In this issue:
HOUSE VOTES TO EASE AIR PERMITS FOR OFFSHORE OIL COMPANIES
This week, lawmakers in the House passed the “Jobs and Energy Permitting Act of 2011,” (H.R. 2021), that would allow oil and gas companies the ability to expedite air permits for offshore drilling in federal waters such as the Arctic Ocean. This bill was originally introduced by Reps. Cory Gardner (R-CO) and Gene Green (D-TX). The bill passed the House by a 253-166 margin.
As reported in the June 13, 2011 Edition of Capitol Update, the bill would shorten the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval process for issuing air pollution permits for offshore oil and gas development. It would amend the Clean Air Act (PL 101-549) by requiring that air quality impacts be measured at a corresponding onshore location and keep support-vessel emissions from being considered as part of the overall emissions from the drilling rig.
This marks the latest in a series of measures passed by the House that is unlikely to receive consideration by the Senate.
In May, the House passed several measures; H.R. 1229, HR 1231, the “Reversing President Obama's Offshore Moratorium Act,” and H.R. 1230, the “Restarting American Offshore Leasing Now Act,” with the same spirit as H.R. 2021. For more information please see the May 9, and May 16, 2011 Editions of Capitol Update.
The press release issued by the Committee for H.R. 2021 may be read at http://energycommerce.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=8674&IID=2
The background memorandum is available at http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/file/Markups/FullCmte/060111/Memo.pdf
Robert Rains handles public policy-related environmental issues for ASME. He can be reached at
rainsr@asme.org
SENATOR CONRAD UNVEILS NATIONAL ENERGY PLAN
Earlier this month, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) introduced comprehensive energy legislation intended to lessen America's dependence on foreign oil, reduce gas prices, and strengthen the national economy. The "Fulfilling U.S. Energy Leadership Act" – also known as the FUEL Act, provides a blueprint for a national energy policy that would support domestic oil and gas production, but also invest in renewable fuels. The bill also promotes alternative fuels and cleaner sources of electricity, including clean coal and nuclear energy.
Specifically, the FUEL Act would:
- Require a national plan for broad deployment of electric vehicles and authorizes $2 billion to selected communities across the country to install infrastructure and incentives to deploy 400,000 electric vehicles;
- Provide a tax credit for the purchase of highly efficient vehicles, starting at $500 and rising to $2,500 for vehicles that achieve more than 50 miles per gallon;
- Authorize $130 million for the Secretary of Energy to establish a "Next Step Energy Storage Research Center" to focus on research, development, and deployment of advanced battery technologies and other novel vehicle- and utility-scale energy storage technologies;
- Require the Secretary of Energy to create a “clean energy standard” that promotes the use of renewable and other low-carbon sources of electricity;
- Create a 30 percent investment tax credit for technology to capture and store carbon from coal-based energy facilities;
- Provide $36 billion in additional authority under DOE’s Innovative Technologies Loan Guarantee Program for nuclear power and other innovative energy sources; and,
- Establish research programs to investigate small modular reactors, advanced nuclear fuels and fuel systems, and to develop a 15 year strategy to address the nation’s spent nuclear fuel.
The timing of this proposal is just before the announcement by Energy Secretary Steven Chu that he would be releasing 30 million barrels of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help ease oil prices, which have been declining since hitting over $100 per barrel this past spring and early summer. Colleagues of Sen. Conrad have also been openly discussing a repeal of certain tax breaks for the largest oil and gas producers in the country. President Obama has weighed in on the issue, asking Congress to support a repeal of these tax breaks to help offset energy technology investments that the Administration would like to implement when the new federal fiscal year begins October 1, Still, energy legislation compromises may be too difficult to broker before lawmakers head toward the exits in early August back to their districts.
