11/4/14
State
Mississippi warns biofuel maker KiOR it will seek payment of entire $69.4M
debt, plus interest
By JEFF AMY
Associated Press
November 03, 2014 - 8:13 pm
JACKSON, Mississippi — Mississippi has warned biofuel maker KiOR that it
could demand immediate repayment of the company's entire $69.4 million debt
to the state, plus $8 million interest, if the company doesn't make its
loan payment before a grace period runs out.
http://m.therepublic.com/view/story/30333910546b40b08ebd22e150c4086b/MS--KiOR-Debt
Lamar County to explore recycling options
Hattiesburg American
Lamar County ended its county-wide recycling program in June because
of issues at the unsupervised dropoff points.
http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/story/news/local/2014/11/03/boards-consider-recycling-options/18441727/
Mississippi water utilities sue over domestic violence rule
The Associated Press
November 04, 2014 at 7:27 AM
JACKSON, Mississippi -- The Mississippi Rural Water Association has sued
the state Public Service Commission in federal court, claiming the
commission overstepped its authority and conflicted with federal law when
it required a 60-day delay in utility deposits for domestic violence
victims.
http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2014/11/mississippi_water_utilities_su.html#incart_river
National
Hyundai, Kia to pay $350 million in EPA penalities
Detroit Free Press
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday that Hyundai
and Kia have agreed to record fines and penalties totaling $350
million to resolve clean air act violations.
http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/2014/11/03/hyundai-kia-epa-fines-penalties-record/18408859/
In Texas, an Unlikely Battleground Over Fracking
Denton Politics Get Personal—Noise, Property Values—in Troublesome Sign for
Energy Industry
Wall Street Journal
By LESLIE EATON
Nov. 3, 2014 7:23 p.m. ET
Denton, Texas
From a distance, this city's fight over hydraulic fracturing looks like the
same ideological debate that has divided Americans for the last five years:
Is fracking a force for good or evil?
http://online.wsj.com/articles/texas-city-becomes-an-unlikely-battleground-over-fracking-1415060587
Fracking can trigger earthquakes, scientists conclude
BY SEAN COCKERHAM
McClatchy Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Evidence is growing that fracking for oil and gas is causing
earthquakes that shake the heartland.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/11/04/5893462/fracking-can-trigger-earthquakes.html?sp=/99/184/767/312/
Low oil prices send chills through oil patch
BY JOSH WOOD AND JONATHAN FAHEY
Associated Press
WILLISTON, N.D. -- Marcus Jundt moved to Williston from Minnesota almost
four years ago and has opened four restaurants there since. Food isn't
propelling his business, though. It's oil.
http://www.sunherald.com/2014/11/03/5893169/low-oil-prices-send-chills-through.html?sp=/99/102/
Opinion
Bad public policy hinders small business
The Hill
By Dan Bosch
As the U.S economy remains stuck in neutral, small businesses owners, often
an optimistic group by nature, have grown increasingly cynical about the
future. The problems are clear. But, despite concerns from businesses of
all sizes, federal agencies continue to dole out costly and burdensome new
regulations at the expense of sustainable growth.
The impacts of such aggressive federal policies are typified by one
regulation in particular. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has
proposed to vastly expand federal authority by redefining the "waters of
the United States."
http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/economy-budget/222374-bad-public-policy-hinders-small-business
Press Releases
United States Reaches Settlement with Hyundai and Kia in Historic
Greenhouse Gas Enforcement Case
Hyundai and Kia to pay record $100 million penalty for selling vehicles
that emit more greenhouse gases than automakers certified to EPA
Washington – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S.
Department of Justice today announced an historic settlement with the
automakers Hyundai and Kia that will resolve alleged Clean Air Act
violations based on their sale of close to 1.2 million vehicles that will
emit approximately 4.75 million metric tons of greenhouse gases in excess
of what the automakers certified to EPA.
