Preview Newsletter
PM ACC Clips Report - January 21, 2019
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(ACC Mentioned) Will the Arkema Indictments Change the Way Houston Chemical Companies Operate?
Jan 20, 2019 | Houstonia
By Dianna Wray
Texas is a place where chemical companies tend to get away with, well, everything. Serious environmental spills usually warrant only a slap on the wrist, and accidents that lead to injury—even death—are often punished by fines... -
Trump Taps Silicon Valley Veteran for State Energy Post
Jan 21, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk
President Trump has nominated Keith Krach, a businessman with a long resume in Silicon Valley, to oversee the State Department's energy and environmental operations. Krach, the current chairman and former CEO of DocuSign, was... -
One of EPA's Founding Fathers Dies
Jan 21, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Kevin Bogardus
Douglas Costle, who served as EPA administrator during the Carter administration, died last week. He died Jan. 13 in his home in McLean, Va., because of complications from prior strokes, his wife, Betsy, told E&E News. Costle not only... -
Ecolabel Rules on Hazardous Chemicals in Paper Enter into Force
Jan 21, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has established a new set of Ecolabel criteria for graphic paper and tissue paper products that ban the use of hazardous chemicals and reduce emissions from their manufacturing. The new rules, effective... -
Does Your Phone Harbour Toxic Chemicals?
Jan 20, 2019 | The Varsity
By Javiera Gutierrez Duran
A recent study determined that organophosphate esters (OPEs) — chemicals commonly used as flame retardants and plasticizers — could be on electronic devices. According to Professor Miriam Diamond from U of T’s Department of... -
Enviros Granted Legal Status to Fight Proposed LNG Project at Port of Brownsville
Jan 21, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Sergio Chapa
Federal regulators have granted environmental activists legal status to challenge Texas LNG, one of three liquefied natural gas projects proposed at the Port of Brownsville. In a Friday notice, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission... -
Why Infrastructure Must be a Top Priority for the New Congress
Jan 18, 2019 | Real Clear Energy
By Albert Wynn
Last year was a year characterized by partisanship from both the right and the left. After Democrats took the House during the midterm elections, there’s been buzz that both sides might unite on at least one issue next year... -
North Carolina Dot Obtains Federal, State Grants for Locomotive Upgrades
Jan 21, 2019 | Progressive Railroading
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) late last week announced a recently awarded federal grant that will help its rail division continue to boost safety along the Piedmont Corridor. The Federal Railroad... -
EPA Keeps Certain Industry Toxics Standards Unchanged
Jan 21, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
EPA has quietly completed court-ordered reviews of air toxics standards for a variety of industries, opting in all cases to make only minor changes, according to final rules signed last month by acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler. -
Court Backs Calif.'s Fuel Standard, Again
Jan 21, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Jeremy P. Jacobs
A federal appeals court on Friday again rejected a broad constitutional challenge to California's climate change regime for transportation fuels. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied another bid to undermine the state's low... -
Air Pollution Puts City Residents in Bad Mood, Study Suggests
Jan 21, 2019 | Independent
By Josh Gabbatiss
The dense cloud of pollution choking cities around the world may be impacting the mood as well as the health of urban populations. A new study conducted in China found a clear association between low levels of happiness...
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(ACC Mentioned) Will the Arkema Indictments Change the Way Houston Chemical Companies Operate?
Jan 20, 2019 | Houstonia
By Dianna Wray
Texas is a place where chemical companies tend to get away with, well, everything. Serious environmental spills usually warrant only a slap on the wrist, and accidents that lead to injury—even death—are often punished by fines that amount to mere pocket change for most companies.
So last August, environmentalists and industry types alike were shocked when a Harris County grand jury indicted chemical company Arkema North America, its CEO, Richard Rowe, and plant manager Leslie Comardelle for the “reckless” release of toxic chemicals at Arkema’s Crosby outpost during Hurricane Harvey.
“It doesn’t happen very often around here, but then, Kim Ogg is a different kind of district attorney than we’ve had before,” says longtime Houston environmental lawyer Jim Blackburn. “She’s making a point.”
