Preview Newsletter
ACC AM June 1
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Quadrennial Energy Review and related Discussion Drafts
Jun 2, 2015 | Energy & Commerce Committee
Location: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building/ 10:00 AM -
Oversight of the Amtrak Accident in Philadelphia
Jun 2, 2015 | Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Location: 2167 Rayburn House Office Building/ 10:00 AM -
Full Committee Vote on the TSCA Modernization Act and FCC Process Reform Act
Jun 2, 2015 | Energy & Commerce Committee
Location: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building/ 5:00 PM NOTE: A second meeting will be held on June 3, 2015 at 10:00 AM -
Challenges and Implications of EPA’s Proposed National Ambient Air Quality Standard for Ground-Level Ozone and Legislative Hearing on S. 638, S. 751, and S. 640
Jun 3, 2015 | U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Location: 410 Dirksen Senate Office Building/ 9:30 AM -
Discussion Draft on Accountability and Department of Energy Perspectives on Title IV: Energy Efficiency
Jun 3, 2015 | Energy & Commerce Committee
Location: 2322 Rayburn House Office Building/ 2:00 PM NOTE: A second meeting will be held on June 4, 2015 at 10:15 AM -
Examining Practical Solutions to Improve the Federal Regulatory Process
Jun 4, 2015 | U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs
Location: SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building/ 1:15 PM -
(ACC Mentioned) 3 Chemical Growth Stocks to Revitalize Your Portfolio - Analyst Blog
May 29, 2015 | Nasdaq
The chemical industry is gradually gaining strength after being badly shaken by the global economic crisis. The highly cyclical industry - which had long been out of favor - is finally looking up, making it an attractive investment proposition for 2015. The industry got off to a positive start in 2015 as the March quarter... -
Industry Cheers Passage Of House Bill To Make Permanent R&D Tax Credit
Jun 1, 2015 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Glenn Hess
Drugmakers, chemical manufacturers, and other businesses are welcoming a May 20 vote by the House of Representatives to revive the tax credit for corporate research and development. The move would make the credit a permanent feature of the federal tax code. The bill now goes to the Senate. -
(ACC Mentioned) Free-Trade Bill Faces Fight In House Of Representatives
Jun 1, 2015 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Glenn Hess
The Senate’s approval of legislation granting President Barack Obama the authority to conclude a landmark Pacific trade pact sets the stage for what is expected to be a fierce battle in the House of Representatives later this month.The legislation, which the Senate passed last week 62-37, would give Obama so-called trade promotion authority .. -
(ACC Mentioned) New Spray Foam Cuts Re-Occupancy Time To 4 Hours
May 29, 2015 | ProudGreenHome
When installing spray foam, regulations typically require people to stay out of the home for 24 hours. Now new guidelines from Icynene allow for 4-hour re-occupancy for homeowners and trades in the United States for two of its high-performance spray foam products. The new allowances are for light-density open cell Icynene Classic Max ... -
Bipartisan TSCA Reform Bill Comes Up For Energy And Commerce Vote
Jun 1, 2015 | E&E Daily News
By Sam Pearson
House Energy and Commerce Committee lawmakers this week will vote on a bipartisan plan to update the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976. The bill -- H.R. 2576, or the "TSCA Modernization Act" -- has the support of key lawmakers of both parties, including the chairman and ranking members of both the Environment and Economy... -
States, Small Businesses, Advocacy Groups Conferring With EPA on Two Solvent Rules
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
State agencies, small businesses, environmental justice organizations and other interested parties are being consulted by the Environmental Protection Agency about two possible rules it may issue that would restrict some uses of three common solvents. The three solvents are methylene chloride and ... -
EU Commission will publish results of EDC criteria screening
Jun 1, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Carmen Paun
The screening of the substances against the four options will start with approved pesticides, followed by biocidal active substances, and then a number of other substances regulated by REACH, the EU cosmetics Regulation and the water framework Directive. Once this work has been completed, a second study will assess the costs of each option... -
(ACC Mentioned) Speaker, Local Leaders Unveil Energy Vision, Dispel Gas Tax Myths
May 29, 2015 | Rep Turazi
Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) hosted an energy roundtable today focusing on the statewide benefits and downstream development of natural gas and discussing employment ramifications from imposing an additional tax on natural gas. Joined by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, Turzai and more... -
Fracking Operations Begin in Denton, Texas, After State Law Renders Ban Unenforceable
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Nushin Huq
Vantage Energy was to begin hydraulic fracturing operations in Denton, Texas, on June 1 after city officials decided that a fracking ban was rendered unenforceable by the state under House Bill 40. “Since the ban on hydraulic fracturing took effect in 2014, we have maintained regular dialogue with Denton City officials, presented path forward... -
Md. Fracking Moratorium To Become Law Without Hogan’s Signature
May 29, 2015 | The Washington Post
By Josh Hicks
A Maryland bill to prohibit hydraulic fracturing for more than two years will become law Saturday without Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature, according to Hogan’s office. The legislation will bar the state from issuing permits for the controversial drilling practice until October 2017. It requires Maryland’s Department of the Environment to adopt... -
NAS Members Weigh Fracking Wastewater Impacts As Disclosure Fears Ease
May 29, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) members are grappling with a host of questions about hydraulic fracturing's impact on wastewater including barriers to reuse of wastewater for fracking and potential contaminants in wastewater from fracking, while saying concerns over disclosure of chemicals used in fracking may be easing. -
The Shale Boom Shifts Into Higher Gear
May 31, 2015 | The Wall Street Journal
By Donald L. Luskin And Michael Warren
Have the American entrepreneurs who developed horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing—“fracking”—done their jobs too well? The increase in domestic crude oil production of 3.6 million barrels a day in less than four years, reversing almost four decades of decline, has created a spectacular macroeconomic anomaly—a crash in oil ... -
Interior Getting Closer to Issuing Final Rule On Offshore Oil, Gas Production Standards
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alan Kovski
An Interior Department agency is putting finishing touches on a final rule to update and sharpen environmental protection and safety regulations for oil and natural gas production in federal offshore waters. “We are anticipating getting this out sometime this summer—late summer,” Doug Morris, director of offshore regulatory programs in... -
Oil Sector Urges California To Scale Back Novel Drilling Groundwater Rules
May 29, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Curt Barry
Oil industry representatives are urging California's water board to scale back its proposal for first-time groundwater monitoring regulations covering hydraulic fracturing and other well stimulation treatments, charging that the rules should be narrowed based on risk and that the number of chemicals for which analysis is required should ... -
NTSB Blames Shell For Wreck Of Arctic Drilling Ship
May 29, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is putting the blame squarely on Royal Dutch Shell’s shoulders for the late 2012 grounding of an offshore drilling rig it owned on an Alaska island. The report released Thursday came weeks after the Obama administration gave Shell the green light to try again to drill exploratory wells in the Arctic... -
House GOP Sets Up June Votes On EPA Bills, Chemical Reform
May 29, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
The House will vote on two bills combating Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations in June, according to a schedule from Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) office. A bill to update federal chemical safety regulations is also on the agenda. One bill, the Ratepayer Protection Act, would allow states to opt out of the EPA's... -
Week Ahead: House Examines Obama’s Energy Infrastructure Plan
Jun 1, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
A House panel will hear from Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on the Obama administration’s energy infrastructure plan with lawmakers returning after the Memorial Day recess. The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power invited Moniz for a Tuesday hearing on the administration’s Quadrennial Energy Review, which calls... -
House Plans June Votes on Bills Targeting Clean Power Plan, Chemicals Law, Coal Ash
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Ari Natter
The House will vote the week of June 23 on legislation that would allow states to opt out of or defer compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Clean Power Plan, Senate Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a memo to House Republicans May 29. -
Power Companies Cry Foul Over Process For Providing Input on Clean Power Plan
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna
The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to adequately consider the input of small entities in preparing its federal implementation plan for those states that choose not to comply with the Clean Power Plan, publicly owned utilities and rural power cooperatives told the agency in comments. -
Jeb Bush To Address Coal Execs At Va. Retreat
May 29, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Manuel Quiñones
Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush is scheduled to appear at a meeting with coal industry executives at a Virginia resort next week, according to an invitation obtained by the British newspaper The Guardian. The former Florida governor is slotted to speak at the Coal and Investment Leadership Forum at the Olde Farm club in Bristol... -
A Good-Enough Plan To Cut Greenhouse Gasses
May 31, 2015 | The Washington Post
President Obama's global warming strategy will cut the country’s climate-change-inducing greenhouse emissions significantly — but at some cost. That’s the upshot of a new Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency’s landmark Clean Power Plan, which, once finalized, will be at the core... -
EPA 'Close' To Sending ESPS To White House, Keeping Rule On Schedule
May 29, 2015 | InsideEPA
EPA's final greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for the existing power fleet is “close” to being sent to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for interagency review, with EPA completing its portion of the controversial rulemaking as soon as early next week, according to an agency spokesman. -
D.C. Circuit Denies Industry Challenges To Emissions Limits on PVC Production
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Patrick Ambrosio
A federal appeals court denied industry challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency's first air toxics emissions limits for facilities that produce polyvinyl chloride, including an objection to a wastewater limit based partially on faulty data (Mexichem Specialty Resins v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 12-1260, 5/29/15). -
EPA to Respond to Advocacy Group Petitions On Shell Chemical Plant Permits by Aug. 21
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Nushin Huq
The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to respond by Aug. 21 to two petitions alleging clean air violations filed by three environmental advocacy groups, the agency said in a proposed consent decree lodged May 28 (Envtl. Integrity Project v. McCarthy, D.D.C., No. 1:14-cv-02106, consent decree, 5/28/15). -
O'Malley, Praised for Environment Record As Governor, to Announce Presidential Bid
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna and Rachel Leven
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), who developed a strong record of pushing for clean water, clean air and action on climate change while in office, appears to differ from Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton on several key environmental issues but it remains unclear whether he can seize the support of environmental ... -
Aide To Climate Champion Announces Bid To Succeed Her
May 29, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Debra Kahn
A senior aide to a California state senator known as a champion of environmental and climate issues today announced he would run to replace her next year. Henry Stern, the 33-year-old principal consultant to Sen. Fran Pavley (D) on energy and environmental policy, sent an email to supporters today citing infrastructure improvements... -
Clean Technology, Climate Initiatives Introduced at Energy Ministerial Meetings
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rebecca Kern
Initiatives to advance clean energy technologies and fight climate change were introduced by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and other world leaders at two energy and climate meetings in Mexico the week of May 25. Moniz met with energy leaders from around the world at the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) May 25-26 and... -
Moniz To Weigh In As House Leaders Air Comprehensive Legislative
Jun 1, 2015 | E&E Daily News
By Nick Juliano
House lawmakers will hear from top Department of Energy officials this week about the evolving energy bill that could hit the floor by this summer. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz kicks things off tomorrow with an appearance before the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power to brief members on DOE's recently ... -
Science Panel To Assess Regs' Impact On Business
Jun 1, 2015 | E&E Daily News
By Jean Chemnick
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will consider the impacts Thursday of a suite of high-profile U.S. EPA regulations on business. The hearing -- "EPA Regulatory Overreach: Impacts on American Competitiveness" -- will be headlined by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) ... -
EPA Inspector General to Weigh Effectiveness Of Financial Assurance Efforts at Waste Sites
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna
The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General has begun a probe into how effective financial assurance instruments have been at reducing costs of cleaning up hazardous waste sites around the country. The inspector general will seek to determine whether the EPA reviews financial assurance mechanisms for companies... -
EPA Oversight Of State Programs Tops IG's Report On Agency 'Challenges'
May 29, 2015 | InsideEPA
By David LaRoss
EPA's Inspector General (IG) says inadequate agency oversight of state environmental programs is one of several management “challenges” that the agency needs to address by stepping up its review of state efforts, citing examples of states failing to adequately implement laws and rules affecting air, water, hazardous waste and other issues. -
How Corn Ethanol Is Worse For Climate Change Than The Keystone Pipeline
May 29, 2015 | Environmental Working Group
By Emily Cassidy
Do you think the federal government couldn’t order something worse for the environment than the Keystone XL oil pipeline? Think again. Using the Environmental Protection Agency’s own estimate, we calculate that the corn ethanol mandate has been worse for the climate than projected emissions from the controversial Keystone XL pipeline. -
Questions About Federal Jurisdiction Persist Despite Release of U.S. Waters Rule
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Matthew Berger
Despite the release of the long-awaited rule defining what is included within the Clean Water Act's definition of “waters of the U.S.,” many questions remain about federal jurisdiction and what the new rule actually includes. The main questions have to do with the extent of the definition of tributaries, particularly those that may be considered... -
D.C. Circuit Rejects Challenges To PVC MACT, Splits On Request For Stay
Jun 1, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Anthony Lacey
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a unanimous May 29 judgment has rejected industry challenges to EPA's maximum achievable control technology (MACT) air toxics rule, but split over the sector's bid to stay part of the rule as two judges denied the request but one judge would have granted the stay. -
Obama to Nominate Former FAA, NTSB Aide To Head Pipeline, Hazmat Transport Agency
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Leven
President Barack Obama intends to nominate a former Transportation Department and transportation safety aide, Marie Therese Dominguez, to be the administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, according to a May 29 White House announcement. -
Sarah Feinberg Tapped to Permanently Head Federal Railroad Administration
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephanie Beasley
President Barack Obama announced plans May 29 to nominate Sarah Feinberg to permanently head the Federal Railroad Administration. Feinberg has served as acting administrator of the FRA since January, when she replaced Joseph Szabo. She was previously chief of staff at the Department of Transportation and before that she... -
Railroad Agency’s Critics Line Up To Support Feinberg
May 29, 2015 | PoliticoPro
By Heather Caygle
Sarah Feinberg had made it clear she wanted the White House’s nod to become the permanent chief of the nation’s chief rail safety agency. And on Friday, she got it. Word of Feinberg’s nomination to head the Federal Railroad Administration, an agency she has led as acting chief since January, drew praise from lawmakers who have been... -
Obama To Fill Chief Safety Regulator Roles For Railroads, Pipelines
May 29, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
President Obama has chosen officials to fill the long-vacant roles leading federal agencies that oversee the safety of railroads and pipelines and of hazardous materials. The top posts at both of the Department of Transportation (DOT) agencies have been vacant for months, even through high-profile disasters involving oil trains, Amtrak, oil pipelines... -
Obama Names Picks To Head Railroad, Pipeline Agencies
May 29, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
President Obama moved today to fill two high-profile posts within the Department of Transportation, saying he plans to nominate acting Federal Railroad Administration chief Sarah Feinberg to lead the agency permanently and Marie Therese Dominguez, currently a senior official in the Army's civil works program, to head the Pipeline and... -
Amtrak, Spending Caps To Be Flash Points As House Takes Up FY16 Funding Bill
Jun 1, 2015 | E&E Daily News
By Sean Reilly
When the House Appropriations Committee marked up its version of the fiscal 2016 transportation spending bill last month, Republicans forged ahead with an 18 percent cut to Amtrak's federal subsidies the day after a train derailment in Philadelphia killed eight people and injured more than 200 (E&ENews PM, May 13).
Congressional Hearings
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Full Text of Stories Below
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Quadrennial Energy Review and related Discussion Drafts
Jun 2, 2015 | Energy & Commerce Committee
Location: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building/ 10:00 AM
-
Oversight of the Amtrak Accident in Philadelphia
Jun 2, 2015 | Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
Location: 2167 Rayburn House Office Building/ 10:00 AM
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Full Committee Vote on the TSCA Modernization Act and FCC Process Reform Act
Jun 2, 2015 | Energy & Commerce Committee
Location: 2123 Rayburn House Office Building/ 5:00 PM
NOTE: A second meeting will be held on June 3, 2015 at 10:00 AM -
Jun 3, 2015 | U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works
Location: 410 Dirksen Senate Office Building/ 9:30 AM
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Jun 3, 2015 | Energy & Commerce Committee
Location: 2322 Rayburn House Office Building/ 2:00 PM
NOTE: A second meeting will be held on June 4, 2015 at 10:15 AM
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Examining Practical Solutions to Improve the Federal Regulatory Process
Jun 4, 2015 | U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security & Government Affairs
Location: SD-342, Dirksen Senate Office Building/ 1:15 PM
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(ACC Mentioned) 3 Chemical Growth Stocks to Revitalize Your Portfolio - Analyst Blog
May 29, 2015 | Nasdaq
The chemical industry is gradually gaining strength after being badly shaken by the global economic crisis. The highly cyclical industry - which had long been out of favor - is finally looking up, making it an attractive investment proposition for 2015.
