Preview Newsletter
PM ACC 4/24/2019
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US EPA Faces Lawsuit over Methylene Chloride Paint Remover Ban
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Nick Hazlewood
The US EPA is being sued over its recent rule banning the use of methylene chloride in consumer paint removal products, on the grounds that commercial uses have been excluded. -
(ACC Mentioned) Washington State Passes US's 'Strongest Legislation' on Chemicals in Products
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Washington’s state legislature has passed a bill that would put in place a scheme to identify, and then impose restrictions or prohibitions on, chemicals of concern in products. -
(ACC Mentioned) Oregon House Advances Statewide Polystyrene Foam Container Ban
Apr 24, 2019 | Waste Dive
By Rina Li
After initially failing a floor vote on April 22, a proposed ban on polystyrene food containers (House Bill 2883) was passed 32-28 out of Oregon's House of Representatives on April 23. -
Industry Group Pushes for Lead-Free Electronics in High Reliability Sectors
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The Institute of Printed Circuits (IPC) has called on its frontline members to get involved in a push to make electronics in high reliability sectors lead-free. -
EU Report Proposes Screening Criteria for Pops to Capture Mobility
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
A report commissioned by the EU has proposed new screening criteria to identify potential persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on the basis of their mobility in the environment. -
Echa Unveils Poison Centres Submission Portal
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
EU companies placing hazardous mixtures on the single market can now make a single submission via a new Echa portal to notify poison centres in several member states. -
Commission Amends EU Pops Regulation
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has amended Annexes IV and V to the Regulation on persistent organic pollutants (POPs). -
EPA Leaves Oil, Gas Waste Regulation to States
Apr 24, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
Fracking and drilling waste won’t be subject to specific federal disposal requirements, the EPA decided April 23. -
White House Eyes Broad Jones Act Waivers — Report
Apr 24, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Geof Koss
The Trump administration is eyeing broad exemptions from federal shipping requirements to ease the delivery of natural gas to Puerto Rico and the Northeast, a move that would set up a clash between the domestic shipbuilding industry and its congressional allies. -
BLM Sued Over Utah Oil, Gas Leases
Apr 24, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
A conservation group has filed a lawsuit over the Trump administration's plans to offer oil and gas leases near three national monuments in the southeast part of Utah. -
Shell Finds Major New Discovery in U.S. Gulf of Mexico
Apr 24, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Marissa Luck
Royal Dutch Shell has made a major new deepwater oil discovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the company said Wednesday morning. -
CSB Calls on EPA to Study Hydrofluoric Acid Risks after Refinery Accidents
Apr 24, 2019 | PoliticoPro
By Alex Guillen
The Chemical Safety Board on Wednesday "strongly encourage[d]" EPA to update a 26-year-old study on the hazards of hydrofluoric acid in the wake of two refinery accidents that elevated the threat of exposure to the surrounding communities. -
Safety Board Wants EPA to Act on Refinery Chemical
Apr 24, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Courtney Columbus
The Chemical Safety Board is calling on EPA to address hydrofluoric acid, a toxic chemical used by petroleum refineries. -
NAS Reviewing DOD Approach for Worker TCE Exposure Limits
Apr 24, 2019 | Inside EPA
A National Academies of Sciences (NAS) panel April 18 met to weigh the Defense Department's (DOD) approach to developing an occupational exposure limit for DOD personnel exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE) in the workplace -- an effort the department launched after finding EPA... -
Offshore Oil, Gas Safety Agency Defends Its Performance
Apr 23, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Lee
The Interior Department is pushing back against allegations that it’s not doing enough to protect offshore drilling safety. -
(ACC Mentioned) At Least 3 Horses Killed, Residents Shaken by Train Derailment That Ignited Fire
Apr 24, 2019 | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By Domingo Ramirez Jr. and Mitch Mitchell
At least three horses were killed and homes were evacuated early Wednesday when several railroad cars derailed, exploded and caught fire, burning for several hours, fire officials said. -
Train Cars Carrying Ethanol Catch Fire in Derailment
Apr 24, 2019 | AP (In E&E Greenwire)
No one was hurt when a Union Pacific train carrying ethanol derailed in a residential area in Fort Worth and caught fire. -
Union Chief Says No to Green New Deal
Apr 24, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said yesterday that the largest group of U.S. unions does not support the Green New Deal in its current form, a potential blow for activists hoping to get labor on board with the progressive climate plan. -
California Cities Have Highest Levels of Air Pollution in Us: Study
Apr 24, 2019 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Zack Budryk
Seven of the country's 10 most air-polluted cities are in California, despite the state's strict environmental laws, according to a new study by the American Lung Association (ALA).
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US EPA Faces Lawsuit over Methylene Chloride Paint Remover Ban
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Nick Hazlewood
The US EPA is being sued over its recent rule banning the use of methylene chloride in consumer paint removal products, on the grounds that commercial uses have been excluded.
Announced on 15 March, the TSCA section 6 rule covers the manufacture, import, processing and distribution of consumer uses of the products.
However, the EPA excluded commercial uses from the rule. Instead, the agency requested comments to inform "a future rulemaking that could establish a training, certification, and limited access programme for methylene chloride for commercial uses".
This deviation from the original proposal was met with criticism from worker advocates and Congressional Democrats.
And on Friday, two petitions were filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York, seeking for a court to compel the EPA to protect workers, bystanders and the general public from the substance.
The petitioners are:
· the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC);
· Earthjustice;
· the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA);
· Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF);
· the Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG); and
· two mothers whose sons died after using methylene chloride.
In filing the suit, Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a staff attorney at Earthjustice, called the exclusion of commercial uses "a craven and illegal giveaway to companies that want to continue to manufacture and sell deadly paint strippers."
"There is no law, science or policy behind the exclusion of workers from EPA’s methylene chloride rule," he said.