More detailed information on the FUEL Act is available at: http://conrad.senate.gov/pressroom/record.cfm?id=333196
Robert Rains handles public policy-related energy issues for ASME. He can be reached at rainsr@asme.org
HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE PASSES FY 2012 DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS BILL
Earlier this month, the House Appropriations Committee passed the fiscal year (FY) 2012 Defense Appropriations Bill by voice vote. The bill provides $530 billion in non-emergency funding, an increase of $17 billion over the current year and $9 billion less than the Administration’s request. The 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 appropriation figures are summarized below.
6.1 Basic Research Program:
- The FY 2011 appropriation was $2,011.7 million;
- The Administration’s FY 2012 request was $2,078.5 million; and,
- The House Appropriations Committee recommends $2,098.5 million, an increase of 4.3 percent or $86.8 million as compared to the current budget.
6.2 Applied Research Program:
- The FY 2011 appropriation was $4,812.9 million;
- The Administration’s FY 2012 request was $4,687.3 million; and,
- The House Appropriations Committee recommends $4,656.8 million, a decrease of 3.2 percent or $156.1 million as compared to the current budget.
6.3 Advanced Technology Development Program:
- The FY 2011 appropriation was $5,911.4 million;
- The Administration’s FY 2012 request was $5,481.2 million; and,
- The House Appropriations Committee recommends $5,424.5 million, a decrease of 8.2 percent or $486.9 million as compared to the current budget.
Total 6.1, 6.2, and 6.3 Programs:
- The FY 2011 appropriation was $12,736.0 million;
- The Administration’s FY 2012 request was $12,247.0 million; and,
- The House Appropriations Committee recommends $12,179.8 million, a decrease of 4.4 percent or $556.2 million as compared to the current budget.
The bill is currently unnumbered. The 349-page report accompanying the legislation is available at http://appropriations.house.gov/UploadedFiles/FY_2012_DEFENSE_FULL_COMMITTEE_REPORT.pdf
Paul Fakes handles public policy-related research and development issues for ASME. He can be reached at
fakesp@asme.org
BIPARTISAN BOILER BILL INTRODUCED IN THE HOUSE
Recently, lawmakers in the House have proposed allowing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to have more time to craft emissions standards for boilers, and incinerators.
The “EPA Regulatory Relief Act of 2011” (H.R. 2250) is sponsored by Reps. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and G.K. Butterfield (D-NC). This bill would provide the EPA with an additional 15 months to craft the final rules for boilers, and incinerators, much to the chagrin of a number of lawmakers, and industry. H.R. 2250 would also allow industry five years to comply with the standards, up from the EPA-mandated three years.
On May 16, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a stay postponing the effective date of emissions standards for major source boilers and commercial and industrial solid waste incinerators, opting to accept additional comments on these pending rules until July 15.
Initially, the EPA issued its final boiler regulations in February under a court-ordered deadline. The EPA had asked the court for an additional 15 months to craft the standards, but were rebuffed. The preliminary rules required that boilers and incinerators install “maximum achievable control technology” (MACT) to reduce emissions. EPA claimed that the new regulations were necessary to improve human health, and that they could be implemented at an affordable cost to industry.
According to the EPA, Section 112(d) of the Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set emissions standards for hazardous air pollutants emitted by major stationary sources based on the performance of maximum achievable control technology (MACT). The MACT standard emissions limits must be at least as stringent as the average emissions limitation achieved by the best performing 12 percent of existing sources or the best performing 5 sources for source categories with less than 30 sources.
According to the EPA, the boiler Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) rule, when implemented, will cover about 13,555 boilers and process heaters at about 1,600 major source facilities. Although this is mostly industrial facilities, it will also include “small entities,” universities, municipalities, and military installations. These rules would seek to significantly cut emissions of different air pollutants including cadmium, dioxin, furans, formaldehyde and hydrochloric acid.
