July 16, 2018
New York Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood – part of a coalition of 13 Attorneys General demanded that the EPA immediately withdraw an order issued by former Administrator Scott Pruitt on his final day in office, which effectively suspended the EPA’s 2016 Glider Rule for a year. The Glider Rule mandates that most engines installed in “gliders” – new heavy-duty truck bodies outfitted with refurbished or rebuilt pre-2010 highly polluting engines – meet the same emissions standards applicable to all newly manufactured engines.
Via a memorandum dated July 6, 2018, the EPA committed to take no action to enforce the Glider Rule’s annual manufacturing cap of 300 gliders per company. This cap is meant to protect our air from the excessive smog-forming and particulate-matter pollution emitted by outdated engines.
“Scott Pruitt made sure to give a parting gift to polluters on his very last day as EPA Administrator – bolstering the Trump Administration’s legacy of siding with corporations over people. Removing limits on the production of super-polluting glider trucks is a blatantly illegal action that would result in massive increases in dangerous air pollution and tens of millions of dollars in damages to New Yorkers’ health alone,” said Attorney General Underwood. “Acting Administrator Wheeler should avoid following in the footsteps of his predecessor, and immediately withdraw or stay this reprehensible, destructive, and illegal action.”
The action taken on former Administrator Pruitt’s last day will allow the sale of trucks that produce 20 to 40 times more emissions of hazardous pollutants than new, more fuel-efficient trucks. These high-polluting trucks are linked to asthma, low birth weight, infant mortality, and lung cancer. The EPA itself has estimated that adding 10,000 gliders with non-compliant engines onto our roads in a single year could result in up to 1,600 premature deaths, 415,000 tons of additional nitrogen oxide emissions, and 6,800 tons of additional particulate matter emissions.
In New York and across the country, the rest of the trucking industry has already made substantial investments to comply with stringent emissions standards; suspending the rule would also create an uneven playing field for trucking companies forced to compete against unregulated, high-polluting glider manufacturers who avoid such investments.
The letter was led by the California Attorney General and signed by the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Washington, as well as the California Air Resources Board and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection.
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$250,000 Settlement to Resolve Pipeline Erosion and Sedimentation Violations
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has collected a $250,000 civil penalty from CNX Gas Company, LLC (CNX) for violations associated with the Marchland 3 Pipeline in North Mahoning Township, Indiana County.
“This penalty is the result of the department’s commitment to operator compliance and aggressive enforcement to ensure Pennsylvania’s water resources are protected,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “Any permittee must control erosion, sediment, and discharges into the commonwealth’s tributaries and streams and ensure that wetland impacts are mitigated.”
On March 29, 2018, a DEP inspection of the pipeline revealed that CNX’s earth disturbance activities caused sediment laden water from unstabilized construction areas to overtop several erosion and sedimentation controls and discharged sediment laden water into an unnamed tributary to Mudlick Run, designated high quality waters.
DEP issued a Field Order to CNX the following day in response to the violations observed which required CNX to immediately cease the unauthorized discharge, achieve temporary stabilization, and take other corrective actions by April 3, 2018. However, by May 16, 2018, CNX failed to comply with the requirements of the Field Order and was issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) for both continued violations and additional violations documented by DEP, including an additional unauthorized sediment laden discharge to the high-quality waters.
The March and May 2018 violations include erosion and sedimentation, unauthorized discharges, and site stabilization issues. These violations have been corrected.
CNX informed DEP on May 18, 2018 that it no longer intends to construct and operate the Marchland 3 pipeline, will pursue permanent stabilization and restoration of the construction site, and will terminate its ESCGP-2.
DEP entered a Consent Order and Agreement with CNX. The COA prescribes a schedule of corrective actions CNX must take to achieve proper erosion and sedimentation control, temporary and—ultimately—permanent site stabilization, removal of illegal temporary road crossings, and site restoration. The COA also requires submission of progress reports and plans for DEP review and approval. For more information and the timeline of corrective actions, click here to view the Consent Order and Agreement.
How Gold Nanoparticles Could Improve Solar Energy Storage
Star-shaped gold nanoparticles, coated with a semiconductor, can produce hydrogen from water over four times more efficiently than other methods - opening the door to improved storage of solar energy and other advances that could boost renewable energy use and combat climate change, according to Rutgers University-New Brunswick researchers.