The industry got off to a positive start in 2015 as the March quarter showed healthy demand trends for chemicals across key markets, and continued recovery in commercial construction - an end-market that has long been a weak link.
While the outlook for the European chemical industry appears foggy given sluggishness in some of the region's major economies, high energy costs and declining investments, prospects in the U.S. look healthy -- driven by a gradually convalescing economy, strength in the automotive space, a recovery in the construction market and increasing investments in shale gas-linked projects.The American Chemistry Council ("ACC") envisions national chemical production to rise 3.7% in 2015 and 3.9% in 2016. The trade group also sees domestic chemical sales to cross the $1 trillion milestone by 2019.
Chemical companies continue to shift their focus on attractive, growth markets (driven by megatrends) such as agriculture and health and nutrition in an effort to cut their exposure on other businesses that are grappling with weak demand and input costs pressure. The industry is also seeing a pick-up in consolidation activities as chemical makers increasingly looking to diversify their business.
The shale gas boom in the U.S. has also been a huge driving force behind chemical investment on plants and equipment in the country. The shale revolution has made the U.S. an attractive investment hotspot and incentivized a number of chemical companies to invest billions of dollars to beef up capacity.
According to the ACC, domestic chemical investment related to shale gas has reached as high as $138 billion, over 60% which is from firms outside of the U.S. Such investments - many backed by Federal government support - are expected to boost capacity and export over the next several years.
Moreover, the automotive sector continues to "accelerate." This major chemical end-use market is enjoying the fruits of low gasoline prices. In particular, U.S. light vehicles (a key market) sales are expected to rise this year, riding on an improving job market, lower fuel prices, attractive financing options and pent-up demand.
A rebound across housing and non-residential construction has been another supporting factor for the chemical industry recovery. After being hit hard in the recession, the construction industry is gradually on the mend, further manifested by better-than-expected housing data for April. The recovery momentum is expected to continue moving ahead, which augurs well for chemical demand in this key market.
3 Chemical Growth Plays
Growth investors look for stocks with aggressive earnings or revenue growth potential, which should lead to higher stock prices. Here we put a spotlight on chemical stocks that are poised for substantial growth. With the help of our new style score system , we have picked 3 stand-out stocks that have excellent prospects and might offer solid investment returns.
Our research shows that stocks with Growth Style Scores of 'A' or 'B' when combined with Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) or Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) offer the best investment opportunities in the growth investing space.
LyondellBasell Industries NV LYB
Netherlands-based LyondellBasell has a Zacks Rank #1 and a Growth Score 'B.' LyondellBasell remains on track with its ethylene expansion projects across its Channelview, La Porte and Corpus Christi facilities in Texas to leverage the U.S. natural gas liquids (NGLs) advantage. The expansion program, when in full swing, is expected to expand the company's annual ethylene capacity by as much as 2.3-2.4 billion pounds in North America.
LyondellBasell has delivered positive earnings surprises in the last 4 quarters, with an average beat of around 18.3%. The stock has a long-term expected earnings per share (EPS) growth rate of roughly 7.8%.
Celanese Corporation CE
Our next pick in the space is Texas-based Celanese, armed with a Zacks Rank #1 and Growth Score 'B.' The company has surpassed expectations over the last four quarters with an average earnings surprise of 17.3%. Its long-term projected EPS growth rate is 7.2%.
Celanese remains focused on reducing costs and running its plants more efficiently amid a still challenging operating backdrop. It is also aggressively expanding its capacity in the emerging markets. Celanese is constructing a methanol plant at its Clear Lake acetyl complex with an annual capacity of 1.3 million metric ton. The company's expansion and productivity improvement initiatives are expected to support earnings growth.
Stepan Company SCL
Lastly, Illinois-based Stepan is another attractive choice with a Zacks Rank #1 and Growth Score 'A.' The stock delivered a healthy positive earnings surprise of 32.4% in the last reported quarter. This specialty and intermediate chemicals maker is taking steps to cut costs through its efficiency program and other strategic initiatives, which should lead to higher earnings. It should also gains from lower costs of petroleum-based raw materials, which should help drive margins across its surfactant and polymer businesses.
Wrapping Up
While the chemical industry still remains buffeted by a slowdown in China and sluggishness in some parts of Europe, the industry's upturn is expected to continue this year on an improving U.S. economy, strong momentum in the automotive space and continued healing across housing and commercial construction markets.
Amid such a backdrop, it would be prudent idea to invest in the above-mentioned stocks with strong growth prospects if you are looking to reap solid returns from your portfolio.
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Industry Cheers Passage Of House Bill To Make Permanent R&D Tax Credit
Jun 1, 2015 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Glenn Hess
Drugmakers, chemical manufacturers, and other businesses are welcoming a May 20 vote by the House of Representatives to revive the tax credit for corporate research and development. The move would make the credit a permanent feature of the federal tax code.
The bill now goes to the Senate.
The R&D credit is one of the most popular of the dozens of temporary tax breaks that Congress routinely renews every year or two, often retroactively at the end of the session. The legislation (H.R. 880) approved by the House would reauthorize the R&D tax credit on a permanent basis, retroactive to Dec. 31, 2014. The measure would also increase the value of the credit from 14% to 20%.
“We strongly support making the R&D tax credit a permanent part of the tax code, not subject to yearly extensions, as it has played a vital role in supporting the search for cures and breakthrough medicines,” says James C. Greenwood, CEO of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), a trade association.
Many specialty chemical companies also rely on the R&D tax credit to help them remain competitive in the global marketplace, says William E. Allmond IV, a vice president at the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates, an industry trade group. “One of our members told House staffers that 20% of their workforce is involved with R&D, and 8 to 10% of company sales are used for R&D,” Allmond says.
President Barack Obama has threatened to veto H.R. 880, arguing it would increase the federal deficit by more than $180 billion over a decade.
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(ACC Mentioned) Free-Trade Bill Faces Fight In House Of Representatives
Jun 1, 2015 | Chemical & Engineering News
By Glenn Hess
The Senate’s approval of legislation granting President Barack Obama the authority to conclude a landmark Pacific trade pact sets the stage for what is expected to be a fierce battle in the House of Representatives later this month.
The legislation, which the Senate passed last week 62-37, would give Obama so-called trade promotion authority (TPA). It would allow the White House to submit trade agreements to Congress for yes-or-no votes without any amendments.
Chemical manufacturers strongly back both the bill (H.R. 1314) and the underlying trade deal—the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The chemical industry ranks as one of the nation’s top export sectors and stands to profit from the Pacific agreement.
The pact would lower tariffs and set environmental and intellectual property rules, among other things, for the U.S. and 11 other nations, which together account for about 40% of the global economy. Negotiations are nearly complete after five years of wrangling. “We’re very much in the endgame,” says U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman.
Participating nations—Japan, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam—have been reluctant to conclude talks on the trade pact without guarantees that U.S. lawmakers won’t change it.
“Without TPA in place, our negotiators will not have the tools needed to conclude the strongest possible trade agreements,” says the American Chemistry Council, a chemical industry trade association. “In our view, that makes TPA a necessity.”
The group estimates that gaining unfettered access to growing markets in the Pacific Rim has the potential to boost U.S. chemical exports by $1.2 billion per year.
But the trade deal is controversial. Most House Democrats are expected to vote against the TPA measure because they fear the U.S. will lose manufacturing jobs to lower-wage countries if the Pacific pact is approved. Consequently, Republicans will have to provide the bulk of the 217 votes needed for passage.
But at least 40 conservative House Republicans, wary of giving Obama additional authority, could also oppose the legislation, making the outcome highly unpredictable.
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(ACC Mentioned) New Spray Foam Cuts Re-Occupancy Time To 4 Hours
May 29, 2015 | ProudGreenHome
When installing spray foam, regulations typically require people to stay out of the home for 24 hours. Now new guidelines from Icynene allow for 4-hour re-occupancy for homeowners and trades in the United States for two of its high-performance spray foam products. The new allowances are for light-density open cell Icynene Classic Max and medium-density closed cell Icynene ProSeal, the company said.
The 4-hour re-occupancy allowance follows many months of detailed research, testing and assessment of the refined Icynene Classic Max and Icynene ProSeal spray foam products based on protocols and procedures developed by the American Chemistry Council – Center for the Polyurethanes Industry (ACC-CPI).
“Through full scale testing and research reviewed by third party research chemists and toxicologists, on our low VOC formulations, re-occupancy times for homeowners can be significantly reduced--from 24 hours to four (4) hours. Refinements to our Icynene Classic Max and Icynene ProSeal spray foam, combined with the use of higher workplace ventilation rates of 40 Air Changes per Hour (ACH), have helped us reduce exposure risks to spray foam installers, non-spray foam trades and most especially for the homeowner,” said Icynene VP Engineering, Paul Duffy.
“This is great news for building owners of all kinds. The reduced re-occupancy allowances mean that homeowners no longer need to be displaced for multiple days when having spray foam insulation installed into their homes. They are able to re-occupy their home and enjoy the advantages of spray foam insulation almost immediately. Plus, the new re-entry and re-occupancy allowances present builders and general contractors with a tremendous opportunity to incorporate Icynene’s high-performance, low VOC spray foam innovations into their upcoming projects due to the minimal impact on construction schedules,” said Mr. Duffy.
The new re-entry and re-occupancy allowances for Icynene Classic Max and Icynene ProSeal are based on an active ventilation rate of 40.0 ACH. For certified spray foam installers, the low VOC Icynene Classic Max and ProSeal formulations also feature low odor properties a cleaner spray application for better sprayability and less clean-up and gun clogging. The new re-entry and re-occupancy allowances are applicable only for installations of Icynene Classic Max and Icynene ProSeal in the United States.
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Bipartisan TSCA Reform Bill Comes Up For Energy And Commerce Vote
Jun 1, 2015 | E&E Daily News
By Sam Pearson
House Energy and Commerce Committee lawmakers this week will vote on a bipartisan plan to update the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976.
The bill -- H.R. 2576, or the "TSCA Modernization Act" -- has the support of key lawmakers of both parties, including the chairman and ranking members of both the Environment and Economy Subcommittee and the full Energy and Commerce Committee.
Last month, the subcommittee led by bill sponsor John Shimkus (R-Ill.) passed the draft legislation on a 15-0 vote (E&ENews PM, May 13).
Since the subcommittee markup, Shimkus and other lawmakers have worked to tweak technical language in the bill, including clarifying a section on how costs can be considered when U.S. EPA mulls whether to evaluate a chemical (Greenwire, May 28).
There also continues to be confusion about the potential impact of allowing industry firms to request that EPA assess specific chemicals, with the agency having no discretion to refuse the requests. Some advocates have said the language could lead to stalled regulations if the agency is burdened with large numbers of industry reviews.
The bill has drawn the support of chemical industry groups, though some environmental and public health organizations have warned that it may not do enough to protect the public from toxic chemicals.
Shimkus has said he intended for the bill to reach the House floor later this month (E&ENews PM, May 21).
It's also possible that quick action by the House in June will prod Senate leaders to bring their own bill -- S. 697, or the "Frank Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21st Century Act" -- to the floor soon, Shimkus has said.
The committee will also be reviewing an unrelated bill: H.R. 2583, or the "FCC Process Reform Act."
Schedule: The markup is Tuesday, June 2, at 5 p.m. in 2123 Rayburn and continues Wednesday, June 3, at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn. Story Tools sponsored by The Corn Farmers Coalition resize text Resize Text Email  Email Print  Print
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States, Small Businesses, Advocacy Groups Conferring With EPA on Two Solvent Rules
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Pat Rizzuto
State agencies, small businesses, environmental justice organizations and other interested parties are being consulted by the Environmental Protection Agency about two possible rules it may issue that would restrict some uses of three common solvents.
The three solvents are methylene chloride and n-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), which the EPA previously found pose risks of cancer and neurological impairments in certain exposure scenarios, and trichloroethylene (TCE), which poses short-term health risks including light-headedness and headaches and longer-term risks to liver and kidney function, as well as harm to fetal development, according to a TCE fact sheet developed by the agency.
The agency met with state agencies May 13 and with other organizations, including environmental justice advocates, May 27 and May 28, according to two websites the EPA recently posted for this rulemaking effort.
The EPA held a webinar with tribes on May 12 to provide technical information. It will hold a tribal consultation June 3 and 4.
Small Business Advocacy Review panels will meet this summer to discuss strategies the agency could use that would be feasible for small companies to undertake while addressing the EPA's concerns about harmful health effects from certain uses of these solvents, Niva Kramek, from the EPA's Chemical Control Division, said during the May 28 environmental justice webinar about the possible methylene chloride and NMP regulation.
Solvents, Uses
In the first rule, the EPA is considering restricting workplace and consumer uses of methylene chloride and NMP for paint- and coating-stripping, Kramek said.
Paint- and coating-removal activities could include bathtub refinishing, automotive refinishing, small or large aircraft paint stripping, boat or ship paint removal, graffiti removal and home refinishing of wood structures and floors, she said.
In the second rule, the agency may restrict TCE's:
• commercial uses involving open top vapor degreasers,
• consumer and commercial uses in spray degreasers,
• commercial use as a spotting agency in dry cleaning and
• consumer craft uses as a clear fixative spray.
Workplace Scenarios
Workplace exposure scenarios involving these TCE uses, which Toni Krasnic, coordinator for the TCE rulemaking, identified in his May 27 environmental justice webinar, could include:
• shops that repair automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles or electronics;
• shops that fabricate metal, glass, or plastic components into a final product including aircraft, motor vehicle parts and jewelry;
• shops that plate or coat metal onto a surface;
• shops that assemble a wide variety of electronic devices onto circuit boards, such as electric capacitors, semiconductors, and electronic instrumentation; and
• dry cleaners where employees spray stains using formulations in squeeze bottles or hoses connected to pressurized tanks and then use a brush, spatula, pressurized air or steam or their fingers to scrape or flush away the stain.
Regulatory Options, Timeline
Section 6(a) of the Toxic Substances Control Act authorizes the EPA to undertake a wide range of possible restrictions, Kramek said. These include:
• requiring warnings and instructions;
• requiring recordkeeping and testing;
• prohibiting or regulating commercial use;
• prohibiting or limiting a chemical's manufacture, processing or distribution in commerce; and
• prohibiting or limiting a particular use of a chemical above a specified concentration.
Krasnic provided the identical list in his May 27 environmental justice webinar.
These are options the agency has, not necessarily what it is considering doing, Kramek said.
Krasnic and Kramek invited comments on any disproportionate environmental and public health impacts on minority, low-income or indigenous populations from the use of these three chemicals.
Useful details, for example, would be information that shows some communities use products containing the chemicals more or less frequently than might be commonly known, they said.
The EPA intends to publish proposed rules for all three chemicals by the spring of 2016, Kramek said.
The agency included both rulemakings, for the first time, in its recently published spring regulatory agenda (102 DEN A-10, 5/28/15).
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EU Commission will publish results of EDC criteria screening
Jun 1, 2015 | Chemical Watch
By Carmen Paun
The European Commission will publish the results of its planned screening of 700 substances against four possible ways of setting criteria for endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs).
The work, which the EU executive expects to complete in late 2016, is to be carried out as part of an impact assessment of each option.
Criteria for the identification of EDCs are needed to implement certain provisions of the EU Regulations on biocides and plant protection products.
The Commission made the announcement during a meeting on 12 May called to update MEPs on the ongoing impact assessment of the options, despite industry’s worries that it will have a blacklisting effect on the substances (CW 26 March 2015).
At the meeting Commission representatives said that “the list could not be used for regulatory purposes because it is not done according to the regulatory context”. Instead, it is meant to be used only for the impact assessment.
To achieve this the Commission has hired an external organisation to screen the substances against the four possible options. three of these are: to continue with the current status, where interim criteria are used;to use the World Health Organization (WHO) hazard definition; andthe inclusion of potency as an element of hazard characterisation.
The other is to use the WHO definition together with a categorisation approach. This would comprise three categories based on the strength of evidence available on their properties as: endocrine disruptors;suspected endocrine disruptors; andendocrine active substances.
