Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 11/12/18
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(ACC Mentioned) How a Materials Recovery Facility Will Sort Flexible Plastics
Dec 11, 2018 | Resource Recycling
By Jared Paben
Flexible packaging isn’t going away anytime soon, and an upcoming pilot project seeks to ensure it doesn’t go to landfill. -
Bernard McNamee Sworn in at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Dec 11, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rebecca Kern
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nominee Bernard McNamee was sworn in as a Republican commissioner this morning at the agency’s headquarters. -
Key Advisers Blast EPA for Firing Review Panel
Dec 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
Two of acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler's appointees to a prominent advisory committee are pushing back against his recent decision to disband an auxiliary panel involved in a closely watched review of airborne particulate standards. -
(ACC Mentioned) Stakeholders Lay Out Hopes for Dunn’s Nomination to OCSPP
Dec 11, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Lisa Martine Jenkins
Stakeholders have urged Alexandra Dunn to use the role of head of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Protection (OCSPP) to further the intended aims of the reformed TSCA, provided her nomination to the job is successful. -
New Study Finds Nonstick PFAS Chemicals in Takeout Packaging at Top Grocery Stores
Dec 11, 2018 | Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families
By Jamie Nolan
Takeout food packaging from several leading U.S. grocery stores is likely treated with harmful PFAS chemicals, according to a new study released today by Safer Chemicals Healthy Families and Toxic-Free Future. -
California Extends Prop 65 Consultation on PCBTF
Dec 11, 2018 | Chemical Watch
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) has extended the public comment period for its proposal to list the solvent para-chlorobenzotrifluoride (PCBTF) as a carcinogen under Proposition 65. -
No-Deal Brexit: UK May Diverge from EU REACH Decisions
Dec 11, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
In the long run the UK may choose to diverge from EU decisions concerning the use of hazardous chemicals under REACH, if the UK ends up leaving the bloc without a deal, a senior government official has said. -
U.S. Shale Becomes Oil Industry's Safe Haven as Prices Languish
Dec 11, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Kevin Crowley, Alix Steel and Rachel Adams-Heard
Big Oil is investing more in U.S. shale, not less, after the recent tumble in crude prices. -
Cheniere Energy Ships First Cargo of LNG from Port of Corpus Christi Facility
Dec 11, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Sergio Chapa
Houston-based Cheniere Energy has shipped out its first cargo of liquefied natural gas from its Port of Corpus Christi facility. -
Commentary: Initiative Shrinking Oil Industry's Environmental Footprint
Dec 11, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Matthew Todd
One year ago, a coalition of oil and natural gas companies came together to launch a new initiative designed to further reduce the industry's environmental footprint. -
Pembina Putting Money on U.S. Approving Jordan Cove LNG in 2019
Dec 11, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Gordon Jaremko
Pembina Pipeline Corp. placed a C$100 million ($75 million) bet Monday that U.S. approval will be granted in 2019 for the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal that would be sited on the Oregon coast. -
Coast Guard Works to Clean Up Oil, Gas Leak in La.
Dec 11, 2018 | AP (In E&E Greenwire)
The Coast Guard is cleaning oil, gas and water leaking from a well in Louisiana. -
Cuadrilla Pauses Gas Fracking at English Site After More Tremors
Dec 11, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Susanna Twidale
British shale gas company Cuadrilla has again paused fracking at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire, northwest England, after tremors were detected, the company said. -
(ACC Mentioned) Norfolk Southern Report Outlines Sustainability Efforts in 2017
Dec 11, 2018 | Progressive Railroading
Norfolk Southern Corp. yesterday released its latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report, which includes such details as the Class I's record locomotive fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions. -
Our Best Chance to Tackle Climate Change is Doubling Down on Infrastructure
Dec 11, 2018 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Harley Rouda
As a newly elected member of Congress, I’ve absorbed a lot of information in a short time. -
CEQ Infrastructure Lead Jumps to Permitting Panel
Dec 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Niina Heikkinen
The Council on Environmental Quality's lead on infrastructure is taking over as head of an interagency permitting panel starting this week. -
Sifting Through AV 3.0 Comments
Dec 11, 2018 | Politico
By Sam Mintz
BREAKING DOWN AV 3.0 COMMENTS: Monday was the deadline for public comments on AV 3.0, DOT’s new policy statement on self-driving vehicles — and feedback poured in, with 121 comments by the afternoon. -
Trump Administration Proposes Major Rollback of Water Rules
Dec 11, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
The Trump administration proposed withdrawing federal protections for countless waterways and wetlands across the country Tuesday, making good on President Donald Trump's campaign pledge to weaken landmark Obama-era water rules long opposed by some developers, farmers and oil, gas, and mining executives. -
EPA Falsely Claims 'No Data' on Waters in WOTUS Rule
Dec 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Ariel Wittenberg and Kevin Bogardus
The Trump administration says it doesn't know how many streams it is proposing to exclude from Clean Water Act jurisdiction today. -
Bad News and Good News on Cutting Climate Pollution
Dec 11, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Nat Keohane
Climate change is an urgent threat and we must overcome significant hurdles to address it — beginning with the reckless polices of the Trump administration. -
Democrats Seek Regular Trump Updates on Paris Climate Deal
Dec 11, 2018 | Inside EPA
Two House Democrats are floating legislation that would require the State Department to file quarterly updates on the U.S. stance toward the Paris climate agreement, in an effort to highlight contradictions in the Trump administration's approach to the deal. -
Ewire: Ocasio-Cortez Softens Climate Panel Demands
Dec 11, 2018 | Inside EPA
A rising progressive star in the House Democratic caucus is softening her demands for how the party should craft major climate change legislation in the next Congress, dropping a call for a revived select climate committee to have “legislative jurisdiction.”
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(ACC Mentioned) How a Materials Recovery Facility Will Sort Flexible Plastics
Dec 11, 2018 | Resource Recycling
By Jared Paben
Flexible packaging isn’t going away anytime soon, and an upcoming pilot project seeks to ensure it doesn’t go to landfill.
In coming months, additional sorting equipment will be installed at the TotalRecycle materials recovery facility (MRF) in Birdsboro, Pa. The retrofit will allow the facility to begin generating bales of post-consumer flexible packaging, defined as single-layer or multi-material films such as chip bags, stand-up pouches, candy wrappers, retail bags and more.
They frequently follow fiber on sorting lines and end up in paper bales, where they’re a contaminant.
“This film, obviously, in a lot of cases we’re not allowing it, but it’s still finding its way in there,” said J.P. Mascaro Sr., who manages the MRF in Berks County, Pa. The facility is owned by his family’s company, J.P. Mascaro and Sons, a Pennsylvania hauler and MRF operator. “It’s pretty clear that one way or the other, no matter what we say, this stuff’s going to get into the stream, so recovering it is necessary.”
Mascaro’s company is participating in the Material Recovery for the Future (MRFF) project, which has been ongoing for the past three years. The project is administered by the American Chemistry Council’s Foundation for Chemistry Research and Initiatives and is sponsored by a number of major brand owners, plastics producers and industry groups.
On Nov. 14, experts provided an update on the MRFF project during a webinar organized by the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC). Presenting were Susan Graff, a principal for consulting and research firm Resource Recycling Systems (RRS); Christopher King, a field engineer at RRS; and Mascaro.Keys to sorting flexible plastics
In coming months, four optical sorters and a paper magnet will be installed at the MRF, which first opened in early 2016. A paper magnet is an angled belt running at high speed with an air assist. The MRF will also add an additional bunker to hold flexible packaging. To install the additional equipment, which will be provided by Van Dyk Recycling Solutions, crews will remove six manual sorting stations.
As far as existing equipment is concerned, the facility’s anti-wrap screen will be key to recovering flexible packaging, Mascaro said during the webinar. The screen will carry all but the largest films (tarps, for example, will still wrap in the screen) to the optical sorters, he said.
“It’s pretty clear that one way or the other … this stuff’s going to get into the stream, so recovering it is necessary.” – MRF operator J.P. Mascaro Sr.
In follow-up questions, Mascaro provided more details to Resource Recycling about how the sorting line will use new equipment to recover flexible packaging and clean up paper bales.
