This Week in Review April 2-6, 2012

Transcription

1 This Week in Review April 2-6, 2012 (1) EPA Issues Final Ozone Advance Program Guidance, Schedules April 24 Webinar (April 4, 2012) EPA launched its Ozone Advance program, a collaborative effort to encourage ozone attainment areas nationwide to reduce ozone emissions expeditiously so they can continue to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. Participants in this voluntary program are encouraged to take near-term action to improve air quality and protect public health over the long term; the air quality improvements that result could serve as a buffer against future violations of the NAAQS. Similar to the 2001 and 2008 Ozone Flex programs, Ozone Advance offers a framework for local actions to reduce ozone precursors in attainment and maintenance areas, but differs from Ozone Flex in that it allows more areas to participate and simplifies the program participation requirements. Eligible areas include those not yet designated, or those designated as attainment, unclassifiable/attainment or unclassifiable, for the 2008 ozone standard. To participate, a state, local or tribal agency must sign up by submitting a letter to EPA s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS) and then receive acknowledgement from OAQPS that the basic program eligibility criteria have been met. Participants will then work with EPA and stakeholders to understand the local issues and options for addressing them. Following these discussions preferably within one year of signing up for the program the state, local or tribal agency will identify the measures and programs it will pursue and an implementation schedule. These agencies will then work with EPA to quickly evaluate, select and implement control measures. EPA will share information regarding available tools, resources and data that might be useful in helping participants resolve issues; identify emission reduction and public education options; provide technical advice; and facilitate information sharing. Ozone Advance participants will also be encouraged to maximize multi-pollutant reductions when choosing measures and strategies to further reduce ozone. EPA has indicated it envisions employing a similar approach for PM. EPA has scheduled a one-hour webinar to review the final Ozone Advance guidance, identify changes made from the draft guidance and answer questions. The webinar will take place on Tuesday, April 24, 2012 from 2:00 to 3:00 PM EDT. Information on how to register for the webinar is available on Air Web on the Criteria Pollutants Committee page Calendar. For further information:

2 2 (2) EPA, Environmentalists Enter into Consent Decree on Deadlines for Action on Regional Haze SIPs (March 30, 2012) EPA entered into a final consent decree with the National Parks Conservation Association, Montana Environmental Information Center, Grand Canyon Trust, San Juan Citizens Alliance, Our Children's Earth Foundation, Plains Justice, Powder River Basin Resource Council, Sierra Club and Environmental Defense Fund in which the agency agrees to a schedule for taking action on Regional Haze State Implementation Plans (SIPs). The Regional Haze program was established in SIPs under this program were due to EPA in EPA made a finding in 2009 that 39 states and territories had failed to submit all or some portion of their respective Regional Haze SIPs. Section 110(c) of the Clean Air Act requires that EPA promulgate a Federal Implementation Plan (FIP) within two years of a finding of failure to submit a SIP. The agency was sued by the above-named plaintiffs; the final consent decree filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit settles that legal challenge. The agreement establishes a schedule of dates by which EPA and states will take action to fulfill requirements under the Regional Haze program. For the SIPs in question, EPA is obligated under the agreement to approve, disapprove, approve in part, disapprove in part or issue a FIP. For further information: (3) EPA Releases Report on Impact of Black Carbon on the Environment and Strategies for Reducing Emissions (April 2, 2012) EPA released a report outlining the impact of emissions of black carbon on the environment and identifying cost-effective strategies for reducing such emissions. Black carbon is a significant component of particulate matter and thus directly affects human health. In addition, black carbon has been linked to a range of climate impacts, including increased temperatures, accelerated ice and snow melt and disruptions to precipitation patterns. Reducing current emissions of black carbon may help slow the near-term rate of climate change, particularly in sensitive regions such as the Arctic, according to EPA. In the report, EPA notes that a number of programs already being implemented in the U.S. reduce black carbon emissions including emissions standards for new mobile source engines; retrofit programs for in-use mobile source engines; regulatory programs targeting emissions from coal combustion (utilities, boilers and other industrial processes) and stationary diesel engines; and emissions standards for residential wood heaters, which EPA is currently reviewing. Other potential areas for reductions include agricultural burning and oil and gas flaring. Congress directed EPA to write the report in EPA s Fiscal Year 2010 appropriation (H.R. 2996: Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2010). For further information: (4) EPA Approves 24 Applications to Register E15 (April 2, 2012) EPA approved the first applications to register ethanol for use in making E15 (gasoline containing 15 percent ethanol). Manufacturers of gasoline and diesel fuels and fuel additives including E15 produced and commercially distributed for use in highway motor vehicles are required to register their fuels and additives with EPA,

