4.2.14
Oil Spill
Ex-BP engineer Kurt Mix gets sentencing delay
The Associated Press
April 02, 2014 at 7:54 AM
A former BP engineer has been granted a delay in his sentencing on an
obstruction of justice charge related to the 2010 Gulf oil spill. The
sentencing hearing for Kurt Mix had been set for late April. On Tuesday,
U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval granted a delay until Aug. 6.
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2014/04/ex-bp_engineer_kurt_mix_gets_s.html
State
PSC's Steve Renfroe of Moss Point wants more time to study anti-nuclear
resolution
The Associated Press
April 01, 2014 at 2:48 PM
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Two members of the Public Service Commission say
they want more time to study a resolution calling for a rejection of any
plans to store or reprocess nuclear waste in Mississippi.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/04/pscs_steve_renfroe_of_moss_poi.html#incart_river
Senate OKs six-month Personnel Board exemption for Mississippi DMR
Sun Herald
BY PAUL HAMPTON
The Senate unanimously passed a bill Tuesday that would take the Department
of Marine Resources out from under the oversight of the state Personnel
Board for six months.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/04/01/5463543/senate-oks-six-month-personnel.html?sp=/99/184/208/
Mississippi Senate passes DMR bill authored by local Sen. Brice Wiggins
Mississippi Press
April M. Havens
April 01, 2014 at 5:10 PM
JACKSON, Mississippi -- The Mississippi Department of Marine Resources
Accountability and Reorganization Act, penned by Pascagoula's Sen. Brice
Wiggins, unanimously passed the Senate today.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/04/mississippi_senate_passes_dmr.html
Quality-of-life issues bring out concerned Pascagoula residents
Sun Herald
BY TAMMY LEYTHAM
PASCAGOULA -- A quiet zone, air quality and cars parked in yards were among
the main concerns residents expressed during Tuesday's City Council
meeting.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/04/01/5463503/quality-of-life-issues-bring-out.html?sp=/99/184/201/
Cochran: Probe of FEMA map changes a 'serious matter'
SUN HERALD
April 1, 2014
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran is "troubled" by allegations FEMA
changed flood maps to lower rates on hundreds of previously high-risk
properties, agreeing further investigation is needed.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/04/01/5463493/cochran-probe-of-fema-map-changes.html?sp=/99/102/
Cochran: Nearly $1.6M to fix Gulfport piers
The Associated Press
April 2, 2014
JACKSON, MISS. — The city of Gulfport is getting nearly $1.6 million to
repair piers and jetties damaged by Hurricane Isaac in 2012 — work that
U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran says has been languishing because of bureaucratic
environmental hurdles.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/04/02/5463892/cochran-nearly-16m-to-fix-gulfport.html?sp=/99/184/218/
Columbus KiOR plant obtains $25 million to keep operating
AP
Alternative-fuel maker KiOR Inc. has borrowed enough money to keep
operating through August.
The Pasadena, Texas, company, which has a $225 million plant in Columbus,
Miss., had warned last month that it had to raise more money for research
and plant improvements.
http://www.clarionledger.com/viewart/20140401/BIZ/304010021/Columbus-KiOR-plant-obtains-25-million-keep-operating
National
Most Coal Plants Have Emissions Controls Needed to Meet Mercury Limits, EIA
Reports
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Bloomberg
March 31 --Seventy percent of coal-fired power plants have the necessary
pollution control equipment to comply with the Environmental Protection
Agency mercury and air toxics standards, according to the Energy
Information Administration (EIA).
