Energy and Environment Monitorwww.eem.jacksonkelly.com

Senators Disagree Over Indirect Land Use Considerations for Renewable Fuels

The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires EPA to consider the indirect land-use changes, such as switching of land from forest to crop land, that would result from biofuel production.  The law requires the nation’s fuel supply to include 36 million gallons of renewable fuels such as ethanol by 2022.  In order to be considered a “renewable fuel”, the fuel must reduce greenhouse gas emissions through its entire life cycle by 20% relative to gasoline.  In October, 2008, EPA sent a draft proposed rule to the Office of Management and Budget to implement the renewable fuel standard (“RFS”) for interagency review.  The Obama administration pulled the draft proposal back from OMB review, but resubmitted it on February 26, 2009.  In the process, an issue as to whether to consider indirect land use changes has arisen.

 

            The Renewable Fuels Association and other ethanol industry groups maintain that there is inadequate scientific foundation for an analysis of the increase in greenhouse emissions resulting from indirect land-use changes.  Environmental groups have insisted that these increases be considered.

 

            A group of 12 farm state senators wrote EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson in March urging EPA to refrain from considering indirect changes to land use when calculating greenhouse gas emissions from biofuels as part of the renewable fuels proposal.  They pointed out that some biofuels such as soy-based diesel may not qualify as a renewable fuels and other fuels may follow suit.  The senators adopted the ethanol industry’s position that the method of calculating increases in greenhouse emissions from land-use changes was complex and not reliable.  They also indicated that resultant rulemaking confusions “could seriously harm our U.S. biofuels strategy by introducing uncertainty and discouraging future investments”.  In early April, Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA), Chairman of the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming, and two other House democrats warned the Obama administration that an Environmental Protection Agency rule on renewable fuels will not conform to the law if it does not consider indirect greenhouse gas emissions from land-use changes resulting from biofuels.

            This comes at a time when industry participants have begun to recognize that the 2022 goal cannot be met at current levels of fuel consumption so long as the amount of ethanol that can be added to fuel is limited to 10%.  On April 21, EPA recognized an application for the waiver of the 10% limit by volume on ethanol filed by an environmental group and 54 ethanol manufacturers.  The waiver application seeks to allow up to 15% ethanol by volume (E15).  EPA has requested comments on this waiver on or before May 21, 2009.  74 FR 18228.  EPA has 270 days to act on the application.  Among the considerations are whether this increase will harm engines and fuel storage and distribution equipment.

 

            In similar news, the congressional budget office reported during the second week of April that increased use of ethanol was responsible for about 10 – 15% of the rise in food prices from 2007 to 2008, but reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector by less than 1%.

 

This article was authored by James R. Snyder, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the author see here.

EPA Announces New Strategic Plan for Evaluating the Toxicity of Chemicals

EPA announced on March 25, 2009, that it is releasing a new approach to decision making regarding agency regulatory decisions and policies. The new approach is designed to incorporate risk assessment science into its decision making process and EPA believes it will result in better protection for human health and the environment. The plan is titled “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Strategic Plan for Evaluating the Toxicity of Chemicals,” and is available at: epa.gov/osa/spc/toxicitytesting.

 

The plan provides for a new scientific approach that will allow EPA to assess risks from many chemicals and mixtures by adopting new toxicity testing methods that use recent advances in molecular biology, genomics, and computational sciences.  When fully implemented, EPA states that it will be able to screen thousands of environmental chemicals quickly for potentially harmful effects. The strategic plan will also allow EPA scientists to look at how children may react differently to the same chemicals as adults, thus providing better health protection for children.

 

For more information on the plan, contact Suzanne Ackerman at 202-564-4355 or email her at: ackerman.suzanne@epa.gov.

 

This article was authored by Skipp Kropp, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the author see here.

