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MiningWeek Online
March 18, 2005 Volume 11, Issue 11
This Week's Issue:
Critics of new mercury rules ‘overlook its benefits,’ NMA’s Gerard says
Critics of the new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule to reduce mercury emissions from power plants are “overlooking its benefits,” NMA President and CEO Jack N. Gerard said this week.
“In addition to entirely overlooking the economic implications from higher energy prices, critics who fault EPA’s rule miss two obvious points - this is the first rule ever designed to reduce mercury emissions from these sources, and it will achieve impressive reductions,” he said.
The rule, signed this week by EPA Acting Administrator Steve Johnson, limits mercury emissions from new and existing coal-based power plants, and creates a market-based cap-and-trade program that will permanently cap utility mercury emissions in two phases: the first phase is 38 tons beginning in 2010, with a final cap at 15 tons beginning in 2018. Taken together with the recently issued Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR – see Mining Week, 3-11-05), the mercury rule will reduce electric utility mercury emissions by nearly 70 percent from 1999 levels when fully implemented, EPA said.
Gerard noted that under the rule, “compliance will be costly for coal based plants,” in spite of the cap-and-trade process that will allow reductions to be achieved efficiently at levels far lower than today’s. “But cap-and-trade will provide the nation with lower mercury levels than would be possible on a plant-specific basis. The nationwide limits under cap and trade will not expand to accommodate the operation of additional power plants that will be needed for generating the projected increases in electric power,” he said.
“Finally, Gerard said, “the rule recognizes the limitations of current technology but also the further benefits that will come from technologies that have already achieved impressive reductions in other emissions.”
Gerard noted that Clear Skies legislation “would still be preferable - it offers similar improvements in air quality, but would provide power companies with greater regulatory certainty for building the new base load capacity that is needed to fuel a growing economy. But critics oppose Clear Skies, too, putting our economy and jobs at further risk from higher natural gas prices.
“By opposing reasonable, balanced solutions, critics leave us no realistic options for achieving further improvements in air quality,” Gerard concluded.
In a related matter, the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee this week postponed a hearing on the President’s Clear Skies initiative until April 21, “to consider the effect” of the CAIR and mercury rules. “These are two late-arriving, far-reaching changes to the regulatory landscape and they merit our full preparation when the subcommittee convenes for its first clean air hearing of the new Congress,” said committee spokesman Larry Neal.
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Three members of Congress visit NMA this week
Reps. Jon Porter (R-NV), Bob Beauprez (R-CO) and Louie Gohmert (R-TX) were Congressional visitors to NMA this week, briefing association staff and member company representatives on issues of importance to mining. Porter, who represents Nevada’s Third District, which encompasses the metropolitan areas of Las Vegas, the growing suburbs of Henderson, and Lake Mead and Red Rock Canyon, is a key member of the House Education and the Workforce, Government Reform and Transportation and Infrastructure committees. Beauprez, who spoke at NMA’s Government Affairs Committee meeting, discussed pending energy legislation and Endangered Species Act reform. He is a member of the important House Ways and Means Committee. Gohmert represents the First District in Texas and is a member of the Judiciary, Resources and Small Business committees.
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EPA proposal would change how dioxin is reported under TRI program
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently proposed a rule that would change how facilities report dioxin and dioxin-like compounds under the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) program. Comments are due by Friday, May 6
Currently, facilities report dioxin and dioxin-like compounds in grams for the entire category of dioxin and dioxin-like chemicals. The reported figure represents total releases or releases to air, land or water depending on the best information available to the reporting facility.
EPA is proposing that reports be filed using Toxic Equivalents (TEQs) that would be “a weighted quantity measure based on the toxicity of each member of the dioxin and dioxin-like compounds category relative to the most toxic members of the category.” A facility would multiply the grams of dioxin (or dioxin-like chemical) by a given toxic equivalency factor (TEF) to arrive at the TEQ.
