUp and Ranger Pro.
Johnson has terminal non-Hodgkin's lymphoma that he alleges was caused by the herbicides.
A judge later reduced the award to $78 million.
Bayer denies that glyphosate causes cancer and says decades of scientific studies and real-world use have shown the chemical to be safe for human use. The company is appealing the findings.
The number of glyphosate cases that Bayer faces across the United States has jumped to more than 8,700, prompting concerns among investors about the impact of litigation costs on Bayer's bottom line.
Baumann expressed confidence that Bayer could handle the litigation, and cited its "inexpensive" $12 million settlement of 4,000 lawsuits over its contraceptive Mirena device.
Bayer also won five of six trials over its best-selling bloodthinner Xarelto, over which it faces 24,000 U.S. lawsuits. The sixth jury found in favor of a plaintiff, but a judge later overturned the decision.EDITORS’ PICKSThey Survived a Massacre. Then the Lawyers Started Calling.Stone Mountain: The Largest Confederate Monument Problem in the WorldWas Interracial Love Possible in the Days of Slavery? Descendants of One Couple Think So
"Due to our exposure as a pharmaceutical company, we have the experience to defend those (glyphosate) cases," he said.
Baumann said the company's legal strategy had been revised following the integration of Bayer and Monsanto in mid-August.
He declined to provide details, but recent court filings reveal some of the steps the company has taken.
Last week, Bayer added the attorneys from law firm Arnold & Portner who won the Xarelto cases for the company to its glyphosate defense team.
It is also trying to change the juror selection process for upcoming trials.
In filings last week in San Francisco federal court, where a new glyphosate trial is scheduled to begin on Feb. 25, 2019, Bayer said the "jury pool likely has grown more hostile" due to negative media coverage following the Johnson verdict.
Michael Miller, one of the attorneys for the plaintiff, said the company's claims were "hypocritical beyond belief" given its own efforts to control the message on glyphosate, most recently in a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post.
Bayer has asked U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, who is overseeing the San Francisco case and some 580 others, to significantly expand the jury pool and question prospective jurors about their knowledge of the media coverage of the cases. Chhabria is expected to decide on the requests in December.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/11/02/business/02reuters-bayer-glyphosate-lawsuit.html
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States Sharply Divided over Legality of EPA ACE Power Plant GHG Plan
Nov 1, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Dawn Reeves
A sharp and mostly partisan divide is emerging between states over the legality of EPA's proposal to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan (CPP) utility greenhouse gas rule, with Democratic-led states urging the agency to drop its “unlawful” plan, while Republican state officials are broadly supporting it.
This division could lead to some states continuing efforts to reduce power sector GHGs, even as others try to keep coal plants operating despite cheap natural gas and renewables, according to one analyst.
One state group is led by New York Attorney General (AG) Barbara Underwood (D) and includes 26 Democratic-led states, counties and cities. In their Oct. 31 comments, they say EPA should abandon its proposed Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule because it is "replete with factual inaccuracies, analytical errors and legal flaws.”
In a statement, Underwood notes that she has already made clear she will sue to block the rule from taking effect. "In the face of increasingly devastating heat, storms and floods, the Trump administration continues to pursue reckless policies that will only worsen climate change and its dire harms." The ACE rule "will prop up dirty and expensive coal power plants, undercut clean and sustainable electricity, and leave New Yorkers and other Americans to foot the bill."
Joining New York in the comments are the AGs of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia, along with the cities of Boulder, CO; Chicago; Los Angeles; New York; Philadelphia; and South Miami, FL; as well as Broward County, FL.
The comments accuse EPA of turning its back on successful state GHG programs, such as the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which is a Northeast and Mid-Atlantic utility GHG trading program.
A second state coalition of 14 bipartisan environmental and energy officials, organized by the Georgetown Climate Center, is also urging EPA to drop its CPP replacement proposal in Oct. 31 comments, arguing it would harm health and jeopardize state efforts to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Those states represent more than 120 million Americans and more than 42 percent of the economy, and they express "strong concern" about the proposal, asking that EPA abandon ACE and move forward with the CPP.
The coalition includes California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and Washington. Of those, Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont have Republican governors.
The comments call ACE a "backward-looking approach, which focuses on outdated and dirty coal technologies rather than clean and cost-effective renewable energy." They also say that the agency's "weak regulatory approach provides no minimum standards for states, has no definitive dates for compliance, and will facilitate a 'race-to-the-bottom.'"
The states also complain about the proposal's changes to the Clean Air Act's new source review (NSR) program, arguing it effectively creates a loophole allowing power plants that upgrade their efficiency to emit more conventional pollutants without installing controls.
EPA's own analysis has found this aspect of the proposal could lead to an additional 1,400 premature deaths per year beginning in 2030.
'Important Role of States'
However, a 21-state Republican coalition in separate Oct. 31 comments backs the proposal. Led by West Virginia AG Patrick Morrisey, the group includes the AGs of Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming. It also includes Mississippi's environment agency and utility regulators.
They say the "Obama-era Power Plan sought to devastate West Virginia coal miners," but that Morrisey led the nationwide fight and persuaded the Supreme Court to stay the rule. They say the ACE proposal "will respect the important role of states in regulating energy and air quality," and "fully embraces Congress' intent for cooperation between the state and federal governments, correcting the Obama-era, one-size-fits all model that promised to devastate coal communities.”
The GOP officials add that the ACE plan "adopts a more individualized approach to rulemaking,” including allowing states to set targets for individual plants.
The coalition does express some concern for potential "double regulation" created by the rule, which is developed under Clean Air Act section 111, because power plants' air toxics emissions are already regulated under section 112. The officials notes that it raises this concern to be consistent with their prior comments on the CPP, though they otherwise support for finalizing ACE as proposed.
