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GPO.gov: Petition to Add the Oil and Gas Extraction Industry to the List of Facilities Required To Report under the Toxics Release Inventory

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This is long overdue. DV

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-01-03/pdf/2013-31484.pdf

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-01-03/html/2013-31484.htm

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 2 (Friday, January 3, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Page 393]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-31484]

———————————————————————–

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY

[EPA-HQ-TRI-2013-0281; FRL-9904-82-OEI]

Petition To Add the Oil and Gas Extraction Industry, Standard
Industrial Classification Code 13, to the List of Facilities Required
To Report Under the Toxics Release Inventory; Notice of Receipt of
Petition

AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

ACTION: Notice of receipt of petition.

———————————————————————–

SUMMARY: The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) and sixteen other
organizations submitted a petition to the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA), dated October 24, 2012, requesting that EPA add the Oil
and Gas Extraction sector, Standard Industrial Classification (SIC)
code 13, to the scope of sectors covered by the Toxics Release
Inventory (TRI) under section 313 of the Emergency Planning and
Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA). The petition also requests that
EPA publish the petition in the Federal Register. This Federal Register
Notice provides notice of receipt of this petition, along with the
Docket Identification Number that can be used to view the petition and
related documents. EPA is not soliciting public comment regarding this
notice.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gilbert Mears, Toxics Release
Inventory Program Division, Office of Environmental Information (mail
code 2844T), Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue
NW., Washington, DC 20460; telephone number: (202) 566-0954; fax
number: (202) 566-0715; email address: mears.gilbert@epa.gov.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. General Information

A. How can I get copies of this document and other related information?

1. Docket. EPA has established a docket for this action under
Docket ID No EPA-HQ-TRI-2013-0281. Publicly available docket materials
are available either electronically through www.regulations.gov or in
hard copy at the “Petition to Add the Oil and Gas Extraction Industry,
Standard Industrial Classification Code 13, to the List of Facilities
Required To Report under the Toxics Release Inventory” Docket in the
EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room 3334, 1301 Constitution Ave.
NW., Washington, DC. The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open
from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal
holidays. The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202)
566-1744, and the telephone number for the “Petition to Add the Oil
and Gas Extraction Industry, Standard Industrial Classification Code
13, to the List of Facilities Required To Report under the Toxics
Release Inventory” Docket is (202) 566-1752.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register document
electronically from the Government Printing Office under the “Federal
Register” listings at FDSys (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/browse/collection.action?collectionCode=FR).

Dated: December 16, 2013.
Arnold E. Layne,
Director, Office of Information Analysis and Access, Office of
Environmental Information.
[FR Doc. 2013-31484 Filed 1-2-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6560-50-P

Special thanks to Richard Charter

Uncategorized

Ejolt.org: Pope Says No to Fracking And That Water Is Worth More than Gold

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The Pope says NOPE (Not on Planet Earth) to Fracking and Mega-mining

Environmental Justice Organizations, Liabilities and Trade

Pope Francisco welcomed a group of Argentineans, including an EJOLT member, Antonio Gustavo Gomez, an Attorney General from Argentina, yesterday on November 11th, 2013, in the Vatican. The meeting lasted an hour, with the participation of the film director Pino Solanas, well known for his film “Dirty Gold”, about mega-mining. They spoke about water contamination and the Pope mentioned that he is preparing an encyclical about nature, humans and environmental pollution.
As an image is worth a thousand words, the Pope demonstrated his opposition to shale gas fracking and the contamination of water due to mega mine projects, posing for two photographs. One with a t-shirt that states that “Water is worth more than gold: El Agua Vale mas que el Oro”, and the other stating “No to Fracking”. The concern from His Holiness was clear when the following cases were mentioned to him by Fiscal Gomez, including Barrick Gold, Chevron in Argentina and Ecuador and Yasuni, among others.

Special thanks to Richard Charter

climate change, energy policy, fossil fuels, fracking, tar sands, Uncategorized

Common Cause: Nobel Laureates to EU: Classify Tar Sands Oil As ‘Dirty Fuel’ It Is

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http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/10/03-3

Published on Thursday, October 3, 2013 by Common Dreams

‘Extraction of unconventional fuels is having a particularly devastating impact on climate change,’ say noted scientists and peace advocates
– Jon Queally, staff writer

There is no proposed pipeline to pump Canada’s tar sands oil direct to customers in Europe, but that hasn’t kept twenty-one Nobel Prize laureates from demanding the European Union make a stand against the dirty and damaging fuel source.

