Preview Newsletter
PM ACC Clips Report - January 17, 2019
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(ACC Mentioned) Alliance Members Call Project: 'a Global Organization Set up for Action'
Jan 17, 2019 | Plastics News
By Jim Johnson
More than $1 billion is being pledged to help tackle the ocean plastics problem through a consortium of nearly 30 companies that includes some of the biggest names in the plastics industry. The new Alliance to End Plastic Waste... -
Pence Signals Little Progress with China Since Trump-Xi Agreement
Jan 16, 2019 | Roll Call
By John T. Bennett
Vice President Mike Pence Wednesday signaled that the Trump administration has made little progress in trade talks with China, even after what the White House portrayed as a breakthrough late last year. Pence painted a picture of a... -
Agency Can't Wait out Shutdown to Turn over Docs — Judge
Jan 17, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Jeremy P. Jacobs
A federal judge yesterday sided with environmentalists and said EPA cannot delay releasing more than 20,000 documents because of the government shutdown. Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern ... -
Protesters Disrupt EPA Confirmation Hearing, Held Despite Shutdown
Jan 16, 2019 | Roll Call
By Katherine Tully-McManus
Two demonstrators were removed Wednesday morning from the confirmation hearing of Andrew Wheeler —President Trump’s pick to lead the EPA. Protesters in the hallway and hearing room objected to the business in front of the... -
(ACC Mentioned) PFAs Management Plan Expected from US EPA in 'Very near Future'
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Lisa Martine Jenkins
The EPA will be releasing its per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) management plan in the "very near future", once the federal government reopens. This insight came at Andrew Wheeler’s contentious nomination hearing before... -
(ACC Mentioned) Experts Rally Round EDC Book Aimed at General Public
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
Experts in academia have come out in support of a new book on endocrine disrupting chemicals criticised by industry, praising the research underpinning it. In Sicker, fatter, poorer: The urgent threat of hormone-disrupting... -
Agency Back to Work on Lead Rule
Jan 17, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Ariel Wittenberg and Niina Heikkinen
EPA employees working on lead dust hazard standards are back at the office this week, despite the government shutdown, to ensure the agency can meet a court-ordered deadline. But the other deadlines for rulemakings included... -
Plan to Manage Toxic 'Teflon' Chemicals Delayed by Shutdown -- EPA Nominee
Jan 17, 2019 | WKMS Murray State's NPR Radio
By Brittany Patterson
During a sometimes contentious confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler was pressed by members of the Senate Committee on... -
New State Bill Would Limit PFAs Levels to 5 Parts per Trillion in Public Drinking Water
Jan 17, 2019 | Michigan Radio
By Doug Tribou
A new bill in the state Senate would set a limit of 5 parts per trillion for two common PFAS chemicals in drinking water. PFOA and PFOS are part of a family of chemicals linked to serious health issues – including cancer. Senator... -
ECHA Round-Up
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
At the request of the European Commission, Echa has submitted the following three restriction proposals: microplastics when intentionally added to consumer or professional use products of any kind; formaldehyde and... -
ECHA Publishes Four Substance Evaluation Conclusions
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
Echa has published substance evaluation conclusions for four chemicals under the Community rolling action plan (Corap). The Corap list includes substances that EU member states have either evaluated or intend to evaluate at a... -
EU Consults on Revised Limits on Formaldehyde, Aluminium in Toys
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission is seeking feedback on specific limit values it is proposing to adopt for formaldehyde in toys. These are according to toy material: polymeric: 1.5 mg/l (migration limit);resin-bonded wood: 0.1 ml/m3 ... -
UK Government Censured for Lack of Brexit Chemicals Preparation
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
The UK government "appears to have failed" on several counts in its preparations to regulate substances and maintain chemical trade after Brexit, the House of Lords has said. In a letter to Department for the Environment, Food... -
Major Apparel Brands Align Chemical Screening Tools
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
Apparel brands and retailers Levi Strauss, Nike, H&M and C&A have aligned their chemical screening tools to create one "unified approach and platform". The brands have shared this converged tool with the Zero Discharge of... -
(ACC Mentioned) Petrochemical Growth Spurt Expected Despite Rising Desire for Fewer Plastics
Jan 17, 2019 | Pipeline News North
By Dan Healing
Canada's slow-growing petrochemical industry is headed for its biggest surge of expansion spending in five years in 2019, thanks in large part to incentive programs by federal and provincial governments. The government support has... -
Geopolitical Tremors Mean a Choppy Outlook for Oil in 2019
Jan 17, 2019 | Platts
By Andrew Critchlow
Get used to more scary oil market volatility in 2019. This is the message coming from leading industry strategists and forecasters after a bruising end to last year, when Brent crude dipped below $50/b. Although the benchmark has... -
From Greenspan to Yellen, Economic Brain Trust Backs Carbon Tax
Jan 17, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy
An all-star lineup of economists, from Alan Greenspan to Paul Volcker, is endorsing a plan to combat climate change by slapping a tax on greenhouse gas emissions and then distributing the revenue to American households. -
Former Federal Reserve Chairs, Economists, Back Carbon Tax
Jan 17, 2019 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Four former Federal Reserve chairs from both parties joined with a group of leading economists in endorsing a plan to tax carbon dioxide emissions and return the funds to taxpayers. Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Paul ... -
Democrats Eye Early Affirmation of Paris Accord in Climate Push
Jan 17, 2019 | PoliticoPro
By Eric Wolff, Anthony Adragna and Zack Colman
House Democrats eager to rebuke President Donald Trump's record on climate change may start with a resolution endorsing the Paris climate agreement, according to lawmakers discussing the plan. Young activists and new... -
Climate Activists Push Green New Deal at Schumer's Office
Jan 17, 2019 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Anthony Adragna
Around 100 youth climate activists this morning stormed the Senate office of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, demanding Democrats ramp up their efforts to tackle climate change. The protest is the latest action by youth...
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(ACC Mentioned) Alliance Members Call Project: 'a Global Organization Set up for Action'
Jan 17, 2019 | Plastics News
By Jim Johnson
More than $1 billion is being pledged to help tackle the ocean plastics problem through a consortium of nearly 30 companies that includes some of the biggest names in the plastics industry.
The new Alliance to End Plastic Waste already has a $1 billion commitment from alliance members and wants to up that total to $1.5 billion to work on the problem during the next five years.
Alliance founders include companies all along the so-called plastics value chain.
"It's a global organization set up for action," said Jim Seward, vice president of sustainability for LyondellBlasell Industries, the giant chemicals and plastics company that is a charter member of the group.
The nonprofit alliance, he explained, will differ from trade groups by taking steps to address plastic waste and will not engage in advocacy on behalf of the plastics industry.
"You won't see the alliance lobbying," he said.
The American Chemistry Council helped organize the alliance, but it is a separate group. Steve Russell is vice president of the plastics division within ACC.
"The alliance will exist as a mechanism to facilitate investment and to accelerate innovation in business models and processes and design," Russell said.
"The need is to develop new business models to accelerate investment and to engage all sectors of society in addressing what has not yet been a priority," Russell said. "This announcement marks a beginning."
But it also brought criticism from environmental groups.
Pollution has always been a vexing problem for the plastics industry, and the recent focus on plastic ocean waste has put a white-hot light on the issue.
A common response, in the past, has been to say that the matter is a solid waste management issue and not a plastics industry issue.
