EPA Wants Federal Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water
Regulation
EPA Wants Federal Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water
2023-03-15 14:47:39
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency is proposing federal limits on toxic “forever chemicals” in drinking water, a move the Biden administration believes will prevent serious illness and death for thousands of Americans each year. PFAS,... Read More

Bipartisan Group of Senators Urge EPA to ‘Chart New Course for Biofuels’
Energy
Bipartisan Group of Senators Urge EPA to ‘Chart New Course for Biofuels’
2022-10-21 21:05:58
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators on Friday urged the Environmental Protection Agency to use its upcoming decision on the Renewable Fuel Standard to “chart a new course for biofuels” to meet the nation’s “diverse energy demands.” In a... Read More

EPA Says Louisiana’s Air Pollution Impairs Minorities’ Civil Rights
Health
EPA Says Louisiana’s Air Pollution Impairs Minorities’ Civil Rights
2022-10-17 20:44:35
by Tom Ramstack

LAPLACE, La. — The Environmental Protection Agency is warning Louisiana officials that their failure to protect residents from air pollution in a two-county industrialized area might be a violation of civil rights laws. The area known as “Cancer Alley” is... Read More

Civil Rights Law Targets ‘Cancer Alley’ Discrimination
Civil Rights
Civil Rights Law Targets 'Cancer Alley' Discrimination

RESERVE, La. (AP) — Sprawling industrial complexes line the drive east along the Mississippi River to the majority-Black town of Reserve, Louisiana. In the last seven miles the road passes a massive, rust-colored aluminum-oxide refinery, then the Evonik chemical plant,... Read More

EPA Waives Fuel Rule in Four States After Indiana Refinery Fire
Regulation
EPA Waives Fuel Rule in Four States After Indiana Refinery Fire
2022-08-30 18:25:02
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency has issued an emergency fuel waiver to help alleviate fuel shortages in four midwestern states whose supply of gasoline has been impacted by an electrical fire at a BP refinery in Whiting, Indiana. The... Read More

EPA to Designate ‘Forever Chemicals’ as Hazardous Substances
Environment
EPA to Designate 'Forever Chemicals' as Hazardous Substances

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is designating some toxic industrial compounds used in cookware, carpets and firefighting foams as hazardous substances under the so-called Superfund law. The designation means that releases of long-lasting chemicals known as PFOA and PFOS that meet or... Read More

Supreme Court Limits EPA Authority to Regulate Power Plant Emissions
Environment
Supreme Court Limits EPA Authority to Regulate Power Plant Emissions

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday dramatically limited the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants, dealing a major blow to the Biden administration’s efforts to address climate change. The 6-3 ruling written by Chief... Read More

EPA Rule Reversal Gives States Power to Block Polluting Projects
Environment
EPA Rule Reversal Gives States Power to Block Polluting Projects
2022-06-03 17:33:45
by Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency plans to return authority to the states to cancel pipeline, coal and other infrastructure projects that risk polluting waterways. The Trump administration removed the authority in 2020 under what environmentalists said was an incorrect... Read More

Supreme Court Reinstates Trump-era Water Rule for Now
Supreme Court
Supreme Court Reinstates Trump-era Water Rule for Now

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Wednesday reinstated for now a Trump-era rule that had curtailed the power of states and Native American tribes to block pipelines and other energy projects that can pollute rivers, streams and other waterways.... Read More

EPA Acts on Environmental Justice in Three Gulf Coast States
Environment
EPA Acts on Environmental Justice in Three Gulf Coast States

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is taking a series of enforcement actions to address air pollution, unsafe drinking water and other problems afflicting minority communities in three Gulf Coast states, following a “Journey to Justice” tour by Administrator Michael... Read More

EPA Head Tours Embattled Communities, Says Help On the Way
Environment
EPA Head Tours Embattled Communities, Says Help On the Way

RESERVE, La. (AP) — Michael Coleman's house is the last one standing on his tiny street, squeezed between a sprawling oil refinery whose sounds and smells keep him up at night and a massive grain elevator that covers his pickup... Read More

Supreme Court to Hear Coal Industry’s Complaint About Emissions Regulations
Climate
Supreme Court to Hear Coal Industry’s Complaint About Emissions Regulations
2021-11-01 20:16:08
by Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court is headed toward a landmark decision on greenhouse gas emissions as climate change moved to the forefront of international politics Monday. The Supreme Court plans to hear a case that contests the authority of the... Read More

EPA Completes Rule to Phase Out Gases Used as Refrigerants
Climate
EPA Completes Rule to Phase Out Gases Used as Refrigerants

WASHINGTON (AP) — In what officials call a key step to combat climate change, the Environmental Protection Agency is sharply limiting domestic production and use of hydrofluorocarbons, highly potent greenhouse gases commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners. The new... Read More

Minorities Disproportionately Hurt By Climate Change, EPA Says
Climate
Minorities Disproportionately Hurt By Climate Change, EPA Says
2021-09-04 18:10:20
by Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON -- The harm to health and finances caused by global warming will fall disproportionately on the U.S. minority population, according to an Environmental Protection Agency report released Thursday. Hotter weather will lead to more severe hurricanes, flooding and poorer... Read More

DC Circuit Vacates Trump Rollback of Obama-Era Greenhouse Gas Standards
Emissions
DC Circuit Vacates Trump Rollback of Obama-Era Greenhouse Gas Standards
2021-01-19 18:04:16
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON - The Trump administration "rested critically on a mistaken reading of the Clean Air Act" when it sought to roll back Obama-era greenhouse gas emission standards for existing power plants, the D.C. Circuit ruled Tuesday. The ruling on President... Read More

