Preview Newsletter
PM ACC Clips Report - January 22, 2019
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One Company's Battle to Ensure Whole Foods Takeout Cartons Are Safe
Jan 22, 2019 | Bloomberg
By Tiffany Kary
About a year ago, Cascades Sonoco Inc. learned that its coated paper, which at the time was being used in Whole Foods Market takeout cartons, contained controversial—even potentially harmful—chemicals. The revelation came... -
New Jersey Proposes PFAs Regulations for Groundwater; EPA Regulations Delayed by Shutdown
Jan 22, 2019 | WHYY
By Susan Phillips
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has taken a step toward cleaning up water contamination from an unregulated class of perfluorinated chemicals known as PFAS. The toxic chemical is used in the manufacture... -
Michigan to Consider Risk from ‘Safe’ Form of PFAs
Jan 21, 2019 | MLive
By Paula Gardner
Michigan is expanding the breadth of its PFAS scrutiny by considering whether a so-called “safe” replacement chemical carries enough health threat to warrant state officials setting a risk level for exposure. The Department of... -
ECHA Commits to Regular Work on Occupational Exposure Limits
Jan 22, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Vanessa Zainzinger
Echa and the European Commission have signed an agreement that binds the agency to recommending occupational exposure limits (OELs) for four to five substances a year, from 2020 onwards. The move effectively reassigns... -
'Widespread' Risk If Microplastics Are Not Restricted – EU Science Group
Jan 22, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The ecological risk from microplastics is currently rare but could become widespread if restrictions are not imposed, a scientific working group advising the European Commission has concluded. The report from the Science Advice for... -
Supreme Court Won’t Hear Mountain Valley Pipeline Challenge
Jan 22, 2019 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Alex Guillén
The Supreme Court today declined to review constitutional challenges to the Natural Gas Act, including complaints from landowners affected by the Mountain Valley Pipeline about FERC’s eminent domain authority. The 4th Circuit... -
Justices Reject Pipeline Challenge, Punt Groundwater Cases
Jan 22, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Pamela King and Ellen M. Gilmer
The Supreme Court today turned down a sweeping challenge to pipeline oversight and took no action on a closely watched Clean Water Act debate. Property owners in the path of the Mountain Valley pipeline through both Virginia... -
Keystone XL Gets Canadian Regulator Go-Ahead on Preliminary Clearing
Jan 22, 2019 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Alexander Panetta
Canadian regulators have allowed the maker of the Keystone XL pipeline to begin some preliminary ground-clearing work north of the U.S. border. Canada's National Energy Board sent pipeline-maker TransCanada Corp., a letter... -
Ohio Explosion Damages Homes, Causes Fireball
Jan 22, 2019 | Reuters (In E&E - Greenwire)
A natural gas pipeline explosion in Ohio yesterday sent flames high into the air and damaged homes. Nearby residents in Noble County were evacuated after the blast on Enbridge Inc.'s Texas Eastern pipeline system. Enbridge... -
Poll: Extreme Weather Events Changing Americans’ Climate Change Views
Jan 22, 2019 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Extreme weather events like droughts and floods are pushing Americans to believe more in the science of climate change, a new poll found. In the Associated Press-NORC poll released Tuesday, 48 percent of respondents said they... -
How Rural States Are Leading the Clean Energy Revolution
Jan 21, 2019 | Real Clear Energy
By Drew Bond
A swelling wave of partisan political bickering and personal attacks has left Congress paralyzed and struggling to find policies to move the country forward on a host of issues, from energy and the environment to the economy and... -
Ewire: Climate Gains Prominence in 2020 Democratic Contest
Jan 22, 2019 | Inside EPA
Climate change appears to be gaining prominence as an issue in the emerging Democratic field to take on President Donald Trump in 2020, though several announced or potential candidates are still putting different levels of emphasis...
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One Company's Battle to Ensure Whole Foods Takeout Cartons Are Safe
Jan 22, 2019 | Bloomberg
By Tiffany Kary
About a year ago, Cascades Sonoco Inc. learned that its coated paper, which at the time was being used in Whole Foods Market takeout cartons, contained controversial—even potentially harmful—chemicals.
The revelation came not from the Food & Drug Administration, which had cleared some chemicals in the class of compounds known as PFAS for use in food packaging. Nor was it from the famously health-conscious grocer, or the industry group that had certified the containers as compostable. Instead Cascades Sonoco received the alert from San Francisco, which plans to ban all PFAS in food packaging next year.