But the new alliance seeks to inject itself into the waste management portion of the problem by helping design systems in "large urban areas where infrastructure is lacking, especially along rivers which transport vast amounts of unmanaged plastic waste from land to ocean," the alliance said.
The most problematic rivers contributing to the ocean plastic problem are, for the most part, located in Asia.
The goal is to create repeatable programs and solutions that can be applied in multiple locations, especially in areas with "high plastic leakage," the alliance said.
Founding members of the alliance include big names such as BASF SE, Berry Global, Braskem, Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LLC, Clariant, Covestro, Dow Chemical Co., DSM NV, ExxonMobil, Formosa Plastics Corp. USA, Henkel, LyondellBasell, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Mitsui Chemicals, Nova Chemicals, OxyChem, PolyOne Corp., Procter & Gamble, Reliance Industries, Saudi Basic Industries Corp., Sasol, Suez, Shell, SCG Chemicals, Sumitomo Chemical, Total, Veolia and Versalis.
Alliance organizers expect the organization to grow over time.
"This is a wide challenge, a global challenge, a challenge we believe spans the value chain. And, so the most effective way to address this challenge of plastic waste in the environment is through broad collaboration," LyondellBasell's Seward said. "You can achieve a lot more as an alliance than you can as an individual company."
Other aspects of the work include creation of an incubator by Circulate Capital to foster creation of technology, business models and entrepreneurs to tackle the issue.
The alliance also wants to create an "open source, science-based global information" system to support plastic waste management.
The new group also points to a need to collaborate with intergovernmental agencies, such as the United Nations, to develop training to help them identify solutions.
Developing infrastructure
A group called Renew Oceans, which works to create local engagement and investment, also is being supported. Renew Oceans seeks to capture plastic waste before it enters the ocean from 10 rivers that have been identified as the biggest contributors to the problem.
Work in the months ahead will include infrastructure development for both waste management and increased recycling, work to "advance and scale new technologies that make recycling and recovering plastics easier and create value from all post-use plastics," and engagement of education of governments, businesses and communities to spur action, the alliance said.
Organizers also will spend money on actual cleaning of "concentrated areas of plastic waste already in the environment," the group said. That includes the rivers that allow once land-based plastics to find oceans after they are swept into the water.
Environmental group Greenpeace sees the new alliance as a way to keep the "status quo" and allow for the continued production of single-use plastics rather than prioritizing reduction.
"The same companies that rely on cheap plastics to profit off of countries in the global south are now looking to build up some infrastructure so they can claim they tried to tackle the plastics problem, while ensuring their profits keep rolling in," Graham Forbes, global plastic project leader for Greenpeace, said in a statement. "The truth is we will never escape this plastic pollution crisis through better recycling and waste management efforts."
Oceana, another environmental group, was equally as skeptical and called for the reduction in production of single-use plastics.
"The industry coalition's promise to solve the plastic pollution crisis with waste management and cleanup is a nice dream, but it's not sufficient to solve the plastic problem," Jacqueline Savitz, Oceana's chief policy officer, said in a statement.
"We are at a pivotal moment in the plastic pollution crisis. The insistence on generating and using more plastic is not sustainable. Plastic-filled bellies of marine birds, sea turtles and fish tell us that this has gone way too far," she continued.
Oceana said relying on waste management to solve the problem is a mistake.
Creation of the alliance helps focus past individual efforts on a collective goal, said Paul Augustowski, LyondellBasell's senior vice president of olefins and polyolefins for the Americas.
"For many years, we've been working toward these same objectives, but in smaller pockets. I think our conclusion at this point in time is we need to work more toward common interests and on a much broader scale than what we have in the past," Augustowski said.
As for the name of the new group, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, is a lofty goal, both Russell and Augustowski agreed.
"The executives believe that there is both a need and an opportunity to do just that. It is an aspirational statement because that is the goal they wish to achieve. They have said that's an achievable goal," Russell said.
And while the alliance has established a five-year goal of spending $1.5 billion, Russell said the problem will take longer than that to fix.
"If we don't aspire to achieving great things, then we won't," Augustowski said.
https://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20190117/NEWS/190119899/alliance-members-call-project-a-global-organization-set-up-for-action
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Pence Signals Little Progress with China Since Trump-Xi Agreement
Jan 16, 2019 | Roll Call
By John T. Bennett
Vice President Mike Pence Wednesday signaled that the Trump administration has made little progress in trade talks with China, even after what the White House portrayed as a breakthrough late last year.
Pence painted a picture of a new lull in U.S.-China trade talks even after President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Dec. 1 over local steaks in Argentina to call a truce in what had been a tense tariff war that threatened to slow the global economy.
Pence, speaking to the chiefs of America’s diplomatic missions around the globe at the State Department, gave no indication that additional progress has been made about a U.S.-China trade pact Trump and other senior White House officials have long said is needed to crack down what they — and U.S. allies — say are Beijing’s “unfair” trade practices.
U.S. officials “remain hopeful” that Chinese officials will seriously come to the bargaining table, the vice president said Wednesday.
The U.S. president during that Dec. 1 dinner with Xi agreed to freeze his tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods at 10 percent rather than, as previously planned, raising them to 25 percent when 2019 started three weeks ago. In return, Xi agreed to purchase more American “agricultural, energy, industrial, and other product from the United States to reduce the trade imbalance between our two countries,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said after that meeting.
The two sides were slated to “immediately begin negotiations on structural changes” in their trading relations, she said then. But Pence’s comments and others recently from senior U.S. officials indicate talks since have yielded little results.
White House officials have threatened to make the scuttled tariff increases if the new round of high-level talks fail.
Senate Finance Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, said U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer also told him U.S.-China talks last week may result in additional purchases by Beijing. But the sides have not made “much progress” on structural issues such as Beijing’s policies forcing U.S. companies to share intellectual property with Chinese partners.
Grassley said the administration could continue to push those issues when Chinese officials visit the United States this month.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/whitehouse/pence-signals-little-progress-china-since-trump-xi-agreement
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Agency Can't Wait out Shutdown to Turn over Docs — Judge
Jan 17, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Jeremy P. Jacobs
A federal judge yesterday sided with environmentalists and said EPA cannot delay releasing more than 20,000 documents because of the government shutdown.
Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled over the holidays that EPA must hand over thousands of documents requested by the Sierra Club under the Freedom of Information Act. They include the calendars and emails of acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler and two dozen other EPA officials.
Laporte gave EPA 10 months to turn over the documents in stages, starting when the shutdown ended (Greenwire, Jan. 8).
But the Sierra Club moved for Laporte to revise her order in light of Wheeler's confirmation hearing this week.
The environmental group argued that, in spite of the shutdown, EPA staff were preparing Wheeler for his hearing and, consequently, their FOIA request should not be further delayed.
Laporte agreed, signing an order directing EPA and the Sierra Club to meet and hash out a schedule for the documents in the next three days.
The Sierra Club has filed four FOIA requests since July 2017. They are looking for emails, calendars, phone logs and sign-in sheets for 25 officials, including former Administrator Scott Pruitt, Wheeler, air chief Bill Wehrum and Nancy Beck, who leads the agency's chemicals office.
EPA argued that the requests were unwieldy and that it lacked resources to fulfill them — an argument Laporte rejected.
EPA's "limited resources," she wrote, "do not relieve it of its statutory obligation to promptly provide requested documents."
Notably, the agency did not take a position on the Sierra Club's request to lift the stay on the order until after the shutdown ends.
