Preview Newsletter
PM ACC Clips Report - February 1, 2019
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(ACC Mentioned) ACC Eyes Tariff Issues with Post-Brexit UK
Feb 1, 2019 | Plastics News
By Sarah Houton
The American Chemistry Council has set out the U.S. chemical industry’s recommendations for a trade agreement with the United Kingdom in preparation for the U.K.'s exit from the European Union. In 2017, the U.K. imported $2.8... -
New Democrats Launch Task Forces to Help Craft the House Majority’s Policy Agenda
Feb 1, 2019 | Roll Call
By Lindsey McPherson
The New Democrat Coalition is ready to help the House majority craft its policy agenda for the 116th Congress, launching eight issue-focused task forces to develop proposals on party priorities such as health care, infrastructure... -
DC Straw Ban Enforcement and January Usage Totals
Feb 1, 2019 | Plastics News
By Jeremy Caroll
The Washington Post had a really interesting article this week about the implementation of the Washington D.C.'s plastic straw ban. The ban went into effect at the start of the year but enforcement isn't going to hit restaurants until July 1. -
Democrats Call for Release of CBI Data Underlying TSCA Evaluation
Feb 1, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Two US House of Representatives Democrats have called for the EPA to release health and safety studies supporting the TSCA draft risk evaluation of pigment violet 29. Both have been withheld as confidential. The request – submitted by... -
(ACC Mentioned) Independent Science Takes Another Hit at the EPA: New Science Advisory Board Members Announced
Feb 1, 2019 | Union of Concerned Scientists
By Genna Reed
The EPA released the names of eight new members of its Science Advisory Board (SAB) yesterday. The verdict? In general Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler is continuing the trend of undermining the independence and quality of scientific... -
(ACC Mentioned) EPA’s Administrator Must Be Serious About Protecting Us From PFAS. Wheeler Is Not.
Feb 1, 2019 | Union of Concerned Scientists
By Genna Reed
After Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s confirmation hearing for the agency’s top job earlier this month, he responded to a long list of questions for the record that had been submitted by senators. In the questions related to... -
US EPA Appoints New Members to Advisory Board
Feb 1, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The EPA has appointed 12 new members to its Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) – a subcommittee of the Science Advisory Board (SAB). The CAAC is a group of non-EPA scientists that provides advice on toxicological... -
Senators Demand EPA Set Limits for PFAs
Feb 1, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder
A bipartisan groups of 20 senators today urged acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to set federal standards for two types of chemicals found in drinking water. "Without enforceable drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, it... -
15 AGs Petition Trump Administration to Draft Asbestos Rule
Jan 31, 2019 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Miranda Green
The Attorneys General from 15 states are petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to draft a policy to collect more data on harmful asbestos. The AGs from California and Massachusetts lead the group in asking the EPA... -
16 States Form Coalition Calling for New EPA Asbestos Rules
Feb 1, 2019 | Governing
By Dennis Hoey
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey joined a coalition of 15 other state attorneys general on Thursday in calling on the federal Environmental Protection Agency to issue new rules to eliminate exemptions for asbestos reporting. The... -
EU-Wide Ban on Microplastics Added to Goods Proposed
Feb 1, 2019 | Chemistry World
By Emma Stoye
The European Chemicals Agency (Echa) has proposed EU-wide restrictions on using microplastics in products such as cosmetics, paints, coatings, fertiliser granules and medical devices in an effort to reduce plastic waste. Echa... -
Draft EU Law to Tackle Micro Plastic Waste
Feb 1, 2019 | Waste Management World
By Ben Messenger
The EU could ban the use of microplastics and microbeads in all products using its powerful chemical laws under a draft bill tabled this week. According to the European Chemicals Agency, between 10,000 and 60,000 tonnes of... -
Chemours Is Using the U.S. as an Unregulated Dump for Europe’s Toxic Genx Waste
Feb 1, 2019 | The Intercept
By Sharon Lerner
After many years of treating the developing world as its environmental dumping ground, the U.S. is finally getting a taste of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of another country’s dangerous garbage. DuPont-spinoff Chemours... -
With Government Shutdown Ended, Two Rival Offshore Crude Oil Export Terminals Move Forward
Feb 1, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Sergio Chapa
With the partial federal government shutdown now ended, two rival projects to build offshore crude oil export terminals near Houston are moving forward. Enterprise Products Partners LP filed a permit application with the... -
Recycling Sector Touts GHG Benefits of Reused Plastics
Feb 1, 2019 | Inside EPA
The plastics recycling sector is touting new research showing its products have much lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than “virgin” plastic resin, laying the groundwork for calls to expand voluntary or mandatory plastics... -
Plastics to Fuel: Status in the Industry Today
Feb 1, 2019 | American Recycler Newspaper
By Maura Keller
As more and more cities are starting to ban the use of plastic bags at stores, the recycling industry is setting its sights on transforming plastics into alternative energy and fuel. What has been the evolution of converting post-use non... -
Oregon Lawmakers Consider Nation’s Second Cap-and-Trade Program
Feb 1, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Paul Shukovsky
Oregon will become the second state in the nation to impose an economywide price on carbon, if a pending cap-and-trade bill is enacted. The bill, released in draft form Jan. 31, would impose a gradually declining cap on total... -
Ewire: Oregon Lawmakers Unveil Bill to Join California GHG Market
Feb 1, 2019 | Inside EPA
Top lawmakers in the Oregon state legislature have unveiled legislation that would allow the state to join California's greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program that covers most economic sectors, a move that would be the first domestic... -
Wheeler: 'It Wasn't Easy Hanging in There'
Feb 1, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Kevin Bogardus, Ariel Wittenberg and Sean Reilly
Newly released emails shed light on Andrew Wheeler's confirmation process as deputy EPA administrator, while foreshadowing the battle ahead in his nomination for the agency's top job. The emails, released yesterday to the... -
California Standing Firm on State Air Standards
Feb 1, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Joyce E. Cutler
California isn’t going away and neither is the state’s desire to direct its environmental regulations, California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols said. Trump administration efforts to rescind California’s waivers to... -
A Promising Start for Cleaner Buildings in California
Feb 1, 2019 | Natural Resource Defense Council
By Merrian Borgeson
The California Utilities Commission has now launched the process for implementing a new law to make the state’s homes more climate-friendly and affordable to heat. The commission is also considering other broad measures aimed... -
New York AG Leads Six-State Team in Lawsuit Against Trump EPA
Feb 1, 2019 | New York Business Journal
By Anthony Noto
New York is making good on its promise to fight President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). And it has help from other states. New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a coalition of six states in an...
Industry and Association News
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Environment News
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(ACC Mentioned) ACC Eyes Tariff Issues with Post-Brexit UK
Feb 1, 2019 | Plastics News
By Sarah Houton
The American Chemistry Council has set out the U.S. chemical industry’s recommendations for a trade agreement with the United Kingdom in preparation for the U.K.'s exit from the European Union.
In 2017, the U.K. imported $2.8 billion of chemicals from the U.S., as well as being a regional hub for the integrated chemicals manufacturing supply chain. Total trade in chemicals between the two countries amounts to $5.7 billion.
"A trade agreement that eliminates U.S. tariffs on chemical imports from the U.K. could save U.S. chemical manufacturers $88 million a year," Ed Brzytwa, ACC’s director of international trade told a public hearing of the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative Jan. 29. "Eliminating U.K. tariffs on chemical imports from the U.S. would reduce tariffs paid in the U.K. by $84 million. The cost savings from the elimination of tariffs would help boost economic and job growth."
He concluded his testimony to USTR by calling on both governments to work together to address trade-distorting practices by other countries.
"ACC and its members stand ready to assist the administration in the creation of a coalition of allies in the [World Trade Organization] to protect and enforce WTO trading principles around the globe," he said.
https://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20190201/NEWS/190209990/acc-eyes-tariff-issues-with-post-brexit-uk
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New Democrats Launch Task Forces to Help Craft the House Majority’s Policy Agenda
Feb 1, 2019 | Roll Call
By Lindsey McPherson
The New Democrat Coalition is ready to help the House majority craft its policy agenda for the 116th Congress, launching eight issue-focused task forces to develop proposals on party priorities such as health care, infrastructure and climate change.
The group of centrist Democrats has used task forces to develop policy proposals in past Congresses, but they’re particularly excited about the work the task forces will do this session now that their party is in the majority.
With 101 coalition members, the New Democrats are the largest ideological caucus within the 240-member House Democratic Caucus. Through its eight task forces, the group is planning to play an active role in developing the policy agenda the party pursues over the next two years.
“We’re excited about the diverse perspectives and impressive ideas that all of our members will bring to the table,” New Democrat Chairman Derek Kilmer said in an interview. “I think we’re confident that our task forces can turn some of these ideas into pragmatic solutions, into actual policies to move the ball forward and engage with our entire caucus and hopefully the entire Congress.”
To make engagement outside the coalition easier, the group set up its task forces with at least one co-chair on each serving on a committee with jurisdiction over the policy area. They also ensured the co-chairs represented a broad range of other groups within the Democratic Caucus, like the large freshmen class and the various diversity caucuses.
“We wanted that diversity so people could bring ideas in from different perspectives,” said Washington Rep. Suzan DelBene, who as the coalition’s vice chair for policy helped form the task forces for the 116th Congress.
