growth energy

<div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/epa-chiefs-former-lobbying-clients-are-getting-a-long-list-of-favors-from-agency" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/epa-chiefs-former-lobbying-clients-are-getting-a-long-list-of-favors-from-agency</a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">At least three former lobbying clients of Environmental Protection Agency chief Andrew Wheeler have received favorable decisions from the EPA under his leadership.Wheeler <a href="https://www.salon.com/2019/09/19/drain-the-swamp-trump-has-named-more-lobbyists-to-cabinet-than-bush-or-obama-did-in-8-years/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">spent years as an energy lobbyist</a> at the law firm Faegre Baker Daniels, where he represented companies like the coal giant Murray Energy, whose owner Robert Murray is a <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/01/10/trumps-presents-to-coal-country-are-from-a-coal-magnates-wish-list/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">major Trump donor</a>. Wheeler <a href="https://apps.washingtonpost.com/g/documents/national/epa-acting-administrator-andrew-wheelers-recusal-letter/3134/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">signed a pledge</a> in May 2018 to recuse himself from matters related to former clients after he replaced <a href="https://www.salon.com/2018/07/18/scott-pruitt-may-be-gone-but-the-epas-pro-pollution-agenda-remains-intact/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">embattled former EPA administrator Scott Pruitt</a>. But the two-year pledge expired earlier this year and he has been <a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/press-release/wheeler-ethics-complaint/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">repeatedly accused of violating the agreement</a> by approving rules that he lobbied for as a lobbyist for Murray Energy and others.At least three of Wheeler’s former clients have pushed for rules that the EPA has proposed or implemented under his leadership.“Andrew Wheeler is overseeing policies that damage the air we breathe and water we drink while his associates benefit,” Chris Saeger, a spokesperson for the progressive watchdog group Accountable.US, told Salon. “This is a clear abuse of his taxpayer-funded position and ethics agreement."in April, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/climate/epa-mercury-coal.html" target="blank" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" box-sizing="box-sizing" border-box="border-box" outline="outline" none="none" margin="margin" px="px" padding="padding" text-decoration-line="text-decoration-line" transition="transition" color="color" s="s" ease="ease" cursor="cursor" pointer="pointer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">EPA weakened regulations</a> on the release of mercury and toxic metals from oil and coal-fired power plants, which experts said was aimed at “potentially constraining or handcuffing future efforts by the EPA to regulate air pollution.”The New York Times described the change as a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/climate/epa-mercury-coal.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">“particular victory”</a> for Murray, who pressed for the change in a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/climate/coal-murray-trump-memo.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">“wish list” of environmental regulation rollbacks</a> he handed to President Trump just weeks after his inauguration. Murray <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/24/opinion/money-talked-loudest-at-trumps-inaugural.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">donated $300,000</a> to Trump’s inaugural committee.The Trump administration and federal agencies “have completed or are on track to fulfill most of the 16 detailed requests” in Murray’s wish list, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/climate/coal-murray-trump-memo.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">the Times reported in 2018</a>. But Murray had “unsuccessfully pressed the administration in 2017” to roll back the mercury emissions rule, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060223767" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">E&E News reported</a>, before it was rescinded under Wheeler.The government watchdog group Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/storage.citizensforethics.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/16174818/Wheeler-Supplemental-Complaint-4-16-19.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">filed an ethics complaint</a> against Wheeler last year over his involvement in the rule change, noting that he “participated in the matter less than a year” after signing the pledge.“It is becoming more and more clear why coal and energy companies are happy to have their former lobbyist Andrew Wheeler in charge of the EPA,” CREW Executive Director Noah Bookbinder <a href="https://www.citizensforethics.org/press-release/wheeler-ethics-complaint/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">said at the time</a>. “Administrator Wheeler’s apparent failure to abide by ethics obligations and to avoid the reality or appearance of conflicts continues to undermine the EPA’s integrity and weakens public confidence in our government.”Earlier this year, the EPA also <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/509792-epa-rule-extends-life-of-toxic-coal-ash-ponds" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">finalized a rule</a> that would extend deadlines to start closing <a href="https://climate.law.columbia.edu/content/epa-proposes-allowing-unlined-coal-ash-ponds-remain-open-years" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">unlined coal ash ponds</a>. Coal ash from coal plants is dumped into excavated holes in the ground, where it mixes with water to create “coal ash ponds,” which can leak if they are not properly lined. The proposed rule would allow some coal plants <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/776174139/trump-administration-proposes-relaxing-rules-on-waste-from-coal-plants" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">five more years</a> before requiring them to close the unlined ash ponds.One of the major backers of the rule is the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG), a <a href="https://www.energyandpolicy.org/uwag-and-uswag-the-secretive-utility-groups-that-target-epa-rules/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">secretive trade group</a> whose members include <a href="https://www.uswag.org/en/USWAGMemberList" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Xcel Energy</a>, a <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/lobbyists/summary?cycle=2013&id=Y0000039030L" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">longtime former Wheeler client</a>. Xcel Energy <a href="https://beta.