daily environment report · cleanup pilot program urged for western mining waste regulatory...
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H I G H L I G H T S
Second Circuit Affirms New York Fracking Lease DecisionA federal appeals court upholds a decision that allowed leases between land-owners and oil and gas companies to expire following New York’s state banon hydraulic fracturing. The Second Circuit rules that a federal district court’sMarch 31 decision in favor of landowners was correct, affirming the lowercourt’s opinion that ‘force majeure’ provisions in oil and gas leases did notserve to extend the leases’ terms. The case affects leases between more than30 landowners in Tioga County, N.Y., and three energy companies—InflectionEnergy LLC of Denver, Victory Energy Corp. of Austin, Texas, and Megaen-ergy Inc. of Ithaca, N.Y. A-1
Scholars Model Climate ‘Protocols’ for NEPA ReviewsFederal agencies have begun to address climate change considerations whenreviewing the environmental impacts of projects but lack consistent guidelinesfor assessing those impacts, legal scholars say in a pair of reports outliningmodel protocols that could standardize the review process. While the WhiteHouse Council on Environmental Quality has directed agencies to incorporateclimate change impacts into the National Environmental Policy Act reviewprocess, the draft guidance does not provide reviewers with detailed instruc-tions for how to conduct that assessment, one report says. A-7
EPA Lists Pharmaceuticals That May Qualify as Hazardous WasteThe EPA has identified and reviewed existing pharmaceuticals that mayqualify as hazardous waste, the agency’s inspector general says in a report.The agency also has established a process to review new pharmaceuticals todetermine if they qualify for regulation as hazardous waste as it develops arule to streamline the management of hazardous and nonhazardous pharma-ceuticals, according to the report. Both actions were recommended by the in-spector general three years ago. A-6
BNA Insights: Consumer Protection Needed in Clean Energy EraThe clean energy industry is taking off, with thousands of photovoltaic sys-tems and small wind turbines installed at homes and businesses each year.But customers need solid information before they make these purchases, andthey need to know they are dealing with reputable and competent vendors andcontractors, Warren Leon, an adjunct professor at Brandeis InternationalBusiness School, writes in this Bloomberg BNA Insights article. Currently,there are no national standards for equipment and system installers, andstates are taking the lead in protecting consumer interests, Leon says. B-1
Cleanup Pilot Program Urged for Western Mining WasteRegulatory constraints inhibit the cleanup of abandoned mines that could spillwastewater and sediments into creeks and rivers throughout the Westernstates, Rep. Tipton tells the Colorado Water Congress conference. In the wakeof a 3 million-gallon wastewater spill at the Gold King Mine, Tipton urges
A L S O I N T H E N E W S
CLIMATE CHANGE: July was theworld’s warmest month inrecords going back to 1880, theNational Centers for Environ-mental Information says. Com-bined land and sea temperatureswere 1.46 degrees Fahrenheit(0.81 Celsius) above the 20thcentury average, according to astatement from the center inAsheville, N.C. In addition to set-ting a record for July, the firstseven months of 2015 were thewarmest ever, breaking themark set in 2010. A-4
ENDANGERED SPECIES: The num-bers of male greater sage grousein the West have rebounded‘‘significantly’’ from a recent lowin 2013, says the Western Asso-ciation of Fish and WildlifeAgencies. The number of malescounted on leks, or traditionalmating areas, has increased by63 percent since 2013, the asso-ciation says in a report. A-6
W E B I N A R
EMISSIONS TRADING: BloombergBNA presents a webinar Sept.25, ‘‘Don’t Skip the Credits: TheOft-Overlooked Importance ofAir Emission Credits in Mergersand Acquisitions,’’ with MichaelScott Feeley and Aron Potash,of Latham & Watkins. CLE andCPE credits are available. Infor-mation is available at http://www.bna.com/ dont-skip-credits-m17179933676/.
VOL. 15, NO. 162 FRIDAY, AUGUST 21, 2015
COPYRIGHT � 2015 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC. ISSN 1060-2976
Daily Environment Report™
H I G H L I G H T S
Continued from previous page
Congress to approve a pilot project in Colorado to remediate and clean upwaste associated with inactive and abandoned mines. A-10
Railcar Company Can’t Pursue Tort Claim for Cleanup Failure in MissouriA company that bought a contaminated site on the condition that the sellerwould conduct a cleanup can’t pursue a tort claim against the seller for fur-ther contaminating the property, the U.S. District Court for the Western Dis-trict of Missouri rules in a case involving Mile Rail LLC, a railcar cleaning andrepair company, and Compass Big Blue LLC. A-9
EPA Inspector General Finds No Interference in FOIA ProcessThere is no evidence that political appointees from the Obama administrationinterfere with or in any way influence the handling of Freedom of InformationAct requests, the EPA inspector general says in a report. The report concludesthat any delays in handling of FOIA requests were due to the volume and com-plexity of information involved. A-1
Breast-Fed Infants Exposed to Heat-Resistant Chemicals: StudyA class of persistent chemicals linked with decreased immune function, can-cer and other health problems builds up in breast-fed infants to surprising lev-els, according to a new study. The study provides new information about theamounts of five perfluorinated alkylates—including perfluorooctane sulfonateand perfluorooctanoic acid—that build up through breastfeeding. A-2
One-Fifth of California Drought Attributed to Climate ChangeCalifornia can blame about one-fifth of the state’s record drought on climatechange, according to a study to be published in the journal Geophysical Re-search Letters. Underground water supplies have been evaporating fasterthan they would have without the higher temperatures caused by greenhousegas emissions, the study says. A-5
Water Scarcity Predicted to Increase Potable Reuse of WastewaterDriven by water scarcity from drought and increased demand, the daily po-table reuse of reclaimed municipal wastewater in the U.S. could be as muchas 2.5 million cubic meters greater in 2025 than now, according to a Boston-based consultancy. Total municipal wastewater reuse capacity is expected toincrease by 10.1 million cubic meters per day by 2025, up about 61 percentfrom the current reuse capacity of 8.3 million cubic meters daily. A-9
New Orleans, Anchorage in Climate Resilience Pilot ProgramNew Orleans and Anchorage, Alaska, are among 10 cities selected by theObama administration for a new AmeriCorps program focused on building re-silience in communities especially vulnerable to the impacts of climatechange. Projects will range from installing microgrids to setting up lines ofsupport for residents who may need extra help in an emergency, such as theelderly and disabled. President Obama plans to visit New Orleans and Anchor-age before the end of August and focus on the effects of climate change inboth places. A-4
Northern Pass Amends Transmission Line Proposal for New HampshireNorthern Pass Transmission LLC alters its 187-mile, high-voltage transmis-sion line project to have less of an impact on scenic areas of New Hampshire,officials announce. The project involves a transmission line that would carry1,200 megawatts of hydropower from Quebec to the New England energygrid, and it has met with significant opposition from the New Hampshire pub-lic and officials. Critics point to the project’s effect on the scenery of the WhiteMountain National Forest. A-11
2 (No. 162)
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Daily Environment Report
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News / Page A-1
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N E W S
AIR POLLUTION Sulfur dioxide data rule effectiveSept. 21 ............................................................. A-11
CHEMICALS Breast-fed infants exposed to heat-resistant chemicals ................................................ A-2
CLIMATE CHANGE July warmest month on record,environmental data show ....................................... A-4
New Orleans, Anchorage in climate resilience pilot..... A-4
One-fifth of California drought attributed to climate.... A-5
CLIMATE REGULATION Scholars model climate‘protocols’ for NEPA reviews .................................. A-7
ENDANGERED SPECIES Greater sage grouse numbersup, Western agencies say ....................................... A-6
ENERGY Canada grants permits for Nova Scotia LNGprojects ............................................................. A-11
Northern Pass amends transmission line proposal..... A-11
EPA Report says no interference found in FOIAprocess ............................................................... A-1
HAZARDOUS WASTE EPA lists existing hazardouswaste drugs, OIG says ........................................... A-6
Mile Rail can’t pursue tort claim for cleanup failure .... A-9
HYDRAULIC FRACTURING Anti-fracking forces sueOhio secretary of state ......................................... A-11
Second Circuit affirms New York fracking leasedecision .............................................................. A-1
NATURAL GAS Western gas market shrinks asEastern supplies expand ........................................ A-8
RENEWABLE ENERGY SunEdison solar farm price-competitive with natural gas ................................... A-5
SUPERFUND EPA deletes Hancock County, Ky., sitefrom NPL ........................................................... A-11
TOXIC SUBSTANCES South Korea to regulate moresubstances in toys ................................................. A-7
WATER POLLUTION Cleanup pilot program urged forWestern mining waste ......................................... A-10
Federal action needed to deal with feedlot waste ........ A-3
Scarcity to increase U.S. potable water reuse ............. A-9
B N A I N S I G H T S
RENEWABLE ENERGY Consumer protection: a newera for clean energy .............................................. B-1
R E G U L AT O R Y A G E N D A
COMMENT DEADLINES Due dates for comments onpending rules and other actions .............................. D-7
AUGUST 21 FEDERAL REGISTER Entries from today’stable of contents ................................................... D-1
AUGUST 20 FEDERAL REGISTER Previous day’s entrieswith page citations ................................................ D-5
TA B L E O F C A S E S
Beardslee v. Inflection Energy LLC (2d. Cir.) ............ A-1
Mile Rail LLC v. Compass Big Blue LLC (W.D. Mo.) ... A-9
Ohio ex rel v. Husted (Ohio) ................................. A-11
Documents AvailableCopies of documents referenced in this issue
are available for a fee ($27 for up to 200 pages)from Research & Custom Solutions. To order,call 800 372-1033; fax 703 341-1643; or [email protected].
(No. 162) 3
InThis Issue
DAILY ENVIRONMENT REPORT ISSN 1060-2976 BNA 8-21-15
NewsHydraulic Fracturing
Second Circuit Affirms Decision AllowingFracking Leases in New York to Expire
A federal appeals court has upheld a decision that al-lowed leases between landowners and oil and gascompanies to expire following New York’s effec-
tive state ban on hydraulic fracturing (Beardslee v. In-flection Energy LLC, 2d. Cir., No. 12-4897-cv, 8/19/15).
The U.S. Court of the Appeals for the Second Circuitruled that a federal district court’s March 31 decision infavor of landowners was correct, affirming the court’sopinion that ‘force majeure’ provisions in oil and gasleases did not serve to extend the leases’ terms.
The case affects leases between more than 30 land-owners in Tioga County, N.Y., and three energy compa-nies: Inflection Energy LLC of Denver, Victory EnergyCorp. of Austin, Texas, and Megaenergy Inc. of Ithaca,N.Y.
‘‘My clients are very pleased with the decision,’’ saidRobert R. Jones of Coughlin & Gerhart LLP, who repre-sented the landowners. ‘‘This should be the end of thecase as far as we’re concerned.’’
The ongoing litigation had made it difficult for land-owners to refinance or sell their properties becausethey were ‘‘encumbered by these oil and gas leases,’’which expired in 2012 because there had been no oil orgas production for 10 years, Jones told Bloomberg BNAAug. 20. Now they are finally ‘‘out from under these en-cumbrances.’’
Force Majeure. The landowners sued in federal courtin 2012 after the energy companies tried to extend theleases beyond their initial five-year terms. Landownersmaintained their leases had expired. The companies ar-gued that the state’s ban on fracking caused drilling de-lays and triggered ‘‘force majeure’’ provisions in theleases, thus changing the leases’ ‘‘habendum’’ clausesand extending the terms of the leases.
Force majeure is a legal term that refers to eventsthat occur outside the control of the parties of a con-tract, such as an act of God. The habendum clause gen-erally sets the duration of a lease.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District ofNew York ruled in favor of the landowners that theleases had expired (152 DEN A-10, 8/7/14).
Upon the industry’s appeal, the federal court on July31, 2014, called on the New York State Court of Appealsto decide two questions: whether New York’s morato-rium on hydraulic fracturing was a force majeure event,and whether the force majeure clause modified that ha-bendum clause to extend the lease’s primary terms.
New York’s highest court ruled on March 31 thatforce majeure could not extend the primary term of thelease, while declining to rule on the question of whetherfracking constituted a force majeure event. The court
said the question had become ‘‘academic’’ given thatforce majeure did not force an extension of the lease.
The energy companies asked for the New York Courtof Appeals to reconsider its decision and were denied.
Case Closed. The Aug. 19 opinion affirmed the districtcourt’s decision and reasoning, effectively closing thecase.
Thomas S. West of the West Firm PLLC, who repre-sented Inflection Energy, told Bloomberg BNA in aphone call Aug. 20 that the court’s decision ‘‘was theend of the line’’ for the case and that the energy compa-nies would not try to take the case to the U.S. SupremeCourt.
West said the case centered on ‘‘pretty straightfor-ward contract language’’ and the courts’ interpretationabout the force majeure provisions was ‘‘unique andhard to accept.’’
‘‘It just demonstrates that it’s hard for the oil and gasindustry to get a fair shake in New York,’’ he said.
BY LESLIE A. PAPPAS
To contact the reporter on this story: Leslie A. Pappasin Philadelphia at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit’sopinion in Beardslee v. Inflection Energy LLC is avail-able at http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/Beardslee_v_Inflection_Energy_LLC_Docket_No_1204897_2d_Cir_Dec_17/1.
EPA
EPA Political Appointees Do Not InterfereWith FOIA Process, Inspector General Finds
T here is no evidence political appointees from Presi-dent Barack Obama’s administration interfere withor in any way influence the handling of Freedom of
Information Act (FOIA) requests, according to the EPAOffice of Inspector General.
The report, requested by a member of the SenateHomeland Security and Governmental Affairs Commit-tee, concluded any delays in handling of FOIA requestswere due to the volume and complexity of informationinvolved.
Political appointees were generally only involved inthe FOIA process when their own records were re-quested, the report said. An employee tasked with han-dling FOIA requests told the Office of Inspector Generalhe had never been told how to respond in more than 11years.
‘‘We did not find any indications of political interfer-ence or delay in the release of FOIA documents,’’ the re-port said.
The lawmaker who sought the report asked the headEPA official in charge of the FOIA process to certify
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that no political appointees were involved in how re-quests were handled or, if any were involved, that theirpresence did not delay record releases or alter whatdocuments were disclosed.