The policy areas of the task forces were chosen based on a survey conducted of the membership, DelBene and Kilmer said. Most of the groups repeat policy areas New Democrats have studied in prior Congresses, but climate change is a new one this year, they said.
The eight task forces and their co-chairs are:
Climate Change
Reps. Donald S. Beyer Jr. and Elaine Luria of Virginia, Sean Casten of Illinois and Susan Wild of Pennsylvania. Beyer serves on the Ways and Means Committee, which has some jurisdiction in the area because climate change solutions are often interwoven with tax and trade policies.
Future of Work
Reps. Bill Foster of Illinois, Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, Haley Stevens of Michigan and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware. Stevens serves on the Education and Labor Committee.
Health care
Reps. Angie Craig of Minnesota, Kurt Schrader of Oregon, Kim Schrier of Washington and Greg Stanton of Arizona. Schrader is on the Energy and Commerce Committee that has a lot of jurisdiction over health care policies. Housing
Reps. Denny Heck of Washington, Katie Hill of California and Ben McAdams of Utah. Heck and McAdams are on the Financial Service Committee, with Heck serving on its subcommittee on housing.
Infrastructure
Del. Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands and Reps. Jason Crow of Colorado, Elissa Slotkin of Michigan and Salud Carbajal of California. Plaskett and Carbajal serve on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Trade
Reps. Ron Kind of Wisconsin, Rick Larsen of Washington, Gregory W. Meeks of New York and Lizzie Fletcher of Texas. Kind is on the Ways and Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade.
National security
Reps. Anthony G. Brown of Maryland, Brendan F. Boyle of Pennsylvania, Brad Schneider of Illinois and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia. Brown serves on the Armed Services Committee and Spanberger on the Foreign Affairs panel.
Technology
Reps. Sharice Davids of Kansas, Kendra Horn of Oklahoma, Harley Rouda of California and Darren Soto of Florida. Soto serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee and its technology subcommittee. Horn is on the Science, Space and Technology Committee.
Personal experience
Some of the co-chairs are serving on task forces from industries they’ve worked in before coming to Congress. Spanberger’s placement on the national security task force, for example, is apt given her previous career in the CIA.
Health care co-chairs Craig and Schrier both have experience in the arena — Craig as the head of human resources for a Fortune 500 company and Schrier as a pediatrician.
Craig also has a personal connection to the topic, having grown up without health insurance. She said she looks forward to using her personal and professional background in contributing to the task force’s work on health care policy.
“I think we have to rethink how we pay for health care in this country,” Craig said, noting that the current system emphasizes volume of care over quality of care.
She feels the task force and Congress need to look at both short- and long-term solutions at the same time. Ideas Craig wants to explore include creating a federal reinsurance program and providing a buy-in option for Medicare.
Craig is one of just a handful of members of the New Democrat Coalition who is also a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The groups have different approaches to health care — likely one of the largest policy rifts the Democratic Caucus will have to deal with — with leaders of the latter group pushing “Medicare for All.”
“I want to be open to all ideas, but obviously, I’m on record saying I don’t think we’re going to morph the health care system into ‘Medicare for All’ in 24 months,” Craig said.
However, she hopes she can help the New Democrats and the progressives find common ground on health care.
‘Long lasting policy change’
Kilmer said the task forces are free to collaborate with other caucuses as they craft their policy proposals.
“The New Dems are open to working with anyone serious about making real and long lasting policy change to improve the lives of Americans and to solve some big problems,” the Washington lawmaker said.
One policy area in which the Democratic Caucus may more easily unify is on infrastructure.
Plaskett served on the New Democrat Coalition’s infrastructure task force last Congress and said the group laid out policy ideas this year’s task force can build on quickly in hopes of contributing to legislation expected to move through the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sometime this year.
“I really believe we have a huge opportunity in this Congress with the Democrats leading the charge and under the chairmanship of Peter DeFazio to really get an infrastructure bill across the line,” Plaskett said.
The biggest challenge in developing an infrastructure package is identifying offsets. Last Congress, the coalition’s task force explored financing projects through infrastructure banks and studied the efficacy of the gas tax, Plaskett said.
“My hope as one of the co-chairs is to really reach out to the country to test some of those ideas,” she said.
The task forces do not have specific deadlines or benchmarks, but those like the infrastructure group that have a foundation of policy ideas developed in prior Congresses may be quicker to produce reports and propose legislation, Kilmer said.
“One of the key things as New Dems is we’re coming up with innovative ideas,” DelBene said, noting that some of the task forces lend themselves to experimenting with new policy ideas.
For example, she participated in the Future of Work task force that put together legislation on portable benefits.
“That particular bill was about pilots so we can understand what things work well,” DelBene said.
While the task forces have set co-chairs, any member of the coalition can participate in whichever groups they want. Some members like to work on task forces related to work they do in their committees, while others like to dig into policy areas they don’t typically get to work on, DelBene said.
As the groups formulate concrete ideas and draft legislation, Kilmer said the proposals will be shared with committee chairs and party leaders.
“The task forces have been and will continue to be the area where New Dems try to drive forward some of the thought leadership in our caucus with regard to policy issues,” he said. “At a time when Congress hasn’t historically been a legislative juggernaut, it’s more important than ever that we target some areas where we can move the ball forward and advance some policies that help our economy.”
http://www.rollcall.com/news/congress/new-democrats-launch-task-forces-to-help-craft-the-house-majoritys-policy-agenda
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DC Straw Ban Enforcement and January Usage Totals
Feb 1, 2019 | Plastics News
By Jeremy Caroll
The Washington Post had a really interesting article this week about the implementation of the Washington D.C.'s plastic straw ban. The ban went into effect at the start of the year but enforcement isn't going to hit restaurants until July 1.
The story follows a worker from the D.C. Department of Energy and Environment as he tries to find restaurants still using plastic straws and warn them about the coming changes. The story is very well rounded and goes beyond simply following the working to different restaurants. There were some interesting points made, including many of the locations switched to biodegradable straws, but they are still being thrown away and likely won't biodegrade.
And Aardvark, a maker of plastic alternative straws, is so swamped with work they want New York City to hold off any potential ban of plastic straws until 2020 because they can't keep up with orders.
“All these bans just started hitting at once,” said David Rhodes, global business director for Aardvark. “The last thing we want to do is start a movement and be in a position that we can’t meet the demand.”
The whole story is really worth your time.
January totals
I'm tracking my plastic straw usage this year, and with the January in the books, I wanted to share my monthly totals.
For the month, I used 9 straws or 0.29 straws a day. This included one day where I used two.
I've been tracking them using the memo app on my phone, adding a date when I use a straw. I've tried to remain as neutral as possible, making sure I'm not avoiding a straw if I would have normally taken one. This experiment isn't about reducing my straw usage, it's just about tracking it. I'm likely on the lower end of straw usage to begin with, but who knows? That's why we conduct experiments.
Most of my straw usage came in situations where avoiding a straw wasn't much of an option (a smoothie or a Slupree). And other times, a drink came to me with a straw already inside.
https://www.plasticsnews.com/article/20190201/BLOG02/190129877/dc-straw-ban-enforcement-and-january-usage-totals
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Democrats Call for Release of CBI Data Underlying TSCA Evaluation
Feb 1, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Two US House of Representatives Democrats have called for the EPA to release health and safety studies supporting the TSCA draft risk evaluation of pigment violet 29. Both have been withheld as confidential.
The request – submitted by Energy and Commerce Committee leaders Frank Pallone, Jr (D–New Jersey) and Paul Tonko (D–New York) – relates to the first of ten draft risk evaluations being completed under the reformed TSCA.
And in line with a public records petition filed by a group of NGOs late last year, the elected officials are taking issue with the EPA’s decision to protect as confidential some of the studies it used to underpin the evaluation, including 20 studies submitted to Echa when PV29 was registered under REACH.
"We are deeply concerned that the decision to withhold from the public and label these studies as confidential business information (CBI) sets a dangerous and unlawful precedent as the EPA continues to work towards completing risk evaluations on the current ten and all future chemicals under review," Mr Pallone and Mr Tonko wrote in a 30 January letter to the agency's acting administrator Andrew Wheeler.
In support of the request, Mr Pallone and Mr Tonko said that section 14(b)(2) of TSCA identifies certain information that cannot be protected as CBI, including health and safety studies. This is consistent with arguments that have been made by some in the environmental advocacy community, including those behind the Freedom of Information Act calling for the studies’ release.
But industry groups and attorneys have interpreted that section of the law as permitting, rather than compelling, the EPA to disclose that information. And in its draft evaluation, the EPA said "claim of business confidentiality by the data owners means that the EPA will not reproduce these full study reports in this risk evaluation."
In addition to the studies, Mr Pallone and Mr Tonko have asked that the agency release documents and email communications related to its decision to label health and safety studies as CBI. They have requested an agency response by 6 February.
The letter comes amid a recent uptick in focus on the agency’s policies – a trend consistent with forecasts that Democrats will be ramping up oversight activities this year.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73894/democrats-call-for-release-of-cbi-data-underlying-tsca-evaluation
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Feb 1, 2019 | Union of Concerned Scientists
By Genna Reed
The EPA released the names of eight new members of its Science Advisory Board (SAB) yesterday. The verdict? In general Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler is continuing the trend of undermining the independence and quality of scientific advice to the EPA, though he does deserve some credit for reappointing several well-qualified scientists to the SAB and breaking with his predecessor who saw no value in continued expertise.
