State
Walnut to get Air Liquide biogas purification plant
Daily Journal
WALNUT – Air Liquide plans to construct and operate a landfill gas-to-renewable natural gas purification plant in Walnut that will enable the conversion of the methane emitted by waste to a renewable energy capable of heating about 4,500 homes per year.
http://djournal.com/news/walnut-get-air-liquide-biogas-purification-plant/
How Northeast Mississippi farmers, scientists are adapting to rising temperatures
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Seven years ago, Will Reed started Native Sons Farming in Tupelo after seeing the preventable health issues facing Mississippi while showing people the value of a small, organic farm.
http://djournal.com/news/northeast-mississippi-farmers-scientists-adapting-rising-temperatures/
Toyota, corporate partners team up on Tombigbee
Daily Journal
TUPELO – Two years into a five-year, $250,000 partnership with the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and Tombigbee State Park, Toyota Mississippi has gotten some additional partners.
http://djournal.com/news/toyota-corporate-partners-team-tombigbee/?platform=hootsuite
State burn ban lifted, local orders still in place
Daily Journal
TUPELO – After significant rainfall earlier this week and more forecast this weekend, Gov. Phil Bryant lifted a state-level burn ban Friday afternoon.
http://djournal.com/news/governor-lifts-state-burn-ban-local-prohibitions-still-effect/
Miss. Power says it’s likely to miss Kemper deadline
AP
JACKSON - Mississippi Power Co. says it’s likely to again delay its Kemper County power plant, pushing completion of the $7 billion plant past the previous deadline of Dec. 31.
No big shake-ups expected from IP-Weyerhaeuser sale
Commercial Dispatch
When International Paper announced Thursday it had completed a $2.2 billion purchase of seven facilities owned by Weyerhaeuser, including two mills in Lowndes County, it was big news in the pulp/paper industry.
http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=54673
Oil Spill
Mobile, Baldwin Co. losing millions of BP settlement after state deal
WPMI
BALDWIN COUNTY, Ala. (WPMI) — Mobile and Baldwin Counties suffered the brunt of Alabama's devastation from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and was set to see part of a billion dollar settlement through BP.
http://local15tv.com/news/local/mobile-baldwin-co-losing-millions-of-bp-settlement-after-state-deal
National
Carbon Standards for New Power Plants Go to Court in April
Bloomberg
Three months after the new administration takes office, President-elect Donald Trump’s Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency will head to court to defend one of President Barack Obama’s signature climate change rules ( North Dakota v. EPA , D.C. Cir., No. 15-1381, 12/2/16 ).
https://www.bna.com/carbon-standards-new-n73014448046/
Five potential Trump EPA picks
The Hill
President-elect Donald Trump is due to announce “almost all” of his remaining Cabinet picks in the coming week, likely including his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator.
http://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/308601-five-potential-trump-epa-picks
Carl Icahn, Critic of the EPA, Is Helping Donald Trump Shape It
An agency regulation is costing one of the investor’s companies hundreds of millions
WSJ
One of the top advisers President-elect Donald Trump is consulting as he prepares to nominate the next chief of the Environmental Protection Agency is a multibillionaire whose firm is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in costs to comply with an agency regulation.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/carl-icahn-critic-of-the-epa-is-helping-donald-trump-shape-it-1480863601
Leak Threat Looms Over EPA Following Inauguration
Bloomberg
The incoming Trump administration could trigger a renewed and intensified culture of leaks at the Environmental Protection Agency, several former EPA staffers and a high-level career staffer currently at the agency, told Bloomberg BNA.
https://www.bna.com/leak-threat-looms-n73014448044/
National Guard inaction exposed soldiers, children to lead dust
Times-Picayune
Hundreds of National Guard armories across the United States have been contaminated by dangerous amounts of lead dust, an 18-month investigation by a sister newsroom of NOLA.com has found. The Oregonian/OregonLive of Portland, Ore., found that the Defense Department and state National Guard officials knew about these toxic armories for almost two decades but moved slowly to address the problem, leaving soldiers, civilian employees and children exposed.
