Preview Newsletter
ACC PM 23/01/19
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(ACC Mentioned) CAB Posts A 0.3% Decline In January, ACC Says
Jan 23, 2019 | ChemEngOnline
By Scott Jenkins
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), posted a 0.3 percent decline in January on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis. -
Disposable-Free Food Containers Now the Law in Berkeley, Calif.
Jan 23, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Joyce E. Cutler
Customers toting single-use cups from Starbucks and McDonald’s will have to pay for the convenience in Berkeley, Calif. -
Agency to Turn Over Wheeler Calendars, Emails by End of Month
Jan 23, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Jeremy P. Jacobs
EPA yesterday agreed to turn over by the end of the month roughly 1,000 documents including acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler's calendars and any existing correspondence with coal interests as part of an ongoing lawsuit with the Sierra Club. -
Unilever Discloses Fragrance Ingredients in Europe, US
Jan 23, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
Consumer products conglomerate Unilever has publicly disclosed all fragrance ingredients used in its home care, beauty and personal care products sold in Europe and the US. -
(ACC Mentioned) ACC to Retailers, Consumers, and the Rest of Us: You Just Don’t Get That TSCA Implementation is Coming Along Swimmingly
Jan 23, 2019 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Richard Denison
Regular readers of this blog know it is our view that, under the Trump EPA, implementation of the 2016 reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has pretty much gone off the rails, deviating from what the law requires, failing to reflect the best available science, and not protecting public health. -
(ACC Mentioned) Industry, EPA Alumni Find Flaws in EPA Fluorochemical Reviews
Jan 23, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
The EPA’s reports on the health hazards of two ubiquitous chemicals came too late, weren’t done correctly, and fail to address the chemicals’ presence in drinking water across the country, multiple groups told the agency in public comments. -
Kildee, House Lawmakers Launching PFAS Task Force
Jan 23, 2019 | The Detroit News
By Melissa Nann Burke
House lawmakers are launching a new task force devoted to PFAS issues Wednesday, aiming to craft bipartisan legislation related to the crisis and press for more funding to clean up contaminated sites. -
Washington State Mulls Action on Priority Chemicals in Products
Jan 23, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Both chambers of the Washington state legislature are considering legislation aimed at reducing the use of high-concern chemicals in certain consumer products. -
Toxic Substances Found in Nappies in France-Government Agency
Jan 23, 2019 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Sophie Louet
A variety of potentially toxic substances, including the widely-used weed-killer glyphosate, has been found in babies' nappies in France, according to a study on Wednesday by the French environment agency ANSES. -
Echa Reveals 'Limited' SVHCs in Articles Database After Funding Rebuff
Jan 23, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Echa has embarked on a "scaled-down prototype" of its proposed substances in articles database, after failing to get clearing from the European Commission for full funding to develop it. -
Environmental Group May Challenge Texas LNG Project, Says FERC
Jan 23, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Leticia Gonzales
Federal regulators have granted an environmental coalition legal status to intervene in a permit application for one of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities proposed at the Port of Brownsville, which sits at the tip of Texas on the Mexico border. -
Halliburton Feels U.S. Fracking Slowdown More Than Schlumberger
Jan 23, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By David Wethe and Rachel Adams-Heard
The world’s biggest oilfield service companies are feeling the U.S. fracking slowdown as shale producers slash spending forecasts. -
Admin Misses Court Deadline for Climate Rule Status Report
Jan 23, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Niina Heikkinen
Government lawyers have missed a court-ordered deadline to provide a status report on EPA's rule to control greenhouse gas emissions from new or modified power plants. -
'Green' Deal Shifts Democratic Debate on Scale of Climate Policies
Jan 23, 2019 | Inside EPA
Recent proposals for a “Green New Deal” to aggressively shift to renewable energy and boost the economy through government investment are shifting the debate among Democrats about the necessary scope of climate change policy, according to former officials and other observers. -
Ewire: Public Opinion Shifts to Bigger Concern Over Climate
Jan 23, 2019 | Inside EPA
Public concerns over the threats from climate change are on the rise, according to new polling data, driven by a spate of extreme weather events over the past year and the Trump administration's climate policy rollbacks that could be driving up the saliency of the issue.
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(ACC Mentioned) CAB Posts A 0.3% Decline In January, ACC Says
Jan 23, 2019 | ChemEngOnline
By Scott Jenkins
The Chemical Activity Barometer (CAB), a leading economic indicator created by the American Chemistry Council (ACC; Washington, D.C.; www.americanchemistry.com), posted a 0.3 percent decline in January on a three-month moving average (3MMA) basis.
This marks the barometer’s third consecutive month-over-month drop and suggests a slower rate of U.S. economic growth. On a year-over-year (Y/Y) basis, the barometer is up 0.8 percent (3MMA), a pronounced slowdown in the pace of growth as compared with late last year.
The unadjusted measure of the CAB was flat (0.0 percent) in January and declined 0.2 percent in December and 0.8 percent in November.
