OVERNIGHT ENERGY: Fight over EPA rules and reliability heating up

There is some division on the commission about the impact of the EPA rules on electric reliability.

“With sufficient information and time, the electric industry can plan to meet both its reliability and environmental obligations,” FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, a Democrat, told a House panel in September.

{mosads}But Republican FERC member Philip Moeller raised concerns “that the timeline for electric utility planning and implementation is not compatible with the EPA timelines for its new regulations.”

An informal analysis by FERC estimates that 40 gigawatts of coal-fired generating capacity are “likely” to be retired and 41 gigawatts are “very likely” to be retired, due in part to EPA regulations.

But Wellinghoff has warned that the analysis is based on a series of assumptions about the upcoming EPA regulations, which have not yet been finalized.

NEWS BITES:

Interior slows down mining agency overhaul

The Interior Department is slowing down a controversial plan to fold its Office of Surface Mining into its larger Bureau of Land Management.

The delay took the form of an amended order Monday from Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. His initial October order to set the plan in motion was to become effective Dec. 1, 2011, with a schedule for implementing the plan to be developed by March 1, 2012.

But the revision delays the order indefinitely pending a report by top officials.

From Interior:

Consistent with the Secretary’s plan to not move forward with a potential consolidation without full coordination and input of employees, members of Congress, states, tribes, industry, representatives of communities affected by coal production and other interested parties — and recognizing that additional discussions and consultations will be helpful — Secretary [Ken] Salazar today issued an amended order that will provide additional time for input from interested parties. In the amended order, the Secretary asks the Deputy Secretary, the Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, the Director of OSM, and the Director of the BLM to produce a written report by February 15, 2012 that incorporates input received from these many sources, and which recommends next steps. A new effective date for the secretarial order will be set forth following the February 15, 2012 report to the Secretary.

Bromwich fears damage from supercommittee failure

The $1.2 trillion in across-the-board cuts that loom as a result of the congressional supercommittee’s collapse earlier this month have Michael Bromwich, the Interior Department’s top offshore drilling official, very worried.

Bromwich, who is stepping down this year, told reporters Monday that the mandatory cuts threaten the much-needed boost in resources that have been provided for offshore drilling regulation in the wake of the BP oil spill.

“I have huge worries about that,” he said, noting that budget increases “need to be sustained over time to allow the agency to catch up and get the capabilities that it lacked for so long.”

Interior’s drilling agencies have been adding inspectors and boosting other oversight after what Bromwich called a “losing battle for resources” for 28 years.

Congress provided an additional $47 million for offshore drilling safety oversight in fiscal year 2011, an increase that allows wider oversight but remains less than what the White House wanted.

“Any kind of across-the-board cuts are deeply disturbing to me, and make me quite concerned about whether the agency will have the resources and the tools it needs to do the job that the public expects it to do,” said Bromwich, a former Justice Department official brought on last year to reorganize and toughen the former Minerals Management Service.

“I am worried that the larger budget climate may gravely threaten the gains that we have won and may stall out the agency,” added Bromwich, who steps down at the end of the month as director of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement.

ON TAP TUESDAY:

GOP-led Energy panel seeks to thwart EPA on ‘farm dust’

The House Energy and Commerce Committee will begin marking up legislation to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating coarse particulate matter from farms — something EPA says it has no intention of doing anyway.

Making the case against oil sands

Environmental groups battling the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline won at least a temporary victory when the Obama administration delayed a final decision on the planned Alberta-to-Texas project until after the 2012 election.

Now they’re ramping up attacks on plans to bring crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Canada’s western ports by pipeline.

{mossecondads}The Natural Resources Defense Council, the Pembina Institute and Living Oceans Society will release a report that makes their views pretty clear; it’s called “Gateway to Destruction” and makes the case against Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.

“The report looks at issues along the pipeline pathway and on B.C.’s sensitive coast, which massive oil tankers would be navigating for the first time,” an advisory states.

Making the case for shale gas

Kathryn Klaber, president and executive director of the Marcellus Shale Coalition, will speak at a Natural Gas Roundtable luncheon.

Making the case against ‘trendy’ green policies

The libertarian Cato Institute will hold a forum called “Trendy or Green: Are Our Environmental Policies Helping?”

“From ‘green’ buildings to biofuels, we too often fall for trendy environmental ideas that waste resources on approaches that fail. Join us for a discussion of how Congress can avoid eco-fads and create sound environmental policy that focuses on achieving real environmental results,” an advisory states. More here.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT…

Here’s a quick roundup of Monday’s E2 stories:

— Bromwich: Revolving door ‘is going to stop with me’
— International community again takes up climate change, greenhouse gases
— Interior drilling regulators prepare new penalties over BP spill
— Despite damage from Irene, US hasn’t seen ‘major hurricane’ since 2005
— Report: White House bows to industry on enviro, safety rules

Please send tips and comments to Ben Geman, ben.geman@digital-staging.thehill.com, and Andrew Restuccia, arestuccia@digital-staging.thehill.com.


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