In a letter this week to the EU president José Manuel Barroso, EU ministers and heads of state, the prominent group of peace advocates and scientists implored the government leaders to enact a law that would classify the heavy bitumen that comes from tar sands mining as a dirtier fuel than conventional crude oil. Such a move, the letter argues, would provide incentives for cleaner energy choices within the EU and also help discourage further development of Canada’s destructive tar sands industry.

“The world can no longer ignore, except at our own peril, that climate change is one of the greatest threats facing life on this planet today,” the letter reads. “The impacts of climate change and extreme resource extraction are exacerbating conflicts and environmental destruction around the world. The extraction of unconventional fuels—such as oil sands and oil shale—is having a particularly devastating impact on climate change.”

The letter highlights the European Commission’s own scientific research which found that one of the unconventional fuel sources identified in the proposed policy, tar sands, produces an average of 23% more greenhouse gas emissions than average conventional oil.

On the particulars of the law the group is pressing on, The Guardian reports:

EU member states approved legislation in 2009, called the fuel quality directive, with the aim of cutting greenhouse gases from transport fuel sold in Europe by 6% by 2020.

In October 2011, the commission proposed detailed rules for implementing the law, including default values to rank fuels by their greenhouse gas output over their wells-to-wheels life cycle.

So far the commission has said it is standing by its value for tar sands – of 107 grams per megajoule – making it clear to buyers that the fuel source had more greenhouse gas impact than average crude oil at 87.5g.

Intense Canadian lobbying and an inconclusive EU vote on the law forced the commission to announce an assessment of the impact of the fuel quality directive in April 2012.

EU sources say the assessment has been concluded, but not yet made public, so the law is still in limbo.

The Canadians have argued the EU law discriminates against Canadian oil and have taken every opportunity to press their case.

The commission has said repeatedly it would stand firm on the law, but the pressure to weaken the measure is intense.

The full letter follows:

EU climate legislation and unconventional fossil fuels

The world can no longer ignore, except at our own peril, that climate change is one of the greatest threats facing life on this planet today. The impacts of climate change and extreme resource extraction are exacerbating conflicts and environmental destruction around the world. The extraction of unconventional fuels—such as oil sands and oil shale—is having a particularly devastating impact on climate change.

For this reason, we are writing to urge you to support the immediate implementation of the European Union’s (EU) Fuel Quality Directive in order to fulfill its 6% reduction target in greenhouse gas emissions from fuels used for transportation by 2020. We have no doubt that the Directive must be applied fairly to unconventional fuels to ensure their climate impacts are fully taken into account. It follows that the fuel-producing companies should report their climate emissions and be held responsible for any emissions increase.

We welcome the EU’s scientific analysis—as it is now proposed for the implementation of the EU Directive—that the extraction and production of fuels from unconventional sources fuels including oil sands, coal-to-liquid, and oil shale leads to higher emissions and that this should be reflected in the regulations.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) is warning that unconventional fuel sources are especially damaging to the environment and climate, and is concerned that these fuel sources are now increasingly competing on a par with conventional fuel sources. In order to avoid catastrophic climate change, the IEA calculates that two thirds of known fossil fuel reserves must be left in the ground.

Now is the time to transition swiftly away from fossil fuels, with a special focus on those that pollute the most. We must all move toward a future built on safe, clean and renewable energy. Fully implementing the EU’s Fuel Quality Directive will send a clear signal that the European Union is committed to action that supports the rights of future generations to a healthy planet.

It is not too late to avert our actions that only amount to palliative care for a dying planet. The time for positive action is now. The European Union can demonstrate clear and unambiguous leadership by upholding its climate principles. We look forward to working together as we move forward to confront this frightening challenge to our global survival.

Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize, 1976, Ireland

Roger Guillemin, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1977, France

Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Nobel Peace Prize 1980, Argentina

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize 1984, South Africa

Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Nobel Peace Prize, 1992, Guatemala

Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1993, United Kingdom

Paul Crutzen, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1995, Netherlands

Harold Kroto, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1996, United Kingdom

José Ramos-Horta, Nobel Peace Prize, 1996, East Timor

John Walker, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 1997, UK

Jody Williams, Nobel Peace Prize, 1997, USA

John Hume, Nobel Peace Prize, 1998, Ireland

Paul Greengard, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 2000, USA

Shirin Ebadi, Nobel Peace Prize, 2003, Iran

Gerhard Ertl, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2007, Germany

Mark Jaccard, member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Nobel Peace Prize, 2007, Canada

John Stone, member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Nobel Peace Prize, 2007, Canada

Martin Chalfie, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2008, USA

Thomas Steitz, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, 2009, USA

Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize, 2011, Liberia

Tawakkol Karman, Nobel Peace Prize, 2011, Yemen

_____________________________________________

energy policy, fossil fuels, fracking, tar sands, Uncategorized

Common Dreams: The Yes Men — Pipeline Company’s PR Dream Turns Into a Nightmare

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http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2013/09/30

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 30, 2013
12:21 PM

CONTACT: The Yes Men

TransCanada’s “community consultation” squad dogged by activist lookalikes

WASHINGTON – September 30 – In towns across Canada, troupes of mischievous activists are successfully derailing the attempts of TransCanada—the company building the stalled Keystone XL pipeline—to ram through their latest proposed project, the Energy East pipeline, which would bring over a million barrels of Tar Sands oil to the East Coast for export, primarily to Europe and Asia.

During previous pipeline projects, stakeholders were able to express concerns in front of their whole community. To impede the type of opposition that has stalled past projects, this time TransCanada has changed the format of community consultations, turning them into trade-show-like promotional events where stakeholders can only speak one-on-one with company representatives (or PR contractors hired for the occasion).

To outwit this latest ploy by TransCanada, local activists all along the pipeline route have been swarming these events dressed just like TransCanada reps, but with lookalike “SaveCanada” name tags and brochures. Instead of promoting the pipeline, the SaveCanada reps communicate risks.

“Since TransCanada has come up with a new way to lie to the public, we had to come up with a new way to tell the truth,” said North Bay farmer Yan Roberts, who helped to launch the unusual protest. “We’re friendly folks, so our solution is to dress like them, outnumber them, and ‘out-friendly’ them in every community they’re trying to scam.”

The series of SaveCanada actions began at TransCanada’s open house in North Bay, where roughly 30 TransCanada reps were surprised to see their meeting overwhelmed by newcomers wearing nearly identical shirts and also carrying slick PR materials, but with a twist.

Now, ten other towns have orchestrated their own versions of the prank. When TransCanada came to the Montréal area on September 24, members of the Québécois SaveCanada counterpart, “SansTransCanada,” nearly outnumbered the TransCanada reps. A Global TV segment even identified a SansTransCanada activist as a TransCanada rep.

The Montréal SaveCanada action came to a carnivalesque conclusion when attendees were invited to play “pin the bitumen spill on the pipeline” and a crowd formed around TransCanda’s large route map to see where the sticky-note spill would end up.

NASA’s James Hansen has said of the Keystone XL pipeline that, if built, it will be “game over” for the climate. This is truer still for the Energy East pipeline, as it’s designed to carry a greater volume. The new pipeline also threatens the local communities in its path with inevitable leaks.

“In the next few weeks TransCanada is holding more of these so-called ‘consultations,’ and we are looking forward to seeing them derailed by every community they hope to fool.” said Roberts. “Then we’ll see what they try next, and we’ll derail that, too.”

Upcoming TransCanada “consultations” are scheduled in: Saint-Honoré-de-Témiscouata, Québec (Oct. 1); Kemptville, Ontario and St-Onésime-d’Ixworth, Québec (October 2); Montmagny, Québec and Horton, Ontario (Oct. 3); and Ottawa, Ontario, Canada’s capital city (Oct. 10). To help derail one of these events, please visit www.save-canada.com.

“Companies may try to invent new ways to fool people, but citizens will always be more powerful because we care more,” said Shona Watt, a local organizer of the Montréal SaveCanada/SansTransCanada action. “What’s guaranteed is that, ultimately, people will win.”
### Special thanks to Common Cause

Uncategorized

NOAA: Deep sea ecosystem may take decades to recover from Deepwater Horizon spill

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NOAA – slow recovery from DWH oil spill
The National oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a news release stating that scientific analysis indicates that to may take the deep sea ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico decades to recover from impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (9/24/13).

http://brymar-consulting.com/?p=29345
Courtesy Bryant’s Maritime Blog – 25 September 2013
Special thanks to Richard Charter
_____________

http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories2013/20130924_dwh_ecosystem.html

Scientists publish first analysis of post spill sediment ecosystem impacts surrounding well head
September 24, 2013

The deep-sea soft-sediment ecosystem in the immediate area of the 2010’s Deepwater Horizon well head blowout and subsequent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will likely take decades to recover from the spill’s impacts, according to a scientific paper reported in the online scientific journal PLoS One.