The Chemical Activity Barometer has four primary components, each consisting of a variety of indicators: 1) production; 2) equity prices; 3) product prices; and 4) inventories and other indicators.
Major components of the barometer were mixed in January. Trends in construction-related resins, pigments and related performance chemistry were mixed, suggesting slow housing activity. Plastic resins used in packaging and in consumer and institutional applications turned positive, performance chemistry gained, and U.S. exports were mixed. Equity prices retreated sharply again this month, and product and input prices fell as well. Inventory indicators were positive.
The diffusion index was stable at 53 percent. This index marks the number of positive contributors relative to the total number of indicators monitored.“The CAB continues to signal gains in U.S. commercial and industrial activity through mid-2019, but at a much slower pace as growth (as measured by year-earlier comparisons) has turned over,” said Kevin Swift, chief economist at ACC. “Despite three straight months of decline in the barometer, the cumulative decline is 1.0 percent – well below the 3.0 percent that would signal negative growth in the U.S. economy.”
The Chemical Activity Barometer is a leading economic indicator derived from a composite index of chemical industry activity. The chemical industry has been found to consistently lead the U.S. economy’s business cycle given its early position in the supply chain, and this barometer can be used to determine turning points and likely trends in the wider economy. Month-to-month movements can be volatile so a three-month moving average of the barometer is provided. This provides a more consistent and illustrative picture of national economic trends.
Applying the CAB back to 1912, it has been shown to provide a lead of two to fourteen months, with an average lead of eight months at cycle peaks as determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research. The median lead was also eight months. At business cycle troughs, the CAB leads by one to seven months, with an average lead of four months. The median lead was three months. The CAB is rebased to the average lead (in months) of an average 100 in the base year (the year 2012 was used) of a reference time series. The latter is the Federal Reserve’s Industrial Production Index.
https://www.chemengonline.com/cab-posts-a-0-3-decline-in-january-acc-says/
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Disposable-Free Food Containers Now the Law in Berkeley, Calif.
Jan 23, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Joyce E. Cutler
Customers toting single-use cups from Starbucks and McDonald’s will have to pay for the convenience in Berkeley, Calif.
The City Council Jan. 22 unanimously approved an ordinanced requiring food consumed on-site be served in reusable, durable dishes, cups, and utensils. Wrappers and tray liners are still allowed under the law, which goes into effect Jan. 1, 2020, with waivers under specific circumstances. Takeaway food containers must be compostable. Takeout foodware that isn’t compostable must be recyclable. Disposable cups will cost 25 cents in the city that was the first in the nation to ban polystyrene.
“This system is dysfunctional and the whole world is asking what is the better way. Berkeley is the pace car of the nation. It is our moment now to stand up and say there is a safer and simpler and better way,” Greenpeace USA Executive Director and Berkley resident Annie Leonard told the council.
“I do believe this is the best possible first try at doing this. And I believe we got it right,” said Sophie Hahn, the District 5 councilwoman who co-sponsored the ordinance.
Some restaurant owners spoke in favor of the measure before the council. Restaurant associations didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Waivers are available for business that show the costs of conforming to the disposable standards would cause undue financial hardship. Disposable cups for delivery by a prepared food vendor or a takeout food delivery service such as Uber Eats or Grubhub may include lids, spill plugs, and sleeves without request for the delivery workers’ safety.
A mini-grant program will help prepared food vendors with one-time costs associated with converting to reusable foodware for on-site eating.
The ordinance is “taking the best of many local ordinances and building on that and going further,” resident Jack Macy, senior commercial zero waste coordinator for San Francisco, told the council.
Unrecyclable plastics are banned, fully compostable foodware is required, and containers must be BPA-free. “All of that really makes a difference,” Macy said.Fees Imposed
The ordinance was two years in the making with the council last spring sending the proposal to its Zero Waste Commission for hearings and outreach. It returns next month for a final vote. The hearings and amendments addressed concerns industry raised about costs.
“We’re already spending a huge amount of money, up to $4 million or $5 million a year, to keep our streets and our waterways clean,” said Hahn.
Food and beverage package constitute the majority of street littler in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Clean Water Action found.
“We know from our decadelong work on bag regulation that fees on single-use items work,” Angela Howe, legal director with the nonprofit Surfrider Foundation, told the council in urging adoption.
Alameda County imposed a bag fee that led to an 80 percent decline in single-use bags and a 44 percent decrease in plastic found in waterways. San Jose saw an 89 percent drop in plastic in waterways, Howe said.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/disposable-free-food-containers-now-the-law-in-berkeley-calif
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Agency to Turn Over Wheeler Calendars, Emails by End of Month
Jan 23, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Jeremy P. Jacobs
EPA yesterday agreed to turn over by the end of the month roughly 1,000 documents including acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler's calendars and any existing correspondence with coal interests as part of an ongoing lawsuit with the Sierra Club.
A federal judge ruled last week that EPA cannot wait until the end of the partial government shutdown to release some 20,000 documents requested by the Sierra Club in four Freedom of Information Act requests.
The judge directed the Sierra Club and EPA to come up with a schedule to turn over the documents in phases, or tiers.