While Arkema itself only faces fines of up to $1 million for allegedly violating the Texas Water Code, Rowe and Comardelle each could receive up to five years in prison. And the case, which is expected to go to trial during the first part of this year, could have massive implications.
“This is one of the first cases where a facility owner, operator, and its CEO are being personally held accountable,” says Tracy Hester, an environmental law professor at UH. “Certain things are an act of God. Getting struck by lightning is an act of God. But failing to put up a lightning rod is on you. The Harris County DA’s office seems to be saying that Arkema should have anticipated this happening and didn’t.”
Rusty Hardin, the famed Houston defense attorney representing the company, contends that no one should be blamed. “It would set an ominous precedent if a company could be held criminally liable for impact suffered as a result of the historic flooding of Hurricane Harvey that no one, including Harris County itself, was prepared for,” he said in a statement shortly after the indictments were handed down, a stance echoed by Arkema and the American Chemistry Council.
Technically the Arkema facility was following all the rules when Harvey rolled in on August 25, 2017. The France-based company had met requirements for handling large quantities of organic peroxide—a highly volatile chemical that must be kept very cold to avoid instability and spontaneous combustion—including having backup generators in case the power went out, and fuel-tank-powered, refrigerated trailers in case the generators broke down.
But Arkema had failed to address a key problem: Its main power transformers, emergency generators, and backup system were all placed too low to the ground. As a result, each component flooded, according to a report issued by the federal Chemical Safety Board.
And so, over a period of days, the organic peroxide burned, spouting plumes of thick black smoke laced with acetone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and other chemicals, sickening more than two dozen first responders and residents in the area, according to multiple civil lawsuits. Ogg opened a criminal investigation within weeks of the explosions. “Companies should be on notice,” she stated at the time, “that we care when they pollute our air, our water, our environment.”
However the case plays out, a lot of people will be watching. “If the court rules these things are acts of God, that will take us one direction,” says Blackburn. “But if they rule the other way, companies will have to step up and take this seriously.”
Arkema’s Muddy History
-1960: Total, Arkema’s former parent company, purchases property in Crosby, about 30 miles southeast of Houston, and constructs a chemical plant over the next decade.
-1994: The facility floods during Hurricane Rosa.
-1996: A Harris County judge orders the plant to alert residents within a mile of the facility when possible dangers arise, two years after a 5-year-old girl is burned by a sulfuric acid release.2001: The facility floods during Tropical Storm Allison.
-2004: Total restructures its chemical business, creating Arkema.
-2007: FEMA’s new flood-insurance rate map shows that the entire Crosby site sits on a floodplain.2015: Arkema floods during an unnamed storm.
-Sept. 2016: Arkema’s then-insurer, FM Global, warns about flood risks at the property.Feb. 2017: The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fines Arkema $91,724 for violations regarding general safety and maintenance.
-Aug. 24, 2017: Hurricane Harvey is projected to hit the Texas Gulf Coast.
-Aug. 25: 2017: Arkema shuts down and prepares.Aug. 28, 2017: The plant begins to flood and lose power. The ride-out crew starts moving organic peroxide to 9 refrigerated trailers on the property.
-Aug. 29, 2017: Backup generators and fuel tanks powering the 9 trailers fail because of flooding, and the skeleton crew is evacuated. Local, state, and national law enforcement evacuate residents in the 1.5-mile radius surrounding the plant.
-Aug. 31, 2017: The first container erupts into flames. Two more trailers catch fire in the following days.
-Sept. 3, 2017: The HPD bomb squad does a controlled burn, destroying the remaining trailers.
-Sept. 29, 2017: The Harris County DA’s Office opens a criminal investigation into the plant.
-Aug. 3, 2018: A Harris County grand jury indicts Arkema North America, its CEO, and a facility manager for “reckless” release of toxic chemicals during Harvey.
Source: The Chemical Safety Board Report
https://www.houstoniamag.com/articles/2018/12/31/arkema-north-america-richard-rowe-leslie-comardelle-hurricane-harvey-crosby-criminal-trial
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Trump Taps Silicon Valley Veteran for State Energy Post
Jan 21, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk
President Trump has nominated Keith Krach, a businessman with a long resume in Silicon Valley, to oversee the State Department's energy and environmental operations.
