Environmental and Policy Focus
Washington Post - Apr 16 Just days after taking office, President Trump invited American manufacturers to recommend ways the government could cut regulations and make it easier for companies to get their projects approved. Industry leaders responded with scores of suggestions that paint the clearest picture yet of the dramatic steps that Trump officials may try to take in overhauling federal policies, especially those designed to advance environmental protection and safeguard worker rights. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has emerged as the primary target in these comments, accounting for nearly half of the 168 submitted comments, according to a Commerce Department analysis. Neil Bradley, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s senior vice president, commented that the EPA has led the government in issuing “high-cost, high-impact regulations” that harmed businesses. The Chamber estimates that rules issued by the Obama administration would cost businesses more than $70 billion annually. Liberal advocacy groups and some former Obama administration officials have expressed concern about the Trump administration’s approach and caution that the federal government must keep long-term consequences in mind as it considers unwinding rules aimed at protecting the environment and workers. The EPA’s regulatory reform task force, established by President Trump’s Feb. 24 executive order, is seeking public input for 30 days on which rules to roll back, the agency announced last week in the Federal Register.
Reuters - Apr 19 The EPA will reconsider a rule on greenhouse gas emissions from oil and gas operations and delay its compliance date, the agency said on Wednesday, in the Trump administration's latest move to reduce environmental regulations. Oil interest groups, including the American Petroleum Institute and the Texas Oil and Gas Association, had petitioned the EPA a year ago to reconsider the rule limiting emissions of methane and other pollutants from new and revamped oil and gas wells and systems. The EPA said in a statement that it would delay the rule's June 3 compliance date by 90 days and take public comments during that period. Under President Obama, EPA imposed methane limits on the facilities in May 2016, saying it would cost energy companies $530 million, but would lead to $690 million in benefits, including reduced medical bills. EPA chief Scott Pruitt joined dozens of other states in challenging the rule when he was attorney general of Oklahoma.
Bakersfield Californian - Apr 17 A Kern County judge on Monday ordered the company that owns Dollar General stores and a distribution center in California to pay $1.12 million as part of a civil settlement in a case brought against the company by 32 California district attorneys for its allegedly unlawful handling and disposing of hazardous materials including automotive fluids, alkaline batteries, aerosol cans, and expired over-the-counter medications over a five-year period.
Sacramento Bee - Apr 17 A Southern California offshore oil platform will be decommissioned, with its operator, Venoco LLC, seeking bankruptcy protection nearly two years after the platform was idled when an onshore pipeline ruptured and spilled more than 120,000 gallons of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean. The State Lands Commission reported on Monday that it had received documents from Venoco LLC, the platform operator, relinquishing rights to the South Ellwood oil field leases in the Santa Barbara Channel northwest of Los Angeles. The line that ruptured remains shut down and there is no estimate for when it might reopen.
San Jose Mercury News - Apr 15 A new nationwide study has unearthed the huge hidden potential of tapping into salty aquifers as a way to relieve the growing pressure on freshwater supplies across the country. Digging into data from the country’s 60 major aquifers, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reports that the amount of brackish — or slightly salty — groundwater is more than 35 times the amount of fresh groundwater used in the U.S. each year. Supplies exist in every state except New Hampshire and Rhode Island, with the largest reserves in the central U.S. The California Coastal Basin and Central Valley aquifers together contain close to 7 billion acre-feet of brackish water, which if desalinated could provide enough water for the state’s needs for the next 160 years. Untreated brackish water can replace fresh water for some uses, but would have to be desalinated for municipal use. A recent study by the Oakland-based Pacific Institute found that the costs of desalination were competitive with other methods of adding water capacity.