In a court filing yesterday, the parties provided a status update that includes 10 tiers of documents, ranging from 2,614 to 1,161 each.
Highest priority is given to Wheeler documents. The schedule requires EPA to turn over at least 800 documents by Jan. 31.
They include Wheeler's calendars and prioritize any correspondence the acting administrator has had with his former firm, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, as well as energy interests including the American Coal Council, American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity and National Energy Resources Organization — if it exists.
After that, EPA would turn over additional phases of documents by Feb. 4, Feb. 11, Feb. 20 and March 13.
The schedule was proposed to Judge Elizabeth Laporte of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, who had yet to sign it as of press time.
Sierra Club filed four FOIA requests beginning in July 2017. They sought emails, calendars, phone logs and sign-in sheets for 25 officials, including former Administrator Scott Pruitt, Wheeler, air chief Bill Wehrum and Nancy Beck, a top chemicals official at the agency.
Laporte ruled over the holidays that EPA must turn over the documents. Initially, she said the agency could wait until after the shutdown ended but lifted that order after Sierra Club pressed her to do so.
The environmental group had contended that EPA employees were working during the shutdown, including on prepping Wheeler for his recent confirmation hearing (Greenwire, Jan. 17).
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/23/stories/1060118193
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Unilever Discloses Fragrance Ingredients in Europe, US
Jan 23, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Leigh Stringer
Consumer products conglomerate Unilever has publicly disclosed all fragrance ingredients used in its home care, beauty and personal care products sold in Europe and the US.
The company has expanded its current product ingredient lists, available through its SmartLabel website and app, to include fragrance ingredients present in a product’s formulation above 0.01% (100 parts per million). Consumers can now access this information for more than 3,000 products.
The company, which owns brands such as Dove, Pond’s, Nexxus, Toni & Guy, TRESemme, St Ives, Axe and Vaseline, announced its pledge in 2017. Unilever says its end of 2018 target was achieved.
For European consumers, Unilever's ‘What’s in our Products’ section on its website includes information about the ingredients and fragrances used and their function. In addition, an online search tool is available to "support people with fragrance allergies to find suitable products for them".
In the US, ingredient and fragrance information is available through the company’s SmartLabel website and app. Unilever is also updating packaging labels in the US to list fragrance allergens, a requirement under the EU’s cosmetics Regulation.
Unilever’s chief research and development officer, David Blanchard, said: "We believe that providing this transparency will help build further trust in Unilever and our brands. We now want to expand our ingredient transparency initiative to more countries." The company had not responded to a Chemical Watch question on when it would do this, and to which countries, by the time of publishing.
President and co-founder of US NGO the Environmental Working Group (EWG), Ken Cook, said: "By breaking open the black box of fragrance chemicals, Unilever has raised the bar for transparency across the entire personal care products industry – and beyond."
"It may not happen overnight, but Unilever’s decision to trust consumers with basic facts about their products will place enormous pressure on the rest of the market to respond, and make it very difficult for other companies to continue to shield their fragrance ingredients from consumers," he added.
Ingredient transparency has been a hot topic for the personal care and cleaning products sectors. Last week, US cleaning products giant SC Johnson announced that it has expanded its ingredient disclosure website – WhatsInsideSCJohnson – to cover Latin America. Its transparency programme now provides ingredient information for more than 8,700 products, in 35 languages.
And fellow consumer product conglomerate Procter & Gamble announced in 2017 that it will reveal the fragrance ingredients, down to 0.01% of content, for all products sold in the US and Canada by the end of 2019.
The company told Chemical Watch that "our scientists are currently completing the work needed to make the declaration" and is "on track".
Meanwhile, regulatory authorities continue to push policies that drive disclosure. The European Commission has proposed the use of e-labelling to increase consumer awareness of fragrance allergens in cosmetics.
In the US, alongside the introduction of disclosure laws in California and New York last year, a bill was introduced in the previous session of Congress that would require full disclosure of ingredients.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73627/unilever-discloses-fragrance-ingredients-in-europe-us
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Jan 23, 2019 | Environmental Defense Fund
By Richard Denison
Regular readers of this blog know it is our view that, under the Trump EPA, implementation of the 2016 reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) has pretty much gone off the rails, deviating from what the law requires, failing to reflect the best available science, and not protecting public health. It’s a view shared by, among others, former top EPA officials, members of Congress, state and localgovernments, labor groups, firefighters, water utilities, public health groups, and a broad range of environmental groups.
But in this era of alternative facts, the chemical industry says that’s because we’re all simply misinformed. And it’s taking steps to correct those alleged misperceptions.
The American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) agenda for its annual chemfest – called GlobalChem – is up online. One of the five plenary sessions for the two-day meeting in March is wholly devoted to the pressing need to figure out how the chemical industry can let everyone know just what a great success TSCA implementation has been:
According to ACC, the problem needing to be addressed is that “consumers, retailers, and other stakeholders may not be clear about the successes of TSCA implementation to this point.” And so it plans to solicit conference attendees’ input on: “What steps can we take to explain the successes to this point, and encourage a positive outlook for the future of TSCA?”