 

Times Are Tough, But Not at USEPA – Proposed Budget Up 34% plus Added Stimulus Money and New Excise Tax

On February 26, 2009, the Obama administration proposed a budget of $10.5 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  The proposed fiscal year (FY) 2010 budget would be the largest in the agency’s 39-year history, and a whopping increase of $3 billion from 2008 funding levels.  That amounts to a 40% funding increase over 2008, and a 34% increase over the “2009 likely enacted level”.  Recession?… not at EPA.

 

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson is obviously pleased with the proposed spending level for her Agency: 

 

“The president’s budget proposes critical resources to protect the American people and the places where they live, work and play.  We are no longer faced with the false choice of a strong economy or a clean environment.  With these proposed resources, and the president’s strong environmental agenda, it should be overwhelmingly clear that EPA is back on the job.”

 

If the proposed FY2010 budget windfall wasn’t enough good news for the nation’s chief environmental regulators, earlier last month President Obama announced that as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, there would be an additional $7.22 billion for EPA-administered projects and programs.

 

The EPA lists the following “funding highlights” of their proposed budget:

 

• Provides $3.9 billion for the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, an unprecedented Federal commitment to water infrastructure investment in the United States. 

• Provides $475 million for a new Environmental Protection Agency-led, interagency Great Lakes restoration initiative, which will target the most significant problems in the region, including invasive aquatic species, non-point source pollution, and contaminated sediment.

• Funds the Agency’s operating budget, which comprises its core regulatory, research, and enforcement activities, at $3.9 billion, the highest level ever.

• Provides over $1.1 billion in grants for States and Tribes to administer environmental programs.

Superfund Excise Tax

While EPA’s wallet will be quite fat indeed, it seems that the private sector’s wallets will be shrinking due to EPA’s plan to reinstate Superfund excise taxes that expired in 1995.   The taxation target is oil and chemical producers.  EPA plans to collect over $1 billion to clean up the Nation’s most toxic, contaminated sites within the Superfund program, although another news source pegged the expected amount to be $6.6 billion by 2014.  The reinstated excise taxes will not begin until 2011, when EPA expects the economy to have sufficiently recovered to absorb this added financial burden.

 

For further details on EPA’s FY2010 budget and policy priorities, see the following web sites:

http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/F34F79B60FCDF4EB852575690068995B http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/fy2010_new_era/Environmental_Protection_Agency1.pdf

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=awFmri0ADH58&refer=home

 

This article was excerpted from publically available information, and was authored by Rick Wilson, Acacia Environmental Group LLC.  For more information on the author see here.

2009 Due Dates for Stakeholder Input on Chemicals Proposed for Addition to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants

            On December 8, 2008, U.S. EPA announced the process that the U.S. Government would follow for obtaining stakeholder information for chemicals proposed for addition to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. (POPs) (73 Fed. Reg. 74488).  The chemicals currently under review include two industrial chemicals, short chained chlorinated paraffins and hexabromocyclododecane, and a pesticide, endosulfan.  The chemicals are being considered for listing in the Annexes to the Convention at the fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 4) in Geneva, Switzerland, May 4 -8, 2009.  The Convention is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, and accumulate in the fatty tissue of humans and wildlife.   

           

            Listing is significant because the Convention requires the Parties to reduce or eliminate production and use of POPs listed in Annex A or B.  The Convention also calls upon Parties to take specified measures to reduce releases of POPs listed in Annex C.  Because the United States has signed but not yet ratified the Convention, it participates as an observer.  As such, the United States may provide submissions for review during the listing review process.    The process for listing new chemicals on Annexes A, B, and/or C includes the following five steps:  (1) proposal by any Party to the Convention for listing a new chemical including screening information; (2) application of the screening criteria by the POP review committee; (3) development of a risk profile that includes technical comments and information; (4) development of a risk management evaluation based on technical comments and social-economic considerations; and (5) listing the chemical in Annex A, B and/or C and related control measures. 