Krach, the current chairman and former CEO of DocuSign, was tapped for undersecretary of State for economic growth, energy and the environment.
If confirmed, Krach would oversee a wide range of economic policy offices, including the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, the State Department's lead on international conservation efforts and climate change.
The administration has enthusiastically pulled back from global efforts to combat global warming, and Krach's jurisdiction would include the office that handles U.S. participation in United Nations climate talks and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Also under Krach's watch would be the Bureau of Energy Resources, currently led by Frank Fannon, who formerly worked in the oil industry and as a staffer for Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) on the Environment and Public Works Committee.
The office handles everything from sanctions and clean energy technology to permitting cross-border pipelines. It also plays a role in advancing the Trump administrations "all of the above" energy strategy abroad.
Krach is currently at DocuSign, which provides electronic signature services, but he also co-founded Ariba, now SAP Ariba, an information technology and software company.
He has also served as chairman of the board at Angie's List and was the youngest-ever vice president at General Motors Co. at 26, according to a bio on his website.
Krach holds a degree in engineering from Purdue University and a Master of Business Administration from Harvard University.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/21/stories/1060117985
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One of EPA's Founding Fathers Dies
Jan 21, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Kevin Bogardus
Douglas Costle, who served as EPA administrator during the Carter administration, died last week.
He died Jan. 13 in his home in McLean, Va., because of complications from prior strokes, his wife, Betsy, told E&E News.
Costle not only led EPA, but he helped create it. As a senior staff associate for President Nixon's advisory council on reorganizing the executive branch, known as the Ash Council, he led the study that recommended founding the agency.
Nixon would create EPA by executive order in December 1970 and chose Bill Ruckelshaus as its first administrator. Yet Costle would remain involved with the agency in its early years.
"He and Ruckelshaus became great friends, and Bill would consult with him frequently. In fact, in that first decade of the agency, the cooperative spirit that defined the relations between all the administrators of the agency was born," said Phil Angell, who then served as an EPA special assistant to Ruckelshaus.
In 1977, President Carter nominated Costle, then 37 years old, to serve as his EPA administrator. He was unanimously confirmed by the Senate, according to an agency press release.
"As administrator, he had the rare good fortune of designing the vehicle and then driving it. That must have been very satisfying," said William Reilly, who was EPA administrator under President George H.W. Bush.
Along with working on the Ash Council, Costle had prior federal government experience as a trial attorney for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division and then an attorney for the Commerce Department's Economic Development Administration. A Harvard University graduate, Costle earned his law degree from the University of Chicago.
He also spent time in private law practice and worked in state government. From 1972 to 1975, Costle was deputy commissioner and then commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection.
Costle knew how government functioned and how to manage it. Chuck Elkins served as his deputy when Costle worked on the Ash Council.
"While the programs that make up EPA now seem 'obvious,' they were not obvious in 1970, and Doug was creative and forward-looking in determining what the components of 'environmental protection' should be part of the new EPA and which should stay back in their home departments," said Elkins, now executive director of the EPA Alumni Association.Defining moments
Once at EPA, Costle was at the helm during some of the country's defining environmental disasters, like the dumping of chemical waste in Love Canal, N.Y.
He also battled with industry titans in automobiles and steel and had to implement some of EPA's trademark but then relatively new environmental laws, like the Toxic Substances Control Act and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Bill Drayton, who served as an EPA assistant administrator under Costle, said the Carter-era chief helped usher in a new era at the agency in which it began to look at toxic waste, chemicals and metals.
"It was a huge public education job," Drayton said. "Doug was at the heart of that."
Angell said, "At EPA, Doug presided over a big part of the creation of the legal architecture that defines how we protect public health and the environment."
He added, "On his watch, he had to manage the implementation of TSCA and RCRA and to guide the passage of the Superfund law. After sitting through a daylong briefing on RCRA, he summarized it by calling the law 'cradle to grave' management of hazardous substances. That turn of phrase still defines the law today."Love Canal
The Love Canal disaster led to the creation of EPA's Superfund program that manages and cleans up toxic waste sites across the country, which Carter signed into law.
Costle discussed at length EPA's response in an oral history interview for the agency.