In Oct. 30 comments -- filed as an exhibit to the New York AG coalition comments -- addressing the competing state approaches, Sue Tierney of the Analysis Group writes, "Clearly the states will have different responses to the ACE+NSR, were it to be adopted as proposed."
One-third of states supported the CPP and are likely to continue to pursue GHG emission reductions. "But at least half of the states have opposed the CPP, with many of them depending on coal to produce a significant share of in-state power." In these states, despite cheap natural gas and renewables, "many public officials . . . are supportive of finding ways to keep coal-fired power plants open for business.”
These states will be "inclined to take advantage of the discretion afforded by the" proposal "to minimize these plants' exposure to additional costs to control GHG emissions. Thus, the EPA's proposal may allow states to adopt plans that support continued operation of certain high-emitting, coal-fired power plants without the kind of GHG limitations anticipated after the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling under Massachusetts v. EPA,” a 2007 decision that found GHGs are regulated pollutants under the Clean Air Act.
Tierney adds that coal plant owners will also have different responses to the rule, with many already announcing plans to gradually reduce GHG emissions from their fleet and others likely to request weaker GHG standards so they can remain in operation.
"The proposed design of the ACE+NSR could invite strong pressure for state plans that would allow for and lead to continued GHG emissions from individual power plants," with some having strong incentives to make investments that extend the expected lives of the plants "beyond what has been assumed by EPA in assessing the benefits and costs" of the rule, Tierney writes.
Kentucky and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality submitted individual comments backing ACE, with Texas noting that it is premature to move forward with a CPP replacement while litigation is pending over both the CPP and the companion new source performance standard (NSPS). On the latter rule, EPA plans to scale back the measure by dropping new coal plant standards based on partial carbon capture and sequestration.
"The legality of both" the NSPS and the CPP "have been challenged" in lawsuits that are being held in abeyance. “If the EPA should decide to repeal the GHG emissions NSPS rule for new, modified and reconstructed [power plants], then the EPA would have no legal authority to adopt any rule to set” GHG emission limits on existing plants.
As such, Texas says the replacement should remain on hold until EPA has completed its review of the NSPS rule under section 111(b) and issued an endangerment finding for the sector -- something that EPA does not intend to do.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/states-sharply-divided-over-legality-epa-ace-power-plant-ghg-plan
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Perry to Visit Ukraine, Poland to Discuss Alternatives to Russian Energy
Nov 2, 2018 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By John Bowden
Energy Secretary Rick Perry will visit Ukraine and Poland next week as part of the Trump administration's efforts to entice the two countries into pursuing alternatives to buying coal and natural gas from Russia.
In particular, the Trump administration wants to boost U.S. coal exports as domestic coal consumption has dropped while at the same time the administration tries to help the struggling industry.
In a press release Thursday reported by Reuters, the Energy Department stated that Perry would meet with experts on a number of topics, including nuclear energy and cyber security, on his trip while adding that Perry would also visit Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Poland, according to Reuters, relies on Russia for more than half of its natural gas imports under a long-term deal set to expire in 2022. A Ukrainian company, Centrenergo PJSC, agreed last year to buy 700,000 tons of U.S. coal in a deal with a Pennsylvania coal company that was touted at the time by the Trump administration.
“In recent years, Kiev and much of Eastern Europe have been reliant on and beholden to Russia to keep the heat on. That changes now,” Perry said in a statement last year.
“The United States can offer Ukraine an alternative, and today we are pleased to announce that we will," he added.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross also praised the deal last year, adding that it would “allow Ukraine to diversify its energy sources...[and help] bolster a key strategic partner against regional pressures that seek to undermine U.S. interests.”
The Trump administration also inked a deal with Ukraine's government earlier this year to provide an additional $200 million in defensive aid to the country, which is dealing with a Russian-supported insurgency in its eastern Crimea region.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/414444-perry-to-visit-ukraine-poland-to-discuss-alternatives-to-russian
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AGs on Trump Carbon Rule: 'This Will End up in the Courts'
Nov 2, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Pamela King
President Trump's proposed Clean Power Plan replacement wouldn't stand a chance in court, a coalition of attorneys general wrote this week.
The chief legal officers of 19 states, all Democrats, on Wednesday laid out a detailed challenge of the Trump administration's efforts to curb carbon dioxide emissions. They filed their commenton the final day of the Trump EPA's deadline for feedback on its Affordable Clean Energy rule.
"State attorneys general have presented an extraordinarily comprehensive legal argument in opposition to the so-called 'Affordable Clean Energy' rule," David Hayes, executive director of the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center, said in a statement yesterday. "A proposed rule this replete with technical errors, and resting on such a misguided interpretation of the EPA's legal obligation to act under the Clean Air Act is extremely vulnerable to a legal challenge.
"If the EPA finalizes this rule, this will end up in the courts, where the AGs will look to capitalize on the Trump administration's low win rate in cases over its own regulatory actions."
Hayes cited a recent Brookings Institution analysis that found the current administration has a 5 percent "win rate" on legal challenges to its deregulatory actions.
The attorneys general urged EPA to abandon the ACE rule and instead focus on building out the Clean Power Plan introduced under former President Obama. The Supreme Court stopped implementation of the Obama rule in 2016.
EPA air chief Bill Wehrum said after the introduction of the ACE rule that the Trump regulation was more legally defensible than the Obama plan.
"An important part of what we're doing here is getting us back in our lane," he said at the time (Energywire, Aug. 22). "We believe the [Clean Power Plan] went beyond EPA's legal authority in some very fundamental and important ways."
In their comment, the attorneys general cite a 2016 brief from Obama's EPA in which the agency told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that efforts to address climate change can succeed only if they impose meaningful limitations on the amount of carbon dioxide that power plants emit.