Certification Not ‘Feasible.’ EPA’s head FOIA officialsaid the certification request was not ‘‘feasible’’ be-cause political appointees had responsibilities to pro-vide responsive records like all other employees. Theofficial noted an earlier 2011 OIG report found a rolefor administration appointees in the process, but it saidthe officials were ‘‘not involved in filtering FOIA re-quests.’’
The Senate Homeland Security and GovernmentalAffairs Committee did not respond to request for com-ment.
According to the inspector general, the lawmaker re-quested the report in late June and asked for a reportwithin 60 days.
The agency’s handling of FOIA requests has comeunder fire multiple times in recent months. A federaljudge scolded the EPA in March for its ‘‘continued dis-regard’’ for its obligations under the records act andsaid the agency’s treatment of a conservative group’srequest left ‘‘far too much room for a reasonable ob-server to suspect misconduct’’ (41 DEN A-2, 3/3/15).
BY ANTHONY ADRAGNA
To contact the reporter on this story: AnthonyAdragna in Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
The report (No. 15-N-0261) on the FOIA process at theEPA is available at http://1.usa.gov/1J7SeIx.
Chemicals
Breastfeeding Exposes InfantsTo Perfluorinated Chemicals, Study Finds
A class of persistent chemicals linked with de-creased immune function, cancer and other healthproblems builds up in breast-fed infants to surpris-
ing levels, according to the lead investigator of a studypublished Aug. 20.
Scientists knew small amounts of perfluorinated al-kylates can occur in breast milk, lead investigatorPhilippe Grandjean, adjunct professor at the HarvardSchool of Public Health, told Bloomberg BNA Aug. 19.The study provides new information about the amountsof five of these chemicals that build up through breast-feeding, he said.
If a baby is exclusively fed breast milk for six monthsas recommended the concentrations of one of thechemicals—perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS)—shootsup four times higher than it did in babies who are notbreast fed, Grandjean said. ‘‘We were surprised.’’
Production Stopped; Exposure Continues. 3M and Du-Pont have stopped making PFOS and another chemicalmeasured in the study—perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
The chemicals remain a concern, however, becausethey are extremely persistent in the environment andresistant to typical environmental degradation pro-cesses, and because they are linked with a variety ofhealth problems in human and laboratory animal stud-
ies, according to a fact sheet from the EnvironmentalProtection Agency.
PFOS and PFOA have been detected in surface waterserving a number of U.S. cities and in sediments down-stream of former fluorochemical production facilities.They also are found in wastewater treatment plant ef-fluent, sewage sludge and landfill leachate, the EPAsaid.
Thus exposures continue even though U.S. manufac-ture of the chemicals has ceased.
In conversations with chemical regulators, Grandjeansaid he also has been told that manufacture of thechemicals has increased in India and China.
‘‘Two cornerstones of public health are breastfeedingand vaccinations. Both are crucial to give the next gen-eration its best start in life,’’ Grandjean said.
At least three previous studies have found exposureto these chemicals makes vaccines less effective. Thatpossibility is concerning, Grandjean said.
‘‘I’m a physician. I’m trying to prevent disease,’’ hesaid.
Grandjean discussed a study called ‘‘Breastfeeding asan Exposure Pathway for Perfluorinated Alkylates,’’which was published online in Environmental Science& Technology, a peer reviewed journal published by theAmerican Chemical Society.
Chemical Class Widely Used. The study examines lev-els of five perfluorinated alkylates, including PFOS andPFOA.
Perfluorinated alkylates have been used for decadesto make chemicals that make industrial, aerospace andconsumer products heat, corrosion, stain and grease re-sistant. Uses of the chemicals include the production ofaviation hydraulic fluids, fire fighting foams, metal plat-ing, coatings for wiring and for electronic equipment,and stain-resistant carpets and textiles.
The perfluorinated alkylates remain in the bodythrough a mechanism that differs in a key way fromother persistent pollutants. Traditionally, persistent or-ganic pollutants or POPS, such as the 12 original onesbanned under the Stockholm convention, persist byclinging to fat.
Perfluorinated alkylates cling to proteins, such as theproteins in blood.
The chemicals appear to pass from mothers to theirbreastfeeding babies through protein in their milk,Grandjean said.
NTP Currently Focused on Hazard, Not Exposure. Theexposure study was published one week after the Na-tional Toxicology Program requested information aboutongoing or recently completed studies about whetherPFOS and PFOA harm the immune system for an evalu-ation it will conduct (158 DEN A-14, 8/17/15).
Kris Thayer, director of NTP’s Office of Health As-sessment and Translation, which is conducting thePFOS and PFOA analysis, said exposure research suchas Grandjean’s breastfeeding study would supplementthe information NTP is gathering.
Exposure data, however, are not directly relevant tothe analysis the program will initially conduct, she said.
NTP is focused on determining whether these chemi-cals can harm the immune system, or focused on theirhazard, she said.
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Down the road, the program may be interested inboth hazard and exposure data, but Thayer said there isno timeline for that possible next phase of the analysis.
BY PAT RIZZUTO
To contact the reporter on this story: Pat Rizzuto inWashington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
An abstract of ‘‘Breastfeeding as an Exposure Path-way for Perfluorinated Alkylates’’ is available at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.5b02237, whichhas information about purchasing the entire study.
Water Pollution
Federal Action Needed to Control WasteFrom Feedlots, North Carolina Residents Say
R ene Miller grew up on a seven-acre slip of DuplinCounty, N.C., where her mother, Daisy, raisedcorn, chickens, and hogs.
Now, what was a neighbor’s tobacco farm across thenarrow two-lane road is a field where a giant sprinklersprays waste from an industrial hog-raising operationonto whatever happens to be planted there-corn, hay,soybeans. The force of the liquefied manure is so strongit splatters the street sign Miller installed to mark DaisyMiller Lane.
‘‘I can’t go out in my yard to watch the cars go by. Ican’t put my clothes out on the line,’’ she says. ‘‘Itstinks.’’
Duplin County has the nation’s highest concentrationof industrial hog farms, with about 2 million pigs and60,000 people. Environmental groups estimate thestate’s 8 million hogs produce about 14 billion gallonsof waste a year. Nationally, according to the most re-cent report by the Environmental Protection Agency,feedlots for cattle, dairy cows, hogs and poultry pro-duce 300 million tons of manure a year.
The problem is how to dispose of it.In the swine facilities, hogs in groups of more than 20
are put into stalls with slats in the floor. Their feces andurine go through the openings and out pipes into open-air lagoons that can hold 180 days worth of waste. Theindustry says the holdings allow bacteria to break downthe waste and gobble up pathogens. In its ideal state,the wastewater becomes free fertilizer for adjoiningcrop fields.
Nutrient Loading. ‘‘The application of waste is some-thing that’s become more and more popular because it’srecycling,’’ says Kraig Westerbeek, who oversees envi-ronmental compliance at Smithfield Foods, the world’slargest hog producer and pork processor, which hascontract farms and packing operations in North Caro-lina.
Yet nutrient-rich runoff from spray fields such as theone across from Miller’s farm also nurtures algaeblooms that choke rivers by depleting them of oxygen.North Carolina has seen blooms in the Cape Fear Riverand fish kills in the Neuse River since hog feedlotsmoved in 30 years ago. The farms ‘‘are inarguably thebiggest source of nutrients to the coastal region,’’ saysLarry Cahoon, a University of North Carolina at Wilm-ington professor who studies water quality in the Cape
Fear River. ‘‘Are the creeks and streams showing the ef-fects of nutrient loading? Yes.’’
In 2010, after being sued by the Waterkeeper Allianceand other environmental groups, the EPA pledged to re-consider a rule issued during the George W. Bush ad-ministration exempting feedlots from having to disclosehazardous emissions to the agency and the public. Fiveyears later, the EPA hasn’t done anything about it. OnJuly 13 agency lawyers went back to court and said theregulations wouldn’t be changed after all.
The Obama administration had early on signaled adifferent approach. Lisa Jackson, Obama’s first EPAchief, pledged to crack down on water violations andmake public more information about problems. (Jack-son now oversees environmental initiatives at Apple.)(105 DEN A-15, 6/3/10).
The president’s first appointee to oversee the agen-cy’s water quality office had been Nancy Stoner, an en-vironmental attorney who’d sued the EPA to win tighterregulations on animal feedlots. Stoner left the EPA in2014 to become director of water programs for the Pi-sces Foundation. She declined to comment.
Focus on Highest-Impact Cases. The EPA says it’s fo-cusing on taking action against livestock producers thatbreak the rules. ‘‘We are committed to civil and crimi-nal enforcement for the cases that have the highest im-pact on protecting public health and the environment,’’Liz Purchia, an EPA spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.‘‘At the same time, we’re providing states with guidanceand resources to help them.’’
Former EPA officials say the agency faces a hostileCongress urging it to go easy on the animal farms. Bud-get cuts also have constrained its ability to act. The EPAis also preoccupied with implementing carbon emis-sions rules, a top White House priority before Obamaleaves office. Agency data show that its inspections andfines of feedlots, known as concentrated animal feedingoperations (CAFOs), dropped to a seven-year low lastyear, with 26 enforcement actions compared with 71 in2008. A study of animal air pollution has dragged on fordecade. While the study continues, thousands of CAFOscontinue under a safe-harbor accord guaranteeing theywon’t face any fines from the EPA for air pollution (240DEN A-12, 12/15/08).
USGS Study. In June, the U.S. Geological Survey pub-lished a study on nutrient and pollution levels instreams near hog operations, comparing them withthose far from feedlots. ‘‘Land applications of wastemanure at swine CAFOs influenced ion and nutrientchemistry in many of the North Carolina Coastal Plainstreams that were studied,’’ the researchers concluded.In other words: CAFOs polluted the water.
The North Carolina Pork Council disputes those find-ings and commissioned its own analysis of the USGSdata, concluding that soil type, not the number of hogs,determined the amount of nutrients reaching streams.
Hard to Keep Up With Waste. For farmers, keeping upwith the constant flood of waste is an issue. The Water-keeper Alliance has documented hog farmers sprayingon fallow and frozen fields and even on cattle as theygrazed. Spraying also occurs on rainy days, despiteregulations that are supposed to limit spraying duringwet periods, when more effluent washes into water-ways.
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‘‘What they can put on the fields depends on averagerainfall,’’ says Rick Dove, a longtime Waterkeeper ac-tivist who’s been tussling with hog farmers for decadesalong the Neuse River, which runs through the heart ofNorth Carolina hog country before emptying into thePamlico Sound.
The expansion of North Carolina’s poultry industry isadding to environmental hazards. While the total num-ber of hog lagoons has been capped since the late1990s, chicken production has grown by more than 42percent to 795 million birds last year from 559 millionin 1992. From a small airplane above Duplin County,it’s easy to spot the long, metal-roofed buildings forchickens. Poultry doesn’t produce as much liquidwaste, but its litter is also spread on fields and can re-lease nitrogen into groundwater or waterways.
EPA Involvement Needed. Residents say they don’tthink anything will change without the federal govern-ment’s involvement. ‘‘EPA needs to do what it shoulddo, because we’re living with this on our land,’’ says El-sie Herring, who lives in Wallace, N.C., next to a fieldwhere the liquefied manure is sprayed.
Former regulators say it’s much harder to deal withagricultural runoff than factories. ‘‘The idea of treatinga farm like a DuPont chemical plant is not good govern-ment or good business,’’ says Sally Shaver, a formerEPA official who consults with the hog industry on en-vironmental issues. ‘‘I don’t think there would be prob-lems if these things didn’t stink.’’
The bottom line: The federal government hasn’tmade progress on promises to reduce the environmen-tal impact of animal feedlots.
BY MARK DRAJEM
To contact the author on this story: Mark Drajem inWashington at [email protected]
To contact the editor on this story: Allison Hoffmanat [email protected]
�2015 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used withpermission
Climate Change
July Earth’s Warmest Month on Record,Dating to 1880, Environmental Data Show
J uly was the world’s warmest month ever in recordsgoing back to 1880, the National Centers for Envi-ronmental Information said.
Combined land and sea temperatures were 1.46 de-grees Fahrenheit (0.81 Celsius) above the 20th centuryaverage, according to a statement from the center inAsheville, N.C. The monthly average temperature brokethe mark set in 1998 by 0.14 degree.
‘‘As July is climatologically the warmest month forthe year, this was also the all-time highest monthly tem-perature in the 1880-2015 record,’’ the center said.
In addition to setting a record for July, the first sevenmonths of 2015 were the warmest ever, breaking themark set in 2010. Last year holds the current record forthe hottest 12 months.
The continually rising temperatures seen since thestart of the 21st century should dispel any idea thatthere has been a hiatus in global warming, Jessica
Blunden, a climatologist at the center, said in a confer-ence call with reporters.
‘‘There isn’t a pause,’’ Blunden said. ‘‘Temperatureshave been increasing. There really, truly isn’t a pause.’’
There is natural variability in temperatures from yearto year, but the overall trend is up, she said. Critics whodispute climate change science have said that the climbin world temperatures leveled off since 1998.
Record Year. Blunden said she is ‘‘99 percent’’ sure2015 will be the hottest year on record. The only waythat won’t happen is if the oceans cool significantly, andthat isn’t likely, she said.
The temperatures are sending the world a messagethat it is time to start looking at how to deal with thewarmer planet, said Jake Crouch, a physical scientist atthe center.
‘‘It’s reaffirming what we already know: The world iswarming,’’ Crouch said. ‘‘It’s time for us to start look-ing at what are the impacts of that.’’
The center’s monthly analysis showed Austria had itswarmest July in records going back to 1767, Crouchsaid. The average temperature there was 4.9 degreeshigher than the mark set in 2006.
Heat waves also gripped parts of the U.K., the Neth-erlands, Sweden and France, which experienced itsthird-hottest July.
In the Arctic, sea ice for July was 350,000 squaremiles, or the eighth-smallest extent since records beganin 1979. Conversely, in Antarctica, where it is winter,sea ice grew to its fourth-largest mass ever.