"Instead of using ultraviolet light, which is the standard practice, we leveraged the energy of visible and infrared light to excite electrons in gold nanoparticles," said Laura Fabris, associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in the School of Engineering who led the
work with Fuat Celik, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering.
"Excited electrons in the metal can be transferred more efficiently into the semiconductor, which catalyzes the reaction."
The researchers, whose study was published online in the journal Chem, focused on photocatalysis, which typically means harnessing sunlight to make faster or cheaper reactions.
Titanium dioxide illuminated by ultraviolet light is often is used as a catalyst, but using ultraviolet light is inefficient.
In the study, Rutgers researchers tapped visible and infrared light that allowed gold nanoparticles to absorb it more quickly and then transfer some of the electrons generated as a result of the light absorption to nearby materials like titanium dioxide.
The engineers coated gold nanoparticles with titanium dioxide and exposed the material to UV, visible, and infrared light and studied how electrons jump from gold to the material. The researchers found that the electrons, which trigger reactions, produced hydrogen from water over four times more efficiently than previous efforts demonstrated. Hydrogen can be used to store solar energy and then combusted for energy when the sun is not shining.
"Our outstanding results were ever so clear," Fabris said. "We were also able to use very low temperature synthesis to coat these gold particles with crystalline titanium. I think both from the materials perspective and the catalysis perspective, this work was very exciting all along. And we were extremely lucky that our doctoral students, Supriya Atta and Ashley Pennington, were also as excited about it as we were."
"This was our first foray," she added, "but once we understand the material and how it operates, we can design materials for applications in different fields, such as semiconductors, the solar or chemical industries or converting carbon dioxide into something we can use. In the future, we could greatly broaden the ways we take advantage of sunlight."
Oregon Environmental LLC Fined $436,804, Looses Asbestos License
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality has fined asbestos abatement contractor Oregon Environmental LLC $436,804 for violating asbestos regulations for more than 100 asbestos abatement projects, mostly in the Portland area. DEQ also revoked the company's asbestos abatement license.
DEQ discovered several repeated violations after conducting a year-long investigation into Oregon Environmental's operations. The company has been a licensed asbestos contractor in Oregon since 2014.
Violations include:
- Failing to submit required notifications to DEQ for at least 110 asbestos abatement projects. The only way DEQ can ensure contractors are protecting public health when handling asbestos is to conduct on-site inspections. Notifications trigger those inspections and allow DEQ to confirm contractors are properly managing asbestos.
- Failing to conduct required air clearance sampling or submit the results of that sampling after completing at least 32 abatement projects. Without air sampling results, DEQ and the public can't confirm airborne fibers don't exceed the established threshold prior to contractors removing the asbestos project enclosure.
- Failing to dispose of asbestos from at least 100 projects at an authorized waste disposal site. Contractors must take asbestos material as soon as possible to a registered disposal site and maintain records to demonstrate compliance.
- Submitting false or inaccurate documentation to DEQ, including in its last two asbestos license renewal applications.
Asbestos fibers cause lung cancer and other illnesses. There is no known safe level of exposure. To protect public health, DEQ requires training and certifications for those who handle materials containing asbestos and conducts inspections of notified asbestos projects to determine compliance.
Oregon Environmental has until July 23 to appeal the violations.
Quantum Dot white LEDs Achieve Record Efficiency
Researchers have demonstrated nanomaterial-based white-light-emitting diodes (LEDs) that exhibit a record luminous efficiency of 105 lumens per watt. Luminous efficiency is a measure of how well a light source uses power to generate light. With further development, the new LEDs could reach efficiencies over 200 lumens per watt, making them a promising energy-efficient lighting source for homes, offices and televisions.
"Efficient LEDs have strong potential for saving energy and protecting the environment," said research leader Sedat Nizamoglu, Koç University, Turkey. "Replacing conventional lighting sources with LEDs with an efficiency of 200 lumens per watt would decrease the global electricity consumed for lighting by more than half. That reduction is equal to the electricity created by 230 typical 500-megawatt coal plants and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 200 million tons."
"Efficient LEDs have strong potential for saving energy and protecting the environment," said research leader Sedat Nizamoglu, Koç University, Turkey. "Replacing conventional lighting sources with LEDs with an efficiency of 200 lumens per watt would decrease the global electricity consumed for lighting by more than half. That reduction is equal to the electricity created by 230 typical 500-megawatt coal plants and would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 200 million tons."
