Long quiescent under President George W. Bush, the agency is churning out initiatives and regulations at a pace that pleases its friends in the environmental movement and frightens many in the business community.
In the past eight months, the EPA has proposed eight major new regulations for air pollutants that would strengthen the nation’s clean air laws almost overnight. In contrast, in the first eight months of the Bush administration, the agency proposed one small regulation that affected a limited number of polluters.
“The Obama EPA is issuing more significant rule-makings at a much quicker rate than the EPA did in eight years of the Bush administration,” said Roger Martella, who served as the agency’s general counsel under Mr. Bush.
Lisa Jackson discusses how, under the Bush administration, EPA staffers spent half their time just trying to find out if they had jurisdiction when inspectors discovered a violation:
Are you sick and tired of flood warnings every time it rains? Then tell the Environmental Protection Agency how Charlotte’s persistent flooding problem affects you. You’ve got until Dec. 30 to submit your comments.
What’s the problem with stormwater?
According to the EPA, “Generally, as sites are developed, less ground area is available for rain to soak into, which increases stormwater volume. This stormwater flows across roads, rooftops and other surfaces, picking up pollutants that then flow into waterways.” They also say, “Developed sites, such as subdivisions and commercial shopping centers, can significantly alter the hydrology of land can have a negative impact on receiving waterbodies.”
Translated, that means all of the concrete and asphalt in our city is a problem. Water doesn’t soak into those impervious surfaces, it rolls off — fast — and overburdens our streams and creeks, causing flooding. And, let’s not forget that all of this flooding creates a giant mess, frustration and massive property damage and emergency service bills.
On the flip side, green space, like lawns and gardens, not only soak up much of the water but also the pollutants the water’s picked up, like oil and rubber residue from tires.
Now, you should know, this “public comment” period is really intended for the development industry and local governments … which isn’t very “public” if you ask me. How are they going to know the true impact of stormwater flooding if they don’t hear from the people?
So, speak up. It is your right to do so. Let the EPA know how Charlotte’s frequent floods affect your life and livelihood.
All you have to do is e-mail your comments to OW–Docket@epa.gov. Be sure to put “Attention Docket ID No. EPA–HQ–OW–2009–0817″ in the subject line.
Unfortunately, the big news probably won’t affect Charlotte since Duke Energy didn’t get the funds, Progress Energy did.
Kind of a slap for a city trying to re-package itself as the green energy center of the universe. Though, if you’ll recall, stimulus funding can only go to shovel-ready projects. So, um, Duke? What ya doin’ smart grid wise in the Q.C.? Anything?
President Barack Obama wants to speed the arrival of a “smart grid” to replace the nation’s aging electrical distribution network. To make it happen, he doled out $3.4 billion in federal grants this week, including $200 million to Progress Energy.
The North Carolina-based company will split the grant 50-50 with its affiliate business in Florida, Progress Energy Florida of St. Petersburg.
“This is quite significant money,” said Rob Caldwell, who holds the daunting title of “vice president of efficiency and innovative technology” at Progress Energy. “A grant of $200 million to Progress Energy and $3.4 billion to the industry is huge.”
Progress Energy has already earmarked $320 million of its own resources to smart grid development, so another $200 million from the feds increases the company’s commitment by more than 60 percent.
So, no pressure, Rob, but when are you going to fix everything in Electricity Land? Those who recall the country’s extensive Northeast blackout of 2003 and California’s electricity shortages in 2001 — clear signs of our doddering electrical grid — are all ears.
Here’s the Environmental Protection Agency’s press release:
U.S. EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson visited Raleigh today to announce a $200 million grant for a smarter, stronger and more efficient electric system in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. The funding, announced at a press conference with Lieutenant Governor Walter Dalton and Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, is part of President Barack Obama’s announcement yesterday of the largest single energy grid modernization investment in U.S. history – $3.4 billion in Smart Grid Investment Grant Awards under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that will be matched by industry for a total investment worth more than $8 billion.
“A cornerstone of our new foundation for prosperity is the growth of the American clean energy economy,” said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. “Investments in innovative Smart Grid technology will create new jobs, lower energy bills for consumers and businesses, promote more efficient and reliable energy delivery, and set the stage for affordable clean energy across the country.”
An analysis by the Electric Power Research Institute estimates that the implementation of smart grid technologies could reduce electricity use by more than 4 percent by 2030. That would mean a savings of $20.4 billion for businesses and consumers around the country, and $500 million for North Carolina alone – or $51 in utility savings for every man, woman and child in North Carolina.
“These funds will help us modernize North Carolina’s energy grid – empowering consumers to cut their electric bills and paving the way for a greener, more efficient energy system,” said North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue.
The $200 million grant, which Progress Energy will match with $300 million of its own funding, will fund system and equipment upgrades that will make their grid more efficient, saving consumers money in the Carolinas and in Florida. Progress Energy will also use its funding to install 160,000 smart meters and other technology that will cut energy costs for its customers.
