Energy & Environment — US takes steps on environmental justice enforcement

The Biden administration is taking steps to advance equity as it pursues environmental crimes, while lawmakers are talking tax credits in their bipartisan climate push. 

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DOJ unveils new environmental justice strategy

The Justice Department announced on Thursday that it will create a new office focused on environmental justice.

Historically, many polluting projects have been located in minority neighborhoods, exposing these communities to additional health risks.  

In addition to the office, the department also announced that it would use a new environmental justice strategy.

A new approach: Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said the department’s environmental justice strategy would involve prioritizing enforcement of environmental laws and civil rights statutes. 

She also said it will direct the DOJ to prioritize cases that reduce environmental harm for overburdened communities. 

And it directs the new Office of Environmental Justice to work with communities that have been the victims of environmental crimes and requires all 93 U.S. attorneys across the country to designate an environmental justice coordinator to find “areas of concern” in their communities. 

The SEPs are back: The department also said it would restore the use of supplemental environmental projects (SEPs), in which, as part of a penalty for violating environmental laws, polluters can choose to subsidize projects that help clean up the environment. 

The Trump administration had terminated their use. 

Last year, the Justice Department issued a memo that withdrew nine Trump-era directives, including its restrictions on SEPs.

Justice Department spokesperson Wyn Hornbuckle clarified that the prior memo withdrew the restrictions “pending a review” and that the issuance of Thursday’s new interim rule completes that process. 

The background: While on the campaign trail, President Biden pledged to make environmental justice a central theme of his administration. Since taking office, he has launched the “Justice40” initiative, stating that 40 percent of the benefits of government climate and clean energy investments should go to historically disadvantaged communities. 

Read more about the new moves here.  

LAWMAKERS LOOK AT TAX CREDITS IN BIPARTISAN PUSH 

A third bipartisan climate meeting on Capitol Hill focused in on energy tax credits, lawmakers said late Wednesday. 

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) said lawmakers were looking at tax incentives, including benefits for wind, solar, electric vehicles, nuclear and carbon capture, which seeks to prevent emissions from burned fossil fuels from going into the air. 

“Just about everything you can think of that’s been proposed in [the] course of the last couple of years,” he told reporters. 

However, the North Dakota Republican acknowledged that not all of the credits will end up in a potential package.

“The next step is to look at all of these technologies, have somebody explain to us what are the incremental emissions reductions, because clearly we just can’t fund all of these,” Cramer said. 

Biden officials plan purchases to replenish oil reserve

The Department of Energy announced Wednesday it will solicit bids to buy 60 million barrels of oil to help start to replenish the record release from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) that President Biden approved earlier this spring to address high gas prices.

The bidding process will begin in the fall, with a goal of replenishing about one-third of the 180 million barrels released in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. 

The department said in a statement that it has timed the buyback and subsequent delivery for when it projects oil prices to have dropped significantly. It did not offer details on when delivery will take place.  

The specifics: The department said it will take steps to loosen buyback regulations to allow competitive bidding rather than the usual index-pricing system used for SPR sales. The buyback is separate from revenue-raising SPR sales mandated by Congress, which the department predicted will total around 265 million barrels between fiscal years 2023 and 2031.  

Biden in late March announced the biggest-ever release from the SPR — 180 million barrels over six months — to offset price spikes that began months before and were exacerbated by the war in Ukraine. Before that, the administration had announced smaller SPR releases of 30 million barrels in March and 50 million in November. 

Read more about the announcement here. 

YES TO NOPEC? 

The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday advanced a bill that aims to alter antirust laws to allow the U.S. to sue OPEC, a group of oil-producing nations, over alleged price manipulation.

The bipartisan bill passed in a 17-4 vote.  

The White House’s position on the bill is unclear. 

Asked about the bill, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Thursday, “I don’t have an official position on this legislation right now, but we do believe that the potential implications and unintended consequences of this legislation require further study and deliberation.” 

WHAT WE’RE READING

• Russia to Use Nord Stream 2 at Home as Europe Shuns Its Gas (Bloomberg) 
• CEQ makes top environmental justice hire (E&E News) 
• US is recycling just 5% of its plastic waste, studies show (The Guardian) 
• OPEC+ agrees to another modest production increase after EU outlines Russian oil ban (CNBC) 
• Vermont’s proposed environmental justice bill clears the House (VTDigger) 
  
  

That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Check out The Hill’s Energy & Environment page for the latest news and coverage. We’ll see you tomorrow.

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