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OLEM-2019-0172-0067" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">called for the rule change</a> and the USWAG <a href="https://earthjustice.org/sites/default/files/files/CCRRulePetitionCoverletter.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">petitioned Pruitt for the rule</a> in 2017. The USWAG <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/04/776174139/trump-administration-proposes-relaxing-rules-on-waste-from-coal-plants" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">praised the EPA</a> for proposing the change under Wheeler last year.Accountable.US criticized the EPA for rolling back regulations on coal ash at the behest of Wheeler’s former client.“Administrator Wheeler is part of a corrupt pattern in the Trump administration, putting the interests of his allies above the public he is supposed to serve,” <a href="https://www.accountable.us/news/breaking-wheeler-weakens-epa-coal-ash-rules-for-former-client/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Saeger said last month</a>. “This administration is abusing its power to hand out favors to corporate lobbyists, selling out Americans’ health and the environment in the process.”In May, the EPA <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0240" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">proposed no additional measures</a> to mitigate negative air quality impacts associated with renewable fuel standards as required under the Clean Air Act. The proposed rule has been open for public comment ever since but has only received 16 thus far, including <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0240-0012" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">one supporting the rule from Growth Energy</a>. The company has been one of the <a href="https://biomassmagazine.com/articles/17193/biofuel-groups-file-comments-on-epaundefineds-anti-backsliding-proposal" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">biggest supporters of the rule</a>.Growth Energy was one of Wheeler’s clients before he joined the EPA, according to his <a href="https://www.eenews.net/assets/2017/10/19/document_gw_03.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">financial disclosure</a>, which said he provided the company “strategic advice and counseling.” Wheeler had pledged to recuse himself from matters related to Growth Energy until shortly before the proposed rule was published.The trend has played out in other agencies whose heads were appointed by the president. The Interior Department has made <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/03/05/politics/david-bernhardt-interior-oil-and-gas/index.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">at least 15 policy changes or proposals</a> that benefited Secretary David Bernhardt’s former energy industry clients. Several of acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf’s former lobbying clients have also <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/05/former-clients-of-acting-homeland-security-chief-chad-wolf-get-millions-in-dhs-contracts.html" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">received millions in government contracts</a> while he held senior positions in the department. More than 280 of Trump’s political appointments have been former lobbyists, according to an analysis by <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/we-found-a-staggering-281-lobbyists-whove-worked-in-the-trump-administration" target="blank" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">ProPublica</a>.CREW has repeatedly called for the EPA’s inspector general to investigate whether Wheeler violated his ethics pledge in connection to rules that benefited his former clients.“Administrator Wheeler has repeatedly used his government position at EPA to benefit the former clients that made him rich, and to the detriment of the agency’s critical mission,” CREW Deputy Director Donald Sherman said in a statement to Salon. “Administrator Wheeler’s continued lobbying on behalf of industry from within EPA, is clear evidence that patronage is a feature, not a bug, of the Trump administration.”</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div style="">=</div><div style="">ref</div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><a href="https://www.accountable.us/news/breaking-wheeler-weakens-epa-coal-ash-rules-for-former-client/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;">https://www.accountable.us/news/breaking-wheeler-weakens-epa-coal-ash-rules-for-former-client/</a></div><div style="">
</div><div style=""><div class="post-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; text-transform: uppercase; margin-bottom: 0.25em; font-weight: 600; background-color: rgb(251, 251, 251);">JULY 30, 2020</div><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; line-height: 1.1; background-color: rgb(251, 251, 251);">BREAKING: Wheeler Weakens EPA Coal Ash Rules For Former Client</h1><div class="rte post-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 28px;">EPA Administrator Issues Rule Deregulating Harmful Pollutant, A Move That His Former Client Xcel Energy Had Been Pushing ForWASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the EPA <a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/1A7c8WSVUElP0aEjvYJCAXG3awouI5DX7cItfJxJZvw=" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/1A7c8WSVUElP0aEjvYJCAXG3awouI5DX7cItfJxJZvw%3D&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNENl5KQ33BNvMp3hWfvViug4yJxBA" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">finalized a rule</a> that would extend the closure initiation