American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2018 - 20

IndustryDigest
such permits.
The memorandum instructs EPA's
Office of Water to submit a proposal to
the Office of Management and Budget
within six months to effect the changes.
Pruitt's memorandum notes that
CWA Section 404(c) allows EPA to
veto permits to discharge dredged or
fill material at specified disposal sites.
The 404(c) process is initiated by
regional EPA administrators, who
transmit recommended determinations
to EPA headquarters.
"The EPA has issued 13 final
determinations since 1972 at various
stages in the permitting process,
including two instances where the
action extended to areas for which a
permit application was not pending and
other instances after a permit had been
issued," the memorandum points out.
The memorandum also notes that
since 1979, the agency has asserted it
can exercise its 404(c) authority before
a permit has been applied for, while it
is pending, and after it has been
issued, even though public comments
objected to the pre-emptive and
retroactive vetoes.
With the intent "to ensure that EPA
exercises its extraordinary authority
under Section 404(c) in a careful,
predictable and prudent manner" in
order to "provide landowners,
developers and entrepreneurs with
certainty that EPA will not short-circuit
the permitting process," the
memorandum instructs the Office of
Water to prepare a proposed rule
making that:
* Eliminates pre-emptive and
retroactive Section 404(c) vetoes;
* Requires a regional administrator
to obtain approval from EPA
headquarters before initiating the 404(c)
process;
* Requires regional administrators
to consider final environmental
assessments or impact statements before
publishing a notice of proposed

Coming In September
The North Dakota Petroleum
Council will hold its 2018 annual
meeting, Sept. 24-26 at the Delta Hotels in Fargo, N.D. See the Official
Convention Section in the September
issue of The American Oil & Gas Reporter.
20 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

determination; and
* Requires EPA to seek public
comments on final 404(c)
determinations.
American Petroleum Institute Senior
Director of Federal Affairs Khary
Cauthen hails the EPA memorandum as
"great news for American consumers
and jobs across the country." r

Federal Judges Dismiss
Climate Change Charges
Against Energy Firms
NEW YORK-Lawsuits seeking to
attribute climate change to energy
companies suffered setbacks when a
federal judge dismissed New York City's
lawsuit against five oil producers and a
San Francisco judge tossed out the
claims for climate damages two
California cities filed against five
international oil companies, but the legal
strategy is resurfacing in other venues.
The two dismissals happened as
Rhode Island's attorney general sued 21
defendants, including ExxonMobil,
Shell and BP, and the city of Baltimore
filed a lawsuit against 26 oil and gas
companies. Both lawsuits allege the
energy companies knowingly
contributed to climate change and are
responsible for the resulting
consequences.
In the New York opinion, U.S. District
Court Judge John Keenan held that
solutions to global warming must be
addressed by the executive and legislative
branches, not the courts. He dismissed
the case against ExxonMobil, Chevron
Corp., BP, Shell and ConocoPhillips with
prejudice, meaning the city may not file
the same charges again.
In the California case, the judge
ruled in a lawsuit involving the same
five companies that determining the
contribution of fossil fuels to climate
change was beyond the purview of a
single court (AOGR, July 2018, pg. 14).
Rhode Island's lawsuit says the
defendants are accountable for damages
associated with both rising sea levels
and changes to the water cycle above
and below the ocean's surface caused by
greenhouse gas pollution from the
companies' products.
Among complaints in the lawsuit
filed in Providence County, R.I.,
Superior Court, Rhode Island Attorney
General Peter F. Kilmartin says the

defendants contributed to creating
conditions in the state that constitute a
public nuisance, and failed to
adequately warn customers, consumers,
regulators and the public of the known
and foreseeable risks posed by their
products, and the consequences.
According to the complaint,
defendants have known for nearly 50
years that GHG pollution from fossil
fuel products has a significant impact
on climate and sea levels. Instead of
working to reduce fossil fuel use, lower
the rate of GHG emissions, and
minimize the damage associated with
the use and combustion of those
products, the companies have
concealed the dangers, sought to
undermine public support for GHG
regulations, and engaged in campaigns
to promote progressively more use of
their products.
Baltimore joined in the lawsuit chase,
announcing on July 20 it had sued 26 oil
and gas companies, alleging they
violated state laws by concealing and
disputing connections between fossil
fuel use and climate change, media
reports state. Court documents say the
city alleges Baltimore has been affected
by sea level rise cause by climate change
that has led to property damages,
economic injuries and impacts to public
health. The complaint seeks unspecified
damages, penalties and relief. r

EPA Proposes Volumes
For 2019, 2020 Biofuels
WASHINGTON-The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency has
issued a proposed rule under the
Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS)
program that would set the minimum
amount of renewable fuels that must be
supplied to the market in calendar year
2019, as well as the biomass-based
diesel volume standard for calendar
year 2020.
The agency notes the Clean Air Act
requires it to set annual RFS volumes of
biofuels that must be used for
transportation fuel for four categories of
biofuels: total, advanced, cellulosic and
biomass-based diesel. According to
EPA, it uses congressional guidance to
adjust the standards below the statutory
targets based on market realities, and
administers the program in consultation
with the Agriculture and Energy
American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Oil and Gas Reporter - August 2018