BY BRIAN K. SULLIVAN
To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sulli-van in Boston at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LynnDoan at [email protected]
�2015 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used withpermission
Climate Change
New Orleans, Anchorage Among 10 CitiesIn New AmeriCorps Resilience Program
N ew Orleans and Anchorage, Alaska—both ofwhich will play host to the president in August—were among 10 cities selected by the Obama ad-
ministration Aug. 20 for a new AmeriCorps program fo-cused on building resilience in communities especiallyvulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
First, on Aug. 27, President Barack Obama will markthe 10-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina in NewOrleans, where AmeriCorps members will soon be de-ployed in neighborhoods with high environmental riskand high percentages of poverty. When Katrina hit thecity in 2005, it was low-income, low-lying neighbor-hoods such as those in the lower Ninth Ward that borethe brunt of the pain, while more affluent residents inthe Garden District and other areas outside the floodplain were better protected from the storm (132 DENA-4, 7/10/15).
On Aug. 31, as part of a multi-day tour of the AlaskanArctic, Obama will highlight the consequences of rapidwarming in Anchorage, where resilience efforts will fo-
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cus on ways to help the city contend with high food andenergy costs (157 DEN A-3, 8/14/15).
AmeriCorps will also help Boulder, Colo.; Chicago; ElPaso, Texas; Minot, N.D.; Norfolk, Va.; Phoenix; Pitts-burgh; and Tulsa, Okla., brace against flooding, sealevel rise, extreme heat, wildfires and other threats.
Projects will range from installing microgrids to set-ting up lines of support for residents who may need ex-tra help in an emergency, such as the elderly and dis-abled.
The idea for the program came from talks betweenadministration officials and a task force of state, localand tribal leaders who, over the course of a year, sug-gested ways the federal government could better servetheir needs when it comes to dealing with climatechange (222 DEN A-2, 11/18/14).
The winning cities were selected by three federalagencies and the Corporation for National CommunityService, which administers AmeriCorps, in partnershipwith the Rockefeller Foundation and Cities of Service.
BY ANDREA VITTORIO
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrea Vittorioin Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
More information on the cities selected for the Ameri-Corps resilience program is available at https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/08/19/resilience-americorps-announces-ten-cities-its-pilot-program-support.
Climate Change
Climate Change Accounts for One-FifthOf California Drought Woes, Study Finds
C alifornia can blame about a fifth of the state’s re-cord drought on climate change, scientists say.
Underground water supplies have been evaporatingfaster than they would have without the higher tem-peratures caused by greenhouse gas emissions, accord-ing to a study to be published in the journal Geophysi-cal Research Letters.
While the dearth of rainfall is due to natural weatherpatterns, warmer temperatures are exacerbating thedry conditions, intensifying the drought by about 15percent to 20 percent, according to the report’s lead au-thor A. Park Williams.
‘‘Warming changes the baseline amount of waterthat’s available to us because it sends that water backinto the sky,’’ Williams, a climate scientist at ColumbiaUniversity’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, said inan e-mailed statement.
The changing climate eventually may lead to higherrainfall in parts of the state in coming years. That willbe overshadowed by increased evaporation due tohigher temperatures.
‘‘As time goes on precipitation will be less able tomake up for the intensified warmth,’’ Williams said.
California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) in April orderedemissions of greenhouse gases to be reduced to almosthalf what they were a quarter century ago, the most am-
bitious statewide effort to combat climate change in theU.S. (83 DEN A-16, 4/30/15).
�New scientific reports now make it crystal clear thatclimate change is already affecting California and theSouthwest in the form of higher temperatures and amore devastating drought,� Brown said in a statementThursday.
BY CHRISTOPHER MARTIN
To contact the reporter on this story: ChristopherMartin in New York at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: ReedLandberg at [email protected]
�2015 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used withpermission
Information on how to obtain a copy of the study,‘‘Contribution of anthropogenic warming to Californiadrought during 2012–2014,’’ is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/2015GL064924/abstract.
Renewable Energy
SunEdison Breaks Ground on Solar FarmIn Colorado, Competes With Natural Gas
S unEdison Inc., the biggest clean-energy developer,began construction on a Colorado solar farm thatwill be the largest in the state and comes out ahead
in direct competition with natural gas.The 156-megawatt Comanche solar farm will deliver
power to Excel Energy Inc.’s Public Service of Coloradoutility under a 25-year agreement, Maryland Heights,Mo.-based SunEdison said in a statement Aug. 20. Theutility awarded the contract through an open solicita-tion, with the solar farm beating out other powersources including gas.
The deal shows that renewable energy is increasinglyable to compete on price with fossil fuels. Utilities thatare planning for future demand growth are lookingmore carefully at solar panels and wind turbines, whichwill be cheaper to operate over the next few decades inpart because they have no fuel costs, said Julie Blunden,chief strategy officer at SunEdison.
‘‘We actually can offer solar and wind that’s cheaperthan gas,’’ Blunden said in a phone interview Aug. 20.‘‘It’s such an important inflection point. We can sellpower without any fuel-price risk.’’
PV Sources Cost-Effective. Buying power from Coman-che will also help Public Service of Colorado meet statepolicies that require investor-owned utilities to get 30percent of their power from renewable sources by 2020,according to the Database of State Incentives for Re-newables & Efficiency, operated by North CarolinaState University.
Public Service of Colorado told regulators in a 2013report it had received proposals for solar photovoltaicpower that was competitive with gas priced at $5.90 permillion British thermal units over a 20-year period. An-other project was competitive with gas at $5.96 over 25years.
While the redacted report doesn’t identify the solarfarms, Blunden said Comanche was one of the power
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plants that received contracts through the 2013 solicita-tion process.
Natural gas for delivery on Aug. 21 to the Denverarea was $2.55 per million British thermal units, accord-ing to data from Intercontinental Exchange Inc.
Rising demand as new gas plants come online overthe next few years will likely increase that price. Theutility’s base gas forecast shows prices exceeding $6 byabout 2020.
‘‘For the first time, the company received bids forutility-scale solar PV resources that are cost-effectivehead to head with natural-gas-fired generation,’’ PublicService of Colorado said in the report.
BY CHRISTOPHER MARTIN
To contact the reporter on this story: ChristopherMartin in New York at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: ReedLandberg [email protected]
�2015 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used withpermission
Endangered Species
Male Greater Sage Grouse Population Jumps63 Percent Since 2013, Agencies Find
T he numbers of male greater sage grouse in theWest have rebounded ‘‘significantly’’ from a recentlow in 2013, the Western Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies said.The number of males counted on leks, or traditional
mating areas, has increased by 63 percent since 2013,the association said in a report released Aug. 17.
The report was prepared to provide scientific infor-mation to the Fish and Wildlife Service, which is ex-pected to make an Endangered Species Act listing de-termination for the bird by the end of September (80ERC W-3, (6/5/15))(101 DEN A-2, 5/27/15).
The report showed that populations of the ground-dwelling, chicken-sized bird, which is found in 11 west-ern states, have varied over time. Grouse numbers andhabitat face threats from oil and gas activities, wind en-ergy development, invasive grass species, wildfires, rec-reation, road building, homebuilding and other threats.
Report ‘Encouraging.’ The report also documentedtrends in the rate of population change, showing thatrange-wide populations have declined at about 0.8 per-cent per year since 1965, with the rate of the declineslowing in recent years.
The report is ‘‘encouraging,’’ the Western Associa-tion of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) said. Itsummarizes and analyzes the information containedwithin more than a dozen databases from western statefish and wildlife agencies, gathered from 1965-2015,with assistance from partners and volunteers.
The data showed a count of 25.5 males per lek acrossthe range in 2015, a ‘‘sharp rebound’’ from the lowestcount—16.7 males per lek in 2013, San Stiver, sagegrouse coordinator for WAFWA, said in a statement.The high year was 1970 with 33 males per lek.
Long-Term Management Needed. Virgil Moore, directorof the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and directorliaison of WAFWA’s Sage-Grouse Initiative, said in the
association statement that while the report is goodnews, ‘‘we know that long-term ongoing conservationand management must continue into the future forgreater sage-grouse on its current range.’’
Areas of highest greater sage density were ‘‘generallyholding up very well,’’ with most of the decline occur-ring at the periphery of the bird’s range, according toWEST, a statistical and environmental consulting firmin Cheyenne, Wyo., which performed modeling andanalysis for the report.
State natural resources agencies have invested morethan $200 million in conservation efforts to protect sagegrouse in the last decade, WAFWA said.
State Measures. States have worked with the U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service, Natural Resource Conserva-tion Service, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Ser-vice and U.S. Geological Survey in addition to nongov-ernmental agencies and private landowners on mea-sures designed to conserve the bird’s habitat.
The results of the WAFWA report ‘‘show that stateand local efforts to conserve sage grouse are working,’’Kathleen Sgamma, vice president of government andpublic affairs for the Western Energy Alliance, an in-dustry group in Denver, told Bloomberg BNA.
‘‘What’s even better about the WAFWA report is thatit was compiled from actual population data from thestates, instead of the flawed models the federal govern-ment has been using,’’ Sgamma said.
BY TRIPP BALTZ
To contact the reporter on this story: Tripp Baltz inVail, Colo., at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
The report is available from WAFWA at http://www.wafwa.org/Documents%20and%20Settings/37/Site%20Documents/News/Lek%20Trend%20Analysis%20final%208-14-15.pdf.
Hazardous Waste
EPA Has Identified Hazardous WasteDrugs, Developed Process to ID New Ones
T he Environmental Protection Agency has identifiedand reviewed existing pharmaceuticals that mayqualify as hazardous waste, the agency’s inspector
general said in a report.The agency also has established a process to review
new pharmaceuticals to determine if they qualify forregulation as hazardous waste as it develops a rule tostreamline the management of hazardous and nonhaz-ardous pharmaceuticals, according to the report, whichwas released Aug. 19.
Both actions were recommended by the inspectorgeneral in a May 25, 2012, report. The report expressedconcerns that ‘‘inaction’’ by the EPA may have causedunknown but dangerous hazardous waste pharmaceuti-cals to be improperly disposed of and released into theenvironment (103 DEN A-5, 5/30/12)
A third recommendation made in the 2012 report re-quired the EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and EmergencyResponse (OSWER) to develop a nationally consistentoutreach and compliance assistance plan to help statesaddress challenges that health care facilities have in
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complying with the Resource Conservation and Recov-ery Act (RCRA) regulations for managing hazardouswaste pharmaceuticals, the current report said. This ac-tion is open with corrective action pending, it said. Thereport makes no further recommendations and wasclosed when issued.
The EPA has the authority under RCRA to determinewhether pharmaceuticals should be regulated as haz-ardous waste but hasn’t updated the list of hazardouswaste pharmaceuticals since 1980, according to the in-spector general.
The White House Office of Management and Budget(OMB) completed its review Aug. 11 of the EPA’s pro-posed rule to manage waste pharmaceuticals (160 DENA-14, 8/19/15).
The proposed rule submitted to OMB, as revised withthe inspector general’s recommendations, provides themeans to be ‘‘protective of human health and the envi-ronment by preventing the release of unused pharma-ceuticals into the environment,’’ the Aug. 19 report said.
The rule is expected to be proposed soon in the Fed-eral Register. OSWER has said it may take an additional18 months or longer to finalize the rule once it is pro-posed.
BY PAT WARE
To contact the reporter on this story: Pat Ware inWashington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
The EPA Inspector General’s report ‘‘Follow-UpReport: EPA Proposes to Streamline the Review, Man-agement and Disposal of Hazardous Waste Pharma-ceuticals’’ is available at http://www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2015/20150819-15-P-0260.pdf.
Climate Regulation
Scholars Model Climate Change ‘Protocols’For Environmental Assessments of Projects
F ederal agencies have begun to address climatechange considerations when reviewing the envi-ronmental impacts of projects but lack consistent
guidelines for assessing those impacts, legal scholarssaid in a pair of recent reports outlining model proto-cols that could standardize the review process.
While the White House Council on EnvironmentalQuality has directed federal agencies to incorporate cli-mate change impacts into the National EnvironmentalPolicy Act review process, the draft guidance does notprovide reviewers with detailed instructions for how toconduct that assessment, Jessica Wentz, associate di-rector and postdoctoral fellow at the Sabin Center forClimate Change Law at Columbia Law School, said inan August report.
‘‘More specific guidelines or protocols would help topromote consistency in agency practice and ensure thatfederal agencies are adequately accounting for the im-pacts of climate change when conducting these assess-ments,’’ Wentz said in the report, ‘‘Assessing the Im-pacts of Climate Change on the Built Environment un-der NEPA and State EIA Laws.’’
With that report, the Sabin Center has also releasedmodel protocols that detail aspects reviewers should
consider when evaluating the potential climate changeimpact of projects. Those include whether climatechange could impact the baseline conditions againstwhich the project is being reviewed in the future; evalu-ating projects using multiple forecasts, including themost severe conditions projected by the Intergovern-mental Panel on Climate Change; and accounting forclimate change impacts during multiple steps of pro-ducing environmental impact statements.
The White House Council on Environmental Qualityissued its revised draft guidance on incorporating cli-mate change considerations into National Environmen-tal Policy Act reviews in December 2014. The draftguidance advises federal agencies to consider the cli-mate impact of any action that would increase green-house gas emissions by the equivalent of 25,000 metrictons of carbon dioxide annually when reviewing proj-ects (244 DEN A-8, 12/19/14).
BY ANDREW CHILDERS
To contact the reporter on this story: AndrewChilders in Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
The Sabin Center for Climate Change Law report,‘‘Assessing the Impacts of Climate Change on the BuiltEnvironment under NEPA and State EIA Laws,’’ isavailable at http://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/climate-change/assessing_the_impacts_of_climate_change_on_the_built_environment_-_final.pdf. ‘‘The Model Protocols forAssessing the Impacts of Climate Change on the BuiltEnvironment under NEPA and State EIA Laws’’ areavailable at http://web.law.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/microsites/climate-change/model_protocols_for_assessing_the_impacts_of_climate_change_on_the_built_environment.pdf.
Toxic Substances
South Korea to Regulate More SubstancesUsed in Toys, Other Children’s Goods
S outh Korea said it expects to place restrictions onmore chemicals used in children’s toys after a sur-vey found several dolls and bath toys with unac-
ceptably high levels of toxic substances.The Ministry of Environment said Aug. 19 that it
would revise its Rules on the Restriction of Use of Envi-ronmental Toxins in Children’s Goods, which providesthe legal basis for regulating 135 substances currentlysubject to toxicity evaluation for potential impacts onchildren’s health.
