EPA Issues Civil Rights Violation Finding on Michigan Long After Flint MI Black Community Complaints

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Thursday January 26, 2017 · 4:09 PM PST

2017/01/26 · 16:09

On January 19, the Obama EPA External Civil Rights Compliance Office issued a rare finding of civil rights discrimination against the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality concerning public hearings and public participation on the air discharge permitting of a demolition waste combustor sited near an impoverished black community and its neighborhood elementary school in northeastern Flint, MI. This local community — near Dort Highway and Carpenter Road in NE Flint — was already heavily affected by junks yards and other waste management facilities and nearby industrial facilities.

Here is the Genesee Power Station Limited Partnership facility:

www.google.com/...

The EPA findings and recommendations to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality were issued over two decades after the events in the 1990s which was the cause of the Title VI civil rights complaint that was originally filed.

Back in the early 1990s, I was personally involved in the public comment and technical review of the proposed facility, the Genesee Power Station, when I was director of environmental and occupational health at the American Lung Association in Michigan. I was also involved as an expert witness in the litigation against MDEQ by the Guild Law Center-Sugar Center for Economic and Social Justice in Detroit working for Attorney Kary Moss, who is presently director of Michigan ACLU.

On behalf of the American Lung Association I wrote and submitted a petition in 1993 to the U.S. EPA Environmental Appeals Board (EPA-EAB) that was successful in part by delaying final effectiveness of the Prevention of Significant Deterioration permit for Genesee Power Station and winning a “remand” order back to the Michigan DEQ on the matter of Best Available Control Technology for lead emissions and the need to keep lead-contaminated demolition wood [from painted or other treated wood] out of wood waste stream to fuel the plant. The Genesee Power Station EAB remand order can be see at this EPA link:

yosemite.epa.gov/…

As a result of the EAB remand order and MDEQ reconsideration of portions of the air permit, Genesee Power Station was required to commence procedures and standards to keep paint/contaminated and treated demolition waste out of wastewood fuel supply for the facility as part of Clean Air Act Prevention of Significant Deterioration -required Best Available Control Technology (PSD-BACT).

The EPA Title VI civil rights findings and recommendations are contained in this letter responding to the original complainant, Rev. Phillip Schmitter of the St. Francis Prayer Center on Carpenter Road in Flint;

www.documentcloud.org/…

EPA found that the conduct of certain public hearings and comment periods and the availability of certain information intended for public comment were prejudicial to black residents of Flint, MI who were involved in the issue, including Janice O’Neal, a black community and civil rights activist, who is now deceased. Included in such prejudicial conduct by MDEQ was closing public hearings before all requesting the opportunity to speak were allowed to do so and the unusual use of armed state Conservation Officers at the public hearing which was intimidating to local residents and an action not typically used at environmental permit hearings in Michigan. EPA did not find any disparate health impact from the permitting action that could be considered to be a Title V civil rights violation.

While the complaint response from EPA focused on the past events, EPA made several criticisms and recommendations to MDEQ addressing how that agency presently addresses its civil rights protection responsibilities and obligations to EPA.

That this response was finally pushed out of EPA after more than two decades can attributed to the efforts of the Center for Public Integrity, which launched an investigation into EPA’s responsibilities to enforce Title VI civil rights requirements in the administration of federal programs and in its grant activities to states and localities. Here is the Center’s news release on the recent EPA response:

www.publicintegrity.org/…

Although not mentioned in the CPI release, to the best of my knowledge the organization EarthJustice was also involved in resurrecting an EPA response to the long-ago filed civil rights complaint…..as I was contacted by an Earthjustice attorney as part of their inquiry on the Title VI civil rights matter on the Genesee Power Station matter.

Finally, here is the website of Rev. Schmitter’s organization, the St. Francis Prayer Center which is involved with the local community near the Genesee Power Station, and is also affected by emissions from the plant. Such emissions include volatile organic compounds arising from fermentation of the large wood waste piles around the plant.

www.stfrancisprayerflint.com

Trump EPA Delays Effective Dates on 30 Obama EPA Final Regulations, Including Air Cleanup Plans

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday January 26, 2017 · 1:24 PM PST

2017/01/26 · 13:24

On President [sic] Lying-Liar Trump’s inauguration delusion day, White House chief of staff Reince Priebus [AKA “Rinsed Pubis”] issued the following memorandum ordering federal agencies to role back certain Obama Administration federal agency final regulations that have been published in the Federal Register:

www.politico.com/…

Today, the Trump EPA published a notice that delays the effective date of 30 EPA environmental protection regulations to at least March 21, 2017. No opportunity was provided for prior public notice and public comment on this precipitous action, as would normally be required by federal laws on public agency rulemaking.

Here is the text of today’s Federal Register notice:

PDF version:

www.gpo.gov/…

TXT version:

www.gpo.gov/…

Here’s the list of the 30 environmental regulations being delayed in this Trump EPA action:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                    Publication      Original      New effective
  Federal  Register  citation                 Title                    date       effective date       date
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
81 FR 74927...................  State of Kentucky Section 1425          10/28/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Underground Injection Control
                                 (UIC) Program Primacy Approval.
81 FR 95047...................  Approval and Promulgation of            12/27/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans; New York
                                 Prevention of Significant
                                 Deterioration of Air Quality
                                 and Nonattainment New Source
                                 Review; Infrastructure State
                                 Implementation Plan
                                 Requirements.
81 FR 95041...................  Air Plan Approval; KY; RACM             12/27/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Determination for the KY
                                 Portion of the Louisville Area
                                 1997 Annual PM2.5.
81 FR 95043...................  Air Plan Approval; Wisconsin;           12/27/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Infrastructure SIP Requirements
                                 for the 2012 PM2.5 NAAQS.
81 FR 95051...................  Approval and Promulgation of            12/27/16       1/26/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans and
                                 Designation of Areas for Air
                                 Quality Planning Purposes;
                                 Louisiana; Redesignation of
                                 Baton Rouge 2008 8-Hour Ozone
                                 Nonattainment Area to
                                 Attainment.
81 FR 95480...................  State of Kentucky Underground           12/28/16       1/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Injection Control (UIC) Class
                                 II Program; Primacy Approval.
81 FR 95475...................  Air Plan Approval; Illinois;            12/28/16       1/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Volatile Organic Compounds
                                 Definition.
81 FR 95473...................  Approval of California Air Plan         12/28/16       1/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Revisions, Great Basin Unified
                                 Air Pollution Control District.
81 FR 95472...................  Approval of California Air Plan         12/28/16       1/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Revisions, South Coast Air
                                 Quality Management District.
82 FR 729.....................  Partial Approval and Partial              1/4/17        2/3/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Disapproval of Attainment Plan
                                 for the Idaho Portion of the
                                 Logan, Utah/Idaho PM2.5
                                 Nonattainment Area.
82 FR 2760....................  Addition of a Subsurface                  1/9/17        2/8/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Intrusion Component to the
                                 Hazard Ranking System.
82 FR 2237....................  Approval and Promulgation of              1/9/17        2/8/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans; Rhode
                                 Island; Clean Air Act
                                 Infrastructure State and
                                 Federal Implementation Plans.
81 FR 89746...................  Renewable Fuel Standard Program:        12/12/16       2/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Standards for 2017 and Biomass-
                                 Based Diesel Volume for 2018.
81 FR 89674...................  Formaldehyde Emission Standards         12/12/16       2/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 for Composite Wood Products.
82 FR 3171....................  Approval and Promulgation of             1/11/17       2/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans; Texas;
                                 Control of Air Pollution from
                                 Visible Emissions and
                                 Particulate Matter.
81 FR 89868...................  Determination of Attainment of          12/13/16       2/13/2017       3/21/2017
                                 the 2012 Annual Fine
                                 Particulate Matter Standard;
                                 Pennsylvania; Delaware County
                                 Nonattainment Area.
82 FR 3639....................  Air Plan Approval; TN                    1/12/17       2/13/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Infrastructure Requirements for
                                 the 2010 NO2 NAAQS.
82 FR 3637....................  Approval and Promulgation of             1/12/17       2/13/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans; Alabama;
                                 Infrastructure Requirements for
                                 the 2010 Sulfur Dioxide
                                 National Ambient Air Quality
                                 Standard.
82 FR 5182....................  Revisions to the Guideline on            1/17/17       2/16/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Air Quality Models:
                                 Enhancements to the AERMOD
                                 Dispersion Modeling System and
                                 Incorporation of Approaches to
                                 Address Ozone and Fine
                                 Particulate Matter.

[[Page 8501]]

 
81 FR 91839...................  Air Plan Approval; Michigan;            12/19/16       2/17/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Part 9 Miscellaneous Rules.
81 FR 94262...................  National Oil and Hazardous              12/23/16       2/21/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Substances Pollution
                                 Contingency Plan; National
                                 Priorities List: Partial
                                 Deletion of the North Penn Area
                                 6 Superfund Site.
81 FR 93624...................  Determination of Attainment of          12/21/16       2/21/2017       3/21/2017
                                 the 2008 Ozone National Ambient
                                 Air Quality Standards; Mariposa
                                 County, California.
81 FR 85438...................  Adequacy of Washington Municipal        11/28/16       2/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Solid Waste Landfill Permit
                                 Program--Direct Final Rule.
81 FR 95477...................  Approval and Promulgation of            12/28/16       2/27/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Implementation Plans;
                                 Louisiana; State Boards.
82 FR 952.....................  Pesticides; Certification of              1/4/17        3/6/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Pesticide Applicators.
82 FR 1206....................  Air Plan Approval; Georgia:               1/5/17        3/6/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Procedures for Testing and
                                 Monitoring Sources of Air
                                 Pollutants.
82 FR 2230....................  Consolidated Rules of Practice            1/9/17       3/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Governing the Administrative
                                 Assessment of Civil Penalties,
                                 Issuance of Compliance or
                                 Corrective Action Orders, and
                                 the Revocation/Termination or
                                 Suspension of Permits;
                                 Procedures for Decisionmaking.
82 FR 2239....................  Approval of Arizona Air Plan              1/9/17       3/10/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Revisions; Ajo and Morenci,
                                 Arizona; Second 10-Year Sulfur
                                 Dioxide Maintenance Plans and
                                 Technical Correction.
82 FR 4594....................  Accidental Release Prevention            1/13/17       3/14/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Requirements: Risk Management
                                 Programs Under the Clean Air
                                 Act.
82 FR 5142....................  Revisions to National Emission           1/17/17       3/20/2017       3/21/2017
                                 Standards for Radon Emissions
                                 from Operating Mill Tailings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Most of the rules being delayed were published under the authority of the Clean Air Act, and several of these involve federally approve state implementation plans under the Act to address air quality health standard violations in locations across the country.

One of the rules addresses requirements for renewable fuels for gasoline and diesel fuels sold nationwide.

The Trump EPA also indicated that further delayed effective dates beyond March 21, 2017 were being considered, but that the Trump EPA committed to subjecting these further delays to public notice.

