FROM: Jim Harris
JINDAL PREPARES…Gov. Bobby Jindal has been meeting this week with lawmakers in preparation for the February 10th special legislative session. Media reports indicate he is receiving input on his ethics agenda from legislators before drafting his bills. See enclosure.
BUDGET CUTS…Gov. Jindal’s Commissioner of Administration Angele Davis has sent out a memo to all departments of state government asking for a list of the “lowest performing activities” that utilize state resources and called for justification of why those activities should continue. In essence, Ms. Davis wants those lists to cumulatively account for at least 25 percent of each agency’s funding. In other words, she’s asking the departments to come up with cuts of 25 percent in their budgets for next fiscal year. The same memo told the departments they will absorb the same 6 percent increase in Group Benefits costs, despite that increase being built in to preliminary funding recommendations set by the Blanco administration. Ms. Davis said that despite $2.4 billion in surpluses and extra funds, the state needs to begin preparing for “leaner times.” She said revenues are predicted to decline beginning in 2010-11. This request followed on the heels of an earlier Jindal executive order freezing hiring and requiring any state department seeking to replace an employee to get approval from Ms. Davis.
REPORTS ISSUED…Gov. Jindal’s Economic Development Advisory Council’s Environmental Working Group issued its report this week. The report includes nine recommendations, including one calling on the secretary of the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to consider appointing an environmental task force to meet with the secretary and his staff.
The governor’s Economic Growth Advisory Council Natural Resources Working Group issued its report this week, as well. There were eight recommendations from this group, including one to aggressively and publicly oppose an oil and gas processing tax as anti-business.
There were eight recommendations made to the governor by the Economic Growth Advisory Council’s Workforce Working Group. Among the recommendations, a request for shifting responsibility for identifying workforce needs to the regional level and leveraging business leadership in setting priorities.
CONGRESSIONAL RACES…New poll results show state Sen. Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, and Slidell Mayor Ben Morris as frontrunners for the 1st Congressional District seat recently vacated by newly elected Gov. Bobby Jindal. The poll, conducted by MRI, a marketing research company, is the only poll to be released since St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis said he would not run for the seat. The poll, commissioned by Morris, shows 27 percent of would-be voters in favor of Scalise, and places Morris, the former three-term Slidell Chief of Police, with 22 percent of vote. State Rep. Tim Burns and Jefferson Parish Councilman John Young trail with 6 percent and 12 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, the field of candidates continues to grow in the 6th Congressional District race to replace recently retired Rep. Richard Baker, R-Baton Rouge. Andy Kopplin, D-Baton Rouge, previously served as the director of the Louisiana Recovery Authority and chief of staff for both Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Gov. Mike Foster, notified his friends and family this week via e-mail that he intends to run for the post. Livingston Parish Assessor Jeff Taylor, a Republican, announced that he will not run for the spot, while his fellow Republicans Laurinda Calonge, a New Roads business owner, former state Rep. Woody Jenkins, and Paul Sawyer, a former Baker aide, have all made known their intentions to seek the office.
LA REPUBLICAN DELEGATE ELECTIONS…Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere says more than 10,000 Republican voters met at 11 locations earlier this week to choose the 2008 delegates to the Louisiana Republican Convention, which will elect nearly all Louisiana’s delegates to the Republican National Convention. Preliminary results show that 105 state convention delegates ran on an uncommitted slate. Delegate candidates endorsed by U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, appear to have won more state convention delegate positions than any other specific presidential candidate’s slate at the caucuses.
TANK FARM…The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has approved permits for a controversial tank farm in St. John Parish. The proposed facility has been the focus of the project by nearby residents for over a year. See enclosure.
