IPSWICH Open burning begins Jan. 15, and a burn permit is required to be in compliance with state law, fire Chief Andy Theriault has said.

Residents with matches can apply for permits online. There is a $10 fee to acquire a burn permit.

Residents who have already obtained permits need to visit the Ipswich Fire Departments online activation page to activate their permit on the day they plan to burn.

Residents will then be informed if burning is allowed that day and instructed to leave their address, as listed on the permit.

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The requirement to check in each day is based on changing atmospheric and weather conditions, such as wind or air dryness. The departments on-duty shift commanders will make a determination before 9 a.m. each day whether burning will be allowed in town.

Violations of the permit requirements, open burning law, and/or open burning regulations will be grounds for permit revocation.

According to Massachusetts law, anyone found burning without a permit may be subject to criminal charges, the punishment for which is a fine of up to $500 plus the cost of suppression or by imprisonment for up to one month, or both.

Open burning must be done:

Residents are allowed to burn:

You may not burn:

Theriault said resdients can help prevent wildland fires by burning early in the season. Wet and snowy winter conditions help hinder the rapid spread of fire on or under the ground, he added.

April is usually the worst month for brush fires. When snow recedes, but before new growth emerges, last years dead grass, leaves and wood are dangerous tinder, the fire department announcement said.

The fire department advised:

Anyone with questions regarding opening burning should call the Ipswich Fire Department at 978-356-4321.

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Open burning begins today, permit needed - The Local Ne.ws

Pacific Gas and Electric keeps electricity flowing through 81,000 miles of overhead distribution power lines. This happens across the cities and over the mountains of PG&Es service area from the Pacific Ocean to the Sierra Nevada, Eureka to Bakersfield, according to their website.

Common sense says maintaining the lines day after day, year after year, decade after decade is a feat of planning and hard work.

Another important requirement by all the states utility companies is keeping the thick forest and woodland brush under the lines cut back. The brush has been accumulating for 100 years of fire suppression in the ranges and mountains across California.

Common sense says wildfire loves big fuel.

The Karuk Tribe in Siskiyou and Humboldt counties want to help. They wrote a report with a plan to maintain corridors under PG&Es distribution and service lines in the areas of their towns.

Distribution lines are the in-between carriers that relay stepped-down, high voltage electricity from transmission lines to the service lines that connect to the customer structure..

Written with a grant from the PG&E Resilient Communities Foundation, the Karuk plan is simple: lower the risk of dying by uncontrollable fire in and around the remote towns of Orleans and Somes Bar, and do this by clearing power line corridors, and then burning the brush in cooler, wetter months with small, strategic fire.

The report was co-authored by Bill Tripp, who is director of the Tribes Department of Natural Resources, and Kari Marie Norgaard, a professor at the University of Oregon with background in environmental studies, biology and climate change.

Before European descendants arrived along the mid-Klamath River, the Karuk used fire to enhance the environment and to keep fuels in the mountains under control and prevent large conflagrations.

More: 'It was like Armageddon:' Happy Camp families recount escape from Slater Fire

They did this by lighting small, short term fires in mosaic patches, at successively higher elevations, starting in spring and continuing through summer and fall. Fire renewed and maintained the health of the world, it enriched Karuk foods and provided the best quality materials for clothing, tools and ceremonial items. In an interview, Tripp said villages on both sides of the river near present-day Orleans coordinated their burning.

For example, burning leaves in black oak stands lowered fuel levels and was good for the acorns, which the deer like, Tripp said. They wouldnt wait after a fire, theyd come down and would roll around in the burned duff as soon as it cooled off.

The Karuk used smoke, too.

Salmon need cold water, and the Karuk knew that because there is more moisture content in burnable materials in the high country, they could burn at higher elevations and manage the fire. They did this for various other environmental reasons but a primary purpose was to shade the river with the smoke cloud and lower the water temperature. Doing this protected the salmon and promoted migration up river, according to the Tribes Climate Change Adaptation Plan

A century ago, many Karuk were stopped from using fire. They were also stripped of the ability to manage their lands as they always had, and replaced by new managers the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs.

These agencies decided that to avoid large fires they would suppress fire. That meant all fire. Laws were enacted forbidding use of fire on the land, and tribal people were sometimes killed for this, as late as the 1930s, according to an article Tripp wrote for the Guardian.

Despite the hard road, the Karuk focused on reclaiming the lives they choose to live and managing the environment with fire as they have done for the thousands of years theyve lived along the Klamath, according to the Adaptation plan.

They also bought small areas of land, mastered the permit processes, satisfied NEPA and CEQA regulations and, in the 1990s, began combining modern science with traditional uses of fire on their properties, according to Tripp.

In 2018, with the managed fire plan, the Karuk were ready to enlarge the scope of their burning to more strategic managing of the fuel load under the power lines, Tripp said.

With the grant, they gathered data along 41 miles of power line in and around Orleans and Somes Bar. They identified 104 sites in need of initial clearing and then follow-up maintenance. Of the 104 sites, 28 were deemed high risk and in immediate need of clearing; and 41 sites were medium risk.

The report/plan consists of planning and administration, the cutting the trees and bushes under the lines and around power poles and transformers, burning brush in cooler months at safe distances from the infrastructure and ongoing maintenance.