“It was FDA-approved, so it never would have raised a flag,” says Jeff Stacy, a Cascades Sonoco paper packaging manager. The company, a joint venture between Cascades Inc. and Sonoco Products Co., has since reformulated the product after tests discovered some form of PFAS that the company declined to name. Whole Foods also says its stores are now PFAS-free.
Companies confront a growing thicket of incongruous rules covering this class of 3,000 to 5,000 chemicals, pronounced “PEE-fas.” Some older phased-out varieties have been linked to cancer, but many scientists caution against the entire class, also known as PFCs or “fluorinated” compounds.
The challenge is especially pronounced for the food packaging industry, where the FDA’s assurances on some newer varieties clash with piecemeal rules from industry associations and some cities and states. Washington state may also ban all PFAS in food packaging by 2022, and New York has agreed to restrict state agencies from purchasing products containing the chemicals. To further complicate the issue, the Environmental Protection Agency has also started to review some of the chemicals.
PFAS have been around since the 1940s and are used to make everything from outdoor gear to carpeting. The man-made chemicals break down slowly and accumulate over time. In 2017, the Biodegradable Products Institute, which had previously approved some coated papers containing FDA-cleared PFAS, said the chemicals persist in compost and can be absorbed by fruits and vegetables. The group has called on companies to submit tests showing whether the chemicals are present by the end of March.
The Solid Waste Association of North America meanwhile has said “food waste” contributes to PFAS in landfills and that runoff from dumps has sometimes polluted nearby groundwater. Last year, city officials in Flint, Michigan—already grappling with lead-contaminated water—ordered the cleanup of a local landfill contaminated with PFAS. Filtering PFAS “leachate” has become an emerging market for companies like Evoqua Water Technologies, which has begun installing filters at landfills.
The Food Safety Alliance for Packaging has suggested that companies stop using older varieties of the chemicals that have mostly been phased out, and that they “minimize use” of the newer varieties commonly used in the U.S.
Yet from 2002 to 2016 the FDA cleared some 14 different kinds of the new PFAS for “food contact” uses, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. The New York-based group says companies that got the green light include Archroma, AGC Inc. (formerly Asahi Glass Co.), Solenis LLC, Solvay SA, Daikin Industries Ltd. and Chemours Co. Daikin declined to comment, AGC said it uses chemicals approved by the FDA, and the other companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The FluoroCouncil, which represents chemical makers, says the FDA-reviewed substances haven’t been linked to cancer or other significant health effects. Its Executive Director Jessica Bowman says bans like San Francisco’s are “contrary to sound science and will provide no further benefits to public health or the environment.”
The EDF, however, calls the FDA approvals a “serious breakdown in assessing food additive safety.” Data submitted to the FDA failed to assess how the chemicals react with one other and other substances, says EDF Chemical Policy Director Tom Neltner, who adds that Daikin didn’t submit a study it had done on rats showing “changes to their livers and kidneys.”
“We think FDA should re-evaluate the safety of all these PFAS that it’s approved based on what we now know about the risk,” Neltner says. The FDA should also share its data on the food-contact PFAS with the EPA and states, he says, given the coated paper industry’s potential impact on U.S. drinking water around paper mills.
The FDA said it was reviewing whether it could comment amid the ongoing government shutdown.
Because the agency cleared the chemicals, some companies might be hesitant to remove them. Yet Cascades Sonoco did so, even though it wasn’t easy. After the call from San Francisco, the company hired the University of Notre Dame for testing, and reviewed all its equipment—including transport—to rule out accidental contamination. Cascades Sonoco finally pinpointed one coating ingredient and asked its supplier to help reformulate it. Even then, tests found small amounts. Another reformulation was done, says Stacy, who declined to name the supplier.
Today, Cascades Sonoco has removed the chemicals from all of its products—even the lubrication on its machinery. “There could be cross-contamination,” Stacy says, “so we said ‘let’s get everything out.’”
Fold-Pak, which shapes Cascades Sonoco’s paper into the Bio-Plus Terra II takeout containers sold to Whole Foods, says it has also eliminated PFAS. Whole Foods declined to say when it did so, except to say it had removed all offending packaging. “There is limited availability of environmentally responsible packaging made without this substance, and we’re actively working with our suppliers to find and scale new options,” a spokeswoman says.
