Daily on Energy: Ron DeSantis signs controversial mining waste bill

Florida governor and Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis signed a bill yesterday that will allow new roads in the state to be built with “radioactive” mining waste that has been linked to cancer.

The bill, H.B. 1191, adds the material phosphogypsum, or the leftover material from mining phosphate rock, to a list of “recyclable materials” that Florida can use for new road construction.

Why it’s dangerous: Phosphogypsum contains small amounts of uranium and thorium. As the Environmental Protection Agency notes, these materials decay into radium, and then, into radon gas — a highly radioactive gas listed as the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S.

In fact, radon gas has been linked to roughly 21,000 lung cancer deaths in the U.S. per year, according to the EPA. And because of the radon-linked risks, phosphogypsum waste is required under federal law to be stored in designated gypstack systems, rather than landfills. It has also been banned from use in federal projects for decades.

The EPA can grant approval for phosphogypsum use on limited occasions for specific projects, though the decision is made on a case-by-case basis, and is granted only if it can determine the project “is at least as protective of human health as [phosphogypsum’s] placement in a stack.”

“Any request for a specific use of phosphogypsum in roads will need to be submitted to EPA, as EPA’s approval is legally required before the material can be used in road construction,” the agency told CBS News. 

Next steps: Notably, the bill signed by DeSantis requires Florida’s Department of Transportation to conduct a study to “evaluate the suitability” of the mining waste’s use. It “may consider any prior or ongoing studies of phosphogypsum’s road suitability in the fulfillment of this duty,” according to the text of the bill.

But Florida’s DOT will have less than a year to do so, as H.B. 1191 dictates that the study must be complete by April 1, 2024.

DeSantis, the conservationist? DeSantis has not spoken publicly about his decision to sign H.B. 1191 into law, and his office did not return the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.

But signing a bill that could release toxic substances into the atmosphere does represent a break of sorts with his self-styled persona as a “Teddy Roosevelt conservationist” who as governor has championed Everglades restoration, poured billions into environmental projects, and staunchly opposed fracking and offshore drilling.

His efforts, though panned as inadequate by some green groups in Florida, are still somewhat unorthodox for a Republican governor of a red state. And they’ve won him accolades from Florida conservationist groups, including the Everglades Trust, which endorsed him in both the 2018 and 2022 gubernatorial elections.

“Protecting Florida’s natural resources has been a top priority since my first day in office,” DeSantis said at an Everglades Foundation fundraiser earlier this year.

Welcome to Daily on Energy, written by Washington Examiner Energy and Environment Writer Breanne Deppisch (@breanne_dep). Email [email protected] for tips, suggestions, calendar items, and anything else. If a friend sent this to you and you’d like to sign up, click here. If signing up doesn’t work, shoot us an email, and we’ll add you to our list.

WILDFIRE SMOKE LINGERS OVER MIDWEST, NORTHEAST: Millions of people in at least 10 U.S. states were affected by the Canadian wildfire smoke yet again today as it obfuscated city skylines, covering parts of the country in an eerie and pollutant-filled haze.

At least a third of the public remains under quality alerts, including Washington, D.C., and New York City, which were at “very unhealthy” levels as of this morning. Conditions are expected to improve throughout the weekend, however, including in the Midwest, where powerful thunderstorms were expected to help clear out any lingering smoke

It’s unlikely that this is the last we’ll see of the Canadian wildfire smoke, which has already severely affected the lower 48 twice in the past month. The record-shattering wildfire season in Canada shows no signs of easing anytime soon, and until that happens, meteorologists have warned, we are likely at the mercy of wind conditions, which could continue to blow the toxic wildfire smoke southeast into the U.S. for weeks — if not longer.

FERC ISSUES MVP AUTHORIZATION, CLEARING WAY FOR OPERATIONS: The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued final authorization this week on the Mountain Valley Pipeline, clearing the way for the natural gas pipeline to begin operations as early as the end of this year, according to pipeline operator Equitrans.