One such site visited by a reporter was up from a treed road on the edge of a meadow, just outside Orleans. Clearing and burning had been done in November around a pole and transformer at the base of a brushy hillside. A service line from the pole swung across the narrow road to a house.

Were doing this ourselves because this is our place, Tripp said. Were trying to fashion a system where we can work with PG&E and other partners, especially where it benefits their infrastructure.

Their report describes how fire starts under electrical lines and other infrastructure in remote, mountainous locations.

Distribution and service lines can ignite because of the mechanical failure of transformers and other equipment, when lines or conductors are close enough to cause arcing, when unmaintained vegetation comes in contact with a line, or when a fallen tree or branch downs a power line.

More: If dams are removed, will there be water for firefighting? KRRC says yes, with new plan

More: How people misbehaving contributed to wildfire chaos in California, Oregon

A tree or a branch that falls on two lines can create an arc between the lines and cause sparks, Tripp explained.

After clearing the land under the lines and around poles, tribal crews collect the brush in small piles. Then, during times of year when moisture content allows for slow-burning, low fire, the material is burned.

Tripp described the difference between the Karuks use of fire and the clearing that power companies perform, one of them being the use of herbicides.

PG&E has implemented treatments around poles weed eating or the application of herbicides. Other places along the highway, they use the CCC (California Conservation Corps) to come in and weed cut around poles.

We dont use herbicides. There are a lot of resources out there on the land that our people use. This infrastructure lies within two miles of our villages. So we dont want herbicides on food and other things that people use. Its poison, our tribal law bans it. Using fire to maintain the landscape is consistent with our culture, Tripp said.

Another PG&E practice the Karuk want to improve on is leaving cut vegetation on the ground because it becomes fuel for a low burning fire directly under the lines.

In response to Karuk concerns, PG&E marketing and communications spokesperson, Lynsey Paulo, wrote in an email that PG&E trims overhanging limbs and branches above power lines and removes hazardous vegetation such as dead, diseased, dying or defective trees that could harm power lines or equipment.

However, neither PG&E nor its contractors has the authority to remove wood because the trees on customers land are their property. As a courtesy, tree crews cut larger limbs into more manageable lengths and leave wood on-site for customer use, Paulo said. Also, customers can request removal of wood debris at no cost.

More: Clean up after Slater Fire underway in Happy Camp

More: Montague double wide destroyed in early morning blaze

The Karuk are working on raising the money to fund an endowment for their plan. This was helped considerably by a follow-up grant from the PG&E Resilient Communities Foundation, which Tripp described as an additional gift to the Tribe for grant writing and fund raising. With the money, the Tribe hired a professional grant writer and a fund raiser.

The goal is to raise $1 million for the endowment. Tripp said this amount would generate enough annual interest to grow the endowment and pay for carrying out the plan. The endowment would also fund the more comprehensive and long-range Climate Change Adaptation Plan. When implemented, this plan seeks to repair and renew the mid-Klamath environment and provide a strategy which the Karuk believe would go farther at lowering the risk, long-term, of catastrophic fire.

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Karuk have a plan to lower risk of fires - Siskiyou Daily News

JAKARTA An upgrade to a road that cuts through one of Southeast Asias last great swaths of intact rainforest is driving deeper encroachment by humans into blocks of forest that may spread into a national park.

The road runs 36 kilometers (22 miles) between the districts of Karo and Langkat in Indonesias North Sumatra province, and for a long time was no more than a dirt track, a 4.1-km (2.5-mi) stretch of which runs through Gunung Leuser National Park.

Authorities recently upgraded the road, paving it over with asphalt, despite calls from UNESCO not to do so. The national park is part of a wider UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Its also part of the Leuser Ecosystem, the last place on Earth where critically endangered rhinos, tigers, elephants and orangutans still coexist in the wild but which has also been eaten away at in recent years by human encroachment for oil palm cultivation and illegal logging.

More than 450,000 hectares (1.1 million acres) of the Leuser Ecosystem have been deforested, leaving 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres) of intact rainforest as of 2019, according to data from the NGO Forest, Nature and Environment of Aceh (HAkA).

Activists say they fear more forests and habitat of key species will be lost in near future the newly paved road provides easier access into previously untouched forest areas, eventually carving into the national park itself. The Bukit Barisan public forest park, a neighboring block of forest that isnt subject to the same degree of protection as Gunung Leuser National Park, has already been impacted by the upgrades to the road, groups say.

The forest park has lost 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) of its tree cover for houses and coffee plantations, according to monitoring by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the countrys largest green group. Officials say the people clearing the forest are evacuees forced out of their homes by ongoing eruptions of the nearby Mount Sinabung volcano. They say these people have set up houses and plantations inside the 51,000-hectare (126,000-acre) public forest park by taking advantage of the new access opened by the upgraded road.

The number of households dotted around the road when it was still a dirt track was 31, according to official data, but mushroomed to 296 in 2019, following the paving.

Sean Sloan, a scientist at James Cook University in Australia who carried out a study in 2018 on the impact of infrastructure development in the wider Leuser Ecosystem, said its only natural for settlements to start appearing after a road has been upgraded.

