Justice Dept. launches antitrust probe of automakers over their fuel efficiency deal with California

By Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson of the Washington Post
September 6 at 5:34 PM

The Justice Department has launched an antitrust investigation of four leading automakers over an agreement they forged with the state of California to maintain higher fuel efficiency standards than those sought by the Trump administration, escalating the stakes in the long-running battle between the White House and California.

The Justice Department declined to comment Friday, but two other federal agencies said the state’s deal with Ford, Honda, Volkswagen and BMW of North America on gas mileage targets may be in violation of the law and warned of legal consequences.

California officials, who have repeatedly asserted the state’s rights under the 1970 Clean Air Act, criticized the inquiry as politicization to impose the Republican president’s policies.

“The U.S. Department of Justice brings its weight to bear against auto companies in an attempt to frighten them out of voluntarily making cleaner, more efficient cars and trucks than EPA wants,” Mary Nichols, chairman of the California Air Resources Board, said in a statement. “Consumers might ask, who is [EPA Administrator] Andy Wheeler protecting?”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said the investigation “seeks to weaponize law enforcement for partisan political purposes to advance the Trump administration’s toxic special interest agenda.”

[Extreme climate change has arrived in the U.S., including in Southern Calif.]

The news coincides with arguments held Friday morning at the U.S. Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia over whether the Trump administration can reopen — and roll back — fuel efficiency standards the Obama administration set for model years 2022 through 2025. Environmental groups and states argue that the Trump administration has not done the technical research needed to make its own findings regarding the regulations.

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The proposal to freeze mileage standards at roughly 37 miles per gallon through 2026, slated to be finalized this fall, is part of a broader effort by the administration to dismantle a slew of Obama-era policies aimed at curbing greenhouse gases linked to climate change.

The two federal entities — the Environmental Protection Agency and Transportation Department — notified the California Air Resources Board and Nichols that the state’s deal with the four automakers “appears to be inconsistent with federal law.”

The agencies’ general counsels urged the board to break the commitments with the automakers, as the agreement “may result in legal consequences given the limits placed in federal law on California’s authority.”

A spokeswoman for Ford Motor Co., Rachel McCleery, confirmed that the company had been contacted in connection with the antitrust probe. “We have received a letter from the Department of Justice and will cooperate with respect to any inquiry,” she said.

The probe was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.

[Major automakers strike climate deal with California, rebuffing Trump on proposed mileage freeze]

California’s push to set stricter tailpipe limits is important because the state ranks as the nation’s largest market for automobiles and its standards often carry weight beyond its borders. Administration officials have lobbied other automakers not to sign on to the new framework: On Thursday, the issue came up during a meeting between President Trump and General Motors chief executive Mary Barra.

The fuel efficiency standards ranked as a top priority for the Obama administration. In 2012, it adopted standards to boost average fuel efficiency to the equivalent of 54.5 miles per gallon for cars and light-duty trucks by model year 2025. The Obama administration said that fuel efficiency standards it had set would save consumers more than $1.7 trillion at the gas pump and reduce U.S. oil consumption by 12 billion barrels.

Since the Clean Air Act’s inception in 1970, California has had the right to seek a federal waiver to impose more-stringent air pollution standards than those of the federal government. Federal authorities have almost always granted the waiver, and California based its vehicle requirements on the grounds that it was regulating carbon emissions rather than overall fuel efficiency.

Thirteen other states and the District of Columbia have pledged to accept whatever tailpipe standards California adopts.

Under the framework California established with the four companies, which represent about 30 percent of the U.S. auto market, the automakers have agreed to produce fleets averaging nearly 50 miles per gallon by model year 2026. That is one year later than the target set under the Obama administration.

Conspicuously absent from the talks with California was GM. Larry Kudlow, Trump’s top economic adviser, said Friday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” program: “We did meet with Mary Barra. Mary Barra expressed to the president her support for our reforms” on fuel standards. Kudlow said that Barra was “doing her best to open up plants.” He said, “Look, the industry asked us to lower the regulatory barriers to safe and cheaper cars.”