Even though the grocer has removed the chemicals, concerns persist among some environmentally aware consumers. Vanessa Hradsky, a 44-year-old Brooklyn resident, says Whole Foods has been her go-to food store for years thanks to its health-conscious approach. Now, having read that takeout containers once contained PFAS, she plans to be “a lot more cautious about what I buy there.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-22/one-company-s-battle-to-ensure-whole-foods-takeout-cartons-are-safe
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New Jersey Proposes PFAs Regulations for Groundwater; EPA Regulations Delayed by Shutdown
Jan 22, 2019 | WHYY
By Susan Phillips
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has taken a step toward cleaning up water contamination from an unregulated class of perfluorinated chemicals known as PFAS.
The toxic chemical is used in the manufacture of non-stick cookware, stain resistant clothing and firefighting foam. Although those types of “contaminants of emerging concern” are not regulated by state or federal authorities, research has begun to link exposure to cancer and other illnesses.
Without federal or state regulations, groundwater polluted with dangerous levels of PFAS is not considered “contaminated,” according to New Jersey DEP spokesman Lawrence Hajna. Over time, groundwater contamination can impact the aquifers that supply drinking water. The DEP proposal would trigger remediation efforts if groundwater contained more than 10 parts per trillion for the chemicals, which include PFOA and PFOS.
Hajna says the emerging research points to potential serious health impacts.
“A growing body of studies suggest that PFOA, PFAS and other types of related chemicals may impact our liver and immune system function, may increase blood cholesterol levels, and cause delays in the growth and development of fetuses and infants,” he said.
Hajna said New Jersey was the first state to start testing for the chemicals in drinking and groundwater sources. EPA tests from 2013-2015 found PFOS in 3.4 percent of New Jersey’s public water systems, which is close to twice the national rate of 1.9 percent.
The New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute, which advises DEP, has recommended maximum contaminant levels for PFOA at 14 parts per trillion, and 13 ppt for PFOS.
Hajna said Gloucester and Salem counties have a number of sites with elevated levels of PFAS. The chemicals don’t break down readily, and so can remain in the body years after consumption.
“Even at very microscopic, minute levels, these chemicals can accumulate in our bodies and cause health problems down the road,” Hajna said.
New Jersey was the first state to put in place maximum contaminant levels for one of the chemicals, PFNA, in 2018, which allows the state to enforce the standards. But environmental activists say the state is now dragging its feet on implementing regulation for the other related chemicals.
Hajna said rulemaking is a time-consuming process.
“It has to go through a number of legally required steps. We can’t tell how long it’s going to take, but having the groundwater rules in place now is an important step for the interim.”
Pennsylvania has just begun to study the issue, but does not regulate PFAS.
Nor does the federal government. The shutdown has delayed release of an EPA proposal to regulate the chemicals, which the agency had planned to release at the end of 2018.
New Jersey’s DEP will be taking public comment on the groundwater proposal through February 19.
https://whyy.org/articles/new-jersey-proposes-pfas-regulations-for-groundwater-epa-regulations-delayed-by-shutdown/
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Michigan to Consider Risk from ‘Safe’ Form of PFAs
Jan 21, 2019 | MLive
By Paula Gardner
Michigan is expanding the breadth of its PFAS scrutiny by considering whether a so-called “safe” replacement chemical carries enough health threat to warrant state officials setting a risk level for exposure.
The Department of Environmental Quality on Dec. 19, 2018, moved FTS 6:2 onto its list of chemicals under review. The process, which focuses on air emissions, means that businesses using the chemical could eventually face new permitting guidelines.
The move signals two changes for the state’s approach to considering per- and poly-fluorinated chemicals.
The first comes from turning potential oversight attention from the legacy contaminants to a form of PFAS that has been marketed by chemical manufacturers as a safer alternative to banned versions.
The second is that, after a year of widespread water testing across the state and tracking PFAS traveling in both ground and surface waters, officials increasingly are considering the role of air transport for the chemicals.
“There are a lot of unknowns related to PFAS and air,” said Mary Ann Dolehanty, director of DEQ’s Air Quality Division.
“Right now, the main route of exposure is water,” she said, “but we can’t discount air emission.”
FTS 6:2 is a fluorotelomer sulfonate used in both AFFF fire-fighting foam and to control surface emissions in the industrial plating industry, in addition to its presence in consumer products like fast-food wrappers. It’s a short-chain fluorinated carbon chemical, which manufacturers like DuPont described as “safe for workers, consumers and the environment” as the longer-chain carbon PFOS and PFOA gained attention for adverse health effects and environmental contamination.