This option would identify the highest number of substances as EDCs, said the Commission, but there would be regulatory consequences only for those in its first category, which are proven to be EDCs, based on the evidence available.
The option that proposes including potency as an element of hazard characterisation would most likely identify a lower number of EDCs, the Commission official said (CW 12 May 2015).
The screening of the substances against the four options will start with approved pesticides, followed by biocidal active substances, and then a number of other substances regulated by REACH, the EU cosmetics Regulation and the water framework Directive.
Once this work has been completed, a second study will assess the costs of each option, given the substances affected, for agriculture, trade, SMEs and industry. It will also assess the human health and environmental benefits of taking them off the market.
Some MEPs told the Commission the criteria should be based on science rather than economic impact. One said the impact assessment should also consider the effects of combined exposure to a number of EDCs, but the Commission said there was no agreed methodology to assess this.
According to its current planning, the Commission calculates that the studies should be completed in the third quarter of 2016.
The meeting between the Commission and MEPs was the third in a series (CW 28 May 2015), which will culminate with a public conference on the issue on 1 June in Brussels.
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(ACC Mentioned) Speaker, Local Leaders Unveil Energy Vision, Dispel Gas Tax Myths
May 29, 2015 | Rep Turazi
Speaker of the House Mike Turzai (R-Allegheny) hosted an energy roundtable today focusing on the statewide benefits and downstream development of natural gas and discussing employment ramifications from imposing an additional tax on natural gas.
Joined by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, Turzai and more than a dozen members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly heard from local business and government officials about how the development of Pennsylvania’s natural gas industry has benefited them, and how they were concerned that Gov. Tom Wolf’s proposed severance tax would stop this growth dead in its tracks.
“We are at the crossroads of determining whether downstream benefits of natural gas will continue to grow in places like Lancaster and Reading,” said Turzai. “We’ve toured all across the state where farmers, small businesses and workers have seen great benefits from the industry and they’ve made it clear that another tax upon the industry will cost jobs and money.”
The event was moderated by Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry President and CEO Gene Barr.
“The natural gas industry has revolutionized the Commonwealth’s economy, helping to create hundreds of thousands of jobs, lowering energy costs for consumers and adding billions of dollars to the state’s economy,” Barr said. “However, proposals to enact additional taxes on this industry threaten our competitive edge in the shale play and hurt our ability to become a world-class energy hub. We need to look at ways to expand the industry and develop much-needed infrastructure to get natural gas to market, which will lead to increased job opportunities in the state and economic growth.”
More than 249,000 Pennsylvania jobs are currently tied to Marcellus Shale and related industries.
“We have been far too apologetic in telling the real story,” said Turzai. “Pennsylvania can realize our full potential if legislators reduce the tax burden on Pennsylvania families and job creators, cut regulatory barriers that inhibit job growth and drive entrepreneurs to other states, and expand opportunities for new industry sectors to come to the Commonwealth.”
By broadening responsible natural gas development polices within the Marcellus and Utica Shale plays, experts say it would transform Pennsylvania into a global energy hub overflowing with high-paying jobs.
In 2012, the American Chemical Council studied the potential impact natural gas could have on employment and found a staggering 1.1 million family-sustaining downstream jobs were available around the industry in construction, 980,000 potential jobs revolved around the supply chain and 200,000 manufacturing jobs were waiting to be filled.
“With a tremendous manufacturing base and a dynamic mix of major corporations, small businesses, and emerging industries, Lancaster, Reading and York have a unique opportunity to become an integral part of a robust global energy hub,” said Turzai. “We need to choose policies that allow that to happen, not policies that stifle growth, kill jobs and squander transformational opportunities.”
Currently, the governor has proposed dramatically expanding taxes on natural gas drillers, including a 5 percent severance tax in addition to a 4.7 cents per 1000 cubic feet (mcf) surcharge. The proposal also assumes a punitive/artificial price floor of $2.97/mcf.
Once these add-ons, along with price differentials and other costs are taken into account, the effective tax rate could rise as high as 35 percent and could effectually kill off additional job growth, Turzai said.
“In our budget discussions, one of the biggest questions we need to answer is whether we are interested in growing government and taxes or growing jobs and the economy,” said Turzai. -
Fracking Operations Begin in Denton, Texas, After State Law Renders Ban Unenforceable
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Nushin Huq
Vantage Energy was to begin hydraulic fracturing operations in Denton, Texas, on June 1 after city officials decided that a fracking ban was rendered unenforceable by the state under House Bill 40.
“Since the ban on hydraulic fracturing took effect in 2014, we have maintained regular dialogue with Denton City officials, presented path forward alternatives and last week followed the city's guidelines in communicating our plans to resume work on June 1st,” Seth Urruty, vice president of development at Vantage Energy, said in a statement. “Likewise, city officials announced that they are aware of our plans.”
City officials will continue to regulate other surface activities related to drilling operations as outlined in Denton's existing oil and gas well drilling ordinance, including the regulation of setbacks, fire safety, noise, traffic and hours of operation, which is allowed by the new law, George Campbell, city manager, said in a statement.
HB 40, signed May 18 by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R), grants the state exclusive jurisdiction over oil and gas operations, preempting ordinances and regulations enacted by a municipality that ban, limit or otherwise regulate an oil and gas operation unless the regulation meets one of four tests, according to the bill (96 DEN A-3, 5/19/15).
The measure was filed during the legislative session in response to the ballot measure approved by the North Texas city of Denton that would ban hydraulic fracturing within its city limits.
“The City recognizes the limitation to enforcing the fracking ban imposed by HB 40 and will comply with this new legislation,” Campbell said.
Vantage Energy notified city officials that the company will begin hydraulic fracturing operations June 1. These operations have been identified as compliant with the existing city code of ordinances, city officials said in a statement. Gas well inspectors will monitor the activities to ensure they remain compliant with municipal regulations, as allowed by HB 40.
Pending Lawsuits
In November, voters in Denton passed a referendum that banned hydraulic fracturing within the city limits. The Texas Oil and Gas Association and Jerry Patterson, commissioner of the Texas General Land Office, swiftly filed separate lawsuits against the city, stating the ban was inconsistent with state law and violated the Texas constitution because only the Texas Railroad Commission had the authority to regulate oil and gas activity (Tex. Oil & Gas Ass'n v. City of Denton, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. 14-08933-431, 11/5/14; Patterson v. City of Denton, Tex. Dist. Ct., No. D-1-GN-14-004628, 12/01/14;(232 DEN A-11, 12/3/14).
Denton is currently seeking resolution to the two lawsuits, Lindsey Baker, public information officer for the city of Denton, told Bloomberg BNA.
“As it relates to the existing two suits, we are currently seeking resolution and are in continuing discussions with all parties involved,” Baker said.
Protests Planned
The Denton Drilling Awareness Group, a local organization that organized the anti-fracking movement in the city, planned a rally for May 31.
“It's a rally in support of local control,” Ed Soph, a board member of the Denton Drilling Awareness Group, told Bloomberg BNA. “We already won the ban. The state has taken away our ban and control from home rule cities.”
The group now focuses its efforts on how to overturn or weaken HB 40 but it has not identified the avenues to address that, Soph said.
“We recognize and respect the right of citizens to peacefully assemble and will work diligently with any protest organizers to ensure the safety and protection of those gathering and of any gas well operations personnel,” Campbell said. “Throughout the past year or more, as gas well issues have been addressed in Denton, our citizens have demonstrated the utmost respect for the rule of law and we have no doubt that positive attitudes will continue to prevail.”
Members of the Denton Drilling Awareness Group will also attend a City Council meeting June 2, where the council will discuss officially removing the hydraulic fracturing ban ordinance. The organization wants to keep the ordinance in place and will plan its next steps after the meeting, Soph said.
Questions Remain
The city of Denton will continue to enforce the current oil and gas well drilling ordinance, Baker said. In May 2014, the city placed a moratorium on the acceptance, processing and approval of gas drilling permits while the city revised its regulations relating to existing wells. The proposed revisions were issued in December 2014.
In April, the City Council voted unanimously to extend the moratorium while it monitored the bills in the state Legislature that would curb local government ability to regulate the oil and gas industry (73 DEN A-10, 4/16/15)).
The moratorium is still in place and expires Sept. 9, Baker said.
The city plans to move forward on its discussions related to amending the oil and gas well drilling ordinance provisions.
“HB 40 may or may not create an environment in which an operator would challenge our ordinance,” Baker said. “That is one of the remaining questions: What will become of municipal ordinances in the state of Texas?”
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Md. Fracking Moratorium To Become Law Without Hogan’s Signature
May 29, 2015 | The Washington Post
By Josh Hicks
A Maryland bill to prohibit hydraulic fracturing for more than two years will become law Saturday without Gov. Larry Hogan’s signature, according to Hogan’s office.
The legislation will bar the state from issuing permits for the controversial drilling practice until October 2017. It requires Maryland’s Department of the Environment to adopt regulations for the practice by October 2016.
As a candidate last year, Hogan (R) expressed strong support for hydraulic fracturing, which involves pumping highly pressurized liquid deep into the ground to split rock and draw out natural gas and petroleum.
He criticized the administration of then-Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) for “kicking the can down the road” and “trying not to make any decision” about authorizing the drilling technique, also known as “fracking.” He also said the state was “sitting on an economic gold mine” given its potential for natural-gas extraction.
The governor had until the end of Friday to either sign or veto the moratorium legislation before it became law by default. He decided to take no action, allowing the measure passed earlier this year by the Democratic-controlled General Assembly to take effect without his explicit approval.
Hogan spokesman Matt Clark said the governor “continues to support the safe and responsible development of energy to meet the current and future needs of citizens and to promote job growth in Western Maryland.”
Blocking the moratorium would have been difficult, because the bill was approved with veto-proof margins: 103 to 33 in the House of Delegates and 45 to 2 in the Senate.
Sen. Karen S. Montgomery (D-Montgomery), the bill’s Senate sponsor, said she was “relieved and delighted” with the governor’s decision. “Now we have two years to continue to compile indisputable scientific data,” she said.
Various groups in recent years have fought efforts to open Maryland to hydraulic fracturing, with a coalition of environmental activists, concerned residents, businesses, health professionals, farmers and others working under the banner of the Don’t Frack Maryland campaign.
“The movement behind this moratorium was unyielding,” Mitch Jones, a director with Food and Water Watch, an NGO, said in a statement Friday. “Passing a moratorium under a pro-fracking governor is a testament to the effectiveness that organizing can have.”
The Maryland Petroleum Council, which opposed the drilling moratorium, expressed disappointment that the measure would take effect.
“We think it unnecessarily draws out the regulatory process,” said Drew Cobbs, the group’s executive director. “Most Marylanders are already benefitting from shale development because of lower energy costs and cleaner air. Unfortunately, because of this delay, the folks in Western Maryland who could benefit from natural-gas development will have to wait to take advantage of this safe and proven technology.”
Hydraulic fracturing has expanded rapidly in recent years in the western half of the country in states such as Colorado, North Dakota and Wyoming. In the East, Pennsylvania and West Virginia allow the practice, but New York state banned it last year.
Fracking in Maryland could provide new jobs and a cleaner source of cleaner than fossil fuels such as coal. But there are many unknowns about the technique’s impacts, and opponents say it could lead to contaminated water, earthquakes and other environmental problems.
O’Malley (D) established a special commission in 2011 to determine whether the state could allow fracking and still protect public health and safety as well as natural resources and the environment. The administration ultimately concluded that strict regulations could adequately manage the risks...
For full story:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/md-politics/md-fracking-moratorium-to-become-law-without-hogans-signature/2015/05/29/e1d10434-062c-11e5-a428-c984eb077d4e_story.html
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NAS Members Weigh Fracking Wastewater Impacts As Disclosure Fears Ease
May 29, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Bridget DiCosmo
National Academy of Sciences (NAS) members are grappling with a host of questions about hydraulic fracturing's impact on wastewater including barriers to reuse of wastewater for fracking and potential contaminants in wastewater from fracking, while saying concerns over disclosure of chemicals used in fracking may be easing.
Those questions include how to distinguish between wastewater from conventional oil and gas drilling and unconventional wastewater associated with fracking of shale formations, addressing the high levels of radionuclides present in wastewater from certain types of shale formations, and removing barriers to beneficial reuse of wastewater for fracking, road application and other uses.
Environmentalists and others have long been concerned about potential contamination to drinking water and other possible environmental releases due to fracking fluid, pushing for public disclosure of the chemicals used in fracking.
For example, environmental groups were critical of the Interior Department's (DOI) recent fracking rules for drilling on public lands because of their reliance on FracFocus, a voluntary state-run database. The groups charge FracFocus allows operators to withhold chemical data as proprietary, although the final rule raised the threshold for information that a fracking well operator must provide to show that a substance used in fracking operations is a "trade secret" and therefore may be withheld.
But during a May 18 "Chemistry and Engineering of Shale Gas and Tight Oil Resource Development," workshop, hosted by the NAS Board on Chemical Sciences and Technology, one workshop participant reporting on the results of a breakout session said the group found that the concerns on "trade secrets" appear to be "working themselves out."
"Two of three major service companies have made major steps" on so-called trade secrets, or proprietary information that operators say could allow competitors to copy their unique formula used in fracking, that participant said. The group acknowledged that "[t]here is some impressions that public perception is set; the die is cast" on disclosure, but drillers may be finding other legal protections for safeguarding their formulas and therefore more willingly disclosing previously withheld information.
That group also raised concerns about why there is still a lack of good "baseline data" or documentation of groundwater or drinking water quality prior to drilling, which proponents say makes it easier to track sources of later contamination.
The May 18-19 workshop, held in Washington, D.C., was aimed at examining the role of chemistry and chemical engineering at each stage of the hydraulic fracturing process -- from formulation of the chemicals and fluids that enable hydraulic fracturing to development of methods to enhance resource recovery.
Fracking Wastes
But participants highlighted a host of concerns about managing the sector's wastes that are broader than just the fracking fluid disclosure issue. States have rapidly made changes within the past several years to adapt their regulatory regimes for oil and gas drilling to modern technological advances that have brought concerns over possible groundwater contamination and other environmental risks.
Duke University's Avner Vengosh, for example, suggested that the question of what is in produced water from shale formations, much of which disappears into the formation after the fracking process, can be compounded by the fact that its chemical makeup is "not that different from conventional" produced water, but that the latter produces much greater volumes. "The challenge is how to identify fracking fluid in the environment and separate it from other sources in areas with legacies of industrial production," he said.
Difficulties in distinguishing between conventional and unconventional produced water can hinder efforts to trace contamination back to a specific industrial source, Vengosh said. The similarity between the types of produced water has implications for spills, road application, disposal options, leaking of storage ponds and other potential environmental releases, he said.
Vengosh's remarks come after environmental groups have argued that while they generally support EPA's proposed pretreatment rule for shale gas wastewater, the agency should begin regulating the oil and gas sector's wastes in a more holistic way with a broader oil and gas wastewater rule, rather than piecemeal policies that only address specific portions of the sector.
EPA in its proposed rule, which poses a first-time zero discharge standard for municipal treatment plants, says the rule is necessary due to the potential that future shale facilities could send their wastewater to publicly owned treatment works (POTWs), though the agency notes no such discharges are yet occurring.
Wastewater Disposal
The POTW issue became of particular concern in the Marcellus Shale region, partially due to challenges such as a lack of effluent limits for pollutants unique to the sector and partly due to Pennsylvania's geological constraints that limit the number of underground disposal wells -- EPA's preferred method of disposal of the sector's wastes.
Radisav Vidic, of University of Pittsburgh, also noted during the May 18 NAS workshop that "we have to have the radium out of the picture before you can reuse," suggesting that while road application may be a viable option for wastewater management, the outstanding question on naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) -- a common constituent of produced water -- remains a major issue.
But the NORM research gaps highlight what has becoming a growing concern for states, particularly in the Northeastern Marcellus Shale formation, which underlies Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia, where the production process tends to bring up NORM and other naturally occurring contaminants.
The fracking boom has dramatically increased the amount of waste produced, leading individual states to develop new regulations that are often inconsistent with each other. EPA has limited authority the address the patchwork of rules because the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act exempts most drilling wastes from strict subtitle C hazardous waste requirements. For example, the Ground Water Protection Council in a 2014 survey examining state oil and gas regulations aimed at protecting groundwater resources is highlighting the need for research to better characterize and understand the presence and associated risks of NORM in wastewater from the sector.