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De Blasio admits rent laws have ‘consequences’

A sign for the northwest oval is seen in Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, Manhattan’s largest apartment complex. Bloomberg photo

WILL BREDDERMAN reports for Crain’s New York Business

Mayor Bill de Blasio acknowledged Friday that the state’s new rules on rents may come with costs of their own.

The comments came in response to reports by Crain’s that private equity giant Blackstone had halted upgrades on rent-regulated apartments in Manhattan’s sprawling Stuyvesant Town complex and by The Real Deal that the firm was deliberately leaving many of the units vacant. Blackstone’s actions follow legislation passed in Albany earlier this year that limited property owners’ ability to recover investment costs from rent-regulated tenants—legislation the mayor endorsed.

De Blasio, alluding to city subsidies that persuaded Blackstone to keep units at the complex rent-regulated, said the Crain’s and Real Deal stories left him “very concerned.”

“No doubt, the law that passed in Albany had a lot of elements to it, and is having a variety of consequences,” the mayor said. “We came to a deal to protect affordability at Stuy-Town—you know, bluntly, that in the previous administration that Stuy-Town was almost entirely privatized—we stopped that, and came to a deal to protect affordability long-term there. That, obviously, requires the apartments to be available to people.”

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The mayor promised to have “serious conversations” with the company to ensure it is complying with the terms of its arrangements with the city. De Blasio further responded to news from Crain’s columnist Greg David that lenders are increasingly reluctant to provide funds to owners of regulated buildings, meaning that upkeep could fall off and the city’s 1 million regulated apartments could atrophy.

“We also have to make sure, as with any law, if there’s any other effects, you know, expected or unexpected, we have to deal with them,” he said. “All of us want to see buildings kept up well. So, obviously, this is something we’ve got to analyze and decide where to go from there.”

Nonetheless, de Blasio maintained it was “absolutely necessary to have major strengthening of our rent regulations,” and described the law’s overall impact as “very positive.”

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Mandatory replacement of lead water lines pushed by mayor in Newark, NJ

MICHAEL HILL | NJTV NEWS | SEPTEMBER 6, 2019

Move comes amid city effort to go door to door to get permission for work crews to access properties

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka has asked the city council to approve an ordinance allowing the municipal government to replace every lead water service line in the city, with or without the permission of property owners.

The replacement of lead service lines leading to individual properties is the centerpiece of the city’s long-term solution for a contamination problem that has plagued Newark’s water system in recent years and was heightened this summer when tests showed that tap filters were not adequately removing the dangerous element from the water.

Baraka has sought to fast-track the city’s ongoing program to replace an estimated 18,000 lead service lines at no cost to property owners who participate in the city’s replacement effort. Officials are working on a $120 million loan through Essex County that would allow the work to be done in three years, rather than the 10 years it could have taken under the city’s original schedule.

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Baraka’s move, which he said would make Newark the first in the nation to require a complete replacement of all lead service lines, comes the day after his administration convened the second in a series of meetings to enlist volunteers who will fan out across the city to secure access permission from property owners.

Under the proposed ordinance, property owners can either sign up to have city work crews replace service lines at no cost, or replace them at their own expense within 90 days of the measure’s effective date. The city will move legally to replace service lines on properties where owners fail to respond or cannot be found.

“We need to get more property owners to sign up for [the] lead service line replacement program at no cost,” Baraka said in a statement. “Newark is a city of renters, and too often landlords either can’t be found or show a lack of interest in this important health initiative. This ordinance will enable the city to replace all lead service lines and to do so quickly.”

A critic responds to a call for help

On Wednesday night, some 50 people came to City Hall to answer Baraka’s call for volunteers. Among them was resident Yvette Jordan, a leader of a civic group that has gone to court over the Baraka administration’s response to the city’s water problems.

She said her main interest is making her city a better place to live.

“That’s why I started, yeah. So it’s not as if I’m an outside agitator. I’m here. I’m concerned. And the reason I’m doing this is because I want lead service line replacement. They’re doing it, so I’m here,” she said.