The researchers describe how they created the high-efficiency white LEDs in Optica, The Optical Society's journal for high impact research. The new LEDs use commercially available blue LEDs combined with flexible lenses filled with a solution of nano-sized semiconductor particles called quantum dots. Light from the blue LED causes the quantum dots to emit green and red, which combines with the blue emission to create white light.
"Our new LEDs reached a higher efficiency level than other quantum dot-based white LEDs," said Nizamoglu. "The synthesis and fabrication methods for making the quantum dots and the new LEDs are easy, inexpensive and applicable for mass production."
To create white light with today's LEDs, blue and yellow light are combined by adding a yellowish phosphor-based coating to blue LEDs. Because phosphors have a broad emission range, from blue to red, it is difficult to sensitively tune the properties of the generated white light.
Unlike phosphors, quantum dots generate pure colors because they emit only in a narrow portion of the spectrum. This narrow emission makes it possible to create high-quality white light with precise color temperatures and optical properties by combining quantum dots that generate different colors with a blue LED. Quantum dots also bring the advantage of being easy to make and the color of their emission can be easily changed by increasing the size of the semiconductor particle. Moreover, quantum dots can be advantageously used to generate warm white light sources like incandescent light bulbs or cool white sources like typical fluorescent lamps by changing the concentration of incorporated quantum dots.
Although quantum dots embedded in a film are currently used in LED televisions, this lighting approach is not suitable for widespread use in general lighting applications. Transferring the quantum dots in a liquid allowed the researchers to overcome the problematic drop in efficiency that occurs when nanomaterials are embedded into solid polymers.
Making efficient white LEDs requires quantum dots that efficiently convert blue light to red or green. The researchers carried out more than 300 synthesis reactions to identify the best conditions, such as temperature and time of the reaction, for making quantum dots that emit at different colors while exhibiting optimal efficiency.
"Creating white light requires integrating the appropriate amount of quantum dots, and even if that is accomplished, there are an infinite number of blue, green and red combinations that can lead to white," said Nizamoglu. "We developed a simulation based on a theoretical approach we recently reported and used it to determine the appropriate amounts and best combinations of quantum dot colors for efficient white light generation."
To make the new LEDs, the researchers filled the space between a polymer lens and LED chip with a solution of quantum dots that were synthesized by mixing cadmium, selenium, zinc and sulfur at high temperatures. The researchers used a type of silicone to make the lens because its elasticity allowed them to inject solutions into the lens without any solution leaking out, and the material's transparency enabled the necessary light transmission.
The researchers showed that their liquid-based white LEDs could achieve an efficiency double that of LEDs that incorporate quantum dots in solid films. They also demonstrated their white LEDs by using them to illuminate a 7-inch display.
"Quantum dots hold great promise for efficient lighting applications," said Nizamoglu. "There is still significant room for technology development that would generate more efficient approaches to lighting."
As a next step, the researchers are working to increase the efficiency of the LEDs and want to reach high efficiency levels using environmentally friendly materials that are cadmium- and lead-free. They also plan to study the liquid LEDs under different conditions to ensure they are stable for long-term application.
Climate Pollutants Fall Below 1990 Levels for First Time
The California Air Resources Board announced that greenhouse gas pollution in California fell below 1990 levels for the first time since emissions peaked in 2004—an achievement roughly equal to taking 12 million cars off the road or saving 6 billion gallons of gasoline a year.
“California set the toughest emissions targets in the nation, tracked progress and delivered results,” said Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. “The next step is for California to cut emissions below 1990 levels by 2030 – a heroic and very ambitious goal.”
Under Assembly Bill 32 passed in 2006, California must reduce its emissions to 1990 levels (431 million metric tons) by 2020. The 2016 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory shows that California emitted 429 million metric tons of climate pollutants in 2016--a drop of 12 million metric tons, or 3%, from 2015.
“In California we see the impacts of climate change all around us, but our efforts to curb its worst impacts are on track. We are well positioned to meet the challenge of the 2030 target,” said CARB Chair Mary D. Nichols. “This is great news for the health of Californians, the state’s environment and its economy, even as we face the failure of our national leadership to address climate change.”
Senate Bill 32, signed in 2016, requires the state to go even further than AB 32 and cut emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030—the most ambitious carbon goal in North America.