The history of the Leuser Ecosystem evidences that settlement occurs widely and seemingly illegally along roads once theyre asphalted and made well, he told Mongabay. And so to make another road along the ecosystem further improves the point.

Dana Tarigan, director of Walhis North Sumatra chapter, said he suspected many of the settlers who have encroached into the public forest park arent Sinabung evacuees, but rather part of an organized land grab using the volcanic eruptions as cover to clear the forests and occupy the land.

In the beginning, there might have been evacuees [among the people who moved into the area], but it has turned into an organized crime and the evacuees are being used as a shield, Dana told Mongabay.

He added that the rate of forest clearing 1,200 hectares in just two years was far too intensive to have been carried out by a group of a few hundred impoverished evacuees.

What tools do they use to cut down such a large area? he said. What kind of evacuees, who supposedly have nothing, could encroach into 1,200 hectares of forest?

Some of the settlers have begun selling the land they cleared, making from 30 million rupiah ($2,100) per hectare for an empty lot, to 150 million rupiah ($10,600) per hectare for land planted with crops like coffee.

There have been underhanded dealings going on, with illegal settlement by people from outside Karo, Dana said.

To date, the forest incursion has been confined to the Bukit Barisan public forest park. But as the amount of cleared area expands, the settlements are now less than a kilometer (0.6 miles) from Gunung Leuser National Park. A local activist keeping track of the encroachment says in some areas the land clearing is within a few dozen meters of the national park.

That means its only a matter of time before people started cutting into Gunung Leuser National Park, Dana said.

The incursion is already affecting the regions rare and threatened wildlife, including orangutans. In 2020, there were at least two reports of orangutans seen fleeing from forest areas being cleared.

Muhammad Yusrizal Adi Syaputra, a law lecturer at the Medan Area University in Medan, the North Sumatra capital, carried out an analysis of the road project and its impacts. He said there was a potential for a decline of 28-36% in bird and mammal populations within a 2.6-km (1.6-mi) radius of the road, and a 25-38% decline within a 17-km (10.5-mi) radius.

Sloan said that while the recently upgraded road itself might not cut through the core of the Leuser Ecosystem, its still a major concern.

As far as random roads go, its probably not the most detrimental, but it fits into a larger pattern of laxed regulation, indifference, and piecemeal destruction, he said.

The worst-case scenario is if the road cuts off an area of forest, isolating it entirely, according to Sloan. He adds theres a specific area of forest in the national park that could be easily isolated this way from the rest of the park.

It might house a few dozen orangutans, but that population would die out if the forest becomes isolated, Sloan said.

In its 2020 World Heritage Outlook report, the IUCN also noted the presence of Sumatran orangutans close to the Karo-Langkat road.

Sumatran orangutan, which are critically endangered are known to inhabit the area of the road and therefore the road will likely fragment its habitat, the IUCN said in the report.

Sloan said he was surprised that the proposal to upgrade the road had been approved under UNESCOs watch, given that the U.N. body had recommended the Indonesian government to cease all infrastructure projects that might threaten Gunung Leuser National Park. The park is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site called the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (TRHS) that has been listed as a World Heritage in Danger since 2011 due to serious and specific infrastructure threats.

In 2013 and 2018, the IUCN conducted monitoring missions to assess the state of the TRHS, including threats and the required corrective measures. The two missions highlighted the Karo-Langkat road as infrastructure that required immediate attention as it bisected Gunung Leuser National Park, including areas frequently used by tigers, elephants and orangutans.

Based on the result of the missions, UNESCOs World Heritage Committee requested the Indonesian government stay committed to not building any new roads within the TRHS and to ensure any road upgrades are only permitted if they could be shown to not cause any negative impact on the areas Outstanding Universal Value.

But in 2018, the IUCN mission learned that two road upgrades inside the TRHS had been recently approved without environmental impact assessments, including the proposal to upgrade the Karo-Langkat road through the national park.

The proposal was made by local officials and lawmakers, who said the road had to be upgraded to develop the local economy and provide an evacuation route in case of natural disasters. In 2016, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry rejected the proposal on the grounds that Gunung Leuser National Park is a World Heritage Site.

After years of trying to get the project approved by the central government, the local government finally managed to obtain a letter from the environment ministry in 2018 that greenlit the project as long as an academic study was conducted first.

Based on that letter, the provincial government allocated 14 billion rupiah ($981,000) for the project in 2018, and construction began shortly after that. But Gunung Leuser National Park authorities reportedly blocked the project, triggering protests from local communities and officials.

Baskami Ginting, the speaker of the North Sumatra provincial legislature, said the letter from the ministry should have been enough for the project to proceed. After the initial objection from the national park authorities, the project resumed and now had been completed.

The IUCN expressed concern over the completion of the project in its report, saying the government had ignored the committees call to not proceed with these upgrades until environmental impact assessments had been undertaken.

Medan Area Universitys Yusrizal said the road wasnt lacking only a proper environmental impact assessment, but also a legal basis.

Its better if the environment ministry gives a permit, but it has to be clear, such as a permit to construct a road, Yusrizal told Mongabay. But until now, I havent found the legal basis [for the road construction]. Ive just found a cooperation agreement to construct the road.