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The Shale Boom Shifts Into Higher Gear
May 31, 2015 | The Wall Street Journal
By Donald L. Luskin And Michael Warren
Have the American entrepreneurs who developed horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing—“fracking”—done their jobs too well? The increase in domestic crude oil production of 3.6 million barrels a day in less than four years, reversing almost four decades of decline, has created a spectacular macroeconomic anomaly—a crash in oil prices without a recession to cause it.
Now, in response to sharply lower prices, domestic oil producers have shed jobs and cut operating rigs by more than half. This has sent shock waves through the entire U.S. economy. The drop in fixed assets for drilling, alone, slashed about half a percentage point off first quarter gross domestic product.
The crash in oil prices wasn’t due to lower demand. Petroleum demand in the U.S. is at its highest since 2010, and demand in China is higher than ever. Nor was the crash due to monopolistic OPEC manipulation. To be sure, the cartel, led by Saudi Arabia, chose not to cut production to support falling prices. But looking at the fracking tidal wave in the U.S., OPEC was only following the old Chinese proverb: When faced with the inevitable, try to enjoy it.
Now the question is whether U.S. frackers can adapt to the lower prices they created. Fracking blossomed following the trough of the Great Recession, when oil prices were, on average and adjusted for inflation, the highest in history—even higher than in the 1970s. It was an ideal price environment for entrepreneurs to perform some very expensive experiments, ultimately learning how to drill holes two miles under a frozen prairie, turn the wellbore 90 degrees, drill out another mile or two, then hydraulically force a designer cocktail of water, sand and secret sauce down the hole to liberate petroleum molecules trapped since dinosaurs strode the earth.
The nimblest and smartest competitors have worked relentlessly to increase their productivity. Leading-edge operators report that they can produce more profitably today at a price of $65 a barrel than they could at $95 a barrel three years ago. Where can they be profitable three years hence—$40 a barrel? $30? The oil patch today is afire with the same technological imperative and competitive mission that has powered the U.S. electronics revolution—think Moore’s Law—to dash headlong down the learning curve, crushing costs and prices and making up for it in volume.
Today’s surge in production is coming predominantly from wells that are horizontally drilled and hydraulically fractured from drill pads with multiple wells. Because such wells exhaust quickly, many more of them must be drilled. The conventional wisdom is that fracking is therefore less amenable to the economies of scale exploited by traditional methods. But for today’s shale operators, that’s a feature, not a bug.
For one thing, the increase in the number of wells—which, necessarily, entails a great diversity of geologies and formations—means a commensurate increase in learning about a galaxy of processes that can be tweaked, combined and recombined to increase production and reduce costs. It’s simple: When you get more at-bats, you become a better batter.
Consider what frackers have had to learn to do. Today’s long laterals can extend up to 15,000 feet, running within undulating formations that can sprawl over hundreds of square miles. The ability to keep the drill bit in the middle of the formation has required improved 3-D seismic research and ever-increasing advances in telemetry and remote guidance, to locate and drain a productive area. It’s like learning to pilot a drone flying two miles underground, and through rock. It was difficult and expensive at first. Now it is known art.
Wells in light tight-oil formations can be drilled and completed for millions—not billions—of dollars, and the majority of the estimated recovery will occur within a year or two of bringing it on line. Capacity across a diversified portfolio of wells can be turned on when future prices justify it, and off when they don’t. That turns upside-down the traditional model of oil megaprojects that require billions in upfront capital, years of lead time, and always-on production irrespective of price.
All this means that, for the first time in history, oil production is becoming a modern manufacturing process. The frackers are engaged in “just-in-time” production, analogous to the methods pioneered by Japanese manufacturers in the 1970s and 1980s, which led directly to hyper-efficient global supply-chain management perfected by Wal-Mart in the 1990s.
And with today’s low prices, the frackers are having to adapt another lesson from Japanese manufacturing—kaizen (continuous improvement). That imperative for greater efficiency is transforming the ecosystem of firms that bring oil from shale formations to the gas tank—drillers, but also oil-service companies, railroads, pipelines and refiners.
So anyone who looks at the fall in the number of U.S. oil rigs and thinks that OPEC has won has a big surprise coming. If oil prices move up, even a little bit from here, U.S. frackers will finish hundreds of uncompleted wells, unleashing a new flood of supply. The cartel is no longer the swing producer...
For full story:
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-shale-boom-shifts-into-higher-gear-1433104129
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Interior Getting Closer to Issuing Final Rule On Offshore Oil, Gas Production Standards
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Alan Kovski
An Interior Department agency is putting finishing touches on a final rule to update and sharpen environmental protection and safety regulations for oil and natural gas production in federal offshore waters.
“We are anticipating getting this out sometime this summer—late summer,” Doug Morris, director of offshore regulatory programs in the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, said May 28.
The rule will update federal standards by taking into account current industry practices, which have evolved substantially since 1988, the last time the regulations were extensively revised. In many cases that will mean taking voluntary industry standards and making them mandatory for the approximately 2,500 facilities regulated by the BSEE on the Outer Continental Shelf.
At the same time, the rule will clarify some regulations and incorporate some policies and guidance, and it will address some incidents that have occurred over the last few years, Morris told Bloomberg BNA.
There will be some changes to the rule in response to public comments, including about 60 substantive comments, but most of the standards in the final rule will not differ from the proposed version, Morris said. The proposed rule (RIN 1014-AA10) was released in August 2013 (163 DEN A-4, 8/22/13).
Lifecycle Management Promoted
The exact content of the final rule will not be divulged before publication, but the proposed version made it clear that lifecycle management of equipment will be emphasized.
Morris said a lot of operators, especially for critical equipment, already make good use of lifecycle management, controlling equipment quality from design and manufacture through maintenance, repair and disposal, Morris said. Industry is working on a lifecycle management document that will help define that process better, he added.
In general, oil and gas companies use similar equipment and practices, Morris said. Where he sees more differentiation among operators is in the quality of their formal operational procedures as required for what are called safety and environmental systems (SEMS).
“I think what we see is a difference in maturity of those systems,” Morris said. “The bigger operators have had things in place for many years. They've got the processes and practices pretty well documented and implemented.”
The first round of SEMS audits, following a few years after federal SEMS requirements in 2010, indicated that for some operators it still is “more of a learning experience” to turn the requirements into practice, Morris said. Operator improvements to satisfy SEMS requirements, which were revised in 2013, should “definitely help drive more consistent performance,” he said.
Companies Will Have Options
Oil and gas companies often object to highly prescriptive regulations and ask instead for flexible performance-based rules. Morris said existing regulations for offshore oil and gas production include alternative compliance options and will continue to do so.
“You have to demonstrate equivalent performance—safety and environmental performance,” Morris said.
The BSEE also hopes to demonstrate more flexibility and continuous improvement itself by working closely with industry experts and issuing smaller, more timely regulatory changes as industry standards and practices change.
“Often they can make those changes quicker than we can through regulations,” Morris said.
A more prominent BSEE rulemaking for offshore oil and gas work was issued April 13 in proposed form to govern exploration work. For that rule, often called the “blowout preventer” rule, public comment will be taken until June 16 (71 DEN A-9, 4/14/15).
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Oil Sector Urges California To Scale Back Novel Drilling Groundwater Rules
May 29, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Curt Barry
Oil industry representatives are urging California's water board to scale back its proposal for first-time groundwater monitoring regulations covering hydraulic fracturing and other well stimulation treatments, charging that the rules should be narrowed based on risk and that the number of chemicals for which analysis is required should be minimized.
The groundwater monitoring rules represent a first-of-its-kind regulatory effort in the United States, according to the board, and the most extensive and stringent rules of their kind in the nation, according to the oil industry.
The state's Water Resources Control Board (WRCB) released its “Draft Model Criteria for Groundwater Monitoring In Areas of Oil and Gas Well Simulation” on April 29 for a 30-day public comment period, and held a public workshop on the plan May 19 in Sacramento.
The board plans to release a revised draft proposal on June 19 for a 10-day comment period, with adoption of the final rules scheduled for July 7. While rules affecting “area source” wells will take effect later this year, a “regional component” of the regulation will not begin implementation until next January, WRCB staff said during the workshop.
The rules are required by the 2013 law SB 4, which mandated a sweeping set of new permitting provisions on fracking and other well stimulation treatments in response to alarm that the state lacked adequate oversight of the processes, which some fear could harm the environment and public safety.
Well stimulation operators are required to submit groundwater monitoring plans as part of newly required permits from the Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources (DOGGR). WRCB must sign off on the plans before permits are approved by DOGGR.
The draft regulatory criteria are intended to “evaluate whether groundwater contamination can be attributable to a particular event, and if any changes to the monitoring plan are necessary if groundwater contamination is observed,” WRCB’s proposal states.
“Monitoring of groundwater that is or has the potential to be a source of drinking water is a priority but the monitoring shall also consider the protection of water designated for any beneficial use. Current and future beneficial uses will also be considered relative to our increasing reliance on groundwater resources due to climate change and drought,” according to the proposal.
Water Quality
The rules outline methods to be used for sampling, analytical testing and reporting of water quality associated with oil and gas well stimulation activities. They will address groundwater monitoring to be conducted by oil and gas well operators; requirements for designated contractor sampling and testing; and methods for conducting a regional groundwater monitoring program to be implemented by WRCB.
For area-specific groundwater monitoring, operators must carry out groundwater sampling, analytical testing and reporting where protected water is present, according to the proposal.
Protected water for current and beneficial use is defined as water with less than 10,000 milligrams per liter of total dissolved solids (TDS); within an aquifer of sufficient volume -- yielding more than 200 gallons per day; and outside an exempt aquifer, pursuant to federal Safe Drinking Water Act rules.
Monitoring plans for area-specific wells can be developed for a single well or a group of wells that will be stimulated, WRCB staff explained during the May 19 workshop.
Regional monitoring programs can possibly be used by operators if approved by WRCB. However, officials said that the regional monitoring portion of the program will not be ready for potential full implementation until later next year.
Operators can also request exclusions from area-specific groundwater monitoring requirements. For example, an exclusion can be granted if an operator has received written concurrence from WRCB, after submitting extensive technical documentation to qualify. Exclusions can also be granted if the stimulated well is located within the boundary of a regional groundwater monitoring program that has been approved by water board officials and is being fully implemented in the vicinity of the wells to be stimulated, the plan says.
Monitoring is not required for oil and gas well stimulation where the wells do not penetrate groundwater of beneficial use, or solely penetrate exempt aquifers, according to WRCB.
WSPA's Concerns
Representatives of the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA), in a presentation to the board during the workshop, urged board officials to scale back the rules in several areas.
For example, WRCB should develop a tiered system for monitoring requirements depending on the risk of a well stimulation treatment measured by several factors. These include the duration of the stimulation stage -- whether 30 minutes or two hours; groundwater quality, depth and the feasibility of using it as a resource; vertical separation between stimulated zone and protected groundwater; and proximity to human population and public water service wells, according to a WSPA presentation during the workshop.
WRCB should also consider relaxing a requirement in the proposal that a minimum of three monitoring wells be drilled for each well stimulation treatment -- one “upgradient” well and two “downgradient” wells -- WSPA recommends, arguing that a “one-size-fits-all” approach “does not work.”
The industry organization argues that the three-well requirement “may not be supported by sound science in all situations,” that an upgradient well does not add value and that WRCB’s evaluation should include risk, potential pathways and groundwater quality.
Monitoring should focus on real-time monitoring to ensure well casing integrity and area-wide, long-term monitoring to confirm “zonal isolation,” the WSPA presentation adds.
In addition, WSPA is objecting to WRCB’s draft criteria requiring the analysis of at least 78 chemical substances, or “analytes,” to be detected by monitoring, arguing that most of them are not indicators of well stimulation treatment fluids or hydrocarbons.
Several WRCB members also questioned the number of analytes required to be analyzed by the staff proposal, indicating during the workshop that this provision could be one of several that is revised before an amended plan is released next month.
Interim Regulations
DOGGR Chief Steve Bohlen reported during the workshop that since the interim SB 4 regulations went into effect Jan. 1, 2014, the division has received 1,562 completed notices to conduct well stimulation operations. Of those, 809 well stimulations have been conducted thus far. Operators have up to one year to carry out a well stimulation for which they have received approval from DOGGR.
DOGGR has approved 22 groundwater monitoring plans submitted under the current interim rules, which all have received concurrence from WRCB, Bohlen added. Last year, the total amount of water used for well stimulations was a little more than 200 acre feet, he added. While this may seem like a lot of water when viewed as gallons (65 million), Bohlen noted that the state withdrew about 14 million acre feet from its groundwater reserves last year for other uses.
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NTSB Blames Shell For Wreck Of Arctic Drilling Ship
May 29, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is putting the blame squarely on Royal Dutch Shell’s shoulders for the late 2012 grounding of an offshore drilling rig it owned on an Alaska island.
The report released Thursday came weeks after the Obama administration gave Shell the green light to try again to drill exploratory wells in the Arctic Ocean. The grounding was only the end of a series of mishaps in Shell’s aborted 2012 drilling attempt.The NTSB blamed the grounding and wreck of the Kulluk hours before midnight on Dec. 31 at Sitkalidak Island on Shell’s “inadequate assessment of the risk,” it said.
“No single error or mechanical failure led to this accident,” the NTSB said. “Rather, shortcomings in the design of a plan with an insufficient margin of safety allowed the accident to take place.”
Investigators said Shell knew of the risks of moving the Kulluk through the Gulf of Alaska but went ahead anyway.
“The plan was created to move the [rig] at a time of year with a known likelihood of severe weather conditions for reasons unrelated to operational safety,” the board said.
The Kulluk does not have its own motive power, so it was being towed by another boat toward Seattle for storage.
The report quotes an email from the master of the towing boat to a crew member on the rig during the trip, writing, “I believe that this length of tow, at this time of year, in this location, with our current routing guarantees an ***kicking.”
Its tow line snapped and crews were unable to recover the rig, causing it to ground on the uninhabited island, damaging it beyond repair.
President Obama defended his decision to permit Shell to drill Thursday in a Twitter question and answer session.
“We're setting the highest possible standards,” he wrote, adding that his staff rejected Shell’s first application to drill this summer.
Administration officials said they have incorporated lessons learned from the 2012 attempt into their review of Shell’s current application and their oversight of the activities.
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House GOP Sets Up June Votes On EPA Bills, Chemical Reform
May 29, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Devin Henry
The House will vote on two bills combating Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations in June, according to a schedule from Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) office. A bill to update federal chemical safety regulations is also on the agenda.
One bill, the Ratepayer Protection Act, would allow states to opt out of the EPA's proposed climate rule for existing power plants and block implementation of the rule until all legal challenges against it are decided. A House panel approved the bill, which is sponsored by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.), in April.The rule, the Clean Power Plan, is designed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. It's a cornerstone of President Obama's climate change agenda, but Republicans have warned it could lead to higher energy costs and hurt electricity reliability.
Another bill, from Rep. David McKinley (R-W.Va.), would take aim at the EPA's rule setting national standards for the disposal of coal ash waste at power plants. The bill would require states to set up permitting systems for coal ash sites and strip out several requirements in the EPA's rule.
The House will also consider legislation to update toxic chemical laws for the first time in decades. That bill would give the EPA a timetable for assessing dangerous chemicals and give states the chance to regulate them as well.
The votes are scheduled for the week of June 22.
"The House will end the month with several bills from the Energy and Commerce Committee which will protect consumers from burdensome and costly EPA regulations, keep the decision power in the hands of the states, and help modernize outdated laws," McCarthy wrote in a Friday memo to House Republicans.
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Week Ahead: House Examines Obama’s Energy Infrastructure Plan
Jun 1, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
A House panel will hear from Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on the Obama administration’s energy infrastructure plan with lawmakers returning after the Memorial Day recess.
The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power invited Moniz for a Tuesday hearing on the administration’s Quadrennial Energy Review, which calls for billions of dollars to build and fix pipelines, transmission lines and other infrastructure to move energy.
The hearing is part of the committee’s ongoing effort toward writing a comprehensive energy reform package. Lawmakers hope that the administration’s energy review can help inform their package, which they’re calling the “Architecture of Abundance.”With wildfire season set to begin soon in the West, both chambers of Congress will hold a hearing on drought and wildfire conditions.
