The First Facility Management Blog

On November 6, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 2868, the Chemical and Water Security Act of 2009, by a vote of 230-193. This bill reauthorizes the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) program to implement and enforce the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), which are currently set to expire in October 2010, and improves these standards in a number of ways. It also requires the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish parallel security programs for drinking water and wastewater facilities.

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security and lead sponsor of the legislation, released the following statement upon passage: “In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, security experts immediately identified the threat of an attack on a chemical facility as one of the greatest security vulnerabilities facing the Nation,” said Thompson. “After four years of hard work, this Congress finally got the opportunity to consider and pass this landmark homeland security bill. Passage of this legislation demonstrates the progress we make with a transparent process that is open to diverse viewpoints,” Thompson stated. “We can now ensure that this vital industry, and the population that lives around these facilities, are secure,” said Thompson.

H.R. 2868:

• Authorizes reasonable, risk-based security standards for chemical security.
• Closes a major security gap identified by both the Bush and Obama Administrations by establishing a security program for drinking water and waster water facilities.
• Requires all tiered facilities to assess “methods to reduce the consequences of a terrorist attack.” Plants that voluntarily perform these assessments, which are sometimes called “IST” assessments, often find that good security equals good business.
• Strengthens CFATS by adding enforcement tools, protecting the rights of whistleblowers, and enhancing training security.

An advanced motor technology tax credit promoted by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) has been included in the recently introduced Senate tax bill S. 1639, the Expanding Industrial Energy Efficiency Incentives Act. Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Finance Subcommittee on Energy, introduced the bill before Congress adjourned for its August recess.

This tax credit provides $120 per horsepower to original equipment manufacturers and end users for the substitution of advanced motor systems with adjustable speed capability, like permanent magnet, electronically commutated, or switched reluctance motors, as well as other technologies as determined by the secretary of energy in redesigned equipment and appliances. The tax credit is estimated to provide between $400 and $600 million in direct tax incentives for the purchase of more efficient products.

“I am thrilled that the tax credit has been included in the bill,” said NEMA President and CEO Evan R. Gaddis. “These newer, high end technologies will provide enormous energy savings in the industrial sector.”

S. 1639 is likely to be adopted into the Senate’s comprehensive energy bill, which also contains NEMA’s “crush for credit” motor rebate program and NEMA’s motor assessment.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES), which just passed the House in a close vote, is being seen by many energy and environmental advocates as an important step forward towards the comprehensive approach needed to reduce climate emissions and increase clean energy usage in the United States. As the Senate takes up its version of this legislation, Senators are being urged to build on the work of the House and strengthen the legislation to create accelerated reductions in carbon emissions, a faster phase out of dirty coal plants, and greater funding of clean energy sources.

The ACES bill, the first climate change bill to reach the Congress, includes the following key elements:

• Clean energy: promoting renewable energy, low-carbon transportation fuels, electric vehicles, and the smart grid and electricity transmission;
• Energy efficiency: increasing energy efficiency across all sectors: buildings, appliances, transportation, and industry;
• Global warming targets: placing limits on emissions of heat-trapping pollutants with a goal of reducing carbon emissions by 80% by 2050;
• Economic transitioning: protecting U.S. consumers, and promoting green jobs during the transition to a clean green economy.

Climate change legislation may also include a new lighting standard. Liz Sidoti of the AP reports:

Aiming to keep the focus on climate change legislation, President Barack Obama put a plug in for administration efforts to make lamps and lighting equipment use less energy.

“I know light bulbs may not seem sexy, but this simple action holds enormous promise because 7% of all the energy consumed in America is used to light our homes and businesses,” the president said, standing alongside Energy Secretary Steven Chu at the White House.

Obama said the new efficiency standards he was announcing for lamps would result in substantial savings between 2012 and 2042, saving consumers up to $4 billion annually, conserving enough energy to power every U.S. home for 10 months, reducing emissions equal to the amount produced by 166 million cars a year, and eliminating the need for as many as 14 coal-fired power plants.

The president also said he was speeding the delivery of $346 million in economic stimulus money to help improve energy efficiency in new and existing commercial buildings.