The national park authority says it is working with the Ministry of Public Works and Housing to ensure that the UNESCO-requested strategic environmental assessment and mitigation plan is prioritized in its 20202021 work plan and budget.

Banner image: A Sumatran orangutan with a leaf in its mouth. The Leuser Ecosystem is home to roughly 85 percent of the species remaining population. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

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Deforestation spurred by road project creeps closer to Sumatra wildlife haven - Mongabay.com

Siya Ram Raya Yadav, son of 72-year-old farmer Narayan who died from heart attack in Kathmandu a day after agitating sugarcane farmers ended their protest on December 28, is facing financial ruin.

The Yadav family had been selling the sugarcane they grew on their five bighas (1.2 hectares) of land to Annapurna Sugar Mills on credit for years but since the sugar mill did not pay them on time, Narayan was forced to borrow money for the familys expenses and eventually had accrued more loans than the mill owned him.

The principal and interest on the loan the family owes to its creditors stands at Rs2.5 million. The mill has since paid Siya Ram Rs2.1 million out of a total Rs2.4 million dues.

But I have nothing left now, said Siya Ram from Chotaul of Dhankaul Municipality in Sarlahi. We are planning to sell a piece of land to clear the banks loan.

Sugarcane farmers had come to the Capital from December 13 to protest for the second time demanding that their outstanding dues be cleared. They called off their two-week-long protest on December 28 following assurance from the government that mills would pay them within 21 days. The deadline ends on Monday.

It was after the agreement was signed that Siya Ram got some of the payment as other farmers too have, according to the government.

Of the Rs 2.1 million Siya Ram received, he said he spent Rs1.2 million to organise his fathers funeral and Rs700,000 of the outstanding bank loan was paid.

Narayan Regmi, joint-secretary and spokesperson for the Industry Ministry, said based on their record, sugar mills have paid 85 percent of the outstanding dues to the farmers.

Still 15 percent is remaining, he told the Post. The sugar mills have been gradually paying and I hope they will clear it all.

But sugarcane farmers refute this claim.

Rakesh Mishra, patron of the Sugarcane Farmers Struggle Committee, which still exists despite the end of protests, said farmers have not received their payment fully yet.

The Industry Ministry has shared verbally that the sugar mill has paid Rs440.5 million of the Rs650 million, said Mishra. But we do not know how many farmers have been paid and what amount they have been paid.

According to him, the Industry Ministry has only said that sugar mills have deposited the dues to farmers bank accounts but have not provided any proof of that.

How much a particular farmer should receive for what amount of sugarcane and how much has been provided needs to be mentioned clearly and this has not been done so far, he said.

The sugar mills have not even clearly said how much they actually owe, Mishra said.

While farmers say that different sugar mills owe them Rs900 million in total, the government and the mills say they owe Rs650 million.

As part of the agreement signed on December 28, a technical team of a representative each from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, Ministry of Finance, and three from among sugarcane farmersone each from the eastern, central and western parts of the countrywas formed to look into this and other issues but the committee has met only once.

We have proof that farmers have dues of more than Rs900 million no matter what the government concludes in its report, Mishra said.

The farmers are confident that the government report will also conclude that this is the amount that is outstanding, according to him.

Last January too, an agreement had been reached between the government and the mills to clear the dues but that remained on paper only.

The Supreme Court has issued an interim order for the sugar mills to make the outstanding payments to sugarcane farmers within one month.

Justice Kumar Regmi issued the ruling on December 31 stating that payment to sugarcane farmers was directly related to their basic rights.

Siya Ram, meanwhile, is not very hopeful that the mill will clear the remaining Rs300,000 it owes.

Not getting the dues is only part of the problem sugarcane farmers face. They dont get chemical fertilisers, such as urea, on time. Harvesting the crop and transporting it to the mills where it is crushed to make sugar adds to the cost. And if rains are not timely, sugarcane farmers suffer more.

When farmers finally get the sugarcane to the mills all they get is a slip of paper: that's what many farmers call a credit card.

Mishra said the government has promised them that once the deadline to clear the dues crosses, bank accounts of the defaulting mills will be frozen and an arrest warrant issued accordingly.

Again, it looks like we may be forced to launch another round of decisive movement, he told the Post. We will hold a discussion on Tuesday to chart our plan.

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Sugar mills are gradually clearing years-long dues, says government but farmers are not satisfied - The Kathmandu Post

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Two environmental groups are threatening to file suit against Zenith Energy over construction work at its oil terminal in Portland.

On Monday, Willamette Riverkeeper and Columbia Riverkeeper filed a notice of intent to sue the company if it doesnt get a stormwater permit within 60 days, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.

The Zenith Energy oil terminal in Northwest Portland receives crude oil from trains, stores it in tanks and sends it via pipes to outgoing ships. The company recently proposed upgrading its facility to handle biofuel, but it hasnt gotten all the required permits to start the work.

Travis Williams, executive director of Willamette Riverkeeper, said the two Riverkeeper groups have documented land-clearing and grading at the proposed construction site that is not allowed under the Clean Water Act without a construction stormwater permit.

The company applied for a construction stormwater permit from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality in June. The permit requires an additional approval from the City of Portland in the form of a land use compatibility statement, and the city hasnt yet granted that approval.