This – from an industry trade association that has spent the last two years grabbing all it can get from an Administration more than happy to give it what it wants. As to the balance and middle ground Congress sought to strike when it passed the Lautenberg Act in 2016? That is soooo 2016.
Far from being an innocent bystander, ACC has been a central actor in the industry’s effort to derail TSCA implementation. To cite just a few examples:ACC demanded that EPA lower the fees Congress authorized it to charge industry to help defray the costs of TSCA implementation, which EPA had already significantly understated.ACC steadfastly asserts that the 2016 amendments to TSCA made no significant changes to EPA’s reviews of new chemicals, despite massive evidence to the contrary. And it has relentlessly (and successfully) pressured EPA to scale back those reviews, the law be damned.ACC abused an exemption it had secured in the new TSCA that removed a group of persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) chemicals from expedited restrictions on the basis that they were being subject to expedited review as new chemicals. ACC is now demanding that EPA abandon that approach, start over, and instead review the chemicals under the procedures for review of existing chemicals under TSCA – delaying needed restrictions for many years.
I’ll grant ACC that, at least in the short term, TSCA is succeeding in one respect – giving the chemical industry what it wants. Here are some of the policies the industry argued for that EPA has implemented:EPA’s earlier proposed bans on high-risk uses of specific chemicals have either been abandoned or, in one case, delayed and scaled back;EPA has not even hinted at using its expanded authority under TSCA to require companies to test, monitor for, or submit existing information on their chemicals – even as EPA declares chemicals with massive data gaps safe for any use;EPA is denying public access to companies’ health and safety information in direct contravention of TSCA requirements;EPA is ignoring major sources of exposure to chemicals when conducting risk evaluations, greatly decreasing the likelihood of determining there is risk that needs to be regulated;EPA is no longer issuing orders imposing restrictions on or requiring testing of new chemicals, and will only rarely even require notification of reasonably foreseen uses;EPA won’t address identified risks to workers, instead relying on provisions in new chemical notices and safety data sheets that impose no binding requirements on employers and shift the burden of protection onto workers;there is little evidence EPA is reviewing industry claims for confidentiality in a timely and rigorous manner, and it has assigned the unique identifiers required under the law to only a fraction of chemicals whose identities are being withheld from the public; andEPA is using methods for weighting scientific evidence that have never been peer-reviewed, deviate from established scientific practice, and are heavily biased toward industry studies.
For the chemical industry, what’s not to like? For the rest of us, not so much.
ACC’s session planners wonder “how TSCA could increase public confidence in chemical and product safety.” That will take a wholesale reset of the course of TSCA implementation towards health-protective regulation far beyond the wishful thinking in which ACC is engaging.
http://blogs.edf.org/health/2019/01/23/acc-to-retailers-consumers-and-the-rest-of-us-you-just-dont-get-that-tsca-implementation-is-coming-along-swimmingly/
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(ACC Mentioned) Industry, EPA Alumni Find Flaws in EPA Fluorochemical Reviews
Jan 23, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
The EPA’s reports on the health hazards of two ubiquitous chemicals came too late, weren’t done correctly, and fail to address the chemicals’ presence in drinking water across the country, multiple groups told the agency in public comments.
In a pair of draft reports, the Environmental Protection Agency gauged the toxicity of two chemicals, called GenX and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS). The EPA sought public comments on its draft reports through Jan. 22.
Both chemicals were developed as substitutes for other per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the Chemours Co. and 3M Co.'s manufacturing processes, though the chemicals and their predecessors continue to be found in drinking water, groundwater, and soil across the country.
The American Chemistry Council, a chemical trade association representing companies including 3M and Chemours, seeks a broader review of the reports. It wants the EPA’s scientific advisers to look at the drafts before they’re finalized, the council said in its comments, dated Jan. 22.
Both the council and the Environmental Protection Network, which represents former EPA staff, said the agency should reconsider how it reviewed scientific studies to make its conclusions about the chemicals’ health risks. In particular, EPN said the agency should derive risk estimates based on the chemicals’ impact on the thyroid.Millions Spent in North Carolina
North Carolina environmental regulators have found GenX in the environment near Chemours Co.'s Fayetteville plant. The Cape Fear Public Utility Authority, which said the EPA’s reports came too late, has found PFAS chemicals near the Chemours plant in both treated and untreated water.
The authority “has already spent millions of dollars researching these compounds and implementing interim solutions to temporarily reduce them,” the utility wrote in comments submitted Dec. 11.
The EPA is working on a national strategy to address PFAS, but it is unclear when it may be released. In its absence, three members of Michigan’s congressional delegation have introduced a bill (H.R. 535) that would give the EPA more power over PFAS cleanups.
GenX and PFBS are likely less toxic than the substances they are meant to replace, the EPA determined in the draft reports, but states and federal agencies haven’t come to a consensus on what amounts of PFAS chemicals are safe to drink.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/industry-epa-alumni-find-flaws-in-epa-fluorochemical-reviews
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Kildee, House Lawmakers Launching PFAS Task Force
Jan 23, 2019 | The Detroit News
By Melissa Nann Burke
House lawmakers are launching a new task force devoted to PFAS issues Wednesday, aiming to craft bipartisan legislation related to the crisis and press for more funding to clean up contaminated sites.