The paper is the first to give comprehensive results of the spill’s effect on deep-water
communities at the base of the Gulf’s food chain, in its soft?bottom muddy habitats, specifically looking at biological composition and chemicals at the same time at the same location.

“This is not yet a complete picture,” said Cynthia Cooksey, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science lead scientist for the spring 2011 cruise to collect additional data from the sites sampled in fall 2010. “We are now in the process of analyzing data collected from a subsequent cruise in the spring of 2011. Those data will not be available for another year, but will also inform how we look at conditions over time.”

“As the principal investigators, we were tasked with determining what impacts might have occurred to the sea floor from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill,” said Paul Montagna, Ph.D., Endowed Chair for Ecosystems and Modeling at the Harte Research Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi. “We developed an innovative approach to combine tried and true classical statistical techniques with state of the art mapping technologies to create a map of the footprint of the oil spill.”
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“Normally, when we investigate offshore drilling sites, we find pollution within 300 to 600 yards from the site,” said Montagna. “This time it was nearly two miles from the wellhead, with identifiable impacts more than ten miles away. The effect on bottom of the vast underwater plume is something, which until now, no one was able to map. This study shows the devastating effect the spill had on the sea floor itself, and demonstrates the damage to important natural resources.”

“The tremendous biodiversity of meiofauna in the deep?sea area of the Gulf of Mexico we studied has been reduced dramatically,” said Jeff Baguley, Ph.D., University of Nevada, Reno expert on meiofauna, small invertebrates that range in size from 0.042 to 0.300 millimeters in size that live in both marine and fresh water. “Nematode worms have become the dominant group at sites we sampled that were impacted by the oil. So though the overall number of meiofauna may not have changed much, it’s that we’ve lost the incredible biodiversity.”

The oil spill and plume covered almost 360 square miles with the most severe reduction of
biological abundance and biodiversity impacting an area about 9 square miles around the wellhead, and moderate effects seen 57 square miles around the wellhead.

The research team, which included members from University of Nevada,Reno, Texas A&M University?Corpus Christi, NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and representatives from BP, is conducting the research for the Technical Working Group of the NOAA?directed Natural Resource Damage Assessment.

Others working on the study with Montagna, Baguley, and Cooksey were NOAA scientists, IanHartwell and Jeffrey Hyland.
The PLoS One paper can be found online.

# # #

About HRI: The Harte Research Institute (HRI), an endowed research component of Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, is dedicated to advancing the long?term sustainable use and conservation of the Gulf of Mexico. Expertise at the HRI includes the integration of social and natural sciences, including policy, economics, ecosystems, fisheries, biodiversity and conservation, and geospatial science. The HRI is made possible by an endowment from the Ed Harte family. For more information, go to harteresearchinstitute.org and hrif.org.
About UNR: Founded in 1874 as Nevada’s land?grant university, the University of Nevada, Reno ranks in the top tier of best national universities. With more than 18,000 students, the University is driven to contribute a culture of student success, world?improving research and outreach that enhances communities and business. Part of the Nevada System of Higher Education, the University has the system’s largest research program and is home to the state’s medical school. With outreach and education programs in all Nevada counties and home to one of the largest study abroad consortiums, the University extends across the state and around the world.

About NOAA’s NCCOS: NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science is the coastal science office for NOAA’s National Ocean Service. Visit the NCCOS website or follow our blog tolearn more about our research.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth’s environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and our other social media channels.

(paper at http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0070540)

Media Contact
NOAA
Ben Sherman
202-253-5256
Keeley Belva
301-713-3066
Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
Cindy McCarrier, 3618252336/
3168710837,

Gloria Gallardo, 361.825.2427 or 361.331.5093 (cell);
Cassandra Hinojosa, 361.825.2337 or 361.658.5829 (cell)
University of Nevada, Reno,
Mike Wolterbee
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