Wheeler has refused, however, to rescind Pruitt’s nonsensical directive to ban scientists with EPA funding from serving on the board and has appointed individuals whose scientific work is considered outside the mainstream in various scientific disciplines. University researchers are now in the minority on the board, while the number of industry-affiliated members and members listed as consultants has increased (see figure below).
Meet some of the new board members
Take Dr. John Christy. He has a reputation for controversial climate research and denying the evidence of global warming. Christy was also a supporter of Pruitt’s proposed red-team, blue-teamdebate on the reality of climate change.
Then there’s Dr. Brant Ulsh, a consultant who argues that radiation at low doses isn’t a big deal, contrary to the conclusions of the National Academies of Science.
New member Dr. Richard Williams has been a member of the American Chemistry Council’s formaldehyde panel, which was set up to obfuscate the health impacts of this carcinogen. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), an industry-funded organization that is notorious for pushing out shoddy nutrition science.
Dr. Barbara Beck is a consultant with Gradient, which has itself earned a reputation for helping industry defend their products with favorable scientific studies. Beck herself helped write a paperarguing that exposure to lead at low doses is not necessarily harmful to children, which is in stark contrast to the CDC’s assessment that there is no safe level of exposure to lead. In 2017 Beck provided testimony for 3M in a Minnesota case on the toxic chemical PFAS, finding that “the toxicity and drinking water criteria developed by US EPA and MDH could be higher and still be health-protective” and that “there is no reliable evidence” that people in the target area were being harmed by PFAS, even though it was plagued by higher rates of cancer than surrounding areas.
The common thread among these individuals (and those appointed in the last round as well) is that they are practitioners of the widely used “disinformation playbook.” They frequently work to inject uncertainty into the discourse on scientific topics on which most experts agree, by criticizing risk assessments and underlying models, and in practice arguing that exposure to pollutants at low doses is not worth worrying about.
The changing makeup of the EPA Science Advisory Board
As the body that reviews EPA science that informs the agency’s regulations, the SAB is supposed to represent the breadth of expertise of researchers who are regularly publishing in the peer-reviewed scientific literature, a sector which overlaps greatly with the academic community. Since the start of the Trump administration, the number of members from universities has decreased by 43 percent, while the number of industry representatives has tripled and consultants has increased eight times (see above figure).
The decline in SAB members from universities, resulting in part thanks to the EPA’s nonsensical grants directive, means the EPA will be missing out on advice from the most qualified experts on topics applicable to EPA work. Wheeler’s press release boasts that there is now representation from 30 states. But expertise isn’t supposed to be representative of geography. After all, a toxic chemical is no less harmful in Texas than it is in New York. What has been sacrificed is the integrity of the SAB.
Scientists on the SAB should be providing an independent check on the work of the EPA, not using their positions to push fringe scientific views or further a specific policy agenda at the agency. It’s a shame that the independence and quality of the SAB is being so badly decimated at a time when oversight at the EPA is sorely needed to ensure that science is being used to inform policies that should be protecting Americans and our environment. Further, these membership changes are part of a general trend of the Trump administration’s relentless attacks on science and sidelining of science advice, as was most recently displayed by the EPA in disbanding the particulate matter panel of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC).
https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/independent-science-takes-another-hit-at-the-epa-new-science-advisory-board-members-announced
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(ACC Mentioned) EPA’s Administrator Must Be Serious About Protecting Us From PFAS. Wheeler Is Not.
Feb 1, 2019 | Union of Concerned Scientists
By Genna Reed
After Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s confirmation hearing for the agency’s top job earlier this month, he responded to a long list of questions for the record that had been submitted by senators. In the questions related to the class of toxic chemicals, PFAS, Wheeler claimed that “EPA continues to take concrete steps, in cooperation with our federal and state partners, to address PFAS and ensure all Americans have access to clean and safe drinking water.” Yet, Politico reported earlier this week that the agency will not be setting an enforceable limit for the two most prevalent PFAS, PFOA and PFOS, in drinking water. The 70 ppt health advisory will remain in effect for the chemicals, but without regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act, water utilities do not have to regularly test for or remove the toxins from our water. So what is Wheeler referring to when he mentions “concrete steps” and clean and safe drinking water for all? As Acting Administrator, Wheeler has done a whole lot of talking about “action” while affected communities across the country continue to struggle with contaminated water sources and associated health issues. In fact, as EPA stalls on its action plan (scheduled to be released in December and now at least a month late), even more cases of contamination along with more questions on how to manage these “forever chemicals” are arising.
Additionally, in his six months serving as Acting Administrator, Wheeler has had ample opportunity to be transparent about what went on at the EPA during interagency review of ATSDR’s report on PFAS last year. Yet questions still remain on the conflicts of interest at hand as internal emails hint at former American Chemistry Council staffer and current Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, Nancy Beck, working on matters (like PFAS) that affect her former employer. Representatives from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce sent a letter to Acting Administrator Wheeler just this Tuesday asking him for answers regarding EPA’s involvement in stalling the release of the ATSDR’s toxicological profile on PFAS.
As the Senate Environment and Public Works committee gears up to vote on Acting Administrator Wheeler’s nomination next week, senators should think about the wants and needs of their constituents. Clean water is certainly at or near the top. There is a reason that the PFAS task forcejust formed by members of the House of Representatives is bipartisan. Water contamination from PFAS does not discriminate based on party affiliation. It knows no geographic bounds.
Not only does it seep from manufacturing facilities and military bases (see figure above from our recent fact sheet), but from household products that we use every day, like pans, microwave popcorn bags, and treated carpets. EPA has the power to act but based on what we’ve seen from Wheeler so far on climate, scientific integrity, and now chemicals, it’s unlikely that he is the leader that we so desperately need to put meaning behind the “Protection” in Environmental Protection Agency.
Some senators have already expressed their concerns about Acting Administrator Wheeler’s lack of action on PFAS. Senator Cory Gardner, a key swing vote on Wheeler’s nomination, wants to see federal action and said, “I think it’s very important that we get as much information as we can and then act appropriately.” West Virginia senator Shelly Moore Capito, who sits on the committee overseeing Wheeler’s nomination, expressed concerns about EPA’s actions on PFAS earlier this week but is now supportive despite all signs pointing to him not being the right person to lead the agency.
Other senators from key states are also concerned about the agency’s lack of action. That’s why now is the time to ask both of your senators to vote no on Acting Administrator Wheeler’s confirmation. You can call the Senate switchboard and ask to be put in touch with your senators at (202) 224-3121.
https://blog.ucsusa.org/genna-reed/epa-administrator-must-be-serious-about-pfas
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US EPA Appoints New Members to Advisory Board
Feb 1, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The EPA has appointed 12 new members to its Chemical Assessment Advisory Committee (CAAC) – a subcommittee of the Science Advisory Board (SAB).
The CAAC is a group of non-EPA scientists that provides advice on toxicological reviews of environmental chemicals.
There are 12 new CAAC members, comprising six academics and six consultants. The EPA’s website lists 20 total CAAC members, which reflects a drop in appointments since 2018, when it had 29 members. Dr Hugh Barton, an independent consultant, will be its chair.
The SAB will grow slightly, from 44 to 45 members; Dr Michael Honeycutt will serve as chair.
EPA Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler said in a statement that the appointees come from "a wide variety of scientific disciplines" and "reflect the geographic diversity needed to represent all ten EPA regions."
In 2019, 30 states and the District of Columbia will be represented on the SAB and its subcommittees.
https://chemicalwatch.com/73918/us-epa-appoints-new-members-to-advisory-board
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Senators Demand EPA Set Limits for PFAs
Feb 1, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Cecelia Smith-Schoenwalder
A bipartisan groups of 20 senators today urged acting EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler to set federal standards for two types of chemicals found in drinking water.
"Without enforceable drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS, it is doubtful that a national management strategy will sufficiently confront the challenges PFAS chemicals pose to states and communities," the lawmakers wrote.
"Federal safe drinking water standards are critical to addressing public concerns and allow for states to focus their efforts and limited resources on implementation and compliance assurance," they continued.
The letter comes after reports earlier this week said that EPA did not plan to set a legal limit on two types of PFAS — perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) — in drinking water (Greenwire, Jan. 29).
"If this is accurate, EPA's inaction would be a major setback to states and affected communities," the senators wrote.
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), who signed the letter, said yesterday that Wheeler visited her to ease her concerns over the reports. After the meeting, she said Wheeler's plan "matches more closely what I would like for them to do" (E&E News PM, Jan. 31).
PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkylsubstances, are a group of chemicals that have been linked to health problems, including cancer and birth defects.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/02/01/stories/1060119315
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15 AGs Petition Trump Administration to Draft Asbestos Rule
Jan 31, 2019 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Miranda Green
The Attorneys General from 15 states are petitioning the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to draft a policy to collect more data on harmful asbestos.
The AGs from California and Massachusetts lead the group in asking the EPA to create a new reporting rule requiring those who import the cancer-linked mineral fiber or use it domestically to give the EPA more data on its use.
“Each year, tens of thousands die from exposure to asbestos,” said Massachusetts Maura Healey. “We urge Acting Administrator Wheeler to issue a rule that will protect the lives of thousands of workers, families and children in Massachusetts and across the country.”
Currently, importers of raw asbestos or articles that contain asbestos are exempt from having to report to EPA information about the products, according to the AGs.