An MLive investigation in fall 2018 shows that high concentrations of PFOS is moving from industry into 15 wastewater treatment plants, and with some eventually getting into Michigan drinking water supplies. While that’s enough to put those plants under DEQ scrutiny due to surface water standards for PFOS, laboratory reports show that FTS 6:2, too, is flowing into surface water from many of the plants. Also present is the chemical that FTS 6:2 breaks down into: PFHxA, another short-chain form of the “forever chemicals.”
Yet while research focuses on the persistence and health effects of PFOS and PFOA – such as cancer, immune disorders and developmental delays in children – less investigation has been done on the replacement chemicals, said Jamie DeWitt, a toxicologist at East Carolina University.
When it comes to FTS 6:2, some research shows it has rapid bioelimination and low toxicity, but it’s also persistent in the environment.
Yet all of that is based on a “very limited number of studies,” DeWitt said.
“It’s in your water, but we know nothing about it,” DeWitt said. “That can be really frustrating because … we don’t have the information to make decisions on our own health.”
That’s accentuated when considering what’s known about how they travel through air.
“We know very little of the atmospheric cycling of PFAS in general,” DeWitt said. "Air circulation may be a very important pathway from the site of emission to remote sites.”
Michigan initiated its Air Quality Division review of the chemical after two Grand Rapids-area plating companies listing the substance on applications for new air permits under the state’s Air Pollution Control Rules. Lacks Enterprises and Allied Finishing listed products containing FTS 6:2 as mist suppressants in their chrome plating baths, said DEQ spokesperson Scott Dean.
The amounts emitted in both cases fall below the exemption limit, Dean said. However, he said, the potential for other businesses to exceed the exemption exists – and there is no screening level set for FTS 6:2 to provide guidance for how much will be allowed in a facility’s emissions.
“Because (FTS 6:2) may have emission rates from some facilities of sufficient quantity to be subject to air requirements,” Dean said, “the AQD decided to review the toxicity data available.”
It’s a start toward considering broader implication, Dean added. And it followed the Air Quality Division inspecting all of the chrome platers in Michigan during 2018, finding 28 that use chemicals containing PFAS.
“Air Quality Division’s focus during permit review is on substances emitted,” he said. “However, we are trying to remain cognizant of how PFAS may persist or transform in the environment.”
One investigation in southeast Michigan prompted more consideration of that: The discovery of high levels of PFOS traveling from a Tribar plant into the Wixom wastewater treatment plant. As DEQ employees tested the site, they learned that PFAS also was moving into the city’s stormwater drainage – with the route likely through the factory’s air system to the rooftop venting.
Laboratory tests from the roof of the Tribar Plant 4 showed 8,000 parts per trillion (ppt) of PFOS, a level that’s more than 600 times the amount that would prompt a surface-water cleanup. The same test showed 2,900-ppt of FTS 6:2 alongside the PFOS, with both – along with less amounts of 14 other types of PFAS – washed off the roof in rainwater.
David Andrews, senior scientist for the Environmental Working Group, said the FTS 6:2 detection is not surprising.
“It’s one of the more common replacement chemicals,” Andrews said.
But he joins DeWitt in noting that the research on it trails the amount done on PFOA and PFOS, leaving a number of questions as awareness increases.
“As we understand more about the national contamination in regards to PFOA and PFOS and the entire class of chemicals, we’ll see much more come out (on FTS 6:2),” Andrews said.
The questions arise as industry still uses it. It’s commonly used as a PFOS replacement in Europe, for example, and among the frequently used chemicals by electroplaters in the U.S. Processes in plating call for mist suppressants to protect workers from fumes, and PFOS once filled that function. Today, as the industry searches for PFAS-free alternatives, it also is taking a closer look at FTS 6:2.
"Based on available data, the health and safety profile for the 6:2 FTS is significantly improved over PFOS. Importantly, 6:2 FTS is not persistent and is not bioaccumulative,” said Christian Richter, spokesperson for the National Association for Surface Finishers.
However, the trade group – which also includes chemical suppliers – also is actively analyzing the available data on the replacement chemical, which the EPA approves as a mist suppressant.
"The association's initiative to evaluate the FTS alternative aims to determine, among other things, whether there may be even tiny traces of PFOS in the PFOS-free mist suppressants."
So far, Richter said, one challenge is the lack of a commercially available and effective nonfluorinated product.
The new look by Michigan at FTS 6:2 is more targeted than that of either industry or the public health community.