Liz Hitchcock, director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, added: "It is absolutely unacceptable that EPA has finalised a rule that will not protect the tens of thousands of workers, whose lives and health are in danger as they come in contact with methylene chloride on the job."
Prohibition
The EPA’s ban came more than two years after it was initially proposed during the Obama administration. Use of the products, meanwhile, has caused several deaths.
The section 6 rule is based on a 2014 TSCA workplan assessment of methylene chloride that showed it can cause a range of adverse health effects or death in workers and consumers, including harm to the central nervous system, liver and kidney toxicity, and cancer.
Consumer advocacy groups have sued the agency twice previously for its delayed action; while dozens of retailers committed to stop selling the products.
Meanwhile, the EPA named methylene chloride – along with replacement solvent N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) – among its first ten chemicals subject to risk evaluation under the amended TSCA.
Final risk evaluation on all ten substances are due by the end of this year. If the agency determines that any of these pose an unreasonable risk, it is required to immediately begin a rulemaking process to address the identified concern.
https://chemicalwatch.com/76773/us-epa-faces-lawsuit-over-methylene-chloride-paint-remover-ban
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(ACC Mentioned) Washington State Passes US's 'Strongest Legislation' on Chemicals in Products
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Kelly Franklin
Washington’s state legislature has passed a bill that would put in place a scheme to identify, and then impose restrictions or prohibitions on, chemicals of concern in products. Its supporters say that if it becomes law, it will be the "nation’s strongest policy for regulating toxic chemicals in consumer products".
The Pollution Prevention for Our Future Act (SB 5135) calls for the state’s Department of Ecology (DOE) to take action on consumer products containing high-concern chemicals. It identifies as priorities substances like PFASs, phthalates, flame retardants, phenolic compounds and PCBs.
The introduction of the bill came after a taskforce responsible for determining approaches for protecting the area’s endangered orca whale population identified toxic contaminants as a priority threat last year.
The Senate narrowly passed the bill last month. An amended version passed the House last week on a 60-37 vote, and the Senate concurred with the updated legislation on 22 April by a 27-22 margin.
The measure now heads to Governor Jay Inslee, who is expected to sign it into law.
Bill details
The measure directs the ecology department to "determine regulatory actions to increase transparency and to reduce the use of priority chemicals in priority consumer products."
This could include notification requirements, such as providing lists of products containing priority chemicals, product ingredient disclosure or information regarding exposure and chemical hazard.
But the legislation also authorises the department to restrict or prohibit priority substances when it determines that a safer alternative is "feasible and available", and that such an elimination will "reduce a significant source or use" of a chemical, or if doing so is necessary to protect the health of sensitive populations or species.
The legislation outlines the criteria for identifying priority substances, which include whether they are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic (PBT) or listed on the state’s Chemicals of Concern to Children (CHCC) list.
Substances may also be designated if they are of concern to sensitive populations and species, taking into consideration such factors as their environmental and toxicological endpoints, potential exposures, and potential to degrade, form reaction products or metabolise into other concerning substances.
Priority products are those identified as "a significant source or use" of priority substances. Exempted from the measure are food and beverages, motor vehicles, drugs, products regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) or Department of Defense (DOD) and plastic shipping pallets manufactured before 2012.
The ecology department is also blocked from restricting or requiring disclosure for inaccessible electronic components of electronic products.‘Huge win’
A coalition of NGOs issued a joint statement celebrating the bill’s passage.
"This huge win keeps Washington state at the forefront of the nation, stopping the use of harmful chemicals in products that pollute our homes, bodies and waters," said Laurie Valeriano, executive director of Toxic-Free Future.
The act, said Clean Production Action’s Cheri Peele, will "help move the market toward safer chemicals in products, which reduces business liability."
Liz Hitchcock, acting director of Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, added: "Other states and the federal government should follow their lead."
But the measure has faced strong opposition from industry groups, which have argued that the state should use its existing authorities rather than adopt a new programme.
"Despite some improvements to the bill before it was passed by the legislature, the American Chemistry Council (ACC) remains concerned with the bill’s underlying presumption that the presence of any identified high priority chemical in a consumer product means that the product is potentially harmful," a spokesperson for the trade group told Chemical Watch.
The ACC added it was concerned that the legislation gives the DOE authority to determine if a chemical is "functionally necessary" and if an alternative is "feasible and available".
"Just because an alternative is available and could be used does not mean that it is in the best interest of the consumer to use the alternative," it said. "Giving the department the right to determine the necessity of a chemical product opens the door to decisions not being based on the best available science," it added.
The legislation calls for the DOE to identify its first priority products by 1 June 2020. Regulatory actions to address these would need to be determined two years later, with rules in place to implement the regulatory actions by midway through 2023.
This process is set to repeat on a five-year cycle from 2024.
https://chemicalwatch.com/76791/washington-state-passes-uss-strongest-legislation-on-chemicals-in-products
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(ACC Mentioned) Oregon House Advances Statewide Polystyrene Foam Container Ban
Apr 24, 2019 | Waste Dive
By Rina Li
After initially failing a floor vote on April 22, a proposed ban on polystyrene food containers (House Bill 2883) was passed 32-28 out of Oregon's House of Representatives on April 23.
If approved by the Senate, the legislation would prohibit food vendors from using polystyrene foam containers — including cups, bowls or plates — in the sale, serving or dispensing of prepared food by January 1, 2021. Violators would be subject to a civil penalty of up to $250 per day.
"Every day, Oregonians throw away literally tons of plastic in the form of single-use cups plates, utensils and containers," co-sponsor Rep. Sheri Schouten said during Monday's vote, as reported by OPB. "Among the worst forms of plastic pollution is polystyrene foam."Dive Insight:
Perceived by many as a symbolic Earth Day vote, HB 2883 failed 29-29 on Monday after a last-minute vote change by veteran Democrat Rep. Jeff Barker. The return of another member on Tuesday helped tip the scales.