“Mountain Valley looks forward to flowing domestic natural gas this winter,” a spokesman for

Equitrans Midstream, which has a 48.1% ownership interest in the pipeline, said in a statement.

Construction on the 303-mile natural gas pipeline, which runs from Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) home state of West Virginia to southern Virginia, had been halted for the past five years by a series of court delays but was expedited in the debt ceiling deal negotiated by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and President Joe Biden. Once fully operational, the pipeline is expected to have a capacity of 2 billion cubic feet per day.

Manchin, for his part, praised the news of FERC’s approval for the long-stalled project: “GOOD NEWS,” he wrote on Twitter.

…Environmental groups push back: FERC’s authorization of MVP comes just days after opponents of the pipeline sought to stymie its progress in federal court once again, this time, arguing in two separate court filings that the provision of the debt ceiling bill that streamlined its approval and limited legal challenges was unconstitutional.

“Congress cannot mandate victory” for the project, the environmental groups argued in one complaint, asking that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals keep their legal challenges alive.

GOV. WES MOORE JOINS BIDEN’S NATIONAL BUILDING PERFORMANCE STANDARDS COALITION: Gov. Wes Moore (D-MD) announced yesterday that the state is joining the Biden administration’s National Buildings Performance Standards Coalition, or the newly established group of state and local governments that have agreed to slash their building emissions.

Under the plan, Maryland will require all commercial and multifamily buildings at or larger than 35,000 square feet to slash emissions by 20% by 2030, and reach net-zero emissions by 2040, Moore and White House climate adviser Ali Zaidi said yesterday in Baltimore.

Moore is just the third governor to join the building standards coalition, after Gov. Jared Polis (D-CO) and Gov. Jay Inslee (D-WA), who announced their own state’s commitments last year.

The administration has estimated that the building standards will help eliminate roughly 624 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, a crucial step as it looks to deliver on its broader goal to improve building standards and reduce emissions from commercial and residential properties.

UKRAINE CONDUCTS NUCLEAR DISASTER DRILLS NEAR ZAPORIZHZHIA: Ukraine began conducting nuclear disaster response drills this week near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, a large-scale effort aimed at helping the region prepare for any potential radiation leak at the site.

The drills near Zaporizhzhia involved emergency responders, military personnel, and civilians, helping mock up what the government estimates would be 300,000-person evacuation in the event of a nuclear disaster.

It comes after Ukrainian military intelligence accused Russia this month of planning to release radiation from the plant as part of a “large-scale provocation,” which some had billed as an attempted “terrorist attack.” Moscow has denied the charges.

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant is the largest in Europe and has been occupied by Russian troops since the early days of the war. Since then, the surrounding area has come under heavy fire, becoming a key area of concern for leaders and prompting the head of the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog agency, Rafael Grossi, to lead a team of experts to inspect the facility late last year.

Yuriy Malashko, the governor of the Zaporizhzhia region, said the drills were intended to coordinate its response to any “emergency situation” involving the nuclear plant, but declined to offer more specifics.

AUDI REPLACES CEO AMID ELECTRIC STRUGGLES: Audi has ousted Markus Duesmann as CEO and will replace him with Volkswagen Group veteran Gernot Doellner, the company said, a move that comes as Audi has struggled to electrify its auto fleet and compete with fellow German rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

A source close to Volkswagen told Reuters that managers at Audi’s highest levels were dissatisfied with the company’s performance, prompting Duesmann’s replacement. Doellner will take the helm of the company in September.

“Audi is a fantastic company with a rich history,” Doellner said after the news was announced. “I look forward to shaping the company’s future together with the entire team at Audi.”

The switch comes as Audi plans to release its long-delayed electric SUV, the Q6 e-tron, later this year. The Q6 e-tron is the first electric SUV in its lineup and one of 10 new electric models it plans to release by 2025.

The Rundown

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