U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Flint Township, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pennsylvania, will co-chair the group with the goal of building support in the public and the Congress for a "more aggressive, forward-looking agenda" on PFAS, Kildee said.
A main thrust of the task force will be educating members of Congress and their staffs, who haven’t yet dealt with the class of fluorinated chemicals "but likely soon will," Kildee said.
"We know this is a pervasive issue around the country, but it’s really only been front and center in a handful of places so far. So, we need to do some things to move policy," Kildee said.
"It's important that our leadership in both parties and committee leadership understands how urgent it is that we address this."BY HOTELS.COMHotel Café Royal - LondonSee more →
An estimated 16 million people in 33 states and Puerto Rico have PFAS-contaminated tap water, according to research by Northeastern University and the Environmental Working Group.
Michigan is a hot spot of the crisis with the toxic compounds detected at high levels in at least 34 sites throughout the state, including around military bases in Oscoda, Alpena and Grayling, according to state data.
Health officials say continued exposure to certain PFAS chemicals in drinking water could harm human health. Studies link exposure to developmental effects on fetuses, cancer, and liver and immunity function, among other issues.
PFAS compounds, which build up in the environment and the body, have been used for decades in manufacturing to make carpets, clothing, furniture fabric, packaging for food and other products resistant to water, grease or stains.
The Department of Defense has used firefighting foam containing two well-known PFAS compounds, PFOS and PFOA, for emergency response and training.
The bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force has at least 10 members, but organizers expect more to join.
Other Michigan members include Reps. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph; Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland; Debbie Dingell, D-Dearborn; Brenda Lawrence, D-Southfield; Jack Bergman, R-Watersmeet; Andy Levin, D-Bloomfield Township; Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly; Haley Stevens, D-Rochester Hills; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit.
Michigan lawmakers are pushing various PFAS-related bills on Capitol Hill, including one introduced last week that would designate the chemicals as hazardous substancesunder the Superfund program.
Kildee and Fitzpatrick have called for the Environmental Protection Agency to set a national enforceable standard for PFAS in drinking water.
A health advisory level of 70 ppt set in 2016 can't be used to enforce cleanups or regulate the chemicals' use.
Lawmakers also are pressing the federal government to expedite the detection of contaminated sites around the country by giving the U.S.Geological Survey funding to conduct nationwide sampling.
"There's a lot of speculation, particularly around military sites, but even in the private sector we know it’s a ubiquitous substance, and we have to get our arms around that," Kildee said.
He said there's no indication the Trump administration is taking the PFAS crisis "as seriously as we know it to be."
"It's important this is a bipartisan effort because, despite what the administration may or may not be doing, we can act to push through legislation that addresses the problem," he said. "Hopefully, the EPA will catch up."
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2019/01/23/pfas-taskforce-house/2651005002/
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Washington State Mulls Action on Priority Chemicals in Products
Jan 23, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Both chambers of the Washington state legislature are considering legislation aimed at reducing the use of high-concern chemicals in certain consumer products.
The bills (HB 1194 / SB 5153) seek for the Department of Ecology to select priority chemicals and consumer products that are significant sources of them. Once identified, it would be required to "determine regulatory actions to increase transparency and to reduce the use" of those substances in the priority products.
Priority chemicals identified are:perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs);phthalates;organohalogen and non-organohalogen flame retardants;phenolic compounds (for example, BPA); andpolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); andother substances meeting certain hazard and/or exposure criteria.
Reporting requirements, restrictions or prohibitions are among the regulatory options laid out in the legislation. For the latter, the department would need to determine if a safer alternative is feasible, whether the priority chemical is functionally necessary in a product, that another state has imposed similar restrictions, or that the action is "necessary to protect the health of sensitive populations or species".
Proposed timelines call for the department to identify consumer products that are a significant source of priority chemicals by June 2020. Regulatory actions would be due midway through 2022, with rules to be adopted a year later. The bills also outline plans for this process to repeat on a five-year cycle.
Introduction of the ‘Pollution Prevention for Our Future Act’ follows the release of a sweeping set of recommendations from a taskforce charged with protecting the region’s orca whales. This group identified toxic contaminants as one of the "key threats" threatening southern resident killer whales.
The legislation names orcas, as well as their food sources, among the sensitive species that may be "disproportionately or more severely affected by priority chemicals".
The Senate and House bills were introduced on 14 and 16 January, respectively. A 24 January hearing is scheduled in the House Committee on Environment and Energy.PFAS in firefighting foam
Also on the agenda for the hearing is consideration of a separate bill (HB 1143), to require notification to the state when using firefighting foam containing PFASs.
Washington passed a law last year to prohibit sale of the foams from July 2020, but it included an exemption for the product’s use as required by federal law.