http://www.bna.com/coal-plants-emissions-n17179889287/
U.S. EPA carbon rule for existing power plants sent to White House
Reuters
Tue, Apr 1 2014
WASHINGTON, April 1 (Reuters) - The Environmental Protection Agency's rule
to cut greenhouse gas emissions from existing U.S. power plants has arrived
at the White House for review, Office of Management and Budget records
showed on Tuesday, moving the plan closer to a public unveiling.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/01/usa-epa-carbon-idUSL1N0MT1AM20140401
Crucial climate regs head to White House
The Hill
By Benjamin Goad
Draft regulations that would place tough new limits on emissions from the
nation's existing power plants has moved to the White House, according to
records posted Tuesday by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
http://thehill.com/blogs/regwatch/energy-environment/202281-crucial-climate-regs-head-to-white-house
Reps ask EPA about renewable fuel challenges
The Hill
By Timothy Cama
Four members of the House who want the renewable fuel standard (RFS) to be
lowered wrote to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to ask what
problems the agency has faced in writing regulations for the RFS.
http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/202293-reps-ask-epa-about-renewable-fuel-challenges
U.S. port sustainability focus of Environmental Protection Agency summit
next week
Jed Lipinski
The Times-Picayune
April 01, 2014 at 4:50 PM
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will host a National Port
Stakeholders Summit next week in Baltimore to address environmental
concerns and sustainability at ports around the country.
http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2014/04/epa_to_host_summit_port_sustai.html
EPA accused of stonewalling records requests from conservative groups
Published April 02, 2014
FoxNews.com
A conservative legal group filed a lawsuit against the Environmental
Protection Agency on Tuesday, accusing the agency of stonewalling records
requests and engaging in political bias when granting fee waivers for
documents.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/02/epa-accused-stonewalling-records-requests-from-conservative-groups/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A
+foxnews%2Fpolitics+(Internal+-+Politics+-+Text)
House votes to refocus government weather forecasting efforts
The Hill
By Pete Kasperowicz
The House passed legislation on Tuesday that would reprioritize the work of
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on weather
prediction, in order to help save lives and property threatened by severe
storms.
http://thehill.com/blogs/floor-action/votes/202348-house-votes-to-refocus-government-weather-forecasting-efforts
PG&E criminally charged in fatal pipeline blast
BY JASON DEAREN
Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. was charged on Tuesday with
federal felony counts involving safety violations linked to a deadly 2010
natural gas pipeline explosion in the San Francisco Bay Area.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/04/02/5463730/pge-criminally-charged-in-fatal.html?sp=/99/184/767/312/
Opinion
Other views: As planet keeps warming, adaptation key
USA Today
As a piece of literature, the latest report from the United Nations' expert
organization on climate change is no John Grisham page-turner. Pulled
together by 309 authors and editors from 70 countries, the document
released this week brings to mind the saying about a camel being a horse
designed by committee.
http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20140401/OPINION01/304010039/Other-views-planet-keeps-warming-adaptation-key
Press releases
Testimony of EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy Before the House Energy &
Commerce Committee on Proposed FY 2015 Budget
WASHINGTON – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Gina
McCarthy testified today before the Subcommittee on Energy and Power and
the Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy of the House Committee on
Energy and Commerce at a hearing to discuss EPA's proposed FY 2015 budget.
Administrator McCarthy's remarks:
Chairman Whitfield, Chairman Shimkus, Ranking Member Rush, Ranking Member
Tonko, and members of the Subcommittees, thank you for the opportunity to
appear before you to discuss the Environmental Protection Agency's proposed
FY 2015 budget. I'm joined by the Agency's Acting Chief Financial Officer,
Maryann Froehlich.
EPA's budget request of $7.890 billion for the 2015 fiscal year starting
October 1, 2014 reflects our ongoing efforts to meet the challenges facing
the agency today and into the future. Despite these challenges, we remain
dedicated to protecting public health and the environment, and we know we
must target staff and resources and find new ways to fulfill our mission.
We will focus those resources in a way that will allow EPA to be more
effective and efficient.
The FY 2015 budget reflects a strategic approach to our budget planning
process, looking toward the future rather than continuing to simply react
to tough budget choices with cuts across the Agency. The FY 2015 budget
request does this in the following ways:
• It reflects EPA's incorporation of new technologies and new
regulatory and non-regulatory approaches that can help us maintain our
efficiency and effectiveness.
• It strengthens EPA's partnership with public health and
environmental protection partners in states, tribes and local communities
with a focus on aligning our resources, avoiding duplication, and
identifying and closing any gaps in the broader environmental enterprise
system.