According to OPB, opponents criticized the legislation's potential cost hikes for businesses, citing an Oregon-based Agilyx facility as a preferred alternative to an outright ban. The American Chemistry Council, which released a report last month touting the potential of such "chemical recycling" technologies, testified among that group.
The Agilyx plant, which has been in full-scale operation since 2018, is able to depolymerize waste polystyrene into a commercially-viable monomer oil. The company delivered its first load of recycled monomer to polystyrene producer AmSty last month, with production poised to continue ramping up.
"I think we have a solid base of knowledge around how to do chemical recycling. I’m not going to say it's easy, but it’s a natural step to get into other types of polymers," Brian Moe, vice president of operations at Agilyx, told Waste Dive last year. "This is a really good solution to increase recycling overall. I think the industry wants to see a circular economy solution for plastics recycling in general, and polystyrene in particular."
Supporters of the bill, however, maintained during Monday's vote that banning polystyrene would be the most effective path toward curbing plastic pollution. The easily-crumbled material is frequently tossed aside as litter rather than diverted for recycling: in written testimony, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters said that polystyrene waste accounts for 10-40% of litter collected during stream cleanups.
The bill — which joins a string of similar foam ban proposals in states such as Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland and Massachusetts — is scheduled for a first reading at the Oregon Senate on April 24.
https://www.wastedive.com/news/oregon-house-advances-statewide-polystyrene-foam-container-ban/553290/
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Industry Group Pushes for Lead-Free Electronics in High Reliability Sectors
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The Institute of Printed Circuits (IPC) has called on its frontline members to get involved in a push to make electronics in high reliability sectors lead-free.
The global trade association is looking to secure $15m in federal funding for research and development in the use of lead-free solders and components in the aerospace, defence and high performance (ADHP) electronics sectors.
Working with a consortium of manufacturers and academic institutions, and more than a dozen US congressional offices, the IPC wants to kick start an earlier R&D programme that stalled following US defence department cuts.
It says that, unlike the commercial electronics sector where the EU’s RoHS Directive has been a major driver towards lead-free, the ADHP electronics sectors remain reliant on lead solders and components, because products here have more demanding performance requirements.
"They need to perform flawlessly in harsh environments and in safety-related applications," the IPC says in a blog post. There is not enough data currently on the performance of lead-free products, it adds.
However, the post says: "Key stakeholders, including government entities, have not invested in the science to understand how to achieve symmetry and interchangeability between lead and lead-free electronics."
The association has filed formal funding requests and encouraged its members to lobby members of Congress. It hopes to get its proposals into a defence appropriations bill, which will be sent to the president for signature by late summer.
The IPC has 4,300 electronics industry member companies working in design, printed board manufacturing, electronics assembly and testing.
https://chemicalwatch.com/76760/industry-group-pushes-for-lead-free-electronics-in-high-reliability-sectors
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EU Report Proposes Screening Criteria for Pops to Capture Mobility
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
By Clelia Oziel
A report commissioned by the EU has proposed new screening criteria to identify potential persistent organic pollutants (POPs) on the basis of their mobility in the environment.
If adopted, the criteria would identify perfluorinated compounds pentadecafluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), used as surfactants, as POPs under the Stockholm Convention.
The report by consultancy Peter Fisk Associates was circulated at the meeting of the Competent Authorities for REACH and CLP (Caracal) on 19-20 March.
It suggests that the criteria are included in Annex D of the convention for bioaccumulation. They could be considered under criterion c(ii), which calls for evidence that a chemical presents "other reasons for concerns, such as high bioaccumulation in other species, high toxicity or ecotoxicity".
Mobility is an emerging issue that could impact human health and the environment in the future.
In January, the EU's Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (Scheer) identified persistent, mobile and toxic substances (PMTs) as one of 14 emerging issues. It will use this when discussing potential mandates from the Commission.
Germany's Federal Environment Agency (UBA) developed the PMT concept and suggested that PMTs could be identified as substances of very high concern (SVHCs) under REACH.
The aim of the UBA proposal is to protect humans and the environment from substances that have the potential to circulate very widely in water systems and contaminate, in particular, drinking water. Industry is opposed to it, warning of a rush to ‘regrettable’ regulation.
The Peter Fisk report authors searched the OECD’s eChemPortal and came up with 970 substances that would meet UBA's mobility criteria. There were 830 others considered as 'very mobile'.
The study investigated whether the mobility concerns related to drinking water can be extended to bioaccumulation-based concerns outlined in Annex D.
Its report concludes that a wider range of criteria is necessary to capture mobility-based concerns for substances that have lower bioconcentration/bioaccumulation factors, but which may accumulate over longer time periods.
This includes consideration of how the substances are transported, for example, via water, air or a combination of both, and persistence over longer time-scales than currently included in Stockholm, it says.
Body burden
According to the report, the current POPs criteria are appropriate for substances that reach relatively high 'body burdens' over short time periods
But substances that are both persistent and mobile have the potential to be transported long distances from the point of emission, the report says. If they accumulate over time in remote regions, "they can reach levels that may have effects on both ecosystems and human health".
Examples include PFOA and PFOS. These persist for very long periods in the environment and are capable of being transported and distributed globally, but the current screening for bioaccumulation would not necessarily identify them against the standard Annex D criteria, the report says.
For such substances, it suggests a half-life in water, sediment or soil of greater than one year. For some substances with relatively long degradation half-lives in air (50 days or more), a shorter half-life of 180 days in water or soil may be more appropriate, it adds.
The proposed criteria have been validated using substances that do not meet the current Stockholm Convention criteria for bioaccumulation, but which have been agreed to be POPs, the report notes.
However, it adds, the criteria should be seen as the starting point for identifying potential candidates for further evaluation and suggests "a proper assessment on a case-by-case basis".
The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute (NGI) last year compiled a list of 240 REACH-registered substances that potentially fulfil the proposed PMT and very persistent, very mobile (vPvM) criteria or are candidate substances.