RESOLVE TO SOLVE…The Sierra Club is preparing a major campaign to fight Entergy Louisiana’s proposal to convert the Little Gypsy power plant in St. Charles Parish from natural gas to coal-fired and a proposal by NRG to build new coal stacks at the Big Cajun power plant in Point Coupee Parish. The group will hold an organizational meeting this week to discuss its campaign, called “Resolve to Solve.” The Sierra Club says it will conduct rallies, publicity events, call-in days to CEOs, and other activities. The Sierra Club’s conservation organizer, Eli Rosenfeld, claims the health impacts on the projects in the state would be “catastrophic.” Rosenfeld alleges that childhood asthma rates will rise and mercury emissions from facilities will result in infertility in women and neurological disorders in developing children. He says the campaign will be run out of the Baton Rogue office of the Sierra Club.
SURPRISE GIFT…The Iberville Parish school board got a pleasant surprise this week as Shintech donated $40,000 to the board’s proposed program to provide hands-on science training to students. See enclosure.
LNG…The Golden Pass LNG receiving and regasification terminal in the Beaumont/Port Arthur, Texas area will be in operation in 2009. The receiving and regasification terminal is being set up under an agreement signed among Qatar Petroleum, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips. According to a spokesman, “Within two years the facility will meet a third of the gas imports to the US.” The Golden Pass LNG facility will include two ship unloading berths, five LNG storage tanks, regasification facilities and a transmission line connecting the terminal to the existing US pipeline infrastructure. The new pipeline will have a daily capacity of 2.5bn cubic feet, feeding into Texas, Louisiana, and other states.
INDUSTRY REPORT…The Wall Street Journal this week reported on the economics of the U.S. chemical industry. See enclosure.
CLEAN WATER REFORM…Gambit Weekly, the New Orleans publication, carried a story this week on the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality’s Clean Waters Program. See enclosure.
BRCC CAREER DAY…Baton Rouge Community College (BRCC) is planning a Career Fair for the environmental and engineering technical associate degree programs on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. The Career Fair is intended to promote student awareness of and interest in the new curricula by having members of industry answer questions and discuss both internship and permanent job opportunities at their respective companies. Dr. Jodale Ales at BRCC is going to have a flyer printed up announcing the Career Fair and would like to include participating company names on the flyer. He is looking for additional participants. If your company might be interested, call Linda Cummings, Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure, Inc. at (225) 987.7412.
MORE LATER…
Enclosure #1
The Advocate • Baton Rouge, LA • January 24, 2008
Jindal meets daily on session
Disclosure among topics
By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
Baton Rouge – The Advocate
Published: Jan 24, 2008 - Page: 1A
With less than three weeks until a special session on ethics laws, Gov. Bobby Jindal is meeting with legislators almost daily at the Governor’s Mansion.
A handful of lawmakers said Wednesday that the gatherings generated talk of legislation to put a $50 ceiling on meals that lobbyists buy for legislators and limited financial disclosure requirements for local officials.
Under current law, lobbyists can treat legislators to dinners that cost more than $50 as long as they fulfill state disclosure requirements.
However, legislators also said that the meetings were more of an opportunity for them to say what’s on their mind than for them to get a peek at the governor’s legislative package.
Jindal’s chief of staff, Timmy Teepell, said the meetings are designed to be a dialogue.
“It’s a lot of listening and discussing,” he said.
Some legislators applauded the governor for asking for their input on the changes that will be pushed in the Feb. 10 session.
“I was very encouraged by the governor’s willingness to listen to what the legislators had to say,” said state Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge.
Others made the observation that the power-point plan they were shown basically was broad bullets from Jindal’s campaign platform.
“When we were invited to the mansion, I was anticipating seeing a piece of legislation,” state Sen. Butch Gautreaux said.
Gautreaux, D-Morgan City, added that including lawmakers in discussions about the session probably increases the chances of Jindal’s legislative package succeeding.
House Speaker Jim Tucker, who attended three of the gatherings, credited Jindal with doing an excellent job of communicating with legislators about broad themes.
Jindal’s package will include greater financial disclosure requirements for lobbyists and tighter restrictions on freebies for legislators, said Tucker, R-Terrytown.
Some type of financial disclosure will be demanded of local elected officials, perhaps in a separate piece of legislation, Tucker said.
