July Recap-Time to Act
While Summer is usually a ‘time to take it easy,’ we have to say that for KCC, this month has been anything but slow. When lawmakers came back from their Fourth of July holiday, they were greeted by KCC lobbyists, making the rounds, where we have been discussing the latest developments on land conservation, toxics, and energy transition with members of the House and Senate. We are always eager to have constituents come with us on these visits, so if you are interested in meeting with your lawmaker, please contact us and we will be glad to accompany you.
Comments Needed:
Public Meetings on LG&E/KU energy plan
Five public informational meetings are planned in Louisville, Lexington, Harlan, and in Hopkins County on LG&E/KU’s request to retire four coal-fired electric generating units and three natural gas simple cycle combustion turbine units and replace them with two natural gas combined cycle facilities, two solar facilities, one battery storage facility, and four solar power purchase agreements. More on the proposal here. Each will feature an information session followed by an opportunity for comments. A virtual meeting will be held on August 15. The Kentucky Conservation Committee is a partner in the Kentuckians for Energy Democracy coalition, which has prepared background information for constituents and samples to help you with comments here.
In-person meetings:
Monday, July 31, 2023, 5:30 p.m. Eastern time: Frederick Douglass High School, 2000 Winchester Road, Lexington, KY
Thursday, August 3, 2023, 5:30 p.m. Eastern time: Harlan County Judge’s Office, 210 E. Central Street, #111, Harlan, KY
Monday, August 14, 2023, 5:30 p.m. Eastern time/4:30 p.m. Central time: Hopkins County Government Center, 56 N. Main Street, Madisonville, KY
Wednesday, August 16, 2023, 5:30 p.m. Eastern time: Louisville Free Public Library, Main Branch, 301 York St., Community Room 202, Louisville, KY
Virtual Meeting:
Tuesday, August 15, 2023, 4:30 p.m. Eastern time. Directions to participate will be on the PSC website https://psc.ky.gov/prior to August 15, 2023.
The PSC will hold a public hearing on the proposal Tuesday, August 22, 2023, at 9 a.m. Eastern time at 211 Sower Blvd., Frankfort, KY. Time is available before the hearing begins for public comments. The hearing will be streamed live on the commission’s YouTube channel.
Interim Session Highlights This Past Week
One lively committee discussion within the past week came from the Interim Joint Committee meeting on Natural Resources & Energy, where the Commissioner for Environmental Protection, Tony Hatton, shared information about the environmental impacts of Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS chemicals) in our waterways (presentation here) (Video of testimony here (starts at minute 15).
PFAS chemicals have commonly been used in consumer and industrial products such as non-stick cookware, food packaging, and firefighter foams. Their chemical bond is very strong and does not break down in the environment. They also migrate readily into groundwater and they accumulate in aquatic organisms.
During 2021, the Energy & Environment Cabinet released a report evaluating Kentucky source waters for PFAS substances. You may find the full report here. The Cabinet also collected samples from finished drinking water in 2019, where PFAS was detected in 41 of the 81 facilities tested. You may find that report here.
The bottom line was that Commissioner Hatton described that the Cabinet for now would be primarily focused on drinking water as a priority to protect public health. And that they would continue to be collecting data on source waters. This was described as a “moderate” approach while the Cabinet continues to collect data and while Federal rulemaking is anticipated in the near future.
However, several lawmakers pushed back on the Commissioner’s more moderate approach, noting the cumulative impact of PFAS chemicals in the environment.
You may recall that Rep. Nima Kulkarni has proposed PFAS legislation for several sessions now, — the most recent being House Bill 197 during the 2023 session. That bill would have required the Energy and Environment Cabinet to promulgate regulations establishing maximum PFAS limits and monitoring requirements for drinking water provided by public and semi-public water systems, and maximum PFAS limits and monitoring requirements for discharges into the waters of the Commonwealth, updated to protect public health. We urge you to help us by asking Rep. Kulkarni to re-file this bill and urge your Representatives to co-sponsor next session.
Assisting Agencies and Allies with Federal Grants and Initiatives
We’ve continued to stay busy this summer with the ongoing rollouts of programs through the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. On June 28, 2023, EPA released the $7 billion Solar for All Notice of Funding Opportunity. Through this competition, Solar for All will award up to 60 grants to states, territories, Tribal governments, municipalities, and nonprofits to expand the number of low-income and disadvantaged communities primed for residential solar investment—enabling millions of low-income households to access affordable, resilient, and clean solar energy. We have already been in contact with the Energy and Environment cabinet about this opportunity, but we would love to hear if you are working on solar projects for low-income communities.
We also want to highlight the “Powering Affordable Clean Energy” (PACE) program, where USDA Rural Development’s Rural Utilities Service (RUS) will forgive up to 60 percent of loans for renewable energy projects that use wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, or biomass, as well as for renewable energy storage projects. The PACE program is available to eligible applicants that generate electricity for resale to residents in both rural and nonrural areas. However, at least 50 percent of the population served by your proposed renewable energy project must live in communities with populations of 20,000 or fewer. To be considered for funding, you must first submit a letter of interest (LOI) from now through September 29, 2023, with applications processed on a rolling basis. Please contact us if you are aware of projects that may plan on applying for these funds.