And last month, the Netherlands proposed HFPO-DA, also known as GenX, as an SVHC on the basis of its environmental mobility – the first time the concern has been considered as a distinct property.
https://chemicalwatch.com/76815/eu-report-proposes-screening-criteria-for-pops-to-capture-mobility
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Echa Unveils Poison Centres Submission Portal
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
EU companies placing hazardous mixtures on the single market can now make a single submission via a new Echa portal to notify poison centres in several member states.
The information must be provided in accordance with Annex VIII of the classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) Regulation in a harmonised format from the following dates:
· 1 January 2020 for mixtures for consumer use;
· 1 January 2021 for mixtures for professional use; and
· 1 January 2024 for mixtures for industrial use.
The appointed bodies in member states make this information available to poison centres, which can then provide rapid medical advice in the event of an emergency.
The agency says the portal is a secure, online way to centrally manage notifications – creating, submitting and following their status. It will also, the agency adds, reduce administrative burden and costs for companies, when submitting information on hazardous mixtures to appointed bodies in EU member states and EEA countries.
Echa is not charging a fee for the use of the portal, but some member states may levy fees to cover their costs. Notifications submitted through the portal will be valid, once the relevant member state is ready to accept them.
The agency will make further improvements to the user interface and add more functionalities in July and November.
Earlier this year Cefic and other industry associations said they welcomed an interim progress report on workability issues concerning the implementation of Annex VIII of CLP.
Industry has previously aired its concerns that delays and unresolved issues mean it will be "impossible" for the European Commission to deliver the IT tools needed for the 1 January 2020 deadline.
https://chemicalwatch.com/76785/echa-unveils-poison-centres-submission-portal
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Commission Amends EU Pops Regulation
Apr 24, 2019 | Chemical Watch
The European Commission has amended Annexes IV and V to the Regulation on persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
In Annex IV – the list of substances subject to waste management provisions set out in Article 7 – it has added an entry for pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters with a concentration limit, as referred to in Article 7(4)(a), set at 100mg/kg.
In Annex V on waste management, the Commission has replaced a table with a new one, which lists different types of waste and their maximum concentration limits as itemised in Annex IV, as well as conditions for permanent storage.
The Regulation will enter into force on the twentieth day, following its publication in the EU’s Official Journal. It will apply from 31 October.
On 18 April, the European Parliament adopted the new limit for the cumulative sum of all BDEs in articles and mixtures under the EU POPs Regulation, set at 500mg/kg. It was adopted as part of the recast of the Regulation after Council of Ministers agreement in February.
https://chemicalwatch.com/76789/commission-amends-eu-pops-regulation
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EPA Leaves Oil, Gas Waste Regulation to States
Apr 24, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Sylvia Carignan
Fracking and drilling waste won’t be subject to specific federal disposal requirements, the EPA decided April 23.
The decision leaves a patchwork of state regulations to control and monitor oil and gas industry waste.
The Environmental Protection Agency’s decision responds to a 2016 lawsuit from environmental advocates. The agency reviewed whether it was necessary to augment federal solid waste regulations to specifically address waste from drilling and fracking, among other oil and gas industry activities.
The decision was that such changes are “not necessary at this time,” according to an EPA report.
The decision leaves “generic and outdated standards” in place, a statement from the Environmental Integrity Project said.
That organization was among the environmental advocates who filed the suit in 2016. According to their initial complaint, they argued that a federal regulation would ensure that protective requirements for controlling, monitoring, and disclosing oil and gas wastes apply across the country.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/epa-leaves-oil-gas-waste-regulation-to-states
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White House Eyes Broad Jones Act Waivers — Report
Apr 24, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Geof Koss
The Trump administration is eyeing broad exemptions from federal shipping requirements to ease the delivery of natural gas to Puerto Rico and the Northeast, a move that would set up a clash between the domestic shipbuilding industry and its congressional allies.
President Trump is "seriously considering" waiving the Jones Act, a 1920s-era law that requires shipments in U.S. waters to be made on vessels mostly owned and crewed by Americans, Bloomberg News reported last night.
The White House declined to comment today, but Bloomberg reported that Puerto Rico's request for a 10-year waiver from the Jones Act was discussed at an Oval Office meeting Monday.
Presidents from both parties have occasionally waived the Jones Act in the wake of natural disasters, including Trump, who did so in the aftermath of the twin hurricanes that pummeled the island territory in 2017 (Greenwire, Sept. 28, 2017).
Critics have long called for repeal of the statute, which they see as a protectionist relic that adds costs to goods shipped within the United States.
Free-market and small government groups have stepped up their efforts to scrap or amend the law in recent months, citing in particular the ongoing domestic shale boom.
The Cato Institute recently noted that the costs associated with the Jones Act have prompted the Northeast to import natural gas from Russia, rather than from Louisiana.
But the shipbuilding lobby and its Capitol Hill allies oppose long-term waivers, which they say weaken the U.S. maritime sector.
American Maritime Partnership President Matt Woodruff called it "inconceivable" that Trump "would choose to favor foreign shipping interests over American workers."
"American maritime is the quintessential 'America First' industry and we are confident President Trump who has championed and supported our American shipyards, mariners, and industrial base, would not start us down a path now that would cripple our national security," Woodruff said in a statement, noting that the domestic shipping industry supports 650,000 jobs.
House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.) echoed the point today.
"For a president who has repeatedly insisted on putting America first, waiving the Jones Act makes absolutely zero sense," DeFazio said in a statement to E&E News.
"Jones Act carriers play a critical role in emergency relief and response operations in times of crisis and revalidate the enduring value of the Jones Act which has been a fundamental pillar of U.S. maritime policy for nearly a century," he said.
"This has the potential to devastate the American shipbuilding industry, costing thousands of high quality American jobs which will be lost to foreign labor," he said. "A waiver of this kind is entirely unwarranted, unnecessary, and is in clear conflict with the law."