The scrutiny it will get as a chemical under review may put it among an estimated 1,200 other chemicals with an existing screening level for air quality permits. Among them are three types of PFAS: PFBE, set in 1993, and PFOS and PFOA, set in 2018.
Even if FTS 6:2 joins them, there still isn’t a way to identify the amount emitted, Dolehanty said. Instead, the screening level would be set by a formula based on toxicology data and quantity of the chemical.
“A lot of the science is still in the works,” she said.
Meanwhile, PFAS activists and the public health community are asking for regulators to consider PFAS a class of chemicals. In Michigan, a panel of state scientists urged that in December, and it’s a call to action at the federal level to prompt faster cleanups at military installations and to set health standards for the group of related chemicals instead of just one by one.
The state’s look at FTS 6:2 is a small step, but it also “highlights the scope of this problem and something that hasn’t been very well-defined: The complexity of this chemistry and how many PFAS chemicals are out there,” Andrews said.
https://www.mlive.com/news/2019/01/michigan-to-consider-risk-from-safe-form-of-pfas.html
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ECHA Commits to Regular Work on Occupational Exposure Limits
Jan 22, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Vanessa Zainzinger
Echa and the European Commission have signed an agreement that binds the agency to recommending occupational exposure limits (OELs) for four to five substances a year, from 2020 onwards.
The move effectively reassigns the responsibilities of DG Employment's Scientific Committee on Occupational Exposure Limits (Scoel) to Echa’s Risk Assessment Committee (Rac).
The Commission had announced its intention to do so, last year, following concerns over an overlap between OELs required under occupational safety and health (Osh) legislation and workplace derived no-effect levels (Dnels) under REACH.
In future, the Commission will assign chemicals to Echa for an OEL assessment. The agency says work will start right away, most likely with lead and diisocyanates as the first priority substances.
Echa told Chemical Watch it expects the first proposal to be ready this year, with Rac beginning its deliberations in 2020. "Rac’s first scientific opinion on the OEL recommendations could be sent to the Commission for decision making by the end of 2020," the agency added.Experts lined up
Once the assignments start coming in, they will first land with an Echa working group. This will review available data and prepare proposals for OELs under the carcinogens and mutagens Directive (CMD) and the chemical agents Directive.
Each proposal will be sent to Rac, which last year recruited Osh experts to help with the processing. At this point, stakeholders will have a chance to get involved in a public consultation on the proposal, Echa says.
The agency expects that Rac will be able to deliver its scientific opinion on a proposal within 12 months. Then, Echa will prepare a recommendation and send it to the Commission for decision making.
It is also anticipating to involve its Committee for Socio-economic Analysis (Seac) in the process. If requested from Brussels, this committee will assess socio-economic impacts in parallel to Rac’s work on an OEL. But, the agency says "this discussion is still open with the Commission".'Coherence and transparency'
Both Echa and the Commission are keen to see the agency take over from Scoel. "Having one common source for scientific advice under REACH and the health and safety at work directives will ensure coherence and further transparency," Joost Korte, the Commission’s director-general for employment, social affairs and inclusion said.
And Echa’s executive director, Bjorn Hansen called the assignment "a significant new activity for Echa". Recommending OELs is, he said, "part of Echa’s strategy to provide integrated proposals to the Commission on how to regulate risks posed by chemicals to European citizens, workers and the environment".
Over the past two years, Echa ran a pilot project which has already delivered its first five OEL recommendations.
In March last year, Rac recommended EU-wide OELs for three genotoxic carcinogens: benzene, acrylonitrile and nickel, including its compounds. And in June 2017, Rac adopted scientific opinions on occupational exposure for two carcinogens: MOCA and arsenic and its inorganic salts.
These are currently passing through the Commission's decision-making process.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73559/echa-commits-to-regular-work-on-occupational-exposure-limits
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'Widespread' Risk If Microplastics Are Not Restricted – EU Science Group
Jan 22, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The ecological risk from microplastics is currently rare but could become widespread if restrictions are not imposed, a scientific working group advising the European Commission has concluded.
The report from the Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (Sapea) says currently only some specific locations may be at risk from exposure to nano- and microplastics (NMP).
Sapea is part of the Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM), which provides the EU Executive with independent advice
But "if NMPs continue to be emitted or formed from larger plastic debris as they do now, without any restriction in the future, there could be widespread future risks in most locations," it adds.