Nevertheless, the bill contained a provision authorising the restriction to be broadened if those federal regulations shift. And with Congress passing a bill last autumn directing the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to modify its requirements to allow for non-fluorinated alternatives to meet mandatory performance standards, this could open the door to Washington seeking further restrictions on those uses.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73664/washington-state-mulls-action-on-priority-chemicals-in-products
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Toxic Substances Found in Nappies in France-Government Agency
Jan 23, 2019 | Reuters (In The New York Times)
By Sophie Louet
A variety of potentially toxic substances, including the widely-used weed-killer glyphosate, has been found in babies' nappies in France, according to a study on Wednesday by the French environment agency ANSES.
The study said research had found substances including butylphenyl methylpropional used in beauty products and certain aromatic hydrocarbons as well as glyphosate. All of them pose potential risks.
The French government said manufacturers and retailers should ensure that the substances are removed from nappies.
The agency said health risks could not be excluded, although French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn said the current situation regarding how nappies were made did not pose dangers to the health of babies.
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Buzyn, Environment Minister Francois de Rugy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire issued a joint statement calling on manufacturers and retailers to take measures within the next 15 days to eliminate those substances from babies' nappies.
"Along with Bruno Le Maire and Francois de Rugy, we are calling on the companies to take all necessary measures to make sure nappies are as safe as possible," wrote Buzyn on Twitter.
"There is no immediate, serious risk to the health of children, but it is paramount to take precautions," she added.
Glyphosate, which is off-patent and marketed worldwide by dozens of chemical groups, is due to be phased out in France within three years, although farmers are exempt from the ban where there is no credible alternative to the pesticide.
https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2019/01/23/world/europe/23reuters-france-health.html
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Echa Reveals 'Limited' SVHCs in Articles Database After Funding Rebuff
Jan 23, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
Echa has embarked on a "scaled-down prototype" of its proposed substances in articles database, after failing to get clearing from the European Commission for full funding to develop it.
The agency said it would set aside €900,000 from its own resources for a prototype "with limited features and testing" before the database's release by January 2020. A sustainable financing structure for the new tasks "still has to be found", it said.
Echa and the Commission have been in talks over how to finance the cost of the database. The agency said in November a full funding structure was not "yet available" and this could risk a delay in its development and implementation.
The proposal came out of the revised waste framework Directive (WFD) that entered into force in July last year. The agency is required to complete its task by 5 January 2020, eighteen months after the Directive takes effect.
The database would contain information provided by companies producing, importing or supplying articles containing substances of very high concern (SVHCs). They will need to submit this for products placed on the market from 5 January 2021.
Echa said the prototype database would only be a portion of the final service and would not cover "dissemination, help desk or extensive cooperation with stakeholders".
It would be based on a "minimum viable IT system", the purpose of which would be to test what could become the final target service and to learn from the interaction with stakeholders.'Strong regret'
Echa expressed "its strong regret" over the lack of a sustainable financing structure for the database, according to a note from the agency’s management board meeting in December. It said it hopes the Commission will make a proposal to resolve the problem "as soon as possible".
A specific financing decision will allow the agency to begin the IT development for the prototype in spring by using its REACH/CLP subsidy, and fees and charges income. The Commission still needs to approve such funds for the purpose.
The full cost of the project is difficult to estimate, Echa told Chemical Watch, but it will "probably" be more than the money it has already set aside.
Once the prototype has been launched, it plans to redesign the tool based on experience and to add on features later in the project.
A full solution consists of many different ways of submitting the data and also of disseminating it to consumers and waste treatment operators, it said.
The agency is currently refining the main design elements of the database and its related submission tools, following an online consultation from September to October and discussions at a workshop in October.
Once agreed, information requirements will be published on Echa's website, it said.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73663/echa-reveals-limited-svhcs-in-articles-database-after-funding-rebuff
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Environmental Group May Challenge Texas LNG Project, Says FERC
Jan 23, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Leticia Gonzales
Federal regulators have granted an environmental coalition legal status to intervene in a permit application for one of three liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities proposed at the Port of Brownsville, which sits at the tip of Texas on the Mexico border.
In an order issued last Friday, FERC said Save RVG’s Dec. 12 motion on environmental grounds was unopposed and considered timely as it was filed before the Dec. 17 deadline for filing comments on the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) issued for Texas LNG Brownsville LLC’s proposed export terminal in Cameron County.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s public notice of the application had set May 5, 2016, as the deadline to file motions to intervene. Motions to intervene on environmental grounds, however, are deemed timely if filed during the comment period of the DEIS.
In its motion, Save RGV said it had an interest in the proceeding because members “have environmental, aesthetic, and economic interests that will be directly affected by the project.”
“Now that Save RGV from LNG has been granted intervenor status by the FERC, our coalition has the opportunity to make our case to the Commission that this LNG project would be a threat to the health and safety of our community,” spokeswoman Martha Pena said. “It also allows us to appeal the Commission's final ruling, should it come to that point.”