The group argues that the information is necessary to protect the public from asbestos exposure. Their petition asks EPA to both eliminate the exemption for “naturally occurring substances” and require all imported articles containing asbestos to be reported to the EPA.
“It is widely known that asbestos is one of the most harmful chemicals known to humankind,” said California AG Xavier Becerra. “There is no excuse to continue allowing any amounts of toxic asbestos to pass into our community, especially into the lungs of workers and children, when we know the danger it presents. We call on Acting Administrator Wheeler to begin the process of eliminating exemptions that allow this unsafe chemical to continue to harm tens of thousands of people each year.”
Asbestos is not banned on the federal level, except for a few specific uses. A 2016 law gave the EPA new authority to prohibit the carcinogen.
Last June EPA introduced a proposal intended to require companies to notify the EPA if they planned to import or manufacture various out-of-date uses of asbestos, like roofing felt and floor tile.
The agency chose to list 15 known uses of asbestos, even though none are currently in use, and proposed companies be required to notify the EPA if they want to use asbestos in those situations, a move that would give the agency time to examine and potentially ban them.
It led to a firestorm, with news stories, denunciations and well-known figures like Chelsea Clinton and Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) charging that the EPA is opening the door to asbestos — something the agency strongly refutes.
The EPA later pushed back with a PR blitz through interviews, social media and a fact sheet.
Internal EPA emails later reported by the New York Times showed that EPA staff also objected to the reporting change. Career staff involved with the development of a key proposal meant to prevent companies from returning to use of the carcinogenic chemical felt that steps being taken by senior officials could allow for some legacy uses to return anew.
Career staff pushed instead for a wider rule that would have encompassed all legacy uses of asbestos.
EPA spokesman James Hewitt told the Times at the time that the emails showed some staffers “did not fully understand the proposal being developed.”
Last August another group of 12 AGs filed a comment with EPA opposing its new rule methodology, arguing that the agency was refusing to consider the most significant and dangerous exposure risks posed by the fiber.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/427908-15-ags-petition-trump-administration-to-draft-asbestos-rule
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16 States Form Coalition Calling for New EPA Asbestos Rules
Feb 1, 2019 | Governing
By Dennis Hoey
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey joined a coalition of 15 other state attorneys general on Thursday in calling on the federal Environmental Protection Agency to issue new rules to eliminate exemptions for asbestos reporting.
The coalition believes that without adequate reporting and tracking systems in place, the EPA will be unable to comply with its mandate to prevent risks to the health and environment posed by widespread use of asbestos, Frey said in a new release.
"The evidence is clear that asbestos is a deadly substance, and the Toxic Substances Control Act is an important tool for protecting people from the risks posed by similar substances," Frey said. "This rule would allow the EPA to comply with the Act by giving them the information they need to properly regulate asbestos. In doing so, lives can be saved."
Asbestos is a carcinogen that claims 15,000 lives per year, Frey said. Asbestos is linked to diseases that are life threatening, or cause substantial pain and suffering, including mesothelioma, fibrosis, lung cancer and gastrointestinal cancer.
Frey said that the EPA is currently not tracking and reporting the use of asbestos in the United States. The proposed rule would among other things require the processors of asbestos, as well as manufacturers and importers, to adhere to reporting requirements.
http://www.governing.com/topics/transportation-infrastructure/tns-states-asbestos-coalition.html
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EU-Wide Ban on Microplastics Added to Goods Proposed
Feb 1, 2019 | Chemistry World
By Emma Stoye
The European Chemicals Agency (Echa) has proposed EU-wide restrictions on using microplastics in products such as cosmetics, paints, coatings, fertiliser granules and medical devices in an effort to reduce plastic waste.
Echa estimates that in the EU, about 36,000 tonnes of ‘intentionally added’ microplastics – pieces of plastic less than 5mm in size – end up in the environment each year, adding to microplastic pollution from other sources such as the degradation of larger pieces of waste plastic. Some countries – including the UK – have already introduced bans on the use of microbeads in cosmetic products like scrubs and toothpastes, but Echa says member states need to go further.
Microplastics have been shown to accumulate in soil and waterways, harming marine organisms and ending up in people’s food. Echa says this poses a risk to the environment, and potentially public health, although there isn’t yet enough data to determine the extent of this.
To tackle the problem, it has proposed restrictions on the use of intentionally added microplastics in products where their release to the environment is inevitable, as well as better labelling for uses where the improper use or disposal results in the release of microplastics. It says these measures could cut the amount of microplastics released to the environment in the EU by about 400,000 tonnes over 20 years.
https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/eu-wide-ban-on-microplastics-added-to-goods-proposed/3010072.article
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Draft EU Law to Tackle Micro Plastic Waste
Feb 1, 2019 | Waste Management World
By Ben Messenger
The EU could ban the use of microplastics and microbeads in all products using its powerful chemical laws under a draft bill tabled this week.
According to the European Chemicals Agency, between 10,000 and 60,000 tonnes of microplastics are intentionally added to products leak into the environment annually, are impossible to remove and last for thousands of years.
The Rethink Plastics Alliance, made up of a group of NGOs, said that the scale of the problem is dramatic – six times the size of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch or the plastic pollution generated by 10 billion plastic bottles.
Microplastics accumulate and persist in the environment, one of the main reasons why the agency concluded it is necessary to restrict microplastic ingredients under Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), the strictest set of chemical laws in the world.
The restriction is expected to become law across Europe by 2020. It will prevent an estimated 400,000 tonnes of plastic pollution, the agency says.
The NGOs welcomed the move as a significant step forward but strongly warn that it grants unnecessary delays for most industrial sectors and excludes some biodegradable polymers.
As it stands, they said that the draft law will only restrict one sector when it comes into force, namely cleansing products made by firms which have already pledged to stop using microplastics. Other sectors will be granted two to six years before the law takes effect.
The proposal will go to public consultation this summer followed by economic, social and risk assessments, then a vote by government experts in the REACH committee, which is not expected before early 2020.
Rethink Plastic spokesperson Elise Vitali said:
“The European Union is rapidly becoming a leader in the global culture shift away from wasteful plastic. Microplastic is one of those vast but largely invisible problems, a menace all around and in us.
“It was fed by irresponsible firms, such as those making personal care products that decided to swap out natural ingredients such as ground almond, coconut shell and olive seed for plastic microbeads.
“We’ll be pushing hard to tighten this proposal to ensure real impact. Tackling the plastics inside products is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to solving the microplastic blight but is a necessary step.”
The ban is part of the EU plastics strategy which saw Europe become the first continent to start banning many types of single-use plastic by 2021.
https://waste-management-world.com/a/draft-eu-law-to-tackle-micro-plastic-waste
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Chemours Is Using the U.S. as an Unregulated Dump for Europe’s Toxic Genx Waste
Feb 1, 2019 | The Intercept
By Sharon Lerner
After many years of treating the developing world as its environmental dumping ground, the U.S. is finally getting a taste of what it feels like to be on the receiving end of another country’s dangerous garbage. DuPont-spinoff Chemours is sending industrial waste from the Netherlands to North Carolina. The waste in question comes from the production of the toxic chemical GenX, DuPont’s replacement for the surfactant PFOA, which was long used in the production of Teflon and many other products.
Unlike the Netherlands, the U.S. has so far declined to regulate GenX waste, so disposing of the material is comparatively easy.
Chemours has been transporting the GenX waste from its plant in Dordrecht, Netherlands, to Fayetteville, North Carolina, according to documents that surfaced last week and were first reported in NC Policy Watch. In December, the Environmental Protection Agency sent a letter to a representative of the Dutch Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate, temporarily objecting to the import and asking for clarification about where exactly the waste was being sent.
According to the EPA letter, citing a “letter of intent,” some of Chemours’s GenX waste from the Netherlands was supposedly destined for an incinerator in El Dorado, Arkansas, which is run by a company called Clean Harbors. But Phillip Retallick, senior vice president of Clean Harbors, said that his company is not receiving the material. “We are not in any way shape or form involved with the reclamation of the waste from the Fayetteville facility,” said Retallick.
As The Intercept reported this week, the incineration of PFAS compounds, the class to which GenX belongs, may raise safety concerns.
The EPA letter also indicated that the Fayetteville plant was sending waste to a deep well injection plant run by Texas Molecular in Deer Park, Texas. Deep well injection, a technique pioneered by DuPont in the 1950s, involves storing toxic waste far below ground. Deep wells have repeatedly leaked, resulting in contamination of both groundwater and drinking water.
When asked whether his company was receiving the GenX waste, Texas Molecular’s president, Frank Marine, declined to comment. According to its website, Texas Molecular, whose motto is “deep commitment,” provides “responsible and safe treatment and disposal solutions for even those most challenging industrial hazardous aqueous waste and wastewaters.”
DuPont developed GenX and introduced it in 2009 to replace PFOA, which persists indefinitely in the environment and is linked to cancer and other illnesses. GenX presents many of the same health and environmental problems, and causes cancer in lab animals, as The Intercept reported in 2016.
From 2014 until at least 2017, Chemours had been sending at least some of its GenX waste from the Netherlands to Miteni SpA, a chemical company in the Veneto region of Italy. Last year, tests revealed GenX in groundwater and wells near the Italian plant, contamination that has already led to health effects. Regional authorities then suspended some of the company’s operations. Miteni SpA, which was already under fire for causing massive PFOA contamination, filed for bankruptcy in October and ceased operation.