DeFazio was among the members of the T&I Committee who wrote to the Department of Homeland Security in February to "strongly oppose" Puerto Rico's request for a 10-year waiver, saying doing so would run afoul of the statute's requirement that waivers be necessary for national defense.
"It is our belief that no valid national defense rationale exists to support this waiver request of the Jones Act for Puerto Rico, especially for a ten-year period," states the letter, also signed by ranking member Sam Graves (R-Mo.) and other members of the panel from both parties.
DHS did not respond to a request for comment.
Mike McKenna, a longtime GOP energy operative, said today that there's a "pretty good chance" the White House will grant the waivers.
"The Jones Act is a catastrophe for consumers," he said in an email.
Reporter Jeremy Dillon contributed.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/04/24/stories/1060212067
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BLM Sued Over Utah Oil, Gas Leases
Apr 24, 2019 | Natural Gas Intelligence
By Charlie Passut
A conservation group has filed a lawsuit over the Trump administration's plans to offer oil and gas leases near three national monuments in the southeast part of Utah.
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) alleges in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah that the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated federal law in 2018 when it offered 35 leases covering about 54,508 acres at two lease sales in The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance v. David Bernhardt et al, No. 2:19-cv-266.
Specifically, SUWA claims BLM ran afoul of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act and the Administrative Procedures Act. All of the leases are in San Juan County, near the Bears Ears, Canyons of the Ancients and Hovenweep national monuments. The area has seen mostly conventional but also some unconventional oil and gas drilling. San Juan County overlays the Paradox Basin, which includes the Cane Creek and Hovenweep shales.
At issue are 20 leases covering 28,805 acres of public land that BLM offered at a sale in March 2018, followed by 15 leases for 25,698 acres offered in December. BLM denied SUWA's protests of the sales last May and again in February, according to the complaint.
"The BLM has placed the final pieces, completing its puzzle of oil and gas leases located at the doorstep of Bears Ears, Hovenweep and Canyons of the Ancients National Monuments," said SUWA staff attorney Landon Newell. "And the BLM has done so without considering the 'big picture' impacts to national monuments and climate change and the surrounding landscapes, including impacts to dark night skies and the region's rich cultural heritage."
Trump signed proclamations in December 2017 to reduce the size of Bears Ears by 83% to 228,784 acres from 1.35 million, and for trimming the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by 46% to about one million acres. Environmental and tribal groups have filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to challenge the reductions.
https://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/118146-blm-sued-over-utah-oil-gas-leases
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Shell Finds Major New Discovery in U.S. Gulf of Mexico
Apr 24, 2019 | Houston Chronicle
By Marissa Luck
Royal Dutch Shell has made a major new deepwater oil discovery in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the company said Wednesday morning.
The "significant" discovery was made at the Blacktip prospect, the company said.Recommended Video
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The Blacktip discovery is located about 250-miles south of Houston in approximately 6,200-feet of water. Blacktip is operated by Shell (52.375 percent ) and co-owned by Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (20 percent), Equinor Gulf of Mexico LLC (19.12 percent), and Repsol E&P USA Inc. (8.5 percent).
"Blacktip is Shell's second material discovery in the Perdido Corridor and is part of a continuing exploration strategy to add competitive deep water options to extend our heartlands," said Andy Brown, Upstream Director for Royal Dutch Shell, in a statement.
Drilling at the initial Blacktip well underway and so far the companies have encountered more than 400 feet net oil pay with ":good reservoir and fluid characteristics". The well is currently being deepened to further assess the structure's potential.
The find presents the opportunity to add to existing production in near the area of Shell's Perdido platform, which has been producing since 2010, the company said. Through exploration, Shell has added more than one billion barrels of oil equivalent in the last decade in the Gulf of Mexico. The company's global deep-water production is on track to exceed 900,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2020, from already discovered, established areas.
Blacktip is a Wilcox discovery in the Perdido thrust belt and was discovered in the Alaminos Canyon Block 380, approximately 30 miles from the Perdido platform and Whale discovery.
https://www.chron.com/business/energy/article/Shell-finds-major-new-discovery-in-U-S-Gulf-of-13791371.php?cmpid=ffoil
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CSB Calls on EPA to Study Hydrofluoric Acid Risks after Refinery Accidents
Apr 24, 2019 | PoliticoPro
By Alex Guillen
The Chemical Safety Board on Wednesday "strongly encourage[d]" EPA to update a 26-year-old study on the hazards of hydrofluoric acid in the wake of two refinery accidents that elevated the threat of exposure to the surrounding communities.
Hydrofluoric acid, also known as HF, is used at 50 refineries around the U.S. as a catalyst to make blending agents for high-octane gasoline, as well as in other industries, according to CSB. It is "highly toxic" and can kill at concentrations of 30 parts per million.
EPA completed a congressionally mandated report on HF risks in 1993, concluding that existing authorities such as the Risk Management Plan program were sufficient to provide protection against accidental releases.
In a letter to EPA, CSB Interim Executive Kristen Kulinowski wrote that her agency has fielded significant concern from local communities following the 2015 explosion at Exxon Mobil’s Torrance refinery and an April 2018 explosion at a Superior Refinery Company facility in Wisconsin. Neither event led to a release of HF, but both incidents easily could have, CSB found.
"As a result of these two investigations, we urge the EPA to initiate a review and update of its 1993 HF study to determine whether these refineries' existing risk management plans are sufficient to prevent catastrophic releases; and, to determine whether there are commercially viable, inherently safer alkylation technologies for use in petroleum refineries," Kulinowski wrote.
Although CSB investigates accidents at industrial facilities, it has no regulatory or enforcement authority, leaving any decision to act up to EPA.