"I think it did a lot to force us all — the Agency, the environmental community, business and industry — to mature in our perspective of what many environmental problems are all about. There was a legacy out there," Costle said.
"What is much harder to understand is the ubiquitous presence of toxins in the environment, where you don't know what the long-term health effects or the mechanisms are."
Hugh Kaufman, a prominent EPA whistleblower who has been with the agency since 1971, said Costle was "a very civilized statesman and gentleman."
"Science and common sense drove EPA back then," Kaufman said. "A wonderful time to work for the government to help solve problems, as opposed to promoting political dogmas and helping the financial interests of a chosen few super-rich industrialists."Life and rise
Costle was born July 27, 1939, in Long Beach, Calif., but would grow up in the Pacific Northwest. In his oral history interview, Costle remembered fishing near Mount St. Helens, at Spirit Lake in Washington state.
"Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, you almost took for granted that the air would remain clean and the water fishable and swimmable — the goals stated in the '70 Clean Air Act and the '72 Clean Water Act," Costle said.
Costle left EPA after Carter lost his re-election bid. But he would remain active in the environmental and public policy arena.
He was dean of the Vermont Law School from 1987 to 1991. He also helped found the Institute for Sustainable Communities with Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin (D) to build and support environmental work around the world.
In 1994, Costle ran for elected office but lost in the Vermont Democratic primary for the Senate.
"Just imagine what he would have been if he had made it to the Senate. He was so skilled. He would have been in the Al Gore, Bill Bradley league," said Drayton, now CEO and chairman of Ashoka, a global network of social entrepreneurs. "His intelligence really went beyond any one specific area."
Costle was also one of several former EPA administrators who signed onto a brief for Massachusetts v. EPA, the landmark Supreme Court case that paved the way for EPA's regulations on greenhouse gas emissions.
Costle was hampered by illness in later life. He had a stroke in 1999 and another in 2014, his wife, Betsy, said. He lost his ability to speak and used a wheelchair.
Still, the two attended EPA alumni dinners and other social events where Costle managed to remain part of the conversation.
"Of course, he couldn't speak, that faculty struck down by his stroke. But he understood everything, and his face reflected that," Angell said.
"And he tried so hard, in his limited way, to be part of any discussion," Angell said. "How hard it must have been to be walled off from an issue he cared so deeply about, yet I never saw him show that pain in public."
Reilly said, "I admired the public servant, and I also admired the man and the way he bore his impairment."
Friends and former colleagues recalled Costle's warmth and humor. Marlin Fitzwater, then director of EPA's press office, and Costle, as administrator, would become friends.
"He once took me on a ski trip, introducing me to the black ski trails. As a beginner, I sped down the mountain and passed him going about 80 mph. I was scared and thought, 'Doug Costle will not let me die on this mountain,'" said Fitzwater, who later served as White House press secretary under Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush.
"As I sped past, I heard him shouting, 'Fall, Marlin. Fall.' I did, and lived to tell the story."
Costle is survived by his wife; his two children, Douglas Jr. and Caroline; and three grandchildren.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/21/stories/1060117999
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Ecolabel Rules on Hazardous Chemicals in Paper Enter into Force
Jan 21, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has established a new set of Ecolabel criteria for graphic paper and tissue paper products that ban the use of hazardous chemicals and reduce emissions from their manufacturing.
The new rules, effective from 11 January, forbid the use of substances of very high concern (SVHC) and a range of other harmful chemicals classified under the CLP Regulation, and will remain valid until the end of 2024, according to a Commission Decision.
The criteria also ban metal-based pigments and dyes in paper products. They apply to the following:graphic paper: sheets or reels of not converted, unprinted blank paper or board, whether plain or coloured, made from pulp and fit to be used for writing, printing or conversion purposes;tissue paper: sheets or reels of not converted tissue paper for conversion into tissue products listed below; andtissue products: fit for use for personal hygiene, absorption of liquids or the cleaning of surfaces, or for a combination of those purposes. They include handkerchiefs, toilet tissues, facial tissues, kitchen or household towels, hand towels, table napkins, mats and industrial wipes.
The product group graphic paper merges two previous Ecolabel groups – 'copying and graphic paper’ and ‘newsprint paper’. The new definition also removes the weight limit and includes a wider variety of paper with higher rigidity.
