Wednesday, October 05, 2016

Electricity Procurement

Assembly Bill No. 1937
CHAPTER 664

An act to amend Sections 399.13 and 454.5 of the Public Utilities Code, relating to electricity.

[ Approved by Governor  September 26, 2016. Filed with Secretary of State  September 26, 2016. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1937, Gomez. Electricity: procurement.

The Public Utilities Act requires the Public Utilities Commission to review and accept, modify, or reject a procurement plan for each electrical corporation in accordance with specified procedures, considerations, and objectives. The act requires that electrical corporations’ proposed procurement plans include certain elements, including a showing that the electrical corporations will first meet their unmet needs through all available energy efficiency and demand reduction resources that are cost effective, reliable, and feasible.
This bill would require electrical corporations’ proposed procurement plans to also include a showing that the electrical corporations (1), in soliciting bids for new gas-fired generating units, actively seek bids for resources that are not gas-fired generating units located in communities that suffer from cumulative pollution burdens and (2), in considering bids for, or negotiating bilateral contracts for, new gas-fired generating units, give preference to resources that are not gas-fired generating units located in those communities. The bill would require the commission, before approving a contract for any new gas-fired generating unit, to require the electrical corporation to demonstrate that it has complied with its approved procurement plan. Because this requirement would be a part of the Public Utilities Act and because a violation of an order or decision of the commission implementing its requirements would be a crime, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program by creating a new crime.
Existing law requires electrical corporations, in soliciting and procuring eligible renewable energy resources for California-based projects, to give preference to renewable energy projects that provide environmental and economic benefits to communities afflicted with poverty or high unemployment or those suffering from high emission levels of toxic air contaminants, criteria air pollutants, and greenhouse gases.
This bill would specify that the above requirements apply to all procurement of eligible renewable energy resources for California-based projects whether the procurement occurs through all-source requests for offers, eligible renewable energy resources only requests for offers, or other procurement mechanisms.
This bill would incorporate changes to Section 454.5 of the Public Utilities Code proposed by both this bill and AB 2454, which would become operative only if both bills are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is chaptered last.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

DIGEST KEY

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal Committee: yes   Local Program: yes  

Tuesday, October 04, 2016

AB 1550 Climate Investments for California Communities Act

Assembly Bill No. 1550
CHAPTER 369

An act to amend Section 39713 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to greenhouse gases.

[ Approved by Governor  September 14, 2016. Filed with Secretary of State  September 14, 2016. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1550, Gomez. Greenhouse gases: investment plan: disadvantaged communities.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation. Existing law requires the Department of Finance, in consultation with the state board and any other relevant state agency, to develop, as specified, a 3-year investment plan for the moneys deposited in the fund. Existing law requires the investment plan to allocate a minimum of 25% of the available moneys in the fund to projects that provide benefits to disadvantaged communities, as defined, and a minimum of 10% to projects located in those disadvantaged communities. Existing law authorizes the allocation of 10% for projects located in disadvantaged communities to be used for projects included in the minimum allocation of 25% for projects that provide benefits to disadvantaged communities.
This bill would instead require the investment plan to allocate (1) a minimum of 25% of the available moneys in the fund to projects located within, and benefiting individuals living in, disadvantaged communities, (2) an additional minimum of 5% to projects that benefit low-income households or to projects located within, and benefiting individuals living in, low-income communities located anywhere in the state, and (3) an additional minimum of 5% either to projects that benefit low-income households that are outside of, but within a 1/2 mile of, disadvantaged communities, or to projects located within the boundaries of, and benefiting individuals living in, low-income communities that are outside of, but within a 1/2 mile of, disadvantaged communities.
The bill would become operative only if AB 1613 of the 2015–16 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective on or before January 1, 2017.

DIGEST KEY

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal Committee: yes   Local Program: no

AB 197 State Air Resources Board: Greenhouse Gases: Regulations

Assembly Bill No. 197
CHAPTER 250

An act to add Article 7.6 (commencing with Section 9147.10) to Chapter 1.5 of Part 1 of Division 2 of Title 2 of the Government Code, and to amend Sections 39510 and 39607 of, and to add Sections 38506, 38531, 38562.5, and 38562.7 to, the Health and Safety Code, relating to air resources.

