Terminal operators are required to conduct out-of-service inspections on certain tanks every 10 years, but the current, unprecedented demand for storage has meant that operators have been unable to empty tanks to conduct them. ILTA brought this situation to the attention of EPA in mid-April and, working with API and AFPM, has been seeking a solution that would allow in-service inspections of those tanks as an alternative.

The Senate on July 2 approved legislation from Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) to reauthorize for another three years a chemical security program that is set to expire in late July.

ILTA on June 24 submitted comments with EPA on the agency’s fuels regulatory streamlining proposal. Among other things, ILTA said it appreciated that EPA is seeking to simplify the current summer RFG VOC standard into an RVP per-gallon cap of 7.4 psi but is concerned about the proposed effective date of the rule.

ILTA submitted written testimony to the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, which held a hearing June 16 to examine the impacts of COVID-19 on the energy industry.

Energy demand will remain lackluster for the rest of the year, energy experts told a Senate panel June 16.

The U.S. Department fo Energy is reportedly exploring whether it should incorporate the Strategic Petroleum Reserve's ability to lease space during a crisis as a secondary mission for the reserve.

ILTA, as part of a broader coalition of business trade associations, filed comments with  EPA June 10, urging the agency to look at individual chemicals and their respective qualities, not broad classes of chemicals, as it continues its work on PFAS.

New Jersey will adopt stricter standards to limit PFOA and PFOS in drinking water and will require all operators of public water systems to begin testing for the chemicals by April 1, 2021.

The Senate, at press time, was getting close to introducing a COVID-19 stimulus plan to counter a May 14 House-passed bill that Senate Republicans dismissed as “dead on arrival.”

ILTA submitted comments June 4 to the Surface Transportation Board’s supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking on demurrage billing. The rulemaking centers on proposed minimum information requirements that Class I carriers must include in demurrage invoices. ILTA has been a party to the STB’s proceedings on rail demurrage and supports the previously proposed minimum information requirements and the additional requirements that the STB has included in the supplemental notice. In its comments, ILTA suggested some additional information in support of more accurate demurrage invoices.

A federal judge in San Francisco denied an 11th-hour request from a coalition of Democratic attorneys general to halt implementation of the Trump administration's controversial new definition of streams and wetlands that warrant federal protection.

President Trump signed an executive order June 4 to expedite infrastructure permitting to speed up federal approvals for new pipelines, highways and other projects to “accelerate the nation’s economic recovery” from the COVID-19 emergency. 

President Trump in early June vowed to campaign against Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairwoman Lisa Murkowski, after the Alaska Republican expressed doubts about supporting the president’s reelection bid. "Few people know where they'll be in two years from now, but I do, in the Great State of Alaska (which I love) campaigning against Senator Lisa Murkowski," Trump tweeted June 4. "She voted against HealthCare, Justice Kavanaugh, and much else..." Murkowski, up for reelection in 2022, had told reporters she was "struggling" with whether to support the President in November after his handling of Black Lives Matter protests in Washington, and applauded comments from former Defense Secretary James Mattis, who charged that the President is trying to divide the country.

 

ILTA welcomed Lake Charles, Louisiana-based 500 Projects LLC, as a supplier member. The company, www.500projects.com, specializing in piping inspections, issues resolutions, project management, procurement assistance, manufacturing and construction management.

CantonRep.com, June 15, 2020
The township of Canton, Ohio received a windfall last month when Marathon Petroleum bowed out of a tentative deal to purchase a local fire station, opting instead to gift the purchase price—$85,374—to the township.

Markets Insider, June 18, 2020
Tidewater Midstream and Infrastructure Ltd. along with its partner TransAlta Corporation announced last month they will purchase the Pioneer Pipeline to NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. for a cash total of $255 million. The Pioneer Pipeline includes a 120-kilometer, 20-inch pipeline connecting Tidewater's Brazeau River Complex to TransAlta's generating facility at Keephills.

 

Citgo Petroleum Corporation and MIPC LLC have captured ILTA’s coveted Platinum Safety Award, the association announced June 25. The two companies separately won a Five-Year Safety Milestone Award for sustained excellence in terminal safety performance.

ILTA has decided to conduct the fall meetings, initially slated for Boston, virtually because of the continuing coronavirus pandemic and member company travel restrictions.

Members of the International Liquid Terminal Association are prepared for the upcoming hurricane season—which the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center forecasts as more active than normal—with, emergency preparedness plans and ongoing communications with government, emergency response and industry partners, ILTA said in a press release June 1.

ILTA, in conjunction with the law firm Conn Maciel Carey, offered its members a webinar June 22 on Returning to Work Strategies: Workplace Health and Safety Implications of COVID-19. A total of 49 members participated in the webinar, at which Conn Maciel lawyers Aaron Gelb and Micah Smith discussed the need for companies to plan for a safe and healthy return of their employees, contractors and visitors back into the workplace as states begin to relax shutdown and stay-at-home orders and non-essential business begin to resume or ramp-up operations. Conn Maciel Carey is a boutique law firm focused on labor and employment, workplace safety and litigation.

About 65% of ILTA terminal members in a recent survey said they have begun transitioning employees—both in the field and in the office—back to normal shifts, albeit with accommodations and safeguards in place to protect workers. 

Registration is now open for the ILTA 2020 International Operating Conference & Trade Show in Houston November 16-18 in Houston! Now more than ever, terminal professionals must come together and focus on the future. Our conference and trade show provides terminal professionals with outstanding content and valuable tools to stay up to date with the latest trends, strategies and best practices. Attendees learn from industry experts, hear from dynamic speakers, and network with others from around the world. In addition, this year’s trade show will feature over 200 exhibiting companies from around the world to showcase the latest in equipment, technology and terminal industry services. Take a minute to register today!

ILTA, with contributions from AFPM and ACC, will host a three-part webinar series to help operators comply with and reduce the cost and operational disruptions arising from upcoming changes to the TWIC Reader Rule.

ILTA will continue to host separate webinars for both terminal members and supplier members in July.