The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hear testimony Tuesday on the current drought conditions in the West, which is seeing its fourth consecutive year of drought.
The next day, the House Natural Resources Committee’s subpanel on federal land will hold a hearing on a bill aimed at fixing the nation’s overgrown and fire-prone national forests. The bill follows hearings the panel had in April and May on the problems surrounding national forests and wildfires.
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill, Republicans in both chambers will continue their efforts to fight the Obama administration’s environmental agenda.
The House Science Committee, chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), a strong opponent of President Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is bringing in representatives of business groups for a hearing titled “EPA Regulatory Overreach: Impacts on American Competitiveness.”
In the Senate, the Environment and Public Works Committee will hear testimony on the EPA’s proposal to reduce allowable ground-level ozone.
The panel will also discuss a trio of Republican bills aimed at preventing the regulation or otherwise weakening it.
The Hill will host an event on the future of nuclear energy policy on Tuesday.
It will include speeches from Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) and representatives of Third Way, the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions and the Nuclear Energy Institute, among others.
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House Plans June Votes on Bills Targeting Clean Power Plan, Chemicals Law, Coal Ash
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Ari Natter
The House will vote the week of June 23 on legislation that would allow states to opt out of or defer compliance with the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed Clean Power Plan, Senate Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in a memo to House Republicans May 29.
The Ratepayer Protection Act (H.R. 2042) by Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) would allow states to defer compliance with the Clean Power Plan (RIN 2060-AR33) until after legal challenges to the rule are exhausted. The bill also would allow state governors to opt out of compliance with the rule if doing so would increase electricity rates or jeopardize reliability.
In addition, the House will vote at the end of next month on H.R. 1734, the Improving Coal Combustion Residuals Regulation Act, and H.R. 2576, the TSCA (Toxic Substances Control Act) Modernization Act, the memo said. The bills “will protect consumers from burdensome & costly EPA regulations, keep the decision power in the hands of the states, and help modernize outdated laws,” it said.
H.R. 2042, which is supported by organizations representing coal miner Peabody Energy, utilities such as Southern Co. and American Electric Power, and coal shipping railroads such as Norfolk Southern Corp., was approved by the House Energy and Commerce Committee on a 28-22 vote April 29 (83 DEN A-5, 4/30/15).
“This bill does not repeal the Clean Power Plan, nor does it preclude a state from moving forward and implementing EPA's rule,” Whitfield, the chairman of Subcommittee on Energy and Power, said in a statement. “It simply allows states to prevent the proposed rule from imposing unnecessary economic hardship.”
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Power Companies Cry Foul Over Process For Providing Input on Clean Power Plan
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna
The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to adequately consider the input of small entities in preparing its federal implementation plan for those states that choose not to comply with the Clean Power Plan, publicly owned utilities and rural power cooperatives told the agency in comments.
Federal law requires the EPA to consider the impact its federal plan would have on small entities and to act to lessen those burdens on affected smaller entities, the groups said. In spite of those requirements, the agency didn't properly prepare a small business panel, and groups didn't have sufficient time to offer meaningful comment and participation, they said.
“The [small entity representative] panel did not see a single written proposal, or even a portion thereof, authored by EPA that reasonably delineated options it may be considering,” the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association wrote in May 28 comments. “This is very troubling and contrary to EPA's own guidelines stipulated for [small entity representative] panel input to EPA's regulatory process.”
EPA officials formally convened the Small Business Advocacy Review Panel on April 30 after receiving requests from multiple groups to convene one. It appears, though, the agency hadn't properly prepared for the panel and lacked specific proposals for comment, the groups said.
Small Businesses Raise Time Concerns
“The unusually short time frame did not provide Small Entity Representatives (SERs) with sufficient time to offer meaningful comment and participation in the [Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act] process,” the American Public Power Association (APPA) wrote in May 28 comments. “The Agency has not provided the panel members with information on the potential impacts of this proposed rule, nor has it provided SERs with the necessary information upon which to discuss alternatives and provide recommendations to EPA.”
The EPA said it plans to issue a proposed federal implementation plan in August to help guide states as they prepare their own compliance plans for the Clean Power Plan. Though the draft federal plan would be released in August and subject to public comment, states are required to begin submitting their Clean Power Plan compliance measures one year after the rule is finalized.
A final version of the Clean Power Plan (RIN 2060-AR33) is due out in August, though the EPA has yet to send its final rule for interagency review. The rule would establish unique carbon dioxide emissions rates for the power sector in each state. State regulators would then develop their own plans to comply with the emissions rates, and the EPA would issue federal plans for states that choose not to develop their own (99 DEN A-21, 5/22/15).
EPA Defends Outreach
Liz Purchia, an EPA spokeswoman, defended the agency's outreach with small entities in a May 29 statement to Bloomberg BNA.
“The agency has found the engagement we've had thus far with the small entity representatives to be robust and informative,” Purchia said. “And we will continue to work closely with [the Small Business Administration], [White House Office of Management and Budget] and the small entity representatives and believe that this process will provide us with valuable information about how this proposal may impact small businesses.”
In addition to raising concerns about the small business input process, both associations offered suggestions for how to reduce the burdens on small businesses associated with a federal implementation plan.
Both suggested incorporating a mechanism that ensures small entities could continue to operate for the remainder of their useful lives and a reliability “safety value” as discussed during technical sessions with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
APPA Urges Certain Exclusions
APPA further suggested the EPA exclude Reciprocating Internal Combustion Engines and Simple Cycle Natural Gas units, reduce reporting obligations for smaller units, include a clear statement that upgrades to units wouldn't trigger the Clean Air Act's New Source Review requirements, take full account for early actions to reduce emissions and allow multiyear averaging for compliance during a five-year period.
The EPA also should relax interim emission reduction goals to allow states adequate time to develop and implement their plans, the association said.
“APPA supports a relaxation of the interim goals,” the group wrote. “They do not support an orderly transition for small entities seeking to utilize or develop low-carbon–intensity technologies.”
The association continued, “If EPA is going to require this type of effort from the states to develop the plans, then the agency must give far more time to the states than the proposal contemplates.”
Senior congressional Republicans said in a May 15 letter that the EPA hadn't allowed sufficient time to consult small businesses and still release the final rule this summer as it has said it will do (95 DEN A-3, 5/18/15).
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Jeb Bush To Address Coal Execs At Va. Retreat
May 29, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Manuel Quiñones
Republican presidential hopeful Jeb Bush is scheduled to appear at a meeting with coal industry executives at a Virginia resort next week, according to an invitation obtained by the British newspaper The Guardian.
The former Florida governor is slotted to speak at the Coal and Investment Leadership Forum at the Olde Farm club in Bristol, Va., the newspaper reported.
Other speakers include University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato and Competitive Enterprise Institute attorney Chris Horner, an outspoken conservative voice on energy issues.
Coal executives have played a significant role in recent presidential campaigns, particularly in favor of the Republican candidate. Major donors have included Alliance Resource Partners LP CEO Joseph Craft and Alpha Natural Resources Inc. CEO Kevin Crutchfield.
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A Good-Enough Plan To Cut Greenhouse Gasses
May 31, 2015 | The Washington Post
President Obama's global warming strategy will cut the country’s climate-change-inducing greenhouse emissions significantly — but at some cost. That’s the upshot of a new Energy Information Administration (EIA) analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency’s landmark Clean Power Plan, which, once finalized, will be at the core of the president’s strategy to reduce U.S. carbon-dioxide output.
The report underscores a fundamental truth about the U.S. stance on global warming: The nation’s plan has merit, but it is a second-best policy that the country is stuck with because Congress is too cowardly or unwise to endorse a better one.
The Clean Power Plan will set emissions targets for every state’s power sector, and the EIA reckons that they will be effective. The sector’s carbon-dioxide emissions will drop to 34 percent below 2005 levels by 2030. The country will see a broad move away from coal, the biggest environmental villain in the electricity industry. Though many coal-fired power plants are scheduled to close anyway because they are old, inefficient or in violation of other clean-air rules, the plan will roughly double the retirements. To pro-coal politicians, that sounds like a nightmare. But it is a necessary transition, because coal-fired power plants are dangerous to the atmosphere as a whole and to the local air.
Utilities will replace coal with cleaner burning natural gas, especially in early years, and carbon-free renewables, which will become increasingly prominent in later years. This shift won’t be easy. The EIA projects that electricity prices will increase between 3 percent and 7 percent in early years as utilities invest in new, cleaner technology. As time goes on, average prices will return to around the levels they would have been without the plan, though the effect will not be even across regions: A band of states in the South will see a more persistent increase in electricity prices.
These figures don’t necessarily translate into higher energy bills. States will invest in efficiency programs that reduce energy use, and people will waste less electricity, too. The bottom line, the EIA finds, is that electricity bills will be slightly lower by 2040 than they would have been otherwise. There will be economic costs over the next several decades, but they won’t be prohibitive: The policy will shave off 0.17 percent to 0.25 percent of GDP between 2015 and 2040 — and that’s a cumulative figure, not an annual loss.
This picture is more negative than the one the EPA painted when it proposed the Clean Power Plan. The agency projected that energy costs would be lower, and it calculated substantial public health benefits that offset the economic costs, which the latest analysis doesn’t attempt to quantify. By either calculation, though, the policy appears to be an acceptable path to significant emissions reductions.
Acceptable, but not ideal. Any economist will tell you that the most efficient way to reduce emissions is to put a price on them and get out of the way, allowing consumers and businesses to wring carbon out of the economy without grandiose central planning or favor to preferred interests. Congress would have to approve such a plan, and lawmakers have dodged the climate issue for decades. Until that changes, the Obama administration’s approach is the only option.
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EPA 'Close' To Sending ESPS To White House, Keeping Rule On Schedule
May 29, 2015 | InsideEPA
EPA's final greenhouse gas (GHG) standards for the existing power fleet is “close” to being sent to the White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) for interagency review, with EPA completing its portion of the controversial rulemaking as soon as early next week, according to an agency spokesman.
While the spokesman could not say for certain when the final package would be formally sent to OMB, an informed source says it could be as soon as May 29.
Regardless of the exact date, the move appears to keep the Obama administration on track toward an August release of the final existing source performance standards (ESPS), given that OMB reviews are scheduled to be completed in 90 days -- though they can sometimes be shorter or much longer.
Forwarding the rule for interagency review would allow states, industry groups, environmentalists and other stakeholders to conduct last-minute lobbying efforts on several high-profile issues in the rule, including the fate of “interim” GHG reduction targets, various assumptions EPA used to set state targets and deadlines for submitting compliance plans.
For example, EPA has signaled it will retain the proposed interim targets, but that it is also open to loosening them, which gives various groups the opportunity to offer suggestions on how to do so.
Environmentalists have also urged EPA too boost the renewables portion of state targets, arguing that newer cost and technical potential data -- such as a recent report from the Department of Energy on the potential availability of wind using newer technology -- gives EPA a sound justification to strengthen the rule.
There are also a host of niche issues, including the treatment of existing and new nuclear plants, how interstate renewable impacts are addressed and whether biomass generation is considered carbon neutral under the rule.
Regarding biomass, the administration is facing fierce pushback from environmentalists and some Democrats on its proposed treatment, which would treat “sustainable” biomass feedstocks as carbon neutral because their GHG emissions would be re-sequestered.
Additionally, several groups are pushing EPA to make changes in the final rule that would allow states to use emission credit trading for compliance, with options including an agency-approved set of “compatibility requirements” for states to trade without a formal compact, as well as a voluntary credit market that EPA could set up itself.
OMB has been reviewing EPA's new source performance standards (NSPS) for three weeks, though the agency appears to have dropped the proposal's most controversial element, that new coal plants install partial carbon capture technology.
Observers say that move could help put the NSPS on a stronger legal footing, which is important because a final NSPS must be in place before EPA can finalize the ESPS. But environmentalists say doing so would be “very concerning” and could potentially hurt pending United Nations negotiations later this year to forge an international climate agreement.
If OMB receives the ESPS next week and takes 90 days to review it, that would put EPA on a schedule to release the final rule in late August.
EPA for months has said the ESPS -- along with the NSPS and a proposed federal plan for the ESPS -- would be released in “mid-summer.” But when EPA and other agencies released their spring Unified Agenda of pending rulemakings, the administration put a more definitive marker on the rules, saying they would be released sometime in August.
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D.C. Circuit Denies Industry Challenges To Emissions Limits on PVC Production
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Patrick Ambrosio
A federal appeals court denied industry challenges to the Environmental Protection Agency's first air toxics emissions limits for facilities that produce polyvinyl chloride, including an objection to a wastewater limit based partially on faulty data (Mexichem Specialty Resins v. EPA, D.C. Cir., No. 12-1260, 5/29/15).
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a May 29 opinion ruled the Clean Air Act precluded the court from considering an objection to the EPA's emissions limit for non-vinyl chloride organic hazardous air pollutants in process wastewater from major sources because the objection was raised for the first time in petitions for reconsideration that are still pending with the EPA.
The court also denied challenges to what the three-judge panel determined were reasonable decisions by the EPA not to subcategorize PVC-only process vent emissions limits and to require facilities to install bypass flow indicators to monitor emissions.
The Vinyl Institute, a petitioner in the case, told Bloomberg BNA in a May 29 e-mail that while industry is disappointed the court didn't provide relief on specific issues with the PVC rule, “in many ways” the decision will have no impact on companies because they already have been working to ensure that facilities are in compliance with the emissions standards.
The court declined to stay the rule during the litigation, which means the emissions limits went into effect April 17, the Vinyl Institute said.
James Pew, an attorney with Earthjustice who represented the Sierra Club and other environmental groups that intervened in the litigation, told Bloomberg BNA May 29 that the court's decision ensures that communities near PVC production facilities will be protected from air pollutants, including known carcinogens.
“The practical effect of this decision is very, very good,” Pew said.
The EPA estimated the rule (RIN 2060-AN33), which was promulgated in April 2012, would reduce emissions of vinyl chloride by 145 tons and total air toxics by 241 tons (30 DEN A-1, 2/15/12).
Agency Considering Petitions
The EPA told Bloomberg BNA in a May 29 e-mail that it continues to evaluate aspects of the rule raised in petitions for reconsideration and is reviewing newly submitted test data on emissions from those facilities. The agency said it is pleased with the court's decision.
The court, in an opinion authored by Judge Cornelia Pillard, said it is prohibited from reviewing several industry arguments—including challenges to the major source wastewater limit and a limit on emissions from PVC process vents—because the objections were raised for the first time in their petitions for reconsideration that are still pending with the EPA.
The wastewater limit of 110 parts per million for major sources was calculated using data submitted by industry, including irrelevant data that were submitted by Oxy Vinyls LP from a different, irrelevant source category. The court found that given the industry's failure to raise procedural or merit objections to the wastewater limit during the notice-and-comment period on the rulemaking and the fact that the EPA is reconsidering the wastewater limit, the Clean Air Act prevented the court from considering the industry's challenge.
During November 2014 oral arguments, counsel for Mexichem Specialty Resins, the Vinyl Institute and other industry petitioners argued that some plants wouldn't be able to meet the major source wastewater limit, while others would have to make investments to comply with a standard based on flawed data (224 DEN A-1, 11/20/14).
No Unreasonable Delay Found
The court ruled that industry petitioners failed to show that the EPA has engaged in an unreasonable delay on reconsidering the wastewater limit and failed to show irreparable harm if the court were to await the outcome of the EPA's reconsideration process.
The EPA has said it will complete the reconsideration process by April 2016.
The Vinyl Institute said the petitioners hadn't asked the court to invalidate the entire rule, instead focusing the provisions that went into effect but were raised in reconsideration petitions. The EPA has worked with industry to identify temporary solutions pending completion of that reconsideration, the Vinyl Institute said.
Kavanaugh Dissents on Wastewater
Judge Brett Kavanaugh filed a partial dissent in favor of staying the wastewater limit pending judicial review. Kavanaugh said the industry petitioners did show irreparable harm: the high costs of complying with flawed emissions limits.
The petitioners also demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits, given that the EPA conceded the wastewater limits are flawed and said the agency would not be opposed to a stay, Kavanaugh said.
“Even EPA itself does not oppose a stay in this case,” Kavanaugh said. “EPA's position is telling.”