[ Approved by Governor  September 08, 2016. Filed with Secretary of State  September 08, 2016. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 197, Eduardo Garcia. State Air Resources Board: greenhouse gases: regulations.
(1) Existing law establishes the State Air Resources Board consisting of 14 members and vests the state board with regulatory jurisdiction over air quality issues.
This bill would add 2 Members of the Legislature to the state board as ex officio, nonvoting members. The bill would provide that the voting members of the state board are appointed for staggered 6-year terms and upon expiration of the term of office of a voting member, the appointing authority may reappoint that member to a new term of office, subject to specified requirements. The bill would require the state board to establish the initial staggered terms. The bill would create the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies consisting of at least 3 Members of the Senate and at least 3 Members of the Assembly and would require the committee to ascertain facts and make recommendations to the Legislature and to the houses of the Legislature concerning the state’s programs, policies, and investments related to climate change, as specified.
(2) Existing law requires the state board to inventory sources of air pollution within the air basins of the state and determine the kinds and quantity of air pollutants. The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 requires the State Air Resources Board to adopt regulations to require the reporting and verification of statewide greenhouse gas emissions and to monitor and enforce compliance with the act.
This bill would require the state board to make available, and update at least annually, on its Internet Web site the emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants for each facility that reports to the state board and air districts. The bill would require the state board, at least once a year at a hearing of the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies, to present an informational report on the reported emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants from all sectors covered by the scoping plan, as specified.
This bill would require the state board to make available, and update at least annually, on its Internet Web site the emissions of greenhouse gases, criteria pollutants, and toxic air contaminants throughout the state broken down to a local and subcounty level for stationary sources and to at least a county level for mobile sources, as specified.
(3) The act requires the board to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020. The act requires the state board to prepare and approve a scoping plan for achieving the maximum technologically feasible and cost-effective reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
This bill would require the state board, when adopting rules and regulations to achieve greenhouse gas emissions reductions beyond the statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit and to protect the state’s most impacted and disadvantaged communities, to follow specified requirements, consider the social costs of the emissions of greenhouse gases, and prioritize specified emission reduction rules and regulations.
This bill would require the state board, when updating the scoping plan, to identify specified information for each emissions reduction measure, including each alternative compliance mechanism, market-based compliance mechanism, and potential monetary and nonmonetary incentive.
(4) This bill would become operative only if SB 32 of the 2015–16 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective on or before January 1, 2017.

DIGEST KEY

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal Committee: yes   Local Program: no 

SB 32 California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006

Senate Bill No. 32
CHAPTER 249

An act to add Section 38566 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to greenhouse gases.

[ Approved by Governor  September 08, 2016. Filed with Secretary of State  September 08, 2016. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 32, Pavley. California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006: emissions limit.

(1) The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to approve a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020 and to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum, technologically feasible, and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
This bill would require the state board to ensure that statewide greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to 40% below the 1990 level by 2030.
(2) This bill would become operative only if AB 197 of the 2015–16 Regular Session is enacted and becomes effective on or before January 1, 2017.

DIGEST KEY

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal Committee: yes   Local Program: no

AB 2722 Transformative Climate Communities Program

Assembly Bill No. 2722
CHAPTER 371

An act to add Part 4 (commencing with Section 75240) to Division 44 of the Public Resources Code, relating to greenhouse gases.

[ Approved by Governor  September 14, 2016. Filed with Secretary of State  September 14, 2016. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 2722, Burke. Transformative Climate Communities Program.
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing law requires all moneys, except for fines and penalties, collected by the state board as part of a market-based compliance mechanism to be deposited in the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund and to be available upon appropriation.
Existing law establishes the Strategic Growth Council, which consists of the heads of various state agencies and certain other members, and requires the council to identify and review activities and funding programs that may be coordinated to improve air and water quality, improve natural resource protection, increase the availability of affordable housing, improve transportation, meet the goals of the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, encourage sustainable land use planning, and revitalize urban and community centers in a sustainable manner.
This bill would create the Transformative Climate Communities Program, to be administered by the council. The bill would require the council to award competitive grants to specified eligible entities for the development and implementation of neighborhood-level transformative climate community plans that include greenhouse gas emissions reduction projects that provide local economic, environmental, and health benefits to disadvantaged communities, as defined. The bill would require the council to develop guidelines and selection criteria for the implementation of the program. The bill would require the California Environmental Protection Agency to provide assistance in performing outreach to disadvantaged communities and assessing the environmental justice benefits of project awards.