‘‘Adding more substances to regulated chemicals willbe considered for the revision of the rules,’’ the minis-try said in a statement.
Currently, two phthalate plasticizer derivatives (di-n-octyl phthalate and diisononyl phthalate); tributyltincompounds, which are used as wood preservatives; andnonylphenol organic compounds, which are used assurfactants, are restricted or banned from products thatcome in direct contact with children (139 DEN A-12,7/20/12).
Manufacturers and importers of children’s goodshave been required since January to specify on their
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products or the packaging whether any of the restrictedsubstances is contained and, if so, how much.
Chemical Safety Survey. The Aug. 19 plan was an-nounced with the findings of the ministry’s survey of3,009 consumer items for children.
According to the survey, eight products, includingplastic dolls and bath toys, exceeded daily exposurelimits on phthalates and two accessory items surpassedcadmium exposure limits measured as a reference dose,or the allowable oral dose of a toxic substance, underSouth Korea’s Environmental Health Act.
A total of 121 toys and other products were found tocontain toxic substances in excess of the limits pre-scribed separately under the South Korean productsafety law, and 21 of the products were ordered to berecalled. All the recalled products were made either inSouth Korea or in China.
‘‘Field surveys of environmental hazard factors inchildren’s goods will be conducted regularly to identifyhazardous products exceeding toxicity standards andkeep them off the market,’’ Seo Heung-won, director ofthe Environmental Health Policy Division, toldBloomberg BNA Aug. 19.
BY JAMES LIM
To contact the reporter on this story: James Lim inSeoul at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: GregHenderson at [email protected]
The Ministry of Environment’s Rules on the Restrictionof Use of Environmental Toxins in Children’s Goods isavailable, in Korean, at http://goo.gl/23gAeh.
Natural Gas
Western Market for Natural Gas ShrinksAs Marcellus Shale Fuels Supplies in East
E ight years ago, a group of companies led by KinderMorgan Energy Partners began building a $6.8 bil-lion pipeline to carry natural gas from America’s
Rocky Mountains to fuel-hungry markets in the East.Then came the shale gas revolution. The eastern U.S.
is now home to the country’s most productive forma-tion, the Marcellus, and the 1,698-mile Rockies Expressis carrying lower-cost gas in the opposite direction.
On Aug. 1, the pipeline was partially reversed,shrinking the market for Colorado and Wyoming drill-ers who’ve seen their share prices fall as much as 93percent from 2008 highs.
The burgeoning supply from Pennsylvania and WestVirginia has transformed the U.S. gas market, redirect-ing pipeline flows and sending prices plummeting. Out-put from the Niobrara shale formation in Colorado andWyoming has dropped 12 percent from an all-time highin 2012 as production from the region competes withthe Marcellus shale formation, where output is near re-cord levels.
‘‘There has been a lot less demand for western gasbecause of an abundance of supply in the Marcellus,and the Rockies Express reversal is exaggerating thateffect,’’ Aaron Calder, an analyst at Gelber & Associatesin Houston, said Aug. 19 by phone. ‘‘Marcellus gas isvery cheap to produce and it’s been a very prolificplay.’’
Rockies Pipeline. The Rockies Express pipeline wasbuilt in three segments by Kinder Morgan, ConocoPhil-lips and Sempra Energy, with the final leg becomingoperational in 2009. Tallgrass Energy Partners boughtKinder’s 50 percent stake in 2012 and operates the line.When construction began in 2007, gas production in theWest had been isolated from eastern markets for de-cades, and Northeast output was negligible.
Circumstances have changed dramatically. Suppliesfrom the Marcellus have surged 14-fold since 2007, andproduction from there and the neighboring Utica for-mation has accounted for 85 percent of shale supplygrowth since the start of 2012, government data show.
The bounty has been bad news for Rockies produc-ers, who have struggled to compete with the lower-costoutput. Gas at the Dominion South-Leidy hub in Penn-sylvania has averaged $1.44 per million British thermalunits this year, compared with $2.59 at the Opal hub inWyoming. The price gap isn’t closing any time soon, ac-cording to Macquarie Capital.
‘‘More competition is certainly not helpful for Rock-ies producers,’’ Paul Grigel, an analyst at MacquarieCapital in Denver, said in an Aug. 13 phone interview.‘‘The Marcellus is truly a world-class asset, and evenwith transportation costs factored in, it can unseatRockies gas.’’
Drillers Adapt. Western drillers, including EncanaCorp. and Bill Barrett Corp., have tried to adapt byboosting output from wells that yield oil and so-callednatural gas liquids such as ethane and propane. Naturalgas accounted for 18 percent of Bill Barrett’s produc-tion in the second quarter, compared with 93 percent inthe same period in 2010.
‘‘While we still have substantial exposure to naturalgas, the majority of our capital over the past two yearsis being invested in growing our total liquids productionfrom the Eagle Ford, Permian and Duvernay plays,’’ JayAverill, a spokesman for Encana in Calgary, said bye-mail Aug. 17.
Larry Busnardo, a spokesman for Bill Barrett in Den-ver, said the company is focused on oil production inColorado’s Denver-Julesburg basin. The company hascut capital spending, lowering drilling and well-completion costs by 25 percent this year, comparedwith the fourth quarter of 2014, according to an Aug. 17investor presentation.
Falling Prices. The oil-focused strategy worked betterwhen West Texas Intermediate crude futures traded at$100 a barrel, compared with $41.25 at 11:34 a.m. NewYork time on Aug. 20. Gas liquids, or NGLs, have alsotumbled, with propane at the Mont Belvieu hub inTexas down 64 percent from a year earlier.
‘‘Anybody who has shifted to oil and NGLs is comingunder pressure,’’ Macquarie’s Grigel said.
Western producers have one gas-hungry market fortheir supply: California. Transporting Marcellus gas tothe West Coast is costly, so the Rockies area will retainits position as the major supplier for the region, Grigelsaid. Demand from industrial users in the Golden State,the second-biggest consumer of the fuel after Texas,climbed 18 percent in the five years through 2014.
That may be little consolation for investors in drillerslike Bill Barrett, which slumped to a record low of $4.27a share on Aug. 6.
‘‘Rockies producers are in a tough spot,’’ said JohnKilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-
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based hedge fund that focuses on energy, said by phoneAug. 13. ‘‘They’re now isolated geographically, and it’shard to compete with the economics of the Marcellus.’’
BY CHRISTINE BUURMA
To contact the reporter on this story: ChristineBuurma in New York at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LynnDoan at [email protected]
�2015 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used withpermission
Hazardous Waste
Mile Rail Can’t Pursue Negligence ActionFor Cleanup Failure; Contract Governs
A company that bought a contaminated site on thecondition that the seller would conduct a cleanupcan’t pursue a tort claim against the seller for fur-
ther contaminating the property, the Western District ofMissouri said Aug. 18 (Mile Rail LLC v. Compass BigBlue LLC, 2015 BL 265600, W.D. Mo., No. 15-CV-116,8/18/15).
The buyer is limited to a breach of contract claim un-der Missouri law because the complaint alleges that theseller failed to adequately perform work required underthe contract, the U.S. District Court for the WesternDistrict of Missouri said.
The court rejected the contention that further con-taminating the property is a claim separate from failingto adequately remediate the contamination.
Side Agreement. In December 2010, Mile Rail LLC—arailcar cleaning and repair company—bought a prop-erty in Kansas City, Mo., from Compass Big Blue LLC.
Under a side agreement, Compass agreed to addresspolychlorinated biphenyl contamination at the site.
Specifically, the agreement said, ‘‘Compass Big Blue,LLC hereby agrees that it shall pay for all transporta-tion, disposal, management and remediation costs asso-ciated with the cleanup of PCB contamination con-tained within the ‘Cleanup Area.’ ’’
In 2012, Compass notified the Environmental Protec-tion Agency that it would have to defer the start of theremediation project, according to the court.
In February 2015, Mile Rail filed suit against Com-pass, including a cause of action for negligence.
Mile Rail alleged that Compass conducted no cleanupactions after its notice to the EPA and that Mile Railthen took over the cleanup, spending more than$200,000.
Mile Rail asserted that Compass’ actions and inactioncaused it to incur more costs than necessary.
The complaint alleged that Compass concealed theextent of the contamination, failed to properly secure ormaintain open excavation areas, and partially back-filled the excavation with soil from an unknown sourcethat could have been contaminated.
Compass moved to dismiss the negligence claim, ar-guing that the claims are for failure to perform workpursuant to a contract.
The court agreed, finding the claims derive solelyfrom the agreement and side agreement.
No Special Relationship. The court distinguished thecase from Davidson v. Hess, 673 S.W.2d 111 (Mo. Ct.App. 1984), in which the court ruled that tort liabilitymay be imposed if a duty exists separate and apart fromthe duties arising under the contract.
In Davidson, a tenant brought a tortious conversionclaim, alleging her landlord kept her possessions.
Mile Rail argued that its claim is similar to Davidsonin that while there was a duty under the contract to re-mediate the existing contamination, the tort claimsarise from an entirely separate duty, the duty to notcontaminate or further contaminate the property.
Unconvinced, the court said, while Davidson in-volved a landlord-tenant relationship, there was no spe-cial relationship between Mile Rail and Compass.
The court also rejected the assertion that a duty notto further contaminate the property is separate from theduty to adequately remediate the property.
Judge Fernando J. Gaitan, Jr. issued the opinion.Evans & Dixon represents Mile Rail.Husch Blackwell LLP represents Compass.
BY PETER HAYES
Full text of the opinion available at http://www.bloomberglaw.com/public/document/Mile_Rail_LLC_v_Compass_Big_Blue_LLC_No_150116CVWFJG_2015_BL_2656.
Water Pollution
Water Scarcity to Drive Up Potable ReuseOf Reclaimed Wastewater, Analyst Forecasts
D aily potable reuse of reclaimed municipal waste-water in the U.S. could be as much as 2.5 millioncubic meters greater in 2025 than it is today, ac-
cording to a recent forecast of U.S. water reuse by aBoston-based consultancy.
Total municipal wastewater reuse capacity is ex-pected to increase by 10.1 million cubic meters per dayin the country by 2025, up about 61 percent from thecurrent municipal wastewater reuse capacity of 8.3 mil-lion cubic meters daily.
The changes are being spurred by water scarcityfrom drought and increased demand, according to ErinBonney Casey, research analyst with Bluefield Re-search, who reported on the group’s latest forecasts ina webinar Aug. 19 held by the WateReuse Association.
Bluefield’s forecast is based on the more than 247 re-use projects in the pipeline that they say provide a solidfoundation for growth going forward.
For the purposes of its forecast, Bluefield used thedefinition of potable use of reclaimed water to includeboth direct use and indirect use.
The ‘Yuck’ Factor. Direct potable reuse involves sup-plying drinking water to residents through designatedpipes, as is the case in Florida.
Indirect use involves injection of very high qualitywastewater effluent to recharge groundwateraquifers—as is happening in Miami—or downstreaminto lakes and rivers that have drinking water intakepipes at the bottom—as happens in Northern Virginiaand parts of Georgia.
According to Casey, the greatest barrier that waste-water utilities face in expanding direct potable reuse of
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treated wastewater is the absence of an environmentalbuffer. That is aside from the public acceptance of whatis known as the ‘‘yuck’’ factor associated with using re-claimed wastewater.
In indirect potable reuse, treated wastewater is re-tained for a while in a wetland or reservoir, where itaugments groundwater supplies. But no such barriersare involved in direct potable reuse, when treatedwastewater is delivered directly to consumers.
Casey said there is a need for better and accuratereal-time monitoring technology for screening contami-nants in direct potable reuse water, so officials can bealerted to any unexpected spikes in contaminants.
But according to a 2012 National Research Councilstudy, the risk of contamination from potable reusedwater is found to be much lower than that from existingwater supplies (56 DEN B-1, 3/24/14).
Casey cited Bluefield’s forecast from its latest report,‘‘U.S. Municipal Wastewater & Reuse: Market Trends,Opportunities & Forecasts, 2015-2025.’’
BY AMENA H. SAIYID
To contact the reporter on this story: Amena H.Saiyid in Washington at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
The report, ‘‘U.S. Municipal Wastewater & Reuse:Market Trends, Opportunities & Forecasts, 2015-2025,’’ is available at http://bluefieldresearch.com/focus-report-us-municipal-wastewater-reuse-market-trends-opportunities-forecasts-2015-2025/.
Water Pollution
Cleanup Pilot Project Would HelpAddress Mining Waste, Rep. Tipton Says
R egulatory constraints inhibit the cleanup of aban-doned mines that could spill wastewater and sedi-ments into creeks and rivers throughout the West,
Rep. Scott Tipton (R-Colo.) told a water conferenceAug. 20.
The current state of the law blocks ‘‘us from gettingin and getting wastewater out of old mines’’ like GoldKing Mine near Silverton, Colo., where 3 million gal-lons of mining waste and sediment was released Aug. 5,he said. The wastewater spill, which was accidentallytriggered by the Environmental Protection Agency,eventually flowed into the Animas River in southwest-ern Colorado.
Now is ‘‘an appropriate time for us to have good Sa-maritan legislation,’’ Tipton said at the summer confer-ence of the Colorado Water Congress in Vail.
Working With Senators. Tipton echoed the call of Sen.Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) for Congress to approve a pi-lot project in Colorado to remediate and clean up wasteassociated with inactive and abandoned mines.
‘‘There’s some good legislation, but we haven’t beenable to get a bill to the floor,’’ Tipton said. ‘‘A pilot proj-ect in Colorado would allow us to get in there and actu-ally fix the problem.’’
Tipton is working with Bennet and Sen. Cory Gard-ner (R-Colo.) to advance the idea of a pilot project, hesaid.
EPA investigators triggered the spill while remediat-ing waste at Gold King, inadvertently releasing the min-ing waste and sediment into Upper Cement Creek, atributary of the Animas.
Metals in the River. The Animas River flows throughDurango and Native American tribal lands in south-western Colorado before merging with the San JuanRiver in New Mexico. The San Juan empties into theColorado River at Lake Powell in Utah. A plume ofwaste containing elevated levels of arsenic, cadmium,mercury, lead and other metals flowed into the rivers.