Chemours did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story or answer questions from The Intercept about how much of the waste it is importing to the U.S. and other places around the world. But a company spokesperson told NC PolicyWatch that the bankruptcy of a European company that had been recycling its waste from The Netherlands “requires us to take responsible actions to ensure we continue to recycle the vast majority of the GenX.”
According to a document obtained by The Intercept that a spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality confirmed was notes from a call about the waste between the DEQ and the EPA, Chemours is “reporting an upper limit of 90 metric tons in about 20 shipments of unknown concentration for 2019.” The document states that the GenX arrives at the Fayetteville plant as a “sludgy liquid” from which the company removes “GenX salts,” but doesn’t say what happens to those compounds.
The North Carolina DEQ document raises several concerns about the waste, including that the material might be discharged into the river near the Fayetteville facility, and that Chemours might be importing it “to circumvent European regulations.”
Linda Culpepper of the North Carolina DEQ sent a letter to Chemours on January 18 asking for more information about the waste. Chemours responded the following week and stated that the substance it is importing is not hazardous according to the law “and that Chemours (and DuPont before it) has notified the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) of these reclamation activities on multiple occasions.” The Chemours letter said the company planned to send both the EPA and the state agency more information on February 5.
Growing Outrage Over PFAS Inaction
While much remains to be learned about how Chemours has been importing this waste and what exactly has been happening to it, there is little question as to why the company would send its dangerous chemicals to North Carolina instead of disposing of them at its Dutch plant. While PFAS waste is regulated in Europe under the Basel Convention, it is not regulated in the U.S., which has declined to sign the treaty.
And because GenX itself has not been declared hazardous by federal environmental authorities, the only restrictions on the compound in the U.S. come from a 2009 consent order with the EPA, which The Intercept obtained via FOIA in 2016. “There’s a gaping hole in the consent order because it doesn’t limit how GenX is disposed of or recycled,” said Eve Gartner, an attorney at Earthjustice. In addition, the agreement applies only to Chemours. “So Chemours can enter a contract with an incinerator company,” Gartner pointed out, “but there’s no guarantee that the incineration is going to destroy it.” While the consent order with the EPA remains in effect, the state of North Carolina is in the process of negotiating its own consent order with the company.
The EPA had been considering using the Safe Drinking Water Act to put safety standards in place for PFOA and PFOS, the two best-known PFAS compounds, but is now expected to shelve those plans, according to a report in Politico. The story sparked outrage from environmentalists and senators, who have questioned Acting Administrator Andrew Wheeler about the EPA’s inaction on the chemicals as part of the process of confirming him to lead the agency.
“It’s frankly shameful that this is still where things are in the U.S. some 18 to 19 years after the research started on the regulatory level on these chemicals,” said Rob Bilott, the attorney who first brought PFOA to light in a class-action suit against DuPont. Bilott, who represented residents of West Virginia and Ohio whose water contained PFOA, said that without regulation, others will continue to be exposed to PFAS chemicals at dangerous levels.
Several states have begun to regulate these chemicals on their own. “What worries me are the folks living in states that have refused to take any action, because they’re waiting for the federal government to act,” said Bilott.
In a statement provided to The Intercept, the EPA denied that a decision had been made about the regulation of PFOA and PFOS. “Despite what is being reported, EPA has not finalized or publicly issued its PFAS management plan, and any information that speculates what is included in the plan is premature. The agency is committed to following the Safe Drinking Water Act process for evaluating new drinking water standards, which is just one of the many components of the draft plan that is currently undergoing interagency review.”
But the U.S. is already trailing behind Europe in the regulation of PFAS chemicals. And that lag makes this country a natural choice to dispose of PFAS waste. “There’s an irony here,” said Kevin Hannon, an attorney whose firm has filed class-action claims against DuPont and Chemours over GenX in North Carolina. “We’ve been sending our waste to third-world countries and poisoning kids because it was cheaper to send it there,” said Hannon. “And now we’re being treated by Chemours like those third-world countries.”
In Europe, outrage has been mounting over the disposal of GenX and related compounds. In June, the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management released an investigation into Chemours’s disposal process, determining that “Chemours takes no measurements to determine whether [GenX-related] substances are in the waste,” and that the “substances are consequently emitted into the environment at various places in the chain.” The report also noted that only incineration in a kiln at “a sufficiently high temperature” can destroy the material, but that not all of the GenX-related waste streams were disposed of by incineration.
Dordrecht residents, who have had to contend with both PFOA and GenX contamination of their water, have repeatedly expressed frustration with the company. In September, Chemours said it would invest 75 million euros to reduce GenX emissions from the Dordrecht plant.
Meanwhile, the Italian government declared a state of emergency over the PFAS contamination last year and an investigation into Miteni SpA resulted in criminal charges. The recent discovery that the Dutch had been sending them their GenX waste sparked angry protests and a second investigation, which is ongoing.
The transport of the GenX waste from the Netherlands to the United States may be a violation of international law. The Basel Convention, an international treaty that governs the transboundary movement of hazardous waste, allows recycling but not disposal. And according to the EPA letter, some 55 percent of the Chemours waste was destined for disposal, which would make it illegal. “I would say that this is not a legitimate recycling process,” said Jim Puckett, executive director of the Basel Action Network, which monitors the international movement of toxic chemicals. “This really looks like somebody’s trying to avoid disposing of it in the Netherlands.”
This not the first time the PFAS industry has exploited the weak spots in international environmental protections. After eight companies agreed to phase out PFOA and PFOS in the United States in 2006, China became the global headquarters for the production and use of these dangerous chemicals.
Nor is it the first time that the U.S. has fallen behind in chemical regulation. The U.S. still permits the use of atrazine, recombinant bovine growth hormone, brominated vegetable oil, dangerous hormones used in pig production, carcinogenic food additives, and more than 1,000 chemicals used in cosmetics — to name a few of the products that Europe has banned.
https://theintercept.com/2019/02/01/chemours-genx-north-carolina-netherlands/
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With Government Shutdown Ended, Two Rival Offshore Crude Oil Export Terminals Move Forward
Feb 1, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Sergio Chapa
With the partial federal government shutdown now ended, two rival projects to build offshore crude oil export terminals near Houston are moving forward.
Enterprise Products Partners LP filed a permit application with the Maritime Administration on Thursday morning seeking federal approval to build Sea Port Oil Terminal, or SPOT, offshore from Brazoria County.
Located about 31 miles from shore and in water about 115 feet deep, SPOT will be able to accommodate Very Large Crude Carriers, or VLCCs. The supertankers can carry up to 2 million barrels of crude in a single shipment but are too large to be fully loaded in any U.S. port making building an offshore terminal attractive to exporters.
"We were ready to go with that application a couple of weeks ago and couldn't," Enterprise CEO Jim Teague told investors during a Thursday morning earnings call. "So the minute they opened, we got on the docket and submitted it this morning."
Enterprise is not alone. A joint venture between Canadian pipeline operator Enbridge, Houston pipeline operator Kinder Morgan and German terminal operator Oiltanking is also seeking to build a similar offshore crude oil export terminal in an area of the south of Freeport.
Known as the Texas Crude Offshore Loading Terminal, or Texas COLT, the project will also accommodate VLCC tankers.
Enbridge had been leading the efforts for the joint venture project. The company's vice president of business development Perry Schuldhaus told the Houston Chronicle that their application would be filed "within a week" of the federal government shutdown ending.
A political disagreement between Republicans and Democrat shutdown MARAD's port licensing office and dozens of federal agencies for 35 days. The dispute ended over the weekend with agency staff returning to work on Monday.
Enbridge officials told the Houston Chronicle that the company is filing Texas COLT application with MARAD on Thursday afternoon.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/With-government-shutdown-ended-two-rival-13578073.php
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Recycling Sector Touts GHG Benefits of Reused Plastics
Feb 1, 2019 | Inside EPA
The plastics recycling sector is touting new research showing its products have much lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions than “virgin” plastic resin, laying the groundwork for calls to expand voluntary or mandatory plastics recycling programs even as the Chinese market for recycled plastics dwindles.
The GHG findings are included in a report released Jan. 28 by the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), which was conducted by the consulting firm Franklin Associates. Overall, the study shows that various types of recycled plastic generate roughly a third as much GHG emissions as virgin plastic manufacturing.
The results differ slightly, depending on the type of plastic. For example, recycled versions of both high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and polypropylene (PP) generate about 29 percent as much lifecycle emissions as new versions of those plastics, while recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) generates 33 percent as much emissions as virgin material.
Most of the emissions for recycled plastics are tied to process energy used to convert incoming material to “clean flake” and then converting such flake to pellets.
These results rely on a “cut-off” method of allocating energy production, which the report describes as assigning all of the “virgin material production burdens” to the first use of the material.
A separate, “open loop” allocation method splits the production burdens on both virgin and recycled plastics, based on an assumption about how many times material would be re-used. The APR analysis assumes “two useful lives” of the material, meaning a product would be re-used once and then disposed.
This method results in higher GHG emissions for recycled products because a portion of the energy used to make virgin material would be “assigned” to recycled materials.
Under this method, recycled PP would produce 64 percent as much GHG emissions as new material, with recycled HDPE having 65 percent as much emissions, and recycled PET 66 percent as much.
APR in a Jan. 28 press release says the report “clearly demonstrates the benefits of a renewed commitment to plastic recycling,” adding that the country should continue to invest in recycling infrastructure.