DIGEST KEY

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal Committee: yes   Local Program: no  

Environmental Justice Law For California Local Government Land Use Planning

Senate Bill No. 1000
CHAPTER 587
An act to amend Section 65302 of the Government Code, relating to land use.

[ Approved by Governor  September 24, 2016. Filed with Secretary of State  September 24, 2016. ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 1000, Connie Leyva. Land use: general plans: safety and environmental justice.
(1) The Planning and Zoning Law requires the legislative body of each county and city to adopt a comprehensive, long-term general plan for the physical development of the county or city and of any land outside its boundaries that bears relation to its planning. That law requires this general plan to include several elements, including, among others, a safety element for the protection of the community from unreasonable risks associated with the effects of various geologic hazards, flooding, wildland and urban fires, and climate adaptation and resilience strategies. That law requires that the safety element be reviewed and updated, in the case of flooding and fire hazards, upon the next revision of the housing element after specified dates or, in the case of climate adaptation and resilience strategies, upon either the next revision of a local hazard mitigation plan after a specified date or on or before January 1, 2022, as applicable. That law also requires, after the initial revision of the safety element to address flooding, fires, and climate adaptation and resilience strategies, that for each subsequent revision the planning agency review and, if necessary, revise the safety element to identify new information that was not available during the previous revision of the safety element.
This bill would instead require a planning agency to review and revise the safety element to identify new information, as described above, only to address flooding and fires.
This bill would, in addition, add to the required elements of the general plan an environmental justice element, or related goals, policies, and objectives integrated in other elements, that identifies disadvantaged communities, as defined, within the area covered by the general plan of the city, county, or city and county, if the city, county, or city and county has a disadvantaged community. The bill would also require the environmental justice element, or related environmental justice goals, policies, and objectives integrated in other elements, to identify objectives and policies to reduce the unique or compounded health risks in disadvantaged communities, as specified, identify objectives and policies to promote civil engagement in the public decisionmaking process, and identify objectives and policies that prioritize improvements and programs that address the needs of disadvantaged communities. The bill would require the environmental justice element, or the environmental justice goals, policies, and objectives in other elements, to be adopted or reviewed upon the adoption or next revision of 2 or more elements concurrently on or after January 1, 2018. By adding to the duties of county and city officials, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
(2) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 65302 of the Government Code, proposed by AB 2651 that would become operative only if this bill and AB 2651 are enacted and become effective on or before January 1, 2017, and this bill is chaptered last.
(3) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.

DIGEST KEY

Vote: majority   Appropriation: no   Fiscal Committee: yes   Local Program: yes  

Thursday, September 22, 2016

So. Cal Air Regulators Should Not Ignore San Onofre Nuclear Plant

Air quality regulators are considering seeking an increase in vehicle registration fees for millions of Southern California drivers to help pay for smog reduction programs. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is burying its head in the sand though by not addressing the closure of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).  The amount of money they recommend to spend on an array of air pollution mitigation approaches could pay for one or two new nuclear power units.  It could also easily pay for a fix at SONGS (replacement of the steam generators -- cost approximately $1 billion each for two new steam generators).

Increasing annual vehicle registration fees collected from more than 10 million drivers across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties by $30 would generate an additional $300 million a year for pollution-reduction programs.  The South Coast air district currently collects $2 per vehicle in annual registration fees through the Department of Motor Vehicles.

A draft plan released in June by the South Coast district proposes cutting smog-forming emissions from cars, trucks, oil refineries, ports, logistics centers and an array of other sources largely through voluntary, “nonregulatory” measures that encourage, rather than force, polluters to adopt cleaner technology. The plan, which could go to a vote of the AQMD governing board as early as December, relies on finding $1 billion a year for emissions-cutting incentive programs — a 10- to 20-fold increase over what is spent today.

The plan targets ozone, the lung-searing gas in smog that triggers asthma and other respiratory problems. Ozone reaches the nation’s highest levels in Southern California’s inland valleys and mountains. To meet a key federal deadline for reducing the pollutant, the region must slash emissions of smog-forming nitrogen oxides by 2031.