"The Trump EPA's proposed replacement for the Clean Power Plan will prop up dirty and expensive coal power plants, undercut clean and sustainable electricity, and leave New Yorkers and other Americans to foot the bill," said New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood (D), who led the group. "As I've made clear, if the administration adopts this grossly illegal rule, my office will work with our state and local partners to file suit to block it."
The argument
The 152-page document outlines a multipronged legal argument that states and municipalities could deploy if the Trump administration moves to finalize its ACE rule.
Commenters criticize EPA's approach to treating each plant as an individual facility, rather than parts of an interconnected grid. The attorneys general say the Trump proposal does not push the federal government to effectively mitigate greenhouse gas emissions that EPA has previously determined endanger public health.
"The EPA's proposed rule change is in clear violation of the Clean Air Act, and I'm fighting to uphold the law and protect Pennsylvanians' constitutional right to clean air and pure water," Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) said in a statement.
Commenters cite federal researchers' own acknowledgements that the proposal would generate more pollution and human health risks than the Obama plan (Climatewire, Sept. 13).
"The proposed Clean Power Plan replacement that the Trump Administration has put forward is riddled with inaccuracies, flawed legal arguments, and incorrect facts and it is clear that the EPA did not do the necessary research to come up with this plan," Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (D) said in a statement.
As critics of other Trump-era rules have noted, the attorneys general wrote that EPA's economic analysis of the ACE rule may be flawed in its failure to consider the full social costs of emitting carbon into the atmosphere.
"The proposed rule, which EPA calls the 'Affordable Clean Energy' rule, neither promotes 'clean energy' generation nor does it implement a policy that Americans can 'afford' given the need to aggressively cut carbon pollution from power plants and other sources to adequately confront the dangers of climate change," the comment says.
The Trump administration has said it expects to finalize the ACE rule within the year.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/11/02/stories/1060104997
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Explosions Spark Massachusetts to Hire Firm to Inspect Gas Lines (1)
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Adrianne Appel
A Texas company will scour all 21,500 miles of Massachusetts’ antiquated natural gas pipeline system for weak spots in an effort to prevent accidents like last month’s explosions.
The state hired Dynamic Risk Assessment Systems, Inc. to examine, “out of an abundance of caution,” every mile of natural gas pipeline in the entire state, Gov. Charlie Baker (R), announced Nov. 1.
Dynamic Risk will examine the physical integrity of the system as well as the maintenance policies of natural gas companies operating in the state, including Eversource Energy, National Grid Plc, and Columbia Gas Co., whose pipelines in Lawrence, Mass., became overpressurized Sept. 13, leading to explosions that killed one person, injured 25, and damaged 80 buildings.
Companies Foot the BillAll gas companies operating in the state will pay for the “comprehensive safety review” of the state’s pipeline system, Baker said Nov. 1 in a statement.
Dynamic Risk Assessment will be paid approximately $600,000 to produce the preliminary report, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs told Bloomberg Environment.
Columbia Gas and National Grid declined to immediately reply to questions about how much the study would cost. Eversource also declined to comment.
National grid has 930,000 natural gas customers in Massachusetts and owns 11,000 miles of natural gas pipeline, the company has said. Eversource owns 3,300 miles of gas pipelines in Massachusetts.
Dynamic Risk will issue a preliminary report of its findings in about 120 days.
“Dynamic Risk is very pleased to have been awarded this very important project to assess gas pipeline safety,” Patrick Vieth, an executive vice president at Dynamic Risk, said in a Nov. 1 statement.
Critics, including environmental groups, have pointed the finger at Baker’s Department of Public Utilities for being too lenient on gas companies when it comes to replacing and maintaining their infrastructure.
Baker, who is running for re-election, ordered a moratorium on any further work by Columbia Gas, except for that to restore service to the thousands of people in Lawrence without service. Baker appointed Eversource to oversee the restoration work.
National Grid TroubleOn Oct. 8, Baker ordered that National Grid also be placed under a work moratorium after it experienced an overpressurization incident in Woburn, Mass.
National Grid has been embroiled in a labor dispute with its unionized workforce and “locked out” 1,250 workers six weeks ago. The company was relying on contract workers when the overpressurization incident occurred, raising concerns about its safety practices during the labor dispute.
Criminal InvestigationThe Dynamic Risk evaluation of the state’s pipeline system will dovetail with the ongoing investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board of the Sept. 13 explosions.
Andrew Lelling, U.S. attorney in Massachusetts, also is conducting a criminal federal grand jury investigation of the explosions, according to a report its parent company, NiSource, filed with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission.
Two class actions, on behalf of those impacted by the explosions, also are underway.
Massachusetts has miles of old, cast-iron natural gas pipes, which are subject to decay and breakage. In Boston, it’s not uncommon for pipes to be 50 or 75 years old, and the city is plagued by more than 3,000 gas leaks.
(Adds cost information in the fifth paragraph.)
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/explosions-spark-massachusetts-to-hire-firm-to-inspect-gas-lines-1
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Landowners Dispute Neb.'s Approval of New Route
Nov 2, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Pamela King
A challenge to Nebraska's approval of an alternate path for the Keystone XL pipeline yesterday reached the state's highest court.
Attorneys for landowners and tribes said the Nebraska Public Service Commission improperly approved the oil pipeline's mainline alternative route and rejected suggestions that their clients had previously favored that pathway above TransCanada Corp.'s preferred route.
"This case is not about the lesser of two evils," Fredericks Peebles & Morgan LLP attorney Jennifer Baker, representing the Yankton Sioux tribe, said before the Nebraska Supreme Court yesterday.
The landowners' challenge stems from the PSC's denial last year of TransCanada's preferred route for the Keystone XL pipeline. In the same breath, the commission approved an alternative path that more closely follows the existing Keystone conduit (Energywire, Nov. 21, 2017).