However, Pillard said in the majority opinion that the EPA's consent is not a sufficient basis to stay or vacate a rule. Pillard also said the EPA's position that it would not be opposed to a stay does not account for the interests of other parties that support the rule and would be harmed from EPA inaction on emissions from PVC facilities.
The third judge on the panel was Judge Judith Rogers.
The completion of the reconsideration process will constitute a final agency action that is eligible for judicial review, Pew said. It is unclear what issues will remain after the reconsideration process concludes and whether arguments raised against the PVC rule could come back before the D.C. Circuit, Pew said.
Court Rejects Merits of Arguments
The court rejected the merits of several industry arguments, including challenges to the EPA's decision not to subcategorize process vents based on emissions control technology and a requirement that PVC manufacturers install monitoring equipment on pressure relief devices.
An industry argument that some of the EPA's bypass regulations constitute illegal requirements that go beyond the maximum achievable control technology baseline, commonly referred to as the MACT floor, stemmed from a “misapprehension” of the Clean Air Act and lacked merit, the court ruled.
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EPA to Respond to Advocacy Group Petitions On Shell Chemical Plant Permits by Aug. 21
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Nushin Huq
The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to respond by Aug. 21 to two petitions alleging clean air violations filed by three environmental advocacy groups, the agency said in a proposed consent decree lodged May 28 (Envtl. Integrity Project v. McCarthy, D.D.C., No. 1:14-cv-02106, consent decree, 5/28/15).
The consent decree is related to a lawsuit filed in December 2014 by the Environmental Integrity Project, Air Alliance Houston and the Sierra Club. The groups alleged in their complaint for injunctive and declaratory relief that the EPA was in violation of the Clean Air Act by not responding to their petitions within 60 days.
The groups asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to declare that EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy must grant or deny the two petitions filed by the groups, the complaint said.
The first petition asked the agency to object to a Title V operating permit issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to Shell Chemical Co. authorizing operation of the company's Deer Park Chemical Plant, the complaint said.
The second petition asked the EPA to object to another Title V permit issued by TCEQ to Shell's Deer Park Refinery.
Under the Clean Air Act, the EPA may allow states to administer the Title V operating permit program. Before the TCEQ can issue or renew a Title V permit, it must forward the proposed permit to the EPA for review.
The agency has 45 days to review the proposed permit. If the EPA doesn't object to the permit, any person may petition the EPA administrator within 60 days to object to it. The EPA has 60 days to grant or deny the petition.
Petition Subject to Court Approval
The consent decree won't be considered final until the EPA provides reasonable opportunity for the public to comment on the proposed decree, the notice of lodging said. The EPA will file a motion to request the court to enter the decree after the EPA administrator considers any comments submitted.
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O'Malley, Praised for Environment Record As Governor, to Announce Presidential Bid
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna and Rachel Leven
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), who developed a strong record of pushing for clean water, clean air and action on climate change while in office, appears to differ from Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton on several key environmental issues but it remains unclear whether he can seize the support of environmental advocates uneasy about her candidacy.
O'Malley, who led Maryland from 2007 through 2015, set aggressive water quality standards to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay, expanded renewable energy development, created a state commission to respond to climate change and sought to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by a quarter by 2020.
The Maryland Democrat has also boosted his national environmental bona fides by opposing the completion of the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline, condemning a decision from President Barack Obama's administration to allow oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic Coast and voicing strong support for the Environmental Protection Agency's carbon pollution rules for power plants.
Some of his stances leave environmental advocates uneasy, however. O'Malley refused to block plans to export liquefied natural gas from the Cove Point facility in Maryland and allowed hydraulic fracturing operations to go forward in the state, albeit with some of the strictest standards nationally.
O'Malley, who was expected to formally announce his candidacy for president May 30 in Baltimore, appears to face long odds and an unclear path to the nomination against Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
“With O'Malley, I think you have someone who has a strong climate record as an executive who will run as a progressive, but one with real world experience as an executive,” Mike Tidwell, director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network told Bloomberg BNA. “Whether that sets him apart I have no idea.”
Aides close to O'Malley did not respond to requests for comment.
Federal Positions
Some environmental groups continue to have reservations about Clinton because they say she has been unclear about her positions on Keystone, fracking and offshore oil and gas drilling. O'Malley has been more direct about his views.
In a February op-ed published in the New York Times, O'Malley called the Obama administration's decision to permit some oil and gas drilling off the Atlantic Coast a “big mistake.”
“The facts support a ban on offshore drilling not only in the wilds of Alaska—as the administration has announced—but also along our densely populated, economically vibrant and environmentally diverse Eastern Seaboard,” O'Malley wrote. “Expanding offshore drilling is irreconcilable with the realities of climate science and irrelevant, at best, to taking advantage of the vast economic opportunities clean energy presents.”
On the Keystone XL oil pipeline, the Maryland governor urged the Senate in the fall of 2014 to vote down legislation designed to immediately approve the project and said the proposed pipeline was irreconcilable with the need to address climate change.
“We need solutions that simultaneously reduce carbon emissions and create jobs,” O'Malley wrote in a November 2014 Facebook post. “I hope the Senate rejects Keystone XL—it's too much carbon dioxide, and not nearly enough jobs.”
O'Malley has also thrown his support behind the EPA's plan to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the nation's fleet of power plants and said in a September 2013 statement that the regulations would help address the “moral” issue of climate change.
“We are committed to partnering with [Obama] so that together, we can make the better choices these times demand,” O'Malley said. “The President's plan is a commonsense approach that will protect public health from the impacts of climate change and spur growth by fostering innovation in cleaner energy technologies like wind power and solar.”
State Record
O'Malley is already leaning on his environmental protection record in Maryland on his website to highlight his climate-friendly approach to governance.
Under O'Malley's leadership, Maryland set two-year goals for reducing runoff into the Chesapeake Bay's 65,000-square-mile watershed and, so far, has reduced nitrogen loads, phosphorus loads and sediment pollution by 14 percent, 15 percent and 18 percent, respectively, according to O'Malley's site. He also signed legislation in 2008 to boost the Maryland's in-state renewable generation to 20 percent by 2022, among several other accomplishments touted (80 DEN A-9, 4/25/08).
He also supported the 2009 Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act, which required the state to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020 below 2006 levels. In November 2014, he issued an executive order calling for the Maryland Commission on Climate Change to develop a plan to cut by 2050 the state's emissions by 80 percent compared to 2006 levels (225 DEN A-13, 11/21/14).
Tidwell said O'Malley has a strong environmental protection record as governor—potentially the strongest of any governor in the country—pointing to the 2009 greenhouse gas legislation and the governor's commitment to renewable energy. Ben Schreiber, a spokesman for Friends of the Earth Action, also cited O'Malley's support for a wind energy project in the state.
But O'Malley isn't without fault on environmental matters, according to Schreiber. Some of the moves O'Malley touted as successes didn't go far enough, Schrieber said. That includes O'Malley's actions to clean up the Chesapeake Bay watershed, which Schreiber said left the watershed “not that much cleaner” than when O'Malley took office.
Cove Point, Fracking
O'Malley lost credibility with his silent stance on Cove Point—the liquefied natural gas export terminal in Lusby, Md.—because it proved he either doesn't understand the magnitude of the “climate crisis” or he isn't serious about addressing it, Schreiber said (142 DEN A-15, 7/24/14)
“Gov. O'Malley talked a good game, but when the rubber met the road, when he was talking about exporting fossil fuels, he sided with the fossil fuel industry,” Schreiber said.
Meanwhile, Tidwell downplayed O'Malley's role in Cove Point. Environmental groups called for O'Malley to urge the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to conduct an environmental impact statement for the facility; however, O'Malley remained largely silent, Tidwell said.
O'Malley has a “more complicated relationship with fracking,” having said that fracking can be done responsibly, Tidwell said. O'Malley's accompanying proposed rules and recommendations would have been the most stringent in the nation and significantly limited methane emissions associated with the activity, he said (08 DEN B-11, 1/13/15).
Despite criticisms from some environmental advocates, O'Malley drew strong support overall from the advocacy community.
“He was really instrumental in an number of climate change laws,” Karla Raettig, executive director of the Maryland League of Conservation Voters told Bloomberg BNA. “He definitely made climate change a priority, and I think it became a passion of his.”
Raettig noted there were areas of legitimate criticism for O'Malley's actions on the environment but said overall he had a “very good record” during his time as governor. She noted her organization gave O'Malley a Climate Visionary Award in 2013.
Industry Wary
Chris Warren, spokesman for the American Energy Alliance, told Bloomberg BNA O'Malley would bring a similar approach to environmental and energy issues as Obama.
“Martin O'Malley walks in lockstep with the national environmental lobby and the Obama administration in pushing extreme carbon dioxide regulations that impose severe economic burdens on American families and do nothing to reduce global temperatures,” Warren said. “O'Malley claims to be a man of the people, but in reality he's just a lackey of the left.”
According to Schreiber, when comparing the current candidates for the Democratic nomination, Sanders clearly has the strongest climate record and O'Malley is closer to Clinton than to Sanders.
Tidwell said that while Sanders would be a “true climate champion,” O'Malley probably would be “as aggressive” as Sanders on the climate front.
“Look, Bernie Sanders would be a great president in terms of climate change,” Tidwell said. “Whether Bernie Sanders is electable, I don't know.”
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Aide To Climate Champion Announces Bid To Succeed Her
May 29, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Debra Kahn
A senior aide to a California state senator known as a champion of environmental and climate issues today announced he would run to replace her next year.
Henry Stern, the 33-year-old principal consultant to Sen. Fran Pavley (D) on energy and environmental policy, sent an email to supporters today citing infrastructure improvements, education and the economy as key issues, as well as the state's historic drought.
"The challenges we still face loom large," he wrote. "Drought threatens our economy. Gridlock wears on our sanity. And parents wonder if their kids will have a better life than they had.
"That's why I intend to continue fighting to create more resilient infrastructure, make our neighborhoods safer, ensure that our kids are better educated than we were, and build a more competitive, creative economy that plays to California's strengths, from entertainment and life sciences, to aerospace and clean technology."
Pavley, whose 27th District covers parts of Los Angeles and Ventura counties, sponsored the landmark 2006 law A.B. 32, which set a statewide greenhouse gas target of 1990 emissions levels by 2020 (ClimateWire, Oct. 14, 2008). She also sponsored the state's 2002 tailpipe emissions law, A.B. 1493, that would require automakers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks 30 percent by 2016, which sparked a four-year battle with U.S. EPA that culminated in a federal waiver to enforce the law in 2009 and subsequent nationwide fuel economy standards. She currently has a bill in the state Senate that would set a 2050 greenhouse gas target of 80 percent below 1990 emissions levels.
Pavley, whose term expires next year, has endorsed Stern. "When I term out next year, Henry is the right person to take my place ... because competence and character count," she said in his email to supporters.
The district leans Democratic. A number of other Democrats have already entered the race, including local newspaper publisher George Thomas, who announced his candidacy May 1. Thomas, who is emphasizing public safety, education and cutting government waste, is a former staffer for Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.).
Jim Dantona Jr., a staffer for Los Angeles City Councilwoman Nury Martinez, and Shawn Baylis, director of planning and land use for Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Koretz, are also in the race.
The top two vote-getters in the June 2016 primary, regardless of party, will advance to the November general election.
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Clean Technology, Climate Initiatives Introduced at Energy Ministerial Meetings
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rebecca Kern
Initiatives to advance clean energy technologies and fight climate change were introduced by Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and other world leaders at two energy and climate meetings in Mexico the week of May 25.
Moniz met with energy leaders from around the world at the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) May 25-26 and the sixth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM6) May 27-28 in Merida, Mexico (98 DEN A-4, 5/21/15).
At the ECPA meeting, the North American Energy Ministers Working Group on Climate and Energy was established with Canada and Mexico, which will support the following areas of cooperation among the countries: reliable, resilient and low-carbon electricity grids; advancing clean energy technologies; energy efficiency; carbon capture; climate change adaptation and resilience; and oil and gas emissions reduction, according to an Energy Department statement.
Also at ECPA, the Western ministers established the Western Hemisphere Clean Energy Initiative, wherein participating countries will work toward doubling the usage of renewable resources, like solar, wind, small-scale hydropower, sustainable biomass and geothermal, by 2030.
Clean Energy Ministerial to Address Technology
At CEM6, Moniz met with energy ministers and leaders from 23 countries to discuss three technology-focused initiatives.
First, the CEM Global Lighting Challenge established a goal of reaching cumulative sales of 10 billion high-efficiency, affordable lighting products as quickly as possible.
Secondly, the CEM Power System Challenge plans to establish national road maps to increase energy efficiency, smart grid technology and renewable resource usage.
Lastly, the participating countries agreed to expand the existing Clean Energy Solution Center, which currently provides real-time, free energy policy assistance to more than 80 countries.
Would Increase Global Experts' Availability
The expansion would increase the number of global experts available to respond to a growing number of requests for assistance and establish a new section on Clean Energy Finance. Also, the center is partnering with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change's (UNFCCC) Climate Technology Centre and Network, DOE said in its statement.
Also, the U.S. announced it will host the CEM7 meeting in 2016, and China said it will host the CEM8 meeting in 2017.
The meetings are part of the lead-up to the UNFCCC climate change talks in Paris this December.
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Moniz To Weigh In As House Leaders Air Comprehensive Legislative
Jun 1, 2015 | E&E Daily News
By Nick Juliano
House lawmakers will hear from top Department of Energy officials this week about the evolving energy bill that could hit the floor by this summer.
Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz kicks things off tomorrow with an appearance before the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power to brief members on DOE's recently completed Quadrennial Energy Review and offer his thoughts on the more than half-dozen draft bills the committee has released. On Wednesday and Thursday, the subcommittee convenes a two-day hearing on the bill's efficiency and accountability provisions, featuring testimony from
Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) have been working all year to assemble comprehensive energy legislation aimed at boosting supplies, shoring up infrastructure, promoting efficiency and reforming existing energy policies, along with other priorities.
"Our work to construct the Architecture of Abundance is on the fast track. The sooner we get the job done the sooner that we will realize the nation's fullest energy potential -- creating jobs and keeping prices affordable," Upton and Whitfield said in a statement. "Our important discussion on accountability and energy efficiency will round out what is shaping up to be a banner week in our continued efforts to bring our energy policies into the 21st century."
Architects of the energy bill hope to attract bipartisan support and move a bill through the House before the August recess, although it remains to be seen whether they can attract significant buy-in from across the aisle and steer clear of items that would draw a presidential veto, such as attempting to use the bill to block U.S. EPA's Clean Power Plan.
Committee Democrats complained earlier this spring about provisions in the House efficiency draft that would have delayed a new energy-saving rule for residential furnaces, limited DOE's involvement in developing model building codes and reversed a directive for the government to phase out its use of fossil energy in new buildings (E&E Daily, May 1).
House Republicans last week floated a new "accountability" subtitle that will receive its first airing at the hearing. Among other items, it would direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to more quickly share "exculpatory" information with firms it is investigating, and direct regional transmission organizations to develop market rules that prioritize aspects such as "reliability" in rate-making decisions, an apparent response to utility concerns over net metering and distributed generation.
The accountability title also includes language that appears to fall in line with a proposal that Berkshire Hathaway Energy floated last month to limit the circumstances in which utilities have to purchase electricity from cogeneration or small renewable power facilities. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), the ranking member on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, bristled at the suggestion when it was aired during a hearing in the upper chamber last month.
Moniz had been scheduled to testify on the QER last month, but a delayed health care markup forced the committee to reschedule. Upton said the delay would not prevent the committee from reaching its goal of having energy legislation to the House floor by the end of this month (E&ENews PM, May 20).
Schedule: The QER hearing is Tuesday, June 2, at 10 a.m. in 2123 Rayburn.
Witnesses: Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz; Rudolf Dolzer, advisory board member, Association of International Petroleum Negotiators and professor of International Law, University of Bonn; Jason Grumet, president, Bipartisan Policy Center; Scott Martin, commissioner, Lancaster County, Pa.; Gerald Keeps, vice president, Upstream Research and Consulting, IHS; Alison Cassady, director of Domestic Energy Policy, Center for American Progress; Emily Hammond, professor of Law, George Washington University Law School
Schedule: The efficiency and accountability hearing starts Wednesday, June 3, at 2 p.m. and reconvenes Thursday, June 4, at 10:15 a.m. in 2322 Rayburn.
Witnesses: TBA.
