Overnight Energy: Court rejects greens’ challenge to EPA pesticide decision

by Timothy Cama and Devin Henry - 07/18/17 5:59 PM ET

LOSS FOR GREENS IN PESTICIDE FIGHT: A federal appeals court sided with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Tuesday in a decision regarding the controversial pesticide chlorpyrifos.

The Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit said it cannot review EPA head Scott Pruitt’s decision not to ban chlorpyrifos for food crops, saying environmentalists have to go through the agency process to challenge it before going to court.

The court wrote that challenges from Pesticide Action Network North America and its allies “arrive at our doorstep too soon.”

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“Now that EPA has issued its denial, substantive objections must first be made through the administrative process mandated by statute.”

Patti Goldman, a lawyer with Earthjustice and the lead attorney on the case, said the court’s decision is disappointing.

“We’re disappointed, because delay means more children will be exposed to this nasty pesticide before it’s banned,” she said.

Earthjustice has already filed a petition with the EPA and another lawsuit challenging the agency’s action.

EPA spokeswoman Amy Graham applauded the court’s decision, saying it gives the agency room to complete its ongoing assessment of chlorpyrifos that’s separate from the previous petition.

Tuesday’s decision stemmed from a lawsuit that PANNA, Earthjustice and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed in 2014 to get the EPA to respond to its petition to ban chlorpyrifos. The agency agreed to formally consider the petition.

The green groups in April filed a new motion in that same lawsuit, asking the 9th Circuit to reverse Pruitt’s decision.

Read more here.

SENATE UNVEILS ENERGY AND WATER BILL: The Senate introduced its version of the energy and water spending bill on Tuesday.

The $38.4 billion bill would increase spending for the Department of Energy and other programs by $629 million next year. Total funding in the bill is about $900 million more than that set aside in the House and is $4.1 billion more than the budget request President Trump released in May.

Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the energy and water subcommittee, said the bill provides record amounts of funding for several federal efforts, including the DOE’s Office of Science, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E).

Alexander said the White House’s numbers represented an “unrealistic budget proposal from the president.”

The Appropriations Committee will release more details about the energy and water spending bill when the full committee marks it up on Thursday.

Read more here.

Interior/EPA bill underway: The House Appropriations Committee began marking up its $31.4 billion bill funding the EPA, Interior Department and other programs around 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday. The amendment process will stretch into the evening, so check The Hill later for more on the mark-up.

ARCTIC DRILLING IN THE HOUSE BUDGET: The House’s proposed budget blueprint includes a provision whose opponents say is meant to pave the way for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

The plan put out by the House Budget Committee asks the Natural Resources Committee to pass legislation to reduce the government’s deficit by $5 billion over 10 years.

Democrats and environmentalists harshly criticized the blueprint, calling it a veiled attempt to clear the way for ANWR drilling since revenues from associated fees and royalties would help the government’s coffers.

Rep. John Yarmuth (Ky.), the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, said that Democrats might propose an amendment to remove the ANWR provision.

“We haven’t talked about an amendment on that specific provision yet — we just found out about that earlier today — but that’s something that we might consider,” he told reporters Tuesday.

Greens also promised to put up a fight.

“This is a shameless attempt to push an extremely unpopular action through the back door of Congress on behalf of President Trump and the oil lobby,” Drew McConville, senior managing director for government affairs at the Wilderness Society, said in a statement.

“We’re confident that Americans will see through this scam and once again demand that the Arctic Refuge remain protected. This refuge is a national treasure, and we have a moral obligation to protect it for future generations of Americans. It is simply too special to drill.”

Read more here.

HOUSE PASSES OZONE BILL: Lawmakers voted Tuesday to delay an Obama administration rule on ozone pollution and limit future regulations that crack down on the pollutant.

The House voted 229-199 to pass Rep. Pete Olson’s (R-Texas) bill slowing down the regulatory timeline for surface-level ozone pollution.

The bill would delay implementation of the Obama administration’s 2015 rule lowering the acceptable level of ozone and would require the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reconsider the ozone rule every 10 years, rather than on the current timetable of every five years.

Businesses and manufacturers support the bill because they say it provides more certainty for regulated entities, including industries whose work emits a lot of the pollution.

But public health groups opposed the bill and Democrats voted against it because of the threat ozone pollution poses to human health.

The bill is similar to legislation passed by the House last session.

Read more here.

ON TAP WEDNESDAY I: The House Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on five endangered species bills.

ON TAP WEDNESDAY II: A subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on the Hunting Heritage and Environmental Legacy Preservation for Wildlife Act, meant to improve access to federal land for hunters and anglers, among other purposes.

Rest of Wednesday’s agenda …

A subcommittee of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will hold a hearing on 12 national parks bills.

The House Natural Resources Committee’s subpanel on water, power and oceans will hold a hearing on reauthorizing the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the main legislation that dictates how fisheries are managed.

AROUND THE WEB:

Three California counties have sued 37 oil companies to hold them responsible for the impacts of climate change, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Peter Rive, vice president of solar products at Tesla Inc., co-founder of SolarCity and cousin of Elon Musk, is leaving Tesla, Fast Company reports.

The Virginian-Pilot checks up on a 20-year-old effort to use coal ash to build artificial oyster reefs near Norfolk.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

Check out Tuesday’s stories …

-House votes to roll back Obama-era ozone standards

-NRCC uses digital ads to target California Dems who opposed water bill

-House budget could lead to Alaska refuge drilling

-Senate panel begins moving $38.4B energy, water spending bill

-Court rejects greens’ appeal of EPA decision not to ban pesticide

-Interior Department canceled climate expert meeting with Zuckerberg: report