The agency only said it is "constrained" by the shutdown, but acknowledged that if the court granted the Sierra Club's request, "appropriate [Justice Department] and EPA personnel will be authorized to meet and confer" regarding processing the FOIA requests.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/17/stories/1060117783
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Protesters Disrupt EPA Confirmation Hearing, Held Despite Shutdown
Jan 16, 2019 | Roll Call
By Katherine Tully-McManus
Two demonstrators were removed Wednesday morning from the confirmation hearing of Andrew Wheeler —President Trump’s pick to lead the EPA.
Protesters in the hallway and hearing room objected to the business in front of the Environment and Public Works Committee, because the EPA remains closed as part of the partial government shutdown. The group of over a dozen protesters included people representing Code Pink and The Moms Clean Air Force, some with strollers and their children in tow.
“Shut down Wheeler, not the EPA,” read signs held by the protesters.
The EPA activated furloughed staff to help acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler prepare for his confirmation hearing. Democrats on the panel wrote to the EPA Jan. 10 saying the decision could violate the agency’s shutdown contingency plan and the Antideficiency Act.
That law prohibits federal agencies from carrying out operations or spending federal funds beyond the amount made available through congressional appropriations, except in the case of emergencies, according to the Government Accountability Office.
“I really must object to this hearing happening during a government shutdown!” a protester yelled in the committee room, standing up just as Wheeler began giving his opening remarks. Wheeler stopped speaking as the protesters chanted.
The two protesters were removed by Capitol Police. Other demonstrators gathered in the hallway outside the hearing room and chanted, “shut down Wheeler, not the EPA.”
http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/protesters-disrupt-epa-confirmation-hearing-held-despite-shutdown
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(ACC Mentioned) PFAs Management Plan Expected from US EPA in 'Very near Future'
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Lisa Martine Jenkins
The EPA will be releasing its per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) management plan in the "very near future", once the federal government reopens.
This insight came at Andrew Wheeler’s contentious nomination hearing before the Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works (EPW) on 16 January. Mr Wheeler has been nominated to be head of the EPA, a position he has held in an acting capacity since July.
Senators Tom Carper (D–Delaware) and Shelley Moore Capito (R–West Virginia) focused much of their questioning on the issue of PFAS, which has loomed large amid mounting concern that they are contaminating drinking water.
The release of a federal management plan for the substances has been delayed since its intended release in autumn 2018, but Mr Wheeler indicated that the wait is soon to end. It is currently in "inter-agency review", and will apparently touch on PFAS in water, at Superfund sites, and in the context of TSCA.
However, Mr Wheeler said the agency’s approach for PFASs – which are used as surfactants and stain repellents – will not include a plan for drinking water limits. And when pressed by Senator Carper to pledge to do so within the next two years, Mr Wheeler said he "cannot make that commitment".A lack of consensus
As acting administrator of the EPA – a position held since former administrator Scott Pruitt stepped down – Mr Wheeler has drawn criticism from Senator Carper and others for his "forgotten promises" and for generally continuing his predecessor’s "extreme" policies.
However, EPW chairman Senator John Barrasso (R–Wyoming) expressed strong support for Mr Wheeler both in the hearing and in a separate statement on the subject. In particular, he applauded Mr Wheeler’s implementing 2016 reforms to TSCA "in an effective and efficient manner".
He also referred to the "broad and bipartisan support" for Mr Wheeler, though it is unclear whether that support will be reflected in the Democrats’ upcoming vote on the latter’s nomination.
Meanwhile, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) said it supports the brisk confirmation of Mr Wheeler, which it said would give the regulated community "more certainty and confidence" in the EPA, especially as related to TSCA implementation.
Members of the environmental NGO community, however, are less enthused.
Clean Water Action and the Environmental Defense Fund are among the groups who have come out in opposition to Mr Wheeler’s nomination, citing his background as a coal industry lobbyist and his support of President Trump’s "anti-environment agenda" as disqualifying him.
A statement by the Environmental Working Group said that Mr Wheeler is "largely ignoring" the updated TSCA, allowing chemicals like asbestos and methylene chloride to remain in use.
And the National Resources Defense Council’s managing director of government affairs, Ana Unruh Cohen, also took issue with Mr Wheeler’s approach to toxic substances.
"His agency’s reviews of new chemicals fail to comply with the law or protect the public," she wrote in an article on the subject.
The date of a full Senate vote on Mr Wheeler’s nomination has not yet been set, though it is anticipated in the coming weeks. Despite Democratic opposition, the Senate’s Republican majority has the numbers to vote him into the role without help from across the aisle.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73437/pfas-management-plan-expected-from-us-epa-in-very-near-future
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(ACC Mentioned) Experts Rally Round EDC Book Aimed at General Public
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
Experts in academia have come out in support of a new book on endocrine disrupting chemicals criticised by industry, praising the research underpinning it.
In Sicker, fatter, poorer: The urgent threat of hormone-disrupting chemicals to our health and future ... and what we can do about it, US scientist Leonardo Trasande, an associate professor at NYU Langone Health, "exposes the chemicals that disrupt our hormonal systems and damage our health in irreparable ways", according to a statement on the publisher’s website.
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), however, was quick to criticise the book. In a statement issued five days before its 8 January release, the industry group attacked the research behind the work for "lacking in scientific quality".
Now, though, a number of leading scientists in the field have leaped to its defence.
"It is an exceptionally well-researched book, that provides both breadth and depth for the reader," said Laura Vandenberg, associate professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. "The citation list is an amazing collection of research that should be read by students, regulators and decision makers."
Responding to ACC claims that research on EDCs has been found to be "lacking in scientific quality, credibility and reliability", Professor Vandenberg said: "Scepticism isn't a bad thing – it is in fact the lifeblood of scientific discourse and progress." But the trade group's criticisms of the book, she said, were "a perfect example of 'manufactured doubt'".
Professor Vandenberg also dismissed as a 'semantics issue' the ACC's criticism of the term ‘hormone-disrupting chemical’, which it characterised as "widely misused and considered by scientists to be a misnomer". According to her, the WHO, the US National Academy of Sciences and Unep "not only agree that endocrine disruptors exist, they also provide thousands of examples from the literature".
David Michaels, professor in the environmental and occupational health department at the George Washington University – and a former assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (Osha) – added that the ACC "might have been able to get away with denying the existence of endocrine disruption 20 years ago, but there is now an extensive scientific literature on the topic, with major research initiatives underway, including one by the US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)."
And Angel Nadal, professor of physiology at Miguel Hernandez University in Spain, and chair of the Endocrine Society’s EDC advisory group, told Chemical Watch the ACC’s comments were not justified.
"Dr Trasande’s work is filling an important gap in the public understanding of EDCs. While many healthcare providers and consumers are aware science has raised concerns about how endocrine disrupting chemicals impact our health, one challenge has been helping consumers determine how to act on this information. Dr Trasande is offering concrete advice to help people reduce exposure in their daily lives."
Sicker, fatter, poorer is available from Boston-based textbook publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73461/experts-rally-round-edc-book-aimed-at-general-public
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Agency Back to Work on Lead Rule
Jan 17, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Ariel Wittenberg and Niina Heikkinen
EPA employees working on lead dust hazard standards are back at the office this week, despite the government shutdown, to ensure the agency can meet a court-ordered deadline.
But the other deadlines for rulemakings included in settlements with environmental groups could be pushed back as many include language allowing delays in the event of a government shutdown.