Kentucky was recently awarded $570,500 from FEMA this year to reduce risk from future disasters through the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program. And KCC has been working with the Transportation Cabinet to provide information about the Wildlife Crossings Pilot Project through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that could assist with reducing road/wildlife collisions while addressing transportation infrastructure needs. But another federal program to take note of (through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law), is the “Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation” (PROTECT) grant program, which is structured around providing funding for building more climate-resilient transportation infrastructure. This program is targeting transportation infrastructure resilience in the face of extreme weather and natural disasters, and could be valuable in helping communities strengthen their infrastructure or plan for evacuation routes. We at KCC have already contacted the Transportation Cabinet about this grant program on behalf of our allies at the Sierra Club — but if you want to suggest areas of most need for a particular city, town or village, we’d love to work with you or direct you to some of our partner groups who are also doing outreach on these federal programs. Please contact us and we can steer you toward more resources.
More Reading and resources:
https://www.epa.gov/greenhouse-gas-reduction-fund/solar-all
Youtube Channel for the Legislative Research Commission here.
Pollinator Initiatives Progressing in Kentucky
During the interim time period, we at KCC try to make sure we take the time to make the rounds with state agencies and their programs. This past week, staff from the state’s Pollinator Protection Program, including staff from Fish & Wildlfe and Nature Preserves, held their most recent Pollinator meeting at the Louisville Zoo. Staff walked us through updates on the work happening around roadside pollinator projects, pollinator work in our forests, and updates on the state’s Wildlife Action Plan regarding insects. More on state actions around pollinators can be found here.
Nuclear Workgroup Update
KCC is one of twenty members of the state’s Nuclear Energy Development Working Group, formed from last session’s Senate Joint Resolution 79. The Group is tasked with identifying barriers in place to the deployment of nuclear power generation, develop recommendations for a permanent nuclear energy commission, and consult with impacted stakeholders on what the role of the permanent nuclear energy commission should be. The group held its second meeting this week, identifying a range of issues to explore and hearing from other states where a nuclear energy commission already exists. We also went through different regulatory, statutory, financial social, environmental, workforce and educational areas of concern relating to the development of nuclear energy or supporting industries in Kentucky. We will continue to keep you posted as this project progresses.
Cryptomining Update
Followers of KCC know that we have been addressing the high energy use of certain digital currencies (cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin) for some time due to several pieces of legislation that were passed during the 2019-2021 sessions to provide deep incentives to the industry. In the past year, several companies have applied for special “economic development rates” for their electricity use, as highlighted in this news release from last December. During the past few weeks, the Public Service Commission has now heard testimony on several of these cases for special rates for the mining cryptocurrency, with environmental interests represented by legal teams from our friends at Earthjustice and local representation from the Kentucky Resources Council. We will continue to follow the progress of these cases as part of our ongoing work to keep energy rates low in Kentucky.
Upcoming Events!
This Saturday! KCC will be tabling at this year’s Kentucky Heartwood Music Festival once again! We love participating in this family-friendly event every year. The event runs from 3-10PM at the Millville Community Center in Frankfort. Details here.
KCC’s screening of the Wild & Scenic Film Festival is coming back this fall so save the date! (Oct. 20th, live in Lexington at the historic Lyric Theatre and also virtual). We are finalizing our film lineup and we are accepting sponsorships for this year’s presentation. If you are part of a business that would like to be a sponsor for this year’s event, we’d love to have you!
Community Assistance Needed
Last week, western Kentucky was hit yet again with another unprecedented weather event with 11 inches of rain hitting Graves County, including Mayfield, after days of sporadic rain and thunderstorms. The Governor has declared a state of emergency. Our allies are reaching out to our partners like KCC with a CALL TO ACTION and an opportunity to support this region as they navigate this climate crisis. .
Crystal Fox, President of the Mayfield Minority Enrichment Center, shared: “This flooding has caused substantial damage… After gathering needs in the community, I've found those most impacted have been low-income, poor working-class, and those of the BIPOC community needing assistance with replacement of food, cleaning supplies, items possibly damaged, and vehicle and home deductibles.” Crystal also shared that many of those impacted were still living in temporary housing after losing their homes in the 2021 tornadoes.
If you wish to help, we encourage you to make a donation to support their efforts here, and please share with your networks.
KCC in the news —Our recent press coverage
These Governors Said No Thanks to Federal Climate Money, Washington Post, July 19, 2023, Quote from KCC
How Biden Steered Climate Money to Red States, EE News Climatewire, July 17, 2023, Quote from KCC
EPA Proposal Could Bring More Scrutiny to Toxic Coal Ash Ponds, Landfills in Kentucky, July 12, 2023 Quote from KCC