| NACA
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.Volume 2, No. 44 |
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December 1, 2006 |
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... LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Earlier this month, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) projected that the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) would be out of money by March of next year. This would have required that Congress act during the lame duck session to ensure the financial solvency of the program. However, this week FEMA revised its projection and is now reporting that the NFIP will remain solvent through September of 2007, postponing action on flood insurance until next year.
The NFIP provides relief from the impacts of flood damages in the form of federally backed flood insurance made available to citizens in participating communities. In turn, communities must adopt flood loss reduction measures embodied in state and local floodplain management regulations. The concrete industry supports an amendment to the NFIP that would require FEMA to study whether building codes could be made part of the floodplain management regulations.
Contact Robert Sullivan or John Sullivan
Final
TRI Rule Expected by Year End
By the end of this
year, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is expected
to release a final rule that details reporting requirements for the
toxic release inventory (TRI). TRI requires companies to report their
use and release to the environment of some 650 chemical substances and
compounds.
In October 2005 EPA proposed to change the
reporting program. The main changes were in the reporting threshold
and in how often the reports must be submitted. NRMCA formally supported
the proposed changes.
In July 2006
New Jersey Democratic senators Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez
put a hold on President’s Bush’s nominee to lead EPA’s Office of Environmental
Information. The block was in response to EPA’s proposal to change the
TRI program.
The Washington Post reported earlier this week that current
EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson wrote the two senators of his intention
to restore the TRI annual reporting requirement.
Changes in the rule will affect ready mixed concrete companies that
must report under the requirements of TRI.
Contact Thomas Harman
Supreme
Court Hears Arguments in Climate Case
On Wednesday November
29, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case that could
have significant ramifications for sources of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gases. Several states and environmental groups sued EPA to
compel the federal government to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
from automobiles as pollutants, stating that the Clean Air Act requires
such regulation in the protection of human health and the environment.
EPA contends that it lacks authority to regulate carbon dioxide. The
D.C. Circuit Court—in a convoluted split decision—rejected the plaintiffs’
claims, but left the door open for reversal. Of the three judges on
the Circuit Court panel, one accepted the plaintiffs’ case that EPA
was required to regulate greenhouse gases, and one contended that EPA
had the authority to regulate GHGs, but also could elect not to do so.
The third judge held that the plaintiffs lacked standing to compel EPA
regulation, deciding that they failed to establish injury, causation,
and redressibility.
In their questions, the Supreme Court justices were pre-occupied with
the standing issue and expressed a desire to adjudicate the merits of
the scientific foundation for climate change. Many expect a 5-4 decision
ruling that the plaintiffs failed to establish standing.
Contact Tom Carter
States
Tightening Mercury Controls
At least 23 states
have initiated efforts to impose controls for mercury emissions from
power plants that are stricter than those required on the national level
by EPA. All states are required to submit implementation plans for the
2005 Clean Air Mercury Rule, which established a cap-and-trade program
for utility mercury emissions.
The EPA rule calls for 50 percent reductions by 2020, but at least 15
states plan to require greater reductions, some up to 90 percent. An
additional 18 states have expressed plans to establish a compliance
date sooner than 2020. EPA has indicated that some states did not meet
the November 17 deadline for submitting plans, so additional states
might support stricter controls.
Contact Tom Carter
Supreme
Court Asked to Consider NSR Case
The federal government, joined
by a coalition of utilities, petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to consider
overturning a decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that vacated
the EPA’s regulation on the equipment replacement provision of the new
source review (NSR) program.
The rule quantified the vague provision—which states that routine replacement
of equipment does not qualify as a major modification and thus not trigger
NSR requirements—by saying that only replacements of greater than 20
percent of the value of the regulated unit would be considered major
modifications. A three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court emphatically
rejected the rulemaking in a strongly worded, unanimous decision. EPA
had requested a continuation of the window in which to petition the
Supreme Court for review until after the high court heard oral argument
in the Duke Power case, which also addressed NSR issues. It is possible
that EPA was emboldened to seek certiorari in the equipment
replacement case by the apparent openness of the justices towards NSR
reform in the Duke case.
Contact Tom Carter
PCA’s Tom Carter was invited to present a paper at the recent symposium on environment and concrete held by the Korean Concrete Institute and the Korean Cement Industry Association. The paper, “Building a Sustainable World,” described efforts to reduce the environmental impact of cement manufacturing and to enhance the environmental benefits of concrete products, with a special emphasis on the PCA Cement Manufacturing Sustainability program.
Contact Tom Carter
European
Business Leaders Urge EU Action on Climate Change
A group of influential European
business leaders this week urged the European Commission to take strong
action when devising climate policy for the post 2012 time frame. The
companies would like advance notice and certainty regarding the degree
of desired greenhouse gas emission reductions, would like low carbon
technologies to be promoted, and encourage the Commission to reduce
the regulatory or institutional barriers limiting the use of these technologies.
The group also expressed continued support for market-based mechanisms
to address climate change such as the European emissions trading program.
View
a copy of the letter
Contact Andy O’Hare
An independent review panel is urging the Army Corps of Engineers to assess the safety of living in the New Orleans area.
The American Society of Civil Engineers panel analyzes the work of an interagency task force that assessed the performance of the New Orleans' flood protection system during and following Hurricane Katrina.
The panel has not identified any task force finding that appears to contain major technical flaws, its chairman, David Daniel, said. "However," he added, "due to its extreme importance to the public's ability to decide if they feel it is safe enough to live in New Orleans, we continue to be concerned that the risk assessment portion of the analysis has yet to be completed."
In its report, the panel said that the breaching and flooding of the New Orleans levees was a result of multiple "ill-fated" choices that "were made at nearly every level." Reviewers said more information is needed to understand why such decisions were made.
View the report (PDF)
Contact John Sullivan
GSA
Selects Chief Architect
The General Services Administration
selected Les Shepherd, AIA, as its Chief Architect. As such, Mr. Shepherd
will be responsible for the design of new government buildings. Mr.
Shepherd is currently filling the position of Acting Chief Architect
since the departure of Ed Feiner, AIA.
Contact John Sullivan
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