EPA did not immediately return a request for comment.
https://subscriber.politicopro.com/article/2019/04/csb-calls-on-epa-to-study-hydrofluoric-acid-risks-after-refinery-accidents-3131222
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Safety Board Wants EPA to Act on Refinery Chemical
Apr 24, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Courtney Columbus
The Chemical Safety Board is calling on EPA to address hydrofluoric acid, a toxic chemical used by petroleum refineries.
In a letter to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, CSB Interim Executive Authority Kristen Kulinowski urged EPA to review and update its 1993 study on the substance.
In the letter, Kulinowski calls for EPA to assess refineries' risk management plans and decide whether there are safer, commercially viable alternatives available.
"In the last four years, the CSB has investigated two refinery incidents where an explosion elevated the threat of a release of HF," she said in a statement.
Those incidents occurred at the Superior Energy Co. LLC refinery in Wisconsin in April 2018 and at the former Exxon Mobil Corp. refinery in Torrance, Calif., in February 2015. Safety violations by Exxon led to the 2015 explosion, CSB said in a 2017 report (E&E News PM, May 3, 2017).
CSB held a public meeting after each incident. At the meetings, residents raised concerns about the use of hydrofluoric acid.
In the December 2018 gathering following the explosion in Superior, some community members called for the refinery to use a safer alternative, and some called for Wisconsin to ban the use of the substance.
"Refinery workers and surrounding community residents are rightly concerned about the adequacy of the risk management for the use of hazardous chemicals like HF. The EPA should review its 1993 HF study to ensure the health and safety of communities near petroleum refineries utilizing HF," Kulinowski added.
CSB is a federal agency with an annual budget of about $12 million that is tasked with carrying out investigations of industrial chemical accidents. The Trump administration has proposed eliminating the agency in its past three budget requests (E&E News PM, March 12).
In the letter to EPA, Kulinowski said CSB doesn't have the authority to ban HF or modified hydrofluoric acid, or to force refineries to use alternative chemicals.
Fred Millar, an independent consultant based in the Washington, D.C., area and former lobbyist for the environmental group Friends of the Earth, welcomed the letter.
"I'm glad that they're trying to focus attention to HF, a particularly dangerous situation," said Millar. "We keep using it anyway, despite the fact that there are alternatives."
But, he added, "having a new study is really a very weak response."
EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/04/24/stories/1060212005
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NAS Reviewing DOD Approach for Worker TCE Exposure Limits
Apr 24, 2019 | Inside EPA
A National Academies of Sciences (NAS) panel April 18 met to weigh the Defense Department's (DOD) approach to developing an occupational exposure limit for DOD personnel exposed to trichloroethylene (TCE) in the workplace -- an effort the department launched after finding EPA and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration's (OSHA) exposure limits differed greatly.
“We're here today asking for your support in the independent scientific review of our [occupational exposure limit (OEL)] development approach and our results,” Jennifer Rous, representing DOD's under secretary for personnel and readiness, told the NAS Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology at the one-day meeting.
The committee met to review DOD's approach for setting an OEL and cancer slope factor for TCE inhalation exposure, particularly through vapor intrusion in the DOD workplace.
“Important elements of the review will be the data selection process, evidence synthesis, dose-response assessments, the use of physiologically based pharmacokinetic models, and other factors associated with calculating an OEL,” the project's scope says in NAS' description of the review.
Rous said that DOD is asking the panel: what are the generally acceptable levels of health risk for exposures to the general public versus exposures to workers? She added that DOD's intent is to develop a broadly applicable OEL.
She explained that the department has already received some review on its approach from external stakeholders, including EPA, OSHA and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Once NAS' review is complete, DOD will proceed into determining the mission impact of an OEL and to drafting the OEL policy, she said.
DOD was prompted to develop an OEL when EPA set criteria for vapor intrusion from cleanup sites into occupied workplaces, and TCE levels were found to be in exceedance of this criteria at three DOD sites, she said. DOD commanders than sought advice internally on the issue, and DOD conducted sampling but found the samples to be below OSHA permissible exposure limits, she said.
That led to uncertainty among commanders and personnel about the risks that were present and actions to take because “the EPA and OSHA exposure limits differ by orders of magnitude,” she said.
Industry has long disputed a controversial 2003 toxicology study that has driven conservative risk and remedial policies on TCE, including EPA's 2011 risk assessment of TCE. The study found that exposure to TCE in utero could lead to cardiac heart defects. TCE is a volatile organic compound that has often been a vapor intrusion contaminant.
In contrast to EPA's conservative approach, OSHA has a permissible exposure limit, or PEL, of 100 parts per million (ppm) over an 8-hour workday, and 300 ppm as a five-minute maximum peak allowable in any two-hour period.
Seeing differences between EPA and OSHA, the military departments asked DOD for an OEL for TCE, which will apply to inhalation exposures from vapor intrusion as well as from employee use of TCE in work tasks, according to Rous.
https://insideepa.com/daily-feed/nas-reviewing-dod-approach-worker-tce-exposure-limits
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Offshore Oil, Gas Safety Agency Defends Its Performance
Apr 23, 2019 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephen Lee
The Interior Department is pushing back against allegations that it’s not doing enough to protect offshore drilling safety.
The recent charges in a report by the environmental group Oceana match up with those of Democrats in Congress who have been trying—with limited success—to spotlight what they consider to be poor performance at the Interior Department’s Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.
The Trump administration has said more offshore drilling is important for economic growth and energy security and is set to release the draft of its new five-year drilling plan soon. Both the congressional Democrats and Oceana want to stop the expansion of offshore drilling.
Not Enough Staff?In its report, Oceana said the approximately 120 inspectors at the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) aren’t enough to conduct more than 20,000 inspections annually.
The agency also has had trouble hiring new employees because of competition from better-paying oil and gas companies, Oceana said, referencing BSEE’s own fiscal 2020 budget justification.
BSEE spokeswoman Tiffany Gray didn’t contest the inspector count, but said that figure is roughly twice what it was in 2010.