Optical sorters will be placed on two old newspaper lines and a mixed-paper line. They’ll be removing anything that’s not paper, including flexible plastics. Non-ejected paper will advance to the paper bins.
Separated materials will go to another belt – Mascaro noted the landing zones for each of the optical sorters will be staggered to help spread the items evenly on this belt. The material will then proceed to the fourth optical sorter, which will eject flexible packaging. Remaining fiber will go straight to a mixed-paper bin.
Ejected materials will be carried by an air transport system to a paper magnet. There, lightweight, 2D materials stick to the belt and are carried up and over while 3D ones bounce and fall off the bottom of the belt. Another air transport system will then convey the “overs” to the flexible packaging bunker. The “unders” will go to a quality control line, where a manual sorter will remove any remaining recyclables, leaving the rest to go to a compactor for disposal.
The goals of the pilot project including capturing 90 percent of the flexible packaging in the stream, minimizing cross-contamination between the paper and flexible packaging bales, and reducing paper quality control staff. MRFF also seeks to design a sorting solution that can be replicated at large MRFs across North America.End market potential explored
Meanwhile, RRS has been testing end-market options for the flexible packaging bales, which are conservatively estimated to start out with a value of about $10 a ton, Graff said. RRS has connected a number of potential bale end users with J.P. Mascaro and Sons.
“We’ve gotten a lot of interest in our theoretical bale,” she said.
One of the testers was The ReWall Co., which makes construction boards from cartons and had great results using flexible packaging samples, King said. He noted ReWall needs fiber to make its products, and RRS expects the flexible film bales will contain some level of fiber anyway. King also suggested pallets and other back-of-house products are great applications for the material.
Mascaro said the end-market collaboration has involved working with a lot of Pennsylvania companies, which would help keep transportation costs low.
“We have found a decent amount of active participants so far who are truly looking to process this bale,” he said.
https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2018/12/11/how-a-materials-recovery-facility-will-sort-flexible-plastics/
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Bernard McNamee Sworn in at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
Dec 11, 2018 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rebecca Kern
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission nominee Bernard McNamee was sworn in as a Republican commissioner this morning at the agency’s headquarters.
McNamee is the latest commissioner to join independent energy regulator, bringing it back to a full panel of five members. He was confirmed in a 50-49 Senate floor vote last week.
McNamee was the executive director of the Energy Department’s Office of Policy and played a role in Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s ill-fated plan to subsidize coal and nuclear plants.
McNamee came under additional fire when a video surfaced in which he equated the environmental movement with tyranny and criticized renewable energy.
FERC commissioners rejected the coal and nuclear bailout in January.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/bernard-mcnamee-sworn-in-at-federal-energy-regulatory-commission
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Key Advisers Blast EPA for Firing Review Panel
Dec 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
Two of acting EPA chief Andrew Wheeler's appointees to a prominent advisory committee are pushing back against his recent decision to disband an auxiliary panel involved in a closely watched review of airborne particulate standards.
EPA "should immediately" reconstitute the particulate matter panel, Dr. Mark Frampton, a retired University of Rochester pulmonologist, wrote in comments made public yesterday. The panel "should be retained to enable more thorough review" of a draft EPA roundup of scientific research on the health and environmental effects of particulate matter exposure, said Tim Lewis of the Army Corps of Engineers.
Wheeler named both men to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) in October, around the same time that he fired the approximately 24-member review panel, which was supposed to help the committee with added know-how during its legally required review of the standards.
Also urging its revival is Jim Boylan, a senior manager at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, appointed to the committee last fall by then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The panel would furnish "additional insight and expertise to allow for a more thorough and in-depth review of the relevant science and policy documents," Boylan wrote.
Dr. Mark Frampton. University of Rochester Medical Center
All of their input is included in CASAC's preliminary written response to the draft roundup, which will be the subject of a two-day meeting starting tomorrow in a hotel just outside Washington. EPA spokesman John Konkus and other agency press aides did not reply to an email seeking comment. Wheeler has given no explanation for disbanding the panel, apart from saying the decision to concentrate authority with CASAC was consistent with the Clean Air Act and the committee's charter.
By law, the seven-member committee provides outside expertise to EPA during assessments of the air quality standards for particulate matter, ozone and four other pollutants. All of its current members have been appointed under the Trump administration; the panel is now supposed to conduct the appraisals of the particulate matter and ozone limits under new, streamlined procedures laid out by Pruitt this spring.
The review of the ozone standard, kick-started in June, is supposed to conclude by October 2020. By EPA norms, that's an exceptionally tight timetable with no recent precedent. The review of the particulate matter thresholds, once expected to end early in the next decade, is now supposed to also wrap up in late 2020, just before the end of President Trump's current term.
Apart from Frampton, none of the seven CASAC members has a deep background in air pollution research. During a teleconference last month related to the ozone standard assessment, both Lewis and Frampton similarly urged creation of an auxiliary review panel, while Boylan put a higher priority on doing a good job than on meeting the October 2020 deadline.
But the review of the particulate matter standards is particularly fraught. So-called fine particulates are linked to a wide spectrum of heart and lung problems that include a heightened risk of premature death.
The draft research roundup, spanning almost 1,900 pages and formally known as an integrated science assessment (ISA), cites evidence that the existing limits on fine particulate exposure are too weak to adequately protect public health. Business groups, however, are worried about the added compliance costs that would likely follow any decision to tighten the existing limits. Moreover, 15 former members of the disbanded particulate matter review panel yesterday slammed EPA's fast-track game plan for the review and hinted that a legal challenge could be in the offing (Greenwire, Dec. 10).
"We remind CASAC and EPA, and CASAC should remind EPA, that the courts have recognized the importance of CASAC's role and the need for adequate scientific review time," they wrote in the letter to Tony Cox, the committee's chairman.
In an email, Cox yesterday called the scheduling and process questions "well worth considering," but said they are not the committee's primary responsibility. While Cox has previously said he has not reached any conclusion on whether the fine particulate standards should be changed, his past work for industry has left some scientists and environmental groups skeptical of his evenhandedness. In his comments on the draft research roundup, Cox wrote that he wanted more evidence, saying EPA should also provide "quantitative estimates" for "the amount of human health harm preventable by reducing PM exposures."
The clashing viewpoints enveloping the issue will be on full display tomorrow, with more than 25 speakers scheduled to address the committee. Many have already made written submissions of what they plan to say. Among them is Stewart Holm, chief scientist for the American Forest and Paper Association, who cited another study that he said "illuminates the complexity and uncertainty" surrounding the research over fine particulates' health effects. "Until this uncertainty is addressed, it is possible that a substantial portion of the conclusions reached by the ISA regarding adverse health effects may be unreliable," Holm wrote in recommending that the existing standards be left in place.
They will also include Daniel Costa, a cardiopulmonary physiologist who headed EPA's air quality research program from 2008 until early this year, according to his advance written testimony. Recalling how his father died in 1998 from heart arrhythmia, Costa acknowledged that he probably could not definitively pin the death on exposure to particulate pollution from a nearby coal-fired power plant operating at the time in the coastal Massachusetts area.
But, he added in the statement, "Do I believe that the emissions of the power plant were responsible? You're damn right I do!"
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/12/11/stories/1060109329
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(ACC Mentioned) Stakeholders Lay Out Hopes for Dunn’s Nomination to OCSPP
Dec 11, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Lisa Martine Jenkins
Stakeholders have urged Alexandra Dunn to use the role of head of the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Protection (OCSPP) to further the intended aims of the reformed TSCA, provided her nomination to the job is successful.
The appointment of Ms Dunn – the subject of a 29 November hearingof the Senate’s Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee – has been met with less rancour from the environmental advocacy community than the Trump administration's first choice for the OCSPP position. It has been almost exactly a year since Michael Dourson withdrew his nomination for the post, when it became clear that the Senate would not confirm him. The position has been vacant ever since.
Ahead of the November hearing, Scott Faber, the vice president of government affairs for NGO the Environmental Working Group (EWG), said: "There’s nothing in her record that suggests she’s unsuitable for the job." And he expressed cautious optimism that the 2016 bipartisan TSCA reform effort could translate into a cross-party consensus on what kind of leader the OCSPP needs: "I am impressed that many members of the EPW do seem to have a deep understanding of what is required to complete a credible chemical review process."