 

            While the deadline for information for the risk profile and risk management evaluation for the chemicals under review has passed, stakeholders still have an opportunity to comment on the draft risk profiles and risk management evaluations and other documents.  Draft risk profiles and risk management evaluations are expected to be posted early-to-mid April, and U.S. EPA is requesting that U.S. stakeholders submit comments or information no later than 15 calendar days before the Convention Secretariat’s comment deadline that is expected to be in late May.  Comments and information should address specifics about production, uses, releases, monitoring data, technical feasibility of alternatives, costs, etc.  Additional documents, including the final draft risk profiles and risk management evaluations, will be posted on the Convention’s web site at http://chm.pops.int/ in March or April 2009.  U.S. EPA is requesting comments on those documents no later than 20 days before the May 2009 meeting.       

 

            In the future, U.S. EPA intends to publish a notice in the Federal Register when a chemical is first proposed and will make a good-faith effort to issue e-mail reminders of upcoming due dates to interested parties.  To receive U.S. EPA’s e-mails, chemical and pesticide manufacturers, importers, processors, and other interested parties should send an e-mail with their preferred e-mail address to Amy Breedlove in the Chemical Control Division of U.S. EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics at:  breedlove.amy@epa.gov.  For additional information on U.S. EPA’s process for obtaining stakeholder input on chemicals proposed for listing, contact Gale Lea Rubrecht at 304-340-1200 or galelea@jacksonkelly.com.

 

This article was authored by Gale Lea Rubrecht, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the author see here.

Eastern Kentucky University Center for Renewable and Alternative Fuel Technologies (CRAFT)

          On December 1, 2008, Eastern Kentucky University (“EKU”) and General Atomics announced the establishment of the Eastern Kentucky University Center for Renewable and Alternative Fuel Technologies (CRAFT).  This announcement comes less than two weeks after Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear released Kentucky’s first-ever comprehensive energy plan on November 20th, 2008.  The sustainable production of biofuels in Kentucky is a key element of that plan.  The plan calls for Kentucky to derive 12 percent of its motor fuels demand from biofuels by 2025.

            General Atomics is, headquartered in San Diego, California, and specializes in diversified research, development and manufacturing in defense, energy, and other advanced technologies.  Researchers at CRAFT will examine the potential for a cellulose-derived biodiesel industry in Kentucky.  To fund CRAFT, EKU will use a $4 million appropriation in the U.S. Defense Department budget secured by Congressman Ben Chandler, and up to $1.5 million more in state and local funding. 

The project will proceed in two phases, starting with an initial research phase.  The research at CRAFT will focus on (i) determining appropriate cellulosic feedstocks, (ii) defining a strategic plan for starting up an industry that will convert those feedstocks to biodiesel products, and (iii) describing the technologies required along with their developmental costs, risks and schedules. The work will be performed by a team comprised of EKU and General Atomics representatives, with EKU as prime contractor and General Atomics providing the technical lead.

Agricultural and economics modeling research led by EKU will identify and develop baseline agricultural and economics data.  The work will include:

1.   The prioritization of agricultural crops that would make good feedstock for the production of bio-oils,

2.   The identification of land that could be cultivated without negatively impacting existing agricultural businesses,

3.   The determination of potential/probable crop yields,

4.   The identification of the economic impacts on the Commonwealth’s agricultural, transportation, and biofuels industries, and

5.   The determination of transition scenarios for moving toward a biofuel industry in the Commonwealth.

General Atomics will provide input on the biofuel conversion costs and issues of various cellulosic feedstocks to be studied.  Cellulose conversion research will focus on conversion of cellulosic feedstocks to useable sugars.  This work may include subcontracts to companies with unique processes that may be appropriate for this critical step. 

If the initial research phase is successful, General Atomics will begin the second phase by constructing a production facility in Kentucky.  The start of the second phase could be as much as five years away, and the parties would not speculate on when the plant might produce commercial fuel.  General Atomics, however, expects to invest up to $10 million in the project, and EKU indicated that the total investment could eventually be as much as $50 million.

