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EPA MAKES SOOT DECISION OFFICIAL: The EPA is set to finalize plans today to keep in place current federal limits on industrial soot pollution, a step that could make it difficult for the incoming Biden team to set stricter standards that the agency’s scientists have said are necessary to protect public health.
The decision, which EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler is slated to announce this afternoon, is the latest in the Trump administration’s rush to push out its agenda before President-elect Joe Biden takes office. The Trump administration is also, for example, racing to hold an oil and gas lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before Inauguration Day (see more on that below).
At the EPA, Trump officials are expected to take several steps that would make it harder for the Biden team to set stricter air quality standards, particularly for fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, commonly known as soot. Beyond today’s action, the EPA is also working to finish rules that restrict the types of science the agency can use in rulemaking and alter how the agency calculates the costs and benefits to justify air pollution regulations.
Wheeler’s announcement today has been in the works for a while: The EPA proposed in April to retain the current soot standard, keeping in place the levels set by the Obama administration in 2012.
The proposal prompted outcry from scientific experts and environmentalists, who said the EPA was disregarding recent science showing soot pollution can harm health even at low levels, below what the current standard determined is adequate. Wheeler’s critics have also accused him of cutting corners in the review process.
“The Trump administration rigged the rule-making process to achieve exactly this result by cutting science and scientists out of the picture at every turn,” said Gretchen Goldman, research director for the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Wheeler, however, boasted that soot pollution has continued to go down under the Trump administration. “Maintaining these important standards will ensure Americans can continue to breathe some of the cleanest air on the planet,” he said in a statement, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Can Biden reverse this decision? Environmentalists say Biden’s team at the EPA should quickly undo Wheeler’s action, but it might not be that easy.
Biden’s EPA administrator could easily reinstate independent scientific panels that Wheeler disbanded as part of the review process for the soot and ozone standards, but altering the soot standard would take time.
The Biden EPA could decide to formally rescind Wheeler’s decision to retain the standards, but that regulatory process would likely take many months, if not years.
Another option would be to set the stage for strengthening the soot standards as part of the next five-year review, which Biden’s team will oversee, but wouldn’t have any immediate effect. The soot standards must be reviewed by the EPA every five years, and the next review starts immediately after the administrator makes a final decision on the levels.
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LATEST ON NEW FERC COMMISSIONERS…: The White House has signed the commissions of new FERC members Mark Christie and Allison Clements, officially allowing them to start work, Josh has learned.
But FERC will continue to be short-handed at its next open meeting Dec. 17, as Christie, a Republican, has said he won’t be sworn in until Jan. 4 so he can finish up his work as chairman of the Virginia State Corporation Commission, the state’s electric utility regulator.
Clements, a Democrat, however, could participate in this month’s meeting if she wants to, which means FERC could theoretically deadlock 2-2 on key agenda items. That could complicate new GOP chairman James Danly’s potential efforts to approve his priority measures while he has a majority, which would happen if Christie and Clements were to participate (or if neither of them did). Biden can choose his own chairman.
Clements, if she votes this month, would join Democrat Richard Glick and Republicans Danly and Neil Chatterjee. Mary O’Driscoll, a FERC spokesman, told Josh that Clements hasn’t said yet if she plans to participate in the meeting.
MEANWHILE, MCNAMEE RETURNS TO PRIVATE SECTOR: Former Republican FERC Commissioner Bernard McNamee is coming back to practice energy law at McGuireWoods LLP, where he represented electric and natural gas utilities for nearly a decade.
McNamee, who will be based in Richmond, Va., will provide clients legal, policy and legislative guidance on energy and environmental issues involving Congress, the Energy Department, EPA, and FERC, the company said.
McNamee, a President Trump appointee confirmed to FERC in 2018, chose not to seek another term.
“Bernie’s insight as a FERC commissioner, his involvement in major rulemaking proceedings, his relationships with policymakers and stakeholders, and his service in significant state and federal government policy positions will provide our clients with powerful advantages,” said Jim Hodges, president of McGuireWoods Consulting.
THERE’S ALWAYS A CLIMATE ANGLE: Biden’s choice of California Attorney General Xavier Becerra to be his Health and Human Services secretary signals the priority Biden will place on addressing climate change.
Becerra has been the most aggressive litigator against Trump’s rollbacks of environmental regulations, filing more than 50 lawsuits. He’d defended California’s authority to set its own auto emissions standards.
In 2018, he established a Bureau of Environmental Justice within California’s Department of Justice.
“President-elect Biden’s choice of Attorney General Becerra signals that HHS is prepared to prioritize climate like never before,” said Jamal Raad, campaign director of Evergreen Action, a group of alums of the presidential campaign of Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
To-do list: Evergreen is plugging a list of actions Beccera could take at HHS to address climate change, including creating an Office of Climate Change and Health Equity to evaluate “infectious diseases’ risk of being exacerbated” by global warming.