At the time, pipeline opponents called the PSC's move a victory because, they said, the commission is not authorized to approve a route that is different from the one included in a company's application.
The PSC also determined that it was not necessary for TransCanada to amend its application.
"We stand behind that decision," Jim Powers, an attorney from McGrath North Mullin & Kratz representing TransCanada, said to the court.
Commissioners acted properly in approving the new pathway because the route was included as an alternative in TransCanada's application, said David Lopez of the Nebraska attorney general's office, who represented the PSC in yesterday's proceedings.
An attorney for landowners affected by the pipeline disagreed.
"If there's a substituted route, I think there needs to be a new hearing," said David Domina of Domina Law Group.
TransCanada has indicated that it expects to begin construction on the pipeline in early 2019.
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/11/02/stories/1060104969
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Tribe Asks Court to Require Fresh Pipeline Review
Nov 2, 2018 | E&E Energywire
By Pamela King
Opponents of the Dakota Access pipeline want the federal government to take a second look at the project's effect on American Indian tribes.
Lawyers for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe yesterday urged the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to require the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a new analysis of the oil pipeline's impacts on environmental justice and tribal rights. The agency found this summer that it did not need to conduct additional review under the National Environmental Policy Act (Energywire, Sept. 4).
Tribes fighting the pipeline disagreed.
"The Tribe tried to work in good faith with the Corps to get an honest assessment of the risks and impacts of installing this pipeline at the doorstep of their reservation," Earthjustice attorney Jan Hasselman said in a statement. "The Corps simply wasn't interested. We will see them in court."
In a motion filed yesterday, plaintiffs cited the court's earlier promise of additional review if the Army Corps did not conduct its review appropriately or seek out the necessary information.
"Regrettably, the Court predicted correctly," the complaint says.
Standing Rock Chairman Mike Faith pledged to continue battling the Army Corps in court.
"The Corps has conducted a sham process to arrive at a sham conclusion, for the second time," he said in a statement. "The Dakota Access Pipeline represents a clear and present danger to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and its people."
https://www.eenews.net/energywire/2018/11/02/stories/1060104967
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It’s Not Just Facebook and Google Buying Clean Power Anymore
Nov 1, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Brian Eckhouse
Companies don’t have to be as big as Walmart Inc. or Facebook Inc. to buy solar or wind power anymore.
Businesses with more modest appetites for electricity—including Swiss Re AG, Nestle SA and others—are increasingly banding together to line up deals for clean power, broadening a market long dominated by tech giants, according to a Nov. 1 report by Bloomberg NEF.
The strategy is enabling more companies to buy wind and solar power at prices similar to those paid by some of the biggest corporate users of renewable energy. It’s also boosting demand for renewables as concerns about climate change grow. Companies in the U.S. have already agreed to buy 5.9 gigawatts of clean power this year, more than double the total from 2017.
“It opens the door for so many companies that wouldn’t have bought clean energy otherwise,” said Kyle Harrison, a New York-based analyst at BNEF.
Until recently, three-quarters of corporate power-purchase agreement volumes came from the top 20 buyers, he said. But that’s changing. About 40 percent of the ones signed this year have been though aggregated deals, up from 11 percent in 2015. Buyers have included National Geographic and Etsy, according to the BNEF report.
The aggregated deals provide advantages to wind and solar developers, including enabling them to build larger projects and take advantage of economies of scale, BNEF said. On the downside, juggling a large cast of buyers with varying credit histories can pose challenges.
“Besides cities, companies have the biggest ability to reverse the negative impact of climate change,” Harrison said. “They can reduce their emissions at a scale that no other entity can.”
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/its-not-just-facebook-and-google-buying-clean-power-anymore
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Democrats Seek IG Review of EPA's Handling of Sterigenics Data
Nov 1, 2018 | Inside EPA
Illinois Democrats are urging EPA's Inspector General to investigate whether EPA “intentionally withheld” public release of data that came to light eight months ago indicating an increased cancer risk from ethylene oxide (EtO) releases from a Chicago-area Sterigenics sterilizing plant.
“We are concerned that the agency failed to take swift action to protect the health of a community that suffers from some of the highest cancer risks in the nation,” Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) and Rep. Bill Foster (D-IL) write EPA Acting Inspector General Charles Sheehan in a Nov. 1 letter.
“An investigation is necessary to determine whether proper measures were taken to protect the lives of those affected by EtO emissions from the facility, to hold officials accountable, and to assure that proper protocol is followed in the future if any similar situation arises,” the Democrats argue.
The lawmakers also appear to make the case for a broad policy agenda they are urging EPA to adopt to more strictly regulate and monitor EtO releases, including ensuring its pending review of EtO air toxics rules results in measures that protect vulnerable populations; prioritizing monitoring and community alerts; and, creating an inventory of potential exposures for communities adjacent to sites where EtO is used.
“Making certain that proper action is taken when it is discovered that a community is facing a public health risk, is essential for the public to have confidence that the EPA is doing its job,” they write.
EtO is commonly used as an intermediate to make other chemical products like detergent, antifreeze and polyester, and to sterilize medical equipment and foods, though the chemical has long been suspected of causing breast and lymph cancers.
EPA's 2016 Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment affirmed those links and recommended conservative risk values that are expected to drive strict stricter regulatory standards. But industry representatives say that regulators should not impose overly stringent requirements. They argue EtO's use as a sterilizer is critical because it is the only way some medical devices can be sterilized without damaging them.
But when the IRIS values were combined with modeling data in EPA's latest National Air Toxics Assessment, released last August, they show “that DuPage County residents have an increased cancer risk from EtO exposure,” the lawmakers write.
However, a recent report from the Chicago Tribune, citing EPA documents, showed that the agency first informed company and state officials about those risks last December, months before it informed the public.
“In December 2017, EPA sent a letter to Sterigenics linking high cancer risks in the area to EtO emissions from the facility. However, EPA decided to withhold this vital information from the public for eight months,” they write.
