RNG NEWS
Stay up to date with the latest stories, insights, and announcements.EPA stops work on climate rule compliance program
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stopped work Monday on writing an optional program that states could use to comply with the climate change rule for power plants.
Janet McCabe, the EPA’s top air regulator, announced the decision in a blog post, along with the draft, incomplete compliance plans and related documents.
EPA spokeswoman Melissa Harrison said the agency withdrew the rule so that it could release the drafts, which could help helpful to states looking to cut their emissions.
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stopped work Monday on writing an optional program that states could use to comply with the climate change rule for power plants.
Janet McCabe, the EPA’s top air regulator, announced the decision in a blog post, along with the draft, incomplete compliance plans and related documents.
EPA spokeswoman Melissa Harrison said the agency withdrew the rule so that it could release the drafts, which could help helpful to states looking to cut their emissions.
Usually, the documents would not be public until the rules are made final, but their future is uncertain under President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office in just over a month.
Trump has pledged to repeal the underlying Clean Power Plan, making the model rules moot.
IRS Issues Notice 2017-04, Further Clarifying and Extending the "Begun Construction" Requirements for ITCs and PTCs
Via JD Supra Business Advisor.
On December 15, 2016, the IRS issued Notice 2017-04, which clarifies and extends certain "begun construction" requirements for facilities qualifying for the Section 45 production tax credit (PTC) for which construction must begin before a date certain—January 1, 2017, for certain facilities (e.g., solar, geothermal, and closed- or open-loop biomass) and January 1, 2020, for wind facilities. Notice 2017-04 clarifies guidance provided in Notice 2013-29, Notice 2013-60, Notice 2014-46, Notice 2015-25, and Notice 2016-31 (collectively, the "Begun Construction Guidance").1 A taxpayer who qualifies for PTCs may make an election to instead claim the Section 48 investment tax credit (ITC) with respect to the facility.
Via JD Supra Business Advisor.
On December 15, 2016, the IRS issued Notice 2017-04, which clarifies and extends certain "begun construction" requirements for facilities qualifying for the Section 45 production tax credit (PTC) for which construction must begin before a date certain—January 1, 2017, for certain facilities (e.g., solar, geothermal, and closed- or open-loop biomass) and January 1, 2020, for wind facilities. Notice 2017-04 clarifies guidance provided in Notice 2013-29, Notice 2013-60, Notice 2014-46, Notice 2015-25, and Notice 2016-31 (collectively, the "Begun Construction Guidance").1 A taxpayer who qualifies for PTCs may make an election to instead claim the Section 48 investment tax credit (ITC) with respect to the facility.
Under the Begun Construction Guidance, two alternative methods are provided to determine when construction has begun: (1) the physical work test (i.e., physical work of a significant nature has begun and the taxpayer maintains a continuous program of construction); and (2) the five percent safe harbor (i.e., at least five percent of the total cost of the eligible property has been paid or incurred and the taxpayer maintains continuous efforts to advance towards completion of the facility).
The IRS issued Notice 2017-04 to provide additional guidance with respect to the continuity safe harbor, the prohibition against combining methods, and the application of the five percent safe harbor to retrofitted facilities.
Study: RNG Fuel Use in California Transportation
By Lauren Tyler, NGT News.
A team from the University of California Davis conducted a study for the California Air Resources Board examining the feasibility of producing large quantities of renewable natural gas (RNG) fuels for use in transportation in California.
As reported, the study found that the state could produce 14 billion cubic feet (bcf) per year of RNG by the 2020s, meeting approximately 85% of current natural gas use in California transportation at Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits of $120 per metric ton of CO2.
By Lauren Tyler, NGT News.
A team from the University of California Davis conducted a study for the California Air Resources Board examining the feasibility of producing large quantities of renewable natural gas (RNG) fuels for use in transportation in California.
As reported, the study found that the state could produce 14 billion cubic feet (bcf) per year of RNG by the 2020s, meeting approximately 85% of current natural gas use in California transportation at Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits of $120 per metric ton of CO2.
Further, the study says RNG use could be much higher if the LCFS credits were combined with U.S. federal Renewable Identification Number credits, part of the Renewable Fuels Standard.
Given the appropriate policy and market measures, the state’s RNG production potential is 90.6 bcf per year (approximately 750 million gasoline gallons). Overall, it appears that the main barriers to large-scale RNG use are the state’s high cost of pipeline interconnection and the cost of upgrading to pipeline standards.
At EPA: Trump’s nominee and 15,000 or so counterweights
By Zack Colman, Christian Science Monitor.
An administrator such as Scott Pruitt can steer in new directions, but that clout is offset by legions of staffers carrying on routines, enforcing rules, and, increasingly, caring about climate change.
DECEMBER 9, 2016 WASHINGTON—Scott Pruitt, the nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, is just one man who, if confirmed by the Senate, will be steering a very, very large ship – one with more than 15,000 employees spread throughout the country.
That fact points to a reality facing the EPA and other federal agencies: The person at the top can do some steering, but the ship tends to have some persistent momentum of its own.
Donald Trump may have been elected partly on the resonance of his throw-the-bureaucrats-out attitude. And his pick for EPA, Mr. Pruitt, is known as an Oklahoma fossil-fuel advocate and an attorney general who has fought environmental regulations. By all signs, agency budget cuts and a regulatory rollback are coming.
By Zack Colman, Christian Science Monitor.
An administrator such as Scott Pruitt can steer in new directions, but that clout is offset by legions of staffers carrying on routines, enforcing rules, and, increasingly, caring about climate change.
DECEMBER 9, 2016 WASHINGTON—Scott Pruitt, the nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, is just one man who, if confirmed by the Senate, will be steering a very, very large ship – one with more than 15,000 employees spread throughout the country.