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday January 24, 2017 · 5:23 PM PST

2017/01/24 · 17:23

Pipes for the Keystone XL pipeline sit in a field. — A TransCanada Pipe Yard

Among other executive actions today, President [sic] Trump issued an executive “memorandum” seeking to resurrect the Keystone XL Pipeline planned by TransCanada for Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska. Here is the text of that order:

www.whitehouse.gov/…

He also issued another memorandum regarding construction of pipelines in the United States in which Trump urged the use of USA-produced pipe and components for new and replacement pipeline construction in the United States:

www.whitehouse.gov/...

There are two overwhelming problems here that Trump has not addressed. While Trump’s oral comments said that all of the permits would be renegotiated and subject to additional terms and conditions….that is an empty promise and issuing the KXL permit under present circumstances cannot be in the public interest. And here are the reasons for that:

President Obama took an unreasonable amount of time (7 years) to make a completely political decision to reject TransCanada’s KXL presidential permit application. Presidential permits do not cover entire crude oil pipeline projects, and only address the pipeline segment from the border crossing to the first shutoff valve generally a short distance away. Crude oil permits in the United States are not required to have “full project” permitting authorization for the entire pipeline length and only individual states have authority to issue permits for crude oil pipelines within their specific state jurisdiction areas.

Because TransCanada was not happy with the permit application denial, they initiated two legal actions against the United States:

www.transcanada.com/...

TransCanada sued in Federal District Court in Houston for the right to construct the pipeline without having a presidential permit being issued:

www.keystone-xl.com/...

TransCanada issued an investor- state dispute challenge under the provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) seeking an award of $15 billion in damages resulting from the denial of the KXL permit:

www.keystone-xl.com/…

Neither of these actions were settled by the end of the Obama Presidency, with President Obama apparently intending to leave this mess to Hillary Clinton to settle. However, Hillary Clinton will now be able to avoid this mess and President (sic) Trump will have to address it.

However, absolutely nothing in Trump’s memoranda today recognizes that the the United States and TransCanada are still in a shooting war on two distinct legal fronts.

Inviting TransCanada to re-submit its KXL pipeline outside of the forum of the NAFTA challenge and the Houston litigation is dangerous to the interests of the United States since Trump has no commitment or understanding with TransCanada to settle or dismiss the TC NAFTA actions and litigation.

This opens the United States to being held responsible for up to $15 billion in damages in the unresolved NAFTA claim and to an adverse award of costs, damages and attorney fees in the Houston court litigation….even after Trump issuing the presidential permit of a newly submitted KXL permit application.

Allowing TransCanada to get the double dip of having their KXL permit be issued and a NAFTA damage award as well can’t be construed as good deal making and that this issue has not been flagged by the Justice Department illustrates incompetence at the executive level in the Trump administration legal shop.

Trump’s memorandum demanding USA manufactured materials for the KXL pipeline also runs into both practical and NAFTA problems and may just be meaningless window dressing, considered along with his oral comments today.

NAFTA, itself, would prohibit the United States from enacting or imposing a requirement for USA-content in materials used for pipeline construction. As desirable as that may seem to encourage USA manufacturing, such a rule or requirement would be rapidly challenged and create another NAFTA or WTO trade discrimination issue against the United States because it discriminates against non-USA manufactures of pipeline construction materials.

Finally, on a practical basis, most of the pipeline for the Keystone XL Pipeline project has already been purchased and shipped to a site near the planned route at Gascoyne, ND, so TransCanada is unlikely to agree to any conditions requiring them to buy, ship and stockpile different pipe:

Embedded Content

In addition, there is no existing law or legal authority to require or allow states who issue pipeline authorization permits to require USA-manufactured content, and no such authority exists for the Presidential Permit portion of such projects as well. Any attempt to invoke such non-authority will be rapidly challenged by foreign pipe manufacturers.

This all means that Trump’s ‘buy USA’ pipeline policy is window dressing and nice sounding PR without any meaning or substance.

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday January 22, 2017 · 2:10 PM PST

2017/01/22 · 14:10

Yesterday, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe made the following announcement on their Facebook web page:

For Immediate Release. 1-21-17

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is grateful to all who have stood with us during our efforts to secure a thorough review of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Because we worked together, the Federal Government will prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. Moving forward, our ultimate objective is best served by our elected officials, navigating strategically through the administrative and legal processes.

Yesterday the Tribe passed a resolution brought forward by the Cannonball District which asked that no camps remain in the Cannonball District. Councilmen from across the reservation, including Cannonball, described the hardships and strain on the citizens and resources of our Nation. The Council passed the motion unanimously. For this reason, we ask the protectors to vacate the camps and head home with our most heartfelt thanks. Much work will be required to clean up before the spring thaw, which will flood the area. It is imperative we clean the camps and restore them to their original state before this flooding occurs. Once again, thank you, and we wish you well. [emphasis added]

www.facebook.com/…

This appears to be a reversal of policy by the Tribe from just four days ago when the Tribe announced this:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1-17-17

Today, representatives from the various camps and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe met at length to develop a plan for relocating from the camps in danger of flooding. The tribe is preparing the new site by clearing it of snow, and the plan is to open it up on Friday, January 20th. Tribal and camp leadership are asking that everyone remaining in the flood plain camps remove themselves and their belongings to the new site by January 29th.

On Monday, January 30th, the tribe will be sending in equipment to the flood plain camps to remove and dispose of remaining waste and materials in preparation for early flooding. The tribe and camp are working in cooperation to take advantage of this brief respite in extremely severe weather to take precautions to keep the remaining water protectors safe and prevent camp materials from entering the river. We appreciate everyone's cooperation.

The remaining camps are located in the flood plan of the Cannonball River, and are expected to flood in March with springtime thaw of heavy snow in the area. There is also a history of ice jams near the mouth of the River that cause flooding pulses in the area. The flooding risk was cited by the Army Corps of Engineers in their December, 2016 announcement ordering all protestors to leave such lands.