A clearer distinction is also made between tissue paper and tissue products in line with an ISO standard.
To allow for a transition, producers should be able to submit applications based on either the new or the old criteria "for a limited period", according to the Decision. But products bearing the label on the basis of the old criteria should not be permitted after the end of 2019, it said.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73530/ecolabel-rules-on-hazardous-chemicals-in-paper-enter-into-force
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Does Your Phone Harbour Toxic Chemicals?
Jan 20, 2019 | The Varsity
By Javiera Gutierrez Duran
A recent study determined that organophosphate esters (OPEs) — chemicals commonly used as flame retardants and plasticizers — could be on electronic devices.
According to Professor Miriam Diamond from U of T’s Department of Earth Sciences and her co-authors, there is a correlation between the levels of OPEs on cell phones and OPEs detected in women’s urine samples. Previous studies indicated that indoor air and dust contained a high level of OPEs.
The researchers also observed a correlation between the OPEs on women’s hands and in their urine samples, as well as in the dust found in their homes.
“Flame retardants are added to many products like electronic products, anything that heats up, anything with a plug,” said Diamond. OPEs are also used as plasticizers, which, along with flame retardants, can migrate out of an item over time. This means that OPEs can be found virtually anywhere.
The research suggests that touching different handheld devices — which are generally unclean — could transfer OPEs between them.
“If you lower [the concentration of OPEs] on your cell phone, presumably you lower what’s on your hands. You wash your hands; people seldom wash their cell phones. It’s a practical way to reduce your exposure.”
Diamond said that the next step is to investigate the toxicity of different OPEs that would affect human health. OPEs are already believed to act as endocrine disruptors.
Diamond explained that slight alterations in the thyroid of pregnant women, especially in the third trimester, could alter the brain of the fetus, which could lead to subtle neurobehavioral effects.
“A study was found showing the relationship between kids’ levels of some of these organophosphate esters and externalizing behaviour — as in kids that acted out, kids with more ADHD and a lot of activity, who don’t pick up the social cues quite as well.”
Not all OPEs behave the same. For example, one OPE that is often used in items like floor waxes is less toxic compared to other OPEs.
But Diamond explained that replacing high toxicity OPEs with low toxicity OPEs is difficult because “different chemicals which have different properties and compatibilities” are needed.
One way to reduce OPE exposure, other than cleaning your phone, is to reduce electronics use. Products in which OPEs are found are not labelled as such, but they are known to be in electronic products. And while this could be a difficult practice to adopt, Diamond explained that reducing electronic use has “good co-benefits.”
For instance, modern kitchens feature many electronic devices.
But having a kitchen filled with electronic devices is an “immediate way of how you can choose to live life with so-called convenience — but we pay a price for the convenience,” said Diamond.
While materials that contain flame retardants can be recycled and made into new products, there are consequences to that as well.
Diamond’s team is currently testing black plastic kitchen spoons that were found to contain bromine, a sign of flame retardants. This signal indicates that the material the spoons are made out of may have been previously used in computer casing or casing for other electronic devices.
https://thevarsity.ca/2019/01/20/does-your-phone-harbour-toxic-chemicals/
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Enviros Granted Legal Status to Fight Proposed LNG Project at Port of Brownsville
Jan 21, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Sergio Chapa
Federal regulators have granted environmental activists legal status to challenge Texas LNG, one of three liquefied natural gas projects proposed at the Port of Brownsville.
In a Friday notice, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Deputy Secretary Nathaniel Davis granted Save RGV From LNG a motion to intervene in a permit application filed
"SaveRGV states that it has an interest in the proceeding because SaveRGV and its members have environmental, aesthetic, and economic interests that will be directly affected by the project," Davis wrote in the notice. "SaveRGV's motion is unopposed."
Texas LNG is a privately held company seeking FERC approval to build a liquefaction plant at the Port of Brownsville capable of producing 2 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas per year and export it to customers in Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Under federal law, individuals and organization granted motion to intervene status have the right to request rehearings of FERC orders and can file legal challenges to them in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Texas LNG officials could not immediately be reached for comment but Marta Elena Peña with Save RGV From LNG issued a statement. The group is a coalition of shrimpers, fishermen, environmentalists and community groups opposing three LNG projects proposed at the Port of Brownsville.
