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41 The Environmental Council of the States
Fr-1 i I 5T N7 aV 13, 2 � n T, ECOSWIRE 7, 51IN _N iT 17
E C 0 S
ECOS%7RE is a weekly service to ECOS members and alumni. No federal funds are spent on this newsletter.
Copyright (02016, the Environmental Council ofthe States. Permission. is granted for our members to reproduce
for state government purposes.
U.S. EPA announced yesterday comprehensive steps to address - for the first time -
methane emissions from both new and existing sources in the oil and gas sector. For new,
modified and reconstructed sources, EPA is finalizing new source performance standards
that will reduce methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and toxic air emissions in
the oil and natural gas industry. EPA also is starting the process of controlling emissions
from existing oil and gas sources by issuing for public comment an Information Collection
Request requiring companies to provide information on existing sources.
The actions are part of a strategy under President Obama's Climate Action Plan to achieve
the goal of cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector by 40 to 45 percent from
2012 levels by 2025. The final standards also aim to curb emissions of VOCs from sources
not covered in the agency's 2012 rules. These sources include hydraulically fractured oil
wells and equipment used across the industry.
After reviewing the more than 900,000 comments received on its August 2015 proposal,
EPA updated a number of aspects in the final rule that increase climate benefits, including
removing an exemption for low -production wells and requiring leak monitoring surveys
twice as often at compressor stations, which have the potential for significant emissions.
The final rule also provides companies a pathway to align the final standards with
comparable state -specific requirements they may have.
The final actions also include two rules that clarify permitting requirements for the oil and
natural gas industry: the Source Determination Rule and a final federal implementation
plan for the Minor New Source Review Program in Indian Country. More information on
the suite of actions, including technical fact sheets, is available here.
ECOS' Shale Gas Caucus (SGC) has focused since 2014 on methane and volatile organic
compound (VOC) emissions including EPA's forthcoming rules. In anticipation of EPA's
action, it developed the ECOS Methane and Air Toxics Reduction Information Exchange (e-
MATRIX), a database of best practices employed by states and others to reduce methane
and VOC emissions from the shale gas production process. The SGC expects to update the
database over the coming months to continue to provide states and stakeholders useful
information on compliance options. [Parisien]
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ECOS on May 11 held its best -attended monthly member call to date to share information
and experiences surrounding emerging contaminants PFOA and PFOS, on which a U.S.
EPA human health drinking water advisory is expected soon. Nearly all ECOS member
agencies participated, in addition to representatives of NCTA, ASTSWMO, ASDWA, ASTHO,
EPA, and U.S. DOD.
Led by ECOS President Martha Rudolph of Colorado, the call featured Alyssa Schuren of
Vermont, Tom Burack and Clark Freise of New Hampshire, and John Linc Stine of
Minnesota, in addition to New Hampshire State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan and
ASDWA Regulatory Affairs Manager Darrel Osterhoudt. Topics of discussion included what
PFOA/PFOS is and where it has been found, health effects, state regulation, drinking
water health advisories, and public outreach and communication.
To receive materials from the call or express interest in participating in a potential ECOS
workgroup on PFOA/PFOS, contact Layne Piper. [Parisien/Dunn]
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ECOS President Martha Rudolph of Colorado encourages all. ECOS members and. friends
to make plans now to attend the 5th Annual ECOS State Environmental Protection (STEP)
Meeting on.h/laking Connections: Water, Air, and Energy Innovation, to be held July 21 at
The Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. The STEP Meeting is a uniquely interactive
educational forum where speakers listed on the agenda - including more than a dozen
confirmed ECOS members - open with comments that set a foundation for each panel's
brief discussion, after which all attendees are encouraged to participate in the dialogue
that follows. In addition to ECOS Members, STET' -Alleeting panelists and attendees come
from business, industry, and nongovernmental organizations.
The Honorable Ernest Moniz, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy, is invited to
provide the opening keynote address. Former Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Jr., Director of
the Center for the New Energy Economy at. Colorado State University, is confirmed as
the luncheon keynoter.
