Greece has initiated its tender process for offshore oil and gas (hydrocarbons) exploration as of August 26, 2014. The Greek Ministry of Environment, Energy and Climate Change is seeking bid applications for its offshore oil and gas exploration in 20 block areas in the Ionian Sea and south of Crete. The Greek government is hoping this will aid the Greek economy by encouraging an influx of investment capital.
Bakken crude producers and midstream transportation companies already experience transportation woes related to inadequate pipeline infrastructure, railroad capacity, tank car supply, rail accidents, and new regulations. But they also increasingly face a new problem: lawsuits. In September alone, the Sierra Club, one of the largest environmental organizations in the United States, filed two lawsuits challenging different aspects of crude-by-rail transportation. First, on the national level, the Sierra Club seeks to stop the transportation of crude oil in allegedly outdated and unsafe tank cars. And second, at the state level, the Sierra Club accuses a local agency of illegally permitting a rail-to-truck facility.
In a divided opinion, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has found that it does not have jurisdiction over facilities proposed by Emera CNG, LLC to compress natural gas for export to the Bahamas by ship.
Natural gas is an important fuel used globally for electric power generation, heating, and industry. Throughout most of the U.S., an abundant supply of natural gas means domestic pricing for gas is lower than overseas. This creates a potentially profitable opportunity to export natural gas from the U.S., if regulatory conditions allow.
Winery waste is composed of the skins, pulp, stalks, and seeds that are left over after grapes have been pressed. This waste cannot be used for animal feed or composted, so it typically ends up as toxic landfill. Researchers at Swinburne University of Technology have been investigating how to break down the grape waste and Ph.D. student Avinash Karpe has discovered four fungi, that when combined with a heat activated pre-treatment, successfully broke down grape waste biomass. This process resulted in the production of alcohols, acids, and simple sugars which could have industrial and medicinal uses. “We have demonstrated this technique in the laboratory, but this process can be scaled up to an industrial scale,” stated Chair of Swinburne’s Department of Chemistry and Biotechology, Professor Enzo Palombo. More information is available online.
In This Issue:
– Doing Business in China
– U.S-China Relations
– Energy & Environmental
– Food Safety
– Health Care
– Trade
– Excerpt from Doing Business in China:
The U.S.-China Business Council has released the results of its 2014 China Business Environment Survey, identifying the following Top 10 issues: Competition with companies in China; IPR enforcement, Foreign investment restrictions; Human resources: Talent recruitment and retention; Cost increases; Uneven enforcement/implementation of Chinese laws; Licensing; Transparency; Nondiscrimination/national treatment; and Overcapacity in the Chinese market. According to the USBC, “Doing business in China can be a study in contrast for American companies. On the one hand, it remains a strong and growing market for American goods and services. On the other, it is a challenging and sometimes frustrating place to do business for multinational companies, with numerous regulatory barriers preventing the market from being as accessible — and large — as it should be.”
A proposed electric transmission line connecting Quebec to New York will receive a key federal approval, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The Energy Department’s decision to issue a Presidential permit to Champlain Hudson Power Express, Inc. focuses attention on the nation’s international trade in electricity, and may suggest increased reliance on power imports.
Pursuant to two Executive Orders — EO 10485 (September 9, 1953), as amended by EO 12038 (February 7, 1978) — no electricity transmission facilities may be constructed, operated, maintained, or connected at the U.S. border without first obtaining a Presidential permit from the Department of Energy. In 2010, Champlain Hudson Power Express, Inc. applied to DOE for a Presidential permit to construct, operate, maintain, and connect a 1,000-megawatt (MW), high-voltage direct current (HVDC) merchant electric power transmission system across the U.S./Canada border.
On September 15, 2014, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2996, the Revitalize American Manufacturing and Innovation (RAMI) Act. The Act “earmarks up to $300 million in federal funding — $30 million annually for 10 years” from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy account, and would be available to regional centers to develop new products and train workforces. Fields mentioned in the bill as eligible for the money include “nanotechnology, advanced ceramics, photonics and optics, composites, biobased and advanced materials, flexible hybrid technologies and tool development for microelectronics.” The RAMI Act has a companion bill in the Senate where it could be voted on as early as this fall. More information on the RAMI Act is available online. The full text of the RAMI Act can be found online.
On 22 September 2014, the International Bar’s Association task force on Climate Change Justice and Human Rights released its new report Achieving Justice and Human Rights in an Era of Climate Disruption in the wake of the UN Climate Summit 2014.
The Report can be consulted here.
The publication of the report marks the end of a research effort initiated in November 2012 and constitutes an important recognition by the global legal profession that climate change has an important human rights dimension. It presents a comprehensive survey of existing legal frameworks relevant to climate change, and identifies, using a justice-centred perspective, opportunities for legal reforms.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Interior released its new proposal for development of solar and wind resources on public lands. The proposal, referred to as the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan (DREC), focuses on the desert land across seven California counties — Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego. It was developed through collaboration among California state agencies as well as the federal government in an attempt to facilitate California’s renewable electricity portfolio and renewable energy development on federal lands.
Energy, Petrochemical & Natural Resources
Action item: To avoid and discourage duplicative and unnecessary federal oil and gas regulations, oil and gas operators should resist federal efforts to federalize hydraulic fracturing regulations and should actively engage with state regulators to craft innovative and practical regulations at the state level.
Historically, states have taken the lead in regulating oil and gas development given the states’ primary interest in securing rational oil and gas development in their own boundaries. Hydraulic fracturing—a 60-year-old technology used for oil and gas development—is a temporary process of pumping fluids underground for the purpose of extraction of natural gas or oil from deep formations lying 5,000 to 8,000 feet or more below the surface. Fresh groundwater is located from about less than 600 feet below the surface. Hydraulic fracturing has been practiced routinely for decades by operators in many states, including New York.