To learn more about the EPA boilers, and incinerators rule please click here http://www.epa.gov/airquality/combustion/actions.html
To learn more about H.R. 2250 please click here http://energycommerce.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=8735&IID=1
To read H.R. 2250, please click here http://energycommerce.house.gov/media/file/PDFs/BOILERMACT_001_xml.pdf
Robert Rains handles public policy-related environmental issues for ASME. He can be reached at
rainsr@asme.org
ENVIRONMENT AND THE ECONOMY SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES "COAL RESIDUALS REUSE AND MANAGEMENT ACT"
On June 21, the House Environment and the Economy Subcommittee approved the “Coal Residuals Reuse and Management Act,” H.R. 1391 by voice vote. The legislation is based on a proposal originally offered by Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) to protect jobs and prevent high energy costs by ensuring the continued use and management of coal combustion residuals. Recycled coal ash materials are widely used in the construction industry to make buildings and roads sturdier.
If ultimately enacted, the legislation would prevent the Environmental Protection Agency from reclassifying coal ash as a hazardous waste, and would strengthen state regulatory authority over these materials under the “Solid Waste Disposal Act.”
Detailed information on H.R. 1391, the hearing background memorandum, as well as the webcast of the June 16th hearing on the bill, may be viewed at http://energycommerce.house.gov/news/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=8706
A press release issued by the Subcommittee following the vote is available at
http://energycommerce.house.gov/News/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=8733
Robert Rains handles public policy-related environmental issues for ASME. He can be reached at
rainsr@asme.org
PROACTIVE MEASURES COULD HELP ADDRESS FUTURE RADIOACTIVE WATER LEAKS AT U.S. NUCLEAR PLANTS: GAO REPORT
In a separate report, GAO looked into: determining the impacts, if any, of
underground piping system leaks of the nation’s nuclear power plants on public health and the environment; assessing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) requirements of licensees for inspecting these systems and monitoring and reporting on leaks; identifying actions the nuclear power industry, licensees, and NRC have taken in response to leaks; and, identifying additional NRC requirements, if any, that key stakeholders think could help prevent, detect, and disclose leaks.
GAO convened expert discussion groups through the National Academy of Sciences and asked experts to review three case studies, analyzed documents, visited seven plant sites and two NRC regional offices, and interviewed stakeholders.
The report found that:
- In response to leaks, the nuclear power industry has implemented two voluntary initiatives to increase public confidence in plant safety. The first initiative was intended to improve on-site groundwater monitoring to promptly detect leaks. The second was intended to provide reasonable assurance of underground piping systems’ structural and leak tight integrity.
- Licensees’ responses to detected leaks have varied, ranging from repairing the leak source and documenting the leak’s extent, to performing extensive mitigation.
- NRC has assessed its regulatory framework for, and oversight of, inspection of underground piping systems and groundwater monitoring. Based on the low risk posed by spills to date, NRC determined that no further regulations are needed at this time but has committed to such actions as gathering information on underground piping leak trends and reviewing codes and standards for underground piping.
GAO has recommended that NRC periodically assess the effectiveness of the groundwater initiative and determine whether structural integrity tests should be included in licensee inspection requirements, when they become feasible, based on industry research. NRC stated it agrees with the report and recommendations and asserted that NRC has taken relevant actions.
Highlights of GAO-11-563, “Oversight of Underground Piping Systems
Commensurate with Risk, but Proactive Measures Could Help Address Future Leaks,” may be read at http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d11563high.pdf
A summary of the report is available at http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-563
The entire 67-page report may be viewed at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11563.pdf
Robert Rains handles public policy-related energy issues for ASME. He can be reached at
rainsr@asme.org
THE ARTICLES CONTAINED IN CAPITOL UPDATE ARE NOT POSITIONS OF ASME OR ANY OF
ITS SUB-ENTITIES, UNLESS SPECIFICALLY NOTED AS SUCH. THIS PUBLICATION IS DESIGNED
TO INFORM ASME MEMBERS ABOUT ISSUES OF CONCERN BEING DEBATED AND DISCUSSED IN
THE HALLS OF CONGRESS, IN THE STATES, AND IN THE FEDERAL AGENCIES.
ASME Government Relations
1828 L Street, NW, Suite 906
Washington, DC 20036