The recent ransomware attack that brought Colonial Pipeline—and nearly the entire East Coast petroleum product supply chain—to its knees highlighted operational issues where the terminal industry could help overall fuel supply resilience with assistance from regulators.

ILTA pressed EPA for temporary air emissions waivers related to landing floating roofs. Terminals must land the floating roof on the ground if product levels in the tanks diminish to the point that the roof is no longer floating on the surface of the stored liquid.

The Colonial Pipeline outage also made clear the importance of tanker trucks and terminals. The government responded to some issues, but it failed to address others. 

The Colonial Pipeline outage came amid a wave of new cyberattacks, with several more sophisticated and far-reaching than ever before. During the past year, roughly 2,400 ransomware attacks have hit corporate, local and federal offices.  

Movement on regulations and legislation could be slow. So, stepping into the current void of regulation, President Biden on May 12 signed an executive order focused on helping both the public and private sectors prepare and combat malicious cyberattacks.

ILTA has shone the spotlight on cybersecurity for its members during the past few years, and that work should aid the terminal industry in bolstering cybersecurity defenses and help ILTA in advocating on behalf of the industry with regulators and Congress as moves to increase mandatory regulations increase.  

The EPA has announced that it had begun a process to revisit regulation of air toxics associated with terminals, and have indicated they want to issue the rulemaking notice before the end of the year. ILTA has discussed the issue with API and AFPM to align industry comments. 

Following overwhelming bipartisan approval in late April of a $35 billion measure to clean up the nation’s water systems, and the unanimous Senate Environment and Public Works Committee approval on May 26 of a $311 billion highway bill, President Biden hopes to carry that spirit of cooperation to his ambitious multitrillion-dollar infrastructure package. Unfortunately for him, moments of cooperation in deeply divided Washington can be fleeting. 

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee held a confirmation hearing May 27 for Doug Parker, the Biden administration’s nominee to lead the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Parker now oversees the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health. Senators probed his lead role in developing Cal/OSHA’s COVID-19 emergency temporary standard, even as federal OSHA’s COVID-19 workplace safety rulemaking remains under review at the White House’s regulatory office. Parker also faced questions on how he would further President Biden‘s call for more enforcement of federal safety regulations and efforts to protect workers from retaliation when they raise concerns with employers or OSHA.

President Joe Biden has nominated Sylvia Johnson, Steve Owens and Jennifer Sass to serve as members of the Chemical Safety Board, which has operated for a year with only one of its five board seats filled. If the Senate confirms the nominations, the trio will join Chair and CEO Katherine Lemos on the board. Since May 1, 2020, Lemos has carried on as what she has called “a quorum of one” after the Kristen Kulinowski three months before her five-year term was set to expire. The CSB investigates major terminal accidents.

 

ILTA welcomed two new suppliers in May. A&B Environmental Services and Blackhawk Inspection and Consulting, Inc.

Reuters, May 12, 2021
Flush with $2.4 billion profits in the wake of Winter Storm Uri, Energy Transfer Partners is weighing their acquisition options in the chemical sector, co-founder and executive chairman Kelcy Warren said.

The Telegraph, May 21, 2021
Phillips 66 has awarded scholarships of $16,000 to five area high school seniors whose parents work for the company. To date, Phillips 66 has awarded more than $6.8 million in scholarships to more than 500 students across the country.

Environmental News Bits, May 12, 2021
Phillips 66 and Southwest Airlines, in a commitment to sustainable future energy, have signed a memorandum of understanding advancing research and development and the commercialization of a sustainable, lower carbon-intensity aviation fuel knows as SAF. 

 

ILTA contributed to a major victory for terminals in a PFAS firefighting foam bill in the state of Maine in late May, when its written testimony helped sway a legislative committee to exempt oil terminals from the bill.

Beyond its advocacy with federal regulators, ILTA offered several resources to help its members keep up to date as well as share and discuss operational issues related to the Colonial Pipeline outage.

Terminal members: If you didn’t get a chance to participate in the May 27 town hall on proposed ILTA member Environmental Sustainability and Governance commitments, please plan to attend Thursday, June 3, to ensure your voice is heard.

The International Liquid Terminal Association issued a press release May 21, touting its members’ preparations ahead of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 through November 30.

ILTA is delaying its Terminal Operating Practices Symposium until December to allow for an in-person meeting. The meeting is slated for Houston in early December. For the first time, ILTA will require terminal members vying for the Platinum Award, ILTA’s highest safety honor, to submit a TOPS proposal to qualify. A proposal might discuss an accident, a near miss, a new operational practice or even what the terminal learned during the recent Colonial Pipeline outage.

ILTA is excited to announce a new partnership with The Wyman Company to provide sponsorship and advertising sales support for the 2021 International Operating Conference and Trade Show in Houston on October 4-6, as well as year-round opportunities to reach ILTA’s audience.  

ILTA’s annual Safety Survey and Awards program is up and running again this year, with 46 companies having submitted their safety information so far. Due to multiple requests for extra time, ILTA has extended the deadline for the survey from May 19 to the end of the day June 24. As noted above, companies applying for the Platinum Safety Award must submit a TOPS presentation proposal; consideration for the Platinum award is based on submission, not selected, of the proposal. Platinum applications and TOPS proposals are due by the new deadline of June 4.

In May, ILTA’s Think Tank blog featured seven new additions on a variety of topics including: a deep dive into the Colonial Pipeline outage’s impact on terminals; moves afoot in Washington to address cybersecurity following the outage; a feature on President Biden’s new climate plan; an update on the infrastructure bill working its way through Congress, including the Republican counteroffer; a pitch for terminal members to submit their safety surveys; a proposal in Congress to require publicly traded companies to disclose climate-related metrics; and terminal preparedness for the upcoming hurricane season.

Register today for ILTA 2021, the association’s annual trade show and conference, scheduled October 4-6 in Houston. While walking the trade show floor remains free, all visitors must pre-register. Conference admission is deeply discounted now, so make sure to register early! For information about the conference and trade show—or to register—visit ILTA’s conference website at: https://ilta2021.ilta.org/

ILTA’s summer Environment, Health & Safety, and Security Committee meetings will be held virtually again from August 30 through September 2. We are continuing to develop a robust schedule as in previous iterations, so stay tuned for more information.