Speaking to Chemical Watch after the hearing Jon Corley, director of issue communication at the American Chemistry Council, called Ms Dunn an "excellent candidate". He emphasised her reputation for consensus-building and cooperation.
"ACC and our members urge the Senate to act on Mrs Dunn’s nomination without delay as it comes during a crucial point in the implementation of the 2016 amendments to the Toxic Substances Control Act," Mr Corley said.NGOs seek commitments on toxics
Nonetheless, some NGOs are pressing for the potential new leader of the toxics office to shift the track the agency is currently on.
Ahead of the hearing, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) expressed concern about the implementation of TSCA and the OCSPP’s willingness to act on potentially toxic substances.
Gretchen Goldman, research director for the UCS’s Center for Science and Democracy, said in a blog that the EPA’s narrow definition of "conditions of use" under TSCA "doesn’t make a lot of sense when we look at the reality of how people are exposed to harmful chemicals."
And Dr Goldman pushed for the EPA to finalise its proposed bans on methylene chloride, n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) and trichloroethylene (TCE), and to release a "crucial" Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) assessment of formaldehyde, which remains in internal review.
Meanwhile, the ADAO is pushing for the EPA to change course on its apparent reluctance to institute a ban on asbestos.
President of the ADAO, Linda Reinstein, urged Ms Dunn to use the EPW hearing to "commit to a comprehensive asbestos ban and to taking immediate action to protect Americans from this deadly substance."
Ms Dunn did address asbestos at the hearing; when pressed by Senator Jeff Merkley (D–Oregon) on whether she would work on a ban, she replied: "You can trust me to come up with the most public health and environmentally protective policy under the law."
A full Senate vote to confirm Ms Dunn’s appointment is expected soon, though the precise date remains uncertain.
https://chemicalwatch.com/72738/stakeholders-lay-out-hopes-for-dunns-nomination-to-ocspp
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New Study Finds Nonstick PFAS Chemicals in Takeout Packaging at Top Grocery Stores
Dec 11, 2018 | Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families
By Jamie Nolan
Takeout food packaging from several leading U.S. grocery stores is likely treated with harmful PFAS chemicals, according to a new study released today by Safer Chemicals Healthy Families and Toxic-Free Future. PFAS are highly persistent and toxic chemicals whose widespread use has contaminated drinking water across the country. When used in food packaging, the chemicals can leach out of the packaging and get into the food, people, compost, and the environment.
The study, Take Out Toxics: PFAS Chemicals in Food Packaging, found nearly two-thirds of paper takeout containers, like those used at self-serve salad and hot bars, contained elevated levels of fluorine, indicating they were likely treated with PFAS. Eleven percent of bakery and deli papers tested were also likely treated with PFAS.
“It’s time for our nation’s leading grocery stores to take the toxics out of their packaging,” said Mike Schade, Mind the Store campaign director for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families. “Consumers use these containers as a convenience to bring home food for their families. They don’t expect harmful chemicals to be part of their dinner. The good news is that PFAS-free takeout containers are also available, so grocery retailers can switch to safer packaging. Grocery chains must mind the store to safeguard our health.”
“Takeout packaging without harmful chemicals is widely available, and grocery chains should make the safest choice for their customers,” said Erika Schreder, science director at Toxic-Free Future and one of the report authors. “It doesn’t make sense to use chemicals that never break down in the environment to treat takeout packaging when safer options can be chosen.”
Researchers tested 78 food packaging samples from five of the nation’s largest grocery stores: Ahold Delhaize (parent of Food Lion, Stop and Shop, and Hannaford), Albertsons, Kroger, Trader Joe’s, and Whole Foods Market (Amazon). Items tested included paper takeout containers, bakery or deli papers, microwavable trays, and baking supplies like muffin cups.
Testing results include:13% (10 out of 78 samples) of all food packaging samples tested were likely treated with PFAS.63% (5 out of 8) of takeout containers were likely treated with PFAS. Four out of the five analyzed takeout containers from Whole Foods Market were likely treated with PFAS.11% (4 out of 38) of deli and bakery papers tested were likely treated with PFAS.Tests of packaging for cook-at-home food and home baking supplies, including microwave- and oven-cook food trays, butter wrappers, baking cups, and rolls of parchment paper did not find any items likely treated with PFAS.In many cases, retailers use or sell packaging that is free of PFAS treatment, indicating that PFAS-free alternatives are widely available and competitively priced.
In response to the report, Whole Foods Market said,“Whole Foods Market introduced compostable containers to reduce our environmental footprint, but given new concerns about the possible presence of PFAS, we have removed all prepared foods and bakery packaging highlighted in the report. We’re actively working with our suppliers to find and scale new compostable packaging options.”
This research builds upon previous studies of PFAS in food packaging, which found that microwave popcorn bags, many fast food wrappers, and many food serviceware items (such as plates and bowls) are likely to be treated with PFAS.
PFAS are a class of industrial chemicals put in consumer products to repel grease, water, and stains, and they are also used in some firefighting foams. PFAS are linked to liver damage, harm to the immune system, developmental toxicity, and cancer, and can stay in people and the environment for a long time. The chemicals have been detected in people, including newborns, as well as in breast milk, drinking water, and the environment. PFAS has also been detected in compost made from recycled paper products treated with PFAS. When the compost is spread on the land it can contaminate waterbodies, soil, wildlife, and crops.
The new study comes at a time when these chemicals are increasingly under scrutiny by government regulators. Washington state and San Francisco recently banned PFAS in paper food packaging. New York has required its state agencies to give preference to PFAS-free food packaging when making purchasing decisions.
Health advocates urge grocery chains and other food retailers to:Adopt and implement public policies with clear quantifiable goals and timelines for reducing and eliminating PFAS in ALL private label and brand-name food-contact materials. Retailers should publicly report on progress and announce when their products are PFAS-free.Agree to meet the new Washington state ban on PFAS use in food packaging, not just in Washington, but nationwide.Develop a comprehensive safer chemicals policy to reduce and eliminate other toxic chemicals, such as hormone-disrupting phthalates, in food contact materials.
Health advocates also call for:State and local government to ban PFAS in food contact materials and to ensure safer alternatives are used.State agencies to give preference to PFAS-free food serviceware in contracts.Commercial composting facilities to immediately ban all PFAS-treated materials.Individuals to urge food retailers and elected officials to ban PFAS in food contact materials.
To learn more about PFAS in food contact materials and the study methods, see the full report: Take Out Toxics: PFAS Chemicals in Food Packaging.
https://saferchemicals.org/newsroom/new-study-finds-nonstick-pfas-chemicals-in-takeout-packaging-at-top-grocery-stores/
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California Extends Prop 65 Consultation on PCBTF
Dec 11, 2018 | Chemical Watch
California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (Oehha) has extended the public comment period for its proposal to list the solvent para-chlorobenzotrifluoride (PCBTF) as a carcinogen under Proposition 65.
Oehha signalled plans last month to list PCBTF using the ‘authoritative bodies’ mechanism, based on a 2018 National Toxicology Program (NTP) report that identified "clear evidence" of the substance’s carcinogenicity.
The American Coatings Association (ACA) requested an extension for filing comments. The agency agreed to do so until 23 January.
https://chemicalwatch.com/72742/california-extends-prop-65-consultation-on-pcbtf
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No-Deal Brexit: UK May Diverge from EU REACH Decisions
Dec 11, 2018 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
In the long run the UK may choose to diverge from EU decisions concerning the use of hazardous chemicals under REACH, if the UK ends up leaving the bloc without a deal, a senior government official has said.
James Dancy, head of EU exit – chemicals at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said in a no-deal Brexit scenario, the UK would have its own REACH equivalent legislation "and that does give us the provision to diverge from what the EU does".
The UK would consider the EU decisions, for example on authorisations and restrictions, but would also "look at what the US does … and other regulatory regimes around the world. We could look at the evidence that they use," Mr Dancy told a joint government and industry Brexit conference in Liverpool on 5 December.
"If we're not already looking at [the substance] ourselves, then we can take [the EU decision] as part of our own thinking process and look at whether we would replicate it or whether we wouldn't," he added.
Decisions would "very much come down to a case-by-case basis", he said, adding that the UK would "probably agree" with a lot of the EU REACH decisions "but there might be things that are UK specific and we might look at things differently".