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Science Panel To Assess Regs' Impact On Business
Jun 1, 2015 | E&E Daily News
By Jean Chemnick
The House Science, Space and Technology Committee will consider the impacts Thursday of a suite of high-profile U.S. EPA regulations on business.
The hearing -- "EPA Regulatory Overreach: Impacts on American Competitiveness" -- will be headlined by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and address EPA's efforts to curb carbon emissions from power plants, crack down on smog-forming ozone, and clarify the regulatory reach of the Clean Water Act over wetlands and isolated waterways.
The chamber and NAM co-chair the Partnership for a Better Energy Future, a coalition formed to stoke and coordinate industry opposition to the Clean Power Plan, which aims to curb the power sector's carbon emissions. The two have also funded studies targeting compliance costs.
The chamber, for example, released an economic assessment of EPA's existing power plant draft before the proposal was public, extrapolating from a proposal by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The analysis made dire predictions about how the rule could affect the economy and was frequently cited by Republicans even though the study wasn't drawn from provisions of the EPA draft.
Manufacturers, meanwhile, say that while the proposal doesn't directly affect them, the EPA proposal would set a precedent for demanding more of industry than current emission-control technology can deliver (Greenwire, Feb. 23).
A NAM-backed study found that if EPA lowers its ozone limit to 60 parts per billion -- as environmentalists and public health advocates urged -- it will cost the U.S. economy $270 billion a year and a third of its remaining coal-fired power fleet (Greenwire, July 31, 2014). The agency's proposal last year called for a limit of between 65 and 70 ppb.
The Clean Power Plan is due to be finalized this summer, together with rules for new and modified power plants. EPA is also expected to meet its Oct. 1 court-ordered deadline for the ozone revision. Both rules are likely to be raised at Thursday's hearing.
The hearing comes one week after EPA finalized its controversial "Waters of the United States" rule, which seeks to clarify which streams and wetlands will receive Clean Water Act protection (Greenwire, May 27).
The agency has billed the rule as a means of providing regulatory clarity after two Supreme Court decisions that left in doubt which streams and wetlands have a significant enough impact on bigger rivers and lakes downstream to warrant protections.
WOTUS clarified for the first time that some ponds and streams will not be regulated under the Clean Water Act. But this provision -- a departure from last year's proposal that was hailed by many as a major concession to industry -- did not gain the rule acceptance by agriculture groups and Republican lawmakers (Greenwire, May 28).
Science Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said in a statement on WOTUS last week that "cosmetic updates cannot hide the fact that it's still a massive power grab of private property."
"America's farmers, landowners and small businesses are right to be concerned," he said, predicting that the rule would give EPA "power to restrict Americans from making decisions about their own property."
The House voted last month to require EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw the rule and set up a consultation process with state and local stakeholders to resolve any lingering doubts about the scope of its regulations.
Rounding out the panel is Bob Kerr of Kerr Environmental Services Corp., a Virginia Beach, Va.-based consulting firm specializing in water issues and compliance with environmental laws.
Schedule: The hearing is Thursday, June 4, at 9 a.m. in 2318 Rayburn.
Witnesses: Bill Kovacs, senior vice president, environment, technology and regulatory affairs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Bob Kerr, president, Kerr Environmental Services Corp.; and Ross Eisenberg, vice president, energy and resources policy, National Association of Manufacturers.
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EPA Inspector General to Weigh Effectiveness Of Financial Assurance Efforts at Waste Sites
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Anthony Adragna
The Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Inspector General has begun a probe into how effective financial assurance instruments have been at reducing costs of cleaning up hazardous waste sites around the country.
The inspector general will seek to determine whether the EPA reviews financial assurance mechanisms for companies with multiple facilities or sites to make sure they are valid and whether all environmental liabilities are included in financial assurance evaluations conducted by the agency.
The Office of Inspector General notified Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for enforcement and compliance assurance, and Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response, of the new effort in a May 28 new start memorandum.
The Office of Inspector General intends to examine the effectiveness of financial assurance instruments at sites covered under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, or Superfund law.
Financial assurance tools are meant to ensure companies have enough money to pay for the cleanup of sites they may contaminate and also help protect the agency from default or refusal to pay by potentially responsible parties. Use of the tools has become an increasing priority for the agency in recent years amid a shrinking budget for Superfund and other programs.
Section 108(b) of CERCLA gives the EPA authority to require types of facilities to maintain financial responsibility consistent with the degree of risk involved in the production, transportation, treatment, storage or disposal of hazardous substances.
In April, the EPA issued new internal guidance for setting forth financial assurance instruments in a settlement addressing Superfund sites (70 DEN A-14, 4/13/15).
Under RCRA, all owners and operators of hazardous waste facilities must provide proof they have sufficient funding to pay for the cleanup, closure and post-closure care of their operations. They must also show they can pay for the cleanup of any accidental release on site and compensate any third parties for damages incurred in a release.
Failure to have adequate financial assurances at a site could mean public taxpayer dollars would be needed for cleanup and post-closure care activities.
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EPA Oversight Of State Programs Tops IG's Report On Agency 'Challenges'
May 29, 2015 | InsideEPA
By David LaRoss
EPA's Inspector General (IG) says inadequate agency oversight of state environmental programs is one of several management “challenges” that the agency needs to address by stepping up its review of state efforts, citing examples of states failing to adequately implement laws and rules affecting air, water, hazardous waste and other issues.
In its May 28 annual report on the challenges facing EPA in fiscal year 2015, the IG cites five reports it has issued in the past year to justify tougher scrutiny of state activities by the agency and its regional offices, including instances of states not fully enforcing water, air and waste policies within their borders, and says EPA must do more to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Major agency management challenges as defined by the Government Performance and Results Act Modernization Act of 2010 “are programs or management functions, within or across agencies, that have greater vulnerability to waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement where a failure to perform well could seriously affect the ability of an agency or the federal government to achieve its mission or goals,” according to the IG report.
While the IG highlights the problems of the agency's oversight of state environmental programs, the report notes that EPA is also taking steps to try and bolster its review of state efforts.
“The EPA is drafting a series of draft principles and best practices for state oversight activities for improving the oversight process for the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, Title V, and RCRA Subtitle C permitting programs. . . . While important progress has been made, our work continues to identify challenges throughout agency programs and locations, and many of our recommendations remain to be fully implemented,” the IG says, noting that the principles are expected to be formally proposed in “the summer of 2015.”
As evidence that EPA must do more to improve state oversight the report points to findings from a series of 2014 and 2015 OIG investigations, including that the U.S. Virgin Islands failed to meet requirements for its air, water, drinking water and underground storage tank programs.
Other examples the IG cites in its state oversight section of the report include EPA Region 8 not conducting required pesticide inspections in North Dakota; that EPA headquarters officials failed to seek required drinking water state revolving fund project data from states; that the agency failed to properly oversee states' fee collections under Title V of the Clean Air Act; and that most EPA regions are “not adequately overseeing significant portions” of the water discharge permitting program as it applies to hazardous chemicals.
EPA has also struggled to bring states such as California into compliance with its underground injection control (UIC) rules governing oil and gas wells. California officials recently issued emergency regulations implementing EPA's UIC standards -- despite opposition from Democrats and environmentalists who said the wells should be summarily closed to avoid fouling drinking water aquifers during the state's drought crisis.
Management Challenges
Each year the IG releases a report assessing the challenges facing EPA as an agency. This year's report restates all six such challenges the office identified in 2014, including state oversight. It says that while EPA has made progress in each area, “we retained all six management challenges from last year’s list due to persistent issues.”
In addition to state oversight, the report says EPA faces challenges in encouraging the reuse of contaminated sites; managing chemical risks under the Toxic Substance Control Act (TSCA); analyzing its employees' workload to increase efficiency; improving its information technology to counter cybersecurity threats; and improving internal oversight for programs aimed at issues such as travel fraud and real property management.
Addressing EPA's oversight of states, the report notes that EPA has begun corrective action in response to each IG-cited incident, although it continues that “recent and ongoing [IG] and U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) work continues to support this as an agency management challenge.”
It notes as an example of progress the agency's Oct. 1 policy narrowing the definition of which facility air violations are “high priority” events triggering federal reporting requirements, which the IG identified as a concern in past years.
The IG also praises the agency's move to form a “senior-level workgroup” that has crafted recommendations for state oversight, and to integrate an interagency strategy on “Launching a New Era of State, Tribal, Local, and International Partnerships” its strategic plan for FY 2014-18.
For the separate challenge on contaminated sites, IG says the agency needs to strengthen its monitoring and reporting requirements for cleanup projects to ensure that the activities are completed properly and that properties are not prematurely certified for reuse. It praises a recently developed guidance, “Institutional Controls: A Guide to Preparing Institutional Controls Implementation and Assurance Plans at Contaminated Sites,” but says the agency must still “improve controls over its guidance, review and reporting of site reuse accomplishments.”
On the agency's management of TSCA programs, the report urges EPA to “establish criteria and procedures for identifying classes of chemicals to undergo assessments for low-level and cumulative exposure assessments,” and to boost industry participation in the program to develop reduced-risk pesticides by revisitng its fee structure and crafting standardized metrics for non-agricultural uses of the chemicals.
The IG also says EPA should continue supporting the legislative push to reform TSCA, which legislators in both parties have said is necessary to strengthen EPA's chemical regulatory authority. The report on management challenges comes shortly after the IG submitted its annual report to Congress summarizing investigations it conducted in the previous year, although that document does not include overarching conclusions or recommendations for future agency or legislative action
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How Corn Ethanol Is Worse For Climate Change Than The Keystone Pipeline
May 29, 2015 | Environmental Working Group
By Emily Cassidy
Do you think the federal government couldn’t order something worse for the environment than the Keystone XL oil pipeline?
Think again.
Using the Environmental Protection Agency’s own estimate, we calculate that the corn ethanol mandate has been worse for the climate than projected emissions from the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
What makes matters worse is that the EPA just mandated that more corn ethanol must go into American gas tanks.
Today the EPA proposed new minimum volumes of corn ethanol that refiners would be required to blend into gasoline this year and the next. Congress set this policy, called the Renewable Fuel Standard, in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. At the time, lawmakers hoped that using ethanol and other renewable fuels would reduce carbon emissions and American dependence on foreign oil.
Last year, corn ethanol producers churned out 14 billion gallons, about 13.4 billion gallons of which were blended into the 135 billion gallons of gasoline the nation’s drivers used.
Extracting tar sands and turning them into oil is more energy-intensive than traditional drilling for petroleum. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, dirty oil transmitted from Alberta, Canada, to the Gulf Coast by the Keystone Pipeline would emit 24 million tons of carbon per year.
But our calculations show that last year’s production and use of 14 billion gallons of corn ethanol resulted in 27 million tons more carbon emissions than if Americans had used straight gasoline in their vehicles. That’s worse than Keystone’s projected emissions. It’s the equivalent of emissions from seven coal-fired power plants.1
So far the federal corn ethanol mandate has resulted in a massive influx of dirty corn ethanol, which is bad for the climate and bad for consumers. The only interest it benefits is the ethanol industry.
As we’ve said before, it’s time for Congress to correct course and reform the broken Renewable Fuels Standard to make way for truly green biofuels.
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Questions About Federal Jurisdiction Persist Despite Release of U.S. Waters Rule
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Matthew Berger
Despite the release of the long-awaited rule defining what is included within the Clean Water Act's definition of “waters of the U.S.,” many questions remain about federal jurisdiction and what the new rule actually includes.
The main questions have to do with the extent of the definition of tributaries, particularly those that may be considered ephemeral or intermittent, and the extent of federal authority versus state authority, environmental advocates and industry representatives told Bloomberg BNA.
The clean water rule (RIN No. 2040-AF30) was released jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers May 27 to provide clarity over what constitutes the “waters of the U.S.” under the Clean Water Act (102 DEN A-1, 5/28/15).
It covers all ephemeral, intermittent and perennial streams and potentially other isolated waters, to be determined on a case-by-case basis and whose protections were previously uncertain. Activities that impact those waters would be subject to Clean Water Act permitting requirements.
But despite the clarity offered by the new rule, the debate continues about what should be covered and whether the agencies made the line between what is in and what is not clear enough.
Tributary Definition
The question of tributaries is getting special attention. The new rule defines a tributary as “a water that contributes flow, either directly or through another water to an [adjacent or neighboring] water that is characterized by the presence of the physical indicators of a bed and banks and an ordinary high water mark.”
Tributaries that are ephemeral or intermittent but meet this definition would be included, and EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy has repeatedly said such occasional streams are critical and are sources of drinking water for one in three Americans.
Jennifer Peters, national water campaigns coordinator at Clean Water Action, which has supported the rulemaking, said she is curious about how the EPA is defining tributaries. In some arid parts of the West, she said, ephemeral waters that are critical to water supplies can often lack physical indicators such as a bank or high water mark.
‘Streams Look Different' Throughout U.S
“In different parts of the country, streams look different,” Peters told Bloomberg BNA. She cited Colorado as being one of the states in which many people depend on watersheds fed in part by these ephemeral streams lacking indicators.
She believes the agencies intended to include such streams, as evidenced by their emphasis on these streams’ roles in drinking water supply, but that there was still an open question as to how this definition might be able to include them.
Owen McDonough, environmental policy program manager at the National Association of Home Builders, has the inverse question: How does this definition not encompass almost everything?
“The overarching problem lies with the tributary definition,” McDonough told Bloomberg BNA, saying the definition remains “over-broad.” He sees waterways as a tree in which ephemeral tributaries are the “countless” twigs.
Difficulty in Getting Permit
The regulatory burden of having to get a permit for work that affects those twigs would be immense, McDonough said. “To build homes, you need to move earth, clear trees, etc.—so if more and more waters are regulated, you increase the number of times when anyone moving fill dirt into these ephemeral streams needs to get a permit,” which he said can involve additional costs and lengthy delays.
Other definitions included in the clean water rule have been seen as narrowing and clarifying Clean Water Act jurisdiction, including setting definitional limits on what “adjacent” and “neighboring” mean.
Mike Keegan, an analyst for the National Rural Water Association, said the question of who has authority over which waters still needs to be sorted out.
“The clarifications on exemptions of certain ditches, for stormwater control and water delivery infrastructure will be widely supported by local government,” he told Bloomberg BNA. “The open question is does this rule clearly have the same demarcation of federal authority that was established by the Supreme Court in Rapanos.”
The 2006 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Rapanos v. EPA and other court rulings created the need for this rule to more clearly define what is and is not covered under the Clean Water Act (547 U.S. 715, 62 ERC 1481 (2006).
Court Challenges
“If [federal authority] is determined to still be expansive, then it will quickly be challenged again in the courts,” Keegan said.
Whatever happens and however long these questions remain open, the authority of states and local authorities to protect waterways should not be overlooked.
“What has been missing in the debate from the local government perspective is that just because certain waters are not regulated by the federal government does not mean they are not protected,” Keegan said.
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D.C. Circuit Rejects Challenges To PVC MACT, Splits On Request For Stay
Jun 1, 2015 | InsideEPA
By Anthony Lacey
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in a unanimous May 29 judgment has rejected industry challenges to EPA's maximum achievable control technology (MACT) air toxics rule, but split over the sector's bid to stay part of the rule as two judges denied the request but one judge would have granted the stay.
The decision in Mexichem Specialty Resins, Inc. v. EPA, et al. says that many of the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) companies challenging the rule failed to raise their concerns over various MACT provisions during the notice-and-comment period on the proposed version of the rule, instead only raising them in petitions for administrative reconsideration of the final rule. As a result, the court finds that the complaints are time-barred from judicial review under the Clean Air Act.
For those challenges to the rule that the court does analyze on the merits -- including those dealing with emissions standards for process vents and some compliance and monitoring provisions -- the court unanimously agrees that the agency acted within its authority in crafting the requirements, and industry failed to prove flaws in EPA's approach.
For example, PVC producers argued that EPA's emissions limit on process vents conflicted with other emissions standards, and the agency's decision not to “sub-categorize” different types of vents with varying air toxics limits was at odds with Clean Air Act requirements -- but all three judges rejected these claims.
The opinion says there is no unlawful overlap between the process vent limits and other standards, and that manufacturers “hold the keys to this particularly regulatory box” because they can avoid the overlap by sending emissions associated with PVC production to vents separate from those that carry emissions from other sources.