Click here. to register for the meeting and for hotel information. Early bird registration
rates are available through June 3. Please direct questions to .Andy!eplitzkv. [Dunn.]
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The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently submitted a
Feasibility Report to the state Legislature concerning the state's potential compliance with
U.S. EPA's 111 (d) rule. The report includes an analysis addressing eleven factors identified
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by the legislature and incorporates comprehensive research from an additional report by
the Center for Business and Economic Research at Marshall University and Energy
Ventures Analysis.
The report concludes that ultimately, West Virginia could feasibly comply with U.S. EPA's
rule, but only if the Legislature amends the law it passed in 2015 (H.B. 2004) that restricts
the state's use of carbon trading as a compliance option. DEP found that while projections
show that compliance with EPA's section 111 (d) rule is feasible from an economic
standpoint, West Virginia will need to participate in a market for trading allowances or
emission rate credits. [Fehrenbach]
DDOEE Launches Innovative Program to Incentivize Green Infrastructurm
The D.C. Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) is working to develop and
implement the cutting -edge $12.75 million Stormwater Retention Credit (SRC) Purchase
Agreement Program. The program will give property owners and others who voluntarily
install runoff -reducing green infrastructure the option to sell SRCs from these projects to
DOEE.
The SRC Purchase Agreement Program builds on the innovative SRC trading program
established by DOEE as part of the stormwater management regulations that took effect in
January 2014. Under these regulations, large development sites must reduce stormwater
runoff but can comply with half of their obligation by buying SRCs from voluntary green
infrastructure projects. SRC generators will still be free to sell SRCs to regulated
development sites, but they will also have the option of selling SRCs to DOEE. In effect,
this creates a price floor in the SRC market and provides some certainty about the return
that an investment in green infrastructure may provide.
"The SRC Purchase Agreement Program will mobilize millions of dollars of private
investment in river -protecting green infrastructure by increasing investors' confidence in
the profitability of these kinds of projects," said DOEE Director Tommy Wells. "Though
green infrastructure has environmental benefits throughout the District, this innovative
program enables us to leverage private investment in targeted areas to provide maximum
benefit to our waterbodies." [Parisien]
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Gary Rikard, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality
(MDEQ), announced today that the State of Mississippi will receive a planning grant to
develop projects and programs in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Council (RESTORE Council) has awarded a RESTORE
Act Oil Spill Component Planning grant of $1.4 million to MDEQ on behalf of the state.
The grant to Mississippi marks the first grant that the RESTORE Council has awarded to
any state.
The grant funds will be used to develop and implement the Mississippi Planning State
Expenditure Plan, which will consist of projects and programs for funding in three coastal
counties. A variety of projects are eligible, and MDEQ will actively engage the public for
suggestions. The final plan will also have a public comment period. [Parisien]
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A Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) lawn equipment discount and
exchange held April 23 sold 944 discounted electric lawn mowers and 732 electric
trimmers within minutes of online registration opening. DEQ's Division of Air Quality
(DAQ) offered additional discounts for people who brought in gas -powered lawn equipment
in exchange for an electric model.
The lawn equipment change -out event was funded under a grant from DAQ's Clean Air
Retrofit, Replacement, and Off -Road Technology (CARROT) Program. For the past two
years, CARROT has provided incentives to individuals and small businesses to reduce
mobile emissions from small -engine and heavy-duty diesel equipment. [Hanson/Utah
DEQ]
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The Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) offers a variety of educational
programs for educators, communities, and businesses. These include scheduled programs
on solid waste management - including waste prevention, recycling, composting, landfills,
and litter prevention. It also includes scheduled educational programs on the importance
of protecting watersheds, including the national Project WET (Water Education for
Teachers) program workshops.
In addition to the scheduled workshops, DEQ can develop customized presentations for
classrooms, schools, businesses, organizations, and communities. For more information,
visit the ADEQ website. [Parisien]
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On May 12, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and U.S. EPA announced a
settlement with the Southern Minnesota Beet Sugar Cooperative over water and air quality
pollution violations. The cooperative has agreed to correct the violations and will pay more
than $1.5 million in penalties. The violations, which occurred over a period of years at the
coop's processing plant near Renville, MN, included excessive hydrogen sulfide emissions,
which cause odors and can be harmful to human health, and wastewater discharges,
which resulted in a 2013 fish kill in Beaver Creek.