Considerable waste, abandoned debris and illegal structures remain at the camps on Army Corps flood plain lands and the Standing Rock Tribe wants to remove all of that before expected flooding washes it all into Lake Oahe.

The continued presence of the protest camp is also a drain on the Tribe, from having to provide water, sanitation, fuel and security for the protest camps. Continued recent clashes between cops and national guard and protestors at the “backwater bridge,” which was barricaded by burning stolen National Guard construction trucks on October 27, has interfered with negotiations between the Tribe and North Dakota to reopen the bridge after assessing and repairing damage to the bridge caused by camp protestors.

However, North Dakota and Morton County kept the bridge closed pending repair and assessment work, also in order to deny access of camp protestors to both private lands owned by Dakota Access Pipeline and to the horizontal drilling pad for the pipeline under the bottom of Lake Oahe that were both north of the backwater bridge.

Closure of Route 1806 is a hardship on the Tribe for issues of emergency vehicle access and egress to/from the Tribe’s Reservation and for economic operation of the Tribe’s Prairie Nights Casino….the largest employer on the Standing Rock Reservation.

Current Weather Predictions -- January 20 and 21 -- for Washington, DC

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday January 15, 2017 · 9:38 PM PST

2017/01/15 · 21:38

WASHINGTON - JANUARY 18: Porta-potties are lined-up in front of the Washington Monument on January 18, 2009 in Washington, DC. Inaugural preparations continue throughout the city for President Elect Barack Obama to be sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009. (Photo by Max Whittaker/Getty Images) — An Interesting Washington DC Juxtaposition --- Kind of Symbolic of Lying Liar Trump as the Big Dick in a Sea of Outhouses.

Inauguration Day of Infamy — 01/20/2017

Weather Prediction from Weather Underground:

www.wunderground.com/…

High of 53 degrees F. “Partly cloudy early then becoming cloudy with periods of light rain later in the day. High 53F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.”

NOAA-National Weather Service:

forecast.weather.gov/…

“A chance of rain. Partly sunny, with a high near 53. Chance of precipitation is 30%.”

Women’s March — 01/21/2017

Weather Underground:

“Cloudy. High 49F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.” 10% Precipitation probability.

NOAA-National Weather Service:

“Partly sunny, with a high near 52.” No precipitation probability indicated.

Obama Administration Finalizes On-Shore Pipeline Safety Rules for U.S. Hazardous Liquid Pipelines

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday January 13, 2017 · 5:08 PM PST

2017/01/13 · 17:08

Today the Obama Administration in its closing days published final rules to amend and strengthen Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration requirements for ‘on-shore’ hazardous liquid pipelines in the United States.

The red lines in the map show all hazardous liquid pipelines in the USA on-shore and also in off-shore waters:

Natural Gas and Hazardous Liquid Pipelines in the United States

This link opens up a high-byte-count PDF that can be zoomed in close to see hazardous liquid pipelines (in red) near your location:

www.npms.phmsa.dot.gov/...

This link opens up a PHMSA mapping system for showing both natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines displayed and located in a single county map format:

pvnpms.phmsa.dot.gov/...

Today’s rules were announced in a PHMSA news release:

www.phmsa.dot.gov/…

"As the use of hazardous liquid pipelines to transport the nation's energy supply grows, communities around the country have demanded regulatory certainty around the safe operation of these lines and facilities," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. "This rule gives operators clear direction on the design, construction, and operation of hazardous liquid pipelines lines and holds them accountable for the safety of the communities they serve- its full implementation will be a vital step in driving our pipeline safety mission."

Here is a copy of the final rule, which will be published soon in the Federal Register:

www.phmsa.dot.gov/…

Its effective date for compliance will be in June, 2017.

The nation contains close to 200,000 miles of hazardous liquid pipelines operating near local communities and treasured landscapes, and crossing major bodies of water, including rivers. The rule signed today strengthens the standards that determine how operators repair aging and high-risk infrastructure, increases the quality and frequency of tests that assess the condition of pipelines, and extends leak detection the requirements to onshore, non-HCA transmission hazardous liquid pipelines.

The rulemaking is in response to National Transportation Safety Board investigations of hazardous liquid pipeline accidents [including the failure of Enbridge Line 6B near Marshall, MI and subsequent spill of heavy sour crude oil from tar sands to Michigan’s Kalamazoo River], enactment of the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety Act of 2016, enactment of the Pipeline Safety, Regulatory Certainty, and Job Creation Act of 2011, a Government Accounting Office (GAO) recommendation, stakeholder and pipeline industry comments, and incident data reports and trends.

A summary of the rules:

The first and second amendments extend reporting requirements to certain hazardous liquid gravity and rural gathering lines not currently regulated by PHMSA. The collection of information about these lines, including those that are not currently regulated, is authorized under the Pipeline Safety Laws, and the resulting data will assist in determining whether the existing Federal and State regulations for these lines and the scope of their applicability are adequate.

The third amendment requires inspections of pipelines in areas affected by extreme weather, natural disasters, and other similar events. This provision affects all covered lines under § 195.1, whether they be onshore or offshore, and in an HCA or outside an HCA. Suchinspections will help to ensure that operators can safely operate pipelines after these events.

The fourth amendment requires integrity assessments at least once every 10 years, using inline inspection tools or other technology, as appropriate for the threat being assessed, of onshore, piggable, transmission hazardous liquid pipeline segments located outside of high consequence areas (HCAs). Existing regulations require operators to assesshazardous liquid pipeline segments located inside HCAs at least once every 5 years. These assessments will provide important information to operators about the condition of these pipelines, including the existence of internal and external corrosion and deformation anomalies.