There could be divergence when identifying SVHCs. So far the UK is the EU member state that raises the most objections to candidate list inclusion.
The UK accounts for the second largest number of REACH registrations after Germany, with over 11,000. Yet authorisation applications from UK companies have totalled only 30 out of 126, while the UK authority has only made one restriction proposal, according to Echa. Currently 69 substances are restricted in the EU.
In additional no-deal Brexit guidance published last week, the UK government said future decisions on granting authorisations would be taken by the Secretary of State. If there is no deal with the EU when Britain leaves on 29 March, the UK will also make "its own decisions" on future restrictions.
At the point of exit, the Echa candidate list, Annex XIV authorisation list and Annex XVII restrictions will be carried into UK law, but the powers to update them "remain in UK REACH", it added.Case-by-case biocides
Matthew Penrose, head of chemicals, EU exit unit at the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said decisions concerning biocidal products would also be taken on a "case-by-case basis".
The UK does not need to wait for EU decisions under the plant protection products (PPP) Regulation, he told the conference, "so there could be the possibility of the UK giving permission to an active substance on the UK market before it’s on the EU market".
And it would not "automatically copy" EU decisions on the use of biocides products, Mr Penrose said. "We will need to make those decisions that are right for the UK."
However, any decision to diverge would follow a consultation process and would happen "somewhere down the line, not immediately", he said, adding "we recognise that might create more problems in terms of the supply chains than benefits".
The government has also issued a technical notice on biocidal products.
https://chemicalwatch.com/72735/no-deal-brexit-uk-may-diverge-from-eu-reach-decisions
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U.S. Shale Becomes Oil Industry's Safe Haven as Prices Languish
Dec 11, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Kevin Crowley, Alix Steel and Rachel Adams-Heard
Big Oil is investing more in U.S. shale, not less, after the recent tumble in crude prices.
It’s a far cry from four years ago when OPEC declared war on American shale areas, which at the time had some of the highest costs anywhere in the world and were often the first on the chopping block during tough times.Recommended Video
The cost of shale production has fallen so much since then that it’s becoming a safe haven for major oil companies in times of volatile prices, providing rapid, reliable growth and quick returns even with crude trading for just over $50 a barrel, down by almost a third since the start of October.
The U.S. shale sector has helped boost American production to an average of 10.9 million barrels a day this year, the most on record. Output is forecast to grow a further 11 percent next year, according the Energy Information Administration.
RELATED: ConocoPhillips keeps 2019 spending flat, touts conservative approach
ConocoPhillips said Monday it’s spending half its 2019 budget in the continental U.S., while Chevron Corp. is investing more at home than it’s done for more than a decade, with $3.6 billion going to the Permian Basin alone. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Hess Corp., both global operators, plan to increase spending on their American assets more than 40 percent.
Oil’s recent collapse caused “some different allocation going on within the budget,” Conoco Chief Executive Officer Ryan Lance said on Bloomberg TV. “We’re putting more toward our U.S. unconventional position,” he said, referring to shale.
Production growth “slows down at $50 but I don’t think it stops at $50, and it certainly continues if prices get back to $60,” Lance said. Skeptics thought shale “wouldn’t last long, but it’s here, it’s a huge resource and it’s going to be resilient and long lasting.”
LNG: U.S. LNG export capacity to more than double by end of 2019
Oil companies will spend almost $124 billion in the U.S. next year, a third of total capital expenditure globally, Evercore ISI wrote in a note. That’s a 10 percent increase from a year earlier, while expenditure outside North America is seen growing 7.2 percent.
In the U.S., Conoco wells in the Eagle Ford Shale, Permian and the Bakken field generate cash when prices are around $50 a barrel or more, Lance said. The company pumped 313,000 barrels a day from the three regions combined during the third quarter, or 25 percent of the Houston-based company’s global production.
Conoco alone will increase its shale production 25 percent next year, Lance said. That’s on top of growth of about 35 percent expected this year. The shale revolution is having a bigger impact on energy markets than the development of offshore production in the 1960s, he said.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Conoco-Sees-U-S-Shale-Growth-at-25-in-2019-Even-13456807.php
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Cheniere Energy Ships First Cargo of LNG from Port of Corpus Christi Facility
Dec 11, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Sergio Chapa
Houston-based Cheniere Energy has shipped out its first cargo of liquefied natural gas from its Port of Corpus Christi facility.
The tanker's destination was not immediately clear, but the cargo marks the first LNG shipment from Texas. It also marks the first shipment from a newly built LNG export facility in the lower 48 states.
Odd Couple: John Cornyn, Sylvester Turner unlikely allies in support of LNG project
Other LNG export terminals currently were originally built as import terminals but later reconfigured for exports after the shale revolution created a surplus of natural gas in the United States.
"Exporting the first commissioning cargo of LNG from Texas demonstrates Cheniere's ability to deliver projects safely and ahead of schedule, including the first greenfield LNG export facility in the lower 48 states," Cheniere Energy President and CEO Jack Fusco said in a statement. "This milestone further reinforces Cheniere's position as the leader in U.S. LNG, with a world-scale liquefaction platform that provides significant competitive advantages as we continue to execute on our growth strategy."
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Cheniere-Energy-ships-first-cargo-of-LNG-from-13456979.php
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Commentary: Initiative Shrinking Oil Industry's Environmental Footprint
Dec 11, 2018 | Houston Chronicle
By Matthew Todd
One year ago, a coalition of oil and natural gas companies came together to launch a new initiative designed to further reduce the industry's environmental footprint. Known as The Environmental Partnership, the program is already making a large impact.
The Environmental Partnership is a voluntary, industry-run initiative where oil and natural gas producers of all sizes come together to learn, collaborate, and take action to improve their environmental performance. Launched last December with 26 participants, the program has more than doubled in size in just its first year to include 54 companies, which together represent roughly a third of America's natural gas production.Recommended Video
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The initial focus of the Partnership has been to build on the industry's success in reducing emissions of methane and volatile organic compounds, or VOCs. Throughout its first year, the group has devoted programs and workshops to helping its members make improvements in that area.
RELATED: Is Big Oil serious about reducing methane emissions?
In 2018, the Environmental Partnership held workshops in Pennsylvania, Texas and Colorado that took a closer look at the latest technologies being used to detect leaks and best practices to reduce emissions. These workshops were open to any oil and natural gas producers, and included lengthy question and answer sessions where companies openly shared their own experiences.
In Colorado, participants toured METEC, a research and testing facility located at Colorado State University where leak detection equipment is tested under conditions similar to those found at most production sites. Those on the tour were able to ask detailed questions of the researchers and learn how to apply some of the lessons learned to their own facilities.
These workshops demonstrated that oil and natural gas producers, regardless of their size or location of operations, can benefit from the experience and knowledge shared by their colleagues. After one workshop, a company arranged a site visit so that others could see their emissions-reducing technologies up close.
Beyond the extraordinary learning and collaborating opportunities, The Environmental Partnership has also developed three performance programs that participants are implementing. One program is centered on leak detection and repair. Another focuses on the replacement or removal of high-bleed pneumatic controllers with lower-emitting devices, while the third program is the implementation of a best practice to minimize emissions during the manual liquids unloading process.
These programs will continue to drive down the industry's air emissions. Participants in the program have also agreed to submit annual data to the Partnership which will be compiled and released publicly so that the industry can track our progress and be held accountable. The first of these reports will be released next year.
Tackling large challenges like reducing emissions not only requires everyone to do their part, but also find ways to work together. The Environmental Partnership's rapid growth in its first year underscores the power of this approach and speaks to the value it is providing to participating companies, the industry, and, most importantly, the communities in which we live and operate.
Matthew Todd, program director at the Environmental Partnership, a coalition of 54 oil and gas companies seeking to improve their environmental performance.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Commentary-Initiative-shrinking-oil-industry-s-13454222.php
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Pembina Putting Money on U.S. Approving Jordan Cove LNG in 2019
Dec 11, 2018 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Gordon Jaremko
Pembina Pipeline Corp. placed a C$100 million ($75 million) bet Monday that U.S. approval will be granted in 2019 for the Jordan Cove liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal that would be sited on the Oregon coast...
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Story can be found here:
https://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/116743-pembina-putting-money-on-us-approving-jordan-cove-lng-in-2019
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Coast Guard Works to Clean Up Oil, Gas Leak in La.
