Pruitt Says He's Working With Calif. They Say He Isn't. According to E&E News, “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt reassured lawmakers yesterday that he’s trying to avoid a collision with California over climate rules for cars. California officials beg to differ. In two heated hearings on Capitol Hill yesterday, Pruitt was grilled for four hours about his ethics and the Trump administration’s environmental policies. Democrats pressed him about his decision earlier this month to toss out Obama-era targets for fuel efficiency and craft a new, looser rule for model years 2022 to 2025. That sets up a divide with California, which has its own authority to set requirements for vehicle pollution and has vowed to uphold the Obama-era rules. Pruitt said he wasn’t considering revoking California’s Clean Air Act waiver ‘at present.’ ‘We are working very diligently and diplomatically with California to find an answer on this issue,’ Pruitt responded when questioned by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.). ‘It’s important we work together to achieve ... a national standard.’ Stanley Young, the spokesman for the California’s Air Resources Board (ARB), yesterday disputed Pruitt’s characterization to Congress. Three meetings over the past four months that brought together key officials were ‘notably nonsubstantive,’ he said, without any exchange of data or documents. Those at the table were Mary Nichols, the head of ARB; Bill Wehrum, EPA’s air chief; Heidi King, the acting head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration; and Michael Catanzaro, the outgoing White House domestic energy policy aide.” [E&E News, 4/27/18 (=)]

 

Pruitt Ethics Woes Could Hamper Him In Upcoming Policy Negotiations. According to Inside EPA, “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s perceived political damage from a litany of ethics and spending scandals could hamstring him in talks over key agency policies, most prominently regarding passenger vehicle fuel economy and greenhouse gas limits, if parties see little incentive to grant concessions given his tenuous political position. While a compromise on the vehicle rules is still possible, Pruitt’s alleged ethics violations could significantly reduce his leverage in such talks and force the White House to reduce the ambition of any vehicle rule rollback, conceding ground to California and other supporters of the current rules. The dynamic could also be a factor in talks over the renewable fuel standard (RFS), with reports suggesting that Pruitt’s ethics troubles have undercut his ability to push for a ‘cap’ on the price of compliance credits to aid refiners, leaving the administration to pursue smaller-bore changes to the biofuel program. Pruitt’s alleged ethics and other violations include a host of charges, including first-class air travel, extensive security, controversial pay raises for senior staff, retaliation against other staff who questioned his spending and others. The issues are expected to gain the lion’s share of attention at a pair of House hearings April 26, even though the hearings are slated to focus on EPA’s fiscal year 2019 budget request. The administrator’s scandals come at a particularly inopportune time regarding the vehicle regulations, given that Trump officials are crafting proposed changes to the standards after recently determining the Obama-era limits must be eased.” [Inside EPA, 4/26/18 (=)]

 

Pruitt: EPA Not Going After California’s Waiver 'At Present'. According to Politico, “EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said today his agency is ‘not at present’ attempting to undo California’s special Clean Air Act waiver allowing the state to set stricter emissions levels for vehicles. ‘It’s important that we work together to achieve, as was indicated earlier, a national standard,’ Pruitt said at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing this morning. ‘We are working very diligently and diplomatically with California to find answers on this issue.’ California officials have warned they would diligently challenge any effort by the Trump administration to go after the waiver.” [Politico, 4/26/18 (=)]

 

OMB To Soon Begin Reviewing Plan That Could 'Gut' EPA Vehicle GHG Rules. According to Inside EPA, “The White House Office of Management & Budget (OMB) appears poised to begin reviewing joint proposed vehicle fuel economy rule revisions from EPA and the Transportation Department (DOT) in the coming days, amid indications that it could call for a major rollback and set up a confrontation with California and other states implementing the current rules. One source following the issue says it appears Trump officials plan to publicly release the proposed rule as soon as within the next two weeks. That accelerated timeline would mean the formal start of the OMB review process is imminent -- though others have suggested that it could be June before the proposed rule comes out. Even in the latter scenario, however, OMB review could begin in the coming days. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt during an April 26 House Energy & Commerce panel hearing also suggested that proposed changes to standards for model year 2022-2025 vehicles could be released quickly. ‘That proposed rule will be coming out very, very soon,’ he said. A second source following the issue cites indications that the proposal could ‘gut’ EPA’s GHG requirements for model years 2022-2025, adding that such a plan would be consistent with President Donald Trump’s broad deregulatory efforts. ‘What better way to distance themselves from the Obama administration,’ the source says. Such a scenario, however, would ensure a pitched battle with California and other states that have adopted EPA’s current GHG program.” [Inside EPA, 4/26/18 (=)]