The fifth amendment modifies the provisions for determining the need to make pipeline repairs. PHMSA is incorporating additional conservatism into the existing repair criteria for immediate anomalies in HCAs and establishing an adjusted repair schedule to provide greater flexibility. The paragraph regarding “Engineering Critical Assessments” applies to all onshore pipelines subject to IM.

The sixth amendment extends the required use of leak detection systems beyond HCAs to all regulated transmission hazardous liquid pipelines. The use of such systems will help to mitigate the effects of hazardous liquid pipeline failures that occur outside of HCAs.

The seventh amendment requires that all pipelines in or affecting HCAs be capable of accommodating in-line inspection tools within 20 years, unless the basic construction of a pipeline cannot be modified to permit that accommodation. In-line inspection tools are an effective means of assessing the integrity of a pipeline and broadening their use will improve the detection of anomalies and prevent or mitigate future accidents in high-risk areas.

Finally, PHMSA is clarifying other regulations and is incorporating Sections 14 and 25 of the PIPES Act of 2016 to improve regulatory certainty and compliance.

PHMSA is also working on a safety rule change for natural gas pipelines which was proposed in March, 2016, but it is not known if a final rule will be published before the close of the Obama Administration; that proposed rulemaking is, in part, in reaction the fatal San Bruno, CA accident at an old gas pipeline that killed multiple people and caused massive damage to a suburban community.

www.phmsa.dot.gov/…

A citizen’s group, Pipeline Safety Trust, was critical of the final hazardous liquids pipeline rule because its was scaled back from the draft rule from requiring immediate repair of all detectable safety problems in response to comments from the pipeline industry who objected to that provision. A U.S. News and World report article published an hour ago at this writing indicates comments from various parties about the new, final rulemaking.

www.usnews.com/...

The new final rule on hazardous liquid pipelines could be rescinded or reversed by an action of Congress without findings, reason or cause through enactment of a single congressional resolution if H.R. 21 is enacted into law by the republican majority in Congress, as detailed in my previous blogpost on legislation passed last week by the U.S. House:

www.dailykos.com/…

www.congress.gov/…

H.R. 21 amends the Congressional Review Act to allow multiple and numerous final federal rules enacted during the final year of President Obama's Administration to be summarily reversed and rescinded in a single future congressional resolution vote.

H.R. 21 was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives on January 4, 2017 the day after it was introduced on a mostly party line vote, and presently awaits U.S. Senate action.

========

The writer apologizes in advance for likely formatting problems that will appear in the text of this blogpost as it appears on Daily Kos, whose DK5 composition editor is not particularly WYSIWYG-friendly whenever blocks of text are copied into the DK5 editor from outside sources.

Today I Got Peremptorily Booted From an East Lansing Local Court Criminal Case Jury

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday January 10, 2017 · 3:51 PM PST

2017/01/10 · 15:51

12 Angry Men, Screenshot from film review — Twelve Angry Men

Have you ever been summoned to Jury duty? Did you actually end up serving on a jury?

Was your experience like that shown in one of my favorite Oscar-nominated, classic movies, 12 Angry Men?

YouTube Video

I have a Michigan drivers license which puts me in the pool of individuals that are summoned for jury duty in Michigan. I’ve been summoned for jury duty at local, county and federal courts at least 7 times in the last 40 years. For 4 of those summons I didn’t have to even show up as the cases settled before jury selection. Two other times I showed up but was not actually called by the judge to sit on a panel as juror or alternate because others were selected and empaneled before I was.

But today was the very first time in nearly 50 years since I was 18 that I was actually called by the Judge to sit on a jury panel and subjected to “voir dire"….the questioning process used by the judge, prosecutor and defense attorneys.

The case involved a young man accused of driving under the influence of ethanol…..a very common criminal charge brought in East Lansing courts in a town with too many bars and a lot of ethanol-fueled student parties. Those summoned for jury duty were mostly white with a few asians. The defendant was a black American, but there were no blacks on the jury panel called from those summoned.

In voir dire examination of prospective jurors, the attorneys and judge ask detailed and probing questions to determine if jurors know or have connections to any attorneys, witnesses, prosecutors, defendants, whether they have factual or emotional connections addressing specific crimes, allegations and charges being considered by the court and whether there is any specific reason for being excluded for cause. Prospective jurors can be removed for cause and attorneys can peremptorily challenge jurors without having to state a basis or reason for bumping off a prospective juror from the panel. Parties in civil and criminal litigation want to remove any juror whose experiences or viewpoints might affect their case decisions.

Based on the 2 other times I’ve observed prospective jurors subjected to voir dire examination…..once in a child abuse/murder case and the other in a vehicle homicide case, I didn’t expect that I would actually end up serving on an empaneled jury to actually hear a case. As I watched jury selection In those cases without getting called to the panel, it was clear that people who have connections to any form of law, courts, litigation, advocacy, lawyers and law enforcement…... like cops, attorneys and people with specialized expertise…... are usually removed from jury panels with peremptory challenges from one or the other side in civil or criminal cases.

The attorneys involved want jurors to be “Joe and Sally Six-pack” types and not litigation/law insiders.

Other people with specific experiences relating to alcohol, traffic accidents, traffic violations and stops or local government trying to prosecute the case also got booted (excused) from the two jury panels I previously observed.

Today I was not among the first seven jurors called for voir dire, so I again got a chance to see how those first seven prospective jurors were questioned. Two lawyers and a student with exams on the trial date were removed and excused, two others were removed on peremptory challenges….and then I was called to the jury box for questioning.

I ended up hitting the peremptory challenge trifecta.

