Environmental Law ReSource : Environmental Lawyer & Attorney : Reed Smith Law Firm : Climate Change, Sustainability

This post was written by Jennifer Smokelin.

Our blog has discussed the U.S. Department of Energy's creation of a panel to examine exploration and extraction in the Marcellus Shale (and I discussed the matter in more detail in my July article in The Legal Intelligencer ’s annual Energy Law report -- titled "The Frack Panel: Drilling Down on Representation and Timing Issues"). On October 4, members of the Frack Panel testified in front of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and would not commit to endorsing either state or a federal regulation as preferable for shale drilling. The panel, created earlier this year by Steven Chu, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy Secretary, was originally tasked to make recommendations about how to make drilling safer, particularly hydraulic fracturing and offer advice to other agencies on how they could better protect the environment from shale gas drilling. Increasingly, the panel has been brought into the state-vs.-federal regulation of shale gas drilling debate.

The testimony comes on the heels of an Intermim Report drafted by the 7 member panel that was published in August. Four of the seven subcommittee members who wrote the report testified at the Senate hearing this week, including Chairman of the IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates Dr. Daniel Yergin. While the group recommended some federal oversight of safety standards and best practices, and outlined 20 recommendations for the hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking," industry, the witnesses generally expressed opposition to federal regulation of fracking, suggesting state level oversight and industry self-regulation was, in nearly all cases, preferable.

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This post was written by David Wagner.

On March 31, 2011, a bill (S. 699) was introduced in the U.S. Senate that would authorize the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to enter into cooperative agreements to provide financial and technical assistance to as many as 10 large-scale (1 million tons of injected carbon dioxide or more) carbon capture and storage (CCS) demonstration projects at industrial sources. Along with three co-sponsors, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) introduced the bi-partisan bill and it was referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. This is the first step in the legislative process and it’s likely that the next step will be a public hearing on the proposal.

The proposed bill provides liability protection and federal indemnification for the CCS demonstration projects. Under the bill, DOE is authorized to indemnify projects up to $10 billion for personal, property and environmental damages that might be above what is covered by insurance or other financial assurance measures. Upon receiving the closure certificate for the injection site, the site may be turned over to the federal government for long-term site management and ownership. The proposed bill also outlines criteria for site closure certification and includes provisions for siting the demonstration projects on public land. In addition, it would establish and fund a CCS training program for state regulators.

By the way, this new proposed legislation (S. 699) is extremely similar to a 2009 bill (S. 1013) that was reported out of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources but died on the Senate floor as part of a larger energy legislative package that same year.

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This post was written by Christopher Rissetto, Henry King and Robert Helland.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the availability of $184 million "to accelerate the development and deployment of new efficient vehicle technologies." DOE will award cooperative agreements to businesses, universities and nonprofits to promote research and development of technologies supporting energy-efficient and environmentally friendly highway vehicles (i.e., cars and trucks). This funding is provided through the Vehicle Technologies Program, whose mission is to reduce consumption of gasoline and diesel fuels by cars and trucks, which account for 55 percent of total U.S. oil use. In this Reed Smith client alert, we discuss specifics of the eight funding categories that range from the development of performance-enhancing fuels and lubricants to the development of fuel-efficient tires and the creation of greater driver feedback technologies. The client alert also details other project and award information. You should know that the authors of this post have worked with a number of clients in crafting competitive applications for grant funding and complementary strategies to achieve funding, including obtaining support and assistance from members of Congress. Please let us know if we can assist with the preliminary notice and development of a competitive application for these funds.

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This post was written by David Wagner.

Indicating growing federal interest in carbon capture and storage, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is seeking public comment on proposals to capture and store carbon dioxide emissions from electric power plants in Texas and West Virginia. In a June 2 notice, DOE announced that it intends to prepare an environmental impact statement on a plan to provide about $350 million for the Texas Clean Energy Project, a proposed combined power and chemical plant near Odessa, Texas, through the Clean Coal Power Initiative. The environmental impact statements will help the Department determine whether to provide funding for the project.

According to a another notice published on June 7, DOE intends to produce an environmental impact statement on a plan to provide up to $334 million for a West Virginia plant, about half of the total cost. The West Virginia project involves fitting the existing Mountaineer coal-fired power plant, operated by American Electric Power near New Haven, with carbon dioxide capture and storage. As with the proposed Texas project, the Department would provide funding for the project through the Clean Coal Power Initiative, a program to provide partial financing for new technologies that can help utilities reduce their emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury, and greenhouse gases from power plants.

Information on public meetings and comment submission deadlines is available in the notices.

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This post was written by Christopher Risetto, Henry King and Robert Helland.

In May, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the availability of more than $171 million in grants, cooperative agreements, and technology-investment agreements "to expand and accelerate the development, commercialization, and use of solar and water power technologies throughout the United States". This funding continues a strong emphasis in the DOE, since the passage of the Recovery Act, on projects that promote alternative energy development, sustainability, and green jobs. The goal is to further the development of "evolving technologies," i.e., those that are not existing commercial technologies. In this Client Alert, Reed Smith provides key details behind the two major initiatives included within these announcements, particularly what information is necessary to complete a competitive application.

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