• It invests our funds and leverages funds of our partners where
it makes the most sense and gets the biggest bang for the buck.
Following the framework of priorities laid out in the FY 2014 - 2018
Strategic Plan and working within our budget, we are committed to ensuring
the staff we have in program areas and regions make the most sense and will
have the most impact.
EPA has already taken steps toward proactive management of our operating
budget. Through the VERA/VSIP process, we have begun to accelerate
attrition within EPA both at headquarters and the regions toward a ceiling
of 15,000 nonrefundable FTE's.
Our FY 2015 budget relies on a reduced workforce focused on programs,
policies, and regulations that matter most to public health and the
environment. This is not simply about cutting the workforce to save costs.
We are reshaping the workforce and our work to meet current and future
challenges. Doing this includes making key investments.
It makes long-term fiscal sense to invest the cost savings achieved --
through a smaller workforce and improved use of technology -- to work
smarter and more effectively. This approach will keep EPA strong, focused
on science and the law, and transparent in addressing environmental
challenges and the results we have achieved.
This budget will provide the support we need to move forward by targeting
real progress in priority areas: communities, climate change and air
quality, toxics and chemical safety, and clean water.
Building on current work on the ground in our communities, we are asking
for $7.5 million and 64 staff in FY 2015 to work toward efforts that will
make a difference in people's everyday lives and in their communities.
Those efforts include providing green infrastructure technical assistance
for up to 100 communities that will promote cost-effective approaches to
water management.
This budget request furthers our environmental justice efforts. The
protections provided by our national environmental laws must be accessible
to everyone. We will do more to partner with states, tribes, and local
governments and other federal agencies to better coordinate and leverage
resources supporting community efforts.
Addressing the threat from a changing climate is one of the greatest
challenges of this and future generations. The request for climate change
and air quality is $1.03 billion—over $41 million more than fiscal year
2014. And it designates $199.5 million specifically for climate change
work.
Building on existing efforts and base budget resources, the Agency has
added $10 million and dedicates 24 FTE's in FY 2015 to support the
President's climate action plan. $2 million is designated for technical
assistance for adaptation planning for water utilities at greatest risk
from storm surges. Research and development efforts will focus on support
tools for at-risk communities and tribes in preparing for the impacts of
climate change.
The Agency will focus resources on the development of common sense and
achievable greenhouse gas standards for power plants—the single largest
source of carbon pollution. The President's budget provides support for the
states to help them meet their obligations under Section 111 of the Clean
Air Act with regard to cutting carbon emissions.
This request also supports the President's interagency methane strategy and
the President's recently announced directive to EPA to develop phase 2 fuel
efficiency and greenhouse gas standards for heavy-duty vehicles. EPA also
will be implementing a range of activities in support of the President's
call to cut energy waste in homes, businesses, and factories.
Chemicals and toxic substances are prevalent in our everyday lives. The EPA
budget requests almost $673 million to support work to reduce the risk and
increase the safety of chemicals and prevent pollution for all Americans
and especially children.
We are requesting $23 million and 24 FTE in FY 2015 to support activities
under the President's executive order on chemical safety, as well as Agency
efforts on chemical prioritization, air toxics, radon, and volatile organic
compounds in drinking water. $5 million in resources for air toxics work
will enhance our capabilities to design effective regulations and continue
developing the national air toxics assessment.
The nation's water resources are the lifeblood of our communities. The FY
2015 budget recognizes the long-term benefits of healthy aquatic systems
for all aspects of our daily lives.
The Agency is directing $8 million and 10 FTE to advance clean water.
Resources are also proposed for the municipal separate storm sewer systems
program for technical support to communities that must develop effective
stormwater permits for the first time.
We are requesting $1.775 billion for the clean water and drinking water
state revolving funds. Although this is a more than a $580 million decrease
over FY 2014 levels, federal capitalization of the SRFs totals over $22
billion since FY 2009, if you include the FY 2015 request. The FY 2015
budget seeks to ensure that federal dollars provided through the fund lead
to the design, construction, and support of sustainable water
infrastructure.