EPA notes that support for this revised approach to TRI dioxin reporting dates back to the original 1999 rulemaking adding dioxin and dioxin-like substances to the list of TRI chemicals. Supporters include a number of industrial associations including the American Chemistry Council, American Forest & Paper Association, American Portland Cement Alliance, Edison Electric Institute and the Aluminum Association. Despite industrial support for a TEQ approach to dioxin reporting, EPA declares that “the Agency continues to have concerns about the burden which could be associated with waste stream specific reporting of dioxin releases and TEQ.”
EPA offers three alternatives for comment. Each would require reporting of dioxin and dioxin-like chemicals on a new TRI “Form R-D”, and each option would require reporting on individual waste streams containing these substances.
Under the first option, facilities would report TEQs for dioxin in each waste stream. The facility would not report grams of dioxin released per waste stream but rather the total grams released as is currently the case. EPA said it was concerned about this option because as toxic equivalency factors change the agency (and the public, presumably) would not be able “to recalculate prior year TEQ data using the new TEF values, or to otherwise compare TEQ data generated using different TEF values.”
The agency said it prefers the latter two options, which “would require reporting of the mass quantity [grams] of each individual member of the [dioxin] category and differ primarily in whether the Agency or the facility would perform the TEQ calculations.” Between these two options, EPA said it prefers Option #3, which would have facilities report grams per waste stream and have EPA do the TEQ calculations. Option #2 would have the facility report grams per dioxin or dioxin-like chemical and also do the TEQ calculations.
The agency emphasized the proposed rule, if finalized, would require the reporting of additional information but would not require facilities to do any additional testing or monitoring. As with current TRI reporting, under the proposed rule a facility would only have to report the grams of dioxin (or dioxin-like chemical) for each individual waste stream for which such data were available.” In evaluating the potential burden of the three proposed reporting options, EPA declares: “It is generally expected that facilities reporting any of the new information requested on Form R-D will be using information already in their possession.”
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Economic fundamentals, environmental improvement favor coal, Gerard tells Platts’ coal conference
High natural gas prices and a growing need for secure, stable supplies of domestic energy are “prompting a boom in coal used by US power plants,” NMA President and CEO Jack N. Gerard told Platts Coal Properties and Investment Conference in Fort Lauderdale, FL, this week.
“More plans to build new coal-fired plants have been announced in the past year than were announced in the past decade,” Gerard said. “King coal is back on his throne, generating over half of the electricity used in this country - with sharply lower emissions into the air,” he added.
Gerard noted that since 1980, major emissions from US power plants have fallen by about 40 percent - a period in which economic growth grew by 93 percent and coal use in electricity generation by 75 percent. “New air quality standards announced in Washington this week will further reduce coal-fired emissions, including for the first time mercury emissions (see related story),” he said.
Gerard said concerns over climate warming from greenhouse gas emissions will be better and more efficiently addressed with advanced clean coal technologies, not from caps on power plant emissions that exclude countries such as China and India, which will soon be the biggest emitters of carbon dioxide.
“With a strong commitment to develop clean coal technologies, the US will be well positioned to export them to countries that need these technologies most,” explained Gerard. “This will slow heat trapping gases from their greatest sources and do so more effectively than an international system of unenforceable carbon caps can achieve,” he added.
Echoing Gerard’s remarks at the conference was CONSOL Energy Chief Operating Officer Peter B. Lilly, who said the outlook for coal was much brighter than a few years earlier. He said the new federal Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) and mercury rule “would further accelerate the installation of scrubbers on existing coal-fired power plants.” He urged the government to adopt policies that “create an environment of certainty that will encourage further investment in technology.”
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NMA urges House panel to reject proposed minerals program cut
NMA this week urged a House subcommittee to reject a proposed $29 million reduction in funding for the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Mineral Resources Program (MRP) and to support $5 million for the creation of the Mineral Education and Research Initiative (MERIT).
In comments to the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, NMA said the proposed $29 million reduction in the MRP “would result in the elimination of 240 full-time employees. The $27 million reduction proposed for the Research and Assessment programs will result in the elimination of 220 employee positions and 38 projects, including collection of comprehensive basic geologic, geochemical, geophysical and mineral deposit data for the U.S., the internationally coordinated global mineral assessment program.”
