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OIL AND GAS DEREGULATION HIGH ON TRUMP’S 2018 AGENDA: The Trump administration is making it clear that oil and natural gas production will be high on its deregulation agenda next year.
At the Interior Department, the new year starts off with the final repeal of the Bureau of Land Management’s fracking rule. The new regulatory agenda slates repeal of the regulation on hydraulic fracturing for sometime in January.
What the rule does: The rule would place the BLM as the lead regulator of fracking wells used on public lands. It was created by the Obama administration to ensure that wells are properly constructed to protect water supplies; make certain that the fluids that flow back to the surface as a result of fracking are managed in an environmentally responsible way, and provide public disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing fluids.
Why Trump doesn’t like it: The Trump administration calls the rule burdensome. Interior proposed the repeal in July and wrapped up the comment period in September, so the department should finalize the rule in the next few weeks.
Interior also plans to propose a revised version of the Obama administration’s “Blowout Preventer Systems and Well Control Rule,” which was finalized last year.
The rule was made final six years after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst spill in the industry’s history.
The rule’s repeal is part of the administration’s offshore drilling strategy.
Energy Department moving ahead on exports: Secretary Rick Perry’s Energy Department also will do its part for oil and natural gas development next year, beginning with natural gas exports.
In February, it plans to finalize a rule to begin shipment of “small natural gas exports,” which would allow shipments to smaller countries in the Caribbean and Central America that do not have the facilities for larger vessels but have increasing demand for the cleaner-burning fossil fuel.
The final rule is slated to be issued in February.
Managing the SPR: The Energy Department also will issue a proposal in April to try to ensure that crude oil sold from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve is price competitive. The rule will govern periodic reviews of the reserve and standards for ensuring contracts are issued in financially responsible ways.
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CANTWELL ATTACKS CLIMATE-FRIENDLY HOUSE REPUBLICANS OVER ANWR DRILLING: The top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee got hostile with a group of 12 House Republicans Thursday last night over their apparent “lip service” on opposing drilling in the Arctic wildlife refuge, which is part of the tax legislation being finalized in a conference committee.
‘Pure posturing’: "It is now clear that the letter from 12 House Republicans opposing drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge was pure posturing,” said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., in a strongly worded statement after it became apparent that the measure to allow drilling will remain in the bill.
GOP climate changers: The group of House lawmakers, some of whom support a resolution on dealing with climate change, had sent a letter to GOP leaders this month expressing their outrage about the drilling measure.
Vote ‘no,’ or go home: “If these Republicans want to stop their party from turning the refuge into an oilfield, they should vote no,” Cantwell said. “Lip service won't protect the Arctic."
KEY TOOL USED BY WIND AND SOLAR TO BE PRESERVED IN TAX BILL: A tax tool important to financing wind and solar projects is likely to be saved in the compromise House and Senate Republican tax bill.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D., told reporters Thursday that wind and solar likely would get an exception to the "Base Erosion Anti Abuse Tax" that renewable advocates say would threaten their ability to use tax credits for financing projects.
BEATS me: The BEAT provision was included in the Senate’s tax bill, inserted to discourage large multinational companies from keeping money offshore. But the measure inadvertently captured wind and solar energy tax credits that developers sell to investors such as Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase.
“It’s a fix that I think everybody in the end can live with, and will allow the credits that have been used to finance these projects to continue to be used to finance these projects,” Thune said. “We were going to make sure the wind industry, for example, wasn’t adversely impacted.”
Wind and EVs spared: The final package also is expected to preserve tax credits for production of wind energy and sales of electric vehicles that the House version would have weakened or eliminated.
Final exam: Republicans are expected to release their final tax bill Friday afternoon.
NUCLEAR LOSES KEY CREDIT SEEN AS HELPFUL FOR GEORGIA PROJECT: Not all energy advocates are happy with the final tax bill. The bill excludes the extension of a tax credit for new nuclear production that could have benefited Southern Co.’s delayed Vogtle project in Georgia, according to industry sources.
Key decision awaits: Vogtle is the only nuclear reactor under construction in the U.S. Georgia’s Public Service Commission is scheduled to vote Thursday on whether to allow construction at the troubled project, which is years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.
‘Essential’ for financing: Jeremy Harrell, policy director of Clear Path Action, a group that advocates for clean energy sources such as nuclear power, which has zero greenhouse gas emissions, said extending the tax credit could have sent a strong signal to Georgia’s regulators.
“When it comes to energy credits, Southern Co. has said this is essential for projecting financing of Vogtle,” Harrell told the Washington Examiner. “It's not ideal.”
Second chance: Harrell is hopeful that Congress will extend the tax incentive later this year or early next as part of a package of “tax extenders” for expiring credits.
“We would love to get this done before the end of the year,” Harrell said. “If it comes in later than January or February, and it doesn't look like it will come at all, that would send the wrong signal. There is some urgency here, so the Senate and House need to act on an extender package relatively quickly.”
SENATORS SEEK CARBON CAPTURE TAX CREDITS IN EXTENDERS BILL: A bipartisan group of four senators urged GOP leadership in a letter Thursday to include carbon capture and storage tax breaks in the extenders package.
The group, Sens. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., and John Barrasso, R-Wyo., previously introduced a bill to strengthen credits for CCS projects.
Why it matters: The projects are considered key to President Trump’s “clean coal agenda” with their potential to reduce carbon emissions, and they are the rare energy policy that has bipartisan support.
SENATE CONFIRMS TWO EPA TOP OFFICIALS AFTER DOURSON WITHDRAWS: The Senate confirmed the Environmental Protection Agency's top lawyer and water office chief Thursday, almost 24 hours after the president's pick to serve as the agency's chemical safety head withdrew his nomination.