They heard all about my interactions with the City of East Lansing. That included the single parking ticket in East Lansing that I received in the last 40 years, an inadvertent seat belt violation issued from East Lansing police about ten years ago, noise complaints filed with the East Lansing cops about loud parties, and 3 building permits from the City for the home superinsulation project I’m working on that I’ve obtained in the last 2 years.

Then I had to admit to all of the speeding tickets I’ve received in MI, PA, CO, KS and TX over the years, with the Texas road stop complete with being detained for a vehicle search by a drug sniffing dog (nothing found), as well as my history of membership in the American Civil Liberties Union.

And then, while wearing a University of Michigan Wolverines shirt in a courtroom in Spartan-istan, I described how in 2005 I busted Michigan State University for animal waste discharges to agricultural drains leading to the Red Cedar River — a practice that had been going on for the previous 40 years — from the MSU Beef Cattle Teaching and Research Center.

And I described my career 40+ years of environmental enforcement, advocacy, policy and litigation work that involved expert witness work, administrative agency and legislative advocacy, and consulting involvements first with the American Lung Association and then as a self-employed environmental consultant. And how I advised attorneys in environmental litigation, like my involvement in getting a $120 million class action case judgement against a Premcor petroleum refinery in Illinois. And then how I needed to know if the defense attorney was involved with any law firms that I might have tangled with in the past.

That all was enough for the East Lansing prosecutor, and I was peremptorily challenged and excused from jury duty by East Lansing 54B District Court Judge Andrea Larkin. But I also learned to appreciate further our system of justice by jury in these United States of America.

Pipeline News & Notes -- DAPL, Enbridge Line 5 and More Pipeline Matters

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday January 09, 2017 · 7:33 PM PST

2017/01/09 · 19:33

National Map of Natural Gas and Hydrocarbon Liquid Pipelines in the United States

Pipeline Note #1: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and Army Corps of Engineers Seek Dismissal of Energy Transfer Partners Litigation on Dakota Access Pipeline

Today, the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Tribe (through their counsel, EarthJustice) and the Army Corps of Engineers (through counsel, U.S. Department of Justice) have answered Energy Transfer Partners motion in DC District Court before Judge seeking a grant of the easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross Lake Oahe on the Missouri River.

Both the Tribe and the Army Corp also filed counter motions for summary judgement and dismissal of Energy Transfer Partners motion seeking the easement. Here are the pleadings filed today with Federal DC District Judge James Boasberg by Standing Rock and the Army Corps of Engineers:

earthjustice.org/…

Because both pleadings involve new countermotions for dismissal of the Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) motion, ETP will have the opportunity to respond under the federal court rules and Judge Boasberg will rule on all of the motions by all parties after ETP’s response is filed with the Court. This future ruling is unlikely to happen before January 20 when Lying Trump takes office. Judge Boasberg previously asked the Department of Justice to inform him if the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Justice change their positions in the matter.

The pleadings seeking a dismissal of ETPs motion request on the DAPL easement claim that imputation of an easement cannot be found in the Army Corps of Engineers granting of a Rivers and Harbors Act permit already issued by the Army Corps and that the Court is without jurisdiction to review the Army Corps decision to seek environmental impact review and consideration of alternative routing of DAPL across the Missouri River.

The Army Corps did not revoke the Rivers and Harbors Permit issued for DAPL for the Lake Oahe crossing in July, 2016. In addition, the Army Corps press release and internal memorandum calling for a route reevaluation and EIA review has not yet been published as a formal notice seeking to re-open the routing review and environmental impact review in the Federal Register and only 9-10 business days remain before the Lying Trump inauguration when many such previous Army Corps decisions could be reversed by the new administration.

Here is some of today’s news coverage on the pleadings filed by Standing Rock and the Army Corps:

www.yahoo.com/…

www.waff.com/...

Pipeline Note #2: Bad River Chippewa Indian Tribe Denies Right of Way Authorization Renewal for Enbridge Line 5 and Seeks Decommissioning and Removal of Line 5 in Bad River Reservation Territory

The Bad River Chippewa Indian Tribe recently voted to turn down a pipeline easement reauthorization for the 64 year old Enbridge Line 5 and the Tribe wants Enbridge to physically remove Line 5 from the Reservation. The Bad River Reservation is located in Northern Wisconsin and is transected by at least 3 long distance transmission pipelines for crude oil and natural gas.

www.duluthnewstribune.com/...

www.apg-wi.com/...

This map shows hydrocarbon pipelines running through the Bad River Reservation:

wcmcoop.files.wordpress.com/...

Line 5 runs from Superior, WI through northern Wisconsin and Northern Michigan to Sarnia, Ontario. The pipeline delivers light sweet crude oil, synthetic light crude oil from tar sands derivatives, natural gas liquids and propane. It supplies crude oil to the Marathon Detroit Refinery and refineries in Ontario, and is used to ship oil produced in Michigan.

Pipeline Note #3: Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Review the 64 Year Old Mackinac Straits Segments of Enbridge Line 5

Oak Ridge National Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy and the

Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration of the U.S Department of

Transportation have conducted an engineering review of the

Enbridge Line 5 segments and their pipeline integrity at the Mackinac Straits:

www.phmsa.dot.gov/…

Reaction from the Michigan Oil and Gas Association:

www.michiganoilandgas.org/...

When I have a chance to review the Oak Ridge/PHMSA pipeline integrity report in detail on the Mackinac Straits segments [2 five mile long 20 inch diameter pipes with 0.8 inch wall thickness], I’ll be publishing additional analysis and commentary on those segments.

Pipeline Note #4: National Wildlife Federation Files Lawsuit Against Department of Transportation and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration Over Failure to Have Spill Remediation Response and Countermeasures for Enbridge Line 5 in Michigan

The National Wildlife Federation filed a lawsuit over Enbridge Line 5

4 days ago against the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Pipeline

and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration over the matter of oil spill

contingency and response plans:

www.detroitnews.com/...