Further, BSEE is conducting roughly 16 percent more offshore inspections than it did in 2016, reaching 9,800 in fiscal 2018, Gray told Bloomberg Environment.
Inspectors also spent 6.1 percent more time physically inspecting facilities in the Outer Continental Shelf from April to December 2018 than they did over the same months in 2016, Gray said.
Industry-Written Standards OK: BSEEShe further defended the agency against Oceana’s charge that it uses industry-written standards.
The report said that those rules let the oil and gas industry “govern itself without adequate independent oversight.”
Under the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act, BSEE is required to incorporate industry standards, according to Gray.
BSEE didn’t respond to other parts of the Oceana report, such as the finding that the agency referred only 38 of 2,643 incidents of noncompliance in 2016 to the civil penalty process.
“This shows there is a financial incentive to ignore regulatory compliance and cut corners to protect profits,” Oceana’s report said.
Drilling Rig FiresGray also didn’t comment on the Oceana report’s finding that, from 2007 to 2017, there were an average of 120 fires and explosions on drilling rigs per year, injuring hundreds of workers.
Oceana said its findings were the result of a survey of government documents, public reporting, scientific literature, and interviews with policy experts.
Drilling opponents have tried before to challenge the Trump administration’s approach to offshore safety.
In an April 4 House hearing, Democrats asked why BSEE’s budget proposes cutting its oil spill research by 15 percent, and why the fees offshore drilling companies pay for safety inspections are so low.
BSEE Director Scott A. Angelle largely evaded the questioning, saying the cuts won’t hurt the oil spill preparedness program and agreeing that the fees should be hiked.
https://bnanews.bna.com/environment-and-energy/offshore-oil-and-gas-safety-agency-defends-its-performance
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(ACC Mentioned) At Least 3 Horses Killed, Residents Shaken by Train Derailment That Ignited Fire
Apr 24, 2019 | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
By Domingo Ramirez Jr. and Mitch Mitchell
At least three horses were killed and homes were evacuated early Wednesday when several railroad cars derailed, exploded and caught fire, burning for several hours, fire officials said.
Fewer than 20 homes were evacuated after the explosion ignited the tanker cars, which contained ethanol, fire officials said.
The explosion killed at least three horses, but more than a dozen were saved by residents who rushed to the scene and got the animals out of a stable near the crash site.
“I was asleep and didn’t hear anything,” said Osvaldo Martinez of Fort Worth, who lives just a few blocks from the derailment. “But a friend called and told me about the fire. I didn’t think it was anything big.”
But Martinez learned his horse was killed in the explosion and another horse owned by a friend also died. About 15 horses were in the stable, he said.
“I tried to go down there, but they (officials) wouldn’t let me,” Martinez said.
The National Transportation Safety Board will be investing the incident and on Wednesday afternoon was en route to Fort Worth to begin that work, a Union Pacific Railroad spokeswoman said. NTSB is an independent arm of the federal government that investigates major accidents involving aircraft, railroads, highways and other parts of the nation’s transportation grid.
“We have not made a determination on the cause yet,” railroad spokeswoman Kristen South said. “We are working with NTSB on a cause.”
South added that the derailment occurred about 12:30 a.m., and approximately 25 cars hauling ethanol were derailed. No railroad employees were hurt, she said.
Neighbor Stonny Steel, who lives near the derailment, heard the explosion.
“I’ve heard transformers blow up, but this was much louder,” Steel said Wednesday morning. “I had heard the thunderstorms, but I just fell back to sleep.”
No injuries to firefighters or residents were reported. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Fire officials said Worth Heights Community Center was where residents who were evacuated were to be taken, but an employee at the center who had been there since 3:30 a.m. said no one had shown up.
As of 8:20 a.m., the fire had decreased dramatically, fire officials said.
“There will be an extensive cleanup operation,” said fire department spokesman Mike Drivdahl on Wednesday.
The derailment occurred just before 1 a.m. just west of Riverside Drive and East Berry Street.
A check of the Federal Railroad Administration database sheds only a little light on whether other accidents have occurred in the vicinity of Wednesday’s derailment.
For example, an accident report was filed in 2007 after a BNSF Railway train, using the Union Pacific line crashed into a pickup that had apparently stalled and been abandoned on the tracks, at a cross near East Shaw Street and V.C. Shamblee Drive. No injuries were reported.
No other reports were readily available in that area.
The tanker cars contained ethanol which is a highly flammable substance and should not be stored or used near an open flame, according to the American Chemistry Council.
But ethanol also is a very common product found in numerous household goods.
Ethanol is commonly used as an ingredient to motor fuels.
Also, it is commonly used in lotions, hand sanitizers and other cosmetics, as well as in alcoholic foods and beverages and even candy, according to the council.
Railroads are commonly used to transport ethanol from producers to manufacturers of these goods.
Ethanol is transported using a standard tanker rail car approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation, according to the Renewable Fuels Association.
The so-called DOT 111A rail cars are inspected before, during and after each shipment to ensure safety equipment is operating correctly, according to the association.
Today, 85 percent of rail cars used to transport ethanol are less than seven years old.
Dario Diaz, 22, parked just outside the quarantined area on Riley Street later Wednesday morning and said he was waiting for his parents, who were seeing to the family’s animals, two horses and their dogs.
His little sister and brother were in the truck with him. He said that he was denied entry to the evacuated area earlier because his little brother was with him and there was concern that the smoke might be harmful to him.
Diaz said that the family, three children and the parents, heard an explosion about 1 a.m., and felt the house shake, but assumed it was thunder.
“The house always shakes like that when it storms,” he said. “It felt like something out of a movie.”
Diaz said they all live on Atkins Street. They have one neighbor and the rest of the structures are stables and no one lives there. His mom FaceTimed him and said she saw one horse that had been burned.
At first, fire officials told families to just stay put, but later they said everyone had to leave, Diaz said.