For humans, it says, it is unclear what the daily intake of NMPs is, but their relative contribution among the mix of other chemicals humans are exposed to "is probably small at present".
SAM is currently reviewing the scientific evidence base and policy context for microplastics, and Sapea's report will inform its opinion, due in the spring.
The report says that "little is known" about the ecological and human health risks "and what is known is surrounded by considerable uncertainty". Exposure to microplastics in the laboratory has "significant, negative effects" but there is no evidence that this happens in nature, it adds.
It calls for more knowledge through improved, internationally standardised methods to more accurately foresee the degree of harm and prioritise measures and actions
The Commission has asked Echa to prepare a REACH Annex XV restriction dossier on the use of intentionally added microplastic particles for all consumer and professional use products. And in September, the European Parliament voted for a ban.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73573/widespread-risk-if-microplastics-are-not-restricted-eu-science-group
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Supreme Court Won’t Hear Mountain Valley Pipeline Challenge
Jan 22, 2019 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Alex Guillén
The Supreme Court today declined to review constitutional challenges to the Natural Gas Act, including complaints from landowners affected by the Mountain Valley Pipeline about FERC’s eminent domain authority.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals last summer similarly rejected the landowners claims after concluding they should have taken their grievances through the FERC review process under the NGA before appealing to a federal court. The Supreme Court did not explain its reasoning for declining to hear the appeal.
Although this lawsuit failed, others against Mountain Valley Pipeline and other pipelines approved by the Trump administration have proven to be major hurdles for industry. Federal courts have found several times that certain permits issued by the administration were unlawful, although most if not all of those permits are expected to be reissued to allow construction to continue.
The case was 18-561, Berkley, et al. v. FERC.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard/2019/01/supreme-court-wont-hear-mountain-valley-pipeline-challenge-2530772
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Justices Reject Pipeline Challenge, Punt Groundwater Cases
Jan 22, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Pamela King and Ellen M. Gilmer
The Supreme Court today turned down a sweeping challenge to pipeline oversight and took no action on a closely watched Clean Water Act debate.
Property owners in the path of the Mountain Valley pipeline through both Virginia and West Virginia have argued the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's handling of land takings for natural gas transport projects is unconstitutional. The justices declined to consider their challenge.
Petitioners first challenged FERC's process in federal district court, where the case was dismissed for a lack of jurisdiction. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling last year.
The landowners then approached the Supreme Court. Government lawyers urged the justices to reject the petition and preserve the 4th Circuit's decision. The proper procedure, as established by the Natural Gas Act, is to present claims first to FERC and then to an appellate court, they argued.
That process, landowners say, could result in a pipeline project overtaking their land before their complaints receive a proper airing. FERC can use "tolling orders" to delay action on challenges that come before the agency.
"The result? An administrative agency (i.e., FERC) sitting in judgment over the constitutionality of Congressional action," the petitioners wrote. "Why? Because Congress said so.
"This, in fact, is the precise definition of legislative supremacy at its best, tyranny at its worst," they wrote.
The case is one of three pipeline-related petitions up for consideration by the Supreme Court (Energywire, Jan. 16).
The justices will likely decide next month whether to take up a religious freedom challenge stemming from the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline project in Pennsylvania.
A third petition, which concerns states' role in the permitting process for Atlantic Sunrise and other such projects, has not yet been scheduled for a vote.Groundwater
Court watchers will have to wait a little longer to see whether the Supreme Court will wade into a Clean Water Act debate that, if taken, will be the biggest environmental case of the term.
The justices were scheduled to review County of Maui v. Hawai'i Wildlife Fund and Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP v. Upstate Forever last week but took no action on the related petitions today.
Both raise a critical question about the scope of the Clean Water Act: Does the statute apply to pollutants that travel through groundwater before reaching a federally regulated water?
The petitions pending before the Supreme Court involve decisions from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. There the courts sided with environmentalists who argued the Clean Water Act applies to pollution that moved from wastewater wells and a pipeline, through groundwater, and into major bodies of water.
But other circuits have rejected that analysis, concluding that pollution must move directly from a source into a federally regulated waterway to be covered.
If the Supreme Court ultimately declines to get involved, the lower courts may continue to develop competing precedent. If the justices take one or both of the cases, their decision could clarify the scope of the Clean Water Act and affect permitting requirements across the country (Greenwire, Dec. 4, 2018).Michigan oil and gas
Also on the Supreme Court's list of orders this morning: a denial of a petition involving oil and gas rights in Michigan.