The state’s annual emissions inventory helps keep the state accountable for meeting its emissions reduction targets. Highlights from the inventory include:
- Carbon pollution dropped 13% statewide since a 2004 peak; meanwhile the economy grew 26%.
- Per capita emissions continue to be among the lowest in the country. They fell 23% from a peak of 14 metric tons per person (roughly equal to driving 34,000 miles) in 2001 to 10.8 metric tons per person in 2016 (roughly equal to driving 26,000 miles). That is approximately half as much as the national average.
- Carbon pollution dropped 3% between 2015 and 2016—roughly equal to taking 2.4 million cars off the road or saving 1.5 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel.
- The “carbon intensity” of California’s economy – the amount of carbon pollution emitted per $1 million of gross state product – dropped 38% since the 2001 peak and is now one-half the national average.
- California now produces twice as many goods and services for the same amount of greenhouse gas emissions as the rest of the nation.
Electricity generation had the largest decline among the sectors. Emissions from this sector declined 18% in 2016, reflecting continued growth in renewable energy – such as solar, wind and geothermal – as a result of the state’s Renewables Portfolio Standard, and a corresponding drop in natural gas generation. Solar electricity in all forms, including rooftop generation, grew 33%, while natural gas fell more than 15%.
Thanks to the carbon price signal created by the Cap-and-Trade Program that makes fossil fuel generation more expensive, cleaner out-of-state electricity is increasingly taking the place of fuels such as coal. This included more imports of hydroelectric power from outside the state, which grew by nearly 39% in 2016 thanks to abundant rainfall throughout the West Coast.
“Emissions may vary from year-to-year depending on the weather and other factors,” said CARB Executive Officer Richard Corey. “However, this inventory demonstrates that our policies are working to incentivize GHG-free energy sources and ensure the state remains on track to meet its climate targets in 2020 and beyond.”
The transportation sector, the state’s largest source of greenhouse gases, saw a 2% increase in emissions in 2016 because of increased fuel consumption. But the state also saw cars and trucks use a record amount of biofuels – 1.5 billion gallons in all – as a result of the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard. These low-carbon alternative fuels, consisting mostly of biodiesel, renewable diesel, and ethanol, avoided 14 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, compared to what would have happened if conventional fossil fuels had been used.
Emissions from the industrial sector – including refineries, oil and gas extraction, cement plants, and other stationary sources – fell 2% from 2015 levels, though emissions from refineries increased slightly.
California’s primary programs for reducing greenhouse gases to 1990 levels by 2020 are the Renewables Portfolio Standard, the Advanced Clean Cars Program, the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and the Cap-and-Trade Program. Additional programs address a variety of greenhouse gas sources. These include the Short-Lived Climate Pollutants Strategy, the Sustainable Communities Strategy and the Sustainable Freight Action Plan.
The 2030 Scoping Plan, adopted by CARB last year, lays out how these initiatives work together to reduce greenhouse gases to achieve California’s 2030 target of 260 million metric tons and also to reduce smog-causing pollutants. This ambitious target will require California to more than double the rate at which it has been cutting climate-changing gases. Future reductions will occur against a backdrop of natural sources of GHGs which are increasingly variable because of the climate change California is already witnessing. Those variables include drought, reduced snowmelt runoff and larger and hotter wildfires, any one of which can affect the state’s energy balance and emissions levels.
The annual statewide GHG emissions inventory is compiled using many data sources. The primary source is data directly reported to CARB by the largest facilities and companies under the Cap-and-Trade Program. These reports are verified by a CARB-accredited third-party verification body.
CARB also relies on statistical data from various state and federal government agencies in developing the statewide inventory. These agencies include the California Board of Equalization, Energy Commission, Department of Food and Agriculture and CalRecycle, as well as the EPA, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Geological Survey.
The latest data for this inventory is from 2016. This is because the process for verifying and validating required reporting of emissions from all facilities under the Cap-and-Trade Program takes more than a year, and additional data undergoes rigorous vetting by other government agencies.
The greenhouse gas emission numbers above are stated in million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e). Scientists use carbon dioxide as the benchmark in comparing the potency of heat-trapping effects among all greenhouse gases. Consistent with international and national greenhouse gas inventory practices, global warming potential in a 100-year timeframe is used in the inventory.
$250,000 Fine for Pipeline Erosion and Sediment Discharge Violations
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has collected a $250,000 civil penalty from CNX Gas Company, LLC (CNX) for violations associated with the Marchland 3 Pipeline in North Mahoning Township, Indiana County.