EPA has pushed back on the allegations, alleging that the reporting is misleading, and has sought to downplay any concerns. “When informed in June 2018 of Region 5’s monitoring results, EPA leadership acted decisively, working with state and local governments and others to lower EtO emissions at the facility and communicate risk to the public in a responsible way,” EPA said in an Oct. 30 statement.
Among other “decisive” actions, EPA says its officials reviewed and approved Sterigenics' permit to add pollution control equipment on the facility last summer, and is reviewing the results of stack tests taken last month by the company's consultant.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/democrats-seek-ig-review-epas-handling-sterigenics-data
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Draft EPA Plan Accelerates Timeline for Review of Obama Ozone NAAQS
Nov 2, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA's draft plan for the review of its 2015 ozone national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS) adopts a faster process than previous NAAQS reviews that will involve less review by agency science advisers, but it does not compress the schedule as much as an earlier agency memo suggested might be possible.
Agency air policy chief Bill Wehrum is racing to meet the statutory deadline of Oct. 1, 2020, to complete a review of the 2015 Obama-era NAAQS set at 70 parts per billion (ppb). EPA has previously taken far longer than the five years allowed by the Clean Air Act to review its six NAAQS, and is behind schedule again going into the ozone review. Former Administrator Scott Pruitt mandated that the deadline be met in a May memo that also envisaged truncating the review process by collapsing previously separate review stages into fewer steps.
Wehrum has said that EPA can conduct the reviews using “good enough” data, and with fewer drafts of documents and rounds of review by the agency's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC), which advises EPA on how to set the NAAQS. EPA has also dismissed a planned sub-panel of CASAC dedicated to reviewing ozone science, which critics warn will weaken the scientific record for the NAAQS review.
In its draft integrated review plan (IRP) for the ozone (O3) NAAQS review, slated for publication in the Nov. 2 Federal Register, the agency says says, “the current review of the O3 NAAQS is progressing on an accelerated schedule and the EPA is incorporating a number of efficiencies in various aspects of the review process to ensure completion within the statutorily required period.”
The Obama-era review process involved EPA crafting an IRP, an integrated science assessment (ISA) synthesizing the latest science on ozone effects, a policy assessment document (PA) by EPA air staff giving policy options to the political leadership, and then proposed and final rules that either modify the NAAQS or leave them unchanged.
The agency has in some past reviews also developed a quantitative risk and exposure assessment (REA) to guide agency policymakers.
EPA does not intend to craft an REA “planning document” for this review, the agency says in the IRP. “EPA has also considered combining the reviews by the CASAC and the public for some of the main documents in a review. . . . As a result, the EPA is planning to incorporate the REA-related analyses into the PA, combining what had been two documents into a single document for review by the CASAC and the public.”
'Single, Full Review'
“Further, we are striving to ensure that initial draft documents are sufficiently robust and complete to support a single, full review by the CASAC and the public. The successfulness of these and other efficiencies implemented in this review will be considered by the EPA in planning for other future NAAQS reviews,” the IRP states.
“The current timeline projects release of a draft ISA for CASAC review and public comment in Spring 2019. In addition to informing any revisions to the ISA, that review step and the associated comments and advice from the CASAC and the public will also inform development of the draft PA,” which is due in fall 2019.
“Comments and recommendations from the CASAC, and public comment, on the draft later in the Fall will then inform completion of the final PA,” which EPA anticipates issuing in “early spring 2020” alongside the final ISA. EPA anticipates issuing a proposed NAAQS rule later in spring 2020.
EPA has therefore compressed the review process, but retained as distinct steps the IRP, ISA and PA, prior to issuance of proposed and final rules.
Some critics of the agency note that the new-look seven-member CASAC, which has only one research scientist, is charged not only with conducting review of ozone NAAQS documents, but also oversight of the parallel particulate matter (PM) review, which Pruitt's memo dictated should be complete in December 2020. That review is already a year overdue, as EPA last revised the PM standards in 2012.
EPA has dismissed a dedicated PM review subpanel of CASAC, and announced it will not recruit an ozone review subpanel as it has in the past, leading to accusations that it intends to conduct only a cursory review. One former chair of CASAC, Chris Frey of North Carolina State University, previously told Inside EPA that CASAC will lack the “horsepower” to get through the two NAAQS reviews on time.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/draft-epa-plan-accelerates-timeline-review-obama-ozone-naaqs
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EPA Guidance Could Raise Ozone Levels — Report
Nov 1, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
Recently issued EPA guidance could ultimately lead to higher ozone levels in some states, an advocacy group said today.
The Aug. 31 memo, addressed to EPA regional air division directors, offers recommendations for states to use in determining whether upwind ozone from outside their borders could be contributing to compliance problems with the 70-parts-per-billion standard set in 2015.
In the past, EPA has used a "screening threshold" of 1 percent of the standard, which in this case equates to 0.7 ppb, Peter Tsirigotis, head of EPA's Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, wrote in the memo. But in examining other options, the agency found little difference if 1 ppb is instead used as the cutoff, Tsirigotis wrote.
"Because the amount of upwind collective contribution captured with the 1 percent and 1 ppb thresholds is generally comparable, overall, we believe it may be reasonable and appropriate for states to use a 1 ppb contribution threshold, as an alternative," he added.
But in a news release this afternoon, Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility noted there's a roughly 40 percent gap between the two thresholds. The guidance would make it harder for states with ozone compliance problems to trigger "good neighbor" safeguards intended to address upwind emissions elsewhere, the group said.
In an approach that EPA has used in the past, Tsirigotis' memo appears to have been posted on an agency website without public notice, leading PEER to label the guidance a "stealth relaxation."