To meet federal health standards, the region must cut emissions of ozone-forming nitrogen oxides to under 100 tons per day by 2031, or 55% beyond all existing regulations, from the current level of about 500 tons per day. 
Central to the plan is a proposal to spend $11 billion to $14 billion on emissions-cutting incentive programs over the next 15 years, a nearly 20-fold increase from the $56 million a year in incentive funds the district receives now.
The plan identifies some traditional regulations to cut pollution from industrial flares, as well as from cooking burners in homes and restaurants. It also includes a proposal for additional pollution cuts to a cap-and-trade program for oil refineries and other major facilities that is likely to face opposition from the petroleum industry. But the strategies for cutting emissions from facilities in the freight sector -- including ports, warehouses and rail yards -- would be executed on a voluntary basis.  (L.A. Times, 9/21/2016, L.A. Times, 6/30/2016))

Friday, August 05, 2016

Clean Energy Initiative Program Credits Sought for Low-Income Communities

The Environmental Protection Agency should require states to allocate at least half of all credits available under the proposed Clean Energy Incentive Program to projects in low-income communities
Advocates at an Aug. 3 hearing in Chicago also recommended the EPA adopt a flexible definition of “low-income community,” giving states and tribes wider opportunities to use the Clean Energy Incentive Program (CEIP) to address economic and demographic conditions within their control.

Environmental justice groups called on the EPA to develop rules emphasizing local control and local benefits for renewable projects receiving assistance. Such requirements, they said, would address the difficult legacy of environmental harm suffered disproportionately by Americans living in low-income and minority communities.

EPA will be accepting comments on the design features of the proposed incentive plan through Sept. 2.

Voluntary Measures Rewarded

The EPA's proposed Clean Energy Incentive Program (RIN:2060-AS84) rewards states with additional emissions allowances or emissions rate credits for early efforts to comply with the Clean Power Plan, which limits carbon dioxide emissions from the existing fleet of power plants. While the states are not required to participate, more than a dozen have called on the EPA to finalize the Clean Energy Incentive Program, permitting them to participate. The incentive program originally was designed to reward investments in wind and solar generation. In June, EPA adjusted the program by adding hydropower and geothermal generation to the criteria of projects eligible for emissions reductions credits.

Eligible projects would be granted two emissions credits for every megawatt-hour of electricity demand reduced through energy efficiency in low-income communities beginning Sept. 6, 2018, and one credit for each megawatt-hour of zero emissions generation for projects that begin commercial operation after Jan. 1, 2020. The EPA also would provide matching credits up to the equivalent of 300 million short tons of carbon dioxide emissions reductions to be distributed to states on a prorated basis.

Although the U.S. Supreme Court stayed implementation of the Clean Power Plan, pending judicial review. EPA believes it has legal authority to push forward on voluntary components of the plan, including the incentive program.  Community organizations and environmental justice groups are demanding changes to the incentive program to ensure that at least half the credits go to projects in low-income communities. (The Bureau of National Affairs, 8/3/2016)

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) Allowance Trading Rule Ends

Dear CAIR Designated Representatives and Authorized Account Representatives:

As you know, the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR) trading programs ended after 2014. This e-mail is to inform you that EPA will remove all remaining CAIR NOx ozone season and NOx annual allowances from all allowance accounts on Wednesday, August 10th, 2016. When the allowances are removed you will receive an e-mail confirmation report for your records.  After removal of these allowances, EPA will end account representative associations with CAIR for both compliance and general accounts in the CAMD Business System (CBS). A few items such as updating screens in the CBS will be finished later.

If you have any questions about these activities, please contact any of the following persons:
Paula Branch at (202) 343-9168 or branch.paula@epa.gov
Kenon Smith at (202) 343-9164 or smith.kenon@epa.gov
Robert Miller at (202) 343-9077 or miller.robertl@epa.gov

Janice Wagner, Chief
Market Operations Branch
Clean Air Markets Division

cc:

Alternate Designated Representatives
State Holding Account Primary Representatives
State Holding Account Alternate Representatives

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

Exelon Would Save FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant If NY State Approves Subsidies

Entergy aims to sell FitzPatrick nuclear plant by mid-August

Fitzpatrick plant.JPG
Entergy Corp. has confirmed that it is negotiating to sell the FitzPatrick nuclear plant in Oswego County to Exelon Corp. Entergy said it will close the plant in January, as previously announced, if the sale cannot be completed.