This article was co-authored by Mary Beth Naumann and Ryan Schwartz, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the authors see (Naumann) here and (Schwartz) here.

Report Names the World’s Worst Pollution Problems

     On October 27, 2008, two international environmental groups -- U.S.-based Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross Switzerland -- issued a Top Ten list of the world's worst pollution problems.  The report addresses the role of pollution as a contributing factor to death and disability in the world and highlights the disproportionate effects on children's health.  Rather than focusing on specific locations, this report gives an overview of significant pollution threats humans face throughout the world.

     The Top Ten appear in a report titled, "The World's Worst Pollution Problems: The Top Ten of The Toxic Twenty."  The report is the result of an analysis of more than 600 sites in Blacksmith's database of polluted places as well as from nominations by the report’s listed environmental, science and public health experts.

     The Top Ten includes both commonly discussed pollution problems like urban air pollution and more overlooked threats like car battery recycling.  The problems included in the report are claimed by the report to have a significant impact on human health worldwide and result in death, persistent illness, and neurological impairment for millions.  The report concludes that many of these deaths and related illnesses could be avoided with affordable and effective interventions.

     The Top Ten list, unranked within the report, was listed as follows:

• Indoor air pollution

• Urban air quality

• Untreated sewage

• Groundwater contamination

• Contaminated surface water

• Artisanal gold mining

• Industrial mining activities

• Metals smelting and other processing

• Radioactive waste and uranium mining

• Used lead-acid battery recycling

     A little known though serious environmental health problem arises from the occupation of Artisanal mining, which refers to mining activities that use rudimentary methods to extract and process minerals and metals on a small scale.  Artisanal miners also frequently use toxic materials in their attempts to recover metals and gems.  There are an estimated 10-15 million Artisanal Miners worldwide who mine for gold.  These miners use mercury to form an amalgam with the gold contained in mined soil.  That amalgam is later burned; evaporating the mercury while leaving behind gold.  The evaporated mercury is extremely toxic if inhaled and then quickly condenses and finds its way into local water supplies, where it may either be ingested directly by humans, or bio-accumulate in fish, which in turn are eaten by humans.  An estimated one third of global mercury emissions come from these activities, yet the problem is largely unknown.

     The report also includes a second list of ten additional environmental problems that are claimed in the report to be serious in scope and effect, though not to the extent of the Top Ten list.  The second ten list is as follows:

•Abandoned Mines

•Agrotoxins and Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

•Arsenic

•Cadmium

•Chromium

•Coal Power Plants

•Garbage Dumps

•Industrial Estates

•PCBs

•Old and Abandoned Chemical Weapons

•Oil Refineries and Petrochemical Plants

     While some of the facts and findings of this report may be questioned or challenged by compelling facts or contradictory data, it is apparent that the report identifies some extremely serious environmental health problems around the world.

     To obtain a download copy of the report The World’s Worst Pollution Problems, see the following web site:  http://www.worstpolluted.org/

     This article was excerpted from the report The World’s Worst Pollution Problems and other publically available information, and was authored by Rick Wilson, Acacia Environmental Group LLC.

     This article was authored by Rick Wilson, Acacia Environmental Group LLC. For more information on the author see here.

Highlights of EPA's Just Released 2008 Report on the Environment

     The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released its 2008 Report on the Environment (ROE).  The ROE presents and analyzes key trends and indicators of our nation’s environmental quality over time. The 2008 ROE analyzes available environmental data through calendar year 2006.  Overall, most environmental indicator trends are positive and reflect continued national environmental progress.

     The ROE is composed of two reports – the "EPA’s 2008 Report on the Environment," a technical document intended for environmental professionals, and the "EPA’s 2008 Report on the Environment: Highlights of National Trends," (sometimes referred to as the ROE Highlights Document) which summarizes the key findings of the technical document without all of the technical detail.