Dec 11, 2018 | AP (In E&E Greenwire)
The Coast Guard is cleaning oil, gas and water leaking from a well in Louisiana.
News outlets reported the Coast Guard was notified of the leak in Rattlesnake Bayou near Port Sulphur on Sunday.
The Coast Guard said the well produces more than 5,000 gallons of oil a day. It said five response and oil recovery vessels and four shoreline cleanup vessels are working on the effort.
According to the agency, more than 1,700 feet of hard boom and 2,000 feet of absorbent boom have been set up to contain and collect the oil.
The Coast Guard said yesterday it had collected about 630 gallons of oily water from the area.
The cause of the leak is under investigation.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/12/11/stories/1060109297
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Cuadrilla Pauses Gas Fracking at English Site After More Tremors
Dec 11, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Susanna Twidale
British shale gas company Cuadrilla has again paused fracking at its Preston New Road site in Lancashire, northwest England, after tremors were detected, the company said.
This marks the third time operations have been halted at the site following seismic activity under Britain's so-called traffic light regulation system, since they began in October.
"A series of micro seismic events in Blackpool have been recorded on the British Geological Survey website this morning following hydraulic fracturing at our shale gas exploration site in Preston New Road, Lancashire," Cuadrilla said in a statement.
The largest tremor, of 1.5 magnitude, took place after fracking activities had already stopped, it said.
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"According to recent research by the University of Liverpool the impact would be like dropping a melon," Cuadrilla said.
Fracking, or hydraulically fracturing, involves extracting gas from rocks by breaking them up with water and chemicals at high pressure.
It is opposed by environmentalists who say extracting more fossil fuel is at odds with Britain's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
However, the government is keen to reduce the country's reliance on imports of natural gas, which is used to heat around 80 percent of Britain's homes.
The company, which is 47.4 percent owned by Australia's AJ Lucas and 45.2 percent owned by a fund managed by Riverstone, first attempted to frack gas near the coastal town of Blackpool in northwestern England in 2011, but the practice led to a 2.3 magnitude earth tremor.Subscribe to With Interest
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It said then that the quakes at that site were caused by an unusual combination of geological features, but they led to an 18-month nationwide ban on fracking while further research was carried out.
The government has since introduced a traffic-light system that immediately suspends work if seismic activity of magnitude 0.5 or above is detected.
"Cuadrilla will pause and continue to monitor micro seismicity for at least the next 18 hours... Well integrity has been checked and verified," it said.
Cuadrilla said last month it had extracted its first shale gas from the site. Gas flows were small but coming at such an early stage of the project were evidence of the site's potential, it said.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2018/12/11/business/11reuters-britain-fracking.html
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(ACC Mentioned) Norfolk Southern Report Outlines Sustainability Efforts in 2017
Dec 11, 2018 | Progressive Railroading
Norfolk Southern Corp. yesterday released its latest Corporate Social Responsibility Report, which includes such details as the Class I's record locomotive fuel efficiency and reduced greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions.
NS improved locomotive fuel efficiency by 5 percent in 2017 over 2016, conserved 23 million gallons of diesel and avoided more than 233,750 metric tons of GHG emissions, according to the report.
The railroad has reduced its GHG intensity by 15 percent since 2010, and lowered absolute GHG emissions for three consecutive years.
"As a freight-rail transportation company, Norfolk Southern has a unique opportunity to help businesses grow and achieve their sustainability goals, such as reducing their supply-chain carbon footprint," said Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer James Squires in a press release.
Also in 2017, NS:
• reduced electricity use as measured in kilowatt hours by 4 percent and reduced overall energy costs by nearly 3 percent;
• trained more than 8,100 emergency responders on how to prepare for and safely respond to potential transportation incidents involving hazardous materials;
• received the American Chemical Council's Responsible Care Partner of the Year Award for exemplary performance and safety record in the transport of chemical products;
• rolled out its “Tell Me” safety campaign, focused on peer-to-peer safety communications and the company’s goal to achieve zero accidents and injuries; and
• held its first “Inspire! Summit,” a two-day employee workshop to promote diversity and inclusion at the company.
The latest report was the 11th consecutive time that NS published its sustainability accomplishments and challenges. For the first time, the 2018 report includes the annual contributions of the Norfolk Southern Foundation, the company's charitable giving arm.
"Our aim is to provide stakeholders a more complete picture of our activities to support the communities we serve and the role that philanthropy plays in the railroad's sustainability efforts," said Squires.
In 2017, NS and its foundation contributed more than $10 million to nonprofits across the railroad's system, from health and human service organizations to cultural, educational, business and environmental groups.https://www.progressiverailroading.com/norfolk_southern/news/Norfolk-Southern-report-outlines-sustainability-efforts-in-2017--56290
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Our Best Chance to Tackle Climate Change is Doubling Down on Infrastructure
Dec 11, 2018 | The Hill - Congress Blog
By Harley Rouda
As a newly elected member of Congress, I’ve absorbed a lot of information in a short time. While many of the lessons I’ve learned concern things like navigating Washington, D.C.’s Metro and mapping out my new office in the U.S. Capitol, I’ve also had a chance to suss out where there are opportunities for the 116th Congress to make real, lasting progress on key issues.
From my conversations, I’ve found that, regardless of party affiliation, most lawmakers agree that the federal government needs to step up and address the deterioration of our nation’s infrastructure.ADVERTISEMENT
Just last year, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) 2017 Infrastructure Report Card gave current infrastructure conditions and needs in the U.S. a D+ grade. The report card found that our nation’s crumbling infrastructure is a critical public safety issue with knock-on effects to our nation’s economy, impacting business productivity, gross domestic product (GDP), employment, personal income and international competitiveness.
This is more than just think-tank jargon - ASCE estimates that, between 2016 and 2025, every household in the U.S. will lose $3,400 each year in disposable income due to infrastructure deficiencies. At a time when millions of Americans are one paycheck away from financial ruin, our nation’s failure to act is unacceptable.
And Washington, D.C. agrees. President Trump, in a news conference last month, remarked that Democrats and Republicans “have a lot of things in common on infrastructure" and addressing these needs “could be a beautiful bipartisan type of situation.”
Democrats need to double down on the bipartisan potential for addressing our nation’s infrastructure needs - not only because improvements are severely needed - but also because doing so is America’s best chance of tackling climate change in a divided Washington, D.C.
According to the World Economic Forum, approaching infrastructure in the right way can play a major role in the fight to manage the effects of climate change. As it stands now, the U.S. gets 81 percent of its total energy from fossil fuels. Infrastructure alone accounts for around 60 percent of global greenhouse-gas emissions. The U.S. is in dire need of more infrastructure spending, but the way forward must be a departure from the same old polluting and resource-intensive approaches.
Addressing infrastructure by embracing the power of clean energy and green technologies is America’s most viable short-term way to mitigate man-made climate change. We know from the recently published National Climate Assessment (NCA), among other recent reports, that we need to act now in order to avoid the most dire perils of climate change, such as dramatic geographical transformations that would lead to famine, health risks, pre-mature deaths, exorbitant costs to the economy, and worse.
However, we also know from the way in which the NCA was rolled out (i.e. buried on Black Friday by the very same administration that oversees NASA, the Department of Defense, and the 11 other federal scientific agencies who developed the report) that there is little to no bipartisan appetite for taking its warnings seriously, let alone passing legislation to address climate change head on.
Infrastructure policy is the best possible road the 116th Congress can pursue not only to build lasting roads, bridges and more, but also to defend our nation and our planet. In order to be successful, environmentally forward-thinking lawmakers must persuade colleagues and the American people that protecting the environment and incentivizing economic growth are not mutually exclusive goals. Reversing the course we’re on with respect to the effects of climate change is good for business, creates jobs, and improves everyone’s health. A recent study from Stanford scientists states a fossil fuel phase-out is not only achievable worldwide, it would limit global warming 10 1.5 degrees Celsius or less, deliver energy from entirely renewable sources, and eliminate up to 7 million premature deaths per year, while creating a net gain of 24 million long-term jobs, all by 2050.