EPA and state officials have declared the water qual-ity as having returned to ‘‘pre-incident’’ levels, anddrinking water and irrigation systems in the region areusing the rivers again.
The pilot project would be designed to encouragecleanup of inactive and abandoned mines by good Sa-maritans, defined as individuals and entities that had norole in the creation of historic mine residue or any re-sulting environmental pollution and are not legally re-sponsible for remediation of the waste.
Liability Is Problem. Following his remarks, Tiptontold Bloomberg BNA that ‘‘what’s holding up thecleanup process is the liability’’ the companies take onby working to remediate historic mine waste.
The Gold King incident ‘‘really elevates awareness’’of the need to clean up waste found at more than 200sites throughout Colorado and thousands of othermines in the West, he said.
Tipton said he and other congressmen had not yet re-ceived answers to questions they put to the EPA aboutthe agency’s response to the Gold King spill. ‘‘Why wasthere no contingency plan?’’ he said.
In his speech, Tipton decried the EPA’s waters of theU.S. (WOTUS) rule, set to take effect Aug. 28 to clarifyClean Water Act jurisdiction over wetlands and otherwater bodies. ‘‘They call the rule WOTUS. Instead ofWOTUS, it will be ‘woe to us’ if the federal governmenttakes over our water,’’ he said.
Tipton said he is sponsoring the Water Rights Protec-tion Act (H.R. 1830) in the House to preserve Colora-do’s legal regime of private water rights. The bill wouldprohibit federal agencies from making the transfer orlimitation of a water right a condition for permit ap-proval or renewal, he said.
BY TRIPP BALTZ
To contact the reporter on this story: Tripp Baltz inVail, Colo., at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
The website for the 2015 summer conference of theColorado Water Congress is http://www.cowatercongress.org/summer-conference.html.
The EPA’s website on the response to wastewater spillat the Gold King Mine is http://www2.epa.gov/goldkingmine.
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Energy
Northern Pass Updates Transmission LineProject Plan, Eliminates Impact on View
N orthern Pass Transmission LLC has altered its187-mile, high-voltage transmission line project tohave less of an impact on scenic areas of New
Hampshire, NP officials announced Aug. 18.The project involves a transmission line that would
carry 1,200 megawatts of hydropower from Quebec tothe New England energy grid, and it has met with sig-nificant opposition from the New Hampshire public andofficials.
Critics point to the project’s effect on the scenery ofthe White Mountain National Forest, which it wouldtransit. Other New England officials generally favor theplan, which would bolster the New England energygrid.
Under the new plan, NP said it would bury an addi-tional 52 miles of the line—for a total of 60 miles—andeliminate 400 structures from the White Mountain por-tion of the project. The NP also would hire 2,400 peopleduring construction and set up a $200 million fund tosupport New Hampshire tourism and economic devel-opment.
Governor’s Support. New Hampshire Gov. MaggieHassan (D), who has lobbied other New England gover-nors to pressure the project to hire locally, lower energycosts and address scenery concerns, expressed supportfor the changes.
‘‘I am encouraged that Northern Pass officials havelistened and are taking meaningful steps forward in at-tempting to address those concerns,’’ she said Aug. 18in a statement.
Comments Sought. The NP applied for a presidentialpermit with the Energy Department, because its projectwill cross an international border. On July 21, the En-ergy Department released its draft environmental im-pact statement for the project. A July 31 Federal Regis-ter notice called for public comments on the projectthrough Oct. 29, according to DOE.
BY ADRIANNE APPEL
To contact the reporter on this story: Adrianne Appelin Boston at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: LarryPearl at [email protected]
More information on the project is available at http://blog.northernpass.us/2015/08/18/northern-pass-announces-its-forward-nh-plan/.
The Energy Department’s draft environmental impactstatement is available at http://www.northernpasseis.us/library/draft-eis.
Sulfur Dioxide Data Rule Effective Sept. 21A final rule setting data requirements for the one-
hour national ambient air quality standard for sulfur di-oxide will go into effect Sept. 21. The rule, signed byEPA Administrator Gina McCarthy Aug. 10, establishedthree options for states to use to assess ambient levelsof sulfur dioxide in areas with large emissions sources.Data collected by the states will be used to inform areadesignations for the current standard of 75 parts per bil-
lion sulfur dioxide, set in 2010. The EPA will take aphased approach to the designations process, withthree rounds of designations scheduled to occur be-tween July 2016 and December 2020. The final rule(RIN 2060-AR19), which is scheduled for publication inthe Federal Register Aug. 21, is available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2015-20367.pdf.
Anti-Fracking Forces Sue Ohio Secretary of StateOhio residents looking to ban fracking through com-
munity rights charters adopted by popular vote are su-ing the secretary of state for denying their initiatives aplace on the November ballot (Ohio ex rel v. Husted,Ohio, No. 2015-1371, 8/19/15. The lawsuit filed Aug. 19with the Ohio Supreme Court accuses Secretary ofState Jon Husted (R) with improperly refusing the pro-posals and repudiating ‘‘the peoples’ right to initiative,’’even though residents of Medina, Fulton and Athenscounties collected enough signatures for ballot qualifi-cation. Husted said Aug. 13 that provisions in each ini-tiative tied to oil and gas exploration represent ‘‘an at-tempt to circumvent state law’’ and would undoubtedlybe overturned in court (158 DEN A-5, 8/17/15). Citizensof the three counties, each with substantial fracking po-tential, are asking the court for an expedited decision inhopes that their proposals can still be voted on this fall.Earlier this year, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled thatstate law supersedes ‘‘home rule’’ when it comes to oiland gas drilling (32 DEN A-15, 2/18/15). The complaintis available at http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/pdf_viewer/pdf_viewer.aspx?pdf=773902.pdf.
Canada Grants Permits for Nova Scotia LNG ProjectsCanada issued approvals for two liquefied natural gas
facilities planned in Nova Scotia to process domesticand imported natural gas, and to export the LNG toother countries, the National Energy Board said Aug.13. It approved a 25-year license for Bear Head LNGCorp., for a maximum annual export of 19.4 billion cu-bic meters, and a 20-year export license for Pieridae En-ergy’s Goldboro facility, with a maximum annual ex-port of 16.675 billion cubic meters. Both facilities alsoreceived approval to import natural gas for processing.Bear Head, owned by Australia’s Liquefied Natural GasLtd., must address 32 terms and conditions to controlgreenhouse gas emissions and reduce impacts on wild-life, water and wetlands before it can begin operations.Construction is scheduled to begin in 2016, with opera-tions to start in 2019. The Pieridae plant is expected tobe operational in 2020. The NEB approval letters areavailable at http://op.bna.com/env.nsf/r?Open=jfoy-9zjmx6 for Bear Head, and at http://op.bna.com/env.nsf/r?Open=jfoy-9zhru7 for Pieridae.
EPA Deletes Hancock County, Ky., Site From NPLThe Environmental Protection Agency said it is delet-
ing a site in Hancock County, Ky., from the Superfundprogram’s list of most contaminated sites in a direct fi-nal rule scheduled for publication Aug. 21. The NationalSouthwire Aluminum Co. Superfund Site in Hawesvillehas an active aluminum reduction facility that beganoperations in 1969, the EPA said. In 1994 the site wasplaced on the National Priorities List, because soil andgroundwater had become contaminated from facilityoperations and waste handling practices. Contaminantsof concern were cyanide, fluoride and polychlorinated
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biphenyls, the agency said. The EPA said it and Ken-tucky have determined all appropriate response actionshave been taken under the Comprehensive Environ-mental Response, Compensation and Liability Act. Thedeletion will take effect on Oct. 5 unless adverse com-ments are received by Sept. 21. Comments, identifiedby Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-SFUND-1994-0009, should
be sent online at http://www.regulations.gov or bye-mail to Michael Townsend at [email protected]. Additional information is available fromTownsend by e-mail or at 404-562-8813. The direct finalrule is available at https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2015-20611.pdf.
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BNAInsightsR e n e w a b l e E n e r g y
S t a t e S t a n d a r d s f o r E q u i p m e n t , I n s t a l l a t i o n
The clean energy industry is taking off, with thousands of photovoltaic systems and small
wind turbines installed at homes and businesses each year. But customers need solid infor-
mation before they make these purchases, and they need to know they are dealing with
reputable and competent vendors and contractors. Currently, there are no national stan-
dards for equipment and system installers. But states are taking the lead in protecting con-
sumer interests, with California establishing warranty requirements and criteria for obtain-
ing rebates that other states are following. In addition, some states such as Arizona are pub-
lishing guides on what to look for in rooftop solar systems, while seven states and two
utilities have formed a coalition that sets eligibility criteria for distributed wind turbines and
established conditions that manufacturers must meet to qualify for incentives. As for
combined-heat-and-power systems, New York has developed a list of modular, pre-
packaged systems that have been vetted for quality and reliability, and it hopes this will lead
to a multi-state list of approved CHP equipment.
Consumer Protection: A New Era for Clean Energy
BY WARREN LEON
I knew the clean energy industry had entered a newphase once I started receiving the telemarketers’calls. Every week, one or two callers representing so-
lar companies ask if I want to install a photovoltaic (PV)system on my house. Many are from reputable compa-nies, but some have the fast-talking sales pitches andextravagant come-ons of people selling credit cards andvacation time-shares. Clean energy has clearly enteredinto the realm of being a mass market commodity.While it is great that the market is reaching a muchwider share of the public, consumer education and con-sumer protection measures are increasingly important.
Tens of thousands of PV systems, combined-heat-and-power systems and small wind turbines are beinginstalled annually at homes, businesses and institutionsacross the country. But very few of the customers areenergy experts. Because most have never before in-stalled a clean energy system, they need sound informa-tion before they make their purchasing decisions. Theyalso need assurances that they are dealing with repu-table, competent vendors and contractors. Clean energycould lose public support and trust if consumers feelthat the equipment they purchase does not perform asadvertised or if they feel misled by unreliable vendorsand service providers.
Fortunately, state energy agencies have been takingthe lead in looking out for consumers’ interests, eventhough their actions are not always widely recognizedand many of these agencies are not labeling those ac-tions with a ‘‘consumer protection’’ banner. In the ab-sence of any official national standards, the states haveestablished standards for equipment and system install-ers. They also have shared information on system per-formance. In part because of these state actions, forPV—the most widely adopted distributed generationtechnology—there have been relatively few problemswith system performance, and most consumers are sat-isfied with their purchases.
Warren Leon is executive director of theClean Energy States Alliance in Montpelier,Vt. He oversees the organization’s day-to-dayoperations, leads strategy development anddirects CESA’s State-Federal RPS (RenewablePortfolio Standard) Collaborative. He is anadjunct professor at Brandeis Interna-tional Business School. He can be reached [email protected].
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Warranties, Standards for Solar EquipmentA key issue for the states has been equipment war-
ranties. Solar panels normally last at least 25 years, butit can cause serious problems for the purchaser if some-thing goes wrong in the early years. Today’s models ofinverters, which convert the DC current produced bythe solar panel to AC current, generally last at least 10years, but here too the consequences of early failurecan be significant. A decade ago inverters were soldwith only minimal warranties, even though some earlyinverters were unreliable. The inadequate warrantiesput consumers at risk until states required more mean-ingful warranties under their incentive programs andratcheted them up over time.
California played the lead role by establishing a war-ranty requirement that many other states have since fol-lowed. The state currently requires panels and invertersto have ‘‘a minimum 10-year warranty to protectagainst defects and undue degradation of electrical gen-eration output.’’ Even in states where warranties arenot required by regulations or incentive programs, so-lar equipment now generally comes with significantwarranties.
California went even further than requiring warran-ties. In 2006, the state legislature passed a law that in-cluded a provision directing the California Energy Com-mission to establish criteria to determine which solarequipment would be eligible for rebates under thestate’s solar electric incentive programs. As a result, thecommission established eligibility criteria and ratingsstandards. For customers to receive a rebate for a solarelectricity system, all the major components (PV mod-ules, inverters, motors) must be on the approved listthat the commission set up. For manufacturers to gettheir components included on the list, they must be cer-tified by a nationally recognized testing laboratory andundergo one-time field testing by an accredited testlaboratory to verify performance in the field.
More than 15 other states refer to and use Califor-nia’s list to determine whether equipment is eligible forincentives or tax credits: Colorado, Connecticut, Geor-gia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ne-vada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon,Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
Some of these states also refer to the list to calculateincentive amounts. Together with California, thesestates represent more than 70 percent of the U.S. solarmarket. The National Renewable Energy Laboratorycalled the equipment list ‘‘the most robust source of[performance and safety] information for PV equip-ment in the United States,’’ and ‘‘the de facto nationaleligible equipment list.’’
Much like the states established standards for equip-ment, they also have set standards for the people whoinstall it, often requiring special licenses and training.
Ensuring Solar Installations Perform WellFor solar panels to produce their maximum rated out-
put, they must be installed at a proper angle, faced in anappropriate direction, and avoid being heavily shaded.In the early years of this century, system underperfor-mance became an important issue for state clean en-ergy programs, because many of those programs weregiving out rebates and grants based on the potential ca-pacity of the PV systems rather than on their actual per-formance. That meant that the public funds supportingthe installation of the systems were not always achiev-
ing all the expected environmental and energy benefits.As researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Labo-ratory explained, ‘‘Although owners of PV systems havean inherent incentive to ensure that their systems per-form well, many homeowners and building operatorsmay lack the necessary information and expertise tocarry out this task effectively.’’
Over the past decade, states have taken a variety ofother approaches to ensure that PV systems performwell. In some cases, they impose minimum design stan-dards, withholding rebates or grants if a system isshaded too much of the time or if the panels are pointedtoo far from their ideal direction. In other cases, theyuse performance-based incentives, which provide fund-ing in proportion to how much electricity is actuallygenerated, rather than to the system’s size. And somestates conduct inspections of all or a sample of the sys-tems that they support. With these approaches in place,solar installations can provide consumers with signifi-cant financial benefits and the public with an improvedenvironment and electricity system.
Information Empowers, Protects ConsumersMany states produce printed publications and web-
based information to help consumers make sound deci-sions. Arizona’s Residential Utility Consumer Office(RUCO), for example, offers a three-page ConsumerGuide to Rooftop Solar Photovoltaic (PV). It identifiesfactors a consumer should consider before purchasinga system, explains how having a system affects a home-owner’s relationship to the electricity grid, providesguidance on choosing an installer and offers otherpieces of advice.