During his confirmation hearing yesterday, acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler told senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee that staff have "charted out what the court-ordered deadlines" are to figure out which staff have to work unpaid during the shutdown.
"We recalled people this week to work on the lead dust regulation," he said.
On Monday, EPA updated its shutdown contingency plan to expand the number of "excepted" employees working during the shutdown to 891, up from the 812 listed in a plan released last month (Greenwire, Jan. 15).
EPA's press office did not respond to questions about how many of those employees are working on the lead dust hazard standards.
The lead rule, proposed in June 2018, must be finalized by late June of this year. That deadline was set in a decision by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which does not mention the possibility of a government shutdown.
Environmental Defense Fund chemicals policy director Tom Neltner said it's better that staff are working on the actual rule rather than trying to get it delayed.
"I'm glad to see that instead of wasting the resources to go back to the court because of the shutdown, they are actually trying to get it done and meet the deadline," he said.
A court-ordered deadline similarly allowed EPA and Department of Justice staff to work during the shutdown on finalizing a $550 million settlement with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles over cheating on auto emissions tests (Greenwire, Jan. 10).
EDF is among a number of environmental groups that have slammed the lead dust standards rule proposed last June for not adequately protecting human health.
"It's a good step," Neltner said, referring to EPA's efforts to meet the deadline. But he wishes EPA could keep working on regulations for other toxins such perchlorate and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
EPA's work on the lead standards during the shutdown, however, is unusual.
While there are upcoming deadlines for other EPA rulemakings set forth in consent decree agreements with environmental groups, many of those include language allowing for a delay if a government shutdown occurs within 120 days of a deadline. As a result of the court order, the lead dust deadline did not have language calling for a delay in the event of a shutdown.
Such clauses are "pretty standard" in agreements where EPA is a defendant and is required to take an action by a specific deadline, said Eric Schaeffer, former director of civil enforcement at EPA under the Clinton and Bush administrations.
"With a government shutdown, that time doesn't count, you aren't allowed to work," he said.
Brenda Mallory, former principal deputy general counsel at EPA under the Obama administration, recalled discussions about using the clauses following the government shutdown in 2013.
"One of the things we saw was that we had to deal with all these individual case deadlines," Mallory said.
She wasn't aware of how widely the clauses have been implemented since 2013. She noted, however, an advantage of the extension clause is that it gave the agency flexibility and made it a lot easier for EPA to plan ahead for what would happen in a shutdown.
"You don't have to assume you have to bring people in," she said.Perchlorate rule delayed
As a result of the clause, EPA will get an extension on the April 30 deadline to propose drinking water standards for perchlorate.
The agency's consent decree with the Natural Resources Defense Council "recognizes that the possibility exists that circumstance outside the reasonable control of EPA could delay EPA's compliance with the obligations contained in this Consent Decree."
Those circumstances include "a lapse in appropriations by Congress resulting in a government shutdown."
Since the deadline is less than 120 days away, it will automatically be bumped one day for each day the shutdown continues.
The provision also allows EPA to push back deadlines by 14 days in the event a natural disaster affects agency operations.
Mallory said EPA wouldn't have to notify the other party if it was delaying action during a shutdown because it was "an understood part of the process." However, she expected EPA would flag parties in cases where there were significant deadlines pending.
"I believe that clauses such as the one referenced below are prudent under the circumstances of a government shutdown that necessarily delays the completion of regulatory work addressed in a settlement agreement," said Avi Garbow, former EPA general counsel under the Obama administration, in an email.
"That is not to say that it is reasonable, or to be expected in every scenario or agreed-upon deadline. But there are instances where the integrity of the agreed-upon deadlines is deserving of appropriate extensions," he said.
The shutdown language is also present in a consent decree between EPA and the Environmental Integrity Project requiring the agency to review standards for oil and gas production waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by March 15 of this year.
EIP Attorney Adam Kron said he has seen similar language in other consent decrees, but this is the first time such a clause has become relevant to a case he's worked on.
"I've never seen it in effect before, but I guess it's triggered now," he said.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/17/stories/1060117807
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Plan to Manage Toxic 'Teflon' Chemicals Delayed by Shutdown -- EPA Nominee
Jan 17, 2019 | WKMS Murray State's NPR Radio
By Brittany Patterson
During a sometimes contentious confirmation hearing Wednesday on his nomination to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler was pressed by members of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Worksabout the impact of the government shutdown on the agency.
Wheeler noted one casualty of the ongoing partial government shutdown, now in its fourth week, is that a long-awaited long-awaited plan on regulating the PFAS group of chemicals has been delayed.
Fluorinated PFAS chemicals include PFOA, or C-8, which has been detected in several water systems in the Ohio Valley. Some municipalities in Ohio and West Virginia have been dealing with C-8 contamination for decades.
“Our PFAS management plan we were hoping to unveil it next week with the shutdown it’s going to be delayed slightly,” Wheeler told the committee. “It’s in the middle of inter-agency review.”
EPA has previously said the management plan would recommend whether some of these widely-used toxic chemicals used to make non-stick items should be declared “hazardous” under the federal Superfund law.
If the agency takes this step it could gives states more options for cleaning up contamination.
The agency has said it is also considering whether it should set legally enforceable limits for PFAS in drinking water, a move that has garnered bipartisan support.
Ranking Committee Member Tom Carper (D-Del.) pushed Wheeler to commit to the action, as did West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore-Capito (R).
In an exchange, Capito said she “couldn’t tell” from Wheeler’s earlier statements on the PFAS plan if the document would contain drinking water limits.
“We are going to be recommending and moving forward on a number of different areas under a number of different statutes we’re looking at on the water side as well as the CERCLA [Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act], Superfund side and the TSCA [Toxic Substances Control Act] program as well,” he said. “This is going to be, when it comes out, our management plan, a multimedia approach to dealing with PFAS/PFOA.”
“So, that’s a no?” Capito asked.
“I can’t go into the specifics of what’s in the plan because it’s currently in inter-agency review,” Wheeler replied.
Wheeler’s comments come after months of EPA efforts to highlight the issue. Last year, the agency held a nationwide meeting on PFAS contamination and a series of public listening sessions across the country.
Some environmental groups have expressed concern the agency will downplay the issue given the Trump Administration’s goal to roll back many environmental regulations.
Last year, a draft report from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a part of the Centers for Disease Control, was blocked by federal officials.
It found these fluorinated chemicals can endanger human health at levels 7 to 10 times lower than the EPA’s current recommended exposure limits.
The agency’s point person for the PFAS plan, Peter Grevatt, director of EPA’s Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water, retired from the EPA in December.
Climate Questions
Wheeler also faced tough questions from Democrats on his beliefs over climate change and the extent to which, if confirmed, the EPA under his leadership would focus on reducing heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions. Multiple lawmakers pointed to several high-profile rules issued by the agency last year -- including the Affordable Clean Energy Rule and Clean Car Rule -- where EPA’s own analysis shows carbon emissions will increase.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island, questioned the nominee on his relationship with his most recent former employer, coal company Murray Energy.
After leaving the Senate in 2009, Wheeler worked as a lobbyist for at the D.C.-based law firm and lobby shop Faegre Baker Daniels. One of his clients was Murray Energy. During the hearing, Wheeler said for the last four years he worked with Murray Energy he worked exclusively to shore up the pension fund for the United Mine Workers.