I couldn't locate a current news release from NWF on the present federal court filing. Here

is NWF's previously announced release over the matter of the failure of the Department of

Transportation to have spill contingency plans in place..

www.nwf.org/...

..I'm not sure if the recent filing

reflects this past announced intent to sue or covers a different matter. There were some previous disputes about whether such litigation should be in the DC District Court or in Federal District Court in Michigan.

Pipeline Note #5: PHMSA Issues Advisory on Pipeline Security and Recent National Sabotage Incidents

The blog, pipelinelaw.com…..

www.pipelinelaw.com/…

…..published an article noting that the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued an advisory prompted by the October, 2016 incident in which so-called “direct actions” were carried out against 4-5 major import pipeline operations in the United States by the group, Climate Direct Action.

www.pipelinelaw.com/…

PHMSA’s anti-pipeline-sabotage advisory:

www.pipelinelaw.com/…

Addressing the October, 2016 incident:

www.pipelinelaw.com/…

Climate direct action is a nonprofit organization dedicated to such sabotage attempts which should probably have their non-profit status rescinded by the Internal Revenue Service for operating a charity which engages in criminal conduct.

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Saturday January 07, 2017 · 5:39 PM PST

2017/01/07 · 17:39

On Friday, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued new, 5 year versions of its general permits (NWPs) addressing dredge/fill and water-related activities regulated under the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act:

www.gpo.gov/…

The permits issued included a re-issuance of NWP 12 addressing “utility lines” with some minor modifications, which include crossings of waters of the United States by crude oil, natural gas and hazardous liquid pipelines. NWP 12 is the only federal permit required for crude oil and hazardous liquid pipelines and it only addresses the physical crossings, and the dredge, fill and construction activities necessary for such physical crossings.

The Army Corps of Engineers action makes clear that ACE only has jurisdiction under Section 404e of the Clean Water Act and provisions of the Rivers and Harbors Act over the actual crossings and not over the entire length of pipeline projects. That such jurisdiction is the case is the reason why the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and national environmental groups have repeatedly lost in attempts to extend ACE jurisdiction over entire pipeline projects addressing crude oil pipelines.

That ACE re-issued NWP 12 on pipelines means that the recent Obama Administration decision not to issue a real estate easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline did not change the federal government’s extent of jurisdiction over inter and intra-state crude oil pipelines. It also means that any attempt to conduct an National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) environmental impact review over the entire Dakota Access Pipeline will likely be struck down by the federal judiciary.

The federal jurisdiction issue has already been litigated in the Dakota Access Pipeline case by the DC District federal court and the DC Circuit Court of Appeals in the context of whether the National Historic Preservation Act reviews conducted on DAPL could be extended over the entire length of a crude oil pipeline and Standing Rock Tribe have already lost on that particular issue.

U.S. House Passes Bill to Allow One Step Trashing of Multiple Obama Administration Federal Rules

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday January 04, 2017 · 4:36 PM PST

2017/01/04 · 16:36

West side view of the United States Capitol building. — republicans in the U.S. House are Out to Trash Obama Administration Federal Rulemaking during 2016 and Until January 20, 2017

Reuters is reporting that the republican-dominated U.S. House of Representative has passed legislation that was introduced yesterday [without the text being previously available on congress.gov] that allows the Congress to eliminate multiple Obama Administration federal rules enacted during the last year of President Obama’s Administration in a future one step procedure:

“As disapproving each regulation separately could span days, Republicans would like to simply vote once to end a variety of new rules on energy, the environment, transportation, banking, finance, education and media ownership.” (emphasis added)

At 4:48 PM today, the House passed H.R. 21, the so-called “Midnight Rules Relief Act of 2017” that was only introduced yesterday by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA-49) and 13 co-sponsors who were all republicans except for Rep. Colin Peterson (D-MN-7) [he should get some grief about this]. Here is the text of the legislation as passed:

www.congress.gov/…

H.R. 21 passed the House on a 238 to 184 vote; congress.gov is not yet showing the final record roll call vote, so I can’t provide that presently.

H.R. 21 amends the Congressional Review Act that presently allows Congress to disapprove federal rules by resolution….something that has not happened frequently in the past. Here is the current text of the Congressional Review Act:

www.gpo.gov/...

H.R. 21 itself doesn’t eliminate any federal rules, but sets up the republican Congress to later trash a multiple list of federal regulations by a simple vote on a single resolution under the Congressional Review Act….something which was not possible before with each rule to be rescinded requiring a separate vote. republicans are probably waiting for the final days of the Obama Presidency to develop their final target list of final federal rules that have been published in the Federal Register up until January 20, 2017.

Here are some EPA rules to control methane emissions binding on new and modified sources of the oil and gas industry under the Clean Air Act enacted last year that will probably be on the republican chopping block [note…..disregard all Josh Fox/Gasland claims you may have heard or seen that the oil and gas industry is exempted from the Clean Air Act….that is Josh Fox engaging in lying for dramatic effect in his entertainment films]:

www.epa.gov/...

I don’t have time before publishing this to develop a list of all federal rules across all federal agencies which might be eligible for being trashed, but the potential list could include hundreds of federal rules developed by several federal agencies during the last year of the Obama Presidency.

Elections have consequences!

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday December 09, 2016 · 6:38 PM PST

2016/12/09 · 18:38

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Federal D.C. District Judge James Boasberg today denied a requested motion by Energy Transfer Partners for rapid issuance of a court order granting the company an easement through federal lands through and near Lake Oahe for the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Instead, the Judge ordered the pipeline company and the Army Corps to submit additional motions and pleadings by January 31, 2017.