As RUCO Director Pat Quinn points out, ‘‘Like anyindustry, especially a younger one, there are some repu-table companies and others that are less trustwor-thy. . . . We are also troubled by high-pressure sales tac-tics and sales people not familiar with the regulatoryprocess. Because of these concerns, RUCO has devel-oped [the] consumer guide to give potential buyers anevenhanded source of recommended best practices.’’
Currently, there is an especially strong need for cred-ible, objective, consumer-friendly information on solarfinancing. The entrance into the marketplace of leasesand power purchase agreements (PPAs) has played abig role in fueling the rapid growth in the numbers ofsolar installations. In fact, in recent years more thanhalf of the homeowners who installed solar have usedone of these financing mechanisms, both of which in-volve third-party ownership of the system. However, itis not necessarily easy for consumers to choose a goodlease or PPA. They can have difficulty understandingand evaluating all the provisions in the contracts theyare offered. Some of the contracts lack transparencyand have hidden costs. In response, several statesworked with the Clean Energy States Alliance to pub-lish ‘‘A Homeowner’s Guide to Solar Financing.’’ Ithelps consumers evaluate third-party ownership op-tions and compare them to solar loans. Massachusetts,New Mexico and New York are each preparing a spe-cial version of the guide tailored specifically to the pro-grams and markets in their state.
Small Wind Turbine ProblemsSolar is not the only clean energy technology for
which consumer protection is important. Until recently,small wind turbines experienced more performance
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problems proportionately than other widely purchasedclean energy technologies, including large wind tur-bines. While these small turbines, scaled to produce dis-tributed power for individual homes, farms and busi-nesses most often perform well, there have been someproblems as a result of manufacturing flaws and instal-lation errors.
The year 2011 was an especially bad one for this tech-nology. A 10-kilowatt residential installation in NewJersey caught fire both at the top of the turbine and atthe control unit in the home’s garage. At another NewJersey site, three turbine blades separated from the ro-tor of a turbine. In California, a turbine manufacturerwas accused of overrating the performance of its tur-bines to qualify for a heftier subsidy from the CaliforniaEnergy Commission. These incidents led to some statessuspending their incentive programs for small wind tur-bines. Further investigations by some states indicatedthat many small turbines were not performing up tomanufacturers’ claims. Clearly, corrective action wasneeded to protect purchasers and preserve a futuremarket for small-scale wind turbines.
States and utilities with financial incentive programsfor small, distributed wind decided to pool their re-sources to address the turbine performance and reli-ability issues. The group, which initially consisted ofCalifornia, New York, Oregon and Wisconsin, con-cluded that maintaining individual lists of turbines thatqualified for financial incentives was neither cost-effective nor an efficient way to foster a market for reli-able turbines. Moreover, these independent, state-approved turbine lists were not based on third-party in-formation about the performance and reliability of theturbines on them.
The states therefore decided to form the InterstateTurbine Advisory Council (ITAC), which is now man-aged by the Clean Energy States Alliance. ITAC mem-bers established eligibility criteria for distributed windturbines and set conditions that manufacturers had tomeet to qualify for incentives. The goal was to establisha set of requirements to ensure that consumers, utilitiesand taxpayer-funded incentive programs support safeand reliable wind turbines. At the same time, an exist-ing effort by the American Wind Energy Association tocertify small wind turbines was gaining momentum andthird-party testing was becoming more widespread.
Seven states and two utilities currently participate inITAC: the Maryland Energy Administration, Massachu-setts Clean Energy Center, Minnesota Department ofCommerce, New Jersey Clean Energy Program, NewYork State Energy Research and Development Author-ity, Energy Trust of Oregon, Vermont Clean Energy De-velopment Fund, NV Energy and PG&E. They haveagreed on a unified list of turbines that meet ITAC’s eli-gibility requirements for both small and medium-sizedistributed wind turbines. In addition to requiring certi-fication based on third-party-certified performancetests, ITAC evaluates manufacturers’ business practicesand considers the strength and length of the turbinewarranty, manufacturers’ customer service record, re-quirements for installer training, and other factors. TheITAC unified list currently features nine small wind tur-bines and four medium wind turbines.
ITAC also collects consumer testimonials and sharesturbine information from across the nation. Some of theparticipating state programs collect performance datafrom installations that they have supported; some make
site visits before and after installations; and some main-tain lists of qualified turbine installers.
Combined-Heat-and-Power TechnologyCombined-heat-and-power (CHP) is a promising
technology that can reduce air emissions and savemoney for the institutions and businesses that install it.However, purchasers risk getting a system that is toocostly or does not perform as well as anticipated. Themain problem is that each installation is typically de-signed as a one-off with different components beingsourced from different manufacturers. Buyers usuallyhave to hire consulting engineers to guide their deci-sions and systems have to be extensively adapted on-site. The process is time-consuming and poor decisionscan result in mismatched equipment.
To address this, in 2012 the New York State EnergyResearch and Development Authority (NYSERDA)launched the CHP Acceleration Program. The agencydeveloped a catalog of modular, pre-packaged CHP sys-tems, all of which it vetted for quality, reliability and du-rability. ‘‘We wanted cookie-cutter replication of well-proven designs that many customers could follow,’’ saidDana Levy, NYSERDA program manager for technicaldevelopment and on-site power applications. Everyitem had to be capable of operating independently dur-ing grid power outages, come with a five-year serviceplan and have a bumper-to-bumper warranty. Initiallythe catalog included 36 systems from eight vendors, butit was later expanded to 141 systems from 13 vendors.The systems range in size from 50 kilowatts to 1.3megawatts—typical sizes for small to medium-sizedbuildings.
For each system in the catalog, the NYSERDA speci-fies the rebate that it offers to purchasers (typicallyabout 40 percent of the project cost). The agency heldtrade shows where potential customers could meet ven-dors and compare combined-heat-and-power systems.It also required vendors to take full responsibility forensuring that systems were installed correctly and per-formed properly. This approach made vendors keymembers of design teams early in the process, reducingthe chance of buyers choosing components that wereincompatible or poorly designed for the space wherethey would be installed.
The agency’s endorsement makes customers moreconfident in the systems and gives approved vendors amarketing edge. ‘‘We have transformed the way thatdeals are occurring in the marketplace,’’ Levy said.‘‘Healthy comparison shopping is happening, and we’reseeing long-term partnerships, as opposed to a focusjust on making sales.’’
The NYSERDA would like to see other states adopt asimilar approach and is engaging in conversations withseveral other states. The hope is that this will lead to amulti-state list of approved CHP equipment and an in-creased pace of CHP market penetration.
Looking ForwardWhile all of these state efforts have been useful and
desirable, additional consumer education and con-sumer protection activities will be needed as the cleanenergy market continues to grow and many more con-sumers are touched by the industry. As interest in cleanenergy continues to rise and additional companies offerproducts and services, it will become ever more crucial
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to educate and protect average consumers who do nothave prior experience with clean energy technologies.
To prepare for this expanded role, the states mustmaintain their current consumer protection activitiesand add others. Among other things, they should forgestronger ties between their energy agencies and theconsumer assistance sections of their attorney generaloffices. They can also systematically identify the con-sumer protection concerns that may arise in their state
and then develop plans for addressing those issues. Aswith the Interstate Turbine Advisory Council, groups ofstates can and should work together to tackle issues, sothat the costs of consumer protection measures will bereduced for the clean energy industry, as well as for thestates. With broadened consumer protection in place,the clean energy industry can continue to enjoy the sup-port of the general public and the thanks of those con-sumers who install and use its technologies.
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RegulatoryAgendaA U G U S T 2 1 F E D E R A L R E G I S T E R
The following entries are summaries from the August21, 2015, Federal Register (Vol. 80, No. 162).
Environmental Protection AgencyAIR QUALITY
Primary Sulfur Dioxide NAAQS/Data Requirements
Final rule of the EPA adopts regulations under 40 CFR51, Subpart BB, to require state and tribal air agenciesto provide data to characterize current air quality in ar-eas with large sources of sulfur dioxide (SO2) emis-sions if such areas do not have sufficient air qualitymonitoring in place to identify maximum one-hour SO2concentrations. The rule establishes criteria for identi-fying sources around which air agencies would need tocharacterize SO2 air quality. The rule also specifies theprocess and timetables for air agencies to characterizeair quality around sources through ambient monitoringor air quality modeling techniques and to submit suchdata to the agency. In addition, the rule specifies thatthe data will be used in future rounds of area designa-tions for the one-hour SO2 NAAQS. The rule is effectiveSept. 21, 2015. Contact: Rich Damberg; EPA, Office ofAir Quality Planning and Standards; (919-541-5592)
HAZARDOUS WASTE
Idaho Hazardous Waste Management Program
Final rule of the EPA amends regulations under 40 CFR271 to grant final authorization of revisions to the Idahohazardous waste program under RCRA. The revisionsaddress federal standards as of July 1, 2012, includingthe removal of saccharin and its salts from the list ofhazardous constituents, hazardous wastes and hazard-ous substances; the academics lab rule; treatment stan-dards for carbamate wastes; hazardous waste manifestprinting specifications; and hazardous waste technicalcorrections and clarifications. The rule is effective Sept.21, 2015. Contact: Barbara McCullough; EPA Region10; (206-553-2416)
AIR QUALITY
District of Columbia SIP/Interstate Transport of PM-2.5
Direct final rule of the EPA amends regulations under40 CFR 52.470 to approve a revision to the District ofColumbia SIP to address interstate transport require-ments for the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM-2.5) NAAQS. The rule is effective Oct. 20, 2015, if no ad-verse comments are received by Sept. 21, 2015. Con-tact: Emlyn Velez-Rosa; EPA Region 3, Air ProtectionDivision; (215-814-2038)
AIR QUALITY
District of Columbia SIP/Interstate Transport of PM-2.5
Proposed rule of the EPA amends regulations under 40CFR 52.470 to approve a revision to the District of Co-lumbia SIP to address interstate transport requirementsfor the 2006 24-hour fine particulate matter (PM-2.5)NAAQS. A concurrent direct final rule adopts the revi-sion, effective Oct. 20, 2015. Comments are due Sept.21, 2015. Contact: Emlyn Velez-Rosa; EPA Region 3, AirProtection Division; (215-814-2038)
AIR QUALITY
Kansas SIP/Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
Proposed rule of the EPA amends regulations under 40CFR 52.870 and 52.882 to approve revisions to the Kan-sas SIP. The revisions incorporate state-determined al-lowance allocations for existing electric generatingunits in the state for the 2016 control periods under theCross-State Air Pollution Rule’s (CSAPR) annual nitro-gen oxides trading program. The rule also revises theCSAPR federal implementation plan’s regulatory text toreflect the approval and inclusion of the state-determined allocations. A concurrent direct final ruleadopts the revisions, effective Oct. 1, 2015. Commentsare due Sept. 21, 2015. Contact: Lachala Kemp; EPA Re-gion 7, Air Planning and Development Branch; (913-551-7214)
AIR QUALITY
Kansas SIP/Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
Direct final rule of the EPA amends regulations under40 CFR 52.870 and 52.882 to approve revisions to theKansas SIP. The revisions incorporate state-determinedallowance allocations for existing electric generatingunits in the state for the 2016 control periods under theCross-State Air Pollution Rule’s (CSAPR) annual nitro-gen oxides trading program. The rule also revises theCSAPR federal implementation plan’s regulatory text toreflect the approval and inclusion of the state-determined allocations. The rule is effective Oct. 1,2015, if no adverse comments are received by Sept. 21,2015. Contact: Lachala Kemp; EPA Region 7, Air Plan-ning and Development Branch; (913-551-7214)
SUPERFUND
Kentucky/National Southwire Aluminum Site
Proposed rule of the EPA amends regulations under 40CFR 300, Appendix B, to delete the National SouthwireAluminum Superfund site in Hawesville, Ky., from theNational Priorities List. The agency and the state ofKentucky have determined that all appropriate re-sponse actions under CERCLA have been completed.The deletion does not preclude future actions under Su-perfund. A concurrent direct final rule adopts the dele-tion, effective Oct. 5, 2015. Comments are due Sept. 21,
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2015. Contact: Michael Townsend; EPA Region 4, Su-perfund Remedial Branch; (404-562-8813)
SUPERFUND
Kentucky/National Southwire Aluminum Site
Direct final rule of the EPA amends regulations under40 CFR 300, Appendix B, to delete the National South-wire Aluminum Superfund site in Hawesville, Ky., fromthe National Priorities List. The agency and the state ofKentucky have determined that all appropriate re-sponse actions under CERCLA have been completed.The deletion does not preclude future actions under Su-perfund. The rule is effective Oct. 5, 2015, if no adversecomments are received by Sept. 21, 2015. Contact: Mi-chael Townsend; EPA Region 4, Superfund RemedialBranch; (404-562-8813)
SUPERFUND
West Virginia/Lin Electric Site
Notice of the EPA announces a proposed administrativesettlement agreement under CERCLA Section 107(a)with Danny Lusk concerning the Lin Electric SuperfundSite in Bluefield, W.Va. The settlement requires the set-tling parties to pay $21,358 for recovery of responsecosts. Comments are due Sept. 21, 2015. Contact: RobinEiseman; EPA Region 3; (215-814-2612)
WASTEWATER
NPDES General Permit/Stormwater from Industrial Ac-tivities
Notice of the EPA announces the availability of the fi-nal NPDES general permit for stormwater dischargesfrom industrial activities in Idaho, for federal operatorsin the state of Washington, and the Spokane Tribe. Thepermit for federal operators in Washington is effectiveJuly 21, 2015. The permits for Idaho and the SpokaneTribe are effective Aug. 12, 2015. Contact: Bryan Ritten-house; EPA, Office of Wastewater Management; (202-564-0577)