“Progress Energy is currently investing in several Smart Grid initiatives to meet our customer’s changing electricity needs throughout the communities that rely on us for reliable power,” said Bill Johnson, Progress Energy chairman, president and CEO. “This grant program has the potential to expand investments necessary to transform the electric grid to give customers greater control of their energy use, enable utilities to harness the potential of renewable energy and electric vehicles and improve power quality and service reliability.”
North Carolina companies, serving five states, will receive $403 million total in recovery act funding for smart grid development, which will be matched by nearly $975 million in private funds for a total investment of $1.3 billion. Duke Energy will receive a similar $200 million grant.
You read right, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from our sister state, is not only planning to vote for climate change legislation, he’s helping to draft it. No shit.
Why? Because the EPA’s Administrator, Lisa Jackson, has proven that she’s serious about moving on with climate change regulation — with or without Congress. They can either get on board, or let her call the shots.
U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina broke ranks with Republicans on Sunday, announcing that he is working with a Democratic colleague on climate change legislation.
Graham co-authored an op-ed in The New York Times with Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts that said they believe they have found a “framework for climate legislation” that can pass Congress, despite conventional wisdom to the contrary.
The senators warned that if Congress doesn’t act, the Obama administration will use the Environmental Protection Agency to impose new regulations that would likely be tougher and lack job protections.
Graham and Kerry called for an “aggressive” reduction of carbon gases, financial incentives for “clean coal,” a streamlined permit process for nuclear power plants and a border tax on items produced in countries that don’t accept environmental standards.
They would minimize the impact on major emitters through a “market-based system” that would give them time to comply with carbon-gas reductions.
The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce threw its support behind Graham, saying his leadership on climate change is critical for success.
Chamber President Frank Knapp Jr. warned that rising sea levels due to global warming could hurt the state’s tourism industry, destroying beaches and barrier islands.
He said that EPA action would result in higher energy costs without the benefits of investments and regulatory changes protecting jobs.
First of all, there is no such town. Second, they said it was six miles down stream — which, of course, is impossible since it doesn’t exist.
But, if anyone was paying attention they’d know that the Charlotte suburb is right across the Rozzelle Ferry Bridge on Highway 16 and that the Catawba River Pumping Station — which sucks millions of gallons of Charlotte-Mecklenburg drinking water every day out of the lake — is just downstream and around the bend from Charlotte’s two high-hazard coal plants.
The draft of the EPA report, which I’ve read cover to cover (it’s a quick read since most of it is redacted), says the wells drilled near the unlined coal ash ponds to monitor ground water are bubbling over with water. That means the water table is very high. That means these unlined ponds are sitting on and in an area where the groundwater is very near the surface. That also means this finding probably isn’t a surprise to the state, the EPA or to Duke Energy.
State data show contaminated groundwater near all 13 N.C. coal-ash ponds owned by Duke Energy and Progress Energy, an environmental group said Tuesday.
Ash, left by coal-burning power plants, is loaded with metals that can be toxic at high levels. It’s often mixed with water and piped into open basins, a practice under scrutiny since a ruptured dike in Tennessee spilled 5 million cubic yards of sludge in December.
The analysis by Boone-based Appalachian Voices shows ash can also seep into groundwater and, the group said, also needs more oversight by regulators. The report detailed 681 instances in the testing of the ponds in which pollutants exceeded state groundwater standards.
Duke and N.C. groundwater officials didn’t challenge the group’s analysis. But they said there’s no evidence that contaminated groundwater is flowing off the large, rural power plant sites into neighborhoods where people could be exposed to it.
“Based on the data we have, we do not believe we have any potential impact on public health or the environment,” said Dave Mitchell, Duke’s managing director for environmental issues.
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“At this point, the jury is still out,” said Ted Bush, the state’s aquifer-protection chief. “We don’t know definitively, and we’re convinced no one knows, whether these groundwater exceedances are violations that are enforceable.”
The reason: State law allows groundwater contamination inside a “compliance boundary” 250 to 500 feet around an ash pond.
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The EPA now says it will propose tightening regulation of coal ash by late this year. Cancer risks from drinking groundwater tainted by arsenic from unlined coal-ash ponds are 900 times higher than the government says is acceptable, the agency has estimated.
In good environmental news, U.S. carbon dioxide emissions should fall in 2009. The drop, which is attributed to the economy, isn’t expected to last, however. As the economy improves, emissions are expected to rise.
U.S. emissions of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, should fall 5.9 percent in 2009 as the recession cuts electricity and transportation fuel demand, the government said in a monthly forecast on Tuesday.
Demand for coal, which emits about twice as much carbon dioxide as natural gas per unit of energy generated, should fall more than 9 percent in 2009 on the economic downturn, said the Energy Information Administration, the statistics arm of the Department of Energy, in its short-term forecast.
“Several factors contribute to a projected reduction of nearly 6 percent in U.S. carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuel use in 2009, primarily associated with the economic downturn,” EIA Administrator Richard Newell said.
Some important things to know: the ponds, one built in 1957 and the other in 1986, are listed as “high-hazards” because they’re close to a large population, not because the EPA suspects they may collapse.