The EPA is looking toward future ways to better serve the American people
by employing technology where it can be used more effectively. E-Enterprise
is a major joint initiative between EPA and states to modernize our
business practices and to increase responsiveness. This effort holds the
promise of increased effectiveness and savings for businesses as well as
government. The agency is expanding efforts in the second year of the
multi-year E-Enterprise business model including focusing people and
resources to accelerate development of the E-Manifest system and associated
rule-making work. For example, the benefits of implementing the E-Manifest
system include annual savings estimated at $75 million for over 160,000
waste handlers. Transitioning from a paper-based system saves time and
effort for every person who used to handle that paper.
In addition, EPA is making changes to long-standing business practices such
as contracts, grants management, and the regulation development process.
One important area of emphasis is improving freedom of information act
(FOIA) and records management.
In FY 2015, the Agency is requesting over $1.33 billion to continue to
apply the most effective response approaches for cleanups under RCRA,
Superfund, Leaking Underground Storage Tank, and other authorities. This
strategy will help ensure land is returned to beneficial use in the most
effective way. $1.16 billion is requested for Superfund which includes a
$43.4 million increase for remedial work and an increase of $9.2 million
for emergency response and removal.
In this budget, we hold firm our priority support for state and tribal
partners, the primary implementers and front line of environmental
programs. Funding for state and tribal assistance grants – or STAG – is
once again the largest percentage of the EPA's budget request and
prioritizes funding for state categorical grants.
The FY 2015 budget includes a total of $1.13 billion in categorical grants
– a net $76 million increase over FY 2014.
• Within that total is over $96 million for tribal general
assistance program grants – a $31 million increase over FY 2014.
• We also included an $18 million increase for pollution control
(Section 106),
• There is a $16 million increase for environmental information
grants.
• There is a $15 million increase for state and local air quality
management in our request.
Science is the foundation of our work at the EPA. And science is supported
by the President's request of $537.3 million. In FY 2015, the EPA is
focusing research on the most critical issues facing the Agency.
These include efforts to: advance chemical prioritization and predictive
toxicology, help communities make sustainable decisions regarding
environmental protection and resilience, and inform regional and community
level strategies for the use of green infrastructure and other innovative
alternative practices.
The EPA continues to focus on reducing its physical footprint and achieving
greater energy efficiency. Since 2006, the EPA has released approximately
428 thousand square feet of space nationwide, resulting in a cumulative
annual rent avoidance of over $14.6 million.
The EPA continues to eliminate programs that have served their purpose,
accomplished their mission, or are duplicative. The FY 2015 budget
eliminates a number of such programs totaling nearly $56 million. These
include beaches protection categorical grants, state indoor radon grants,
and diesel emissions reductions assistance grants.
Recognizing the importance of the two-year budget agreement congress
reached in December, which the President's budget adheres to, levels are
not sufficient to expand opportunity to all Americans or to drive the
growth our economy needs.
For that reason, across the federal government, the budget also includes a
separate, fully paid for $56 billion opportunity, growth, and security
initiative. This initiative—split evenly between defense and non-defense
funding—shows how additional discretionary investments in FY 2015 can spur
economic progress, promote opportunity, and strengthen national security.
• Within the initiative is $1 billion for a climate resilience
fund, through which the budget will invest in research and unlock data to
better understand and prepare for impacts of a changing climate. These
investments will also fund breakthrough technologies and resilient
infrastructure.
• Within the climate resilience fund, EPA will support a nation
better prepared for the impacts of climate change—with $10 million for
protecting and enhancing coastal wetlands, and $5 million to support urban
forest enhancement and protection.
We have made some very difficult choices in this budget. But we need to
look realistically at challenges we face in the future and make sure we
have the best tools and people in the right places to make the most
difference. Our final FY 2015 budget reflects a balanced approach to
accomplishing this.
Thank you for the opportunity to touch upon some of the highlights of EPA's
FY 2015 budget request in my testimony today. I look forward to answering
your questions.