The group also wants HHS to establish a climate risk task force to identify ways that climate change could “create and exacerbate” public health risks to low-income communities, and to prioritize National Institutes of Health grant funding for research on the intersections of public health and climate change.
DEMOCRATS SPOT LEGAL HOLES IN FAST ANWR LEASING: Democrats on the House Natural Resources Committee led by Chairman Raul Grijalva accused the Trump administration today of short-changing the public comment process by scheduling a oil and gas drilling lease sale in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge before Biden takes office.
The Democrats say the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management violated its own rules that the Federal Register publication of a “notice” for the lease sale, scheduled for Jan. 6, must occur 30 days prior to the actual lease sale. The notice, published today, states that BLM must receive all bids by Dec. 31, which is only 23 days from publication.
“BLM appears to be pretending to adhere to the regulation by waiting until January 6, 2021, to open the bids, but simply saying that is the date of ‘the lease sale’ defies common sense and almost certainly violates the regulation,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.
BLM also cut short a 30-day comment period when it published on Nov. 17 a call for nominations asking for areas within ANWR that companies would want to drill. The comment period does not end for another 10 days.
The Democrats say “tricks like these” increase the odds that leases issued before Biden takes over will be “legally indefensible and easily rescinded by the next administration.”
RELATED…SEISMIC SURVEYS ON THE WAY? The Interior Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a request to start seismic surveys for oil in ANWR starting on Jan. 21 — the day after Biden’s inauguration.
The FWS will decide whether to permit the Kaktovik Iñupiat Corporation to disturb “up to three” polar bears in the process of doing seismic activity, or exploring for oil. The corporation is proposing to deploy “rubber-tracked vibrator” trucks to search for oil, which could disturb polar bear dens.
“Most polar bear dens are hard to pinpoint in the snowy Arctic, but that isn’t stopping developers from pursuing oil and gas exploration there,” said Robert Dewey, vice president for government relations at Defenders of Wildlife.
CALIFORNIA IMPORTIN’: The Golden State imported the largest amount of electricity of any state in 2019, with imports accounting for a quarter of its power supply, according to a research note published today by the Energy Information Administration.
Some of the state’s imports come from power plants in Arizona and Utah that California-based utilities partly own, the EIA said. California also imports hydropower from states in the Pacific Northwest.
California’s power imports came under scrutiny this summer when the state’s grid operator imposed rolling blackouts amid a severe heat wave. As states like Arizona and Utah were also experiencing scorching temperatures during that period, less power was available to California for import, part of what contributed to the blackouts.
What about exports? Pennsylvania exported the most electricity of any state, reaching 24% of its electricity supply, the EIA said. The state’s electricity generation ranked third largest in the country last year, with natural gas and nuclear power producing the most generation.
DROPPING LIKE FLIES: Another automaker, Nissan, is dropping its support of the Trump administration’s effort to limit California’s ability to set its own tailpipe greenhouse gas standards, following General Motors in a move intended to win favor with the incoming Biden team.
Nissan announced Friday it would withdraw from litigation challenging the Trump administration’s elimination of California’s ability to set tailpipe greenhouse gas standards stricter than federal levels. Nissan, like General Motors, had backed Trump in the lawsuit.
Also like General Motors, Nissan is presuming it’s likely the Biden administration and California will reach agreement on stricter fuel economy standards. “We continue to support improvements in fuel economy and a framework that incentivizes advanced technologies while balancing priorities like the environment, safety, affordability and jobs,” Nissan’s statement said, according to Bloomberg.
MINING GIANT GLENCORE SETS CLIMATE TARGET: The Switzerland-based mining company announced Friday it would strive to reduce its emissions 40% by 2035 (from 2019 levels) and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Glencore’s plans include reducing its coal production, but it doesn’t intend to sell its coal mines, instead pledging “responsible stewardship” of its coal assets. The company also intends to prioritize development and production of critical minerals such as copper, cobalt, and nickel needed for clean energy technologies such as electric cars, energy storage, and renewable energy transmission.
“Our business is well-positioned to meet the growing demand for the commodities that underpin these future focused industries,” said outgoing Glencore CEO Ivan Glasenberg. The mining company also announced Friday that Gary Nagle, who heads its coal business, will become CEO.
The Rundown
Politico ‘It’s an unusual setup’: Kerry’s climate job scrambles org chart
Bloomberg Exxon holds back on technology that could slow climate change
Wall Street Journal Exxon under pressure from new activist fund
Washington Post Under Biden, NOAA’s profile is set to rise as climate change takes center stage
Calendar
WEDNESDAY | DEC. 9
9:45 a.m. 106 Dirksen. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety will hold a nomination hearing for Charles W. Cook Jr. to be a member of the board of directors of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