WATER QUALITY
Water Quality Standards Clarifications
Final rule of the EPA amends regulations under 40 CFR131.2 through 131.40 (nonconsecutive) and adoptsregulations under 40 CFR 131.14 and 131.15 regardingwater quality standards. The rule clarifies what consti-tutes an administrator’s determination that new or re-vised water quality standards are necessary, how statesand tribes assign and revise designated uses for indi-vidual water bodies, and triennial review requirements.The rule also establishes requirements for high-qualitywater identification, analysis of alternatives and an-tidegradation implementation methods. In addition, therule authorizes the use of variances when the applicabledesignated uses are not attainable in the near term butmay be attainable in the future. Finally, the rule clarifiescompliance schedule authorizing provisions concerningwater quality-based effluent limits in NPDES permits.The rule is effective Oct. 20, 2015. Contact: Janita Agu-
irre; EPA, Office of Science and Technology; (202-566-1860)
Department of JusticeLEGISLATIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIVITY
Pennsylvania/Clean Water Act Consent Decree
Notice of the Department of Justice announces a pro-posed consent decree in United States v. DelawareCounty Regional Water Quality Control Authority (CivilAction No. 15-4652), lodged on Aug. 17, 2015, with theU.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsyl-vania. The consent decree addresses a lawsuit for al-leged violations of the Clean Water Act in connectionwith the defendant’s failure to develop a long-term con-trol plan (LTCP), unpermitted sewage discharges andeffluent limit exceedances from the combined sewersystem in the city of Chester and throughout DelawareCounty. The consent decree requires the defendant todevelop and implement a LTCP and a Nine MinimumControls plan to control combined sewer overflows andbring its combined sewer system into good operationand maintenance. The consent decree also requires thedefendant to pay a civil penalty of $1.375 million and re-solves concurrent alleged claims under the Pennsylva-nia Clean Streams Law. Comments are due Sept. 21,2015. Contact: DOJ, Environment and Natural Re-sources Division; (202-514-2701)
Department of EnergyRADIATION
Environmental Management Advisory Board/Oak Ridge
Notice of the Department of Energy announces a meet-ing of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Ad-visory Board, Oak Ridge Reservation. The board makesrecommendations to the agency in the areas of environ-mental restoration, waste management and related ac-tivities. The meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2015, inOak Ridge, Tenn. Comments are requested, but a duedate is not specified. Contact: Melyssa Noe; DOE, OakRidge Operations Office; (865-241-3315)
Office of Energy Efficiency andRenewable EnergyENERGY EFFICIENCY
Clothes Washer Test Procedures
Notice of the Department of Energy, Office of EnergyEfficiency and Renewable Energy, announces a correc-tion to an Aug. 5, 2015, final rule (80 FR 46730) thatamended regulations under 10 CFR 429.20, 430.23 andAppendix J1 to 10 CFR 430, Subpart B, and adoptedregulations under 429.134(c) regarding test proceduresfor clothes washers. The rule codifies test procedureguidance and clarifies relevant test procedure provi-sions, including clothes container capacity measure-ment, wash temperatures, test cloth loading instruc-tions, default cycle settings, the wash time setting, wa-ter fill control systems and out-of-balance loads. Thecorrection addresses a numbering error in the regula-tory text. The correction is effective Sept. 4, 2015. Con-
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tact: Bryan Berringer; DOE, Office of Energy Efficiencyand Renewable Energy; (202-586-0371)
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Energy Conservation Standards/Grid-Enabled WaterHeaters
Notice of the Department of Energy, Office of EnergyEfficiency and Renewable Energy, announces a techni-cal correction to an Aug. 11, 2015, final rule (80 FR48004) that amended regulations under 10 CFR 430.2and 430.32 to set forth energy conservation standardsand definitions regarding grid-enabled water heaters.The rule defines an �activation lock� and specifies amanufacturer can provide the activation key for the ac-tivation lock on a grid-enabled heater only to a utility orother company using it in an electric thermal storage ordemand response program. The rule also requires grid-enabled water heater manufacturers to report annuallythe quantity of grid-enabled water heaters shipped eachyear. The correction inserts a numeral in the energyfactor equation for such water heaters. The correctionis effective Aug. 21, 2015. Contact: Ashley Armstrong;DOE, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable En-ergy; (202-586-6590)
Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Oregon LNG Export Project/Washington ExpansionProject EIS Draft
Notice of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissionannounces a series of meetings on the draft environ-mental impact statement for the Oregon LNG ExportProject and the related Washington Expansion Project(80 FR 48097; 08/11/2015). The Oregon LNG ExpansionProject, proposed by Oregon LNG of Warrenton, Ore.,involves the construction of a bidirectional liquefiednatural gas terminal in Warrenton and 39 miles of pipe-line to interconnect with the interstate gas transmissionsystem owned by Northwest Pipeline GP, of Salt LakeCity. The Washington Expansion Project, proposed byNorthwest, involves the construction of approximately140 miles of additional pipeline and compressor facili-ties to interconnect with the new Oregon LNG pipelineterminal. The meetings are scheduled for Sept. 14-24,2015, in several locations in Oregon and and the stateof Washington. Contact: FERC, Office of External Af-fairs; (866-208-3372)
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Texas/Corpus Christi Liquefaction Stage 3 ExpansionProject EIS
Notice announces the intention of the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission to prepare an environmentalassessment for the expansion of the Corpus Christi Liq-uefaction Project and new associated bi-directional in-terstate natural gas pipeline facilities in San PatricioCounty, Texas. The project proposed by Corpus ChristiLiquefaction LLC and Cheniere Corpus Christi PipelineLP includes the addition of two liquefaction trains, one160,000 cubic meter full containment liquefied naturalgas tank, one 22 mile-long pipeline, additional compres-sion at the Sinton Compressor Station and appurtenant
facilities. Comments are due Sept. 16, 2015. Contact:FERC, Office of External Affairs; (866-208-3372)
PUBLIC UTILITIES
Certification of Electric Reliability Organizations/Electric Reliability Standards
Notice announces the intention of the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission to seek OMB approval for acontinuing information collection request regardingcertification of electric reliability organizations and pro-cedures for electric reliability standards (FERC-725).The collection addresses the reliability and adequacy ofthe bulk-power system in North America (18 CFR 39).Comments are due Oct. 20, 2015. Contact: Ellen Brown;FERC; (202-502-8663)
Army Corps of EngineersENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Hawaii/Ala Wai Canal Project
Notice of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announcesthe availability of a draft integrated feasibility report/environmental impact statement for the proposed AlaWai Canal Project. The study assesses the feasibility offlood risk management alternatives to be implementedwithin the Ala Wai watershed on Oahu, Hawaii. Com-ments are due Oct. 7, 2015. Contact: Derek Chow;USACE, Honolulu District; (808-835-4026)
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Nevada/Coeur Rochester Mine EIS
Notice of the Department of the Interior, Bureau ofLand Management, announces the availability of a draftenvironmental impact statement for the proposed ex-pansion of the Coeur Rochester Mine in PershingCounty, Nev. Meetings will be announced at a laterdate. Comments are due 45 days after the EPA pub-lishes the notice of availability in the Federal Register.Contact: Kathleen Rehberg; BLM, Winnemucca Dis-trict; (775-623-1500)
Bureau of Land ManagementENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Utah/Moab and Monticello Resource ManagementPlans and EIS
Notice of the Department of the Interior, Bureau ofLand Management, announces the availability of a mas-ter leasing plan, draft resource management planamendments, and a draft environmental impact state-ment for the Moab and Monticello field offices. Theplans address leasing for oil, gas, and potash on ap-proximately 785,000 acres of public lands in Grand andSan Juan counties in Utah. Comments are due Nov. 19,2015. Contact: Brent Northrup; BLM, Moab Field Of-fice; (435-259-2151)
Federal Highway AdministrationENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Pennsylvania/Central Susquehanna Valley Transporta-tion Project Final Actions
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Notice of the Federal Highway Administration an-nounces the final agency actions taken concerning theproposed Central Susquehanna Valley Transportationhighway project in Northumberland, Snyder and Unioncounties in Pennsylvania. The project includes the con-struction of approximately 12.4 miles of new, limitedaccess, four-lane highway extending from the existingU.S. Route 11/15 Interchange to PA Route 147 and in-cludes a connector to PA Route 61 and a new bridgecrossing over the West Branch of the SusquehannaRiver. The notice specifies the actions taken include thegranting of licenses, permits and approvals for the proj-ect. The notice also specifies that any claim seeking ju-dicial review of federal agency actions will be barredunless the claim is filed on or before Jan. 19, 2016, un-less a time period of less than 150 days for filing such aclaim applies. Contact: Renee Sigel; FHWA; (717-221-3461)
Federal Motor Carrier SafetyAdministrationHAZARDOUS MATERIALS TRANSPORTATION
Hours-of-Service Waiver for Transporation of Hazard-ous Materials
Notice of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administra-tion announces the decision to grant a two-year exemp-tion from the 30-minute rest break provision of thehours-of-service standards under 49 CFR 395 for motorcarriers transporting certain hazardous materials (HM)that file security plans requiring constant attendance ofhazardous materials. The exemption, which is grantedin response to an application from the American Truck-ing Associations Inc., allows exempt drivers to counttheir on-duty attendance of HM cargo toward the 30-minute rest break requirement provided they performno other on-duty activity. The exemption is effectiveAug. 21, 2015, through Aug. 21, 2017. Contact: ThomasYager; FMCSA, Office of Carrier, Driver and VehicleSafety Standards; (202-366-4325)
National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministrationENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Atlantic Herring Fishery Management Plan EIS
Notice of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-ministration, New England Fishery Management Coun-cil, in cooperation with the National Marine FisheriesService, announces an expansion of the scope of an en-vironmental impact statement (80 FR 10458;02/26/2015) regarding Amendment 8 to the AtlanticHerring Fishery Management Plan concerning biologi-cal catch control rules. The expansion includes consid-eration of localized depletion in inshore waters. Com-ments on the expanded scope are due Sept. 30, 2015.Contact: Thomas Nies; New England Fishery Manage-ment Council; (978-465-0492)
National Marine Fisheries ServiceENDANGERED SPECIES
Hawaii/Monk Seal Critical Habitat
Final rule of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-ministration, National Marine Fisheries Service,amends regulations under 50 CFR 226.201 to revise thecritical habitat for the Hawaiian monk seal. The ruledesignates 10 areas in the Northwestern Hawaiian Is-lands and six areas in the main Hawaiian islands ascritical habitat for the Hawaiian monk seal and speci-fies essential physical or biological features that sup-port conservation of monk seals. The rule is effectiveSept. 21, 2015. Contact: Jean Higgins; NMFS, Pacific Is-lands Regional Office; (808-725-5151)
Nuclear Regulatory CommissionENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT
Nevada/Yucca Mountain Repository Supplemental EIS
Notice of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission an-nounces the availability of a draft supplement to the De-partment of Energy’s final environmental impact state-ment for a geologic repository for the disposal of spentnuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste at YuccaMountain in Nye County, Nev., and a related supple-mental EIS. The notice specifies that the current supple-ment will address impacts on groundwater and surfacedischarges of groundwater. Meetings are scheduled forSept. 3, in Rockville, Md.; Sept. 15, in Las Vegas; Sept.17, in Amargosa Valley, Nev.; and Oct. 15, 2015, viateleconference. Comments are due Oct. 20, 2015. Con-tact: Christine Pineda; NRC, Office of Nuclear MaterialSafety and Safeguards; (301-415-6789)
RADIATION
Nuclear Materials Agreement States Information Re-quests
Notice of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission an-nounces the submission of a revised information collec-tion request to the OMB regarding agency requests forinformation from Section 274(b) Agreement states. Therevision expands the requirements to cover a genericcollection of licensing, inspection practices and othertechnical data. Comments are due Sept. 21, 2015. Con-tact: Tremaine Donnell; NRC; (301-415-6258)
RADIATION
Nuclear Power Plants/Radiological Emergency Re-sponse Plans
Notice of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission an-nounces an extension of the comment period for a May29, 2015, notice (80 FR 30739) regarding a draft guid-ance (NUREG-0654/FEMA-REP-1, Revision 2) on crite-ria for preparation and evaluation of radiological emer-gency response plans and preparedness in support ofnuclear power plants. The guidance is intended for usein evaluation of emergency plans and preparedness ofcommercial nuclear power plant licensees and appli-cants, as well as those of state, local and tribal govern-ments within the emergency planning zones surround-ing commercial such plants. The revision incorporatesfour supplemental documents and addenda to the pre-
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vious version and reflects changes to regulations andadvances in technology and methods for responding toradiological incidents. Comments now are due Sept. 21,2015. Contact: Don Tailleart; NRC, Office of NuclearSecurity and Incident Response; (301-287-9257)
RADIATION
Standards for Protection against Radiation/Linear No-Threshold Model
Notice of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission an-nounces an extension of the comment period for a June23, 2015, notice (80 FR 35870) regarding the receipt ofthree petitions for rulemaking to amend regulations un-der 10 CFR 20 to revise the standards for protectionagainst radiation and to change the basis of those stan-dards from the Linear No-Threshold model of radiationprotection to the radiation hormesis model. The peti-tioners also request that worker doses remain at pres-ent levels; the ‘‘as low as reasonably achievable’’ prin-ciple be removed from the regulations; public doses beraised to worker doses; and differential doses for preg-nant women, embryos and fetuses and children under18 years of age be ended. Comments now are due Nov.19, 2015. Contact: Solomon Sahle; NRC, Office ofNuclear Material Safety and Safeguards; (301-415-3781)
