American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2019 - 99

may not be seen as a problem, but if the
BLM footprint is expanded across the
state, it will have a monumental impact
on operations statewide and an even

greater consequence could occur if the
BLM adopts the position that the view of
tribal sovereignty promoted by Murphy's
attorneys should be applied retroactively,"

Houser said. "The outcome of this case
could have a staggering effect on operations within the state, and that is why the
Alliance has to be involved."
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EPA Refutes NY Times Rules Article
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is adjusting its
proposed regulation about the type of scientific research it will consider when making rules. Moreover, the agency complains,
a New York Times article on public health
rules contains numerous errors and is
based on leaked preliminary draft information absent from the final text that has
been submitted for interagency review.
The Nov. 11 article followed EPA's Nov.
8 delivery to the Office of Management
and Budget a draft supplemental federal
register notice (FRN) to clarify, modify
and supplement certain provisions included
in the 2018 proposed "Strengthening
Transparency in Regulatory Science" rule.
According to EPA, the supplemental
FRN solicits comment only on the changes
and additions to the proposed regulatory
text. The agency expresses plans to issue
a final rule in 2020 that will account for
the comments received in response to
both the 2018 proposed rule and this
supplemental FRN as well as those submitted by the Science Advisory Board.
According to the Nov. 11 article, "E.P.A.
To Limit Science Used to Write Public
Health Rules," the Trump administration
planned to "significantly limit the scientific
and medical research that the government
can use to determine public health regulations, overriding protests from scientists
and physicians who say the new rule
would undermine the scientific underpinnings of government policymaking."
According to the Times, draft language
in the agency's proposal requires scientists
to disclose all raw data before EPA will
consider an academic study's conclusions.
It says agency officials called the plan a
step toward transparency, with disclosure
of raw data allowing conclusions to be
verified independently.
The agency says it recognizes that
when it develops significant regulations
using public resources, including regulations that exact costs from the public, it
should ensure that the data and models
underlying the scientific studies used in
developing the regulations are available
for review and analysis. EPA asserts its
proposed rule is designed to increase
transparency in preparing, identifying
and using science in rule making.
An Inaccurate Account
EPA says the Times article contains

several errors:
· Unlike a proposal unveiled in early
2018, the Times says, the Nov. 8 proposal
would apply retroactively to public health
regulations already in place. The agency
states the proposal will not apply to existing regulations.
· According to the article, scientists
would be required to disclose all their
raw data, including confidential medical
records. EPA insists it protects confidential
personal information at the same level as
other federal health agencies.
· The proposed measure would make
it more difficult to enact new clean air
and water rules, the piece indicates. According to the agency, the draft supplemental federal register notice addresses
this concern and clarifies points not
entirely clear in the original proposal.
· The Times asserts that the change
is part of a broader administration effort
to weaken the scientific underpinnings
of policymaking. "Science transparency
does not weaken science, quite the contrary," EPA counters. "By requiring transparency, scientists will be required to
publish hypothesis and experimental data
for other scientists to review and discuss,
requiring the science to withstand skepticism and peer review."

· The article says the new version of
the rule doesn't appear to consider any
critical comments, but EPA counters that
the Times misunderstands the rule-making
process. A supplement to a proposed rule
is not a new rule and isn't intended to
address such comments, EPA points out.
· The article says the proposed rule
gives the EPA administrator broad discretion over which studies to accept or
reject, but the agency says the rule requires
transparency while giving the administrator
discretion to use studies when information
is unavailable, adding "However, this
should be the exception instead of the
way of EPA doing business."
While the article notes that "Academics
are not typically required to turn over
private data when submitting studies for
peer reviews," EPA says the scientific
community increasingly is interested in
increasing transparency in research.
"Several academic journals, including
the Public Library of Science and the
Annals of Internal Medicine, already have
a publication condition requiring authors
to make their data available on request and
many institutions, including Yale and Harvard universities, are making strides in
creating publicly accessible repositories of
research and clinical data," EPA says. r

NuStar Energy Completes Three Pipeline Projects
SAN ANTONIO-NuStar Energy LP
says it has completed and begun moving
volumes on three pipeline projects within
24 hours of each other that will expand
significantly its capacity to move Permian
Basin crude oil to Corpus Christi, Tx.,
for export as well as move refined products
to northern Mexico.
NuStar reports:
· It completed an eight-mile, 30-inch
pipeline to transport crude oil from a
connection to the Plains Cactus II longhaul pipeline in Taft, Tx., to its Corpus
Christi terminal, where the company is
building 600,000 barrels of additional
storage to bring its total storage capacity
to 3.9 million barrels.
· It doubled its Valley Pipeline system
in South Texas to 45,000 barrels a day by
adding a 75-mile loop of 12-inch pipeline
between Seeligson, Tx., and Edinburg, Tx.,
and made improvements at pump stations

along the system. The system supplies refined products from Corpus Christi to the
Rio Grande Valley and northern Mexico.
· It reactivated an eight-inch refined
products pipeline connecting its Laredo
Terminal in South Texas to its Nuevo
Laredo Terminal in Mexico by horizontally
drilling a new border crossing under the
Rio Grande River. NuStar also is building
additional tankage and truck loading bays
at its Nuevo Laredo Terminal.
"It's an amazing coincidence that all
three of these projects-each of which has
been years in the making-began moving
volumes within 24 hours of each other,"
marvels NuStar President and Chief Executive Officer Brad Barron. "Each project
is backed by long-term commitments with
strong customers. Completing these projects on time and on budget is a testament
to the outstanding work of our employees
and contractors."
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DECEMBER 2019 99

American Oil and Gas Reporter - December 2019

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