Murray has been an outspoken critic of the Obama administration’s EPA and its efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Weeks after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, Murray gave the White House a wish list of environmental rollbacks, many of which have now been completed.
Whitehouse sought more information on Wheeler’s involvement in the so-called “Murray Action Plan,” including whether he sought a meeting with then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt.
“Can you tell me now how many meetings with officials for Bob Murray did you arrange, attempt to arrange or attend and with whom?” Whitehouse asked.
After prodding, Wheeler said two -- a March 2017 meeting with Energy Secretary Rick Perry and one at the White House. He reiterated he had not attended nor set a meeting at EPA to discuss the plan.
The response did not seem to satisfy Whitehouse.
“I don’t want to play ‘gotcha’ with you,” he said. “What I do want is true, factual complete answers from you.”
http://www.wkms.org/post/plan-manage-toxic-teflon-chemicals-delayed-shutdown-epa-nominee#stream/0
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New State Bill Would Limit PFAs Levels to 5 Parts per Trillion in Public Drinking Water
Jan 17, 2019 | Michigan Radio
By Doug Tribou
A new bill in the state Senate would set a limit of 5 parts per trillion for two common PFAS chemicals in drinking water.
PFOA and PFOS are part of a family of chemicals linked to serious health issues – including cancer.
Senator Winnie Brinks introduced the bill. She says research shows the current Environmental Protection Agency advisory level of 70 parts per trillion is too high.
As a representative last year, Brinks proposed a similar version that died in a state House committee.
Brinks talked to Michigan Radio’s Morning Edition host Doug Tribou about why she thinks there's a better chance of the bill passing this year.
http://www.michiganradio.org/post/new-state-bill-would-limit-pfas-levels-5-parts-trillion-public-drinking-water
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Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
Restriction proposals
At the request of the European Commission, Echa has submitted the following three restriction proposals: microplastics when intentionally added to consumer or professional use products of any kind; formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers in mixtures and articles for consumer uses; and octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4), decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5) and dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane (D6) in leave on personal care products and other consumer/professional products containing the substances in concentrations greater than 0.1% shall not be placed on the market. Likewise for wash and rinse off cosmetic products containing D6 in concentrations greater than 0.1%.
The agency's committees are checking the dossiers for conformity, and will publish them on its website on 30 January. Public consultations will start in April if the dossiers pass the checks.
Chesar 3 video tutorial
Echa has produced a step-by-step video tutorial explaining use maps, how to import them into Chesar 3 and use them in chemical safety assessments (CSAs).
The video is available on the agency’s YouTube channel.
CLP introductory guidance updated
The agency has updated its Introductory Guidance on the CLP Regulation. It now incorporates the latest adaptations to technical and scientific progress (ATPs). Outdated information has been deleted. The document is available as a free download on the agency’s website.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73454/echa-round-up
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ECHA Publishes Four Substance Evaluation Conclusions
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
Echa has published substance evaluation conclusions for four chemicals under the Community rolling action plan (Corap).
The Corap list includes substances that EU member states have either evaluated or intend to evaluate at a future date due to specific concerns. It currently contains 352 substances, including 95 for which evaluations have been concluded.
The four substances with newly published evaluation documents, and the member state conclusions are:methyl methacrylate (France): need for follow-up regulatory action, harmonised classification and labelling (CLH); naphthalene (UK): need for follow-up regulatory action (not specified), and other EU-wide measures (update of EU-wide occupational exposure limit); 3,3'-dimethylbiphenyl-4,4'-diyl diisocyanate (France): need for follow-up regulatory action, CLH, restrictions (proposed by Germany), and other EU-wide measures (compliance check, enforcement); and 4,4’-methylenediphenyl diisocyanate (Estonia): no follow-up regulatory action needed.
Methyl methacrylate is a sensitiser commanding wide use and high tonnages, while concerns for naphthalene include exposure of workers.
The chemical 3,3'-dimethylbiphenyl-4,4'-diyl diisocyanate is a suspected carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic CMR substance, and is thought to have persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) qualities.
An indication of potential follow-up regulatory risk management measures in the document does not automatically initiate any process, Echa said.
In some cases, the member state may initiate the relevant formal regulatory process under REACH or CLP, such as CLH, identification of SVHCs, authorisation, or restriction, it said.
However, in some cases, further analysis of the most appropriate regulatory risk management options may first need to be performed by carrying out a regulatory management option analysis (RMOA), it added.
In October last year, Echa published its draft list of 96 substances to be evaluated under Corap for the period 2019-2021.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73481/echa-publishes-four-substance-evaluation-conclusions
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EU Consults on Revised Limits on Formaldehyde, Aluminium in Toys
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission is seeking feedback on specific limit values it is proposing to adopt for formaldehyde in toys.
These are according to toy material: polymeric: 1.5 mg/l (migration limit);resin-bonded wood: 0.1 ml/m3 (emission limit);textile: 30 mg/kg (content limit);leather: 30 mg/kg (content limit);paper: 30 mg/kg (content limit); and water-based 10 mg/kg (content limit).
The Commission is likewise seeking comment on a revised migration limit for aluminium in toys, which will entail changes to Annex II of the toy safety Directive.
The changes protect against exposure to aluminium from toys or their components, due to material that is: dry, brittle, powder-like or pliable;liquid or sticky; and scraped-off.
The feedback period runs for both from 9 January to 6 February. Draft acts are open for comment for four weeks and are taken into account when finalising the measure, the Commission says. Any responses will be published on the website.
The EU notified the WTO of the planned changes in December.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73428/eu-consults-on-revised-limits-on-formaldehyde-aluminium-in-toys
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UK Government Censured for Lack of Brexit Chemicals Preparation
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Luke Buxton
The UK government "appears to have failed" on several counts in its preparations to regulate substances and maintain chemical trade after Brexit, the House of Lords has said.
In a letter to Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) junior minister Thérèse Coffey MP, a House of Lords subcommittee calls Dr Coffey’s response to its November report "vague and insufficient".
The correspondence was sent on 16 January – a day after the UK Parliament vote which shot down Prime Minister Theresa May’s EU withdrawal agreement, igniting concern in the chemicals industry.
The House of Commons report Brexit: chemical regulation warned that unless the government can negotiate continued participation in REACH, chemicals registered by UK companies will not be valid for sale in the EU and the UK will have incomplete safety information about chemicals being used in Britain after Brexit.
Although the government has now developed a "more credible approach for collecting information and identified the body that will be in charge of chemical regulation", according to the House of Lords subcommittee, it has:not taken steps that would have allowed UK chemical businesses to maintain their EU market access;not provided assurance that the database needed to replace the EU chemicals database will be ready in time; andnot set out how chemical risk assessments will take place after Brexit.
In her response on the November report, Dr Coffey outlined the government’s work to prepare for a potential no-deal, and to develop proposals for a negotiated outcome where the UK would continue to participate in Echa.
The joint government programme of work has made "good progress", she said, adding that Whitehall has worked with stakeholders to understand their concerns and to provide information on the work being done.
The government "fully" recognises the economic importance of the sector and "is working to ensure a smooth transition", she said. "The UK is strongly committed to the effective and safe management of chemicals to protect both the public and the environment. That will not change when we leave the EU."Ongoing concerns
Robin Teverson, chair of the subcommittee, said that last year it was "hugely concerned" about the scale of work that needed to be done to maintain adequate chemical regulation in light of Brexit. "Frankly the minister’s response to our report has done little to alleviate our concerns," he said.