The study comes as twin policies from China have significantly hampered local recycling programs in recent months. The country in August imposed new tariffs on U.S. municipal waste exports, as part of its wider trade war with the Trump administration. The tariffs follow material purity standards China adopted earlier last year.
The new material standards in particular have caused some cities to scale back what they will accept for recycling, leading to concerns about an increase in domestic GHG emissions if, for example, more paper is landfilled rather than recycled.
However, one waste sector source earlier said that markets for the three types of plastic outlined in the APR report -- PET, HDPE and PP -- have remained relatively stable.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/recycling-sector-touts-ghg-benefits-reused-plastics
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Plastics to Fuel: Status in the Industry Today
Feb 1, 2019 | American Recycler Newspaper
By Maura Keller
As more and more cities are starting to ban the use of plastic bags at stores, the recycling industry is setting its sights on transforming plastics into alternative energy and fuel.
What has been the evolution of converting post-use non-recycled plastics into diesel fuel in the U.S.? And how has this process been impacted by plastic recycling activities in the U.S.?
According to Dr. Thathiana Benavides, assistant energy systems analyst at Argonne National Laboratory, the need to divert valuable material like plastic from landfills has driven the industry to look for alternatives that are economical and environmental friendly.
“Recycling rates have been increasing in the last few decades,” Benavides said. “But there are plastics that are not easy or economically feasible to recycle. Conversion technologies can be applied to transform non-recycled plastic into a valuable commodity while reducing landfill space usage, in addition to creating a reliable source of alternative energy from an abundant, no-cost feedstock.”
Plastics to fuel (PTF) can convert any type plastic into fuel, but industries are focusing more on waste plastic that cannot be recycled. PTF is the transformation of plastic – or plastic waste – into ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel. In this process, non-recycled plastics (NRP) are heated to approximately 430 to 550°C in the absence of oxygen. During pyrolysis, gas, liquid fuel, and char form in proportions that depend on the pyrolysis system and the composition of the plastic feedstock.
Different technologies for the conversion process, such as pyrolysis and gasification, may be used but the most popular and simplest is pyrolysis. Pyrolysis uses high temperatures (in the absence of oxygen) to break down the large molecules. As a result there is gas, liquid fuel and char produced.
As Benavides explained, a large fraction of plastic in municipal solid waste (MSW) is not recycled in commercial markets due to contamination, logistics and limited markets. “I don’t think that PTF competes with recycling activities. A good example is Polyethylene terephthalate (PET),” Benavides said. “This plastic resin has the largest recycled rates and based on the result of the survey we conducted, companies did not use it in their PTF technology. So I don’t think that PTF technology will impact – in a negative way – plastic recycling activities.”
Jennifer Dunn is a chemical engineer examining the cradle-to-grave energy and environmental implications of the production and use of transportation fuels and technologies at Argonne National Laboratory. She leads the biofuels life cycle analysis team and examines the life cycle impacts of automotive lithium ion batteries. Dunn identifies the key factors driving environmental effects, such as greenhouse gas emissions, of these technologies. She then identifies possible burden shifting of environmental effects from one life cycle phase to another. Much of Dunn’s work is incorporated into Argonne’s Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy Use in Transportation model, which has more than 20,000 users worldwide.
“There has been a concerted effort to develop PTF technology in the U.S., Dunn said. “The first commercial scale plant for converting waste plastic to fuels is slated to open in Indiana and BP is planning to purchase the products.
Specifically, Brightmark Energy, a San Francisco based renewable energy development company that develops, owns and operates waste and energy projects, has acquired a majority interest and invested $10 million in a groundbreaking plastics-to-fuel technology company, RES Polyflow in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Brightmark Energy’s project employs technology solutions including combined heat and power, biogas and waste-to-energy that are tailored to customer needs.
RES Polyflow’s patented plastics-to-fuel process complements current recycling efforts by converting low-value, co-mingled plastic waste, such as film and flexible packaging, into marketable petroleum blend stocks like fuels and wax.
According to Brightmark Energy, “This sustainable technology directly addresses an acute problem facing the U.S.: More than 91 percent of the 34.5 million tons of plastic domestically produced each year is not recycled. These products end up sitting in landfills for thousands of years or littering communities and waterways. We’re excited to help bring an economically viable solution to the marketplace.” The good news? RES Polyflow designs, manufactures and implements commercial-scale energy recovery systems that offer a responsible end-of-life solution for non-recycled waste plastic.
The RES Polyflow plastics-to-fuel process allows post-use plastics to be utilized in an environmentally friendly way, offering a productive end-of-life solution for this material.
Located in Ashley, Indiana, the new facility will convert 100,000 tons of plastic waste into 18 million gallons of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and naphtha blend stocks and 5 million gallons of wax per year.
Benavides doubts the ban on plastic bags will affect PTF technology because other sources of plastic waste are available. “Based on the survey we conducted, most of the companies get plastic waste from industrial sources, agriculture plastic waste, and electronic industries,” Benavides said. “The role of the recycling industry is very important. It can be a source of waste plastic that instead of ending up in the landfill, will be used to produce fuel and displace fossil fuel.”
To further enhance the role of PTF as it relates to plastics recycling, companies are trying to use the technology of pyrolysis of plastic to produce products like petroleum-based products rather than fuel because of the economic value of products.
“Lubricants are a good example,” Benavides said. “This technology can be used to produce lubricants which has higher economic value than fuel.”
Argonne’s analysis shows that PTF holds promise to produce ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel as a good waste management strategy. “The diesel fuel is as GHG intensive as conventional ultra-low sulfur diesel and likely less water-intensive,” Dunn said. “PTF could serve as a promising complement to recycling in management of plastic waste and a viable alternative to landfilling.”
https://americanrecycler.com/8568759/index.php/news/plastics-recycling/3491-plastics-to-fuel-status-in-the-industry-today
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Oregon Lawmakers Consider Nation’s Second Cap-and-Trade Program
Feb 1, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Paul Shukovsky
Oregon will become the second state in the nation to impose an economywide price on carbon, if a pending cap-and-trade bill is enacted.
The bill, released in draft form Jan. 31, would impose a gradually declining cap on total greenhouse gas emissions in Oregon beginning in 2021 and set up a system for obtaining allowances for every ton placed into the atmosphere.
It’s likely to become law because its sponsors are Democrats, the party that holds supermajorities in both chambers of the Legislature. Democratic Gov. Kate Brown also supports it.
“Climate change threatens our communities, our economy, and our way of life in Oregon,” Brown said in a statement Jan. 31. “This is why I support a comprehensive market-based program to reduce our emissions and transition to a clean energy economy.”
Oregon would join California and British Columbia in putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions. That leaves Washington on the West Coast, where the Legislature is considering other aggressive steps to rein in greenhouse gases.
Allowances TradedThe Oregon bill calls for the state to issue allowances for each metric ton of greenhouse gases. The allowances could be traded at a price determined by the market, likely through auctions administered by the Western Climate Initiative Inc.,which already runs them for the emissions trading programs of California, Quebec and Nova Scotia. Proceeds from the auction would go to the state.
The draft bill would give a temporary exclusion to emitters of fluorinated compounds produced during semiconductor manufacturing such as that conducted by Intel Corp., which has a major presence in the state.
A list of companies that would come under the cap-and-trade program is expected to be released the week of Feb. 4, a staffer in the governor’s Climate Policy Office said.
Generally, the bill targets facilities that pump out at least 25,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases per year.
All fossil-fuel electric power generators are covered, however, regardless of whether they meet that threshold.
“A well-designed cap and trade program can help Oregon meet its climate goals, Portland General Electric Co. Vice President for Public Policy Dave Robertson told Bloomberg Environment Jan. 14. “This is a challenging issue, but there seems to be momentum to reach agreement this session on a plan to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions while protecting utility customers from unnecessary costs.”
Manufacturing SectorsThe bill calls for emissions-intensive industries facing global competition to be under a regime in which they will have access to special allowances putting them on a more gradual path into the program.
The bill lists 18 manufacturing sectors in this category, from cement makers to paperboard mills and semiconductor manufacturing.
The Western States Petroleum Association “supports market mechanisms such as a well-designed cap-and-trade program as a cost-effective approach to reducing emissions and achieving stringent greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals,” the group says on its website.
Its president, Catherine Reheis-Boyd, didn’t immediately comment on the draft bill.
Oregon House Republicans complained in a news release Jan. 31 before the bill was released that they hadn’t seen it and that Democrats were “poised to ram it through the process without careful consideration of its impact on Oregon’s families, who will bear the brunt of the bill, or employees whose jobs may be endangered.”
West Coast Carbon PricingSen. Michael Dembrow (D), co-chair of the Joint Committee on Carbon Reduction and a main architect of the bill, said he thinks other jurisdictions will follow Oregon.
“I think Washington will be the next and then we will have carbon pricing all up and down the West Coast,” he said in a Jan. 31 interview.
Dembrow said discussions are underway with the Western Climate Initiative to understand what would be required to work under the WCI market structure.
“We do believe being part of a larger market will benefit us” by helping to keep down both the costs of allowances and administrative costs, he said.
Public Pressure Due to Climate ChangeThe measure sets greenhouse gas reduction goals of at least at least 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2035 and 80 percent below by 2050.