deadlines of unlined coal ash ponds. The rule comes following requests from the Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG), an industry coalition that includes Xcel Energy, a former client of EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s. Coal ash is a dangerous pollutant that <a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/SU3oD_6JEGysMU8sJH4e_Kzut0CkmL1B2P2asqt5_X4=" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/SU3oD_6JEGysMU8sJH4e_Kzut0CkmL1B2P2asqt5_X4%3D&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNHr-KtuzpjJ-yx2iGVgxsCc3MI0kA" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;">contains</a> arsenic, boron, lead and mercury, which are known carcinogens and damage organs.In response, Accountable.US spokesman Chris Saeger issued the following statement: “Administrator Wheeler is part of a corrupt pattern in the Trump administration, putting the interests of his allies above the public he is supposed to serve. This administration is abusing its power to hand out favors to corporate lobbyists, selling out Americans’ health and the environment in the process.”  Background on Xcel Energy and Coal Ash Rules Rollback In 2019, the EPA– under Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s leadership–<a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/QtMLEKf_6V9Or8cwou3vFcDegWU-vijDlW8PT4uuX30=" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/QtMLEKf_6V9Or8cwou3vFcDegWU-vijDlW8PT4uuX30%3D&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNELdhw5xhIKuYHHsOsE0VQg5_bXiw" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent;"> proposed a rule</a> that would extend the closure initiation deadlines of unlined coal ash ponds, allowing some plants<a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/Jlxleou5W-dx2TpA3UEKIqoSVLOf2bvIsAPnKBdJYw=" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/Jlxleou5W-dx2TpA3UEKIqoSVLOf2bvIsAPnKBdJYw%3D&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNFMh2Cv09O1vod1FXYmC1Plyr04hw" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent;"> five more years</a> before they would need to close unlined coal ash ponds. The Utility Solid Waste Activities Group (USWAG)<a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/Jlxleou5W-dx2TpA3UEKIqoSVLOf2bvIsAPnKBdJYw=" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/Jlxleou5W-dx2TpA3UEKIqoSVLOf2bvIsAPnKBdJYw%3D&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNFMh2Cv09O1vod1FXYmC1Plyr04hw" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent;"> applauded</a> the proposed changes. Relaxing coal ash rules has been a big priority for USWAG– the trade group<a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/g50_oJlFn2czMWuQAGhBmHx_Lk32MRdTN5fN-bFT17s=" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/g50_oJlFn2czMWuQAGhBmHx_Lk32MRdTN5fN-bFT17s%3D&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNHVKVbSDL2UiQZku5zXHBSkyyztzQ" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent;"> petitioned</a> then-EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt to roll back coal ash storage regulations back in 2017. Xcel Energy is a<a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/CWnMOAGh_OUiV8saiBWUkODpYXAJpQTuu_rMAGp02y0=" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/CWnMOAGh_OUiV8saiBWUkODpYXAJpQTuu_rMAGp02y0%3D&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNEIFn-R-QPH2y5ATRmYmPJQgeY5dA" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;"> member</a> of USWAG, and has also<a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/xIluCXxk-kkVVAWnMEby3A7EuVzHYrVGcmQxx0ELdEE=" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/xIluCXxk-kkVVAWnMEby3A7EuVzHYrVGcmQxx0ELdEE%3D&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNFo3LgRo8Eu9_uEh7ko0eU5bAOj2g" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;"> supported</a> EPA’s proposed coal ash rule. Andrew Wheeler<a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/nj7NrQQepsMj_nDK9GlAQzoVQjOr5fnipVgRWh9e_nI=?cycle=2013&id=Y0000039030L" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/nj7NrQQepsMj_nDK9GlAQzoVQjOr5fnipVgRWh9e_nI%3D?cycle%3D2013%26id%3DY0000039030L&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNEiWNvJQKVTryo-xLzvosIb7Yh3Zg" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;"> lobbied</a> for Xcel Energy from 2013- 2016, and has promised to<a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/23n8Xpf27HzECA-wl4jmD1pkla28irJixIBkIz62NQk=?itid=lk_inline_manual_9" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/23n8Xpf27HzECA-wl4jmD1pkla28irJixIBkIz62NQk%3D?itid%3Dlk_inline_manual_9&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNGTCRejp-ni4VoyhNgAbEdRdhqOgQ" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box;"> recuse</a> himself from matters related to Xcel Energy until August 28, 2020. Read the full report <a href="https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4=/PUa8xZzOz6Pk-OTfr6LZxaK_kZzWe1T3D_KSUDyjX4=" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://act.myngp.com/el/cmzx2BKjbc6VcL33V0hQKm_Wd7A6Rwdll1AfGKZbJc4%3D/PUa8xZzOz6Pk-OTfr6LZxaK_kZzWe1T3D_KSUDyjX4%3D&source=gmail&ust=1596224431763000&usg=AFQjCNFtjj20UnTBioeP39CR7WbFdhv1Ww" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: border-box; background-color: transparent;">here</a>.</div></div><div style=""> =ref<h1 class="GIY1LSJBID" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 50px; padding: 0px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.25em;">Comment submitted by Chris Bliley, Growth Energy</h1><table role="presentation" style="border-collapse: collapse; table-layout: fixed; width: 1405px;"><tbody><tr><td width="*" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: top;"><div style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div class="GIY1LSJC5C" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">This is a Comment on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Proposed Rule: <a class="gwt-InlineHyperlink" href="https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=EPA-HQ-OAR-2020-0240-0001" style="outline: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold;">Proposed Anti-backsliding Determination for Renewable Fuels and Air Quality</a>
Growth Energy appreciates the opportunity to provide comments for EPA’s consideration