     The ROE is also available for viewing via on-line electronic presentation (referred to as eROE).  The eROE provides access to all the environmental trend data contained in the ROE in a searchable format.   

     The ROE presents 78 environmental indicators at the national scale.  In response to recommendations made to EPA, 32 of these indicators also present information at regional scales, most of them by EPA Region.  There are also seven special pilot indicators developed by EPA Regional Offices that cover only one EPA Region or parts of one or two EPA Regions.  The EPA Region 3 ROE supplement is entitled "EPA’s 2008 Report on the Environment: Indicators Presenting Data for EPA Region 3."

     According to EPA, the 2008 ROE is written with the intent to:

“…present the best available, scientifically sound information on national environmental and human health trends critical to EPA's mission and of interest to the public.

…provide the American people with an important resource from which they can better understand trends in the condition of the air, water, land, and human health of the United States.

…use scientifically sound measures, called indicators, to address fundamental questions relevant to the EPA’s mission to protect the environment and human health. 

… help EPA to prioritize its work and to focus on human health and ecological activities that can lead to improvements in the conditions of the Nation’s environment.”

     The ROE is too massive in its scope and level of detail to allow a comprehensive summary of all 2008 ROE findings within this blog article.  However, the following represents a sampling of the key findings of the 2008 ROE:

• Nationwide, emissions of criteria pollutants (or the pollutants that form them) due to human activities have decreased, in some cases substantially, while population and economic activity have increased markedly.
• Outdoor air concentrations of carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and particulate matter have decreased over the decades during which the current nationwide monitoring network has operated.
• Acid rain, as measured by wet deposition of sulfates and nitrates, decreased across most of the country from 1989 to 2006.
• The overall extent of wetlands in the lower 48 states declined over the past 50 years.  The rate of loss has slowed over time, however, and the most recent data (1998-2004) show a net gain in wetlands acreage nationwide.
• In 2007, 92 percent of community water system customers (262 million people) were served by facilities for which states reported no violations of EPA’s health-based drinking water standards.
• The total acreage of forest land nationwide declined between the 1930s and the 1970s, but increased over the last three decades.
• Since 1990, the per capita municipal solid waste generation rate has remained stable at four and one-half pounds per person per day.  Hazardous waste generation has declined.
• Over the past 45 years, the use of fertilizers, including nitrogen, phosphate, and potash, has increased nearly three-fold.

     For general information concerning USEPA’s Report on the Environment 2008, or to view the ROE Dynamic Web electronic presentation, see the web site http://www.epa.gov/roe/.  This Web site also provides access to the methodology, references, and sources of additional information behind the indicators that form the foundation of the reports.

     To download the complete 2008 Report on the Environment (warning – it’s a large 33MB pdf file for the entire 366 pp report), or individual chapters, EPA Regional sub-reports, or the 2008 Report on the Environment: Highlights of National Trends summary report (3MB pdf file, 40 pp report),  go to the following web site and look for the various download options near the bottom of the web page: 

http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=190806 

     This article was authored by Rick Wilson, Acacia Environmental Group LLC. For more information on the author see here.

EPA Announces First NRS Settlement in Western U.S. Requiring Installation of FGC and SCR

     EPA announced on August 12, 2008, that the Salt River Project Agricultural Improvement and Power District (SRP) has agreed to install and operate flue gas desulfurization devices, known as scrubbers, to control SO₂ at both units and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) controls to limit NO_x at one of the units at its Coronado Generating Station in St. Johns, Arizona. APE and the Department of Justice noted that this is the first settlement ever to secure an SCR retrofit of an existing coal-fired electric generating unit in the Western United States. The controls will reduce combined emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) by over 21,000 tons each year.

     The control requirements are part of the fifteenth settlement negotiated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice to control emissions from coal-fired power plants and are estimated to cost $400 million. IN addition, SRP agreed to pay a $950,000 civil penalty.

     This article was authored by Skipp Kropp, Jackson Kelly PLLC. For more information on the author see here.