Entergy said in a news release that it aims to complete the negotiations with Exelon by mid-August. The transaction depends on approval by the New York Public Service Commission of a new nuclear subsidy program that was proposed Friday as part of the state's clean energy standard.

The proposed nuclear subsidy program, estimated at $482 million a year split between FitzPatrick and three other nuclear reactors in Upstate New York, still faces review by the commission. The PSC scheduled a brief 10-day period for public comments on the proposal, which would allow the commission to consider it at its Aug. 1 meeting.

Entergy announced in November 2015 that it would close FitzPatrick in January 2017 because the plant loses money. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, whose administration helped facilitate the negotiations, issued a statement today applauding the developments.

A sale to Exelon would require regulatory approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and others before it could be finalized.That process is likely to take nine months to a year, company officials said.  Entergy said it will begin preparations for both of the plant's possible futures -- a shutdown, or continued operation and sale. (Syracuse .com, 7/13/2016)

Monday, July 11, 2016

Subsidies for New York Nuclear Plants?

State utility regulators today released a proposal to subsidize Upstate nuclear plants with annual payments totaling an estimated $482 million a year. The public has a brief opportunity to comment -- until July 18 – an indication that the PSC is likely to rule on the proposal at its Aug. 1 meeting.


Note: Only Nine Mile Point and Ginna have one cooling tower each.
Exelon Corp., which owns three of the four Upstate nuclear reactors, recently told the commission that the oldest two facilities might close unless subsidies were approved by September.  The proposal unveiled recommends that the PSC sign 12-year agreements with nuclear operators, as Exelon had previously recommended. The subsidies would be set administratively by the PSC.

According to estimates provided in the proposal, the subsidies would start at $17.48 per megawatt-hour for the first two years and rise gradually to $29.15 per MWH in years 11 and 12. At the expected combined output of 27.6 million MWH for the Upstate nukes, the total cost would be up to $482 million a year during the first two years, rising to $805 million per year for the final two years.

Those estimates appear to anticipate the continued operation of the FitzPatrick plant, which is scheduled to close in January 2017. FitzPatrick typically accounts for more than 20 percent of the Upstate nuclear output. The subsidies are based on wholesale electric prices of about $39 per MWH. If future prices rise above that level, as the PSC staff expects, the subsidies will decrease commensurately.

The PSC staff argues that the cost, which would be borne by utility ratepayers, would be dwarfed by the benefits of preserving reliable sources of carbon-free electricity. The staff proposal estimates that continued operation of the nuclear plants provides benefits of at least $2.5 billion a year, including the societal benefit of preventing additional carbon emissions plus other positive impacts such as jobs and property tax payments provided by the nukes.

Nuclear operators have complained that wholesale electric prices are too low in Upstate New York to sustain the cost of operating nuclear plants. Entergy Corp. announced last fall that it would close the 850-megawatt FitzPatrick plant in Scriba in January 2017. Exelon told the PSC last month that the 620-megawatt Nine Mile 1 reactor in Scriba and the 580-MW Ginna nuclear plant in Wayne County might close next year too unless subsidies are approved soon. Nine Mile 1 is scheduled to be refueled next spring, a $55 million expense Exelon might forego if the plant is still losing money, company officials said.

According to a study by The Brattle Group, paid for by Exelon and Upstate Energy Jobs, the four nuclear power reactors in Upstate New York are responsible for $3 billion in economic activity and nearly 25,000 jobs.  (Syracuse. com, 7/8/2016)

Friday, July 01, 2016

Low Gasoline Prices at the Pump

The national average for gasoline is $2.29 a gallon. That’s 48 cents cheaper than last year on the same date and 4 cents cheaper than a month ago. Throughout 2016, prices nationally averaged $2.07, compared with $2.43 in 2015, $3.36 in 2014 and $3.50 in 2013.
The drop in price is a reflection of the huge worldwide surplus in crude oil. Production in the United States has jumped as companies used a process called fracking and horizontal drilling to extract oil from shale, while Iran saw its exports soar with the lifting of economic sanctions after it agreed to reign in its nuclear program. Iran’s reentry into the global market came as Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf region players continued to pump freely as well.
Crude is about $48 per barrel right now.  
Low gas prices ranged this week from $1.99 a gallon in South Carolina up to $2.90 in California.
Gas prices tend to be higher in the Washington area than the nation as a whole. Within the District, the average on Wednesday was $2.54 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.com, a website that tracks gas prices at 130,000 stations in the United States and Canada. Just over the D.C. border in Bethesda, prices topped $3. Prices were hovering around $2.40 in Silver Spring and $2.30 in Tysons Corner. Gas in Manassas is averaging above $2 and around $2.20 in Annapolis. It’s below $2 a gallon in Virginia Beach.  (Wash Post, 6/30/2016)