“I wish we had more detail at this moment and time, but that’s a function of the process,” he said.
Tucker, one of Jindal’s chief legislative leaders, said he expects work on Jindal’s legislation to begin next week.
“I think they’re working on honing down the details,” he said.
Before his Jan. 14 inauguration, Jindal assembled an advisory council to suggest proposed changes to the state’s ethics laws. The council recommended ending legislators’ free tickets to sporting and cultural events and requiring most elected officials to disclose their personal financial standing in ranges.
The governor said he will not necessarily include all of the council’s suggestions in his special session package.
In a meeting at the mansion last week, Jindal said it would be onerous to adopt a blanket rule against lobbyists buying legislators a cup of coffee, Gautreaux said.
A more likely change would be a ban on lobbyists treating a legislator to a meal that costs more than $50, Gautreaux said.
The restriction would be $50 per meal, per legislator, he said.
“Maybe Ruth’s Chris will adjust its menu (prices),” Gautreaux quipped, referring to the pricey steak restaurant’s reputation as a political meeting place.
State Rep. Bodi White, R-Central, said ceilings of $75 and $100 per meal also are being discussed.
“It’s hard to buy a dinner for $45, $50 (that includes) a glass of wine,” White said.
State Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, said one of the topics at the meeting she attended was which local elected officials to include in financial disclosure requirements.
One suggestion, she said, was to exclude officials with relatively few constituents from the requirements.
Gautreaux said legislators appear resigned to having to disclose their personal finances.
He said he hopes it will be in broad ranges that protects legislators’ privacy.
“I have no problem showing where my income comes from but we’re all a little reticent about showing the world all of our personal information,” Gautreaux said.
Enclosure #2
L’Observateur • LaPlace, LA • January 11, 2008
Tank farm gets DEQ permits
Opponents relegated to fight over buffer zone
L'Observateur
Friday, January 11, 2008
By KEVIN CHIRI
LAPLACE - Necessary permits for Safeland Storage, LLC to construct a tank farm in the Garyville/Mt. Airy area were approved this week by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).
Safeland spokesman Danny Guidry confirmed to L’Observateur that his firm was notified by DEQ that air and water permits were approved for the tank farm, which will be constructed on 400 acres of land to the west side of Garyville.
Guidry said that land clearing should begin within two weeks for the administrative building, and Phase I of the tank farm, which will include 27 tanks on the far west side of the building. No further permits are necessary to build the tank farm, since state permits are all that are needed, according to St. John Parish Attorney Jeff Perilloux.
“The parish doesn’t have the expertise to evaluate industrial sites, so when a company gets DEQ permits, that is all that is needed,” he said. “Once the state issues the permits, we go along with the project.”
The tank farm has been a matter of controversy with a group from Garyville and Mt. Airy, as an organization named Safe Our Neighborhood has fought it from the beginning.
However the DEQ permits now give Safeland the right to move forward with the project, leaving Safe Our Neighborhood the prospect of having to go to court to stop it.
While opponents of the project originally were fighting to stop the tank farm entirely, the key issue more recently came down to ensuring there was a large buffer zone on the east side of the property, where Garyville and Mt. Airy residential sits.
Guidry said his company will adhere to the parish regulation of 600 feet of buffer zone from the edge of their property. Currently there is a piece of land 300 feet deep from present residential to the Safeland property, meaning that for now there will be a 900 foot buffer for those who already live in those areas.
“We have said from the beginning that we are trying to do all we can to work with the neighborhood and make our project the best it can be, in terms of not affecting anyone in the area,” Guidry said. “The thing I will say to the people in the area closest to the tank farm is that when we have it constructed, you will not even know it will be there since there is 600 feet of woods on that buffer zone.”
Phase I of the tank farm will be a $200 million project, with Phases II and III adding $175 million investment to the area, which won’t begin for five years.
Carl Monica, head of Save Our Neighborhoods, said his group is also upset since parish officials did not look into the additional concern of a Diversion Canal that was supposed to be built through the property, which would have brought river water to the swamp.