"It seems Brexit could leave us without a functioning and populated UK chemicals database, without an independent and transparent process for risk assessments, and without access to the thousands of chemicals produced by EU-led companies."
In its letter to Dr Coffey the subcommittee said it is seeking further details on the government’s preparations, and has requested a response by the end of January.
The subcommittee's criticism is somewhat at odds with a recent conclusion by the Regulatory Policy Committee, which deemed the government's assessment of implementing a UK version of REACH as "fit for purpose".
https://chemicalwatch.com/73469/uk-government-censured-for-lack-of-brexit-chemicals-preparation
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Major Apparel Brands Align Chemical Screening Tools
Jan 17, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
Apparel brands and retailers Levi Strauss, Nike, H&M and C&A have aligned their chemical screening tools to create one "unified approach and platform".
The brands have shared this converged tool with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) programme, which will oversee the effort to develop a holistic approach to screening chemicals used across the textiles sector. The programme is a collaboration of signatory brands, value chain affiliates and associates working towards the elimination of hazardous chemicals.
"This is something we’ve been working towards for many years," says Bart Sights, vice president of technical innovation at Levi Strauss.
"An industry-wide effort is needed to drive change and to reduce the overall environmental impact not only of our companies, but our entire industry," says Mr Sights.
Similar approach
According to the ZDHC, the core elements of the brands' tools are "remarkably similar – both in their approach and ultimate goals".
"This accelerates ZDHC’s long-term strategy to implement a transparent process that promotes better chemistry with a focus on evaluating safer alternatives and driving innovation," it says.
In 2015, the organisation published a roadmap that aims to help signatory brands eliminate the use of certain hazardous chemicals. One of its goals is to implement a "transparent screening process to promote safer chemistry".
A step forwards
The merging of the brands' tools and incorporation into the programme’s existing work, such as its manufacturing restricted substances list (MRSL), is an initial step towards this goal.
"Whilst being aligned with the ZDHC MRSL approach, screened chemistry aims to go much further by recognising that the elimination of hazardous chemicals requires a clear process for identifying and evaluating alternatives to make sure they are less harmful," the ZDHC says.
It adds that these efforts will also require collaboration across stakeholder groups.
"Converging these initiatives and doing so within the ZDHC Roadmap ... facilitates a significantly broader engagement and provides a clearer business case to drive innovation," it says.
The four brands will form the core of the new ZDHC Roadmap to Zero Programme task team and will invite contributors from other brands and partners to drive this work.
More signatories
Last month, five companies joined the ZDHC programme, two of which, Next and Tchibo, have become signatory brands. There are now 27 brands signed up to it.
Also joining as associate organisations were:German laboratory and researcher Hohenstein,as a ‘value chain affiliate’ or solution provider;the Associazione Conciatori, an Italian trade association representing more than 150 companies in the leather tanning sector; and multi-stakeholder organisation, the Partnership for Sustainable Textiles.
Last week, the European Sustainable Market Actors for Responsible Trade (Smart) project released a study,saying the absence of coherent regulation in the EU means that potentially hazardous chemicals are "continuously" being used in all stages of the production process in the textiles industry.
Current EU policies for this sector "often let member states shape the laws and their implementation themselves", which leads to "more use of chemicals and less sustainable waste management", it added.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73451/major-apparel-brands-align-chemical-screening-tools
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(ACC Mentioned) Petrochemical Growth Spurt Expected Despite Rising Desire for Fewer Plastics
Jan 17, 2019 | Pipeline News North
By Dan Healing
Canada's slow-growing petrochemical industry is headed for its biggest surge of expansion spending in five years in 2019, thanks in large part to incentive programs by federal and provincial governments.
The government support has angered environmental groups who point out that almost 90 per cent of plastics used in this country wind up as litter or in landfills.
But it's welcomed by the industry as a necessary factor if Canada is to keep up with its competitors in the United States.
Capital spending on industrial chemical industry projects in Canada this year is expected to jump by 65 per cent to $1.9 billion, the highest since $2.2 billion in 2014 and third-highest in a decade, according to a year-end members survey by the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, which represents producers of 75 per cent of the country's chemical products by value.
Employment is expected to rise by about four per cent or 640 jobs to 17,670.
The growth is coming despite rising concern over single-use plastics. Many jurisdictions are banning plastic straws and grocery bags in reaction to scenes like the great Pacific Ocean floating garbage island between Hawaii and California and dead and dying sea creatures.
"Yes, we need plastics. What we want is to stop wasting plastics," said Keith Brooks, programs director for Environmental Defence, who says voluntary initiatives by industry aren't good enough.
His organization is calling for a national strategy with performance standards and tougher enforcement to get Canada to zero plastic waste by 2025.
Capital spending in Canada this year will come mainly from construction already underway on two projects to turn petrochemicals produced with natural gas into plastic pellets: Inter Pipeline Ltd.'s $3.5-billion polypropylene project in central Alberta and the $2-billion expansion of Nova Chemicals Corp.'s polyethylene plant at Sarnia, Ont.
The former is to receive $200 million in royalty credits under a 2016 Alberta NDP government program — the latter is backed by $100 million through Ontario's Jobs and Prosperity Fund and $35 million from Ottawa's Strategic Investment Fund.
"On a global basis, as all jurisdictions are trying to attract investment, the governments at various levels — federal, state and provincial — play a role," said Nova CEO Todd Karran in an interview.
He said it's always been so — the company's $1-billion polyethylene expansion at its central Alberta complex, opened in 2016, benefited from a multimillion-dollar provincial royalty credit program created by a Progressive Conservative government to spur new sources of ethane to remedy a shortage of feedstock.
Last year, Alberta announced two programs worth $2.1 billion in royalty credits, grants and loans to encourage investments in petrochemical feedstock and manufacturing facilities. Winning bids are expected to be announced soon.
Meanwhile, a final investment decision is expected soon on a $4-billion polypropylene project by a joint venture of Calgary-based Pembina Pipeline Corp. and a subsidiary of Kuwait Petroleum Corp., eligible for $300 million in royalty credits under the 2016 Alberta program.
"Our made-in-Alberta plan means new projects must do the right thing for the environment, and by upgrading more here at home instead of shipping our raw product south of the border, we reduce emissions and ensure Alberta is among the most responsible and lowest emissions petrochemical producers in the world," provincial Energy Minister Marg McCuaig-Boyd said in a statement.
David Chappell, senior vice-president of petrochemical development for Inter Pipeline, wouldn't say if the company has applied for further government funding, but conceded it would be "crazy" not to consider it.
"Even in a low-carbon future, you're going to see huge demand for petrochemicals and that's good for the future of Alberta and the oil and gas industry," he said.
Canadian petrochemical expansions are dwarfed by the activity south of the border.
A total of 333 new U.S. chemical industry projects using shale gas had been announced as of September, according to the American Chemistry Council. Those projects account for US$202 billion in new capital investment and are expected to create 431,000 direct and indirect jobs by 2025.
In both Canada and the U.S., the main driver of growth is an ample and inexpensive supply of natural gas-based feedstocks like methane, ethane and propane that can be transformed into chemical building blocks such as methanol, ammonia, ethylene and propylene, said Stephen Zinger, senior vice-president, chemicals, at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.
Provincial and federal government supports, and Ottawa's recent decision to allow a 100 per cent accelerated capital cost allowance for new investments, are being noticed by investors, said Bob Masterson, CEO of the Chemistry Industry Association of Canada.