The agreement reached by the MPCA and EPA is a consent decree filed in district court
addressing wastewater violations of the federal Clean Water Act, and of the coop's
wastewater permit. The agreement requires the coop to prepare a contingency plan,
conduct regular monitoring and sampling, prepare models to predict possible violations,
submit timely reports, and pay a $1 million penalty. In addition, the coop must pay more
than $49,000 to the Department of Natural Resources in restitution for the fish kill. A
separate agreement with MPCA addresses air pollution violations. The company will take
additional steps to curb hydrogen sulfide air emissions, and pay a $485,000 civil penalty.
[Teplitzky]
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On May 16, U.S. EPA's final rule regarding tribal application for treatment as states (TAS)
authority under the Clean Water Act (CWA) will be published; a prepublication copy is
available here. Under CWA Section 518, EPA may treat eligible tribes with reservations as
states including administering the regulatory CWA programs and receiving CWA grants.
More information will be available here on Monday. [Dunn]
Environmental Justice
ECOS anticipates that in the coming days U.S. EPA will release its draft EJ2020 Action
Agenda for a 45-day comment period. The final EJ2020 Action Agenda will follow on EPA's
Plan EJ 2014, and will outline EPA's environmental justice (EJ) strategy. EPA will hold
public webinars on the draft Action Agenda during the comment period, and ECOS will
host a webinar for states to answer questions raised following the document's release.
ECOS provided comments in July 2105 on a framework for the EJ2020 Action Agenda. For
more information, see EPA's webpage. [Dunn/Poole]
U.S. EPA is holding a webinar on the upcoming CERCLA 108(b) Hard Rock Mining
Proposed Rule for financial responsibility on May 17 at 2 - 3 p.m. Eastern. The
webinar will provide an update on the agency's progress in developing the rule and
describe the agency's current thinking on the key aspects of the rule. To register for the
webinar, go here. The webinar will be recorded and available for later viewing for those
unable to attend live. An earlier webinar on the proposed rule from September 2015 is
available here. [Hanson]
U.S. EPA will host a webinar on May 18 at 3 - 4 p.m. Eastern to provide a brief overview
of the health advisories for microcystins and cylindrospermopsin that will include a
discussion of EPA's recommendations for public water systems to manage cyanotoxin risks
in drinking water and EPA's Algal Toxin Risk Assessment and Management Strategic Plan
for Drinking Water. The webinar also will explore how Office of Research and Development
scientists and engineers worked together with Ohio EPA, the water utility, and others to
address the August 2014 harmful algal bloom that affected the drinking water supply for
Toledo.
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To join the webinar, register, then call in to [phone] and enter access code
2025646669. For more information please contact Lisa Matthews or Amy Scheuer.
[Hanson]
ECOS' Legal Network will hold its second webinar in partnership with the American
College of Environmental Lawyers (ACOEL) on May 23 at 2 - 3: 15 p.m. Eastern. The
webinar, Managing Scientific and Technical Information, will focus on strategies for: quickly
synthesizing technical information; engaging the scientific and research community during
administrative processes; staying current with scientific and expert trends; and assessing
the first use of a new method or technology. ECOS Vice President John Linc Stine of
Minnesota will make opening remarks for ECOS. Legal Network members were sent the
webinar link directly by Alexandra Dunn today; other ECOS members and state agency
leaders are welcome to participate and can receive the information by emailing Alexandra
Dunn at adunn(d,,ecos.org. [Dunn]
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The ECOS Shale Gas Caucus will hold a call on June 2 at 4 - 5:30 p.m. Eastern to
discuss gas storage and its recent methane and drinking water ramifications. Presenters
will include the California Environmental Protection Agency, California Natural Resources
Agency, and Environmental Defense Fund. Call information has been distributed to all
Shale Gas Caucus members. If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please
contact Lia Parisien. [Parisien]
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