“EPA reasonably decided not to subcategorize process vents on the basis of which particular emissions control technology PVC manufacturers choose. The conclusion that EPA need not -- indeed should not -- relax its emissions limits when polluters use insufficiently effective control technology is inherent in the very idea of technology-forcing regulation,” the judges say. They rejected arguments by the PVC producers that the “superior effectiveness” of their emissions control technology is not accurately measured by EPA's approach to the MACT.
Industry had also raised objections to some of the compliance and monitoring requirements in the air toxics rule, but the judges similarly say the challenges that remain valid cannot succeed on the merits. They say EPA adequately justified its approach and that the requirements were not “arbitrary and capricious.”
Regulatory Stay
Judge Cornelia Pillard, who wrote the opinion in the case, and Judge Judith Rogers also reject industry's request to stay the rule's contested emission limit for process wastewater treatment systems.
EPA recently agreed to withdraw and reassess its limit on total non-vinyl chloride organic hazardous air pollutant (TOHAP) from process wastewater at new and existing smaller PVC production “area” sources, which are facilities that emit less than 10 tons per year (tpy) of a single air toxic or less than 25 tpy of multiple air toxics in a year. The rule would not affect larger “major” source facilities that emit above the 10/25 tpy thresholds.
The emissions limits for area and major sources shared the same data point that EPA has said is erroneous, and warrants reconsideration of the standards as they apply at both types of facilities.
While the area source wastewater limit fight has been severed out of the Mexichem case, the limit that would apply to new major sources remained at issue in the litigation. But Pillard and Rogers say in their opinion that industry failed to meet the high legal bar of justifying a stay of the limit for new sources.
The judges note that EPA said during that it did not oppose a stay of the wastewater limit pending the agency's eventual reconsideration that could change the limit for area and major sources.
But “EPA's consent is not alone a sufficient basis for us to stay or vacate a rule. The court is not bound to accept, and indeed generally should not uncritically accept, an agency's concession of a significant merits issue. . . . The risk is that an agency could circumvent the rulemaking process through litigation concessions, thereby denying interested parties the opportunity to oppose or otherwise comment on significant changes in regulatory policy,” they say.
Petitioners failed to show “irreparable harm” from leaving the new major source wastewater limit in place because, for example, the record shows no evidence of any company planning to build a new major PVC production facility. As a result, they reject the request to stay the major source wastewater limit.
Judge Brett Kavanaugh in a two-page dissent says that while he agrees with the other two judges on rejecting the petitions for review of the case, he would have granted the stay of the wastewater limit. He says the petitioners have shown the necessary harm from the high costs of complying with a flawed limit. And he says companies “have precedent on their side,” citing the D.C. Circuit's 2011 ruling in litigation over EPA's Portland cement MACT in Portland Cement Association v. EPA that stayed parts of the rule pending EPA's reconsideration of those limits.
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Obama to Nominate Former FAA, NTSB Aide To Head Pipeline, Hazmat Transport Agency
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Rachel Leven
President Barack Obama intends to nominate a former Transportation Department and transportation safety aide, Marie Therese Dominguez, to be the administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, according to a May 29 White House announcement.
Dominguez has served as the Defense Department's principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for civil works since 2013. Previously, beginning in 2007, she was the U.S. Postal Service's vice president for government relations and public policy. The intended nominee has served in a number of transportation-related positions, including as the deputy chief of staff and counsel for the Federal Aviation Administration from 1998 to 2000 and as special assistant to a member of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1996 to 1997.
PHMSA was previously headed by Cynthia Quarterman, who left in October 2014. The agency and has since been led in an acting capacity by Timothy Butters, deputy administrator for PHMSA. Senators urged the White House to nominate a permanent head for the agency that is tasked with addressing pipeline and crude-by-rail issues, among other transportation safety issues (99 DEN A-7, 5/22/15).
Obama also intends to nominate Federal Railroad Administration acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg to permanently head that agency, the White House announced in the same news release .
“It gives me great confidence that such dedicated and capable individuals will serve the American people as part of this administration,” Obama said in the releases. “I look forward to working with them.”
Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx applauded the White House's decision to nominate Dominguez, who he said has significant management, regulatory and safety experience in the transportation realm. She will be a “great asset” and bring a new perspective to safety, since she has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to strengthen water resource infrastructure, he said in a statement.
The White House didn't immediately respond to Bloomberg BNA's message requesting comment on when Dominguez's nomination will be sent to the Senate.
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Sarah Feinberg Tapped to Permanently Head Federal Railroad Administration
Jun 1, 2015 | BNA Daily Environment Report
By Stephanie Beasley
President Barack Obama announced plans May 29 to nominate Sarah Feinberg to permanently head the Federal Railroad Administration.
Feinberg has served as acting administrator of the FRA since January, when she replaced Joseph Szabo.
She was previously chief of staff at the Department of Transportation and before that she directed communications at Facebook as well as Bloomberg LP, which is Bloomberg BNA's parent company, and Bloomberg Government, an affiliate company.
Feinberg is the second woman to head the FRA and would fill one of several high profile vacancies at the top of federal transportation agencies. The president also has nominated administrators for the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the Transportation Security Administration (see related story).
Feinberg has played a key role in addressing the recent string of derailments of trains carrying crude oil that have resulted in environmental and public health hazards. She also has taken a central role in developing the recently finalized rule that aimed to mitigate risks for that type of transportation.
She also has dealt with a May 12 crash on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor and several highway-rail crossing collisions. She is expected to appear as a witness at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on the recent Amtrak crash June 2.
“Sarah Feinberg has already proven to be a steady and capable leader at FRA, and especially during the tragic Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia, where she remained on site throughout the initial rescue and recovery efforts,” said Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx in a statement. “Throughout her time at DOT she has been immersed in issues related to rail safety, including the safe transportation of crude by rail. Her attention to detail and passion for work continues to impress not just me, but safety experts, members of Congress and the staff at FRA.”
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Railroad Agency’s Critics Line Up To Support Feinberg
May 29, 2015 | PoliticoPro
By Heather Caygle
Sarah Feinberg had made it clear she wanted the White House’s nod to become the permanent chief of the nation’s chief rail safety agency. And on Friday, she got it.
Word of Feinberg’s nomination to head the Federal Railroad Administration, an agency she has led as acting chief since January, drew praise from lawmakers who have been among the FRA’s harshest critics. But they also made it clear they want to see changes.
“Public safety demands the swift and speedy confirmation of Sarah Feinberg,” Senate Democratic leader-in-waiting Chuck Schumer said in a statement. The New Yorker added, “Ms. Feinberg has been a steady hand during trying times for our nation’s railways, and she is absolutely committed to ensuring safety of those traveling on our trains and those living near train tracks across this country.”
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said the FRA still needs to carry out a series of unmet congressional mandates and more than 60 recommendations from the National Transportation Safety Board. But confirming Feinberg would be a good first step, he said.
“As acting administrator, Sarah Feinberg has been aggressive, forthright and forthcoming in dealing with urgent and challenging rail disasters — a testament to her potential as leader of the FRA,” Blumenthal said. “My strong hope is that on a permanent basis, she will provide the leadership and vision that this troubled agency so desperately needs.”
Blumenthal had called the FRA a “rogue agency” last year after a series of commuter rail accidents killed six people and injured more than 100. But he has praised Feinberg for maintaining a level of transparency and openness that lawmakers say her industry veteran predecessor, Joseph Szabo, failed to do.
Feinberg’s nomination came just days before she is set to testify in front of the House Transportation Committee about this month’s Amtrak crash in Philadelphia, which killed eight people. Some rail experts have criticized the administration for failing to nominate a permanent FRA leader until now, saying it could hamper the federal response to the Amtrak accident and future crashes.
The White House also announced plans Friday to nominate Marie Therese Dominguez, a principal deputy assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, to lead the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. Both PHMSA and the FRA are housed within DOT and work closely on crude-by-rail tank car regulations.
Lawmakers have been reluctant to criticize Feinberg during her temporary tenure, instead mostly keeping silent or offering praise about her Capitol Hill outreach. But her lack of prior rail experience before joining DOT in 2013 could get closer scrutiny as she moves through the confirmation process.
A West Virginia native, Feinberg is a former Facebook and Bloomberg executive and a former White House aide to Rahm Emanuel. She joined DOT as Anthony Foxx’s chief of staff, a role in which she helped shepherd the crude-by-rail rules.
Since January, Feinberg has successfully navigated the FRA through a string of deadly or explosive accidents, including crisscrossing the country to visit the sites of multiple passenger rail collisions and oil train derailments.
She has received strong praise from the White House, safety officials and lawmakers for her hands-on approach at accident scenes and her Capitol Hill follow-up afterward. Earlier this month, she briefed more than a half-dozen lawmakers about the Amtrak crash and spent two days on the ground in Philadelphia, where sources say she headed barely 15 minutes after the accident.
That kind of all-hands-on-deck approach is similar to Feinberg’s actions following previous accidents.
Feinberg “knows what she’s doing, she’s on top of it and she was quicker to respond than anybody I’ve worked with as a U.S. senator,” West Virginia Democrat Sen. Joe Manchin said earlier this year.
“I have found her to be accessible, transparent and committed to improving rail safety,” said Massachusetts Rep. Mike Capuano, the top Democrat on the House Transportation railroads panel.
She’s also been backed by Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio, the Transportation Committee’s top Democrat, who is known for lobbing sharp criticisms at the FRA in the past.
Foxx issued a statement of strong support for her nomination Friday, citing her handling of the Amtrak derailment. “Her attention to detail and passion for the work continues to impress not just me, but safety experts, members of Congress and the staff at FRA,” he said.
But Feinberg’s time as acting chief hasn’t been without controversy. Earlier this year, she found herself in the middle of a war of words between the railroad and petroleum industries about how to decrease fiery oil train crashes.
Still, she has managed to avoid many of the pitfalls that can easily derail an acting administrator from getting the permanent nod and has received credit for moving an agency long criticized for being too staid.
“FRA will benefit from her ability to cut red tape and get things done,” Foxx said.
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Obama To Fill Chief Safety Regulator Roles For Railroads, Pipelines
May 29, 2015 | The Hill - E2 Wire
By Timothy Cama
President Obama has chosen officials to fill the long-vacant roles leading federal agencies that oversee the safety of railroads and pipelines and of hazardous materials.
The top posts at both of the Department of Transportation (DOT) agencies have been vacant for months, even through high-profile disasters involving oil trains, Amtrak, oil pipelines, rapid transit and other forms of transportation.It has led to repeated criticisms from members of Congress, who accused Obama of putting transportation safety on the back burner.
Sarah Feinberg, currently the deputy administrator at the Federal Railroad Administration, will be nominated to take the top position in that agency.
Feinberg has worked at DOT since 2013, and has acted as its administrator since January, when Joseph Szabo left. She previously worked at the White House, Facebook Inc. and Bloomberg LP, among other places.
Obama wants the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) post to be filled by Marie Therese Dominguez.
Dominguez has worked since 2013 as the principal deputy assistant secretary of the army for civil works, the No. 2 official at the Army Corps of Engineers. She previously worked at agencies such as the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Aviation Administration and the United States Postal Service.
Cynthia Quartermann left the PHMSA post in October.
Both women will be subject to Senate confirmation.
Sen. John Thune (R-N.D.), chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, has said he is eager to get leaders into the agencies, and has signaled to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx he would work quickly on the confirmation process for nominees.
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Obama Names Picks To Head Railroad, Pipeline Agencies
May 29, 2015 | E&E News PM
By Sean Reilly
President Obama moved today to fill two high-profile posts within the Department of Transportation, saying he plans to nominate acting Federal Railroad Administration chief Sarah Feinberg to lead the agency permanently and Marie Therese Dominguez, currently a senior official in the Army's civil works program, to head the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).
"It gives me great confidence that such dedicated and capable individuals will serve the American people as part of this administration," Obama said in a news release.
The White House has been under growing pressure from Congress to find permanent leaders for both agencies, which share responsibility for regulating crude-by-rail traffic. The top position at PHMSA has been vacant since last October, when Cynthia Quarterman stepped down; in the interim, Deputy Administrator Tim Butters has been filling in. Feinberg, a former White House aide, took over as the railroad administration's acting head in January following the departure of Joe Szabo.
Once Obama formally nominates them, both Feinberg and Dominguez must win Senate confirmation. Despite her brief tenure in the FRA job, Feinberg already has become a familiar presence on Capitol Hill and is scheduled to testify at a Tuesday hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on this month's fatal Amtrak train derailment in Philadelphia.
Dominguez, perhaps less well-known, has been principal deputy assistant secretary in the Army's civil works program since July 2013; in that post, she provides "policy and performance oversight" for the Army Corps of Engineers, according to her official biography. Dominguez had held the same job from 2000 to 2001.
Since then, she spent six years as vice president for government relations and public policy at the U.S. Postal Service and worked as a senior adviser to then-Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) at the Forward Together political action committee. Warner now represents Virginia in the U.S. Senate.
In the 1990s, Dominguez was also a special assistant at the National Transportation Safety Board, worked in the Clinton White House as associate director of presidential personnel and was deputy chief of staff and counsel at the Federal Aviation Administration.
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Amtrak, Spending Caps To Be Flash Points As House Takes Up FY16 Funding Bill
Jun 1, 2015 | E&E Daily News
By Sean Reilly
When the House Appropriations Committee marked up its version of the fiscal 2016 transportation spending bill last month, Republicans forged ahead with an 18 percent cut to Amtrak's federal subsidies the day after a train derailment in Philadelphia killed eight people and injured more than 200 (E&ENews PM, May 13).
The move prompted howls of protest from Democrats. With the bill headed for floor action as early as this week, those arguments could soon get a re-airing in the full House. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D-Pa.), who unsuccessfully sought a large increase in Amtrak's budget during the markup, "plans to do something on this issue when the bill comes to the floor," a spokeswoman said Friday in an email.
The measure, H.R. 2577, will also test the ability of the House's GOP leaders to move legislation that would impose stiff cuts on programs with bipartisan support in the interest of staying within broader spending caps. Although the House Rules Committee is set to meet late today to set the terms of debate over the bill, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) described a floor vote this week only as "possible" in a schedule released Friday.
The bill, which lays out proposed budgets for both the Department of Transportation and the Department of Housing and Urban Development next year, would cut discretionary transportation spending by about 5 percent to $17.2 billion, sideswiping the Obama administration's proposal for a hefty boost. In a report released last week, the Appropriations Committee's Republican staff called it "a stunning revelation to consider how much time and resources" are spent in crafting a budget that "has little chance of being enacted."
Under the measure, Amtrak's federal aid package would be cut from about $1.4 billion this year to $1.1 billion in 2016. Because the initial investigation into last month's derailment has found that the train was going at more than twice the 50 mph speed limit, Republicans contend that there is no reason to assume that money was an issue. The majority staff report does not mention the accident but praises Amtrak President Joe Boardman for recently moving to curb retiree benefits for some 3,000 management employees. That step will save almost $7 million next year, according to the report, which encourages Amtrak to consider similar measures "to save taxpayers funds."
In a dissent tacked onto the end of the report, however, Democrats deplored the absence of money for "installation of safety mechanisms" and said that the overall bill "takes a giant step backwards" in addressing infrastructure needs.
Other points of contention could be a proposed one-third cut in federal funding for the Washington, D.C.-area Metro system and an 80 percent reduction in the budget for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program.
The committee's decision to slash Metro funding from $150 million to $100 million was not made lightly, the report said, adding that lawmakers are looking to the District of Columbia and the neighboring states of Virginia and Maryland "to demonstrate their commitment to the region's transit system."
While the D.C. area's congressional representation skews heavily Democratic, the proposed cut could leave freshman Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) squeezed between constituent interests and the wishes of party leaders. Comstock, who represents a swing district served by Metro, signed an April letter protesting an even steeper reduction initially approved by the House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee (E&E Daily, April 30). After the full Appropriations Committee agreed last month to bump the proposed total up to $100 million, Comstock said in a statement that she would keep working to ensure that Congress "meets its full $150 million obligation."
For the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which has helped craft new regulations governing crude-by-rail traffic, the bill would cut its base operating budget next year by almost 7 percent to $20.7 million. But funding for the agency's hazardous materials safety program would rise 16 percent to $60.5 million.
Schedule: The meeting is Monday, June 1, at 5 p.m. in H-313 Capitol.
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