The Next 22 Days in Congress

The Senate is back in session this week with the House returning next week. The top priority is ensuring must-pass legislation due by the end of the month is agreed to by congressional leaders in both chambers. Everything else will be postponed until the “lame duck” session after the midterm elections unless it is included as a policy rider in that priority legislation.

The results of the midterm elections will have a major impact on how the legislative agenda and politics will look like during the lame duck session. If Republicans prevail in both the House and Senate, the GOP will be eager to punt most outstanding issues, such as the annual defense authorization bill and some tax extenders into the next Congress. Democrats may try to save what they can. The GOP, however, might be more open to negotiation if the Senate remains in Democratic hands. There is also a chance that control of the Senate could once again hinge on a Georgia Senate runoff. In that case, the runoff would take place on Dec. 6, leaving the lame duck dynamics in limbo for another month after Election Day on Nov. 8.

The remaining 22 days until the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 will most likely focus on passing a continuing resolution (CR) to avoid a government shutdown, reauthorizing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fees, Ukraine aid, and confirming judges will be what fills floor time in the two chambers. There is a possibility that the Senate leadership will initiate a vote on marriage equality.

Currently, Democrats are seeking a CR, which would keep the government running until Dec. 16. Republicans are expected to agree with the timeline but have called for a CR that is “as clean as possible.” Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is expected to unveil his energy permitting reforms legislation this week and plans to attach it to the upcoming CR. However, there has been some opposition from Republicans who feel that there has been little collaboration on the legislation and that bipartisan support is questionable at this time. If the support is not there, it is unlikely that Democrats will attach the bill to the essential CR, President Biden is also requesting $47.1 billion in emergency funding, which could also face opposition from Republicans, as it includes $22.4 billion for COVID, which they have rejected in other requests. Biden’s emergency supplemental also includes $4.5 billion for monkeypox and $13.7 billion for Ukraine-related aid, as well as $6.5 billion for natural disaster relief.

Administration Releases Plan for Industrial Decarbonization

The Biden administration on Sept. 7 unveiled a $104 million “Industrial Decarbonization Roadmap” to help cut emissions from heavy industry on its path to net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. In this sector, which includes the chemical industry and petroleum refining, it is more difficult to reduce reliance on fossil fuels because there are few alternative products that could replace those used in manufacturing. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) plan focuses on “four key pathways” to lower industrial emissions in the industrial sector: energy efficiency, electrification, low carbon fuels and feedstocks, and carbon capture technology. The plan also relies heavily on promoting early-state RD&D, investing in multiple and alternative energy process strategies, addressing process heating, reducing carbon throughout the supply chain, conducting modeling and systems analysis, and working with companies to demonstrate and deploy low-carbon industrial technologies to scale.

“We have many pathways forward,” Gina McCarthy, a climate advisor to the White House, said of the plan. “We have to make sure that we have a robust industrial sector,” McCarthy said, adding that introducing low-carbon energy options into heavy industry could be an advantage to domestic manufacturing.

According to EPA, heavy industry was responsible for about a quarter of emissions from US GHG in 2020, and DOE says industry represents 30 percent of U.S. primary energy-related CO2 emissions in the US. The administration’s plan focuses on the five highest CO2-emitting industries–petroleum refining, chemicals, iron and steel, cement, and food and beverage– where industrial decarbonization technologies can have the greatest impact across the nation, it says. These industries represent approximately 51 percent of energy-related CO2 emissions in the U.S. industrial sector and 15 percent of CO2 emissions in the entire U.S.

The plan suggests the following areas where the chemical manufacturing sector, which accounts for 20 percent of industrial CO2 emissions, can help meet its net-zero goals:

 

• Developing low thermal budget process heating solutions and improving the effectiveness of thermal energy use to increase energy efficiency of whole systems
• Expanding advanced reactions, catalysts and reactor systems to improve reaction performance in addition to reducing carbon emissions and improving energy efficiency
• Electrify processes and use hydrogen, biomass, or waste as fuel and feedstocks for manufacturing
• Improve material efficiency and increase materials circularity

The Department of Energy says petroleum refining accounts for 17 percent of industrial CO2 emissions, with hydrocracking, atmospheric distillation, catalytic cracking, steam methane reforming, and regenerative catalytic reforming being the five most energy-consuming processes, but also represent the most cost-effective RD &D opportunities to reduce CO2 emissions. Recommendations for reducing emissions include:

• Improve energy efficiency in both processes and on-site steam and power generation.
• Reduce the carbon footprint of energy sources and feedstocks by using lower-carbon fossil energy and introducing low-fossil carbon sources such as nuclear heat and electricity, clean electricity, clean hydrogen, or biofuels.
• Capture CO2 for either long-term storage or utilization​

The administration says decarbonizing the industrial sector is also critical to its labor and energy equity goals. It plans to provide workforce development and technical assistance programs to prepare the 11.4 million US workers and future workforce for the transition to a clean industry. It also promises that at least 40 percent of the total benefits from Federal investments in climate and clean energy will go to disadvantaged communities.

EPA Refuses to Clarify “Whole Chemical” in its TSCA Policy

EPA is defending its policies and rejecting calls from industry and environmentalists for guidance on how it plans to apply its new “whole chemical” model in its revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) risk determination for pigment violet 29 (PV29). The agency says it is applying the whole-chemical model because PV29’s “chemical-specific” toxic effects “cut across the conditions of use within the scope of the risk evaluation the Agency’s risk findings and conclusions encompass a substantial amount of the conditions of use, and the Agency is better positioned to achieve its TSCA objectives for PV29 when using a whole chemical unreasonable risk determination for PV29” than with use-by-use findings. EPA published its final risk determination for PV29 on Sept. 2, which shows no changes from the proposed version.

Stakeholders have been requesting clear and authoritative guidance on when EPA intends to issue a single “whole chemical” risk determination under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The agency reiterated its intention to make decisions on a case-by-case basis rather than the use-specific determinations that the Trump administration has applied in its first ten evaluations. Stakeholders argue that the new model is flawed and unlawful. They point out that the lack of specific policy guidance by EPA raises allegations of arbitrary decision making. EPA, however, contends that TSCA allows EPA to use either the whole-chemical or use-by-use approaches rather than providing specific policy guidance. The whole-chemical determinations undermine TSCA’s risk management process and efforts to communicate what is a potentially hazardous use of toxic substances.

 

EPA Proposes New RPM Requirements

EPA today proposed several new chemical safety requirements for facilities that would reinstate not only controversial provisions included in an Obama-era rule but also add new requirements to address environmental justice and climate change. The new accident prevention updates to the Risk Management Plan (RPM) program would increase requirements for companies with high accident rates to prevent or mitigate explosions and releases of hazardous chemicals. These include reinstating requirements that were repealed by the Trump administration, such as root cause analyses and third-party compliance audits, as well as new never-required measures to address climate risks, reconsidering hydrogen fluoride use, and new community notification systems. The proposal will impose high costs on businesses and contains no analysis of monetary benefits. As with several EPA policies, the back-and-forth history of the RMP rule changes makes it likely that they will be legally challenged.