The decision means any judicial granting of the requested easement will necessarily be delayed until after President Obama leaves office….thus foreclosing any possible easement issuance decision from either the courts [or the Army Corps] until at least the end of January, 2017 when Donald Trump will assume the presidency [ugh!].

With today’s court decision, this leaves only the congressional legislation route for Energy Transfer Partners to obtain or gain any real estate right of way authorization required sooner than January 31 of next year.

The Mineral Leasing Act requires a ‘right of way’ authorization for federal lands to be issued by any agency head with federal jurisdiction, which, in this case, means the Army Corps of Engineers….see 30 USC Part 185 here:

www.gpo.gov/…

LakeSuperior

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday December 05, 2016 · 7:48 PM PST

2016/12/05 · 19:48

Horses are probably better at coping with blizzards than humans with a higher ratio of internal tissue mass to body surface area.

Some miscellaneous items pertinent to people, present matters and events addressing the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Standing Rock Protests:

Hazardous Weather Condition Warning

An approaching cold front and low pressure center will induce blizzard conditions in North Dakota starting tonight:

www.wunderground.com/...

The National Weather Service at 5:48 PM issued a blizzard warning for Sioux County at Fort Yates on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation until 6 PM CST Tuesday:

* timing... through Tuesday afternoon.

* Snowfall... snowfall accumulations between 4 and 7 inches.

* Winds/visibility... gusts to 50 mph with near zero visibilities 
  in blowing snow late tonight through Tuesday afternoon. 
  Visibilities will be worst in rural areas. 

* Impacts... dangerous... if not impossible travel.

* Wind chills... to 20 below zero Tuesday.

Precautionary/preparedness actions... 

A Blizzard Warning means severe winter weather conditions are
expected or occurring. Falling and blowing snow with strong winds
and poor visibilities are likely. This will lead to whiteout
conditions... making travel extremely dangerous. Do not travel. If
you must travel... have a winter survival kit with you. If you get
stranded... stay with your vehicle.

www.wunderground.com/…

…..as well as Morton County, ND…

www.wunderground.com/…

The Morton County Sheriff advises:

The following is transmitted at the request of the Morton,
Bottineau, Pierce and Rolette County sheriffs offices.

No travel is advised in these counties due to snow and blowing
snow with near zero visibilities.

The North Dakota Highway Patrol advises:

Both eastbound and westbound lanes of Interstate 94 from
Dickinson to Jamestown will close at 5:30 PM CST this Monday
afternoon.

Safety Rules for Blizzards:

A Blizzard Warning has been issued by your National Weather
Service in North Dakota. The following safety rules should ensure
your survival.

A brief reminder... a warning means the storm is actually
occurring or is imminent.

Do not venture out into the storm unless absolutely necessary.
Most blizzard fatalities involve people who left a place of
safety while the storm was in progress.

If you must go out, dress warmly. It is very important to keep
your head, hands and feet protected. Most of the body's heat is
lost through the outer extremities, especially the head.

Avoid overexertion even if you are in good physical condition. It
is hard work walking in heavy snow, high winds, bitter cold wind
chills, and blinding visibilities. Do not kill yourself shoveling
snow.

In your home, be very careful of starting fires. The Fire
Department may not be able to get to you during the storm.

On the Road, you should have winter survival gear in your
vehicle. If stranded in the storm, stay in your vehicle. Run the
engine sparingly to conserve fuel. Keep your exhaust pipe clear
of snow.

Circulate fresh air in the car by opening one of the windows
slightly. Turn on the dome light at night. Maintain a continuous
watch and do not let everyone in the vehicle sleep at the same
time. 

If you must get out of your vehicle during the storm, tie a
lifeline to you and the vehicle.

Monitor the latest weather reports, if possible, and wait
patiently for the storm to subside.

You can probably expect that the blizzard conditions will affect press coverage of events at Standing Rock. Moreover, this will test the preparedness of the camps and the Standing Rock Tribe’s responsibility for camp safety conditions. This pending weather may also be why the Chief of the Standing Rock Tribe has called today for all non-Sioux participants to leave the camp.

Over the next 7 days, daily high temperatures will be in the single digits for Morton County:

www.wunderground.com/...

Army Corps of Engineers Decision Memorandum

I’ve seen absolutely no mention of this December 4, 2016 Army Corps of Engineers decision memorandum in any of the press coverage of the Dakota Access Pipeline matter:

http://mwalliancenow.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Document-65-1.pdf

Note that the memo and decision is not a revocation of the July, 2016 permitting under the Rivers and Harbors Act and Clean Water Act addressing Dakota Access Pipeline at the proposed Lake Oahe crossing.

The memo reveals that 4 portions of the record were held as confidential and were not provided or shared with the public or the Standing Rock Tribe up to the present time. These included material on spill modeling, engineering risk assessment on horizontal drilling/boring, detailed materials on the northern route planning alternative and environmental justice analysis. [See paragraph #5))

The lawyers on all sides of the DAPL issue will be putting every word of this memo under an analytical microscope…..and the federal judge at the DC District Court is apparently scheduled to hold a hearing on Energy Transfer Partner’s motion to grant the Lake Oahe crossing easement next week. What effect the memo will have on judicial review of the Army Corps decision under the Federal Administrative Procedures Act will be contested between the parties and will likely end up being the subject of a judicial finding in a decision after the court hearing next week.

The decision memo explicitly defends the legal legitimacy of all past Army Corps of Engineers decisionmaking on the proposed Lake Oahe crossing. The memo also contemplates the possibility that the existing installed/completed route and the existing proposed crossing at Lake Oahe could still be approved after supplementation of the record called for by the memo. (See paragraph #12).

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