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

AAEA President A Featured Speaker at NBCC 24th Annual Conference


Johnson Publishing Sells Ebony to Clear View Group

Chicago-based Johnson Publishing has sold Ebony, its African-American lifestyle magazine, and the now digital-only Jet magazine to Clear View Group, an Austin, Texas-based private equity firm, for an undisclosed amount.  Johnson Publishing will retain its Fashion Fair Cosmetics business and its historic Ebony photo archives, which remains up for sale. The deal, which closed in May, also included the assumption of debt.
A family-owned business throughout its history, Ebony has documented the African-American experience since it first hit newsstands in 1945. It has shaped culture ever since, coming into its own as it reported from the front lines of the civil rights movement during the 1960s in powerful photos and prose.
In recent years, though, Johnson Publishing has seen declining media revenues as it struggled to evolve from print to digital platforms.
Linda Johnson Rice, chairman of Johnson Publishing and daughter of founder John Johnson, will serve as chairman emeritus on the board of the new company.
The new publishing entity, Ebony Media Operations, will maintain the magazine's Chicago headquarters and its New York editorial office, as well as much of the current staff, according to Michael Gibson, co-founder and chairman of African-American-owned Clear View Group.  It is the first investment in the publishing business for Clear View.
Cheryl McKissack, who has served as chief operating officer since 2013, will assume the role of CEO of the new publishing entity under Clear View, operating out of the magazine's Chicago office. Kierna Mayo is stepping down as editor-in-chief of Ebony to pursue other opportunities, Gibson said.
Chicago-based Kyra Kyles, who has headed up digital content for Ebony and Jet since last June, will add the role of editor-in-chief of Ebony, Gibson said.
Desiree Rogers, the former social secretary for President Barack Obama who has been steering Johnson Publishing since 2010, will remain CEO, focusing on the cosmetics business, which represents about half of the company's total revenue.
In January 2015, Johnson Publishing put its entire photo archive up for sale, hoping to raise $40 million. The historic collection spans seven decades of African-American history, chronicling everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to Sammy Davis Jr.  The collection is still for sale.  (Chicago Tribune, 6/15/2016)

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

SCOTUS Leaves Intact EPA Mercury Rule

The Supreme Court on Monday left intact a key Obama administration environmental regulation, refusing to take up an appeal from 20 states to block rules that limit the emissions of mercury and other harmful pollutants that are byproducts of burning coal. The high court’s decision leaves in place a lower-court ruling that found that the regulations, put in place several years ago by the Environmental Protection Agency, could remain in effect while the agency revised the way it had calculated the potential industry compliance costs. The EPA finalized its updated cost analysis in April.

Power plants are the largest source of mercury in the United States. Mercury is a neurotoxin that can damage children’s developing nervous systems, reducing their ability to think and learn. All told, for every dollar spent to make these cuts, the public is receiving up to $9 in health benefits.

In March, a month after voting againsy the Clean Power Plan — the Obama administration’s signature regulation on climate change — Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. rejected a separate request to stay the Mercury and Air Toxic Standards rule.

More than 20 states had joined a lawsuit opposing the MATS rule, arguing that the controversial pollution controls mandated by the regulation are too expensive relative to the health benefits.

The White House and environmental groups argued that the rule was not only economically sound, but also an important public health measure. Decades of mercury pollution from coal-burning also has contributed to elevated levels of the toxin in fish. In April, the EPA issued an updated analysis of the estimated costs and benefits of the regulations, arguing that the cost for the industry to comply would amount to a fraction of annual revenue and probably would not lead to steep increases in customer bills. As the fight over the MATS rule has worked its way through the courts in recent years, many utilities have already complied with the new requirements.  (Wash Post, 6/13/2016)