"Under the Trump administration, our prospects for breathable air are being subjected to a death of a thousand cuts, and this is just the latest one," Kyla Bennett, the group's science policy adviser, said in the release.
EPA did not immediately reply to an emailed request for comment this afternoon. The memo's existence was first reported by CNN.
Ozone, a lung irritant that is the main ingredient in smog, is produced by the reaction of nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in sunlight.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/11/01/stories/1060104957
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Enviros Meet with White House Staff over EPA Rule Overhaul
Nov 1, 2018 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
Two Environmental Defense Fund staffers met Tuesday with White House regulatory officials about EPA's proposed reconsideration of its power plant mercury standards.
EDF requested the late afternoon meeting, according to a notice posted on the Reginfo.gov website. Representing the environmental group were senior attorney Graham McCahan and Mandy Warner, senior manager for climate and air policy. Also present were employees of EPA and the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
"We emphasized the broad and significant public health and environmental benefits that are currently being achieved by the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards," McCahan said in an interview this afternoon.
They also noted that industry groups like the Edison Electric Institute are part of "the broad coalition that has weighed in publicly in support of the standards," McCahan said. As is typical for these meetings, the federal officials in attendance offered no substantive response.
The Obama-era EPA had originally issued the regulations in 2012 to cut releases of hazardous pollutants from coal- and oil-fired power plants. Early last month, the agency had sent the proposed rule to OIRA, a branch of the Office of Management and Budget, for a standard review.
Acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler has said the agency is not seeking to change the actual mercury standard, but wants to revisit the cost-benefit analysis used to justify the regulations in the wake of concerns raised by the Supreme Court several years ago. McCahan, however, doubted that the agency plans to stop there.
“I don’t believe that is their intention because why would they do what they are doing?” he said.
Reporter Kevin Bogardus contributed.
https://www.eenews.net/eenewspm/2018/11/01/stories/1060104963
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EPA Guidance Grants States 'Flexibilities' to Avoid Interstate Air Mandates
Nov 1, 2018 | Inside EPA
By Stuart Parker
EPA has issued fresh guidance to states on how they can use “flexibilities” to avoid having air quality monitoring locations labeled as “maintenance” for the agency's 2015 ozone standard, part of an ongoing effort to give states the ability to avoid Clean Air Act mandates to curb interstate ozone emissions.
The Oct. 19 guidance sent by EPA air official Peter Tsirigotis to all 10 agency regions lists ways in which states may choose to diverge from the Obama EPA's methodology when determining which sites are regarded as “maintenance” for national ambient air quality standards (NAAQS). Maintenance areas were previously designated nonattainment but have come into attainment.
The air law's “good neighbor” provision requires states to mitigate air pollution that causes or contributes “significantly” to problems attaining and maintaining ambient air standards in other states. The Obama EPA established under its Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) interstate emissions trading program a methodology for determining states' contributions to nonattainment and maintenance programs downwind.
In a prior Aug. 31 memo, Tsirigotis offered states options to depart from the CSAPR method when crafting state implementation plans (SIPs) to meet the good neighbor provision with respect to the 2015 ozone NAAQS, set at 70 parts per billion (ppb), tougher than the 2008 limit of 75 ppb.
SIPs, which are air quality blueprints, were due to EPA Oct. 1, and despite calls from some downwind states, the Trump administration has shown no willingness to institute a federal “backstop” rule like CSAPR in the event that the states do not address the ozone problem -- while aiming to give states flexibility in how they have to meet their Clean Air Act requirements on interstate pollution.
The Aug. 31 memo offered states the option of using a different threshold when determining significant contribution. The CSAPR method employed a threshold contribution of one percent of the NAAQS, or 0.70 ppb. Tsirigotis suggested a higher 1 ppb threshold as an appropriate alternative. Using a higher threshold in SIPs makes it easier for states to claim no impact on their neighbors that they have to mitigate.
Now, Tsirigotis in the Oct. 19 memo is suggesting flexibilities states can use instead of the CSAPR method for defining “maintenance receptors,” which would allow states not to label receptors as such, again avoiding good neighbor obligations to curb interstate pollution.
Under the CSAPR method, EPA identified receptors likely to be in NAAQS nonattainment based on their average projected “design value,” or ozone level, in 2023. Maintenance receptors, by contrast, were identified based on projected maximum design value in 2023. “A projected maximum design value that exceeds the NAAQS indicates that when meteorology is conducive to ozone formation, the receptor struggles with maintenance of the standard,” Tsirigotis says.
Potential Flexibilities
“EPA has identified two potential flexibilities that states may use to identify maintenance receptors with an appropriate technical demonstration. First, EPA believes that states may, in some cases, eliminate a site as a maintenance receptor if the site is currently measuring clean data. Second, EPA believes that a state may, in some cases, use a design value from the base period that is not the maximum design value,” he writes. Clean data is current monitoring data showing ozone levels below the level of the NAAQS.
“For either of these alternative methods to satisfy the D.C. Circuit’s instruction to consider areas struggling to meet the NAAQS, EPA would expect states to include with their SIP demonstration technical analyses” showing that: (1) meteorological conditions in the area of the monitoring site were conducive to ozone formation during the period of clean data or during the alternative base period design value used for projections; (2) ozone concentrations have been trending downward at the site since 2011 and ozone precursor emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) have also decreased; and (3) emissions are expected to continue to decline in the upwind and downwind states out to the attainment date of the receptor.
Meanwhile, EPA in a Nov. 1 “fact check” statement pushed back hard on an Oct. 31 CNN report alleging that with the August memo, EPA is giving states a green light to pollute more. “It’s not legally binding because it is just guidance, which contradicts the premise of the entire article,” EPA says.
EPA has not established a 1 ppb threshold, states are free to diverge from the guidance, levels of ozone-forming NOx are trending down, and virtually the entire country outside of California is projected to attain the 2015 NAAQS by 2023 anyway, EPA says.