The groups are concerned that the company is planning to expand its fossil fuel operations, though the Zenith maintains its upgrades are all focused on transporting biofuel.

Zenith declined to comment.

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Environmental groups threaten to sue over oil terminal construction work Daily Journal of Commerce - Daily Journal of Commerce

PLEASANT HILL The Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) project, which was to bring natural gas to underserved areas, was canceled in July 2020. Now the developers are looking to clean up what was left behind.

The project spanned three states, starting in West Virginia before making its way south through Virginia and then North Carolina. A portion of the 600-mile pipeline was to run through Northampton County, which would also be the site of a compressor station and a regional office near the Virginia border.

We have cleared and graded most of the roughly 10 miles of right of way in Northampton, and we plan to fully restore those areas, said Aaron Ruby, Media Relations Manager for Dominion Energy.

A little over seven miles of pipe had already been laid in the county, and Ruby confirmed the company had reached agreements with the landowners to leave them in place.

A groundbreaking for the regional office and compressor station site, located just outside of Pleasant Hill, was held in April 2018. By Oct. 2019, Dominion Energy had the office completed and hosted a tour for local officials. At that time, no hires had been made yet to staff the office, but representatives from the company said they were committed to hiring locally to fill the 20 jobs that would be provided by the office and the compressor station.

The office, which was constructed by Roanoke-Rapids based Heaton Construction, was designed to be both energy efficient and environmentally friendly. They intended to apply for LEED silver certification which would acknowledge those features.

Now, Ruby said the company has plans to sell the Northampton office building.

A significant amount of work had also been completed at the compressor station site, including the installation of equipment such as a turbine compressor package, odorant injection system, vent gas recovery skid, hydrocarbon tank, and more.

As a part of the reclamation process, the company will backfill open excavations, install temporary flat roofs on partially completed buildings and building foundations, relocate/remove loose materials, and perform general site cleanup, stabilization, and seeding where needed.

The ACP was a collaborative effort between Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, and Southern Gas Company. Dominion Energy was the lead company in the project which was first announced in 2014 and was originally expected to begin service in 2019. But a series of lawsuits from environmental groups caused numerous delays and increased costs.

Opponents to the pipeline argued that the project was unnecessary and would cause harm to the environment and local wildlife, particularly where it would run through parts of the Appalachian Mountains. But pipeline supporters said it would help the companies transition towards alternative energy sources and would boost economic development along its route by offering better natural gas access for companies looking to move to the area.

Northampton County was projected at one point to receive as much as $1.6 million annually in property tax revenue from the project before it was canceled.

According to reporting from the Associated Press, work is now underway in all three states to clean up the incomplete project. Approximately 2,000 parcels of land across the 600-mile route had not been touched yet, while 1,100 parcels had tree-clearing and tree-felling already underway.

ACP installed approximately 31.4 miles of pipe in total before the cancellation. Like the agreements in place in Northampton County, the pipes already in the ground will remain there.

Additionally, the company is working to sell the unused pipe and other materials for the now-defunct project. But they reportedly have no plans to sell the easement agreements at this time.

The restoration work is scheduled to be complete by the end of 2022.

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ACP clean-up and restoration underway - The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald - Roanoke Chowan News Herald

The Week

President Trump has spent the last few days asking his friends, aides, and associates if they would like pardons even those who are not facing any charges, a senior administration official told The Washington Post.In one case, the official said, Trump offered a pardon to a person who declined the chance at clemency, saying they weren't in any legal trouble and hadn't committed any crimes. "Trump's response was, 'Yeah, well, but you never know. They're going to come after us all. Maybe it's not a bad idea. Just let me know,'" the official recounted.Trump has taken a great interest in pardoning people, the Post reports, even calling families to personally let them know he granted a pardon. A person familiar with the matter told the Post that Trump was talked out of pardoning himself, family members, and controversial figures like Rudy Giuliani. An aide said there was also a brief discussion about possibly issuing pardons related to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, but that idea went nowhere.While Trump has held a few ceremonial events in recent weeks, journalists have been kept away from the White House, largely because the president is "just not in a place where they would go well," one official told the Post. Trump is constantly flip-flopping, another administration official said, talking about his future but uncertain of where he will be. "He goes between, 'Well, I'm going to go to Florida and play golf, and life is honestly better,' and then in the next moment, it's like, 'But don't you think there's a chance to stay?'" the official said. Read more at The Washington Post.More stories from theweek.com 5 more scathing cartoons about Trump's 2nd impeachment Lindsey Graham seemed very pleased with Biden's secretary of state nominee Chief Justice John Roberts reportedly wants no part of Trump's impeachment trial

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Chicago Weather: Clearing And Chilly - Yahoo News

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Members of Arizonas San Carlos Apache tribe filed a property lien on Thursday in an attempt to regain control over land that the U.S. government is poised to give to Rio Tinto Ltd for the Resolution Copper mine.

The latest maneuver by tribal members opposed to the project asks a court to find that the U.S. government has illegally occupied the land for more than 160 years and has no right to give it to anyone.

The United States of America does not own that land, Apache Stronghold, a non-profit organization comprised of mine opponents, said in a court filing.