A comprehensive infrastructure bill can and should apply sustainable economic thinking, not because it’s the environmentally friendly thing to do, but because it’s the smart thing to do. For example, how do we ensure taxpayers’ dollars go to good use, and we don’t end up in a situation down the road where we have to rebuild bridges, roads, airports and more from scratch? If we can pinpoint rates and fees that reflect the true cost of building, using, maintaining, and improving all infrastructure, we can ensure we are investing in infrastructure in a long-term way that guarantees financing for its entire lifespan. Beyond Washington, D.C., we should also consider how we can create incentives for the private sector, and local and state governments, to invest in maintenance.
In every aspect of infrastructure policy, we must prize innovation. That’s how we will turn our nation’s infrastructure needs into an opportunity to create green jobs and protect our environment. This starts with planning for and investing in emerging technologies, such as autonomous vehicles and drones, and funding research and development into innovative new materials and processes that can modernize and extend the life of infrastructure and increase cost savings.
As ASCE’s report card shows us, the stakes are too high for us to delay action on a comprehensive infrastructure bill any further. And as the NCA shows us, we cannot afford to approach the future of American infrastructure without considering how we might use it as an opportunity to safeguard our nation’s environmental and, in turn, economic future. The way forward is to address these issues together, not separately. As a member-elect of Congress, I believe the 116th Congress has the opportunity to do just that and provide all Americans with a better future.
Harley Rouda is congressman-elect from California’s 48th District.
https://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/energy-environment/420670-our-best-chance-to-tackle-climate-change-is-doubling
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CEQ Infrastructure Lead Jumps to Permitting Panel
Dec 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Niina Heikkinen
The Council on Environmental Quality's lead on infrastructure is taking over as head of an interagency permitting panel starting this week.
Alex Herrgott started work yesterday as the new executive director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council.
"Mr. Herrgott will lead administration efforts to improve the federal permitting process, working closely with the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and 14 federal agencies that comprise the Permitting Council," wrote General Services Administration spokeswoman Pamela Dixon in an email.
Alex Herrgott. Herrgott/LinkedIn
President Trump appointed Herrgott to the role in mid-September. Angela Colamaria has been serving as acting head of the council (E&E News PM, Sept. 21).
The executive director role was created as part of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation Act (FAST-41), which President Obama signed into law in 2015.
The law created new procedures for interagency coordination and consultation. The resulting FAST-41 voluntary program aims to increase transparency on complex infrastructure projects.
Part of Herrgott's job will be to resolve disputes on FAST-41 projects and to prevent delays on other major infrastructure projects, according to Dixon.
Herrgott comes to the role with an extensive background on infrastructure. He has served as the associate director of infrastructure at CEQ.
Herrgott has also worked on infrastructure on Capitol Hill, including as deputy staff director for the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. He also worked on both transportation and infrastructure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Reporter Nick Sobczyk contributed.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/12/11/stories/1060109327
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Sifting Through AV 3.0 Comments
Dec 11, 2018 | Politico
By Sam Mintz
BREAKING DOWN AV 3.0 COMMENTS: Monday was the deadline for public comments on AV 3.0, DOT’s new policy statement on self-driving vehicles — and feedback poured in, with 121 comments by the afternoon. As is typical for the regulatory process, most comments represented long-established positions. But the details that different factions picked out of the document shed light on what companies and interest groups are watching:
Private sector: Companies working on self-driving technology are generally on board. Lyft thanked DOT for its “pragmatic, flexible, and forward-looking approach,” highlighting the technology-neutral aspect. GM also liked the guidance, praising the process laid out for voluntary safety self-assessments for manufacturers. It’s worth pointing out, as the National Safety Council does in its comments, that only six organizations have formally submitted voluntary self-assessments, even with dozens of companies actively testing their vehicles on roads.
State governments: The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials pulled out a few key points that state officials thought were missing from AV 3.0. For one, the group said it doesn't address funding and flexibility for state governments. “States are struggling to find the fiscal resources to maintain their current infrastructure, and the need to retrofit roads, bridges and other assets to accommodate [AVs] presents an undue financial burden to state DOTs,” it wrote. AASHTO also pointed out continued uncertainty created by the lack of federal guidance on vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication standards. Finally, state officials think the guidance doesn’t do enough to clarify how data from AVs should be shared.
Labor: The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO weighed in with familiar concerns, writing that AV 3.0 “continues a hands-off approach to desperately needed regulation.” The union coalition highlighted that 3.0 still relies on voluntary safety certifications, even in the face of recent crashes. TTD also mentioned the guidance’s statement that FMCSA regulations will no longer assume that humans are operating commercial vehicles. “We have significant concerns that AV 3.0 is not seeking regulatory clarity but rather a streamlined integration of automated trucks and buses onto public roads while providing no framework for tests or standards,” the group wrote.
IT’S TUESDAY: Thanks for tuning in to POLITICO’s Morning Transportation, your daily tipsheet on all things trains, planes, automobiles and ports. Get in touch with feedback, tips or song lyric suggestions at smintz@politico.com or @samjmintz.
“Hunnybee, Hunnybee / There's no such thing / As sweeter a sting” (You’ll have to watch the video to get why this one is relevant.)
LISTEN HERE: Follow MT’s playlist on Spotify. What better way to start your day than with songs (picked by us and readers) about roads, rails, rivers and runways?
** A message from PlanetM – Michigan, where big ideas in mobility are born:As the whole world jumps on the mobility bandwagon, only Michigan provides access to an ecosystem of knowledge, innovation, expertise and infrastructure that allows mobility companies to thrive. That’s why Michigan continues to rank as number one in the nation in research spending-to-venture capital investment ratio. Learn more at PlanetM.com. **
WHERE’S THE SECRETARY? Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao will deliver a keynote address at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Jan. 9, her second time speaking at the high-profile tech trade show. Her talk will focus on how drones and self-driving technology will revolutionize transportation, the Consumer Technology Association said.
A T&I FIRST: Kathy Dedrick will be the staff director for Democrats on the House Transportation Committee next year if Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) becomes chairman as expected, our Brianna Gurciullo scooped for Pros Monday. "The committee's over 200 years old, and she would be the first woman staff director ever," DeFazio told Brianna. Dedrick has been minority staff director for four years and previously worked in DeFazio's personal office and for Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.).SECURITY
WATCHING THE WATCHERS: U.S. Customs and Border Protection violated its protocol for overseeing agents searching travelers’ electronic devices, according to a DHS inspector general report that our Stephanie Beasley reported on. CBP searched more than 47,000 electronic devices at ports of entry between fiscal 2016 and 2017, and wasn’t keeping sufficient records of those searches, the IG said.AVIATION
BAGGAGE FEE REVENUES CONTINUE TO SURGE: DOT released new data on Monday showing that airlines have collected more than $3.6 billion in baggage fees in the first nine months of 2018, including a record $1.3 billion in the third quarter. In response, the American Association of Airport Executives urged airlines to drop their opposition to increases to the federal Passenger Facility Charge, which airports use to make FAA-approved improvements. “Ho-Ho-Ho has become Dough-Dough-Dough this holiday season for the airlines with billions in bag fees,” AAAE CEO Todd Hauptli said in a statement. “Hope they enjoy their last free sleigh-ride before the new Congress reins them in.”TRUCKING
NO MORE PEN AND PAPER: Safety advocates cheered a Friday decision by FCMSA to deny 10 exemption requests from the electronic logging device regulation that took effect in December. The requests from companies and trade organizations had asked to use paper records instead of ELDs, which make it harder to falsify truckers’ hours. “With truck crash deaths on a shocking upward trajectory, the FMCSA should continue to hold firm and dismiss all attempts to dilute the effectiveness of this lifesaving rule,” said Shaun Kildare, director of research at Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety.RAIL
AMTRAK CRASH: An Amtrak train traveling in West Virginia hit a vehicle on the tracks Monday evening, causing what one passenger (a friend of your host) said was a several-hundred-gallon fuel leak. Amtrak said no crew or passengers were injured, and police are investigating. Local news reports said the vehicle was a dump truck and that the driver escaped unharmed.