EPA to Require Mines to Offer Cleanup Assurances
AP
The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday said it plans to require mining companies to show they have the financial wherewithal to clean up their pollution so taxpayers aren't stuck footing the bill.
The proposal follows a 2016 agreement reached under court order for the government to enforce a long-ignored provision in the 1980 federal Superfund law.
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/epa-require-mines-offer-cleanup-assurances-43937604
U.S. Army Corps blocks route of Dakota Access oil pipeline
AP
CANNON BALL, N.D. (AP) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Sunday that it won't grant an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota, handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters, who argued the project would threaten a water source and cultural sites.
http://www.gulflive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/12/us_army_corps_blocks_route_of.html#incart_river_index
Opinion
The EPA’s Auto Outsourcing Act
The agency breaks the law to rush out new fuel mileage mandates.
WSJ
One reason auto makers are shifting production to Mexico is expensive U.S. fuel-efficiency mandates, which were supposed to be up for review next year. With its pedal to the metal, the EPA is now seeking to finalize the regulations before a TrumpAdministration can put on the brakes.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-epas-auto-outsourcing-act-1480724745
PERS’ deficit ‘mortgage’ ballooning, not shrinking
Sun Herald
Bill Crawford
You know how a mortgage works right? You make your monthly payments and gradually your mortgage balance comes down.
http://www.sunherald.com/opinion/other-voices/article118521283.html
Press Releases
EPA Proposes Financial Responsibility Requirements for Hardrock Mining Industry
WASHINGTON – Following a court order and Congressional directive under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today is taking action to protect American taxpayers by proposing financial responsibility requirements for the hardrock mining industry.
This proposal would require that owners and operators of certain classes of hardrock mines and mineral processing facilities show financial ability to address risks from hazardous substances. Since the 1980s, EPA has spent considerable resources cleaning up contamination from hardrock mines. The most recent analysis, from 2010 to 2014, shows that the Agency spent nearly $1.1 billion on response and cleanup actions on hardrock mining and mineral processing sites.
“Far too often the American people bear the costs of expensive environmental cleanups stemming from hardrock mining and mineral processing,” said Mathy Stanislaus, Assistant Administrator for the agency’s Office of Land and Emergency Management. “This proposed rule, once finalized, would move the financial burden from taxpayers, and ensure that industry assumes responsibility for these cleanups. The proposed rule would also give companies an economic incentive to use environmentally protective practices that can help prevent future releases.”
This proposal is the result of many years of incremental steps since the Agency identified hard rock mining as the first sector for development of these regulations. The Agency extensively consulted with stakeholders, including small businesses, industry groups, environmental groups, and state and tribal governments.
These proposed requirements complement existing financial responsibility requirements. Facilities that apply environmentally protective practices—including those required by other regulations—may be able to reduce their required amount of financial responsibility under the proposed rule.
In addition, as requested by Congress, EPA published a market capacity study to examine the availability of financial responsibility instruments for this proposal. The study illustrated the likely probability of sufficient providers and capacity to meet requirements of a future CERCLA 108(b) regulation for hardrock mining.
In a separate action, the EPA Administrator also signed a Regulatory Determination Notice stating the agency’s determination to issue notices of proposed rulemaking on similar financial responsibility requirements for three additional industries: chemical manufacturing; electric power generation, transmission and distribution; and petroleum and coal products manufacturing. This notice is not a determination that regulatory financial assurance requirements are necessary for any of these three industries. The notice explains that EPA intends to move forward with the regulatory process, which will determine what, if any, financial responsibility requirements are necessary for these industries.
The hardrock mining proposal and the notice on determination for additional classes of industries will be published in the Federal Register in the coming weeks. The proposal will be available for public comment for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. EPA invites stakeholders and the public to share their expertise by providing comments on the proposed rule for the hard rock mining industry during the public comment period. EPA is not establishing a public comment period on the Regulatory Determination Notice.
A pre-publication version of the rule is available for review at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-financial-responsibility.
A pre-publication version of the Regulatory Determination Notice for additional industries may be viewed at: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-financial-responsibility.