East Coast states are, however, contesting EPA's projections are too optimistic, projecting ongoing interstate ozone problems and the need to further reduce upwind emissions.
https://insideepa.com/daily-news/epa-guidance-grants-states-flexibilities-avoid-interstate-air-mandates
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These Red and Blue States Are Tackling Climate Change Since Trump Won't
Nov 2, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Keith Zukowski
If you’ve been focused on recent reports of climate disaster, or on the Trump administration’s relentless attacks against environmental safeguards and climate science, you’re probably worrying we’re not making progress – at all.
But look a little closer, right here in the United States, and you’ll see that people aren’t waiting around. Instead of giving in to a warmer, more chaotic world, states across the country have stepped up, and into, the vacuum left by the federal government.
They’re implementing creative, innovative solutions that tackle climate change while prioritizing people, our economy and the environment. While federal policies will ultimately be necessary to fully take on climate change, these states are proving that action is both doable and good for the economy.
Virginia prepares to join carbon market
A recent announcement by the Virginia Air Pollution Control Board set the commonwealth on a path to reduce carbon pollution from the power sector by more than 30 percent by 2030. Once approved, the move would link Virginia to nine other states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a market-based program to limit power sector emissions across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.
Virginia would become the largest-emitting state in the program and the first new participant, adding a critical member to a network dedicated to getting climate warming emissions out of our air.N
orth Carolina governor seeks 40% carbon cut
As North Carolina continues to recover from Hurricane Florence, Gov. Roy Cooper is wasting no time working to reduce the risks of climate change. A new executive order takes aim at greenhouse gas emissions, seeking to cut them by 40 percent from 2005 levels, while initiating action to bolster electric vehicle sales and improve the resiliency of communities.
The order directs state agencies to identify strategies for fostering renewable energy development and putting the state on a path toward 80,000 zero-emission vehicles by 2025. In Cooper’s own words, “A strong clean energy economy combats climate change while creating good jobs and a healthy environment.”
Colorado doubles down on clean cars
The Trump administration has attacked standards that reduce pollution from cars and light trucks, and also improve vehicle efficiency. Colorado, meanwhile, doubled down on efforts to get cleaner cars on the road.
Gov. John Hickenlooper issued an executive order that required Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment to develop a regulation to establish stronger standards for vehicle emissions, taking its cues from a successful model that has reduced pollution in the 13 states that have adopted the program so far.
California issues sweeping plan to cut methane
The California Public Utilities Commission recently approved a sweeping new plan that fundamentally changes how utility companies deal with methane leaks from their pipelines. Now, utilities must repair the gas leaks that contribute to climate change even if they don’t pose an immediate safety risk.
This action sends a powerful climate message: Reducing all types of gas leaks is crucial. The plan is expected to cut 40 percent of the state’s utility methane emissions by 2030 – a significant step forward in California’s quest to make its energy system carbon neutral.
New Jersey races toward 100% renewables
After signing a Clean Energy Act into law, Gov. Phil Murphy introduced a new economic plan that highlights clean energy as key to cutting pollution and spurring the state’s economy.
Murphy’s roadmap calls for New Jersey to draw 100 percent of its energy from clean sources by 2050, with half of that goal to be reached by 2030. The announcement came on the heels of a vote that will welcome proposals for offshore wind projects of 1,100 megawatts, the largest solicitation of offshore capacity in the U.S. to date.
https://www.edf.org/blog/2018/11/01/these-red-and-blue-states-are-tackling-climate-change-trump-wont
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3 Republican Governors Who Are Pro-Climate
Nov 2, 2018 | E&E Climatewire
By Benjamin Storrow
Last month, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker sauntered to the podium at a forum hosted by the Environmental League of Massachusetts and ticked off a list of his administration's environmental accomplishments.
The Republican talked about signing a pair of bills that will push the commonwealth's acquisition of offshore wind to 3,200 megawatts — enough to power around 1.3 million homes. He talked about approving a $2.4 billion bond to fund a climate resilience program, helping steel the Bay State against rising seas. And he talked about looming environmental challenges in unsuspecting policy areas like housing, where Massachusetts faces a shortage of affordable units.
"That drives people of virtually almost every income level farther and farther away from some of those markets and the places they work," Baker said. "Which then means they have to travel much farther than they anticipated to get to where they were working."
That's not just an affordability and economic development crisis, "but I also think about it as an enormous environmental issue," Baker added.
Such talk might be expected from a Democrat, especially in deep-blue Massachusetts. Instead it's part of the reason Baker is a virtual shoe-in for re-election when voters head to the polls next week. The Massachusetts governor had a 45-point lead over Democratic challenger Jay Gonzalez in a recent WBUR poll. Forty-eight percent of Democratic respondents said they planned to vote for the Republican incumbent.
Baker isn't an anomaly. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, both Republicans, are also expected to coast to second terms in states that strongly favored Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump two years ago.
The three hail from the GOP's moderate wing and have employed a similar playbook — distancing themselves from the current occupant of the White House on issues like gun control, health care and immigration, while talking up efforts to hold down spending and taxes.
The blue-state Republicans have also charted their own course on climate.
All three have signed onto the U.S. Climate Alliance, a coalition of states committed to upholding the terms of the Paris climate accord. All three have offered support for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a cap-and-trade program encompassing the power sector in nine Northeastern states. And far from labeling climate change a hoax, all three have raised alarm about the threat of rising temperatures to residents in their states.
They also share this: criticism that they are not doing enough in the face of a mounting global crisis.
"The argument the three incumbents make is: 'I'm not Trump, and I'm doing something.' Fair enough, and if we had 50 years to deal with climate change, one could live with it," said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, the climate advocacy group. "But no one who read the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report last month can possibly believe they represent the kind of response to climate change we now require. Winning slowly on climate is just another way of losing."