The mine could supply a quarter of U.S. copper demand if developed, but eventually destroy the land, known as Oak Flat, or Chichil Bildagotee, considered by Native Americans to be the home of religious deities.

Rio Tinto had no immediate comment

Rio and development partner BHP Group Ltd have sought for years to access the underground copper deposit, about 70 miles (113 km) east of Phoenix in the Tonto National Forest.

The deposit sits below land that belonged to the tribe before the United States existed. An 1852 treaty between U.S. officials and the tribe that is still in force set aside the land for the Apaches use.

In 2014, the U.S. Congress and then-President Barack Obama approved a plan to let Rio exchange land it already owns for land above the copper, with the caveat that the swap could not occur until an environmental study was published. The outgoing Trump administration plans to publish that study on Friday, clearing the way for the exchange within 60 days.

Tribal members have also filed a lawsuit seeking to block the studys publication.

The lien is essentially a next line of defense if that lawsuit fails. Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld 19th century land treaties between Washington and Oklahoma tribes, a precedent that could bolster the Apaches lien request.

Rio has promised to seek the tribes consent for the mine. Even if Rio were to gain control of the land, the company still needs federal permits, a process that both sides acknowledge could take years.

Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Peter Cooney

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Native Americans say U.S. does not own land it is about to give to Rio Tinto - Reuters

(MENAFN - Comserve) Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan, Japan, Jan 19, 2021, 08:05 /Comserve / -- The key players profiled in the report include as E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (US), 3M Company (US), Kimberly Clark Corp (US), Ansell Limited (US), Sioen Industries (Belgium), Teijin Limited (Japan), and Lakeland Industries, Inc. (US).

The protective clothing market is estimated to grow from USD 8.8 billion in 2019 to USD 11.9 billion by 2024, at a CAGR of 6.3%. The protective clothing market is largely driven by the stringent regulations pertaining to the safety of personnel in developed economies. The rising number of workplace-related injuries is leading to the increased concern of the employers about ensuring the safety of their workers. The rising concern of both the employers and employees regarding the safety at the workplace is expected to drive the protective clothing market.

Request to Fill The Form To get Sample Copy of This Report:[...]

"The Final Report will cover the impact analysis of COVID-19 on this industry (Global And Regional Market)."

With COVID-19 resulting in the economic fallout, numerous economies are working on game-changing improvements to protect their employees and clients. While focusing on the ongoing challenges, the leaders are embracing new plans in order to manage and stay afloat in this competitive environment.

The key players profiled in the report include as

E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (US),3M Company (US),Kimberly Clark Corp (US),Ansell Limited (US),Sioen Industries (Belgium),Teijin Limited (Japan), andLakeland Industries, Inc. (US).

**This detailed analysis includes market size and forecasts, covering regional analysis, trends, opportunities and COVID-19 analysis. The analysis also includes key players with business strategies and key indicators that influence market growth.

'PBI is expected to be the fastest-growing segment by material type of the protective clothing market, in terms of value, between 2019 and 2024.The PBI segment is expected to witness the highest growth in terms of value, during the forecast period. PBI's ability to blend easily with other materials will play an important role in driving the market growth. Moreover, it does not melt or burn at normal temperature. These characteristics of PBI over other material types are estimated to boost its demand in the protective clothing market.

'The thermal application segment is estimated to account for the largest share of the overall protective clothing market, in terms of value, between 2019 and 2024.The thermal application segment is the largest application of protective clothing due to its wide application across different industries such as oil & gas, manufacturing, construction, and others. The growing manufacturing projects, especially the high-rise buildings, offer a huge potential for the thermal protective clothing market. The oil & gas industry is expected to drive the demand for protective clothing in the thermal application due to the growth in exploration & production in the oil & gas field.

'Rising demand from the construction, manufacturing, and oil & gas industries to drive the demand for protective clothing in North America.The North America protective clothing market is estimated to witness considerable growth during the forecast period. The regulations that mandate the use of protective clothing at manufacturing facilities are driving the market in the region. The mandate by the government, coupled with the awareness among the workers, is leading to the growth of the protective clothing market in the region. The increasing number of accidents in these industries has led to the rising demand for protective clothing. The workers involved in ground activities are exposed to erection, repair, demolition, maintenance, painting, land clearing, earth moving, grading, drilling, blasting, and concreting. Thermal, chemical, mechanical, visibility, and biological/radiation applications of protective clothing help the individual to work efficiently in risky operations by providing the necessary protection.

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"The Final Report will cover the impact analysis of COVID-19 on this industry (Global And Regional Market)."

In the process of determining and verifying the market size for several segments and subsegments gathered through secondary research, extensive primary interviews were conducted.

By Company Type: Tier 1 - 46%, Tier 2 - 31%, and Tier 3 - 23%By Designation: C-Level - 46%, Director Level - 27%, and Others - 27%By Region: North America - 33%, Europe - 27%, APAC - 27%, South America - 7%, Middle East & Africa - 6%,

The key players profiled in the report include as E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (US), 3M Company (US), Kimberly Clark Corp (US), Ansell Limited (US), Sioen Industries (Belgium), Teijin Limited (Japan), and Lakeland Industries, Inc. (US).