EPA Keeps Ozone Pollution Standard at Level Opposed by Environmentalists
Environment
EPA Keeps Ozone Pollution Standard at Level Opposed by Environmentalists
2020-12-30 14:57:31
by Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON -- The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency last week finalized plans to keep ozone air pollution standards at a level that environmentalists say is too high to prevent respiratory and other health problems.  In 2015 the EPA lowered the... Read More

Lawmakers Contribute to Lawsuit To Block EPA’s Water Quality Rule
Environment
Lawmakers Contribute to Lawsuit To Block EPA’s Water Quality Rule
2020-12-23 17:41:23
by Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON -- Members of Congress who handle environmental issues are adding their voices to a federal court case that threatens to roll back protections of the 1972 Clean Water Act. They are siding with the plaintiffs in a lawsuit that... Read More

US Gives Florida Wider Authority Over Wetland Development
State News
US Gives Florida Wider Authority Over Wetland Development

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The federal government granted Florida’s request for wider authority over wetland development, a move announced Thursday that came under immediate fire by environmentalist who worry that the country's largest network of wetlands could be at risk... Read More

Biden Team Considering North Carolina Official to Lead EPA
Biden Team Considering North Carolina Official to Lead EPA

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team is considering a North Carolina environmental regulator and EPA veteran to lead the agency, as he assembles a team to move aggressively against climate change and pollution. Michael Regan is now among the... Read More

State Attorneys General Threaten to Sue EPA Over Chesapeake Bay Cleanup
Environment
State Attorneys General Threaten to Sue EPA Over Chesapeake Bay Cleanup
2020-05-26 14:32:16
by Tom Ramstack

Three Mid-Atlantic attorneys general are threatening to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to enforce water quality standards to protect the Chesapeake Bay. They accuse the EPA of ignoring its court-ordered duty to prevent polluters in New York and... Read More

Advocates Urge Stricter Standards For Particulate Pollution At EPA Hearing
Environment
Advocates Urge Stricter Standards For Particulate Pollution At EPA Hearing
2020-05-22 19:39:09
by Gaspard Le Dem

WASHINGTON - Advocates called on the Environmental Protection Agency to raise its standards on particle pollution -- also known as soot or PM2.5 -- at a public hearing on Thursday held by phone due to the coronavirus crisis. In April,... Read More

D.C. Circuit Revives Obama-Era Greenhouse Gas Emission Limits
Environment
D.C. Circuit Revives Obama-Era Greenhouse Gas Emission Limits
2020-04-08 18:09:19
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency improperly rescinded Obama-era restrictions on a class of greenhouse gases known as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), after the court struck down a portion of the rules, a federal appeals court held Tuesday. In a divided ruling,... Read More

EPA Backs Off Enforcing Pollution Rules as Virus Strains Work
Environment
EPA Backs Off Enforcing Pollution Rules as Virus Strains Work

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration will temporarily relax civil enforcement of various environmental regulations, a move it says is necessary given worker shortages and travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. In a memo issued Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency... Read More

Bipartisan Policy Center Unveils Options to Strengthen Transparency at the EPA
In The News
Bipartisan Policy Center Unveils Options to Strengthen Transparency at the EPA
2020-02-25 21:17:39
by Kate Michael

WASHINGTON – A new report released by D.C.-based think tank Bipartisan Policy Center hopes to strengthen transparency at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by suggesting options for growing a culture of data and evidence.  On the cusp of the EPA’s... Read More

Senators Press EPA for Action on PFAS
Health
Senators Press EPA for Action on PFAS
2020-02-18 20:53:41
by Dan McCue

A year after the EPA pledged to act on limiting exposure to a class of extremely hazardous chemicals, a group of Senators is asking why the agency has yet to fulfill its commitments and when it plans to do so.... Read More

Trump Seeks Exempting Some Pipelines and Highways From Environmental Review
Environment
Trump Seeks Exempting Some Pipelines and Highways From Environmental Review

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled a proposed revision of the federal environmental review process, a move that would fast-track the construction of some infrastructure projects, including pipelines, highways and airports. The change, which would apply to the... Read More

House Panel Advances Bipartisan Plan to List PFAS Chemicals on Toxics Inventory
Health
House Panel Advances Bipartisan Plan to List PFAS Chemicals on Toxics Inventory
2019-10-11 18:33:41
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON - A House subcommittee has advanced bipartisan legislation sponsored by Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-N.Y., that would require the EPA to list a dangerous class of compounds known as PFAS chemicals on its Toxics Release Inventory. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances,... Read More

Federal Appeals Court Tosses Clean Power Plan Challenges
Climate
Federal Appeals Court Tosses Clean Power Plan Challenges
2019-09-17 21:39:28
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON - A federal appeals court Tuesday threw out legal challenges to the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, ending a long-running legal battle involving multiple states and scores of other parties. In a brief order, the U.S. Court of Appeals for... Read More

Appeals Court Upholds Strengthened Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
Environment
Appeals Court Upholds Strengthened Cross-State Air Pollution Rule
2019-09-13 21:21:09
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON -  The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday upheld an Obama-era update of the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule designed to protect downwind states from coal plant air pollution that blows across their borders. Congress enacted... Read More

White House Repeals Obama-Era Clean Water Rule
Environment
White House Repeals Obama-Era Clean Water Rule
2019-09-13 19:51:40
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration announced Thursday that it is repealing an  Obama-era clean water rule that had placed limits on polluting chemicals that could be used near streams, wetlands and other bodies of water. According to the Environmental Protection... Read More

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