"The significance of Save RGV From LNG being granted intervenor status by the FERC goes beyond our group being able to appeal the commission, should it come to that point," Peña said in her statement.
FERC officials are expected to release their final environmental impact statement for Texas LNG's application in March. A final permit decision is expected in June.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Enviros-granted-legal-status-to-fight-proposed-13548942.php
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Why Infrastructure Must be a Top Priority for the New Congress
Jan 18, 2019 | Real Clear Energy
By Albert Wynn
Last year was a year characterized by partisanship from both the right and the left. After Democrats took the House during the midterm elections, there’s been buzz that both sides might unite on at least one issue next year: infrastructure.
House Democrats are already pushing for a bill in 2019, according to Reuters, and President Trump suggests an infrastructure deal is possible. The American people need bipartisan legislation now more than ever to repair our nation’s crumbling roads, rickety bridges, congested airports, and outdated energy corridors. The next Congress should make infrastructure, with a focus on encouraging private investment, its first priority. Our nation’s safety and economy depend on it.
There’s no question our nation’s infrastructure is in poor shape. The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) gave America a D+ on its 2017 infrastructure report card. This year, the World Economic Forum ranked America behind countries such as Germany, Japan, Korea, Netherlands, France, and Switzerland for quality of infrastructure. Over the last two years especially, our nation has taken a beating from extreme weather conditions—hurricanes in the east and record-breaking wildfires in the west. Our infrastructure is in such bad form that bridges and dams are collapsing, water main breaks are a common occurrence, subway systems are faltering, and sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic every day is a new way of life.
These structures are not only outdated and falling behind the rest of the world, but it’s costing us greatly. By 2025, ASCE reports economic consequences could measure up to $3.9 trillion in losses to the GDP, $7 trillion lost in business sales, and 2.5 million lost American jobs. Ultimately, this means less disposable income for American families, just because Congress has yet to pass bipartisan legislation.
Critical energy infrastructure, in particular, holds great economic potential and deserves Congress’s serious attention. The shale boom is beginning to slow because there simply aren’t enough pipelines to carry oil and gas to refineries and export terminals. Building more pipelines will release the bottleneck and ensure reliable and affordable energy products are delivered to consumers across the country. Congress should promote expanding our pipeline network to unleash the true potential of our energy economy.
The big question Congress will face is not whether or not to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill, but how much the federal government should fund. While public funding is necessary for certain projects, such as interstates, it’s unrealistic to assume the federal government can afford the multi-trillions we need to adequately modernize our infrastructure. Many projects can easily be completed through private investment or private-public partnerships.
The federal government can encourage private infrastructure investment by streamlining the regulatory process and providing more certainty around construction permitting for builders. And history has shown that this is a rare bipartisan issue – Obama supported expediting the review process for pipelines in Oklahoma and Texas in 2012, while Trump has also emphasized his support for streamlining the permitting process as a low-cost way to maximize private infrastructure investment. Congress should bring more simplicity and certainty to construction permits as an easy way to attract private investors.
This reform would by no means come at the expense of public input on environmental concerns regarding large-scale infrastructure projects, for it’s vital that their voice be heard during development. As they currently stand, permitting processes include comprehensive environmental reviews at local, state, and federal levels, with a focus on studying and preventing any adverse impacts during construction and operation. Public comment periods and local hearings are an integral part of this review. Instead, eliminating unnecessary bureaucratic delays and redundancies can go a long way toward ensuring that proposed projects do not become unnecessarily mired down by red tape.
Ultimately, all types of infrastructure—from trains to broadband to the electricity grid—make up the foundation for enterprise activity and significantly impact our day-to-day quality of life in America. Bipartisan legislation that offers both public and private financing options to update our critical structures, and build new ones, will create jobs, strengthen our economy, and create a better life for all Americans.
To continue on an upward economic trajectory as a nation, we need a good infrastructure package now. I’m hopeful both Democrats and Republicans in Washington will come together on infrastructure. I just hope they do so quickly—America can’t afford to wait any longer.