“The parish officials have never given us a dialogue about this and now we’re forced into a position of just having to compromise and fight for the best buffer zone we can get,” he said. “I blame the politicians more than anyone for this happening. It’s just not the American way to not even get our voice heard.”
Monica said he will forward information about the permit OK to the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic, which became interested in the tank farm, and see if they, or any other agency wants to seek court action to stop the project. However he said his group is not currently planning on a lawsuit.
Guidry said his group is intent on hiring as many local people as possible, and already has received “very impressive resumes” from many people around here.
“We should get five to six people who have worked in industry in this area with 30 years experience or more, and overall we have already gotten 50 to 75 resumes,” he added.
Guidry said his group is also looking into building an additional levee on the east side of the property, to add additional insurance that nothing will affect the people of Garyville and Mt. Airy.
“We will naturally have the required dykes around each tank as we must build, but we are looking into building an extra levee all along the east side of the property for extra protection to the people here,” he said.
Guidry said Safeland will still buy the $750,000 fire truck promised to the Garyville department, although they will have to donate it to the parish to follow proper rules so that it can then be donated to the Garyville department.
Additionally, he said, Safeland will donate money to recreation facilities already in the works for Mt. Airy.
Enclosure #3
The Advocate • Baton Rouge, LA • January 23, 2008
Board receives $40,000 for enrichment program
Baton Rouge – The Advocate
Jan 23, 2008
Roy Pitchford
PLAQUEMINE — The main item on the agenda Tuesday night for the Iberville Parish School Board was discussion of the draft of the proposed Master Plan for Achievement, prepared by Superintendent Ed Cancienne. But board President Melvin Lodge asked to move discussing plans for Camp Discovery to the top of the agenda instead, and board members agreed.
Special Projects Coordinator Elvis Cavalier reviewed plans for the summer enrichment science program, then told board members the program would cost the board nothing.
David Wise, site manager for the Shintech Louisiana LLC plant on the Iberville-West Baton Rouge line, and for the $2 billion plant being built south of Plaquemine, then walked to the microphone and presented the board with a check for $40,000, the total cost of the program.
Cavalier said school officials reviewed 300 applications for high school student workers who would have jobs with the program and chose 87 for training.
He said three teachers would be hired for each of six sites for Discovery Camp.
Elementary school students would spend June in the program, experiencing hands-on science training, and Cavalier said he hopes to have 1,500 participants.
Enclosure #4
Wall Street Journal • New York, NY • January 22, 2008
Companies' Results Could Be Helped By Foreign Presence
Wall Street Journal
By ANA CAMPOY
January 22, 2008; Page A11
With growing weakness in U.S. housing and auto sales -- two of the chemical industry's biggest sources of business -- fourth-quarter results will offer a window into who in the industry is positioned best to weather a U.S. downturn.
Much of the answer will lie in how much business chemical companies have been able to shift overseas to lessen their dependence on the U.S. With the U.S. economy faltering, U.S. chemical companies will be leaning harder on their overseas operations.
THE RIGHT MIX
- Ripple Effect: Chemical companies face pressure from slowdowns in the U.S. auto and housing industries.
- Looking Abroad: Some chemical firms have prospered because of overseas operations.
- What's Ahead: Results from the fourth quarter could show which firms are best prepared.
As providers of America's building-block materials, chemical companies are a bellwether industry, and slumping sales in housing and autos have been deflating chemical and plastic sales for several quarters. If the economy sinks into a recession this year, the U.S. operations of chemical makers could become a bigger drag on earnings.
High prices for oil and natural gas, basic raw materials for chemicals and plastics, have added to the squeeze on profit since those costs couldn't be passed along to clients in the slumping economy.
"Whichever way you cut it, we are going to see some sort of a slowdown," says Hassan Ahmed, an analyst with HSBC Securities Inc. "What then becomes more important is non-U.S. exposure." Shares in most chemical companies have been trading down in the past year, with the stock of companies most dependent on U.S. sales hurting the worst.