“I’m here to volunteer and my husband is as well,” she said. “However, my eye still is on what is going on and the enforcement of it.”

Yvette Jordan

Credit: NJTV NewsYvette Jordan

Jordan is a founding member of the New Education Workers Caucus, which is a co-plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council seeking in part to compel the city to expand its response to the elevated lead levels.

Also on hand Wednesday was Michael Hobbs, who lives in the South Ward and said he was planning on enlisting lots of help in the city’s outreach effort.

“I’m a graduate student at NJIT and former president of the graduate student association,” he said. “And my goal is to get a thousand NJIT students to assist the mayor in knocking on doors.”

Baraka said City Hall is also reaching out to corporations and non-profits.

“We’re just leaving no stone unturned,” he said. “We want everybody who’s affiliated with anybody. We want them to come and volunteer and help us do this.”

Hoping to avoid court

Baraka on Wednesday night also discussed his plan to introduce the mandatory line-replacement ordinance.

Jordan said she had concerns about its legality. “Hopefully, he has checked that in terms of the legal ramifications,” she said. “So, that’s what I’m concerned about.”

One legal expert called the ordinance “aggressive” and said the city is tapping powers that can collide with Fourth Amendment protections against unwarranted search and seizure. The expert said the only clearly, legally admissible way to carry this out is to go to court.

The mayor said he hopes it doesn’t come to that, saying that a long legal process could bog down the replacement of the service lines.

Newark started handing out bottled water after filtered tap water showed elevated lead levels in two of three homes tested. Officials are now awaiting results from an expanded testing survey, comprising 225 homes, to better determine how widespread the failure of the filters is to adequately remove lead contamination. Those results are due within two weeks.

Baraka said the state local finance board will vote on the replacement program’s $120 million loan on Sept. 11. He plans to start signing contracts for line replacements right away.

Property owners have shown great interest in the city replacement program, he added.

“I would say, out of about 98 percent of the coffee klatches we’re doing,” Baraka said, “the only thing people are concerned about at those meetings is, ‘when can I get my lead service line replaced,’ ‘how do I sign up,’ and ‘how long is it going to take for them to be in my house?’ And, ‘are you sure we don’t have to pay?’”

Related news:
New Loan Fast-Forwards Newark’s Lead Water Pipe Replacement
Racing to Replace Lead Pipes in Under 3 Years

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Just months after contentious approval, nuclear subsidies under review by New Jersey utility regulators

In April, Board of Public Utilities awarded $300 million in annual surcharges on utility customers’ bills to aid three PSEG plants; officials are taking a fresh look at the subsidies

salem nuclear power plant
Salem nuclear power plant

TOM JOHNSON reports for NJ Spotlight – September 5, 2019

Less than half a year after the state awarded lucrative ratepayer subsidies to keep three nuclear power plants from closing, regulatory officials are beginning to explore whether the subsidies should be extended, or perhaps reduced.

In April, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities approved roughly $300 million in new annual surcharges on utility customers’ bills to prevent Public Service Enterprise Group from prematurely retiring the Salem I and II units and Hope Creek nuclear plants on Artificial Island in South Jersey.

The decision has had huge implications for New Jersey’s long-term energy policy. Controversy over the subsidies led the Legislature to approve the incentives only after approval was tied to a companion bill promoting clean-energy initiatives, including measures to boost energy efficiency, offshore wind, and solar. All of this was done before the administration of Gov. Phil Murphy adopted a new energy master plan, laying out a blueprint to achieve ambitious clean-energy and climate goals.

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PSEG argued the plants, providing 90 percent of the state’s carbon-free electricity, would be shuttered within three years unless it received the financial incentives because of a steep drop in energy prices. The company yesterday, along with a handful of consultants, claimed at a BPU hearing in New Brunswick that the financial challenges facing the units are even bigger now than last spring when the initial subsidies were awarded.

Joseph Accardo, vice president of regulatory affairs and deputy general counsel of PSEG, said the plants should retain the subsidies at the same level, given the state of energy markets, which have seen prices paid to power suppliers continue to drop.