A U G U S T 2 0 F E D E R A L R E G I S T E R
Environmental Protection AgencyAIR QUALITY (80 Fed. Reg. 50,582)
Montana SIP
Final rule of the EPA amends regulations under 40 CFR52.1370 and 52.1397 to approve revisions to the Mon-tana SIP. The revisions update citations and referencesto federal and state laws and regulations, modify openburning provisions, change the process for appealingair quality permits, and establish a process for revokingair quality permits when owners can’t be found by mail.The rule also corrects a Jan. 29, 2010, direct final rule(75 FR 4698) regarding incorporation by reference ma-terials. In addition, the rule adds carbon monoxidemaintenance plans for Billings and Great Falls. The ruleis effective Sept. 21, 2015. Contact: Abby Fulton; EPARegion 8, Air Program; (303-312-6563)
AIR QUALITY (80 Fed. Reg. 50,591)
Florida SIP/Regional Haze
Proposed rule of the EPA amends regulations under 40CFR 52 to approve a revision to the Florida regionalhaze SIP. The revision addresses the best available ret-rofit technology emission limits for nitrogen oxides forthe Lakeland Electric C.D. McIntosh Power Plant Unit 1and a related construction permit limit. Comments aredue Sept. 21, 2015. Contact: Michele Notorianni; EPARegion 4; (404-562-9031)
AIR QUALITY (80 Fed. Reg. 50,590)
Indiana SIP/Alcoa BART Averaging Time for NOx
Proposed rule of the EPA amends regulations under 40CFR 52.770 to approve a revision to the Indiana SIP.The revision changes the best available retrofit technol-ogy (BART) averaging time for nitrogen oxides (NOx)for Alcoa’s Warrick Power Station in Newburgh from a24-hour rolling average to a 24-hour daily average. Aconcurrent direct final rule adopts the revision, effec-tive Oct. 19, 2015. Comments are due Sept. 21, 2015.Contact: Carolyn Persoon; EPA Region 5, Air ProgramsBranch; (312-353-8290)
AIR QUALITY (80 Fed. Reg. 50,579)
Indiana SIP/Alcoa BART Averaging Time for NOx
Direct final rule of the EPA amends regulations under40 CFR 52.770 to approve a revision to the Indiana SIP.The revision changes the best available retrofit technol-ogy (BART) averaging time for nitrogen oxides (NOx)for Alcoa’s Warrick Power Station in Newburgh from a24-hour rolling average to a 24-hour daily average. Therule is effective Oct. 19, 2015, if no adverse commentsare received by Sept. 21, 2015. Contact: Carolyn Per-soon; EPA Region 5, Air Programs Branch; (312-353-8290)
Department of JusticeSUPERFUND (80 Fed. Reg. 50,650)
Maryland/Central Chemical Site
Notice of the Department of Justice announces a pro-posed consent decree in United States v. Arkema Inc.(Civil Action No. 1:15-cv-02426), lodged on Aug. 17,2015, with the U.S. District Court for the District ofMaryland. The consent decree resolves claims againstthe defendants under CERCLA Sections 106 and 107 forthe recovery of response costs incurred in connectionwith contaminated soils and principal threat wastesfrom Operable Unit 1 of the Central Chemical site inHagerstown, Md. The consent decree requires the de-fendants to pay a total of $945,117 in response costsand to perform injunctive relief. The consent decreealso includes a covenant protecting the defendant fromfurther action to recover past response costs. Com-ments are due Sept. 21, 2015. Contact: DOJ, Environ-ment and Natural Resources Division; (202-514-2701)
Department of EnergyENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (80 Fed.Reg. 50,616)
Idaho/Crooked River Valley Rehabilitation Project
Notice of the Department of Energy, Bonneville PowerAdministration, announces the availability of the recordof decision (ROD) to fund implementation of theCrooked River Valley Rehabilitation Project in IdahoCounty, Idaho. The ROD declares that the agency willfund implementation of Alternative 2 identified in theCrooked River Valley Rehabilitation Project final envi-ronmental impact statement. Contact: Brenda Aguirre;BPA; (503-230-3000)
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Office of Energy Efficiency andRenewable EnergyENERGY EFFICIENCY (80 Fed. Reg. 50,616)
EV Everywhere Logo Design Competition
Notice of the Department of Energy, Office of EnergyEfficiency and Renewable Energy, announces require-ments and registration information for the EV Every-where Logo Design Competition. The competition en-courages artists and designers to create a graphic rep-resentation of the agency’s efforts to raise awareness ofthe benefits of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) and in-crease the use of PEVs. Submissions are due Sept. 25,2015. Contact: Robert Graham; DOE, Office of EnergyEfficiency and Renewable Energy; (202-586-3801)
Federal Energy Regulatory CommissionENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (80 Fed.Reg. 50,622)
Lousiana/Lake Charles Liquefaction Project EIS
Notice of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissionannounces the availability of the final environmentalimpact statement for the Lake Charles LiquefactionProject involving the construction, operation, modifica-tion or abandonment of specified natural gas pipeline,compression facilities and meter stations in Arkansas,Louisiana and Mississippi. The project also involves theconstruction and operation of a new natural gas lique-faction facility in Calcasieu Parish, La. The project isproposed by Trunkline Gas Co., Lake Charles LNG Co.and Lake Charles LNG Export Co., subsidiaries of En-ergy Transfer Partners, of Dallas. Contact: FERC, Officeof External Affairs; (866-208-3372)
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (80 Fed.Reg. 50,618)
New Hampshire/Zealand Falls Hydroelectric Project
Notice of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissionannounces the availability of an environmental assess-ment regarding an application for an original minor li-cense to continue to operate the Zealand Falls Hydro-electric Project located on the Whitewall Brook in Beth-lehem, N.H. Contact: John Baummer; FERC; (202-502-6837)
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (80 Fed.Reg. 50,621)
New Hampshire/Brooklyn Dam Hydroelectric Project
Notice of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissionannounces the availability of an environmental assess-ment regarding an application for exemption from li-censing for the proposed Brooklyn Dam HydroelectricProject , proposed for the Upper Ammonoosuc River inNorthumberland, N.H. Contact: John Ramer; FERC;(202-502-8969)
OIL AND GAS (80 Fed. Reg. 50,558)
Auxiliary Installations and Replacement FacilitiesAbandonment
Notice of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commissionannounces a correction to a July 24, 2015, final rule (80FR 43944) that amended regulations under 18 CFR 2.55,157.202 and 157.216 regarding auxiliary facilities, re-placement facilities and siting and maintenance re-quirements. The correction specifies auxiliary facilitiesunder 18 CFR 2.55(a) will not exceed the applicablecost limits under the prior notice provisions. The cor-rection is effective Oct. 7, 2015. Contact: Katherine Lib-erty; FERC, Office of General Counsel; (202-502-6491)
Animal and Plant Health InspectionServiceENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (80 Fed.Reg. 50,595)
Biological Control Agent for the Emerald Ash Borer
Notice of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Ser-vice announces the availability of a final environmentalassessment and finding of no significant impact for theproposed field release of a parasitic wasp, Spathiusgalinae, for the biological control of the emerald ashborer, Agrilus planipennis, in the contiguous U.S. Con-tact: Robert Tichenor; APHIS; (301-851-2198)
Federal Highway AdministrationENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (80 Fed.Reg. 50,710)
Virginia/Interstate 64 Hampton Roads Bridge-TunnelCorridor EIS
Notice of the Federal Highway Administration an-nounces the rescission of a May 20, 2011, notice of in-tent (76 FR 29290) to prepare an environmental impactstatement for the Interstate 64 Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel Corridor proposal. The notice specifies that therescission is due to failure to identify a preferred alter-native.The notice also specifies that the Interstate 64crossing of Hampton Roads is one alternative beingstudied as part of the Hampton Roads Crossing Studysupplemental environmental impact statement (80 FR36038; 06/23/2015). Contact: Edward Sundra; FHWA;(804-775-3357)
General Services AdministrationENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (80 Fed.Reg. 50,631)
Virginia/FBI Central Records Complex SupplementalEIS
Notice of the General Services Administration an-nounces a meeting and extension of the comment pe-riod for a Feb. 17, 2015, notice (80 FR 8311) regardinga supplemental draft environmental impact statementfor the FBI Central Records Complex in WinchesterCounty, Va. The supplemental draft EIS will evaluatepotential direct, indirect and cumulative impacts fromconstruction at three site alternatives, as well as a noaction alternative. The meeting is scheduled for Sept.
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10, 2015, in Winchester. Comments now are due Oct. 5,2015. Contact: Courtenay Hoernemann; GSA; (215-446-4710)
Nuclear Regulatory CommissionRADIATION (80 Fed. Reg. 50,663)
North Carolina/McGuire Nuclear Station LicenseAmendment
Notice of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission an-nounces the receipt of a license amendment applicationby Duke Energy Carolinas LLC, of Charlotte, N.C., forthe operation of the McGuire Nuclear Station Units 1and 2, in Mecklenburg County, N.C. The amendmentprovides a temporary extension of selected technicalspecification required completion times to support re-pair activities associated with the Nuclear Service Wa-ter System. Hearing requests and petitions for leave tointervene are due Oct. 19, 2015. Comments are dueSept. 21, 2015. Contact: Edward Miller; NRC, Office ofNuclear Reactor Regulation; (301-415-2481)
U.S. Coast GuardWATER TRANSPORTATION (80 Fed. Reg. 50,576)
Vessel Notification of Arrival/Departure Requirements
Notice of the Coast Guard announces the approval of aninformation collection request by the OMB related to aportion of a Jan. 30, 2015, final rule (80 FR 5281) thatamended regulations under 33 CFR 62 through 165
(nonconsecutive) and 46 CFR 4 and 148 to revise thenotification of arrival and departure and automaticidentification system requirements for commercial ves-sels. The information collection request addresses re-quirements under 33 CFR 160.204, 160.205 and 160.208to expand the applicability of notice of arrival require-ments to additional vessels; to set forth a mandatorymethod for electronic submission of such notices; andto revise related reporting content, time frames andprocedures. This action is effective Aug. 20, 2015. Con-tact: Michael Lendvay; USCG, Office of CommercialVessel Compliance; (202-372-1218)
U.S. NavyENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT (80 Fed.Reg. 50,615)
Northern Mariana Islands/Live-Fire Range Training Ar-eas EIS
Notice of the Department of the Navy announces an ad-ditional extension of the comment period for an April 6,2015, notice (80 FR 18385) regarding a draft environ-mental impact statement/overseas environmental im-pact statement, filed by the U.S. Marine Corps Forces,Pacific, for the establishment of a series of live-fireranges, training courses and maneuver areas in theCommonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Com-ments now are due Oct. 1, 2015, Eastern Daylight Time,or Oct. 2, 2015, Chamorro Standard Time. Contact: Na-val Facilities Engineering Command, Pacific, Public Af-fairs Office; (808-472-1007)
Comment Deadlines on Major Regulations & Other Actions
EndangeredSpecies
EPA notice on a guidance document describing the agency’srisk management approach for understanding and identifyingprotections for the monarch butterfly and milkweed resources(80 Fed. Reg. 36,338; 80 Fed. Reg. 43,424; Docket No.EPA-HQ-OPP-2015-0389; July 22, 2015)
Aug. 24, 2015 Contact Khue Nguyen inEPA’s Office of PesticidePrograms at (703) 347-0248
Pesticides EPA notice to adopt mandatory label restrictions to protectbees under contract pollination services from foliarapplications of pesticides that are acutely toxic to bees on acontact-exposure basis (40 C.F.R. Chapter 1)(80 Fed. Reg.44,321; Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPP-2014-0818; July 27, 2015)
Aug. 28, 2015 Contact Michael Goodis inEPA’s Office of PesticidePrograms at (703) 305-8578
Climate Change EPA proposal to determine that greenhouse gas emissionsfrom aircraft cause or contribute to air pollution that mightendanger the public health of current and future generations(40 C.F.R. pts. 87 and 1068)(80 Fed. Reg. 37,758; Docket No.EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0828; July 1, 2015)
Aug. 31, 2015 Contact JoNell Iffland in EPA’sOffice of Transportation andAir Quality, Assessment andStandards Division, at (734)214-4454
EnergyEfficiency
Department of Energy notice regarding the frameworkdocument related to energy conservation standards forfluorescent lamp ballasts (10 C.F.R. pt. 430)(80 Fed. Reg.35,886, 80 Fed. Reg. 49,933; Docket No. EERE-2015-BT-0006; Aug. 18, 2015)
Sept. 2, 2015 Contact Lucy deButts inDOE’s Office of EnergyEfficiency and RenewableEnergy at (202) 287-1604
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Comment Deadlines on Major Regulations & Other Actions − Continued
Fuel Efficiency EPA and NHTSA proposal to amend regulations under 40C.F.R. pt 9 through 1068 (nonconsecutive) and 49 C.F.R. 512,523, 534, 535, 537 and 538 to increase the federal greenhousegas (GHG) and corporate average fuel economy (CAFE)standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and enginesbuilt in model years 2018 through 2027 (80 Fed. Reg. 40,137,80 Fed. Reg. 44,863; Docket Nos. EPA-HQ-OAR-2014-0827and NHTSA-2014-0132; July 28, 2015)
Sept. 17, 2015 Contact JoNell Iffland in EPA’sOffice of Transportation andAir Quality, Assessment andStandards Division at (734)214-4454
Chemicals EPA proposed rule that would require companies to notify theEnvironmental Protection Agency 90 days before they plan tomake or process trichloroethylene (TCE) for use in someconsumer products (40 C.F.R. pt. 721)(80 Fed. Reg. 47,441;Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPPT-2014-0697; Aug. 7, 2015)
Oct. 6, 2015 Contact Katherine Sleasman inEPA’s Office of PollutionPrevention and Toxics at (202)564-7716
Water Pollution EPA proposal to streamline how tribes apply for EPA’sapproval to be treated in a similar manner to states for thewater quality standards program and other Clean Water Actprograms (40 C.F.R. pts. 123, 131, 233, 501)(80 Fed. Reg.47,430; Docket No. EPA-HQ-OW-2014-0461; Aug. 7, 2015)
Oct. 6, 2015 Contact Fred Leutner in EPA’sOffice of Science andTechnology at (202) 566-0378
EnergyEfficiency
EPA proposal to establish energy conservation standards forceiling fan light kits manufactured in, or imported into, theU.S. (10 C.F.R. pt. 430.32)(80 Fed. Reg. 48,623; Docket No.EERE-2012-BT-STD-0045; Aug. 13, 2015)
Oct. 13, 2015 Contact Lucy deButts inDOE’s Office of EnergyEfficiency and RenewableEnergy at (202) 287-1604
Toxic Substances EPA notice on preliminary information it has gathered aboutand risk assessment approaches it proposes to use for threegroups of flame retardants, and a data-needs assessment for afourth group of chemicals that includes two flame retardants(80 Fed. Reg. 49,997; Docket No. EPA-HQ-OPPT-2014-0068,2014-0730, 2015-0081, 2015-0491)
Oct. 19, 2015;Dec. 16, 2015)
Contact Stanley Barone inEPA’s Office of PollutionPrevention and Toxics at (202)564-1169
D-8 (No. 162) REGULATORY AGENDA
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