In addition, the $2 million reduction proposed for the Minerals Information Team “will result in the discontinuation of data collection and analysis for 100 mineral commodities in 180 countries and approximately 20 commodity reports,” NMA said. “The reduction will also result in the loss of 20 employees with invaluable expertise in global production and consumption of mineral commodities.”
NMA said the mineral information functions performed by USGS “are very similar to those performed by the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration,” and the value of energy and mineral information “are equally vital to our nation’s security and should be equally treated in the appropriations process.”
NMA added the MRP budget reduction would also adversely impact the Mineral Resources External Research grants Program. “The $5 million request for (MERIT) would establish a peer-reviewed external grants program within USGS for applied research and education in mineral resources and material-flows analysis to be conducted by state organizations, universities and the private sector,” the association noted.
Ultimately, NMA concluded, the USGS’ role in mineral information, exploration, identification of geological hazards and mapping “offers important support to the mining industry.”
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Doe Run smelter featured as example of environmental progress
The Doe Run Co.’s Herculaneum, MO, smelter was recently featured as an example of environmental progress for a group of touring international visitors as part of the World Affairs Council International Visitor program.
Participants from Ethiopia, Ghana, Nepal and Serbia toured the facility to learn about environmental safeguards, technologies and investments needed for meeting established company and governmental environmental standards. In addition to having met the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for 10 consecutive quarters, the smelter passed the annual Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) stack test conducted by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources in 2004.
The tour was conducted in cooperation with the U.S. State Department and eight private organizations. Barbara Morley, director of the International Visitor Leadership Program World Affairs Council – St. Louis, said the participants were “impressed with how the citizens of Herculaneum and the company work together to address the environmental problems and cleanup, and plan to use information obtained during their visit in their respective countries.”
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NMA, other groups, file motion to intervene in case challenging COE reissuance of NWP 21
NMA, the Kentucky Coal Association (KCA) and Coal Operators and Associates, Inc. (COA) last week filed a motion to intervene in Kentucky Riverkeeper, Inc. v. Rowlette, the case challenging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (COE) reissuance of NWP 21.
In addition to the motion to intervene, the associations also requested venue be transferred from Lexington, KY, to either the London or Pikeville Division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, on the basis that the substantial part of the property at issue are located in divisions other than the Lexington Division.
In a summary judgment motion, environmental groups, Kentucky Riverkeeper, Inc., Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, Inc., and Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Inc., requested the court invalidate NWP 21 as contrary to the Clean Water Act. In addition, the plaintiffs seek injunctive relief by requesting any further issuances of NWP 21 in Kentucky be enjoined and immediate suspension of 54 existing authorizations for valley fills on which construction has not commenced by the date the motion was filed.
The Kentucky-based lawsuit is brought by two lawyers who successfully challenged NWP 21 in a West Virginia federal court last year, which is currently on appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Ovec v. Bulen). Consequently, the Kentucky action relies heavily on that decision, even requesting the court “follow Judge Goodwin’s lead” and order similar District-wide relief. NMA’s and the coal associations’ opening brief in the OVEC v. Bulen case was due to be filed with the Fourth Circuit appeals court on March 18.
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OSM proposal makes changes in revegetation requirements
The Office of Surface Mining (OSM) this week proposed a new revegetation rule it says is aimed at encouraging diversity of plant species on reclaimed mine lands and removing impediments to planting trees.
The proposal also includes provisions to provide states more flexibility in using success standards and sampling techniques and makes the timing of revegetation success measurements consistent nationwide, OSM said.
The proposed rule would change OSM’s regulations governing topsoil replacement and revegetation success standards. A public outreach initiative to review and assess the revegetation regulations was conducted prior to publishing the rule and included 10 public meetings held around the country. The rule is being proposed in response to several revegetation issues that have been raised both by the public and internally within OSM, the agency said.
Among other things, the proposed revisions will: allow variable topsoil depth replacement; “remove an impediment to the reforestation of mined lands by providing more flexibility in demonstrating compliance with the time in place requirements;” and set minimum conditions that must be satisfied for lands with a post-mining land use of “undeveloped land.”