Under pressure from natural gas

Cheap natural gas has flooded the market, analysts said, increasing uncertainty about the economic viability of the nuclear units. Nuclear energy provides about 40 percent of New Jersey’s electricity, about the same as gas-fired power plants provide.

Without carbon-free power from the three nuclear units, New Jersey will never achieve the Murphy administration’s goals of 100 percent clean energy by 2050, according to Ed Salmon, chair of the New Jersey Energy Coalition and a former president of the BPU.

Those subsidies, dubbed zero-emission credits (ZECs), are scheduled to end in May 2022, but the proceeding initiated yesterday is designed to determine not only whether to extend them, but also whether to reduce what ratepayers pay.

In approving the subsidies last April, at least two of the five BPU commissioners expressed concerns at the price set by legislators in a law authorizing the program. The law allows the agency to reduce the subsidies once they expire; the current subsidies last only three years. The BPU cannot increase the incentives, according to the law.

Only the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel questioned whether the subsidies need to continue, and at the same level during the initial stakeholder meeting in New Brunswick. The Rate Counsel had opposed the initial granting of the subsidies and appealed the issue in court.

An argument for reducing the subsidies

“Ratepayers are not an endless source of capital,’’ said Brian Lipman, a litigator in the Rate Counsel’s office. “ZEC subsidies are going to have a major impact on ratepayers.’’

He suggested the board explore reducing the size of the zero-emission credits, based on actions at other levels that could increase prices consumer pay for both energy and ensuring there is enough capacity to keep the lights on.

But others defended the subsidies, arguing they are far less than what customers in New York and Illinois are paying to avert the early closing of nuclear power plants in their states.

“Without these ZECs, these plants face uncertain economic conditions in a market flooded by fracked natural gas,’’ said John Kotek, a vice president of the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Frank Huntowski of the Northbridge Group agreed. The financial conditions of the three nuclear power plants in New Jersey and other units in the PJM Interconnection do not merit a reduction in the ZECs, he said. (PJM operates the power grid stretching from the Eastern Seaboard to Illinois, serving more than 55 million customers.)

No one at the hearing raised the issue of just how long the New Jersey plants will continue receiving the financial incentives. At the time BPU awarded the ZECs, it generally was assumed the subsidies would continue for up to 10 years.

However, in modeling done by BPU staff and consultants on a new draft energy master plan, projections seem to indicate the plants will remain open until 2050 — well beyond the expiration of their licenses, which begin to end in 2036, and then later in the next decade.

Related news stories:
PSEG gets its $300M nuclear bailout
NJ Ratepayer Advocate goes to court to block PSEG Nuclear’s $300M bailout

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Bucks, Montgomery County Pa. Democrats stump for legislation to encourage solar, limit carbon emissions

Photo credit: Americas Quarterly

By Kyle Bagenstose, Bucks County Courier-Times
Posted Sep 4, 2019 at 3:45 PMUpdated Sep 4, 2019 at 5:20 PM   

At a press conference in Abington, Democratic state lawmakers connected climate change to Hurricane Dorian and other global events as they promoted bills to increase the state’s use of solar energy while placing a cap on carbon emissions.

State Democratic lawmakers from around the region gathered in Abington’s Crestmont Park on Wednesday to promote energy legislation they say is crucial to halting global climate change and protecting local communities.

“This is the only planet we have. There’s no plan B planet,” said state Sen. Art Haywood, D-4, of Cheltenham. “This event is to make sure we’re clear about the challenge and what we can do to respond.”

The news conference was originally billed as a jointly hosted event by Haywood and state Sen. Steve Santarsiero, D-10, of Lower Makefield, to promote Senate Bill 600, which would require Pennsylvania’s power grid to use 30% solar energy by 2030. Santarsiero was unable to attend the event as he recovers from a bout of pneumonia, his office said, but other legislators connected the bill to recent events, including Hurricane Dorian’s devastation of the Bahamas.

