CEQ Issues Final Guidance On Ensuring NEPA Mitigation Implementation

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) has issued final guidance to ensure that federal agencies and others follow through on their commitments to mitigate adverse environmental impacts identified in National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews. The new guidance is "one of the things that's been missing to move NEPA to the next level," one former CEQ and Army official says. "It is the most important piece of guidance that CEQ has put out in the last 12 to...

Industry Seeks Consistent Standards for UST Compatibility With E15

Tank owner and petroleum industry groups are joining states in asking EPA to remove language in a draft guidance on the compatibility of underground storage tanks (USTs) with ethanol fuel blends greater than 10 percent (E10) that would provide states wide flexibility in the methods used to determine if a tank system can safely hold the fuel. Industry says that allowing certification options other than a manufacturer's guarantee or a nationally recognized third party would create a "patchwork" of standards...

Strategic Management Plan Update Adds Export Control, Energy Goals

The Defense Department recently released an updated version of its Strategic Management Plan (SMP) that overhauls a number of its initiatives and performance measures to align them more closely with the objectives of the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR). Among the objectives are to boost energy efficiencies within DOD. Signed by Deputy Chief Management Officer Elizabeth McGrath on Dec. 30, the new plan also updates supporting objectives, measures and initiatives based on lessons learned and further aligns the military departments'...

Ethanol Industry Readies Major Hill Push For Fueling Infrastructure Plan

The ethanol industry is readying a major lobbying push in the divided 112th Congress to gain support for its call to phase out a criticized ethanol blending subsidy and replace it with federal support for an ethanol fueling infrastructure plan, saying the proposal would meet GOP goals of cutting subsidies and promoting job growth, sources say. While proponents say the "Fueling Freedom" plan for promoting biofuels infrastructure could gain support from Republican lawmakers because it would create jobs, conservative policy...

After Missed Deadline, Congress Awaits DOD's Operational Energy Strategy

The Defense Department's first official operational energy strategy has not yet reached Congress despite an initial deadline of Dec. 21, 2010, according to congressional and Pentagon sources. The strategy will outline a framework and goals for the office of DOD's Director of Operational Energy Plans and Programs (DOEPP), established October 2009. Sharon Burke was named the director last June. "The office [DOEPP] requested additional time given the importance of it and we're OK with that," a congressional source says. "We...

Industry Mulls GOP Scrutiny For EPA Toxics Policies But Fears Budget Cuts

The chemical industry is considering whether to ask GOP lawmakers to scrutinize a number of EPA programs affecting the sector, such as new reporting requirements, but may also urge Congress not to cut the agency's budget, fearing that decreased funding would further delay needed chemical reviews, industry sources say. Observers are doubtful that Congress will take up broad reforms to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) any time soon, spurring industry to consider taking a narrower set of issues to...

State Bid For Lower Mercury Permit Trigger May Expand MACT Rules' Reach

State environmental officials are urging EPA to dramatically lower the threshold for imposing strict maximum achievable control technology (MACT) requirements to cut mercury emissions, a change that could expand mercury MACT controls to a broader range of industry sectors and prompt calls to lower thresholds for other toxics such as dioxin. A lower threshold could require EPA to regulate smaller sources of mercury that currently do not exceed the threshold of being a Clean Air Act "major" mercury source -...

As Interim Step, States May Push EPA To Implement Bush Ozone Standard

State air regulators in the Northeast and elsewhere are raising concern over EPA's recent delay in issuing a revised ozone national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) and may soon push the agency to fully implement the contested Bush EPA standard released in 2008 rather than wait for EPA to issue and implement a new standard. EPA has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to grant it permission to extend the release date for the...

EPA May Delay Additional Rulemakings To Cope With Possible Budget Cuts

Even as it moves to delay major rules addressing ozone standards and industrial boilers, EPA may seek to delay additional measures to cope with likely cuts to its budget from the Republican-controlled House, the agency's top air official says, and is asking for more breathing room from litigants suing to enforce deadlines for issuance of rules. Gina McCarthy, head of EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, told the agency's Clean Air Act Advisory Committee (CAAAC) at a meeting in Arlington,...

Rockefeller Wants Vote To Stall EPA GHG Rules Before Spending Law Ends

Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) says he will push for the Senate to vote on his proposal to delay by two years EPA's greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations before the continuing resolution (CR) funding the government expires March 4, fearing that its expiration will provide House Republicans with an opportunity to undercut the agency's authority more drastically than he would like to see. At the same time some moderate Senate Democrats are balking at Rockefeller's proposal to block GHG stationary source regulations...

