ME SCOOP: ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE SCREENING TOOL'S SOFT OPENING: The White House considers 93 million people living in 23,400 census tracts as disadvantaged under its Justice40 initiative, according to a beta of the Council on Environmental Quality's Justice40 screener that briefly published online Wednesday. The beta site, which was promptly taken down, outlined the White House's long-awaited methodology on determining what communities should be prioritized for environmental justice benefits. Activists have recently criticized the administration for what they see as a slow rollout of its EJ strategy and failing to adequately define who should be eligible for what. Under the draft screener, communities are considered disadvantaged if they are both low income and if they are at or above the 90th percentile for any one of the following:
- expected agriculture, building or population loss rate
- diesel particulate matter exposure or traffic proximity and volume
- proximity to hazardous waste facilities
- asthma, diabetes, heart disease or low life expectancy
- Energy cost burden score
- Housing cost burden
- Wastewater discharge.
There are other eligible criteria, including high school degree achievement, linguistic isolation, unemployment, percentage under the federal poverty level and median house value. All told, the number of people that qualify as disadvantaged amounts to roughly 28 percent of the U.S. population. President Joe Biden promised to steer 40 percent of the benefits from federal actions and spending to such communities. Read the full methodology here. What isn't included is any mention of race or ethnicity. Though environmental harms disproportionately impact communities of color and administration officials have evoked the challenges of people of color in discussing environmental justice, linking race to EJ benefits has garnered aggressive pushback from the right. During a House Natural Resources hearing on Democrats' flagship environmental justice bill, which includes specific provisions to protect communities from racial discrimination, Republicans argued that environmental harm was not a racial issue, with ranking member Garret Graves calling it a "conspiracy of racism." CEQ Chair Brenda Mallory has said the council wanted its methodology to weather any legal challenges that could arise if race was taken into account. She told NYT's Lisa Friedman that the tool could still connect "to what the on-the-ground impacts are that people are experiencing" using a "race-neutral criteria." A White House spokesperson said in a statement Wednesday night that the beta would publish publicly soon and that CEQ would continue modifying the tool based on feedback, adding that "for the communities we work with, this investment will be life-changing, and it cannot come soon enough." And the spokesperson said that "without question, race and racism are factors that have contributed to where pollution has been concentrated in this country and in determining which communities have been left behind by government investment, enforcement, and help. The environmental and socioeconomic data we are using in the tool will, by showing which communities are shouldering a disproportionate share of environmental burdens and climate risks, reflect this reality and this legacy of injustice." SLOW GAS: All eyes are on FERC today to see whether it changes the way it judges whether natural gas infrastructure projects get the greenlight. FERC is eyeing how it analyzes the need for proposed gas projects, including whether greenhouse gas emissions and environmental justice should get more weight. The agency's guiding policy statement hasn't been updated since 1999. What it decides will be hugely important for the U.S. LNG industry, which is planning to open new export facilities this year. EIA is forecasting that LNG export capacity at the end of 2022 will be 14 billion cubic feet per day — seven times what it was in 2016. But some are seeing signs that the Biden administration may be tapping the brakes on new projects at least for now. LNG industry officials are complaining that the DOE is sitting on applications to expand export facilities that they say should have been out the door months ago. Sempra, Magnolia and Venture Global are all awaiting approvals, but so far haven't heard a peep from DOE, people in the industry said. What is causing the delay was up for question, however. Some point to short staffing at DOE as the administration started up last year, and they are taking a wait-and-see stance. But others blame politics. "It's not a personnel issue. It's a policy choice," said one industry representative who has talked to DOE officials. "They have not yet determined their position on natural gas and LNG. Until they do so and determine what they want to do with life cycle emissions and the social cost of carbon for conditions of permits, they aren't going to grant any approvals." DOE didn't respond to questions. But it's easy to see any number of reasons they might be treading carefully. Political pressure from the left to rein in growing natural gas exports is increasing because of methane concerns, while rising domestic natural gas prices play into Republican campaign season talking points about inflation. All that collides with the White House's new found geopolitical influence from LNG exports, including as a tool to soften the potential damage in Europe if Russia shuts off its shipments. DOE is said to be conducting a review of how it determines whether an export project is in the national interest. All that could be contributing to DOE's delays, said David Goldwyn, a former Obama administration official now with the Atlantic Council. "That could set a higher bar for approval," Goldwyn told ME. "DOE has not given a date for when they might do it, and there's no indication that will be a priority." ZINKE ZAPPED: The Interior Department's watchdog found that former Secretary Ryan Zinke violated ethics agreements in his dealings with then-chairman of Halliburton, Dave Lesar, on a Montana land development project. The IG's report confirms what POLITICO's investigation revealed in 2018 on Zinke, whose discussions with the longtime-head of the oilfield services company centered on a development project next to land he controlled through a family-run nonprofit foundation — and that could have led to Zinke running a microbrewery on the site. The Inspector General found that Zinke made "inaccurate and incomplete statements" about his work with the foundation and had "extensive and in-depth involvement" on the 95 Karrow project, despite having previously claimed otherwise. The investigation didn't find evidence that Zinke violated formal conflict of interest laws or that the department granted Halliburton any favors, however, and though Zinke had Interior staff do work for the foundation, the inspector general also didn't find any supporting evidence that he had staff conceal his involvement in the project. Zinke has long since resigned from office, but the report isn't doing the former secretary any favors as he runs for Montana's House seat in this year's midterms. A campaign spokesperson dismissed the IG's damning report, saying "only in Biden's corrupt administration is talking to one's neighbor about the town's public meetings and history of the land a sin." House Natural Resources Chair Raul Grijalva, with whom Zinke frequently feuded, had requested the report back in 2018. He said in a statement the report revealed Zinke used federal resources for personal gain, and it "shows us yet again that former President Trump's appointees didn't view their positions at the highest level of our government as an opportunity to serve our country, but as an opportunity to serve the interests of their personal pocketbooks." Ben Lefebvre has more on the report for Pros.
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