In the wake of EPA Region 6’s recent decision to overturn TCEQ-issued air permits for 40 companies, EPA fired another shot at The Alamo. The EPA is offering Texas companies with the approximately 130 affected air permits the opportunity to have third party audits conducted with a promise of enforcement leniency in exchange. The pre-publication version of the announcement is posted at EPA Region 6 website here, as well as the 30-page agreement that audit participants must execute with EPA. Noteworthy aspects of the agreement include: - Highly prescriptive requirements for third party auditor independence and report certification - Detailed requirements for the scope of the audit - Audit report content, format and submission requirements – including taxonomy for supporting document attachments - Mandates and specifications for emissions-related Community Projects to be entered into by the audit participant and approved by EPA - Separate specifications for the NSR portion of the audit and related report - The model Consent Agreement and Final Order (CAFO) Companies interested in participating in the audit program should conduct a thorough review – with legal counsel – of the language contained in the agreement and CAFO documents. Although we at Elm are not lawyers and
Read more →Environmental Leader has reported that the Hungarian government sold 2 million previously used CERs, the market became tepid. Then when prices fell from more than 12 euro per credit to less than one euro, trading was suspended on two exchanges, Bluenext and Nord Pool. The NYT provided more details of the transaction, stating The credits appear to be part of massive blocks of CERs awarded to Eastern European states and Russia after the collapse of Soviet-era industry. This created a loophole used by Hungary to reintroduce used CERs back into the market… Carbon traders said countries like Hungary were exploiting the loophole to earn more money from the carbon trading system than they could by selling the credits that they had previously earned under the Kyoto system… The traders said at least one other E.U. member state had acted similarly earlier this year. The EU said they were “surprised and concerned” about the situation. BusinessWeek quoted others who expressed more urgency about the matter: “The supply and demand dynamics have been changed,” said Paul Kelly, chief executive officer of JPMorgan’s EcoSecurities unit. While the scope of the problem has yet to be determined, buyers are “questioning the authenticity” of what
Read more →EPA announced two more major Clean Air Act enforcement settlements today that stemmed from the Agency’s long-standing industry New Source Review (NSR) enforcement initiatives. Saint-Gobain Containers, Inc. of Muncie, Ind. agreed to install pollution control equipment at an estimated cost of $112 million to reduce emissions of NOx, SO2, and PM by approximately 6,000 tons each year. The settlement covers 15 plants in 13 states. This is the federal government’s first nationwide Clean Air Act settlement with a glass manufacturer that covers all of a company’s plants. In addition, as part of the settlement, Saint-Gobain has agreed to pay a $2.25 million civil penalty. Lafarge North America, Inc., based in Herndon, Va., and two of its subsidiaries agreed to install and implement control technologies at an expected cost of up to $170 million to reduce emissions of NOx by more than 9,000 tons each year and SO2 by more than 26,000 tons per year at their cement plants. In addition, as part of the settlement, Lafarge has agreed to pay a $5 million civil penalty. Companies potentially on EPA’s NSR radar screen should review their environmental audit programs to evaluate how critically the programs evaluate plant changes that could trigger
Read more →In case you haven’t yet seen it, EPA wrapped up the year with three significant announcements. First, the Agency published its 2009 compliance enforcement results. The summary statistics are here. A few points from their website In fiscal year (FY) 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency’s enforcement and compliance program concluded civil and criminal enforcement actions requiring polluters to invest an estimated $5.4 billion to reduce pollution, clean up contaminated land and water, achieve compliance and fund environmentally beneficial projects. Civil and criminal defendants committed to reduce pollution by approximately 570 million pounds annually once all required controls are fully implemented. Approximately 57% of pollution reductions and 71% of pollution control investments obtained through the Agency’s FY 2009 enforcement actions focused on water and air pollution priority problems. In FY 2009, EPA opened 387 new environmental crime cases, the largest number of criminal case initiations in five years. Second, EPA announced it has settled with Duke Energy to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act’s new source review requirements found at the company’s Gallagher coal-fired power plant in New Albany, Ind., located directly across the Ohio River from Louisville, Ky. The lawsuit was filed in 1999. Under the settlement, Duke will
Read more →
Follow Us!
By PDGACO gaballaloans.co.uk