The initial phase of the Texas LNG facility would have a capacity of 2 million metric tons/year (mmty), while Phase 2 would be developed at a later date and double capacity to 4 mmty. The terminal would be fed via a yet-to-be-constructed intrastate pipeline accessing supply from the Agua Dulce hub near Corpus Christi, which is about 150 miles north of Brownsville.
Agua Dulce interconnects with interstate and intrastate pipelines that include Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco), Tennessee Gas Pipeline, facilities of Energy Transfer Partners LP and Enterprise Product Partners LP, Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America and Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line.
FERC’s DEIS indicated that the project would result in adverse environmental impacts, but with a single exception, they would be reduced to insignificant levels with mitigation measures [CP16-116]. Impacts on visual resources could be significant when viewed from the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, staff said.
Project developers are expecting FERC to issue a final EIS by March 15 and a final decision by June 13. Texas LNG plans to reach final investment decision in late 2019, and if positive, it has said first exports could begin in 2023 or 2024. Phase 2 exports would begin one or two years later.
The project, which would be on the deepwater Brownsville Ship Channel, is one of three LNG export facilities proposed at the port. FERC issued a positive DEIS for Annova LNG Brownsville in December and for NextDecade Corp.'s Rio Grande LNG project in October.
Pena criticized Tetco pipeline operator Enbridge Inc. after an explosion on the pipeline Monday left two people injured and three homes damaged. “The fact that Texas LNG proposes to connect to the existing Valley Crossing Pipeline raises a red flag. The Valley Crossing Pipeline is owned by Enbridge, a company that has a well documented history of leaks and explosions -- the most recent occurring in Ohio on Monday. We have a responsibility to keep our community safe and preserve this special part of South Texas for future generations.”
https://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/117158-environmental-group-may-challenge-texas-lng-project-says-ferc
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Halliburton Feels U.S. Fracking Slowdown More Than Schlumberger
Jan 23, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By David Wethe and Rachel Adams-Heard
The world’s biggest oilfield service companies are feeling the U.S. fracking slowdown as shale producers slash spending forecasts. But Halliburton Co. may be bearing the brunt of the pain while arch-rival Schlumberger Ltd. benefits from its bigger international footprint.
Halliburton on Jan. 22 saw its shares drop as much as 6.7 percent after forecasting a decline in first-quarter fracking earnings and announcing a cut in capital expenditure. The dip comes days after arch-rival Schlumberger surged the most in seven years after also announcing a similar spending cut.
Despite forecasting a modest recovery in actual fracking activity in the current quarter after a decline in the final three months of 2018, the pressure on pricing will remain, Halliburton Chief Executive Officer Jeff Miller said on a conference call with analysts and investors. The company’s completion and production segment, responsible for most of its revenue, will see margins drop by as much as 4 percentage points in the period compared with the fourth quarter, it said.
Both companies see single-digit growth in international activity in 2019. But Halliburton, which celebrates its centenary this year, is more exposed to the vagaries of domestic fracking. The company got 60 percent of its revenue from North America last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Schlumberger, in contrast, had 37 percent of its sales from the region.
While explosive growth in the Permian Basin has helped drive fracking demand in the past couple of years, the slump in the oil price since October has cooled the outlook in the U.S. for services such as drilling and pumping. The number of working oil rigs in the U.S. fell last week by the most in almost three years, according to data from oilfield-services provider Baker Hughes.
Miller said that smaller companies will likely cut spending the most aggressively out of everyone if oil prices don’t recover. The industry’s biggest players will ramp up their North American operations, he said.
Many of the majors “recently shifted their investment priorities from offshore and deepwater to shorter-cycle North America shale plays,” Miller said. “That is good news for Halliburton.“
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/halliburton-feels-us-fracking-slowdown-more-than-schlumberger
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Admin Misses Court Deadline for Climate Rule Status Report
Jan 23, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Niina Heikkinen
Government lawyers have missed a court-ordered deadline to provide a status report on EPA's rule to control greenhouse gas emissions from new or modified power plants.
Yesterday afternoon — on the day of the deadline — the agency asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for an extension to report on the New Source Performance Standards rulemaking in light of the partial federal government shutdown.
The D.C. Circuit requires the agency to provide regular updates on the rule because litigation remains on hold as the agency works on drafting a replacement.
Later yesterday afternoon, environmental groups filed a motion opposing EPA's request. While acknowledging the "ongoing, unprecedentedly long" lapse in appropriations and its impact on EPA and Department of Justice staff, they noted the agency should still have met its deadline.
They argued the delay was putting a burden on the public and interfering with the rights of people to notice and comment.
"These impositions are ones that the Agency, even limited to top leadership and staff that management deems 'essential,' can and should remedy by providing basic information that would save the public time and effort and ensure that the shutdown will not impair the public's right to participate in an important Clean Air Act rulemaking," the environmental groups wrote.
The agency had already pushed back its public hearing on its proposed rule change from Jan. 8 to Jan. 30 as a result of the lapse in funding. The Feb. 19 public comment deadline has remained unchanged.
As of this morning, the D.C. Circuit had not yet responded to the agency's deadline extension request.
The shutdown has caused disruptions in scores of environmental cases as government lawyers seek to delay proceedings.