DuPont Co., due to report fourth-quarter results today, said earlier this month that its 2007 earnings will be higher than it had expected. It said sales from its global agriculture business and other operations in developing international markets will help offset weakness in the U.S.
In the third quarter, U.S. sales made up $2.4 billion of DuPont's $6.7 billion in total sales.
Celanese Corp., Dallas, raised its outlook for 2007, partly on strong business in Europe and Asia. Paint and chemical firm PPG Industries Inc., which reported earnings last week, beat the drooping housing market in the U.S. with double-digit sales growth in Asia and Latin America.
Analysts have a dimming view of companies that rely on the U.S. for the bulk of their sales. Companies like Georgia Gulf Corp. and Westlake Chemical Corp. are likely to post weak results in the fourth quarter and this year because of exposure to the U.S. housingmarket as rising product supplies push prices down, HSBC's Mr. Ahmed said. He said he expects Georgia Gulf to post a fourth-quarter loss and Westlake to record lower profit for 2007. Georgia Gulf's stock fell more than 60% last year, while Westlake's fell about 40%.
Most chemical companies have been building plants and opening offices abroad for decades. But overseas investment kicked into high gear at the beginning of this decade as natural-gas prices shot up and companies like DuPont and Dow Chemical Co. followed their customers -- manufacturers -- to developing countries where operating costs were lower. Those low-cost locations have become major markets, spurring more investment to serve a growing customer base. By the third quarter, the international share of DuPont's world-wide sales had jumped to 64%, compared with 55% in 2003. Dow's international revenue now accounts for about 65% of its total sales, up from 57% in 2001.
The push for international expansion is accelerating as the U.S. economy stumbles. As U.S. car makers struggle, Dow is stepping up efforts to get more business from their Japanese rivals. Last year, Dow moved the head of its auto division from Michigan to Japan and opened a research-and-development center there. In Eastern Europe, Dow is trying to increase its sales in construction and has opened a plant near Moscow to supply insulation products in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
DuPont also is building its business in Eastern Europe. Last year, it opened new offices in Serbia and Bulgaria. In India, it launched a printing center to promote products and train clients. And in China, it formed a joint-venture with a local biotech firm to research genes in plant seeds.
For Celanese, growth is in Asia. Last year it started a plant in China to make a chemical used in food sweeteners, textiles and paints. That should boost the company's fourth-quarter profit, due for release Feb. 5. Celanese predicts half of its profit will come from Asia by 2010, up from about one-third currently.
Companies that place big bets abroad run the risk that a recession in the U.S. will spread. But even accounting for that, business in the rest of the world this year is likely to be much more brisk than in the U.S., analysts say.
Enclosure #5
Gambit Weekly • New Orleans, LA • January 22, 2008
Watershed Reform
New Orleans Gambit Weekly
By Sarah Andert
January 22, 2008
During the next four years, Louisiana's body politic will have the opportunity to effect watershed reform " literally. This month marks the kickoff of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's Clean Waters Program, a reworking of current water-monitoring programs to improve the quality of water bodies across the state. Currently, more than three-fourths of all surface waters in Louisiana are considered 'impaired," according to Chris Piehler, director of the state's Clean Waters Program. Piehler says that assessment is based on data collected from local rivers, streams, lakes and bayous; the data are measured against criteria set by the Environmental Protection Agency under the federal Clean Water Act.
The problem of water impairment isn't new. As part of her 2004 environmental agenda, then-Gov. Kathleen Blanco tasked DEQ with finding a way to reduce the number of impaired waters across the state. Blanco's goal was to restore 80 impaired water bodies so that they could be fished again and 25 impaired water bodies to allow swimming " all by the year 2012. DEQ, delayed by the 2005 hurricanes, has now resumed its focus on water impairment.