That fact points to a reality facing the EPA and other federal agencies: The person at the top can do some steering, but the ship tends to have some persistent momentum of its own.
Donald Trump may have been elected partly on the resonance of his throw-the-bureaucrats-out attitude. And his pick for EPA, Mr. Pruitt, is known as an Oklahoma fossil-fuel advocate and an attorney general who has fought environmental regulations. By all signs, agency budget cuts and a regulatory rollback are coming.
But if history is any guide, another mind-set also matters – that of the career staffers who have seen seen political appointees come and go with regularity. They tend to stick to their knitting, enforce existing laws, and carry on with routines that predate any one administration.
And on perhaps the most crucial environmental issue the nation faces, another force of thought may be at work: Despite the doubts about climate change that have been voiced by Pruitt and Mr. Trump, the scientific consensus about human-caused warming of the planet has been seeping into the fabric of official Washington and of American public opinion.
On climate, current EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy says there’s no going back to the George W. Bush years, thanks to the flurry of activity coming out of the Obama administration. She says that has helped raise awareness about climate change and emboldened federal scientists.
“This agency when this president came in really came out of the closet on climate,” McCarthy said in an exclusive interview last week. “I have a senior team that’s great and the senior career staff that are here are just extraordinary. They are here because of this mission, and that will continue.”
Some climate advocates worry that such avowals are wishful thinking, given the determination being voiced in some Trump-team quarters for rolling back Obama policies aimed at curbing emissions that trap heat in the atmosphere.
Regulators seek comment on how to improve Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
By Mike Polhamus, Vermont Digger.
Regional energy regulators want to know hot to improve a regional effort to curb carbon-dioxide pollution from electrical generators in Northeast states, and they're seeking comments from interested members of the public to aid that effort.
The Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI, was enacted in 2009. It was the first cap-and-trade program for carbon dioxide emissions generated by utilities. Nine states participate in RGGI: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.
States, regulators and RGGI administrators are reassessing the effectiveness of the program and soliciting public comments.
EPA chief voices cautious hope as Trump inauguration nears
Although Trump and Obama agendas differ, some forces tilt toward continuity, Gina McCarthy of the Environmental Protection Agency says.
By Mark Trumbull and Zach Colman, Christian Science Monitor.
DECEMBER 5, 2016 WASHINGTON—Outgoing EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy sounded a note of hope Monday in response to concerns that US environmental policy could face upheaval as control shifts from a Democratic to Republican presidency.
She pointed to two key factors – the momentum of marketplace forces and the tendency of all Americans to support clean air and water – that could tilt the Environmental Protection Agency under Donald Trump toward a bit more continuity than many observers may be expecting.
Five potential Trump EPA picks
By Timothy Cama, The Hill.
President-elect Donald Trump is due to announce “almost all” of his remaining Cabinet picks in the coming week, likely including his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator.
The nominee, who is subject to Senate confirmation, would oversee the 15,000-employee agency that writes and enforces regulations on air pollution, water pollution, climate change, land contamination and more.
The EPA head would also be responsible for Trump's aggressive deregulatory push. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged to roll back all of President Obama’s climate agenda, including the Clean Power Plan, which limits carbon dioxide from power plants.
Bioenergy Technologies Office Announces Notice of Intent for the Optimization of Integrated Biorefineries
Via U.S. Bioenergy Technologies Office.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) intends to issue, on behalf of the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) entitled, “Integrated Biorefinery Optimization.”
This FOA will support research and development to increase the performance efficiencies of biorefineries resulting in continuous operation and production of biofuels, bioproducts, and biopower at prices competitive with fossil-derived equivalents. This could be accomplished by improvements in ensuring reliable, continuous, robust handling and feeding of solid materials into reactors under various operating conditions; decreased capital and operating expenses by improved separation processes; production of higher-value products from waste or other undervalued streams; and analytical modeling of handling and feeding of solid materials into reactors.
Applications that address these challenging operations and convert woody biomass, agricultural residues, dedicated energy crops, algae, municipal solid waste, sludge from wastewater treatment plants, and wet wastes into biofuels, biochemicals, and bioproducts will be considered under this funding opportunity.
Gov. Scott Walker Announces Need for Biogas Systems in Wisconsin's Agriculture Sector
By Jim Lundstrom, Peninsula Pulse.
An air of mystery surrounded Gov. Scott Walker’s Nov. 17 visit to Heritage Farm in Kewaunee.
Robert Weidner, chair of the Kewaunee County Board, was informed that the governor was visiting but was not told why.
“I knew it was ag-related, but that’s all they told me,” he said.
“It was kind of shrouded in secrecy,” said Rep. Joel Kitchens. “They didn’t even tell me what it was about. They just said they have an announcement.”
In his surprise visit, Walker announced that he had requested the Public Service Commission (PSC), the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to collaborate on recommendations by Dec. 1 that, according to a press release from the Governor’s office, “propose a tangible private sector response linking the application of digester technology to environmentally sensitive areas of Wisconsin, specifically areas with high concentrations of dairy cattle. A Request for Proposal (RFP) laying the groundwork for actionable items should be ready to release publically [sic] in January.”
Walnut, Mississippi to get Air Liquide biogas purification plant
By The Daily Journal.
WALNUT – Air Liquide plans to construct and operate a landfill gas-to-renewable natural gas purification plant in Walnut that will enable the conversion of the methane emitted by waste to a renewable energy capable of heating about 4,500 homes per year.
Air Liquide, based in Paris, France will design, build and operate its first LFG-to-RNG purification plant in the U.S. at the Northeast Mississippi Landfill, which is owned by the Northeast Mississippi Solid Waste Management Authority. It is operated by national solid waste company Waste Connections Inc. and receives approximately 350,000 tons of waste per year.
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