"Where for most of the last decade the global chemistry community has just bypassed Canada ... now we're back on the radar. We've got the resource, we've got the people and now we're starting to see the favourable investment conditions at the provincial and federal level," he said.
The Canadian industry is well aware of its environmental reputation.
The CIAC supports a target of 100 per cent of plastics packaging to be either reusable, recyclable or recovered by 2040 (and 100 per cent to be recyclable or recoverable by 2030), although it acknowledges it can't accomplish that without the co-operation of manufacturers, regulators and the general public.
On Wednesday, Nova Chemicals announced it was one of 30 founding members of the international Alliance to End Plastic Waste, which is making a combined initial commitment of US$1 billion to find ways over the next five years to eliminate plastic waste in the environment.
https://www.pipelinenewsnorth.ca/petrochemical-growth-spurt-expected-despite-rising-desire-for-fewer-plastics-1.23603079
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Geopolitical Tremors Mean a Choppy Outlook for Oil in 2019
Jan 17, 2019 | Platts
By Andrew Critchlow
Get used to more scary oil market volatility in 2019. This is the message coming from leading industry strategists and forecasters after a bruising end to last year, when Brent crude dipped below $50/b.
Although the benchmark has recovered along with major global stock markets, forecasters are concerned about the prospects of a sustained rebound. Unpredictable geopolitical upheavals like Brexit and US President Donald Trump’s trade wars are expected to weigh more heavily on sentiment than the fundamentals of supply and demand.
“One of the key lessons learned in 2018, painfully by some, is that market sentiment can shift violently without much change in fundamentals, requiring a steady, holistic perspective,” said Chris Midgley, global head of analytics, S&P Global Platts. “It is clear that this volatility will remain a feature across the energy markets in 2019.”
Global demand is becoming harder to predict. The world consumed on average a record 100 million barrels per day of crude in 2018 but the positive outlook is being clouded by weaker economic growth. The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), in its final market report of the year, kept its demand growth figure unchanged at 1.4 million b/d, blaming a weakening economy for offsetting the otherwise positive environment for oil consumption caused by weaker prices.
Meanwhile, stockpiles of unwanted crude linger in tanks around the world. Inventories in OECD industrialized economies continued to build in October for a fourth consecutive month by 5.7 million barrels to an ocean of almost 2.9 billion barrels, according to the IEA. The build sent stockpiles above their five-year average for the first time since March.
“Fundamentals in the oil market look bleak, with slowing economic growth and weaker-than-expected demand pushing the market firmly into bear territory,” said Ashley Kelty oil and gas research analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald Europe.
On the supply side, there is also little cause for certainty. Forced on the defensive, OPEC and its allies led by Russia are cutting output by a combined 1.2 million b/d. However, delivering on their pledges may be hard to achieve given the tough economic conditions many members now face.
Saudi Arabia – the world’s largest exporter – requires prices to trade above $80/b to balance its bloated state budget. The kingdom remains locked in a bitter cycle of dependence on oil rents despite repeated efforts to diversify its one-dimensional economic model. Riyadh shaved over 400,000 b/d off the country’s production last month in a bid to jolt some life back into prices, according to the latest Platts OPEC production survey.
However, OPEC’s discipline and success still depends on the continued co-operation of Russia.
The Kremlin has cautioned against the alliance – which controls 40% of the world’s supplies – from making any hasty decisions in response to crude’s rout. However, after years of falling back on their foreign currency reserves to support their economies, few producers in the Gulf region have much financial room to maneuver.
Complicating their task further are US producers whose success has undermined the cartel’s power in oil markets. US crude production is forecast to bust through 12 million b/d in 2019 despite lower prices forcing some operators to cut capital expenditure budgets and rig counts beginning to ease.
The number of active permits to drill – which indicates the strength of future activity – end the year at their highest level since 2013. The big question is how long can US output continue to grow and remain economic for operators? OPEC’s tried to answer the question in 2014 when, led by Riyadh, it launched a poorly executed price war to slow down its booming North American rivals. But the tactic failed spectacularly.
Nevertheless, some analysts have started to question the resilience of US producers – many laden with debt and facing rising operating costs – to continue competing and growing at current price levels.
“If prices remain at these levels for a sustained period, North American producers are likely to begin curbing investment and production growth. That said, the Saudis, the backbone of OPEC+, are already leading by example and have already scaled back their exports this month. We expect improving oil inventory dynamics – primarily in the US – to support oil prices over the coming months,” wrote Giovanni Staunovo, oil analyst at investment bank UBS.
Disruptions to supply are more likely to come from more exotic locations. Venezuela’s oil industry is on its knees and the country’s oil minister Manuel Quevedo – a former brigadier general – will take over OPEC’s rotating presidency in 2019.
The South American producer pumped 1.17 million b/d in December, according to the latest Platts OPEC production survey, down 630,000 b/d year-on-year. Elsewhere, the political situation in Libya remains combustible with the threats to its oil infrastructure from rogue militias a regular ongoing occurrence. Of course less oil from either Venezuela and Libya flowing onto markets could be a short-term blessing for prices but it also could be a sign more frightening volatility is ahead.
This article was previously published as a column in The Telegraph
https://blogs.platts.com/2019/01/17/geopolitical-tremors-choppy-outlook-oil-2019/
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From Greenspan to Yellen, Economic Brain Trust Backs Carbon Tax
Jan 17, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Jennifer A. Dlouhy
An all-star lineup of economists, from Alan Greenspan to Paul Volcker, is endorsing a plan to combat climate change by slapping a tax on greenhouse gas emissions and then distributing the revenue to American households.
All living former Federal Reserve chairs, several Nobel Prize winners and previous leaders of the president’s Council of Economic Advisers have signed on to a statement asserting that a robust, gradually rising carbon tax is “the most cost-effective lever to reduce carbon emissions at the scale and speed that is necessary.”
“A carbon tax will send a powerful price signal that harnesses the invisible hand of the marketplace to steer economic actors towards a low-carbon future,” the 45 economists say in the opinion piece, published by the Wall Street Journal late Jan. 16.
The missive is a rare case of the economic establishment speaking with a single voice on a pressing social issue, albeit one that faces political challenges from conservatives, Republicans, and the current White House. The signers include economists who have served every president going back to Jimmy Carter.
“This is one of the few ideas of economic policy that commands broad, bipartisan support,” former Harvard University President and U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said in an interview. “Nowadays on economic policy, we don’t see much of that.”
Other signers include former Fed Chairmen Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke as well as former White House economic advisers Austan Goolsbee and Christina Romer.
Backed by Energy CompaniesThe economists’ endorsement could deliver momentum to a carbon tax-and-dividend plan devised by two former secretaries of state—James Baker and George P. Shultz—that has already drawn financial support from Exxon Mobil Corp., ConocoPhillips, and Exelon Corp.
Pressure is already mounting in Congress to take aim at climate change, following dire warnings about the growing consequences from a United Nations panel and the U.S. government. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, has promised the chamber will take up climate legislation. And some Democrats, led by freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, are advancing a so-called Green New Deal that calls for phasing out fossil fuels by 2030.
That effort may not get far in the current political dynamic, with Republicans controlling the Senate and the White House. President Donald Trump said he opposed taxing greenhouse gas emissions while campaigning for the White House. And House Republicans voted in July to condemn the very idea of a carbon tax as “detrimental” to the U.S. economy, with only six Republicans breaking ranks to vote against the measure.