Green America (formerly Co-op America), a nonprofit consumer and business membership organization founded in 1982, is encouraging the Senate to strengthen the bill through:

• Greater funding and a faster timetable for a transition to clean energy sources, particularly solar and wind, which will reduce carbon emissions and increase green jobs.
• Retention or expansion of the EPA’s authority under the Clean Air Act to clean up dirty coal plants.
• Reduction of allocations for polluting companies. Polluters need to pay for their pollution in order to fund increased investment in clean energy and green jobs.
• Establishment of greenhouse gas emissions caps that achieve a 25% reduction below 2005 levels by the year 2020.
• Nuclear power needs to be excluded as a clean energy source. Nuclear power is low-carbon, but with environmentally damaging uranium mining radioactive waste, proliferation potential and safety hazards, it is not clean energy.

“The world needs real U.S. climate leadership. ACES is a start, but we have a long way to go for legislation that addresses the scale and scope of the climate crisis,” states Todd Larsen, Green America’s director of corporate responsibility. “We look to the Senate to really step up to the plate. The future of our economy and our society hangs in the balance.”

House passage of ACES is seen by many as the first step toward building U.S. political will to address climate change. Strong U.S. action to cut greenhouse gas emissions and to invest in renewable energy will be crucial to the global movement addressing climate change and to the success of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December of this year.

On December 13, 2008, New York Governor David Paterson signed legislation to increase the collection and recycling of plastic carryout bags from large stores and retail or grocery chain stores across the state. Originally passed by the State Legislature in June, the bill was held up by a potential conflict between the state law and a more expansive bag recycling law passed by the City of New York in January.

Beginning on January 1, 2009, many New York State retail stores are now required to recycle plastic carryout bags or face fines from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. Stores that “knowingly and intentionally” violate the law will be given a warning for their first violation. A second offense prompts a fine of up to $100. Stores with offenses beyond that will receive fines of up to $500.

The new law applies to stores that have more than 10,000 square feet of space; chains with more than five stores in the state and each having more than 5,000 square feet of space or stores have at least 50,000 square feet of space in a mall.

Those stores must provide bins to collect used plastic bags and then recycle the bags themselves. The stores must also keep records for three years detailing the amount of bags collected and recycled.

With this recycling law in place at the state level, local governments are pre-empted from adopting their own laws on this issue. The state legislation initially threatened to preempt New York City’s law, and would have reduced the number of city stores required to accept bags from consumers for recycling. However, Governor Paterson announced an agreement on legislation that “grandparents” in the city’s plastic bag law, so as to allow it to remain in full force and effect.

In a recent report from the American Chemistry Council, it was found that recycling of plastic bags and wraps increased 24% nationwide in 2006. The recent legislation passed in New York, along with laws passed in California and a number of large cities is expected to increase the amount of plastic bags and wraps diverted from landfills and turned into new consumer products, such as durable decking, fencing, railings, shopping carts, and new bags.

This guest commentary comes from George Ahn, president and CEO of TRIRIGA.

Cities across the nation are accelerating the implementation of more stringent green building legislation—take Mayor Newsom of San Francisco, for example, who just signed what’s being called the “nation’s most aggressive green building legislation.” If you take a look at the energy platforms for both presidential candidates, you’ll see that nationwide legislation is not far behind.

Obama vows to establish a goal that would make all new buildings carbon neutral by 2030; he also hopes to establish a national goal of improving existing building efficiency by 25% over the next decade.  McCain proposes a cap-and-trade system that would set limits on greenhouse gas emissions and force companies to pay for excess carbon emissions. 

The bottom line is that green building legislation is coming—and companies, their CEOs, their SVPs of Real Estate, and their facilities managers need to get ready. Rather than waiting for the specific details around “how much” and “how strict” the legislation will be, executives and managers need to be asking themselves, “How do I start measuring my carbon footprint so I’m prepared when the legislation is passed?”

If corporate executives do not have a factual representation of their carbon footprint today, they cannot possibly benchmark for the future and stand up to government scrutiny and audits.  As legislation moves forward, all companies will be held accountable for their carbon footprints, so why not start measuring now before the demands are in place?

The problem is that most companies today cannot measure their carbon footprints, let alone say how they will go about reducing them.  With the right measurement system—and these technologies are already on the market—the benefits can outweigh the costs because energy savings will kick in and investors, customers, and regulators will stand by companies that can back up their green-building talk with real data.

For more information on carbon footprint measurement visit this link.