A federal appeals court panel rejected the first effort of a collection of states to block the Obama administration’s power plant climate rule, deciding the states can’t ask for the plan to be killed before legal challenges are complete.
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a two-paragraph order Wednesday evening, ruling that more than a dozen states and a coal company cannot be granted a stay of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, which aims to cut carbon emissions by 32% in 15 years.
The panel ruled that legal challenges can only be mounted after the final rule is published in the Federal Register, which is expected in October.
More: The Hill
AP Study Finds Waste Spills Follow Oil and Gas Drilling Booms
An Associated Press analysis shows that more than 175 million gallons of wastewater were spilled in more than 21,000 individual incidents at oil and natural gas drilling sites between 2009 and 2014. The report says that even more incidents go unreported.
The wastewater spills can be even more damaging to the environment and agriculture than oil spills. AP reported that in seven of 11 states examined, the amount of wastewater released was at least twice as much as the amount of oil spilled. It said that spilled oil can be absorbed and broken down by microbes, but briny wastewater can be deadly and long lasting to crops, trees and livestock.
“Oil spills may look bad, but we know how to clean them up and … return the land to a productive state,” said Kerry Sublette, a University of Tulsa environmental engineer. “Brine spills are much more difficult.”
More: Associated Press
API and ANGA Eying Merger, Sources Say
The American Petroleum Institute and America’s Natural Gas Alliance, two of the country’s largest oil and gas industry groups, are considering a merger, according to Politico.
The news site says the move may be spurred by the low prices of oil and natural gas, and the feeling by some of the groups’ members that membership in both organizations is costing too much. The story also noted that the positions and strategies of both groups are growing ever closer, especially in the areas of oil exportation and natural gas production in shale-field regions.
API Chief Jack Gerard is one of the lobbying industry’s highest paid members. Federal disclosure forms show he received $13.3 million in compensation in 2013.
More: Politico
NRC Ends Study of Cancer Risks Near Nuclear Plants
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, citing budget constraints, is ending a National Academy of Sciences study of cancer risks near nuclear generating stations.
“We’re balancing the desire to provide updated answers on cancer risk with our responsibility to use congressionally provided funds as wisely as possible,” said Brian Sheron, director of the NRC’s research office. “The NAS estimates it would be at least the end of the decade before they would possibly have answers for us, and the costs of completing the study were prohibitively high.”
The study was started in 2010, and the first phase was completed in 2012. It consisted of recommendations for the second stage of the study, which was estimated to cost $8 million and could take an additional 10 years.
More: The Hill
Poll Finds 73% of Americans Favor Greater Limits on Ozone
A poll commissioned by the American Lung Association has found that 73% of Americans want the Environmental Protection Agency to set stricter limits on ozone pollution. The EPA proposed stricter limits in November that would restrict ozone levels in the air to between 65 parts per billion (ppb) and 70 ppb. The current limit is 75 ppb.
“Millions of Americans are breathing polluted air and suffering from asthma attacks, increased risk of respiratory infections, and even premature death,” said Harold Wimmer, ALA’s national president.
Manufacturing groups oppose changing the limits. “While western states have cut their production of smog-causing ozone by over 20%, studies show that pollution from China has offset much of that progress,” an advertising campaign by the National Association of Manufacturers says. “These rules won’t hurt China, but they could cost our country more than $1 trillion.”
More: The Hill
FERC Names Carmen Cintron Administrative Law Judge
FERC has named Judge Carmen Cintron as deputy chief administrative law judge. She will assist FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner Jr. with the Office of Administrative Law Judges and Dispute Resolution.
Cintron has been with FERC since 1999. She was a hearing-office chief of the Social Security Administration’s Atlanta North Office of Hearings and Appeals, overseeing an office of 11 administrative law judges and a staff of 50. She previously worked as an administrative law judge in the administration’s San Jose, Calif., office. She worked 14 years with the Federal Communications Commission as an attorney before that.
More: FERC
Feds Eyeing Future Open Ocean Leases off SC
Officials with the federal Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management have identified two areas offshore of South Carolina as possible sites for wind power facilities.
The next step would be an environmental assessment of the sites. One is off Myrtle Beach; the other is off Cape Romain, toward the state’s southernmost area.
Federal officials spoke to members of the South Carolina Renewable Energy Task Force, saying it would probably be seven years before an operating wind farm is anchored off South Carolina’s coast.
More: Penn Energy
