Related Links: FERC Approves $3-Billion-Plus LNG Export Project in Maryland Environmental Groups' Petition for a FERC Rehearing Environmental groups have asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to rescind its decision approving a new liquefied-natural-gas export terminal in Maryland. The project's cost is estimated at $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion.In a petition filed on Oct. 15, the groups, which include Earthjustice, asked FERC for a rehearing of its Sept. 29 decision to permit the Cove Point project in Lusby, Md., to go forward. They also want FERC to cancel that ruling and halt construction, arguing that the environmental review it issued
Related Links: Green Infrastructure Collaborative Statement of Support White House announcement of Climate and Natural Resources Priority Agenda Several private-sector groups, including the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Society of Landscape Architects, have joined a federal initiative to support development of green infrastructure projects, the White House announced on Oct. 8.The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency launched the Green Infrastructure Collaborative in July, and the departments of Defense, Energy, the Interior and Transportation signed on. The program's new members will help the Obama administration to tap the expertise of the private and non-profit sectors, the White House said.A.
Photo by AP Wideworld Advocates hope work can resume on halted Nevada nuclear waste repository. Related Links: Oct. 16, 2014 NRC Report on Yucca Mountaion NRC Information on the Repository Licensing Process Advocates of a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain cheered an Oct. 16 Nuclear Regulatory Commission report that concluded the project poses no public-health threat. But the long-stalled Nevada repository still faces many hurdles.The NRC report said the Dept. of Energy's design for a proposed underground high-level-waste facility about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas meets safety requirements that would apply after its closing for up to
Related Links: Full BNEF Report on EPC Sector A new report suggests contractors that provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services in the renewable sector will need to adapt to a more competitive market.While the market is expected to double by 2021, the scarcity of large utility-scale projects will potentially require the largest EPC firms to change their business models, concludes the report, released Oct. 14 from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) and Cohn Reznick, a tax and accounting firm with a renewable energy practice.Michael De Capua, head of analysis in the Americas for BNEF, says, "In an environment in
The Dept. of Defense has released a report that concludes that climate change poses an immediate risk to U.S. national security.Defense Secretary Charles Hagel on Oct. 13 released the report at a conference in Peru of defense ministers from the Americas.From melting glaciers and sea-level rise to extreme hurricanes and extended drought conditions in many parts of the world, the effects of climate change are being felt now and have the potential to exacerbate already-existing challenges, including the spread of infectious diseases and armed insurgencies, Hagel said.“These climate trends will clearly have implications for our militaries. A higher tempo and
Related Links: Is CCS Fossil Fuels' Best Hope (ENR 6/16/2014 issue) [subscription] Text of EPA's proposed January 2014 greenhouse gas regulation, from Federal Register A federal court has dismissed the first lawsuit seeking to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed rule to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from new or modified powerplants.In the Oct. 6 order, the U.S. District Court for the District of Nebraska's Judge John Gerrard said the state’s lawsuit was premature.“Simply stated, the state cannot sue in federal court to challenge a rule that the EPA has not yet actually made,” Gerrard said, adding, “The state has jumped
Related Links: Link to EPA Office of Inspector General Report Information on Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act A new report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General says a unit of the agency's Gulf Coast region mismanaged coastal restoration funds and should reimburse the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for $780,793, unless the regional office can document the spending complied with federal law.In an Oct. 9 report, EPA IG Arthur Elkins Jr. says that, from 2010 to 2013, EPA Region 6's water-quality protection division (WQPD) used Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) funds for purposes
Related Links: Proposed rule as published in Federal Register Oct. 1 SBA Office of Advocacy Letter The Small Business Administration's Office of Advocacy has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers to withdraw a proposed rule clarifying the definition of "waters" of the United States.Construction groups have complained that the proposal, published in the April 21, 2014, Federal Register, expands the scope of the waters requiring a Clean Water Act permit for dredging and filling.In an Oct. 1 letter, the SBA advocacy office said that the proposed rule will have a "direct, significant effect on
Related Links: Project to Provide Woodland and Davis with More Sustainable Water Supply Roller-Compacted Concrete Dam Raise Project Will Store Water New Desal Project in Central Texas will Be Largest Inland Plant in U.S. U.S. Drought Monitor Desalination Advocates are Pinning Hopes on New Plant in Carlsbad The signs are hard to miss. Along freeways throughout California, digital billboards caution drivers: "Serious drought underway. Conserve water." Beyond the highways, a closer look at the landscape reveals record-low reservoir levels, smaller amounts of snowpack on mountaintops and large swaths of barren earth.California is in the midst of its third consecutive year
Photo Courtesy of MWH The existing intake (above) will be replaced by the new, state-of-the-art intake and fish screen (below) which will be built along the Sacramento River. Photo Courtesy of MWH Related Links: Drought in Western U.S. Has Water Utilities Considering a Range of Solutions A new project for the Woodland-Davis Clean Water Agency to replace deteriorating groundwater supplies with more-reliable surface water from the Sacramento River in California broke ground in April.CH2M Hill won a $141-million contract to design, build and operate a new treatment plant; raw-water pipelines, connecting a new intake on the Sacramento River to the