Matt Leopold and David Ross were confirmed to serve as the agency's general counsel and head of EPA's Office of Water, respectively. The two officials were considered together and approved.
Still cheering over Dourson decision: The two nominees were confirmed amid applause from environmental groups over Wednesday evening's news that Michael Dourson had withdrawn his nomination to serve as the head of the EPA's Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
What’s the trouble?: Dourson had run into trouble in the Senate over his past experience as founder of a consulting group that represented companies that produced chemicals now under EPA review for their public health risks. In that role, he has recommended lower safety standards for chemicals than the norm proposed by agency regulators.
EPA HIRES OPERATIVES IN NEW PR BLITZ TO IMPROVE NEWS COVERAGE: The EPA is hiring a conservative opposition consulting firm to help it grab more favorable coverage from news outlets, left-leaning Mother Jones magazine reported Friday.
EPA signed a $120,000 no-bid contract to hire a conservative PR firm that helped Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, according to federal contracting records obtained by Mother Jones.
Administrator Scott Pruitt’s office hired the Definers Corp., a PR firm in Virginia, this month. It was founded by Matt Rhoades, who managed Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign.
Mine information on opponents: After Romney’s defeat, Rhoades established America Rising, an independent political action committee that helped the Republican National Committee and Republican candidates “to mine damning information on opponents,” the magazine reported.
Monitor the media like a ‘war room’: A senior official with the company told the magazine that Pruitt signed off on using its Definers Console technology, which promises “war room” style tracking of the media, analysis and advice, according to marketing materials. EPA is the first government client to use the technology, according to the official.
The Console enables users to “monitor for potential crises, as well as to track their message dissemination, relevant responses to their messaging, and what competitors’ actions have been,” a brochure read.
EPA LOOKS TO KEEP LEAD OUT OF DRINKING WATER: The EPA said Thursday it will seek input from state and local officials as it looks for ways to keep lead out of drinking water.
The Lead and Copper Rule, established in 1991, requires water utilities to put anti-corrosion additives into water and set a nonenforceable goal of zero lead in drinking water.
State and local input: The EPA has invited state and local officials to agency headquarters in Washington for a Jan. 8 meeting as it considers changes to the rule, which has not been revised since its inception. Groups invited included the Environmental Council of States, the Council of State Governments, the National League of Cities, the U.S. Conference of Mayors and others.
Proposed changes: The EPA says it is considering potential revisions related to replacement of lead pipes and improving corrosion control treatment requirements.
THIRTY-FIVE PERCENT OF INTERIOR EMPLOYEES REPORT HARASSMENT AT WORK: About 35 percent of Interior Department employees reported they experienced harassment or intimidation at work in the last year, according to a survey of workers conducted this year and released Thursday.
Survey says: Eight percent of employees reported sexual harassment, 20 percent said they were treated negatively because of their age, 16 percent based on their gender and 9 percent due to their race. More than 28,000 employees responded to the survey, about 44 percent of the workforce.
Action plan: In response to the survey, Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt directed bureau and office heads to develop and submit an action plan within 45 days.
The agency also has created a department-wide harassment policy and trained nearly 100 employees on how to investigate charges of misconduct.
‘Zero tolerance:’ “From day one, I made it clear that I have zero tolerance for any type of workplace harassment, and I have directed leadership across the entire department to move rapidly to improve accountability and transparency with regard to this absolutely intolerable behavior,” Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said.
BARRASSO PRESSES PRUITT TO KILL OVERREACHING URANIUM RULES: The EPA is overstepping its authority if it continues to enforce Obama administration-era environmental rules for uranium mining, said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., in a letter to the agency.
Withdraw rule immediately: Barrasso, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, sent a letter to Pruitt on Thursday, asking him to take immediate steps to eliminate duplicative environmental regulations requiring ground water monitoring by "in situ" uranium mine operators that inject water into the earth to pump the uranium to processing facilities.
Hard times for uranium mines: Barrasso said the uranium mining industry is suffering from the lowest production since before nuclear power plants were in operation.
Burdensome rules: "It is incumbent upon EPA to refrain from imposing regulations that are not technically feasible or are unreasonably burdensome on licensees," Barrasso wrote.
RUNDOWN
New York Times Where wind farms meet coal country, there’s enduring faith in Trump
Reuters Paralysis at PDVSA: Venezuela's oil purge cripples company
Washington Post Trump environmental officials are keeping tight rein on stampede of FOIA requests
Bloomberg The biggest voices in oil disagree about 2018
Reuters Tesla largely responsible for slide in U.S. home solar sales
Baltimore Sun How a trash incinerator, Baltimore's biggest polluter, became green energy
New York Times How global warming fueled five extreme weather events
Weekly Standard Pruitt: The man they love to hate
Calendar
FRIDAY, DEC. 15
9 a.m., 529 14th St. NW. The Inter-American Dialogue holds a discussion on "The Trump Administration, Latin America and Energy: Mexico, Natural Gas and Liquid Natural Gas Exports."
thedialogue.org/event/the-trump-administration-latin-america-energy-mexico-natural-gas-lng-exports/
POSTPONED, 1225 I St. NW. Bipartisan Policy Center’s Conversation with FERC Commissioner Neil Chatterjee: The Grid Resiliency Pricing Rule.
bipartisanpolicy.org/events/conversation-with-ferc-commissioner-neil-chatterjee/
MONDAY, DEC. 18
3 p.m., 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Energy & National Security Program is hosting Peter Fraser, head of Gas, Coal, and Power Markets at the International Energy Agency, for the U.S. launch of the IEA's Coal 2017: Analysis and Forecasts to 2022.