The state has been pressed to clean up local water bodies since passage of the Clean Water Act in 1972, but development in rural areas across Louisiana since then has increased the amount of pollution going into local waters. A growing population along a bayou or stream means a change in what constitutes safe levels of discharge from individual households in that area, for example. Unlike waste discharged by businesses and factories, household pollution is largely unregulated.
The state Clean Waters Program will provide a coordinated focus to the task of restoring impaired water bodies by utilizing existing water-monitoring programs and developing new ones, while also taking a closer look at causes of impairment for individual water bodies. It's not just the surface waters that should be of concern, Piehler says. The entire watershed " the surrounding region where rainfall lands and drains to a river, stream or bayou " must be studied in order to determine the cause of a water body's impairment.
In the past, DEQ approached the issue of water-quality management within a broad, programmatic context " a top-down approach " but now it hopes to shift gears and start from the bottom up. 'In reality, each of the almost 500 watersheds throughout the state isunique, and many have different issues affecting their ability to attain the designated uses of fishing and swimming," Piehler says.
The causes of impairment are so diverse that a fix requires working within each individual watershed and interacting with local residents. DEQ hopes that approach will facilitate legislative and/or community action by cultivating local support for water-monitoring and water-quality improvement programs.
'We really need these types of efforts to be owned by the folks in the watershed " local involvement in local environmental programs, if you would " because they are in the best position to know what their problems are and to make the decisions that will affect a change for that community," Piehler says.
Piehler cites one example in Bayou Lafourche where, if local citizens agree to adopt a centralized sewage system for everyone along the bayou, they could reroute wastewater effluent away from the bayou and use it to fertilize adjacent wetlands. This method of fertilization has been shown to promote wetland restoration and also would keep pollution out of a main drinking-water source for the community.
Locally, the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation has been instrumental in monitoring the water quality of the lake and its tributaries. After it began testing the lake's water in 2001 for things like oxygen, salinity and bacteria levels, the group noticed that one of its sites, the Bogue Falaya River, had unusually high levels of bacteria. 'We felt like we couldn't just point the finger and not do anything about it," says Andrea Calvin, program coordinator for the foundation. 'That's when we put together a program that would start to address it on a watershed level."
The foundation launched an intensive water-monitoring program up and down the entire watershed to determine sources of the high levels of bacteria. This often meant going door-to-door to seek out the source.
The foundation discovered that smaller plants and businesses, often newly constructed, had fallen through the permitting cracks. They might have a permit from the Department of Health and Hospitals that complied with sanitary codes, but not one from DEQ to discharge into state waters. Since then, the foundation has worked closely with area businesses to implement pollution-reduction technologies and to create partnerships between the companies and local and state regulatory agencies.
'From 2002 to 2004 in the Bogue Falaya and Tchefuncte watersheds, we actually found to our surprise that we had measurable improvements on eight streams in a three-year period," Calvin says. 'It even surprised us that it could happen so quickly."
'A pollution source that happens when rainfall falls to the earth, runs off farms, fields, streets, lawns, cities and rural areas, and eventually flows through the watershed into the waters is not regulated," says Piehler. 'There are no or very few regulatory controls on that, so making changes within a watershed to affect [this type of] pollution is often necessarily a voluntary effort on the part of those in the watershed."
The Clean Waters Program also will provide a means for measuring success and reporting progress to the EPA, which has been providing funding to DEQ to administer the Clean Water Act. The EPA has agreed to pay for eight additional DEQ employees to provide coordination and focus to the program during the next three to four years. Piehler is finalizing the draft plan for the program and hopes to have it underway by the end this month.
'The beauty of this plan is that there are many very effective programs already in existence, already functioning, but as time has gone by the number of [pollution] sources in the state has increased tremendously, while the programs in place to minimize pollution and reduce effects on water quality have remained static in terms of the amount of money [and] resources we have," Piehler says. 'So we have to be a little bit smarter about how we spend our resources. This is an effort to add a couple of bells and whistles to enable a focus specifically on the watersheds so that all of these existing programs can work more efficiently."