The justices will not take up Zaremba v. Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc., a case stemming from landowner allegations of bid-rigging by Encana and Chesapeake Energy Corp. to suppress the price of mineral rights in 2010.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ultimately sided with Encana, and the Supreme Court today declined to review that decision.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/22/stories/1060118071
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Keystone XL Gets Canadian Regulator Go-Ahead on Preliminary Clearing
Jan 22, 2019 | Politico Pro - Energy Whiteboard
By Alexander Panetta
Canadian regulators have allowed the maker of the Keystone XL pipeline to begin some preliminary ground-clearing work north of the U.S. border.
Canada's National Energy Board sent pipeline-maker TransCanada Corp., a letter Monday allowing the company to perform non-digging tasks, like clearing shrubs.
The approval applies only to preliminary work in the northernmost Alberta stretch of the proposed pipeline, where the network would gather oil for export to the U.S.
There are other conditions. The company was instructed not to work on nine pieces of land considered archaeological sites, which require provincial government approval. Also, it was instructed not to interfere with migratory bird patterns.
This could be a pivotal year for the long-delayed project: The company hopes to get construction started soon but is awaiting a Montana court decision in its latest legal challenge.
And President Donald Trump, who approved a cross-border construction permit for the project that was denied by the last Democratic administration, faces a reelection fight next year.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/energy/whiteboard/2019/01/keystone-xl-gets-canadian-regulator-go-ahead-on-preliminary-clearing-2530123
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Ohio Explosion Damages Homes, Causes Fireball
Jan 22, 2019 | Reuters (In E&E - Greenwire)
A natural gas pipeline explosion in Ohio yesterday sent flames high into the air and damaged homes.
Nearby residents in Noble County were evacuated after the blast on Enbridge Inc.'s Texas Eastern pipeline system. Enbridge said two people were injured.
The company said that "it immediately started to shut in and isolate that section of pipeline," and that the fire was contained. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has sent an investigator to the area, according to a spokesman with the agency.
Noble County Emergency Management Director Chasity Schmelzenbach said two homes were apparently destroyed. "We got reports flames were shooting [up] 80 feet to 200 feet. You could see it upwards of 10 to 15 miles away. Lots of people thought it was in their backyard because it does appear large," she said.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/22/stories/1060118067
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Poll: Extreme Weather Events Changing Americans’ Climate Change Views
Jan 22, 2019 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
Extreme weather events like droughts and floods are pushing Americans to believe more in the science of climate change, a new poll found.
In the Associated Press-NORC poll released Tuesday, 48 percent of respondents said they found the science of human-induced climate change more convincing when the poll was taken in November 2018 than they did five years ago.
Of those respondents, three quarters said weather events like hurricanes, droughts and floods influenced their views, the most of any of the options polltakers presented to respondents.
Eighty-three percent of those who believe in climate change want the federal government to take action to mitigate it, while 80 percent want their state governments to act, the survey found.
“It is striking that 67 percent of respondents support a carbon tax when the funds would be used to restore the environment, compared to 49 percent when the funds are rebated to households,” Michael Greenstone, director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, said in a statement.
“These findings appear to run counter to the conventional wisdom about the most politically appealing version of a carbon tax and to recent efforts by the federal government to step back from environmental protection,” he said. The Institute participated in conducting the poll.
The survey also found that a plurality of Americans, 44 percent, support a carbon tax, while 29 percent oppose it.
Given a handful of options for where the funds raised from a carbon tax would go, 67 percent said they would be most supportive of a tax if it paid to restore forests, wetlands and other natural areas.
Only 49 percent said they’d support a carbon tax whose revenue went back to taxpayers.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/426384-poll-extreme-weather-tied-to-americans-climate-change-views
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How Rural States Are Leading the Clean Energy Revolution
Jan 21, 2019 | Real Clear Energy
By Drew Bond
A swelling wave of partisan political bickering and personal attacks has left Congress paralyzed and struggling to find policies to move the country forward on a host of issues, from energy and the environment to the economy and national security.
Watch any major news channel, and you would believe that the only way to solve our national challenges is to completely accept the ideology of one side of the political divide. And that the only way to win is if the other side loses. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Just look at the way partisans approach energy and environmental policies related to climate change. Turn on the TV, and within minutes you’re fed a diet of partisan talking points about how Republicans don’t care about the environment and are doing little to advance policies to make the energy that powers our economy more abundant, affordable, secure and, yes, cleaner.