Regarding revegetation, the rule: gives states flexibility to adopt additional success standards and new sampling techniques by removing the current requirement that such changes have to be approved by the federal government; provides a practical means of measuring woody shrubs commonly planted in the West by allowing the inclusion of woody plants that are present on reclaimed lands as a result of regeneration or plant succession; and, improves revegetation incentives in arid areas by making success measures in those regions consistent with those in areas with more annual precipitation by eliminating the requirement that revegetation success be demonstrated in consecutive years in areas receiving less than 26 inches of precipitation.
Comments on the proposals are due in 60 days (May 17).
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Fraser Institute story generates feedback
A story in last week’s (March 11) Mining Week reported on the Fraser Institute’s (FI) survey of mining executives that a region’s attractive geology does not guarantee mining investment if government policies are bad. While no one took issue with this fundamental assumption, the story on the survey, which also ranked mining areas in terms of “policy attractiveness,” mineral potential and other factors, generated an unusual amount of comment from Mining Week’s readers, especially from some state mining associations.
As the story noted, Nevada officials were pleased by the survey’s positive findings regarding their state. But Stuart Sanderson, president of the Colorado Mining Association, questioned the methodology used by Fraser, the validity of its assumptions and the credibility of its findings. “The study is misleading in that it does not constitute a real study of the laws, geology, and regulatory structure of states like Colorado . . . it is a subjective survey of impressions . . . this report gives the industry in states like Colorado and Alaska a black eye, which is undeserved.” Adds Steve Borell, president of the Alaska Miners Association: “I have now talked with six companies – three very large companies and three juniors – that each have one or more large exploration and/or mines in Alaska, and none of the six were asked to participate in the Fraser Survey.”
We welcome and encourage readers’ comments on any stories that appear in Mining Week.
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Cuts in USGS Coal Resource Assessment Program funding have ‘eroded explicit knowledge of reserves,’ Miller says
Cuts in the U.S. Geological Survey’s (USGS) Coal Resource Assessment Program funding have “eroded explicit knowledge” of the nation’s coal reserves,” Marshall Miller, chief executive officer of Marshall Miller and Associates, said last week.
Speaking at the local section of the Society for Mining Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) in Washington, Miller said although many of the Pittsburgh coal seams (particularly in Kentucky) are fairly well defined, “other Appalachian and interior coal reserve areas require a great deal more assessment work. Tremendous advancements are currently being made in the coal mining industry involving production technologies and utilization, but coal resource assessment, which is critical to future utilization and availability of coal, has slowed dramatically since the demise of the US Bureau of Mines in 1996,” he said.
Miller suggested that the nation and the industry need to balance their enthusiasm for valuable programs and technologies like FutureGen, carbon sequestration, coal-bed methane co-firing potential, and advancement of mining equipment and manufacturing technologies “with an interest in promoting greater identification and assessment of coal reserves in the many key areas that the US will need to rely on for future coal supply.”
Miller said the industry’s “aging and retiring mining workforce” is another major concern. “It has grown difficult in recent years to recruit coal miners, geologists, and engineers to the industry. The extractive industry is less attractive to young graduates compared to other fields, but we have to find a way to change that,” he said.
Marshall Miller & Associates specializes in energy, natural resources, environmental science and engineering consulting.
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Everett J. Ungemach, former FMC tax manager, dies in Albuquerque
Everett J. Ungemach, 87, retired tax manager for the FMC Corp. and a member of the Tax Committee for the American Mining Congress (AMC), an NMA-predecessor organization, died March 10 in Albuquerque, NM.
Mr. Ungemach spent his career in the tax field, eventually specializing in mineral depletion. He worked for FMC Corp. for 31 years in New York, Philadelphia and Chicago, retiring in 1983, and served for 21 years on AMC’s Tax Committee. He also served on the Tax Committees of the West Virginia Manufacturers Association, the Idaho Mining Association and the Wyoming Mining Association.
Mr. Ungemach’s wife, Winifred, passed away in November 2003. He is survived by three sisters, six children and seven grandchildren. Burial was at the Veterans Cemetery in Santa Fe. NM.
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