Research CoverageThis report segments the market for protective clothing on the basis of material type, application, end-use industry, end user type, and region, and provides estimations for the overall market size across various regions. A detailed analysis of key industry players has been conducted to provide insights into their business overviews, products & services, key strategies, new product launches, expansions, agreements, and acquisitions associated with the market for protective clothing.

Reasons to Buy this ReportThis research report is focused on various levels of analysis industry analysis (industry trends), market ranking analysis of top players, and company profiles, which together provide an overall view on the competitive landscape; emerging and high-growth segments of the protective clothing market; high-growth regions; and market drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

Market Penetration: Comprehensive information on protective clothing offered by top players in the global market

Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, R & D activities, and new product launches in the protective clothing market

Market Development: Comprehensive information about lucrative emerging markets the report analyzes the markets for protective clothing across regions

Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products, untapped regions, and recent developments in the global protective clothing market

Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, strategies, products, and manufacturing capabilities of leading players in the protective clothing market

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION 191.1 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 191.2 MARKET DEFINITION 191.3 MARKET SEGMENTATION 201.3.1 YEARS CONSIDERED FOR THE STUDY 211.4 CURRENCY 211.5 LIMITATIONS 211.6 STAKEHOLDERS 212 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 222.1 RESEARCH DATA 222.1.1 SECONDARY DATA 232.1.1.1 Key data from secondary sources 232.1.2 PRIMARY DATA 242.1.2.1 Key data from primary sources 242.1.2.2 Breakdown of primary interviews 252.2 MARKET SIZE ESTIMATION 252.2.1 BOTTOM-UP APPROACH 262.2.2 TOP-DOWN APPROACH 262.3 MARKET BREAKDOWN AND DATA TRIANGULATION 272.4 ASSUMPTIONS 283 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 294 PREMIUM INSIGHTS 334.1 ATTRACTIVE OPPORTUNITIES IN THE PROTECTIVE CLOTHING MARKET 334.2 PROTECTIVE CLOTHING MARKET IN NORTH AMERICA, BY END-USE INDUSTRY AND COUNTRY 334.3 PROTECTIVE CLOTHING MARKET, BY REGION 344.4 PROTECTIVE CLOTHING MARKET, BY MATERIAL TYPE 344.5 PROTECTIVE CLOTHING MARKET: MAJOR COUNTRIES 355 MARKET OVERVIEW 36

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Protective Clothing Market Global Forecast to 2024 by Material Type, Applications (Thermal, Chemical, and Visibility), End-Use Industry (Construction,...

Signing of the Al-Ula Declaration ending trade and other restrictions against Qatar

As reported in our previous client update, on 5 January 2021, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, along with Egypt, signed the Al-Ula Declaration at the 41st GCC Summit held in the city of Al-Ula. This marks the end of a three and a half year boycott against the State of Qatar, which was put in place in June 2017. Although the formal text of the Al-Ula Declaration has not been made public, it is clear from public statements made by senior Saudi, UAE, Egyptian, Bahraini and Kuwaiti officials that the instrument paves the way for the re-establishment of political and economic ties between Qatar and each of the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt (the Quartet).

Re-opening of borders and resumption of air and sea travel

In the past ten days, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have taken steps to re-open all land, sea and air corridors for inbound and outbound movement to and from Qatar, and the relevant authorities in both countries have issued directives and circulars to this effect.

The UAEs General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) announced the re-opening of airspace and the resumption of air traffic between the UAE and Qatar which took effect from 9 January. The announcement stated that the GCAA will resume scheduled and unscheduled flights between the two countries, in coordination with the civil aviation authorities and national carriers in the UAE, which has been facilitated through the issuance of NOTAMs (Notices to Airmen). In addition, on 8 January (and implemented on 9 January), the Chief Harbor Master (CHM) at Abu Dhabi Ports issued a Direction (CHM Direction No. 01/2021) which formally lifted the restriction on access to Abu Dhabi ports for Qatar vessels and vessels departing the UAE for Qatar as the next port of destination. This was further to a circular issued by the UAE Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure (MOEI) on 8 January, confirming that the UAE has ended all measures restricting trade with Qatar and that it has re-opened land, sea and airspace borders with Qatar. Given the MOEIs circular and the Abu Dhabi CHM Direction, we expect that the other port authorities across the UAE (e.g. Dubai Maritime City Authority, Government of Sharjah Department of Seaports and Customs, RAK Ports and Saqr Port Authority, the Jebel Ali Free Zone Authority, and the Port of Fujairah) will have also issued their own CHMs or Notice to Mariners lifting the Qatar restrictions.

Similarly, Saudi Arabia had previously announced similar measures that took effect from the evening of 4 January. Based on the proposal by Sheikh Nawaf Al-Sabah, the Emir of Kuwait who led the recent mediation efforts, the agreement was reached to open airspace and land and sea borders between Saudi Arabia and Qatar. We understand from our discussions with Saudi Airlines that for the time being, only commercial flights have resumed between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

The Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) at the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications of Bahrain also announced the opening of Bahraini airspace for Qatar-registered aircraft, commencing 11 January. Similarly, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation, Egypt had reopened its airspace on 12 January, allowing Egypt Air and Qatar Airways as well as other Qatari airlines, to resume air traffic. Egypt and Bahrain can be expected to issue official instruments in relation to maritime and port access in due course.