MTA AND PTC: New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority confirmed Monday that it will miss a year-end deadline to implement positive train control, and instead will be on an “alternative schedule” to have the technology ready by 2020. POLITICO Pro New York’s Dana Rubinstein reports that Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer devoted his Sunday press conference to railing against the MTA.AUTOMOBILES
GM’S TIGHTROPE: The AP reports that GM is fighting to hold on to the electric vehicle tax credit amid its decision to close a handful of U.S. plants. “Preserving the $7,500 tax incentive for buyers is crucial for GM as the company pivots from internal combustion engines in favor of building cars powered by batteries or hydrogen fuel cells. Yet the layoffs and plant closings could imperil GM’s push to keep the incentive,” writes Richard Lardner. President Donald Trump has threatened to cut off all of GM’s subsidies, including for electric cars, and he has support from congressional Republicans including Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.).SHIFTING GEARS
HILL CAROUSEL: A long-time staffer of Senate Commerce Chairman John Thune (R-S.D) is coming along with the South Dakota Republican to his new job as majority whip. Brendon Plack, who will be chief of staff in the whip’s office, toldPOLITICO he’s looking forward to “building bipartisan consensus” around issues including infrastructure and national security.
IN OTHER MOVES: The Eno Center for Transportation announced two new members of its board of directors: former acting FTA Administrator Carolyn Flowers and Diane Woodend Jones of the international transportation consulting firm Lea+Elliott, Inc. Also, Tracy Zea was named vice president for government relations at Waterways Council, Inc.THE AUTOBAHN
— “Why your subway train might start moving faster.” New York Times.
— “Delta adds four new routes from Boston as airlines battle for business travelers.” USA Today.
— “Ford, GM urge long tariff phase-out in Japan deal.” POLITICO Pro.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-transportation/2018/12/11/sifting-through-av-30-comments-450447
— “Trump’s city-focused visit to Baltimore to take place at White House instead.” Washington Post.
— “This high school aviation program aims to stave off the pilot shortage.” PBS Newshour.THE COUNTDOWN
DOT appropriations run out in 11 days. The FAA reauthorization expires in 1,754 days. Highway and transit policy is up for renewal in 660 days.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/morning-transportation/2018/12/11/sifting-through-av-30-comments-450447
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Trump Administration Proposes Major Rollback of Water Rules
Dec 11, 2018 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
The Trump administration proposed withdrawing federal protections for countless waterways and wetlands across the country Tuesday, making good on President Donald Trump's campaign pledge to weaken landmark Obama-era water rules long opposed by some developers, farmers and oil, gas, and mining executives.
The Environmental Protection Agency's acting administrator said the proposed rule would reverse what he called the federal government's usurping of the rights of private landowners and local governments.
The water-rule revision "restores the rule of law and the primary role of states in managing their water resources," Andrew Wheeler told reporters before the rule was officially released at a ceremony at EPA headquarters.
Environmental groups said the Trump administration proposal would have a sweeping impact on how the country safeguards the nation's waterways, scaling back not just a 2015 Obama administration interpretation of federal jurisdiction, but how federal agencies enforce the 1972 Clean Water Act.
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"The Trump administration has just given a big Christmas gift to polluters," said Bob Irvin, president of the American Rivers environmental nonprofit. "Americans all over the country are concerned about the safety of their drinking water — this is not the time to be rolling back protections."
The changes would affect what waterways and wetlands fall under jurisdiction of the EPA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The Trump administration would remove federal protections for wetlands nationally unless they are connected to another federally protected waterway, and for streams, creeks, washes and ditches that run only during rains or snow melt.
Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said the proposal "doesn't remove any protection."
"It puts the decision back where it should be, the people that work the land, that hunt, that own the land," Zinke said.
Jan Goldman-Carter of the National Wildlife Federation said the move could remove federal protections for millions of miles of wetlands and waterways, leaving them more vulnerable to destruction by developers and farmers or to oil spills, fertilizer runoff and other pollutants. Wheeler said there was no firm data on what percentage of waterways would lose protections.
Environmental groups say the kind of isolated wetlands, runoff-fed streams and often dry washes that would lose federal protections also help buffer communities from the worsening impact of drought, floods and hurricanes under climate change, and are vital for wildlife.Editors’ PicksHow to Date a Lot of BillionairesHow a Liberal Couple Became Two of N.Y.’s Biggest Trump SupportersA Brief History of Gay Theater, in Three Acts
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Supporters of the Trump administration move say the rollback will have no impact on drinking water. Wheeler said the current state of regulations, requiring permits for work affecting those federally protected waterways, was confusing for land owners.
The Trump administration looked chiefly at court rulings rather than environmental impacts in redoing the regulations, said David Ross, assistant EPA administrator for water.
Ross specified the administration did not weigh any role that the waterways play in mitigating the effects of climate change.
"We didn't do climate modeling," he said of the proposed water protections. "It's a legal policy construct informed by science."
The rules now go up for public comment, ahead of any final adoption by the Trump administration. Environmental groups promise legal challenges.
https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/12/11/us/politics/ap-us-trump-water-rollback.html
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EPA Falsely Claims 'No Data' on Waters in WOTUS Rule
Dec 11, 2018 | E&E Greenwire
By Ariel Wittenberg and Kevin Bogardus
The Trump administration says it doesn't know how many streams it is proposing to exclude from Clean Water Act jurisdiction today.
But a 2017 slideshow prepared by EPA and Army Corps of Engineers staff shows that at least 18 percent of streams and 51 percent of wetlands nationwide would not be protected under the new definition of "waters of the United States," or WOTUS, announced today.
The slides, obtained by E&E News under the Freedom of Information Act, contradict what EPA Office of Water chief Dave Ross told reporters on a press call previewing the new rule late yesterday.
"If you see percentages of water features that are claimed to be in, or reductions, there really isn't the data to support those statistics," Ross said. "No one has that data."
EPA and the Army Corps officially proposed the new regulation at a signing ceremony at EPA headquarters this morning. There, administration officials touted the regulation for bringing clarity to the question of Clean Water Act jurisdiction, while protecting the nation's water quality. The Clean Water Act is intended to shield wetlands and isolated waterways that serve as cleansers for pollution, buffers for stormwater and habitat for wildlife.
"Our proposal would ensure that America's water protections — among the best in the world — will remain strong while giving states and tribes the certainty to manage their waterways in ways that best protect their natural resources and economies," Wheeler said.
Asked whether any analysis was done about what wetlands would lose protection under the proposed rule, he said, "We have not done ... a detailed mapping of all the wetlands in the country."
But unlike policies from either the George W. Bush or Obama administrations, the Trump proposal wouldn't protect any ephemeral streams that flow only after rain or during a snowmelt.
Those account for 18 percent of U.S. streams, according to the slides, which were prepared for a briefing with former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt and former Army Corps Deputy Assistant Secretary Douglas Lamont.
The slides analyze data from the U.S. Geological Survey's National Hydrography Dataset (NHD), which maps streams and gauges how often they flow. The slides were prepared by career staff at the Army Corps and shared with EPA staffers prior to briefing Pruitt.
EPA acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler and Army Corps chief R.D. James sign a proposal today that would restrict the number of wetlands and waterways covered by the Clean Water Act. Ariel Wittenberg/E&E News
Pruitt's calendar shows he was scheduled to hold a series ofbriefings with the Army Corps to discuss WOTUS in September 2017.
Listed among the attendees for those briefings: top EPA water officials Dennis Lee Forsgren and Mike Shapiro, who has since retired, as well as Sarah Greenwalt, a close Pruitt aide who worked on water issues and has also left the agency.
E&E News had filed a FOIA request with the Army Corps for records created by the agency distributed to EPA for those briefings with Pruitt.
Included in response to that request was an email showing the Army Corps sent the slides to John Goodin, acting director of EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds. Goodin was also listed as an attendee for Pruitt's WOTUS briefings.
Ross wasn't the only Trump administration official to deny EPA knew how many waterways would be covered by its new WOTUS definition.
Following the press call last night, E&E News asked EPA spokeswoman Molly Block why the Trump administration didn't use the USGS data to quantify the impacts of its rule — as the George W. Bush administration did in 2005 to estimate the percentage of ephemeral and intermittent streams. Thirteen years ago, USGS did not separate ephemeral streams from intermittent ones that flow seasonally. But the service has since updated the data set.
But Block responded that it wasn't possible.
"The NHD data does not differentiate between intermittent and ephemeral streams and therefore could not be used to assess the proposed rule," she wrote in an email.
