Multiple Industries Urge OEHHA To Ease Methanol Prop. 65 Risk Threshold

A variety of industry groups are urging the health hazard office to relax a proposed Proposition 65 "safe harbor" risk level for methanol used in consumer products and workplaces, arguing the limits are much too stringent and not backed by sound science. The groups also argue methanol is found naturally in foods and "background" levels are already commonly found in human blood. The proposed Prop. 65 levels for inhalation and ingestion should be relaxed to ensure that companies are not...

A.G. Action May Change 'Opt-In' Prop. 65 Settlements, Lower Attorney Fees

The attorney general's (AG) office is challenging the amount of fees being sought by plaintiff attorneys in a Proposition 65 lawsuit against a variety of consumer products allegedly containing high-levels of phthalates, a move that could change how commonly used "opt-in" settlements under the law are structured. The AG is objecting to more than $3 million in attorneys fees being sought by plaintiff lawyers in the case, who negotiated a settlement requiring manufacturers to reduce the amount of phthalates found...

Industry, Activists Question Details Of South Coast Draft 2012 Air Plan

Industry groups say a South Coast air district draft plan for meeting federal air quality standards, set to be released July 13, is already drawing opposition and questions because it is expected to lack specifics on proposed emission control measures to be sought in the coming years. District officials developing the draft plan with stakeholders to date have only developed a brief description of control measure "concepts" with little detail on how they will be implemented or what the economic...

Activists Urge Brown To Reject International Forest Credits In Cap & Trade

A coalition of more than 30 activist organizations, including Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace, is urging Gov. Jerry Brown (D) to reject the use of international forest carbon offset credits in the state's greenhouse gas (GHG) cap-and-trade program, arguing the credits lack environmental integrity. The plea from the activists is intended as a preemptive tactic against a group of GHG offset experts created by former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) and the governors of the Mexican state of Chiapas and...

Delay Of ARB Hydrogen-Station Rule Sparks Speculation About Fate

An unexpected delay in the finalization of a controversial air board regulation requiring oil companies to build hydrogen-fueling stations to serve hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles (FCVs) is sparking speculation that board officials may be reconsidering the rules due to pressure from multiple special interests and the promise of a lawsuit by the oil industry. One oil industry source said concerns from a variety of stakeholders, including some Democrats in the Legislature, auto companies and independent hydrogen station builders, could be causing...

Activists Charge Water Board Appointment Reforms May Spur Industry Bias

Environmentalists say they are very disappointed in reforms to the regional water board appointment process that were approved in the state's final budget legislation, including a provision relaxing a disputed rule that aims to prevent those receiving income from regulated entities from serving on the boards. Activists argue that changes to the conflict-of-interest rules for appointments could lead to extreme industry bias in decisions at regional boards. Activists also complain they were not included in any discussion about the reforms...

Activists Bid To Defend Climate NSPS

Environmentalists are seeking to intervene on EPA's behalf to defend the agency's proposed greenhouse gas (GHG) new source performance standards (NSPS) for power plants from an unusual industry lawsuit that takes the rare step of challenging a proposal rather than a final rule. The Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Defense Fund and others filed a July 12 motion in the case, Las Brisas Energy Center, et al. v. EPA, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...

Activists Fight Biomass Permit Deferral

Environmentalists are reiterating their calls for a federal appeals court to scrap EPA's three-year deferral for biomass sources from having to obtain greenhouse gas (GHG) permits, arguing the agency has failed to meet its “heavy burden” for proving why the exemption is necessary. In a July 10 reply brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the deferral suit, the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and other environmental groups says EPA's deferral has...




Activists Float 'Flexible' GHG Reduction Program For Existing Power Plants

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is floating a draft framework for how EPA could reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) from existing power plants with "flexible" measures such as energy efficiency and emissions trading, drawing cautious support from some utilities who warn they must receive credit for GHG cuts already achieved. EPA has proposed a new source performance standard (NSPS) to reduce GHGs from new fossil fuel-fired utilities that limits GHG emissions to a level of 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2)...

EPA Official Downplays Possibility Of New Plants Losing NSPS Exemption

A top EPA air official is downplaying concerns that owners of new coal power plants could lose an exemption from having to meet the agency's pending greenhouse gas (GHG) rule for utilities if activists sue to block the facilities and the litigation delays the new plants' construction beyond the deadline for the exemption. The threat of activist lawsuits over Clean Air Act permits is another potential issue for new coal plant developers eager to use the exemption. The developers recently...

Reviewers Belatedly Question EPA's 'Likely' Cancer Listing For Dioxane

Experts reviewing EPA's draft assessment setting first-time inhalation risks for 1,4-dioxane, a ubiquitous Superfund contaminant, are questioning the agency's already final decision to set the chemical's listing to "likely human carcinogen," raising doubts about prospects for revising the classification. Dioxane has long been a concern in drinking water and at Superfund sites, and in recent years environmentalists and public health groups have questioned its appearance in consumer products like soaps and shampoos. In 2007, the Agency for Toxic Substances &...

Insider -- July 12, 2012

Illinois Pulls GHG Permit Illinois officials have withdrawn a greenhouse gas (GHG) permit for a coal gasification facility after EPA asked the state to reconsider its decision not to require carbon capture technology at the plant: Illinois Pulls Permit To Weigh Novel EPA Call For CCS As GHG Control Option The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) has taken the unusual step of withdrawing its air permit for a proposed coal gasification facility after EPA Region V officials urged the...




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