At 9:45 a.m. Diaz was still waiting for his parents to leave the area. His mom and dad were still tending to the animals at the house, he said. A police officer opened area back up at 9:52 a.m.
Congressman Marc Veasey praised firefighters for their quick work.
“I’m proud of the men and women of the Fort Worth Fire Department who responded quickly to the fire and went door-to-door to ensure residents evacuated safely from their homes,” Veasey said in a prepared statement. “As we await further information on what caused his horrific accident, we must come together as a city, commit to help the extensive cleanup ahead of us, and work to prevent this type of accident from happening again.”
Carlos Estrada, 42, who said he lives on Riley Street, came by to check on his two horses, and police let him through.
An officer said the area is not heavily populated, and many of the homesteads are what she characterized as mini ranches. The officer said she was letting people through to check on their livestock and animals. Estrada was back out of the quarantined area after a few minutes.
The officer said she smelled smoke earlier Wednesday morning for a few minutes but nothing since.
Staff writer Gordon Dickson contributed to this report.
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/article229623154.html
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Train Cars Carrying Ethanol Catch Fire in Derailment
Apr 24, 2019 | AP (In E&E Greenwire)
No one was hurt when a Union Pacific train carrying ethanol derailed in a residential area in Fort Worth and caught fire.
Union Pacific spokeswoman Kristen South said the train derailed at about 12:30 a.m. today near Echo Lake in Fort Worth. South said the fire was mostly contained by 8 a.m. and crews will spend the day cleaning up the site.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating, said 20 rail cars derailed and five tank cars caught fire.
Authorities say the fire prompted the evacuation of about 20 nearby homes as a precaution, and a hazardous material team is on site to monitor the air quality.
The cause of the derailment is not yet known, though it occurred when heavy thunderstorms were moving through the area.
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/04/24/stories/1060211371
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Union Chief Says No to Green New Deal
Apr 24, 2019 | E&E Greenwire
By Nick Sobczyk
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said yesterday that the largest group of U.S. unions does not support the Green New Deal in its current form, a potential blow for activists hoping to get labor on board with the progressive climate plan.
"We weren't part of the process, and so the worker's interest really wasn't completely figured into it," Trumka said at an event hosted by the Economic Club of Washington, D.C. "So we would want a whole lot of changes made so that workers and our jobs are protected in the process."
Trumka's comments appear to undercut supporters of the Green New Deal on and off Capitol Hill, who have said for months that they're in an ongoing dialogue with labor about the resolution.
When the AFL-CIO Energy Committee penned a letter last month in opposition to the Green New Deal, progressives were quick to point out it did not necessarily represent the views of the full AFL-CIO.
The letter's language mirrored Trumka's comments yesterday, calling climate change a problem worth addressing but expressing concern the Green New Deal is "far too short on specific solutions."
"Working people's support for the Green New Deal will only grow as we continue building alliances and developing detailed policy at the local and national level," the Sunrise Movement wrote on Twitter in a series of tweets downplaying the significance of the letter.
The Sunrise Movement and the resolution's sponsors, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), did not immediately return requests for comment.
But Trumka's comments made clear that the AFL-CIO, which represents more than 12 million workers and is often a major partner for Democratic causes, is not on board yet.
Instead, many of the federation's energy industry unions, including Utility Workers Union of America and United Mine Workers of America, have called for technology-neutral approaches and further building out carbon capture technology.
One white paper circulated by UMWA and other groups calls the 2009 Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill "a good starting point for discussions about future climate legislation."
Markey, during his time in the House, was one of the sponsors of that bill.
The full AFL-CIO, too, has repeatedly stressed its commitment to fighting climate change. It passed a resolution in 2017 calling for climate policy and endorsing a shift to renewable energy.
There are also unions that have wholeheartedly embraced the Green New Deal, which calls for an economic mobilization to wean the country off fossil fuels and provide a just transition for workers.
Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, offered the support of her group in an op-ed last week (Greenwire, April 17).
While progressives have stressed the importance of those labor connections, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said they have no illusions of how difficult it is to build the right coalition.
"It's not as easy as saying there's more jobs in solar and renewable than there are in fossil fuel or coal," she told E&E News last month after the Energy Committee letter. "You have to think about where the jobs are going to be displaced, you have to think about how you make them union jobs."
https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2019/04/24/stories/1060211973
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California Cities Have Highest Levels of Air Pollution in Us: Study
Apr 24, 2019 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Zack Budryk
Seven of the country's 10 most air-polluted cities are in California, despite the state's strict environmental laws, according to a new study by the American Lung Association (ALA).
Los Angeles ranked as the most smog-filled metro area in the ALA's annual State of the Air report. The city has occupied the top spot for 19 of the 20 years that ALA has compiled the rankings.
Other Golden State cities in the top 10 are San Diego, San Francisco and Sacramento. The only metro areas on the most-polluted list outside the state are Houston, the New York City region and Phoenix.
The study comes as House Democrats are aiming to pass a bill that would commit the U.S. to cutting carbon emissions in line with the 2015 Paris climate accord. The measure would face long odds of passing the GOP-controlled Senate. President Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Paris agreement in 2017.
The ALA report also found that ozone pollution has worsened across the country, with 17 of the 25 most ozone-polluted cities measuring more high ozone days on average from 2015 to 2017 than 2014 to 2016. Ozone pollution is particularly high in cities in the West and Southwest.
Of the 25 most ozone-polluted cities, 10 are in California, with three in Texas: Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth and El Paso. Colorado has two — Denver and Fort Collins — while Arizona, Nevada and Utah each appear once on the list. Seven cities east of the Mississippi River are on the list.
Only six metro areas recorded no days when smog or short-term soot pollution was at an unhealthy level: Melbourne, Fla.; Bangor, Maine; Burlington, Vt.; Wilmington, N.C.; Lincoln, Neb.; and Honolulu.
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/440378-california-has-most-air-pollution-in-the-us-despite-having-the
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