Asked specifically about the 2017 slides, Block said EPA and the Army Corps had determined that "the datasets are not robust enough to accurately or precisely depict federally regulated waters."
"So the statement Assistant Administrator Ross made is accurate," she wrote.About the data
To be sure, the USGS data aren't perfect.
The slides caution that it's likely that more than 18 percent of streams nationwide are ephemeral, because USGS has focused its mapping of ephemeral streams on the "Arid West" — a region that includes most of Nevada and Arizona, and parts of California, Idaho, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Wyoming and Washington.
Ephemeral streams outside that region, the slides say, are often mischaracterized as intermittent or not mapped at all.
Within the arid West, however, the percentage of ephemeral streams nearly doubles to 35 percent.
Prepared in September 2017, the slides appear to have been presented at a time when the Trump administration was deciding how to interpret a 2006 opinion from the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, and whether to include intermittent and ephemeral streams in a new WOTUS definition. Scalia wrote that only waterways with a "relatively permanent flow" should be covered by the Clean Water Act.
"Based on NHD analysis, the proposed options for defining 'relatively permanent flow' could result in a greater reduction of jurisdiction in Arid West states than in other states," the slides say.
Environmental groups, as well as officials from the Obama administrations, have argued that at least some ephemeral streams should be protected because, while they do not flow all the time, torrents of rain or snowmelt can carry significant pollution downstream into more consistently flowing waterways, in turn polluting favorite fishing holes and drinking water intakes.
"Saying you want clean water and excluding ephemeral streams is like saying you want universal health care, but you won't cover anyone not named Ken," said Ken Kopocis, who led the Obama EPA's Office of Water. "It's a start, but it won't get you what you want."
EPA and Army Corps also have data on how many wetlands are excluded from federal jurisdiction under their proposal to only protect wetlands that have physical surface water connections to waterways.
The slides combined data from the Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wetlands Inventory and NHD to determine the percentage of acres of wetlands that intersect different kinds of streams.
Roughly 51 percent of wetlands either intersect ephemeral streams or do not intersect any waterways, according to the slides, meaning they would be excluded from federal protections under the new proposal.
At least some of those wetlands were protected by the prior two administrations. Both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations gave Clean Water Act protection to wetlands not just with surface water connections to nearby waterways, but also ecological ones.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2018/12/11/stories/1060109323
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Bad News and Good News on Cutting Climate Pollution
Dec 11, 2018 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Nat Keohane
Climate change is an urgent threat and we must overcome significant hurdles to address it — beginning with the reckless polices of the Trump administration.
Some countries are on track to meet their commitments under the Paris agreement, some are falling behind, and many will not start in earnest until compliance rules are agreed to at the UN climate conference in Poland.
The climate action story so far is a mix of positive and negative trends. As has been well-covered in the media, the US is trying to pull out of the Paris Agreement and global emissions rose in 2018. Those hard facts cannot be dismissed. But there are also larger market and technology trends which, combined with the actions of responsible governments, are creating some positive indications, too. Which side wins out will depend on the action of political leaders, investors, engineers, voters, and activists.
The positive examples below are not simply individual bits of good news, but signs of a world economy in the midst of transition:US coal consumption is at a nearly 40-year low.China, the world’s largest emitter of climate pollution, is likely to reach peak carbon dioxide emissions over 5 years ahead of its Paris commitment.Building new renewable energy is now cheaper than running existing coal-fired power plants in many US states.Solar projects with new efficient batteries in Arizona and other states will soon be able to provide electricity at a lower per megawatt-hour cost than new combined cycle natural gas-fired generation.Falling costs and surging demand are predicted to drive the global energy storage market to a cumulative 942 gigawatts (excluding pumped hydro) by 2040, which is 209x more than today.Duke Energy, the second largest utility in the US, will alone invest $500 million in battery storage over the next 15 years, which could help maximize our use of renewable energy on the grid.Seventy percent of all new electricity generating capacity worldwide in 2017 was renewable, including in developing countries. If these trends continue, renewables will produce half of the world’s electricity by 2030.The world's largest shipping company has set a target to be carbon neutral by 2050.Utility giant Xcel announced it will cut its carbon pollution 80% by 2030 and 100% by 2050.Thirteen oil and gas companies – comprising 30 percent of global production — committed to reducing methane emissions, which are driving 25% of current warming.Walmart has committed to cutting a gigaton of climate pollution from its global supply chain by 2020. That’s more emissions than produced by the entire German economy every year.
http://blogs.edf.org/climate411/2018/12/11/bad-news-and-good-news-on-cutting-climate-pollution/
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Democrats Seek Regular Trump Updates on Paris Climate Deal
Dec 11, 2018 | Inside EPA
Two House Democrats are floating legislation that would require the State Department to file quarterly updates on the U.S. stance toward the Paris climate agreement, in an effort to highlight contradictions in the Trump administration's approach to the deal.
The bill, H.R. 7220, from Reps. Donald McEachin (D-VA) and Brad Schneider (D-IL), is dubbed the Produce All Relevant Information to Safeguard (PARIS) Climate Act. It would require a quarterly public assessment of several issues related to the Paris deal.
Specifically, it would require the department to specify how many nations have indicated plans to withdraw from the climate deal. In addition, the assessment would also include whether the department has a “reasonable expectation” that such countries will withdraw within the next year.
It would also detail whether the United States has “established specific terms” for re-engaging with the Paris Agreement pursuant to an August 2017 State Department statement to the United Nations. The U.S. in that statement indicated plans to withdraw from the pact but also said it would continue to participate in climate talks and ensure “all policy options remain open” to the administration.
President Donald Trump's June 2017 announcement that he would leave Paris also floated the notion of remaining in the deal under better terms, though he and other administration officials have repeatedly refused to outline their preferred conditions.
It is far from clear whether the legislation -- which would require the administration to repeatedly explain the half-in, half-out positioning on the Paris deal -- will be enacted, at least as a stand alone measure.
Technically, the U.S. cannot withdraw from Paris until after the November 2020 election, and the bill thus bears watching both as a messaging exercise and because it could foreshadow increased House Democratic oversight of the administration's Paris stance in 2019.
Such oversight efforts could include attempts to attach provisions to the State Department's spending bill to report back to Congress on various Paris-related issues.
The two lawmakers in a joint press release frame the legislation as an effort to put the White House on the spot in the wake of growing concern over climate change, including the recent National Climate Assessment from federal agencies on the global warming threat.
“The recently released National Assessment illustrates that time is running out to curb emissions and address the climate threat to our economy, nation, and planet. Our legislation would require the Administration to answer for its wrong-headed decision to unilaterally withdraw from the international Paris Agreement,” they argue.
The bill will “force the administration to acknowledge the dangers of withdrawal, again and again. Every other nation recognizes the threat posed by climate change.”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/democrats-seek-regular-trump-updates-paris-climate-deal
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Ewire: Ocasio-Cortez Softens Climate Panel Demands
Dec 11, 2018 | Inside EPA
A rising progressive star in the House Democratic caucus is softening her demands for how the party should craft major climate change legislation in the next Congress, dropping a call for a revived select climate committee to have “legislative jurisdiction.”
According to Axios, Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) recently changed her proposed rules package for a “Green New Deal,” dropping her prior plan that the planned select committee would write any climate and other legislation.
The move likely makes the creation of the select panel easier to swallow for party leadership and the incoming chairs of various committees that already have jurisdiction over climate issues.
Ocasio-Cortez reportedly changed her proposal about a week ago, with it now saying the select climate panel “shall not have legislative jurisdiction and shall have no authority to take legislative action on any bill or resolution.”
Instead, she envisions the panel drafting legislation -- including aggressive renewable energy mandates and funding mechanisms -- that would then be presented to the committees of jurisdiction, including the Energy & Commerce Committee.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) has already said she plans to revive the select climate panel -- which last existed when Democrats controlled the House from 2007 to 2011. However, Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ), the incoming Energy & Commerce chairman -- has questioned the need for a select panel at all.
Even so, Ocasio-Cortez's plan picked up a high-profile supporter Dec. 10, with incoming Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-MA) tweeting that “we need” both a select committee and a Green New Deal. “And we need to work together” with all Democratic leaders on the committees “to make it work!”
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-ocasio-cortez-softens-climate-panel-demands
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