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“Think of the people who are suffering in the Bahamas. It looks like half that island is destroyed,” said U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-4, of Abington. “Everybody from the pope, to the Pentagon, to prisoners tell you this is an extraordinary threat to our future. We ought to be listening.”

Weather records show that Dorian is the fifth Category 5 hurricane to form in the Atlantic since 2016, which is the first time such storms have formed in four consecutive years since record-keeping began in the 19th century.

Joe Webster, D-150, of Collegeville, also noted the military’s focus on climate change. A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate and retired colonel, Webster pointed to a 2010 report by the U.S. Joint Forces Command that placed climate change among the top security challenges facing the military.

“The migration patterns we’re seeing of displaced peoples all over the world, in Africa and the Middle East, is due to climate change,” Webster said.

Webster also noted that Navy ships in Norfolk, Virginia, are floating several feet higher than they used to, resulting in issues with proper entry onto the vessels.

Haywood said S.B. 600 would work by modifying the state’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standards, which requires energy generators and distributors to use a certain percentage of alternative energy sources. The bill would up solar requirements from 8% to 30% by 2030 and direct the Pennsylvania Utility Commission to study the benefits of a renewable energy storage program.

Democrats also worked to frame the bill as good for the economy and families, as Haywood claimed an outside study showed it would create 7,500 jobs across the state. Mark Bortman, owner of solar installation company Exact Solar in Newtown Township, also said he supported the bill.

“If we’re able to get this through, it will put Pennsylvania back in the leadership for climate action,” Bortman said. “Going forward, there’s going to be more jobs in renewable energy than fossil fuels.”

Bortman said New Jersey has 30% more jobs in renewable energy than Pennsylvania, despite having 30% fewer people.

Haywood also touted the legislation as bipartisan, as it was co-introduced by state Sen. Tom Killion, R-9, of Delaware County. However, the state legislature’s website still lists Killion as the only Republican co-sponsor since its April introduction. The bill is currently in the Consumer Protection & Professional Licensure Committee, which is chaired by state Sen. Tommy Tomlinson, R-6, of Bensalem.

Democratic lawmakers and leaders from environmental groups also previewed a more robust legislative effort Wednesday, saying they planned to introduce a carbon “cap” bill this fall that would work to place a limit on carbon emissions in Pennsylvania. The state is currently the fourth-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, behind only California, Texas, and Florida, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

According to press materials released at the event, the bill — the Climate Change Mitigation and Energy Transition Act — will seek to cut carbon emissions 90% by 2040.

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Below is just one of a host of events recently posted or coming to Enviro-Events Calendar. If you are interested in energy and environmental issues, classes, forums, seminars, webinars, and social networking opportunities you should subscribe.

Everybody wants to know:
How can I handle my food waste???

 At the NJ Composting Council Organics Waste Management Summit we’re excited to share case studies and experiences from companies addressing the challenge that’s on every resident, business and municipalities mind: How can I handle my food waste? 

Just last week Governor Murphy issued a conditional veto on a food waste billed aimed at large generators. While we hope an improved bill will pass soon, all stakeholders must be ready. 

Strategies must be in place to capitalize on this opportunity for economic growth, job growth and reduction in environmental harm from not just large generators but at a local lev! With that in mind we’re delighted to host the Curbside and Community Organics Pickup/Drop Off panel. 

Speaking on this panel will be:
   
Eileen Banyra, founder of Community Compost Co., is a city planner turned soil farmer. CCC collects and processes food scraps from Northern NJ, selling the compost to a diverse set of customers including Whole Foods.

Greg McCarron, Vice President of SCS Engineers. SCS has extensive experience designing facilities of all sizes, including decentralized composting facilities designed to handle community-wide and town-wide food scraps and organic materials, and can provide solutions to your community’s needs for organics management.

Brett Hoyt, VP of Sales and Marketing for Sustainable Generation. Their Gore Cover, ASP bunker systems are only the final step in the communities he’s seen establish food waste programs and will share those case studies. Get your tickets to the Organics Summit today! 
Know a municipality that needs a PO order? please contact us immediately.  Copyright © 2019 NJ Composting Council, All rights reserved.

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