Failed Talks Leave It Up To Court To Rule On GHG Limits For Stalled Permits

EPA and backers of a planned power plant have failed to reach agreement on a schedule for the agency to issue a long-delayed air permit for the facility, leaving it up to a federal court to rule on the potentially precedent-setting question of whether regulators can set permit limits on greenhouse gas (GHG) and other pollutants that are regulated after the permits were first sought but before they were issued. The developers of the proposed California Avenal Power Center, LLC...

EPA's 3-Year GHG Waiver For Biomass Prompts Fears Of Permit Delays

EPA has decided to give biomass-powered facilities a three-year exemption from greenhouse gas (GHG) permit requirements while the agency writes a formal policy for how biomass GHGs should be counted in permits - a move that is raising fears that some permits could be delayed until the policy is completed. The decision reverses a controversial position EPA took last year to require permits for biomass emissions when the GHG control requirements kicked in on Jan. 2 of this year. The...

Jackson Reaches Out To Key GOP Lawmaker On Appropriations Riders

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson is wasting no time reaching out to newly empowered House Republicans, meeting with a key GOP lawmaker to discuss a series of appropriations riders addressing agency policies on greenhouse gas (GHG) controls, ozone standards, clean water requirements and pesticide labels. In a meeting sought by the administrator, Jackson met Jan. 7 with Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH), a member of the Appropriations Committee who in the last Congress offered several failed amendments aimed at EPA rules that...

Boxer Vows To 'Stand Guard' To Defend EPA Air Rules From GOP Attack

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), chair of the Senate Environment & Public Works (EPW) Committee, says she will "stand guard" against attacks from the Republican-controlled House on EPA carbon and other rules, while doing "everything short of" passing a comprehensive climate bill to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Other priorities for the environment panel in the new session include pushing for first-time national standards for toxic chemicals in drinking water and developing a national response plan for cancer clusters, Boxer said...

Industry Desire For Regulatory Certainty May Blunt GOP Assault On EPA

A desire for regulatory certainty from EPA rules could prompt industry to try to soften an expected attack on agency regulations by conservative lawmakers in the divided 112th Congress - especially those with vocal Tea Party support - due to fears that excessive limits on EPA could drive costly regulatory uncertainty, industry sources say. EPA was a prime target for election-year GOP attacks, which highlighted its economic impact while also questioning the broader justification for many of its efforts, especially...

Hill Pushback May Spur Obama Focus On Executive Orders For EPA Goals

Opposition to new EPA rules from Republicans in the divided 112th Congress is likely to make it difficult to advance new environmental legislation, so the Obama administration may increasingly use executive orders (E.O.) and other presidential authority to advance key EPA goals, sources say. Other key activist sources have indicated that executive-level action to advance clean energy issues is expected in the face of opposition and increased scrutiny from the Republican-led House. Activists and other groups that favor stronger environmental...

GOP Sharpens Three-Pronged Legislative Strategy To Overturn EPA Rules

The new House Republican majority in the 112th Congress is crafting a three-pronged strategy to challenge what it sees as costly EPA regulations, planning a series of Congressional Review Act (CRA) votes to undo rules, proposed spending cuts to prevent the implementation of regulations, and aggressive oversight to highlight rules' costs, sources say. Rep. John Carter (R-TX), secretary of the House GOP Conference, will lead efforts to move CRA resolutions that require a majority vote in both chambers to disapprove...

Bill Calls On Federal Agencies To Reduce Smog By Lowering Urban Heat

A Virginia congressman has introduced legislation that calls on federal facilities to take actions aimed at lowering temperatures around urban areas in order to help reduce smog, calling for the installation of "cool" roofs with high solar reflectivity and an increase in tree cover on federal property. The legislation, introduced Jan. 5 - the first day of the 112th Congress - by Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), is aimed at areas determined to be not in attainment for meeting Clean Air...

Senators Urge DOD To Increase Protections For Personnel Near Burn Pits

Two Democratic senators are pressing Defense Secretary Robert Gates to provide protective respirator masks to all troops working near open-air burn pits used in contingency operations, citing the toxic fumes from the pits that they say are making personnel sick, and in some cases, leading to deaths. Sens. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) wrote to Gates Jan. 5, making the appeal for respirators, citing the recent death of an Army sergeant due to cancer that the Department...

California Proposes Stricter Drinking Water Goal For Perchlorate

California's health hazard office is proposing a tighter new drinking water public health goal (PHG) for the controversial rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate, of 1 part per billion (ppb), stricter than the state's existing standard of 6 ppb, which could lead to stricter cleanup standards at contaminated sites. The Golden State's Jan. 7 announcement comes a day after Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) announced that she intends to keep pushing for a federal drinking water standard...

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