The Biden administration is adding an initial set of environmental safeguards to the permitting process. President Obama’s recent ethanol move raises concerns about pollution.
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Biden restores some protections to permitting
The Biden administration on Tuesday moved to restore some of the environmental regulations governing infrastructure project permitting that were rolled back by the Trump administration.
The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) is finalizing its phase 1 changes governing the implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which requires environmental reviews for projects such as highways or pipelines.
The Trump administration axed or changed several regulations governing how NEPA is implemented, making changes that it said would speed up the permitting process though critics argued they came at the environments expense.
The Biden administration this week targeted a few changes made under Trump that it described as causing agency challenges and sowing confusion with the general public.
Change 1: Trump’s 2020 NEPA regulatory rewrite removed explicit requirements for considering indirect effects. These are actions that occur later or further away, but are still reasonably predictable.
It also eliminated the requirement to consider the cumulative effects of a project’s pollution, which refers how it interacts with other sources of pollution to make certain areas especially polluted.
Critics raised concerns about the impacts of climate change on communities already burdened by pollution and suggested it could hamper the ability of the government to address the effects of climate.
Change 2: The Trump administration also sought to make the process more industry friendly by adding language requiring agencies proposed alternatives to a companys projects to be based on the companys goals.
The Biden administration said that it would instead give agencies the flexibility to determine the purpose and need of a proposed project based on a variety of factors and work with both companies and communities to try to minimize environmental harms.
Change 3: The Biden administration also said that it would establish that the NEPA regulations are a floor, rather than a ceiling, when it comes to standards for environmental reviews.
The Trump administration made other changes like setting a two-year time limit for the most stringent type of environmental review, when they typically take about 4 1/2 years that have not yet been targeted by the Biden administration.
The White House council stated in a statement, however, that it will propose phase 2 improvements to improve the efficiency and effectiveness environmental reviews in the coming months.
You can read more about the changes here.
DEMOCRATS TARGET ‘FOREVER CHEMICALS‘
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.) will be introducing bicameral legislation next week that seeks to ban firefighting foam that contains toxic forever chemicals.
The PFAS Firefighter Protection Act would prohibit the manufacture, import and sale of all firefighting foam that includes these chemicals also called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) within two years of enactment, according to a copy of the bill exclusively obtained by The Hill.
PFAS are known as forever chemicals because they can linger in the body. They are most well-known for their presence in aqueous foam forming foam (AFFF), which is used to combat jet fuel fires at military bases and civilian airports.
PFAS is also found in industrial discharge and many household products. It has been linked to kidney cancer, thyroid disease and other diseases.
Gillibrand stated that PFAS chemicals in firefighting foam could jeopardize health, safety, well-being, and the well-being, of firefighters who have given their lives to protect our communities.
She said that the foam can quickly cause PFAS contamination in the drinking waters of nearby communities.
Will it move? A Gillibrand aide claimed that her office worked with the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee in order to position the bill for inclusion within the upcoming PFAS package.
Tom Carper (D.Del.), chairman of the committee, discussed this package. in a December hearing, would build upon both the Environmental Protection Agencys recent PFAS Strategic Roadmap and the PFAS Action Act passed by the House last summer.
Read more here from The Hill’s Sharon Udasin.
Bidens ethanol move prompts smog concerns
The Biden administrations decision to expand the availability of higher-ethanol fuel to provide relief at the pump to consumers is also likely to lead to new problems with pollution.
The waiver eliminates restrictions on the sale of so-called E15 Ethanol Blends. They can be purchased between June & September. This, according to the administration, could help lower fuel costs.
The restrictions were placed in place during the summer months because it was feared that selling these blends would increase air pollution at high temperatures.
Dan Becker, Director of the Center for Biological Diversity’s Safe Climate Transport Campaign, uses a cocktail comparison in order to describe the effects of E15 blends upon the environment.
Becker said that ethanol is basically vodka. It evaporates more quickly when it is mixed with gasoline or other volatile chemicals.
He stated that increasing evaporability defeats everything you were trying to do to stop more fuel vaporizing and getting into the atmosphere. He also said that it increases nitric oxide, and nitrogen oxide emissions.
This is a problem for areas of the country with high ozone levels.
Margo Oge was the director of the Environmental Protection Agencys Office of Transportation and Air Quality, 1994-2012. This has a significant impact on ozone during summer, particularly in areas with high ozone concentrations.
She said that she lives in Los Angeles and this place can make her feel it.
Becker stated that the risks are especially high for older adults and children with immature lung function.
This is something the administration should not have done. They also know that they shouldn’t have done it because the program to reduce evaporative emission and keep more volatile gasoline mixtures out of the summer months has been in place for decades, he stated. The EPA has a long history in this area.
Ethanol industry trade organizations have long argued that concerns over pollution from E15 are unfounded.
The Renewable Fuels Association pointed out University of California research showing that E15, which is 15% ethanol, tends lower for ozone formation potential than E10 which is 10% ethanol. They also pointed out that summer sale restrictions were in place before E15 was available. This was because it was assumed that E15 could never make up more than 10% of the gasoline pool.
You can read more about this issue here.
WHAT WE’RE READING
- We analyzed 300 companies’ financial documents to find out how concerned they are about climate change (time).
- How Lithuania cut its ties with toxic Russian gas (Politico Europe).
- Research finds that people of color are more likely to be affected by pesticides (The Guardian).
- Natural gas drops to 11% after a decline of more than 13 years (CNBC).
And last but not least, something offbeat and on beat:Your power plants can be measured in marshmallows
That’s all for today. Thank you for reading. For the most recent news and coverage, visit The HillsEnergy & Environment. We hope to see you again tomorrow.
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