“Carbon pricing in and of itself does not guarantee reaching the targets,” Dembrow said. But revenue from the auctions will be invested in programs such as transportation electrification, energy efficiency, weatherization, and carbon sequestration through forest health initiatives that together will combine with cap-and-trade to reach the goal, he said.
Various permutations of the measure have been percolating in the Legislature for five years.
Asked why a bill is finally teed up for passage, Dembrow pointed to a escalating plague of drought and wildfires and and their acrid smoke enveloping Oregon in the summer.
“There’s mounting public pressure because of the effects of climate change,” Dembrow said. “And the fairly new administration in Washington gives us added momentum. It’s clear this won’t be addressed at the federal level, as we believe it should be, anytime soon. It has brought a lot more urgency and grassroots advocacy and a sense of inevitability on the part of industry.”
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/oregon-lawmakers-consider-nations-second-cap-and-trade-program
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Ewire: Oregon Lawmakers Unveil Bill to Join California GHG Market
Feb 1, 2019 | Inside EPA
Top lawmakers in the Oregon state legislature have unveiled legislation that would allow the state to join California's greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program that covers most economic sectors, a move that would be the first domestic expansion of the Golden State's carbon market.
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, the measure is a top priority this year for Democrats, who hold super-majorities in both chambers of the legislature as well as the governor's mansion. The state failed to advance a cap-and-trade bill during last year's “short” legislative session, but legislative leaders quickly announced a redoubled push.
The bill would include a goal for Oregon's GHG emissions to be 45 percent below 1990 levels by 2035, followed by an 80 percent reduction in 2050, the story notes. Compliance would begin in 2021.
It adds that the program would grant electric utilities free GHG credits because utilities are already complying with prior laws to phase out coal generation and reduce emissions in the coming years.
Also, the program would cover transportation fuels, but it would exempt fuels for aircraft, trains and watercraft. Even so, the transport sector “figures to account for much of the money the state takes in under cap and trade,” the story says.
California's program -- which the state recently extended out to 2030 -- is currently linked with a similar program in Quebec. It was also briefly joined by Ontario, though the province left the market last year after elections ushered in a new conservative government.
While there likely are not additional near-term opportunities to expand the program to states beyond Oregon, eventual expansion cannot be ruled out. For example, New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) recently signed an executive order directing officials to consider various climate policies, including a “comprehensive market-based program” with GHG limits -- an apparent reference to cap-and-trade.
In addition, nine Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states have agreed to craft a “cap-and-invest” program by the end of 2019 to reduce transportation sector GHGs, a policy that could mirror the region's existing carbon market for utilities. Expanding the market to the region's two major sources of emissions could eventually help pave the way for linking with California's program -- though many details would remain to be worked out.
Further, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D), fresh off a convincing re-election in the November mid-terms, said in December that he was weighing a petition urging the state to develop a cap-and-trade program -- and he subsequently set economy-wide GHG targets that one environmental group says create the “conditions” for a carbon trading plan.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/ewire-oregon-lawmakers-unveil-bill-join-california-ghg-market
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Wheeler: 'It Wasn't Easy Hanging in There'
Feb 1, 2019 | E&E - Greenwire
By Kevin Bogardus, Ariel Wittenberg and Sean Reilly
Newly released emails shed light on Andrew Wheeler's confirmation process as deputy EPA administrator, while foreshadowing the battle ahead in his nomination for the agency's top job.
The emails, released yesterday to the Sierra Club following Freedom of Information Act litigation, show Wheeler's — currently EPA's acting chief — interactions with an assortment of political appointees at the agency as he readied for Senate confirmation as the agency's second in command. The records also offer insights into how EPA operates today, showing how aides have dealt with questions over ethics and industry interests regulated by the agency.
Wheeler was first nominated in October 2017 for EPA's No. 2 job. He faced months of questioning from Democratic senators, including over his lobbying record for energy and environmental clients, including coal giant Murray Energy Corp.
"I have not read the Murray Action Plan and I do not intend to," Wheeler said in a January 2018 email to aides to Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), ranking member on the Environment and Public Works Committee, as well as EPA officials. "I am happy to discuss again the circumstances from a year ago when I glanced at it."
That plan was a wish list crafted by Murray Energy of policy items for the Trump administration to take action on, including rolling back various environmental regulations as well as exiting the Paris climate change accord.
Wheeler, as a lobbyist at Faegre Baker Daniels LLP, helped set up a March 2017 meeting between the company's CEO Bob Murray and Energy Secretary Rick Perry, other documents show. Murray presented the plan to Perry in that meeting (Greenwire, June 6, 2018).
Since joining EPA, Wheeler has recused himself from dealing with Murray Energy and other former clients for two years from his start date at the agency.
Other emails show Wheeler's prior experience as a career EPA employee popped up in his confirmation process.
On the same day Wheeler was nominated for deputy administrator, EPA spokeswoman Liz Bowman emailed Wheeler to ask if he was "kidding" about winning three bronze medals during his time as a career staffer at the agency.
"No, I wasn't kidding. I received three bronze medals at EPA," he replied.
"Oh gosh, I am sorry," Bowman responded. "We didn't include that b/c I didn't know EPA had bronze medals."
In a follow-up email, Bowman added, "Now that I know EPA is giving out medals, I probably need to up my game."
The emails also show that Wheeler found his confirmation process difficult at times.
The Senate confirmed Wheeler as deputy EPA administrator in April of 2018. The vote was 53-45 (E&E News PM, April 12, 2018).
The following day, EPA air chief Bill Wehrum wrote to Wheeler: "I'm thrilled with your confirmation. Thanks for hanging in there."
Wheeler responded: "Thank you, I have to say, it wasn't easy hanging in there. I am however looking forward to getting started."
"Truth in advertising," Wehrum said in an interview this morning when asked about his email.
The two have known each other for years, he indicated. Dating back to the George W. Bush administration, Wehrum previously served in EPA's air office while Wheeler was on the staff of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
More emails and documents are coming from EPA as part of the Sierra Club's FOIA litigation. Those released yesterday were the first of several related to Wheeler to roll out, with more expected in February and March, according to a court filing.
"This first batch of documents begins to lift the veil on just how cozy Wheeler and his deputies are with the polluters they are supposed to be protecting American families from," Elena Saxonhouse, the Sierra Club's senior attorney said in a statement.
The group's FOIA legal work has uncovered embarrassing episodes for Wheeler's predecessor, Scott Pruitt, including using EPA resources in trying to get a Chick-fil-A franchise for his wife and buying a used Trump Hotel mattress. Pruitt resigned in July 2018 under a crush of ethics allegations. Wheeler has served as acting administrator since then.
Environmental groups would like to use the released emails to end Wheeler's nomination for EPA administrator.
"It's now clearer than ever that Senators should not let Wheeler continue to run the agency charged with protecting our clean air and water, and we can only imagine what will be in the much larger set of documents we will see in the coming weeks and months," Saxonhouse said.
Wheeler is set to receive an EPW vote next Tuesday before his nomination moves to the full Senate.
Ethics concerns
Wehrum apparently struggled with how to handle his own potential conflicts of interest.
In a June 2017 email, he sent Deputy Associate Administrator for Congressional and Intergovernmental Relations Aaron Ringel a questionnaire to be later presented to the EPW.
"I think it is complete, except for the conflict of interest section," hewrote. "I will need guidance on how you usually respond to these questions."
Ringel's response is redacted, but Wehrum raised the subject again in an email a month later, when he indicated the two had discussed it.
"I reflected on our discussion about how to address potential conflicts of interest related to my work here at the firm," he wrote. "I'm pretty happy with the response as currently formulated."
Wehrum also complained about plans at the time for Trump to nominate him in mid-July.
"That would really jam us up with regard to a hearing before the August recess," he wrote.
In the days before Wehrum's actual September confirmation hearing, he appeared confident and canceled his final prep session with EPA's team.
"Did you have anything in particular that you wanted to accomplish in tomorrow's final prep session? I feel like I am in good shape," he said. "I am inclined to cancel it, unless there's a need from your side."
Wehrum also asked Ringel in June to give him advance notice before he was nominated, saying, "I need to talk to my clients before they read about it in the press."
On Nov. 9, 2017, Ringel emailed Wehrum with the subject "voting on your nomination now."
"On the floor if you care to watch," he wrote.
Wehrum would be confirmed as head of EPA's air office in November 2017. Later, he signed a recusal statement in September last year after facing the threat of legislation that would have required him to provide it (Greenwire, Sept. 18, 2018).
The emails also show Wheeler was sensitive to ethics concerns.
In May of last year, he emailed Justina Fugh, EPA's senior counsel for ethics, about whether he could attend a dinner hosted by the National Energy Resources Organization. Wheeler was a former chairman of the energy policy nonprofit group and, under his own recusal statement, was barred from participating in matters involving the group for one year since his resignation.
"Justina, I would like to attend this dinner. I have been invited as a guest of NERO," Wheeler wrote in the email.
Fugh responded a day later, noting Wheeler had a "covered relationship" with the group. But considering the event took place after business hours and he would not be appearing on behalf of EPA, "I don't see any reason to conclude that your attendance would raise any concern about a loss of impartiality in performing your official EPA duties," she said.
Fugh also said the dinner did not trigger the lobbying gift ban since NERO is not a registered lobbying group and was also excepted since it was a "widely attended gathering." She concluded Wheeler could attend the dinner.
"I can attend. Thank you," Wheeler said in a follow-up email to NERO officials.