on its Anti-Backsliding Study1

and proposed determination that no additional fuel control

measures are necessary under Clean Air Act Section 211(v) to mitigate air quality impacts

associated with the Renewable Fuel Standard (“RFS”) (the “Proposed Determination”).

Growth

Energy is the world’s largest association of biofuel producers, representing 103 U.S. plants that

each year produce more than 8 billion gallons of cleaner-burning, renewable fuel, 94 businesses

associated with the biofuel production chain, and tens of thousands of biofuel supporters. Together, our members are working to bring better and more affordable choices at the fuel pump

to consumers and protect the environment for future generations. We are committed to helping

our country diversify its energy portfolio to support more green energy small businesses and

jobs, sustain family farms, and reduce the costs of transportation fuels for consumers.

Growth Energy strongly supports EPA’s Proposed Determination. Below we briefly

summarize our view that the Proposed Determination is amply supported by the facts before the

Agency and the law. Indeed, our technical analysis is that the Anti-Backsliding Study overstates

the RFS’ potential adverse impacts on air quality and understates the emissions and air quality

benefits of ethanol-blended fuels. Specifically, due to various methodological issues with the

fuel properties used in EPA’s modeling, as well as the studies underlying the MOVES model, the

Anti-Backsliding Study erroneously overestimates even slight increases in certain pollutants

(NOx, VOCs, and particulate matter (PM)); at the same time, the Study underestimates the

benefits of ethanol-blended fuel in reducing emissions of potent air toxics such as benzene and

1,3 butadiene, as well as PM and carbon monoxide. We explain these critiques in detail below and in the analysis from AIR, Inc. attached as

Exhibit 1 (“AIR Report”). But even if EPA’s modeled potential adverse impacts were accurate,

we agree with the Agency that its analysis concludes that the impacts are slight and that the Tier

3 Motor Vehicle Emissions and Fuel Standards, 79 Fed. Reg. 23,414 (Apr. 28, 2014), which took

effect in 2017 (“Tier 3 Rule”), address any potential impacts such that no additional fuels

regulations to mitigate adverse impacts are necessary. 

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