Advocates of the proposal say they are trying to build momentum for action two years from now.
Rebates Keep it Revenue NeutralThe economists’ statement includes proclamations that could have broad appeal to Republicans. For instance, the group highlights the importance of keeping the tax “revenue neutral” by giving rebates to all Americans, a tactic the economists say will “avoid debates over the size of government.” They also tout the promise that by replacing inefficient “cumbersome regulations” with a carbon tax, the government can “promote economic growth and provide the regulatory certainty companies need for long-term investment in clean-energy alternatives.”
“This is a turning point in Republican climate policy, where the GOP economic brain trust unites behind the Baker-Shultz carbon dividends plan,” said Republican Trent Lott, the former Senate majority leader helping push the proposal.
Many economists have favored a carbon tax as the most effective strategy for discouraging greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change. But the economists now are going further by stressing that the revenue should be rebated to citizens, instead of being used to reduce the deficit, fund government, or pare income taxes.
“For the first time, there’s consensus among economists on what to do with the money, and the answer is to give it back to the American people,” said Ted Halstead, head of the Climate Leadership Council backing the plan.
That approach is key to ensuring it is a progressive tax that ends up helping the poor, instead of just hiking their energy bills. The premise is that periodic dividend checks could more than make up for the hike in costs for poor- and middle-income Americans.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/from-greenspan-to-yellen-economic-brain-trust-backs-carbon-tax
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Former Federal Reserve Chairs, Economists, Back Carbon Tax
Jan 17, 2019 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Four former Federal Reserve chairs from both parties joined with a group of leading economists in endorsing a plan to tax carbon dioxide emissions and return the funds to taxpayers.
Janet Yellen, Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan and Paul Volcker, along with dozens of former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers and Nobel Laureate economists signed into an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday evening laying out principles for a carbon “dividend” plan that they would support.
“By correcting a well-known market failure, a carbon tax will send a powerful price signal that harnesses the invisible hand of the marketplace to steer economic actors towards a low-carbon future,” they wrote.
“To maximize the fairness and political viability of a rising carbon tax, all the revenue should be returned directly to U.S. citizens through equal lump-sum rebates,” the piece continued.
The tax should increase annually until carbon emissions fall to a desirable level, they said.
The piece was organized by the Climate Leadership Council, a group formed in 2017 to push a carbon tax and dividend plan.
The plan’s most prominent supporters are former Republican Secretaries of State James Baker and George Shultz. But it also has the backing of big businesses, oil companies and prominent former Republican politicians, among others.
The group is trying to get GOP lawmakers onboard with its climate plan. Republicans in recent years have generally opposed proposals to punish carbon emitters, arguing that it would be too costly and hamper economic growth.
In a statement to The Hill, Baker said the economists’ opinion piece is a significant step forward for the carbon tax plan.
“As this statement by our nation’s leading economists highlights, America can address climate change while reducing regulations, protecting our companies’ international competitiveness and helping the majority of American families get ahead,” said Baker, who served under President Ronald Reagan.
“Our carbon dividends plan is the climate solution where all sides win.”
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/425841-former-federal-reserve-chairs-economists-back-carbon-tax
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Democrats Eye Early Affirmation of Paris Accord in Climate Push
Jan 17, 2019 | PoliticoPro
By Eric Wolff, Anthony Adragna and Zack Colman
House Democrats eager to rebuke President Donald Trump's record on climate change may start with a resolution endorsing the Paris climate agreement, according to lawmakers discussing the plan.
Young activists and new members like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) have given climate change new prominence that they hope will persist through next year's presidential campaign, but Democrats remain divided on the best approach to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions driving it. The Paris deal enjoys virtually universal support among Democrats, giving party leaders an area of common ground to begin fleshing out their agenda.
"We’re just saying, what’s something we can do right now to help try to protect the environment in the short term? And that might be one of those things that we can do to show the world that the president’s idea about climate change is not the American people or Congress’ idea," Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chair Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) told POLITICO.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) pitched the idea of a pro-Paris resolution on Tuesday during a meeting of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.
"I feel a lot of urgency to this. I think it’s important that this message is sent to the international community as soon as possible," Huffman told POLITICO in an interview. "I feel like this should be one of the first bills passed out of the House of Representatives."
Multiple attendees said there was warm support for Huffman's proposal, which he said would be a clean statement the U.S. should remain in the Paris accord.
“It seemed like there was support for that and that it could be broader than the progressive caucus, but certainly something the progressive caucus could lead on," said Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the group's other co-chair.
Huffman said he'd had informal conversations with House leadership about when the measure would come to the floor. He also said he secured a Republican co-sponsor for the forthcoming resolution on the House floor Wednesday evening, but declined to identify that person.
The U.S. committed to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent from 2005 levels by 2025, but President Donald Trump said a few months after taking office that he would exit the Paris agreement, and he has worked to weaken or revoke Obama-era rules designed to achieve that target.
The Paris deal has broad support among all factions of House Democrats, and several lawmakers predicted that some Republicans would vote to support it as well.
"I think it should be a high priority for us," said Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), a member of the New Democrat Coalition, a group of moderate Democrats. "The United States has an interest in helping the rest of the world get right on climate change in addition to getting right ourselves."
Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) also endorsed the Paris deal, although he declined to address what plans were being made.
“Without commenting on the resolution, let me just say that I’m totally supportive of efforts to reaffirm Paris,” Pallone told POLITICO.
Democrats and their allies stress that a Paris resolution would only be a first step. Committee chairs and party leaders have been meeting with several prominent environmental groups in recent weeks to sketch out their broader legislative strategy.
"This is not the only thing we should do by any measure. But this is a great starting point," Huffman said. "No one should confuse this as in lieu of other, more substantive things."
Christy Goldfuss, senior vice president of energy and environment policy with the Center for American Progress, has participated or was briefed on the meetings, and she credited the energy from Ocasio-Cortez and the young activists with getting Democrats to raise their ambitions towards climate action.
"Now that conversation is about at-scale climate policy," said Goldfuss, who previously led the Council of Environmental Quality in the Obama administration. "Democrats in the House feel pressure to be more ambitious than what they otherwise would have been."
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/article/2019/01/democrats-eye-early-affirmation-of-paris-accord-in-climate-push-1091468
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Climate Activists Push Green New Deal at Schumer's Office
Jan 17, 2019 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Anthony Adragna
Around 100 youth climate activists this morning stormed the Senate office of Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, demanding Democrats ramp up their efforts to tackle climate change.
The protest is the latest action by youth activists directed at senior Democratic lawmakers' offices. Other protests have targeted Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Energy and Commerce Chairman Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) in bids to push them to support the Green New Deal and other ambitious climate policies.
Activists at today's protest, which was organized by 350.org, displayed a large banner that read “Dear Dems, What’s Your Plan? Step Up or Step Aside,” and they called on Democrats to take aggressive action to fight climate change. The protesters said they'd been inspired by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (D-N.Y.) campaign for a Green New Deal that calls for quickly transitioning the U.S. to clean power, upgrading the nation's buildings and guaranteeing jobs for workers.
Schumer, who as head of the Senate's minority party does not have the power to set the chamber's agenda, wrote in a December op-ed that climate change policies would have to factor into any infrastructure package to earn Democratic support.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard/2019/01/climate-activists-push-green-new-deal-at-schumers-office-2515034
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