WIMS Environmental HotSheet 6/2/14

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National / International News

 

<> EPA Proposes First Guidelines to Cut Carbon Pollution from Existing Power Plants - "Clean Power Plan" is flexible proposal to ensure a healthier environment, spur innovation and strengthen the economy

• Fact sheets and details about the proposed rule
• Weekly Address: Reducing Carbon Pollution in Our Power Plants - In this week's address, President Obama discussed new actions by the Environmental Protection Agency to cut dangerous carbon pollution, a plan that builds on the efforts already taken by many states, cities

<> The following are a few representative comments on EPA's Clean Power Plan proposal. . .

• McConnell: EPA Overreach 'a dagger in the heart of the American middle class' - U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued the following statement regarding the Obama. . .
• Promise Made, Promise Kept: "Electricity Rates Would Necessarily Skyrocket" - House Speaker Boehner: President Obama has kept his promise: "Electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket"
• Senator Boxer's Statement on Obama Administration's Proposed Standards - "The President's proposal is a win-win-win for the American people, as it will protect our health, saving thousands of lives, create thousands of jobs. . ."

• EPA Must Consider Impact of Power Plant Rules on U.S. Energy System - The American Chemistry Council (ACC) issued the following statement in response to the EPA'S proposed rules
• New EPA Rule Will Threaten Manufacturers' Competitive Advantage - National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons issued this statement
• American wind energy can help states, consumers meet new carbon pollution standard and save money - American Wind Energy Association. . .
• Center for Climate and Energy Solutions Statement - EPA's proposal today to reduce carbon pollution from power plants is an important, and long overdue, turning point in America's response to climate change.
• EPA Moves to Curb Emissions from Existing Power Plants - In a historic step, the EPA today proposed the first-ever limits on carbon emissions from existing power plants fueled by coal and natural gas, with new analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) finding that there . . .
• Environmental Defense Fund Hails EPA Proposal to Limit Carbon Pollution from Power Plants
• Sierra Club Applauds Plan To Curb Carbon Pollution

<> Domestic production satisfies 84% of total U.S. energy demand in 2013 - (Mon, 02 Jun 2014) Total U.S. energy production reached 81.7 quadrillion British thermal units (quads) in 2013, enough to satisfy 84% of total U.S. energy demand, which totaled 97.5 quads. Natural gas was the largest. . . (U.S. Energy Information Administration).

<> "Weak Management of a Climate Change Services Contract Creates Risk EPA Did Not Receive Services for Which It Paid" - EPA Office of Inspector General (OIG) new report; May 30, 2014, Report No. 14-P-0272

<> In response to warming, Eastern forests inhaling more carbon dioxide than they're exhaling - In response to recent decades' warming, forests in the eastern United States have been "inhaling" more carbon dioxide through photosynthesis than they've "exhaled" through respiration.

<> A New Strategy to Drive Down the "Soft Costs" of Solar - Earlier this month, President Obama announced that more than 300 organizations in the public and private sector have made commitments to advance the deployment of solar power and invest in energy efficiency.

• The DOE SunShot Initiative is a national collaborative effort to make solar energy cost-competitive with other forms of electricity by the end of the decade

<> DOE Publishes CALiPER Report on Cost-Effectiveness of Linear (T8) LED Lamps - May 30, 2014. DOE Publishes CALiPER Report on Cost-Effectiveness of Linear (T8) LED Lamps The U.S. Department of Energy's CALiPER program has released Report 21.3, which is part of a series of investigations on linear. . .

<> Department of State Office of the Science and Technology Adviser:  Fact Sheet - STAS provides scientific and technical advice and resources to bureaus and offices at the U.S. Department of State, building upon the Secretary of State's emphasis on utilizing "smart power," "economic statecraft," and "whole-of-society" approaches.

• Office of the Science & Technology Adviser website

<> FDA launches open FDA to provide easy access to valuable FDA public data - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration launched open FDA, a new initiative designed to make it easier for web developers, researchers, and the public to access large, important public health datasets collected by the agency.

<> Secretary Jewell Announces Award of First Oil and Gas Leases in Gulf of Mexico Subject to U.S.–Mexico Transboundary Hydrocarbons Agreement - As part of President Obama's all-of-the-above energy strategy to continue to expand safe and responsible domestic energy production, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Acting. . .

 

U.S. Appeals Court Environmental Decisions

 

<> National Environmental Dev v. U.S. EPA - 5/30/14. In the U.S. Court of Appeals, D.C. Circuit, Case No. 13-1035. In December 2012, two months after EPA's petition for rehearing was denied in Summit Petroleum, the Director of EPA's Office of Air Quality and Standards wrote a directive to the Regional Air Directors of each of the ten EPA regions "to explain the applicability of the decision by the [Sixth] Circuit Court of Appeals." Applicability of the Summit Decision to EPA Title V and NSR Source Determinations (Dec. 21, 2012), reprinted in Joint Appendix ("J.A.")("Summit Directive").

    The Panel in this case grant the petition for review and vacate the Summit Directive.

 

Federal Register Highlights 

The following is an alert of Environmental Federal Register announcements that may be of interest for: Monday, June 2, 2014.  (Click here to access today's complete Federal Register index with links to complete announcements).

 

1. Air – Final Rule. U.S. EPA. Identification of Nonattainment Classification and Deadlines for Submission of State Implementation Plan (SIP) Provisions for the 1997 Fine Particle (PM2.5) [Including Michigan at Sec. 81-323] PDF | Text | 

(click for the complete Energy & EPA announcements)