Take the advice you give your kids – turn off the TV and go outside and see for yourself what’s happening. While it may not make the national news, it turns out that many rural communities are in the vanguard of the transition toward cleaner sources of energy.
The numbers tell the story – Texas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Kansas have some of the highest installed wind capacity in the nation, while North Carolina has more than double the solar capacity of New York.
America’s rural electric co-ops, which provide nearly one-third of the country’s electricity, are playing a big part in the transition to renewable energy because it makes economic sense. In Georgia, rural electric co-ops are installing 1 Gigawatt of renewable generation capacity by 2021 – that’s enough to power 180,000 homes.
In many rural areas, clean energy isn't a political statement. It’s a product of private sector players and local communities working together to achieve a win-win for everyone.
In rural communities struggling with limited job growth and a roughly 40 percent net decline in farm incomes since 2011, wind and solar royalties have dramatically boosted economic development. In 2017 alone, farmers and ranchers received $267 million in wind farm lease payments, while other communities have seen their tax base increase from clean energy infrastructure projects.
The growth of low-carbon, affordable power across rural America is helping states attract investment from companies looking to improve their environmental performance. Just this past December, Apple pledged to spend $10 billion on new infrastructure across the United States, much of which will go to massive data centers run on electricity generated by renewable energy in rural North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and Iowa. Walmart, which is often an important player in local economies throughout the country, is also investing in a comprehensive sustainability plan to procure more clean energy technologies, reduce waste, and improve land usage.
Between the uptick in corporate financing for clean energy technologies and major utilities like Xcel Energy moving to cut 100% of their carbon pollution by 2050, we’re witnessing an unprecedented level of private capital investment in renewable energy. These investments are also creating employment opportunities in areas with some of the highest rates of unemployment.
Don’t get me wrong. Progressives on the coasts have done their share of investing in America’s clean energy economy, but there’s a big part of rural America that is tired of being talked down to by their Big City cousins. If you don’t believe me, ask any Iowa farmer who has visited New York City or Los Angeles about who is better at taking care of their environment.
Instead of imposing one-size-fits-all government regulations that stifle economic activity and saddle consumers with higher electricity bills, Congress should develop a comprehensive national innovation strategy that prioritizes investing in energy research and technology development, reduces environmental and business regulations that restrain the growth of American-made low-carbon energy, and expands free-market competition and consumer choice.
What does this rural energy revolution mean for Washington? The good news is that there are plenty of people who are passionately working to make our energy more affordable, more reliable, more secure and cleaner. Together we can generate a brighter future for our children and our grandchildren. Leaving them a better world is, after all, what motivates us all.
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2019/01/21/how_rural_states_are_leading_the_clean_energy_revolution.html
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Ewire: Climate Gains Prominence in 2020 Democratic Contest
Jan 22, 2019 | Inside EPA
Climate change appears to be gaining prominence as an issue in the emerging Democratic field to take on President Donald Trump in 2020, though several announced or potential candidates are still putting different levels of emphasis on the issue.
Let's consider two possible contenders in the Democratic field, starting with just-announced candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA). The Washington Post reports that a $2.8 trillion tax plan will be the “centerpiece” of her campaign, as well as tax relief for renters, a “Medicare for all” health plan and cash bail reforms. The story makes no mention of climate, energy or environment issues.
A HuffPost reporter notes that Harris has previously endorsed the “goals” of a “Green New Deal” -- the ambitious renewable energy and economic proposal pushed by progressives -- while also citing a staffer with the Sunrise Movement saying it is difficult to take Harris seriously when there is nothing in her platform “about ensuring human civilization isn't wiped out in half a century.”
Contrast that with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is weighing whether to join the crowded Democratic primary, according to Politico.
A fiscal moderate and political independent, Bloomberg is banking on winning over progressives with his past activism on shutting down coal plants and gun control. If he does run, the story notes that he has said he would make climate change “the issue.”
Climate policy observers might not be surprised, given that Bloomberg has been a major funder for Sierra Club's “Beyond Coal” campaign and has been increasingly vocal about the need to reduce greenhouse gases.
He would face a crowded list of candidates taking aggressive climate stances, though. Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) has already announced he is running on a climate-centric campaign. Additionally, a spokesperson for announced candidate Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) tells Axios that the senator backs the “concept” of the Green New Deal and has worked on legislation to keep fossil fuels in the ground and create new jobs based on green energy.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-climate-gains-prominence-2020-democratic-contest
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