Judges have granted such requests in many cases but required the government to stick to deadlines on more time-sensitive issues. Judges can impose penalties for missed deadlines.
Environmentalists say the litigation delays amount to an injustice because several of their lawsuits ask courts to halt agency actions they consider illegal (Greenwire, Jan. 8).
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/01/23/stories/1060118191
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'Green' Deal Shifts Democratic Debate on Scale of Climate Policies
Jan 23, 2019 | Inside EPA
Recent proposals for a “Green New Deal” to aggressively shift to renewable energy and boost the economy through government investment are shifting the debate among Democrats about the necessary scope of climate change policy, according to former officials and other observers.
“People are asking how are we going to address climate change at scale, not what's our building-block approach,” says Christy Goldfuss, a former top environment official in the Obama administration, in a New Yorker feature storyon the “Green” proposal, which is most prominently pushed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and a new wave of insurgent climate advocates.
Goldfuss, who led the Obama White House Council on Environmental Quality and now is with Center for American Progress, added: “For me, that is a huge, huge shift, and it would not have happened if the Green New Deal had not come along.”
The story argues that for Democrats, the proposal is supplanting the incrementalism of the Obama administration on climate issues, by calling for a rapid shift to 100 percent renewable power, coupled with a $1 trillion federal investment and a jobs guarantee.
The rough outlines of the plan were hashed out after Ocasio-Cortez joined the Sunrise Movement for a sit-in at House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) office to call for a stronger select climate committee, the article notes.
“If it’s really not possible, then we can revisit,” said the lawmaker's chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti. “The idea is to set the most ambitious thing we can do and then make a plan for it. Why not try?”
Since then, a suite of Democratic lawmakers and potential presidential candidates have embraced the proposal, or at least the “concept” -- though they are leaving themselves significant wiggle room to alter the details of any future plan.
For example, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) has cast his long-standing call to reform federal energy tax incentives -- to simplify the program and reward all technologies that reduce carbon emissions -- as the central plank of any Green New Deal.
Inside EPA's Doug Obey recently reported on a looming debate as Democrats begin to develop actual climate legislation -- what qualifies as “clean” energy?
While some progressive groups are pushing a renewables-centric approach, some academics and policy wonks embrace a broader definition that includes a range of zero-emission sources such as nuclear and fossil fuel paired with carbon capture technology.
“A broader clean energy standard is greener and more climate friendly than a narrow renewable energy standard. But the politics may be misaligned” with that conclusion, said Roger Ballentine, a former Clinton administration climate adviser.
A high-profile September study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that pairing renewables with a range of other zero-carbon sources could significantly lower the costs of “deep carbonization” efforts -- an important factor given that such cost reductions could make it politically and substantively easier for policymakers to require greater electrification in a range of other emitting sectors such as transportation and buildings.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/green-deal-shifts-democratic-debate-scale-climate-policies
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Ewire: Public Opinion Shifts to Bigger Concern Over Climate
Jan 23, 2019 | Inside EPA
Public concerns over the threats from climate change are on the rise, according to new polling data, driven by a spate of extreme weather events over the past year and the Trump administration's climate policy rollbacks that could be driving up the saliency of the issue.
It is possible that increased concern about global warming could boost the chances of major climate legislation in the coming years, though such a dynamic could take several years to manifest, if it does at all.
The heightened concern is reflected in a pair of polls released Jan. 22. One survey, conducted by Yale and George Mason universities, found that 73 percent of Americans believe global warming is happening, which is up 10 points since March 2015.
Half of all respondents added that they are “extremely” or “very” sure it is occurring, a finding that is 14 points higher than four years ago.
“The proportion of Americans who are very worried about global warming has more than tripled since its lowest point in 2011,” says an executive summary of the poll. “Increasing numbers of Americans say they have personally experienced global warming and that the issue is personally important to them.”
A separate poll conducted by the University of Chicago and the Associated Press finds similar levels of awareness of the problem, with 60 percent of those who recognize the issue also accepting scientific conclusions that climate change is primarily caused by human activities. Just 12 percent say the problem is caused by natural changes, the survey found.
Like other prior surveys, however, there is a significant partisan split, with Democrats more likely to accept scientific findings about the causes of climate change and Republicans more likely to dismiss them.
The Chicago-AP poll also found that three-quarters of those who “think the science of climate change has become more convincing credit recent extreme weather events for changing their views.”
The Yale-George Mason survey found similar results tied to last year's destructive hurricanes in the Atlantic and massive wildfires in the West.
Ed Maibach, director of George Mason's Center for Climate Change Communication, also pointed to two other possible factors in an interview with the Washington Post.
The efforts by EPA and other agencies to scale back Obama-era climate rules are “counter to scientific findings but may be raising awareness of the issue,” the article notes.
Additionally, Maibach cited the recent release of major climate reports, including the National Climate Assessment and a United Nations study on the sundry risks of allowing global average temperature to increase more than 1.5 degrees Celsius from preindustrial levels.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-public-opinion-shifts-bigger-concern-over-climate
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