Currently, Duke Energy is in compliance with current state and federal regulations. While the coal ash ponds were, up until this summer, regulated by an arm of the N.C. Commerce Department, they are now the responsibility of the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
The Riverbend plant, which is located just up Brookshire Boulevard from Uptown, is supposed to be thoroughly inspected by a third-party this fall.
Some other things to know: the ground water near two unlined, high-hazard ponds is so close to the surface that it bubbles out of the wells that were drilled to monitor the ground water. The ponds also sit on the edge of Mountain Island Lake, Charlotte’s main source for drinking water.
How close are Duke Energy’s two unlined, high-hazard coal ash ponds to Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s drinking water intake, at the Catawba River Pumping Station? See for yourself. (Once you click the link, the ponds are visible near the top-right of the image. The pumping station is labeled “A.”)
Duke Energy is expected to respond this week to recommendations the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has made to strengthen two unlined coal ash ponds behind the company’s Riverbend Steam Station in the Mountain Island area.
The ponds sit on the edge of Mountain Island Lake and three miles upstream from the Catawba River Pumping Station, where drinking water for most of Charlotte-Mecklenburg is pulled.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency listed the ponds as having “high-hazard potential” in June. That means, according to the agency, “Failure or mis-operation will probably cause the loss of human life.”
That is in addition to the catastrophic environmental and economic damage a breach would cause.
Since then, the Environmental Protection Agency has released a draft of their assessment of the ponds, stating that the ponds are in “satisfactory” condition. The assessment includes a list of 10 improvement recommendations. It also states that the closest town to the ponds is six miles away and called “Mountain Island.”
“I’m not sure what they meant there,” says Duke Energy representative Andy Thompson.
The closest town to the coal ash ponds is, of course, the city of Charlotte.
The Environmental Protection Agency has not responded to a request from the Mountain Island Weekly for an explanation.
Lisa Jackson, the EPA’s administrator, doesn’t have time to wait on Congress to politic their way around the massive environmental issues our world is facing. She’s using her authority to make change happen NOW.
Unwilling to wait for Congress to act, the Obama administration announced on Wednesday that it was moving forward on new rules to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from hundreds of power plants and large industrial facilities.
President Obama has said that he prefers a comprehensive legislative approach to regulating emissions and stemming global warming, not a piecemeal application of rules, and that he is deeply committed to passage of a climate bill this year.
But he has authorized the Environmental Protection Agency to begin moving toward regulation, which could goad lawmakers into reaching an agreement. It could also provide evidence of the United States’ seriousness as negotiators prepare for United Nations talks in Copenhagen in December intended to produce an international agreement to combat global warming.
“We are not going to continue with business as usual,” Lisa P. Jackson, the E.P.A. administrator, said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters. “We have the tools and the technology to move forward today, and we are using them.”
…
Ms. Jackson described the proposal as a common-sense rule tailored to apply to only the largest facilities — those that emit at least 25,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year — which are responsible for nearly 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.
The rule would not, as critics contend, cover “every cow and Dunkin’ Donuts,” Ms. Jackson said.
Earlier this month, Jackson spoke to NPR’s Diane Rehms:
Am I the only one who worries when CEOs — any CEO — predict what will happen in Washington?
Climate change legislation is unlikely to pass the U.S. Congress until the first half of 2010, and maybe not until 2011, Duke Energy Corp Chief Executive Jim Rogers said on Friday.
Rogers is one of the biggest supporters of national carbon-cutting rules among power utility executives and is active on Capitol Hill both in relations with lawmakers and as a Congressional witness.
Rogers said he has not ruled out passage of legislation this year, but believes that it is highly unlikely.
If the bill does not pass in the first half of 2010, Rogers said “it won’t be done until 2011 because 2010 is an election year.”
Rogers made his comments at an energy symposium at the University of Michigan.
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About half the power generated in the United States comes from coal-fired plants.
Duke Energy is the third-leading U.S. emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas that causes global warming.
Rogers has set himself apart from many power utility executives in supporting carbon-cutting legislation. Electric power generation creates about 40 percent of U.S. greenhouse gases.
Today’s Charlotte Observer has an eye-opening article about how officials in our local government skirt the Environmental Protection Agency’s pollution guidelines to make it appear that we’re not the dirty, polluted city that we are. Now the American Lung Association lists the Q.C. on warning lists.
City transportation planners changed data that essentially took one in three cars off the road, enabling them to show less pollution. They also have made overly optimistic forecasts about how often people would use mass transit.
And despite evidence that building more highways causes people to drive farther, the city has told the EPA the opposite: Building billions of dollars of new highways will cause Charlotteans to drive less, and create less smog, than if they weren’t built.
Those questionable projections have helped keep highway dollars flowing to Charlotte.
City transportation planners acknowledge that their pollution estimates have turned out to be low. But they say they have complied with all state and federal requirements.
Mecklenburg County’s air-quality director, Don Willard, said the EPA’s rules are good on paper, but in practice are “divorced from reality.”
