EBI

In a 10 to 8 vote along party lines, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee has approved the nomination of Gina McCarthy to serve as the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), but a full senate vote on her nomination remains blocked by a hold, and supporters of McCarthy fear Republicans could engage in a number of maneuvers to delay that vote. During the committee vote, ranking minority member Senator David Vitter (R-LA) indicated that there has been “meaningful progress” in his efforts to get answers to some questions from McCarthy about the transparency of communications at EPA, but he is still suggesting that a filibuster of the vote on her appointment is a possibility if he doesn’t get all the answers he wants. Committee chair Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) told reporters after the hearing that, “if they insist on a filibuster, I’m going to have to get some Republican votes from colleagues over there who won’t follow that lead.”

Proposed rules recently issued by the U.S. Department of Interior will require oil and gas companies that engaged in hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” operations on federal lands to publicly disclosed the chemicals in their fracking fluids. The proposal replaces a previous draft that was criticized by the oil and gas industry as potentially deterring natural gas exploration and production (E&P) activity, but the new proposal is now being criticized by environmental groups as too weak, primarily by not requiring integrity testing of well heads and not requiring companies to disclose the chemicals in fracking fluids before those fluids are pumped into the ground. Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) maintains that federal rules governing the practice of fracking aren’t necessary, as state regulations and state-based tools such as FracFocus.org, a database providing information on thousands of drilling sites in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, and eight other states, are adequate to ensure responsible drilling.

Preliminary results from a survey of environmental consulting firms from around the world indicate that 2012 was a good year for the industry, with revenue growth averaging about 4.7%, according to the environmental market research and publishing firm Environment Analyst (London, U.K.). An initial analysis of more than 350 survey responses shows that nearly 30% of the companies represented enjoyed revenue growth of 10% or more, and that overall, the companies expect 2013 to be an even better year than 2012. Over the next five years, the best prospects by region appear to be in Africa (9.0% compound average annual growth), Southeast Asia and China (7.1%), and the Indian sub-continent (6.7%). The slowest growth rates will be in North America (2.6%) and Europe (2.0%), according to the data. Environmental impact assessment and sustainable development together constitute the fastest-growing service area, with reported average growth of 8.6% in 2012, followed by water quality and resource management at 7.4%.

Global engineering, procurement, and construction management firm WorleyParsons (Sydney, Australia) announced that it has been awarded two major “framework agreements” by BP Remediation Management, a unit of British energy giant BP, to provide cleanup consulting services for BP operations outside of North America. Under one of the framework contracts, called “BP Lighthouse,” WorleyParsons will provide support in the areas of business resilience and spill response planning. Under the other contract, called “BP Atlas,” WorleyParsons and joint-venture partner Golder Associates will provide remediation engineering, decommissioning, waste management, and other environmental services. The contract has a three-year term and will involve projects across BP’s upstream, refining and marketing, alternative energy, and shipping operations.

The Cadmus Group Inc. (Waltham, MA) has received a new contract from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to continue its work in helping GSA improve the operating performance of GSA-administered buildings nationwide. Under the five-year, $5 million contract, Cadmus and its technology partner Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC; McLean, VA) will guide improvements in the management of resources, such as energy and water, at 140 GSA properties, with the goal of reducing annual operating costs and improving the comfort and productivity of building occupants. Cadmus will use its propriety eVOL software platform to scale high-performance practices across the building portfolio, thereby reducing the duplication of effort required in achieving certifications, such as Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) ratings, on a building-by-building basis.