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2019/01/18/why_infrastructure_must_be_top_priority_for_the_new_congress_110384.html
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North Carolina Dot Obtains Federal, State Grants for Locomotive Upgrades
Jan 21, 2019 | Progressive Railroading
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) late last week announced a recently awarded federal grant that will help its rail division continue to boost safety along the Piedmont Corridor.
The Federal Railroad Administration awarded the division a $584,080 grant through the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements program to help fund the purchase and installation of positive train control (PTC) hardware on passenger service locomotives.
The division installed PTC devices on its locomotives ahead of the federally mandated Dec. 31, 2018, implementation deadline. The grant will be used to outfit locomotives that will be required for expanding Piedmont passenger-rail service, including an upcoming fourth round trip between Charlotte and Raleigh beginning in the next few years, NCDOT officials said in a press release.
Six Piedmont trains owned by the NCDOT and operated by Amtrak and the rail division now provide daily service to Charlotte, Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Greensboro, Burlington, Durham, Cary and Raleigh.
The division also obtained a state grant that will help reduce locomotive air emissions. A $484,500 diesel emissions reduction grant from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality will be used to fund the installation of a blended after-treatment system (BATS) — which is designed to cut air pollution — on one locomotive.
The division expects to equip its entire locomotive fleet with BATS systems within the next two to three years. At that time, the division "will have one of the cleanest locomotive fleets in the nation," NCDOT officials said.
https://www.progressiverailroading.com/mechanical/news/North-Carolina-DOT-obtains-federal-state-grants-for-locomotive-upgrades--56559
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EPA Keeps Certain Industry Toxics Standards Unchanged
Jan 21, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Sean Reilly
EPA has quietly completed court-ordered reviews of air toxics standards for a variety of industries, opting in all cases to make only minor changes, according to final rules signed last month by acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler.
For a handful of leather finishing plants, for example, EPA will now require that compliance reports be submitted electronically but is otherwise leaving the hazardous pollutant emissions standards unchanged.
Under the proposed rule released last March, agency officials estimated that the one-time added compliance costs would amount to $705 (Greenwire, March 13, 2018). The final rule increases that forecast to $832. As is true for the other industrial sources, the rule follows a 2008 court decision and eliminates regulatory exemptions for excess emissions stemming from plant startups, shutdowns and equipment malfunctions.
Similarly, manufacturers of the fiberglass matting used to back asphalt roof shingles face only minor tweaks to the status quo for their industry. Under the final rule signed by Wheeler, compliance reporting will also be required only twice a year, instead of quarterly.
For the source dubbed "surface coating of wood building products," EPA similarly determined that the current pollutant standards furnish "an ample margin of safety to protect public health" and that no new "cost-effective" pollution control technologies are available, according to the final rule.
The other four categories are friction materials used in brake linings and clutches; surface coating of large appliances; printing, coating and dyeing of fabrics and other textiles; and surface coating of metal furniture. The result of the reviews for those last three are clumped into one set of final rules.
For all seven source categories, the "residual risk and technology" reviews are the first since EPA set the original emissions thresholds in the first half of the last decade; their completion by the end of last month was required under a 2017 court order issued in response to a lawsuit brought by environmental groups alleging that they were long overdue.
Under the Clean Air Act, EPA was supposed to conduct the reviews within eight years after initially setting the standards; the fresh assessments are supposed to explore whether emissions controls have since improved and whether risk remains to public health that would warrant tighter pollution limits. Under the 2017 order by Judge Christopher Cooper of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, EPA must wrap up reviews for a half-dozen other industrial sources — including rubber tire manufacturers and iron and steel foundries — by June 2020.
EPA has yet to publish any of the rules signed last month in the Federal Register, apparently because of the partial government shutdown that has idled most of the agency's workforce. Once publication occurs, environmental groups — which had repeatedly argued in comments on the proposed rules that more stringent limits were warranted — will have 60 days to challenge EPA's final decisions before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/21/stories/1060117997
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Court Backs Calif.'s Fuel Standard, Again
Jan 21, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Jeremy P. Jacobs
A federal appeals court on Friday again rejected a broad constitutional challenge to California's climate change regime for transportation fuels.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied another bid to undermine the state's low-carbon fuel standard.
