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To Ganesan Arvin[Ganesan.Arvin@epa.gov]

From POLITICO Pro Energy

Sent Wed 4/9/2014 6:43:04 P

Subject Afternoon Energy: EPA: 2014 RFS coming by June - House subcommittee approves bill

expediting LNG exports - Foxx wants rail tank car rule ASAP

By Talia Buford

I

4/9/14 2:38 PM EDT

With help from Erica Martinson Darius Dixon Andrew Restuccia

nd

Kathryn Wolfe

MCCARTHY: 2014 RFS

BY

JUNE: EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says her agency's

controversial volume mandates for renewable fuels in 2014 should be final by June at the latest.

We're hoping

to

get it done quickly,'' McCarthy said in response to questioning from Sen. Jack

Reed at today's Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Subcommittee hearing on EPA's

proposed fiscal year 2015 budget. June is likely, and it should never go beyond that. I'm hoping

we can do better than that, but it's pretty complicated,'' McCarthy said.

JUST SEVEN MONTHS LATE: By law, the 2014 RFS should have been set by November

2013.

Welcome to Afternoon Energy. I'm your host, Talia Buford. When life hands you lemons, make

sure you have a video camera handy before you give them to a baby to eat (h/t Colorlines :

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - · S e n d

me your best energy news, tips and tidbits (and lemonade recipes) at

~ = = = ~ = = = = = = · D o n t

forget to follow us on T w i t t e r : = ~ = = = = - - = = ' ~ = = ~ = = = i ; ; ; . L

SUBCOMMITTEE APPROVES BILL SPEEDING UP LNG EXPORTS: A House Energy

and Commerce subcommittee approved, on a party-line vote, legislation

L = = ~ = = ~ ~ = = ' - - ' - = - ,

Wednesday that would expedite the approval

of

a slew

of

liquefied

natural gas export permits. Every Democrat voted against the legislation. The panel also

approved an amendment, authored by top subcommittee Democrat Rep. Bobby Rush, which

requires companies exporting LNG to publicly disclose where those exports are going. The bill is

expected to move quickly to the full committee and then to the House floor.

FOXX: RAIL

T NK

CAR RULE WON T WAIT UNTIL 2015: Transportation Secretary

Anthony Foxx said the final rule intended to improve on the DOT-111 tank cars that transport

crude oil will come this year. Foxx was responding to questions from Senate appropriators

pressing DOT to move swiftly on the rule. According to DOT's rulemaking schedule, the rule

isn't expected to be finalized until early 2015. We will work as hard and diligently as we can. I

can assure you that we are not going to wait until 2015 to push this rule out. We are moving

as

quickly as we possibly can,'' Foxx said. The DOT-111 either needs to be improved or phased

out. He continued: My target date is ASAP

...

before a senator cut him

off

FRA TO PUSH RULE REQUIRING TWO-PERSON TRAIN CREWS: The Federal

Railroad Administration plans to propose a rule requiring two-person crews on crude oil trains

and establishing minimum crew size standards for most main line freight and passenger rail

operations. Some

of

the proposals follow recommendations made by a working group created

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after the deadly Lac-Megantic derailment in Canada last summer. FRA said the working group

had been unable to reach a consensus on crew size, and so it was moving forward with its own

rnlemaking instead. Crew size figured prominently in the Lac-Megantic derailment of a crnde oil

train, which was being operated at the time of the accident by only one person. Most large train

operations already use two-person crews as standard practice, but others do not - especially

short-line railroads.

-API s Downstream Director Bob Greco applauded the move: The multi-pronged approach

that must be taken to enhance rail safety and crnde oil transportation incorporates prevention,

mitigation and emergency response,'' he said. Ensuring trains are adequately staffed and

implementing technologies like positive train control could improve safety by preventing

accidents before they happen.

PHMSA BREAKS PENAL TIES RECORD The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety

Administration proposes $9.78 million in civil penalties against pipeline operators for alleged

violations of federal law in 2013,'' Bloomberg BNA reported . That's the

highest yearly amount

of

proposed penalties in the agency's history.

NRC DENIES REQUEST TO EXPAND EMERGENCY ZONES The NRC closed a

rnlemaking docket today and denied a request to make several changes to the agency's

emergency planning zone guidelines, via the Federal Register Anti-

nuclear group Nuclear Information and Resource Service and 37 co-petitioners had wanted

regulators to increase the zones for each level of the existing guidelines, citing the 2011

Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. But the NRC said it was denying the petition because it

concludes that the current size of the emergency planning zones is appropriate for existing

reactors and that emergency plans will provide an adequate level of protection of the public

health and safety in the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant. The agency said all 36

comments it got from state or local government emergency management agencies and radiation

control organizations opposed NIRS s proposals.

PRESIDENT CLINTON TO RECEIVE LIFETIME CONSERVATION AWARD

President Bill Clinton will receive the J.N. Ding Darling Conservation Award for lifetime

achievement as a part of the National Wildlife Federations Conservation Awards and Gala on

April 30. NWF said the Clinton Administration was one of the greatest for the environment in

the modem era,'' expanding or establishing 2 national monuments, setting tough air quality

standards and establishing a plan to restore the Everglades, among other things. More on this

year's

n o m i n e e s ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

KING HONORED FOR SANDY RELIEF

Rep. Peter King will receive the Audubon

Society's Sound Guardian Award on Thursday for his efforts in getting Congressional funding to

restore the Long Island Sound in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The Clean Water/Jobs

Coalition - of which Audubon N.Y. is a

part-group

called King a tireless advocate whose

environmental advocacy efforts have jumpstarted the building of a more sustainable coastline.

QUICK HITS

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  T en

places to visit before they re

gone

a bucket list for a warming world. Grist:

- BP received the API Occupational Safety and Environmental Performance award for large

operators: ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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