“This penalty is the result of the department’s commitment to operator compliance and aggressive enforcement to ensure Pennsylvania’s water resources are protected,” said DEP Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “Any permittee must control erosion, sediment, and discharges into the commonwealth’s tributaries and streams and ensure that wetland impacts are mitigated.”
On March 29, 2018, a DEP inspection of the pipeline revealed that CNX’s earth disturbance activities caused sediment laden water from unstabilized construction areas to overtop several erosion and sedimentation controls and discharged sediment laden water into an unnamed tributary to Mudlick Run, designated high quality waters.
DEP issued a Field Order to CNX the following day in response to the violations observed which required CNX to immediately cease the unauthorized discharge, achieve temporary stabilization, and take other corrective actions by April 3, 2018. However, by May 16, 2018, CNX failed to comply with the requirements of the Field Order and was issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) for both continued violations and additional violations documented by DEP, including an additional unauthorized sediment laden discharge to the high-quality waters.
The March and May 2018 violations include erosion and sedimentation, unauthorized discharges, and site stabilization issues. These violations have been corrected.
CNX informed DEP on May 18, 2018 that it no longer intends to construct and operate the Marchland 3 pipeline, will pursue permanent stabilization and restoration of the construction site, and will terminate its ESCGP-2.
DEP entered a Consent Order and Agreement with CNX. The COA prescribes a schedule of corrective actions CNX must take to achieve proper erosion and sedimentation control, temporary and—ultimately—permanent site stabilization, removal of illegal temporary road crossings, and site restoration. The COA also requires submission of progress reports and plans for DEP review and approval. For more information and the timeline of corrective actions, click here to view the Consent Order and Agreement.
State Water Board Releases Guidelines for Testing and Reporting on PFOA and PFOS in Drinking Water
The California State Water Resources Control Board established new drinking water guidelines for local water agencies to follow in detecting and reporting the presence of contaminants once used in grease and stain-resistant coatings for consumer products and firefighting foams.
The guidelines adopted by the board’s Division of Drinking Water (DDW) set interim Notification Levels of 14 parts per trillion (ppt) for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and 13 ppt for perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), chemicals that were widely used in consumer products until they were phased out in the 2000s due to health concerns. Exposure to PFOA and PFOS over certain levels is associated with adverse health effects that include cancer and developmental harm.
The new guidelines are based on the most health protective levels set by other states and follow a recommendation by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. The notification levels are being adopted on an interim basis while OEHHA conducts further analysis and develops a final recommendation later this year.
The notification guidelines do not require water agencies to test their water for these contaminants, although most California water systems serving more than 10,000 people already have. But if they do test and the level is exceeded, then water agencies are required to report the results to their governing boards and to the State Water Board. They are also urged to report this information to their customers.
The establishment of a notification level is often an initial step in the process of adopting a formal state regulatory standard, called a Maximum Contaminant Level. Data collected as a result of the new guidelines, reflecting the extent and levels of contamination, will inform DDW’s decision about whether to adopt a regulatory standard for PFOA and PFOS.
As part of these guidelines, DDW is also establishing an interim Response Level of 70 ppt for the total combined concentration of PFOA and PFOS, consistent with the EPA’s health advisory level established in 2016. If this level is exceeded in drinking water provided to consumers, DDW recommends that the water agency remove the water source from service.
In California 455 public water systems have tested for PFOA and PFOS. Of those, eight systems reported exceedances of the 70 ppt level for either PFOA, PFOS or both combined. These systems either have taken steps to treat their water to a level below the health advisory or have taken the water source out of service.
Part of a family of chemicals known as perfluoroalkyl substances, PFOA and PFOS were routinely used in grease-proof coatings for food packaging; stain-resistant coatings for carpets, clothing and furniture; and as an ingredient in coatings for not-stick cookware. In addition, these compounds have also been used in fire-retarding foams and various industrial processes.
While consumer products are a large source of exposure to these chemicals for most people, drinking water has become an increasing concern due to their persistence in the environment and tendency to accumulate in groundwater. Groundwater contamination is typically localized and associated with an industrial facility where these chemicals were manufactured or used in other products, or airfields which used the chemicals for firefighting.
For more information on the work the State Water Board’s Division of Drinking Water is doing in tracking voluntary monitoring and reporting by public water systems with these two compounds, please visit a resource page found here.
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