The event is listed on Wheeler's official calendar as "Hold NERO Dinner." EPA press officials didn't respond to a question from E&E News on whether he attended the dinner.
Wheeler, however, has kept some distance from the group. The Washington Post reported in July that he declined a speaking engagement with NERO in September.Industry outreach
The emails also show that Tate Bennett, EPA's associate administrator for public engagement and environmental education, sought to give industry a heads-up about an announcement on methane.
On Oct. 30, 2017, Bennett wrote to an American Petroleum Institute executive with the subject line "methane."
"Give me a shout when you have a second re an upcoming announcement?" Bennett wrote to Kyle Isakower, API's vice president for regulatory and economic policy.
It remains unclear which announcement Bennett was referencing — and whether environmentalists or reporters were given a similar heads-up.
But the email came a few weeks before the Trump administration announced it was tweaking how it measures the cost of emitting methane, a potent greenhouse gas (Climatewire, Nov. 20, 2017).
The outreach to industry marks a consistent theme through the newly released communications.
"I hope you have all had a great summer and are looking forward to a productive and bountiful fall season," Richard Albores, an attorney in EPA's general counsel's office, wrote in an August 2017 email to representatives of the National Mining Association, American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, and other trade groups inquiring about their availability for a meeting with agency legal staffers to follow up on a "February conversation."
Besides keeping the lines of communication open, Albores wrote, "We also want to hear from you on the legal and policy issues that are important to you and your constituents."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/02/01/stories/1060119319
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California Standing Firm on State Air Standards
Feb 1, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Joyce E. Cutler
California isn’t going away and neither is the state’s desire to direct its environmental regulations, California Air Resources Board Chairwoman Mary Nichols said.
Trump administration efforts to rescind California’s waivers to regulate tailpipe emissions under the Clean Air Act are meeting strong resistance in the nation’s most populous state.
The Environmental Protection Agency, which regulates vehicle emissions, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, with jurisdiction over fuel efficiency, want to eliminate state authority to deviate from federal standards as part of a broader push to freeze fuel economy limits at 2020 levels nationwide.
Benefits from regulations adopted during the Obama administration can still work while the industry gets the flexibility it wants “without throwing the whole program literally out the window, which is what is being proposed at the moment by the Trump administration,” Nichols told a San Francisco audience.
“We have a battle,” Nichols said Jan. 31. “There’s no question about it. The administration in Washington, at least the people in charge of the Department of Transportation, want California to go away. They do not want us to be regulating anything, but especially not the environment, and so we’ve got a struggle on our hands. But we’re hoping that we’re going to find a way through it.”
Splits, Suits“I think there still is a chance—it’s very small—but there is a chance the federal government might pull back and not enact what they’re threatening to do,” Nichols told Bloomberg Environment. “That would only happen if the industry and California could come together and present a solution to the federal government, and the federal government could accept it.”
California has made clear it will continue enforce its own regulations and will defend its right to set more stringent standards than the federal government, she said.
“And the industry, clearly from day one, said they did not want that to happen, that they want one national program,” California’s top air enforcer said.
The auto industry doesn’t want the issue to end up in the courts and does want to protect its critical investments, said Bob Holycross, Ford Motor Co. global director of sustainability and vehicle environmental matters.
“And we’re not looking for a rollback,” Holycross told the Commonwealth Club of California audience. “We have been clear that standing still does not help anybody and having a system split does not provide us the type of certainty and efficiency that we need to be able to move forward.”
The ball is in industry’s court, Nichols said after her remarks. “It’s really up to them I would say at this point what the next chapter looks like.”
California last December adopted an update to its rules clarifying its “deemed to comply” provision. Crafted during the Obama administration, the provision stated that compliance with the EPA’s vehicle greenhouse gas limits also would meet California’s rules.
But the update said the provision doesn’t apply if the Trump administration weakens federal standards from the Obama-era levels through 2025, which California has already adopted.
https://news.bloombergenvironment.com/environment-and-energy/california-standing-firm-on-state-air-standards
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A Promising Start for Cleaner Buildings in California
Feb 1, 2019 | Natural Resource Defense Council
By Merrian Borgeson
The California Utilities Commission has now launched the process for implementing a new law to make the state’s homes more climate-friendly and affordable to heat. The commission is also considering other broad measures aimed at decarbonizing California's buildings.
The focus on buildings is necessary and arguably overdue. California recently set a goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2045, and the state aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent from 1990 levels within the next decade. Cleaning up the building sector will be critical to these goals.
As California Public Utilities (PUC) President Michael Picker explained yesterday, “Renewable electricity alone isn’t enough to help us meet our 2030 greenhouse gas reduction goals; we also need to electrify our homes and buildings to reduce the use of fossil fuels in California. Twenty-five percent of total emissions in California are from homes and buildings and we must make headway on reducing these emissions to meet the state’s overall aggressive climate goals.”
The concept of building decarbonization goes beyond reducing energy use and “zero net energy” (meaning the total amount of energy used by the building on an annual basis is roughly equal to the amount of renewable energy it generates) – and instead focuses squarely on reducing emissions, which can be achieved both by cutting energy consumption and by using cleaner energy sources such as electricity generated from renewable resources like wind and solar. Decarbonization requires attention to issues such as burning fossil fuels in buildings, particularly for heating and hot water.
The commission, as required by SB 1477 passed last year, will develop two new programs to launch as early as July 1 this year: Building Initiative for Low Emissions Development (BUILD), and Technology and Equipment for Clean Heating (TECH). Each is designed to test different approaches to decarbonizing buildings. The programs will receive $200 million in funding over four years from natural gas utility carbon allowance proceeds from the state's cap and trade program.
BUILD will focus on new buildings, encouraging technologies that push emissions savings beyond what could be achieved with building standards that are already in place. These options can include high-efficiency heat pumps, solar thermal heating, energy efficiency, and batteries to store solar energy.
While TECH will focus on low-emissions space and water heating technologies for both new and existing homes. Switching to highly efficient electric heat pumps, for example, is imperative to meeting the state's climate goals, as about 90 percent of California's furnaces and water heaters currently run on gas or propane.
Both programs stand to lower not just greenhouse gas emissions, but costs for consumers. With policy support behind these new technologies, upfront costs will drop, and so will energy bills. Nearly a third of the funding for BUILD must be spent on new low-income housing, where families tend to spend a higher percentage of their income on energy bills.
Already, the commission has approved a pilot program that will wean more than 1,600 homes from fossil fuels by helping San Joaquin Valley low-income homeowners and renters install high-efficiency electric heat pumps and other energy efficient upgrades, which expected to save participating households about $1,500 in energy costs each year, while also slashing local air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
Other Opportunities
The PUC is also considering building decarbonization opportunities in addition to what is required to implement SB 1477. One new focus area is strengthening incentives for homes being rebuilt after wildfires. Utilities "have limited ability to offer increased incentives to customers who agree to make permanent decarbonization investments when rebuilding damaged homes," the PUC says, opening the possibility for pilot programs that encourage going all-electric.
The state's building and appliance standards also offer decarbonization opportunities. The new rulemaking proceeding will consider how PUC policies and programs can help speed up adoption of emissions-reducing technologies, paving the way for the adoption of stronger building codes and standards.
Importantly, the commission also intends to create a framework to support building decarbonization through all of the tools available to the agency. This could include rates, programs, incentives, planning processes, and other direction it gives to the utilities.
We need this kind of holistic thinking about how to make buildings part of the climate solution. Panama Bartholomy, director of the Building Decarbonization Coalition that includes NRDC, argues that “We need a long-term strategy across regulatory bodies in California to drive down costs and quickly grow consumer experience with low-emission technologies.”
Across the country, from suburban homes to high-rise office buildings, too many buildings remain yoked to fossil fuels. California's approach ultimately could offer a model that other states can follow to both reduce climate pollution and improve housing affordability.
https://www.nrdc.org/experts/merrian-borgeson/california-promising-start-cleaner-buildings
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New York AG Leads Six-State Team in Lawsuit Against Trump EPA
Feb 1, 2019 | New York Business Journal
By Anthony Noto
New York is making good on its promise to fight President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
And it has help from other states.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is leading a coalition of six states in an effort to force the EPA to take stronger steps to curb air pollution.
A new lawsuit aims to force the EPA to comply with federal law by requiring further controls on ground-level ozone pollution, or smog.
Under President Barack Obama, the EPA determined the existing standards for limiting smog-forming ozone pollution fell short and needed to be toughened. Last month, the EPA — under Donald Trumpappointee Andrew Wheeler — finalized a rule reversing that determination in a move that undercuts the Clean Air Act.
“Over two-thirds of New Yorkers regularly breathe unhealthy air due to smog pollution,” James said. “Yet, Trump’s EPA is ignoring the Clean Air Act and refuses to require reductions in the pollution largely responsible for this serious public health risk. My office will stand firm for the quality of air in our state by forcing Trump’s EPA to follow the law and to ensure New Yorkers’ legal right to clean air.”
Joining James in Thursday’s lawsuit are the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Jersey.
This isn't the first lawsuit the New York AG filed against a Trump entity.
Back in November, the New York state AG's civil lawsuit against the Donald J. Trump Foundation was allowed to proceed after a state court judge denied a motion to dismiss the case.
https://www.bizjournals.com/newyork/news/2019/02/01/new-york-ag-leads-six-state-team-in-lawsuit.html
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