California's regulations were developed under the state's landmark 2006 global warming law, which aimed to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020.
The transportation sector was a primary target of the law. The standards, which went into effect in 2011, assign a "carbon intensity" to fuels used in the state by assessing their life cycle, including where they are produced, refined and how they were transported to the state.
Challengers including oil and ethanol interests have repeatedly claimed the standards violate the Constitution's Commerce Clause. They contend the standards discriminate against out-of-state fuels by assigning them higher carbon intensities, in part because they must be transported into California.
Courts have repeatedly denied their arguments.
On Friday, the 9th Circuit said that while the challengers are now bidding to undo the 2015 version of the standards, their arguments are no more persuasive.
"That challenge returns to us today. In the intervening years, the [standard] has been repealed and replaced, and Plaintiff's claims have changed form, but both the regulations and the claims have the same core structure now as they did then," Judge Ronald Gould wrote for the unanimous three-judge panel.
"To the extent Plaintiffs raise new arguments on this appeal, we conclude that they are without merit," he wrote.
The court largely held that it was bound by its September 2013 ruling on the same issues. Challengers and 20 states asked the Supreme Court to review that case, but the high court declined (Greenwire, June 30, 2014).
That case was closely watched because it contended the regulations violated the U.S. Constitution's "dormant" Commerce Clause.
The Commerce Clause grants Congress the exclusive authority to regulate interstate economic activity. Some courts have suggested the upstate inverse is also true — states may not implement programs that restrict interstate commerce.
But the 9th Circuit has now rejected that argument on multiple occasions, as well as the contention that the fuel standard unlawfully regulates "extraterritorially."
The court's opinion Friday broadly backs the state's regulation.
"California's interest in the lifecycle of the fuels used by its consumers arises from a concern for the effects of the production and use of the fuels on California's own air quality, snowpack, and coastline," Gould wrote.
"Here, the regulated parties, the regulated transactions, and the harms California intended to prevent are all within the state's borders, making the [standard] a classic exercise of police power."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/21/stories/1060117983
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Air Pollution Puts City Residents in Bad Mood, Study Suggests
Jan 21, 2019 | Independent
By Josh Gabbatiss
The dense cloud of pollution choking cities around the world may be impacting the mood as well as the health of urban populations.
A new study conducted in China found a clear association between low levels of happiness among city dwellers and levels of toxic air pollution.
Scientists used real-time data on people’s moods obtained from social media and compared it against levels of airborne particulate matter that has been linked to lung disease.
ith air pollution already responsible for 1.1 million premature deaths in China and costing the nation’s economy $38bn (£29.5bn) every year, the research suggests it is also having a pervasive effect on mental health.
China has seen rapid economic growth in recent years, a trend that would normally result in a marked increase in the happiness of a population.
However, one side effect of this growth has been the tiny particles, which have enveloped cities like Beijing and Shanghai, spewed out by coal burning plants and traffic.
The researchers behind the new study suggest this air pollution may explain the modest improvements in happiness scores seen in the Chinese population compared to their relative prosperity.
To measure happiness in 144 Chinese cities, they used an algorithm to analyse the mood of 210 million tweets from the popular microblogging site Sina Weibo.
“Social media gives a real-time measure of people’s happiness levels and also provides a huge amount of data, across a lot of different cities,” said Professor Siqi Zheng, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist who led the research.Watch more
The team then merged this data with information about particulate levels and weather patterns.
They found surges in pollution correlated with dips in happiness, and this was particularly true for women and people with higher incomes.
These results were published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
Professor Andrea Mechelli, who leads the Urban Mind project at King’s College London and was not involved in the new study, told The Independent it was a valuable addition to a growing body of evidence about air pollution and mental health.
“We don’t yet fully understand what the underlying mechanism is – what is mediating the association between pollution and poor mental health,” he said, noting there are likely multiple factors.
These factors could include direct effects by which pollution hampers people’s ability to think or stress levels, as well as indirect effects such as polluted air making it harder to socialise outside.
Whatever the cause, Professor Mechelli said it was important to unravel the links between pollution and health in order to incentivise governments to clean up the air.
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/air-pollution-happiness-mood-china-mental-health-particulates-mit-research-a8739111.html
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