Customs clearing procedures

In response to our inquiries, Dubai Customs has confirmed that the import and export of products to and from Qatar have resumed with effect from 9 January. We have made similar inquiries with the Saudi Customs Authority, and received verbal confirmation that all formal restrictions in relation to imports and exports between Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been lifted.

In relation to land transportation of goods, based on our discussions with customs brokers operating in the Salwa region (the Saudi-Qatar border), the import and export of products between Saudi Arabia and Qatar have still not resumed, due to technical, administrative and operational measures that still need to be put in place to clear products. Since the border has been closed for more than three years, it may take some time for the customs clearance equipment and resources at the Salwa border to be installed and to be operational. Customs brokers expect commercial activities between both countries to resume this week.

In relation to air cargo transportation, we understand that Saudi Cargo has still not resumed cargo flights between Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Bahraini and Egyptian customs authorities have yet to release any official statements in this respect.

As of the date of this alert, Qatari authorities have not issued any circulars or similar instruments in relation to resuming trade or travel between Qatar and the Quartet, despite reports of the re-opening of the Abu Samra border as of 9 January announced by the General Customs Authority (GAC). However, we understand that the position of the GAC is that, until the issuance of an official circular, all shipments from the Quartet will be rejected and will not be cleared for import.

Financial flows and designations under Counter-Terrorism Laws

The restrictions originally imposed on Qatar in June 2017 included measures introduced by a UAE Central Bank (UAECB) circular that placed six Qatari banks on a watch-list, which mandated UAE banks to undertake enhanced due diligence and screening of any remittances from those banks.

Pursuant to UAE Federal Law No. 7 of 2014 on Combatting Terrorism Offences (the UAE CTF Law) and UAE Cabinet Resolution No. 35 of 2014 concerning the UAEs Terrorist Watch List System (the latter of which has since been repealed and currently replaced by Cabinet Resolution No. 74 of 2020), the UAE issued Cabinet Resolution No. 18 of 2017 Endorsing the List of Designated Terrorist Organizations and Individuals (Cabinet Resolution 18) on 9 June 2017.

Cabinet Resolution 18 designated 59 individuals and 12 entities that were either Qatari, Qatari-based or Qatari-linked, as Designated Terrorist Organizations and Individuals. Those providing support, including financial support, to such individuals or entities faced criminal penalties under the UAE CTF Law. As the UAE CTF Law is fully applicable in both of the UAEs financial free zones (the Dubai International Financial Centre (the DIFC) and the Abu Dhabi Global Market (the ADGM)), the restrictions on dealing with such individuals and entities fully extended to financial institutions based in those jurisdictions.

On the same day, the UAE Central Bank (UAECB) issued two Notices Notice 156 and Notice 157. Notice 156 required those regulated by the UAECB to immediately check existing clients accounts and instruments against the designations made under Cabinet Resolution 18, and to inform the UAE Central Bank accordingly. Notice 157 required all UAECB regulated entities to implement Enhanced Due Diligence measures (as defined under the UAEs AML Law and AML Implementing Regulations) for any accounts or transactions involving the following six Qatari Banks: (i) Qatar Islamic Bank, (ii) Qatar International Islamic Bank, (iii) Barwa Bank, (iv) Masraf al Rayan, (v) Qatar National Bank, and (vi) Doha Bank. Notice 157 also required weekly update reports on its implementation to be sent to the UAECB.

The DIFCs financial regulator the Dubai Financial Services Authority (the DFSA) and the ADGMs financial regulator the Financial Services Regulatory Authority (the FSRA) issued letters on 12 June 2017, requiring their regulated entities (both financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses and professions DNFBPs) to implement the same requirements under UAECB Notices 156 and 157.

Following the signing of the Al-Ula Declaration, we have yet to see any announcement being made by the UAECB, the DFSA or the FSRA. As such, the position outlined above remains applicable until further notice.

Next steps

Based on official announcements and various measures introduced by public authorities in the Quartet, all restrictions on trade with Qatar that were put in place in June 2017 have now been lifted and Saudi and UAE companies are no longer prohibited from engaging in direct commercial dealings with Qatari counterparties. This includes resuming prior distribution and shipping arrangements between Saudi or the UAE and Qatar.

However, despite the formal lifting of the prohibitions against Qatar, it will likely take some time before the administrative decisions are implemented to fully restart the shipment of goods between the Quartet and Qatar, and before customs clearance procedures are normalized. This is particularly noteworthy in light of the absence of any official statements or circulars issued by the State of Qatar in relation to resuming trade or travel between Qatar and the Quartet or lifting of any countermeasures imposed by Qatar in response to the boycott put in place in 2017.

Accordingly, it is still too early to tell how the lifting of the trade restrictions in relation to Qatar will be implemented in practice. We are watching this space carefully, and we continue to engage with various government agencies and authorities in Qatar and the Quartet for clarification and updates. We will issue follow up updates as new developments emerge.

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Lifting of restrictions with Qatar - what you need to know Blog Middle East Insights - Lexology