3 3 primarily for the purpose of providing information for identifying and evaluating the potential adverse effects of resulting emissions to help inform any future regulatory decisions. This first round of approvals covered 24 additives; EPA will update its list of registered additives every two months. Registration, however, does not mean E15 can immediately be sold. The waivers allowing E15 to be sold in the marketplace for use in model year 2001 and newer light-duty vehicles were granted conditionally, contingent upon additive manufacturers getting EPA s approval of, and implementing, a misfueling mitigation plan and a survey plan. In addition, other federal, state and local requirements must be met and various practical concerns such as dispenser and tank compatibility must be addressed. For further information: (5) EAB Denies Review of Shell Alaskan OCS Minor Source Permit (March 30, 2012) EPA s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) issued an order denying review of an Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) minor source permit issued to Shell Offshore for drilling in the Beaufort Sea off the Alaskan coast. As part of In re Shell Offshore, Inc. (Nos. OCS 11-05, and 11-07), the EAB denied requests by environmental and native Alaskan groups to review the permit, which was issued to Shell s Kulluk drillship by EPA Region 10 on October 21, The EAB held that petitioners failed to demonstrate that 1) the Region clearly erred in establishing limitations to restrict the drilling unit s potential to emit; 2) the Region clearly erred in declining to require Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) increment consumption analysis; 3) the Region clearly erred in its ambient air exemption determination; 4) the Region failed to satisfy its obligation to consider environmental justice under Executive Order 12898; 5) the Region clearly erred or abused its discretion when it provided 46 days for public comment; or 6) the Region clearly erred in its public hearing procedures. This most recent EAB action follows a January 12, 2012 order denying review of two OCS PSD permits issued to Shell Gulf of Mexico and Shell Offshore for operations of the Noble Discoverer drillship in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. That decision has been appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in Resisting Environmental Destruction on Indigenous Lands (REDOIL) v. EPA (No ). For further information: 42db69/148252b4723f d !OpenDocument (6) CRS Reports on Major Provisions of House and Senate Transportation Bills (March 30, 2012) As Congress continues to work toward passing a transportation reauthorization bill, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) published a report summarizing the framework of the current transportation authorization law SAFETA-LU and comparing the provisions of the Senatepassed bill and the Committee-passed House bill S. 1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21 st Century Act and H.R. 7, the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act, respectively. Among the categories of legislative provisions CRS compares are how the bills will be paid for, highways, accelerating transportation project delivery, amendments to the Congestion Mitigation and Air

4 4 Quality Improvement program, alternative fuels and advanced technology vehicles, transportation and performance management, transportation infrastructure, freight, transit, rail, highway safety, commercial vehicle safety, transportation research and education and harbor maintenance. For further information: tioninthe112thcongressmap21andhr7majorprovisions.pdf (7) Final Rule to Retain Current NOX and SOX Secondary NAAQS Published in Federal Register (April 3, 2012) EPA published in the Federal Register (77 FR 20218) its final rule retaining the existing secondary National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for oxides of nitrogen (NOX) and oxides of sulfur (SOX). The agency originally announced this final action on March 20, 2012; the rule takes effect on June 4, For NOX, the current standard is parts per million (ppm) NO2 averaged over one year; for SOX, the current standard is 0.5 ppm SO2 averaged over three hours, not to be exceeded more than once per year. As part of its review of the secondary NAAQS, EPA evaluated the possibility of establishing a multi-pollutant standard to address deposition-related effects of NOX and SOX and developed the Aquatic Acidification Index for the purpose of relating NOX and SOX emissions to water quality. When taking this final action, EPA determined that it does not yet have sufficient information to set a multipollutant standard and will instead collect and analyze additional information through a field monitoring pilot program. Information gathered from the pilot program will be used in the next review of the secondary NOX/SOX NAAQS and to inform the development of an appropriate monitoring network. For further information: (8) Washington State Releases Climate Adaptation Plan (April 3, 2012) The state of Washington released a report outlining how the state can prepare and adapt to the impacts of climate change. For example, the state notes in its report that climate change is expected to increase exposure to ground-level ozone, with average summer ozone concentrations projected to increase 28 percent by the 2050s in King County and, in Spokane County, ozone concentrations are projected to increase by 17 percent by the 2050s. The report urges state agencies to make adaptation a standard part of agency planning and to make scientific information about climate change impacts accessible to public and private-sector decision makers. It also recommends that state agencies strengthen existing efforts to help local and tribal governments, private and public organizations, and individuals reduce their vulnerability to climate change. For further information: (9) Petroleum Company Agrees to Control Emissions from Flares (April 5, 2012) EPA announced it had reached an agreement with Marathon Petroleum for the company to install state-of-the-art controls on combustion devices known as flares and to cap the volume of waste gas it will send to its flares. When fully implemented, the agreement is expected to reduce VOC emissions by over 5,200 tons and HAP emissions by almost 150 tons each year. EPA alleged that

5 5 Marathon had violated numerous provisions of the Clean Air Act at the company s 22 steam-assisted flares, resulting in excess emissions of VOCs and HAPs. The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final court approval. For further information: (10) Report Highlights State Investment in Industrial Energy Efficiency (April 5, 2012) A report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy provides an estimate of total industrial energy efficiency deployment and technical assistance at the federal, state and utility levels. States and utilities were responsible for about two-thirds of all industrial energy efficiency program spending in New York ranked first in overall industrial program spending; the next five biggest spenders on industrial energy efficiency were California, Pennsylvania, Washington, Massachusetts and Oregon. For further information: (11) Scientists Link Increased Fertilizer Use to Higher Levels of Nitrous Oxide in Atmosphere (April 2, 2012) Scientists at the University of California- Berkeley used nitrogen isotope data to show that increased fertilizer use over the past 50 years is responsible for a dramatic rise in atmospheric nitrous oxide (N2O), which is a major greenhouse gas (GHG) contributing to global climate change. Since 1750, N2O levels have risen 20 percent. N2O is the third most potent GHG and also destroys stratospheric ozone. For further information: The Week Ahead Oral Arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in EME Homer City Generation, L.P., et al. v. Environmental Protection Agency, et al. (Cross-State Air Pollution Rule litigation), in Washington, DC April 13, 2012 Congressional Recess Continues April 9-13, 2012 NACAA 444 North Capitol Street, NW, Suite 307 Washington, DC Tel: (202) /Fax: (202) cleanair@4cleanair.org