Data collected by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication show that roughly two-thirds of voters in Maryland, Massachusetts and Vermont are worried about climate change. And more than half say they think their governor should be doing more to address it.
But climate has generally been a fleeting issue across the three contests this fall. It's outweighed by taxes, education and transportation.
Of the three states, climate has been most prominently debated in Vermont, where Democratic challenger Christine Hallquist, the former CEO of the Vermont Electric Cooperative, has sought to make the issue the hallmark of her campaign.
Yet her pitch has largely failed to reach its intended audience, said Richard Watts, who leads the University of Vermont's Center for Research on Vermont. Hallquist's campaign has failed to raise the dollars needed to fan her message across the airways, he said. Most news coverage, meanwhile, has tended to focus on the historic nature of her campaign. Hallquist is the first major-party transgender candidate in U.S. history.
"On the one hand, you have a Republican governor saying the right things. If you deconstructed what he's actually done, it's not quite as convincing," Watts said. "Then you have a Democrat who has made climate a signature issue but has not been able to draw sharp distinctions between herself and the incumbent on it."
Scott faces growing discontent among environmentalists in the Green Mountain State. The governor appointed a wind opponent as head of the Public Utility Commission, proposed eliminating the state's Clean Energy Development Fund and stopped his climate change commission from discussing study of a carbon tax, said Johanna Miller, energy and climate director at the Vermont Natural Resources Council. At the same time, a recent state inventory of greenhouse gases found that Vermont's emissions increased 10 percent between 2014 and 2015, she said.
"There has been a lot going on in terms of rhetoric and the underscoring of the reality we face in Vermont and beyond, but very little in terms of a response that does anything," said Miller, who serves on the governor's climate change committee.
Still, she conceded that most Vermonters appear encouraged by the governor's talk on climate.
"I don't think it is the issue that changes the result at the polls in a week," Miller said.
Scott has defended his record, saying he remains committed to the state's goal of meeting 90 percent of its energy needs with renewables by 2050, all while holding strong to commitments made during his initial 2016 run, when he opposed ridge-top wind development and accused his opponent of supporting a carbon tax.
Proposed wind development has left local communities sharply divided while carbon taxes would drive up costs for residents in a rural state where many have to drive long distances to get to work, said Brittney Wilson, the governor's campaign manager.
She pointed to state investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure and efficiency programs as areas where Scott has sought to green Vermont's economy.
"Those are the things that he likes to do, not create more burden at the expense of more vulnerable Vermonters," Wilson said.
In Maryland, Hogan has long enjoyed a complicated relationship with climate hawks. He signed a bill committing the state to slashing emissions 40 percent of 2006 levels by 2030, but he also vetoed a bill to strengthen the state's renewable portfolio standard. (The Legislature later overrode him.) He joined the U.S. Climate Alliance, but only after months of cajoling from environmentalists (Climatewire, Jan. 12).
That has prompted criticism from Democrats and environmentalists who say that Hogan isn't doing enough. Ben Jealous, the governor's Democratic challenger, has sought to capitalize on the discord and use it against the popular Hogan. Jealous, a former NAACP president, has pledged to commit the state to 100 percent clean energy and campaigned with prominent climate activists like McKibben.
His pleas have largely gone unheard in a campaign where Hogan is better funded and better known, said state Sen. Paul Pinsky (D), a Jealous supporter.
"One has a howitzer and a nuclear weapon, and the other has a slingshot," Pinsky said. "He [Jealous] has not been able to define himself. He has basically been trying to get people to know who he is."
The bigger question in Maryland is whether Hogan can pick up five seats in the state Senate, where Democrats have a supermajority. If the GOP fails, Democrats will be emboldened to pursue a 50 percent renewable portfolio standard. They may even consider a push to speed the retirement of the state's coal fleet and open up talks over carbon pricing, Pinsky said.
That debate has already arrived in Massachusetts, where the state Senate last year unanimously passed an economywide carbon price as part of a wider energy package. The proposal never reached Baker's desk. A compromise bill with the House contained provisions boosting offshore wind and tweaking the state's residential solar program. But it stripped a proposal requiring the governor to impose a carbon price beginning with the transportation sector in 2020 (Climatewire, Aug. 1).
Baker has largely remained mum on the subject of carbon pricing, but some environmentalists believe he can be persuaded to support the idea.
"This governor is big on data. You manage what you measure," said Jack Clarke, director of public policy at the Massachusetts Audubon Society. "We're going to put the data in front of him. That should convince him on what he is able to do."
Other greens are less bullish on Baker, who famously said he was "not smart enough" to know whether human beings were contributing to climate change during his first, unsuccessful run for governor in 2010. A coalition of state environmental groups has given him a C on environmental issues in each of the past three years.
Gonzalez, like his counterparts in Maryland and Vermont, has accused Baker of slow-walking a transition to a clean energy economy. It hasn't stuck.
At the recent Environmental League of Massachusetts forum, Baker was repeatedly asked whether he supported new natural gas pipelines in the state. The governor's past support for natural gas pipelines has long irked Bay State environmentalists, who sensed an opening to challenge his position after a series of explosions along a natural gas pipeline in the Merrimack Valley in September.
But Baker wouldn't be drawn into the exchange. He repeatedly said he intended to focus on modernizing the state's existing pipeline infrastructure. And he trotted out a policy achievement that would leave many Democratic governors jealous. States up and down the Atlantic Seaboard are jumping into the offshore wind business after Massachusetts passed a 2016 bill that showed it could be done affordably, the governor said.
"We wouldn't have worked so hard to pursue the legislation we got enacted in 2016 if we weren't interested in moving us as quickly as we could from fossil fuels," Baker said.
https://www.eenews.net/climatewire/2018/11/02/stories/1060104999
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