The automakers will pay a $100 million civil penalty, the largest in Clean
Air Act history, to resolve violations concerning the testing and
certification of vehicles sold in America and spend approximately $50
million on measures to prevent any future violations. Hyundai and Kia will
also forfeit 4.75 million greenhouse gas emission credits that the
companies previously claimed, which are estimated to be worth over $200
million. Automakers earn greenhouse gas emissions credits for building
vehicles with lower emissions than required by law. These credits can be
used to offset emissions from less fuel-efficient vehicle models or sold or
traded to other automakers for the same purpose. The greenhouse gas
emissions that the forfeited credits would have allowed are equal to the
emissions from powering more than 433,000 homes for a year.
"Greenhouse gas emission laws protect the public from the dangers of
climate change, and today's action reinforces EPA's commitment to see those
laws through," said EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy. "Businesses that play
by the rules shouldn't have to compete with those breaking the law. This
settlement upholds the integrity of the nation's fuel economy and
greenhouse gas programs and supports all Americans who want to save fuel
costs and reduce their environmental impact."
"This unprecedented resolution with Hyundai and Kia underscores the Justice
Department's firm commitment to safeguarding American consumers, ensuring
fairness in every marketplace, protecting the environment, and relentlessly
pursuing companies that make misrepresentations and violate the law," said
Attorney General Eric Holder. "This type of conduct quite simply will not
be tolerated. And the Justice Department will never rest or waver in our
determination to take action against any company that engages in such
activities – whenever and wherever they are uncovered."
The complaint was filed today jointly by the United States and the
California Air Resources Board in the U.S. District Court for the District
of Columbia. It alleges that the car companies sold close to 1.2 million
cars and SUVs from model years 2012 and 2013 whose design specifications
did not conform to the specifications the companies certified to EPA, which
led to the misstatements of greenhouse gas emissions. These allegations
concern the Hyundai Accent, Elantra, Veloster and Santa Fe vehicles and the
Kia Rio and Soul vehicles.
Additionally Hyundai and Kia gave consumers inaccurate information about
the real-world fuel economy performance of many of these vehicles. Hyundai
and Kia overstated the fuel economy by one to six miles per gallon,
depending on the vehicle. Similarly, they understated the emissions of
greenhouse gases by their fleets by approximately 4.75 million metric tons
over the estimated lifetime of the vehicles.
In order to reduce the likelihood of future vehicle greenhouse gas emission
miscalculations, Hyundai and Kia have agreed to reorganize their emissions
certification group, revise test protocols, improve management of test data
and enhance employee training before they conduct emissions testing to
certify their model year 2017 vehicles. In the meantime, Hyundai and Kia
must audit their fleets for model years 2015 and 2016 to ensure that
vehicles sold to the public conform to the description and data provided to
EPA.
EPA discovered these violations in 2012 during audit testing. Subsequent
investigation revealed that Hyundai's and Kia's testing protocol included
numerous elements that led to inaccurately higher fuel economy ratings. In
processing test data, Hyundai and Kia allegedly chose favorable results
rather than average results from a large number of tests.
In November 2012, Hyundai and Kia responded to EPA's findings by correcting
the fuel economy ratings for many of their 2011, 2012 and 2013 model year
vehicles and establishing a reimbursement program to compensate owners for
increased fuel costs due to overstated fuel economy.
This case involves five different entities: Hyundai Motor Company, Hyundai
Motor America, Kia Motors Corporation, Kia Motors America, and Hyundai
America Technical Center, Inc.
The California Air Resources Board joined the United States as a
co-plaintiff in this settlement, and will receive $6,343,400 of the $100
million civil penalty. The proposed consent decree is subject to a 30-day
public comment period and court review and approval. A copy of the consent
decree is available on the Department of Justice website at
http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.
For more information on today's settlement, go to:
http://www2.epa.gov/enforcement/hyundai-and-kia-clean-air-act-settlement.
For more information on Hyundai and Kia's 2012 relabeling, go to:
http://epa.gov/fueleconomy/labelchange.htm/.
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