 

Elaine Chao Has Said Little On Climate. Here's What We Know. According to E&E News, “Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao has said little publicly about climate change, but environmentalists say her actions speak louder than her words. During her appearances on Capitol Hill, Chao largely sticks to prepared remarks. And when reporters ask her about climate, she tends to avoid a firm answer. Yet Chao previously completed a stint at the Heritage Foundation, the conservative think tank that opposes many policy solutions for addressing climate change. She was also a fellow at the Hudson Institute, the organization helmed by conservative commentator Kenneth Weinstein. ‘Elaine Chao doesn’t regularly sound off with the same anti-science rhetoric that someone like Scott Pruitt does, for instance,’ said Greenpeace USA spokeswoman Cassady Craighill. ‘But her actions speak very loudly and point to a person with a history of prioritizing corporate interest before public interest.’ Also of note: Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who led an aggressive campaign to block what critics called President Obama’s ‘war on coal.’ And she oversaw the Department of Labor under President George W. Bush when the agency rolled back several mining safety regulations. ‘Chao is of course married to McConnell, who is known as a supporter of the coal industry,’ said Davitt McAteer, who served as Mine Safety and Health Administration chief under President Clinton. ‘When it comes to mine safety, that hasn’t been as good of a thing.’” [E&E News, 4/26/18 (=)]

 

Minnesota Team Looks For Synergy Between Solar And Electric Vehicles. According to Midwest Energy News, “A Minneapolis nonprofit has received a federal grant to study potential synergies between distributed solar and electric vehicle charging stations. And it doesn’t have to look farther than its own rooftop for an example. The Great Plains Institute is the lead organization on a $150,000 grant from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s Solar Energy Innovation Network. With a growing expectation that EVs will someday represent a significant share of the car market, the government and utilities are using this study and others to learn how to manage growing electricity loads through maximizing the growing amount of renewable energy on the grid. ‘We’re looking to create a roadmap for how we would deploy a solar-plus-EV technology in the marketplace,’ said Brian Ross, senior program director for the Great Plains Institute. A 30-kilowatt solar array on the institute’s rooftop feeds power to three electric chargers in its parking lot. A minimal charge is always available but when the sun is shining the chargers ramp up to a Level 2 power setting. If a station is not in use, power is transferred to the other chargers. Ross said their own solar charging station pilot is an example of what could be used for park-and-ride lots, business and government fleets, homes, apartments and even retail establishments.” [Midwest Energy News, 4/27/18 (=)]

 

Ohio Launches EV Rebate Program. According to E&E News, “Ohio regulators approved a tax incentive and rebate program to double the number of electric vehicle charging stations in the state. The $10 million program would have American Electric Power Ohio give rebates and incentives to businesses and apartment owners within its service territory that could result in as many as 375 charging stations, about double the current number in the state. AEP’s 1.3 million customers will pay for the rebate program through a tax on their utility bills, under the program approved Wednesday by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. ‘Our customers want reliability and access to advanced technologies, such as charging stations, microgrids and renewable energy resources,’ AEP Ohio President and Chief Operating Officer Julie Sloat said in a statement. ‘Our plan allows us to bring these services, which also will support economic development in Ohio, to customers across the state.’ Up to 300 of the rebates will go to Level 2 chargers, with up to 75 additional rebates for direct-current fast chargers. The rebates will cover 50 to 100 percent of the cost, depending on the type of building and degree of public access.” [E&E News, 4/27/18 (=)]