EPA Sets Tougher Limits on Gas Used to Sterilize Medical Devices
Health
EPA Sets Tougher Limits on Gas Used to Sterilize Medical Devices
2024-03-15 19:11:47
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized tougher restrictions on ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing gas commonly used to sterilize medical devices. The new standards specifically target commercial sterilization facilities. The agency called them “the strongest measures in U.S.... Read More

EPA Proposes New Limits on Gas Distribution Facilities
Regulation
EPA Proposes New Limits on Gas Distribution Facilities
2024-03-15 18:09:41
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized a rule strengthening toxic air pollution standards at gasoline distribution facilities, including storage tanks, loading operations and equipment leaks.  The action — from which gas stations are exempt — is expected... Read More

Supreme Court Looks at EPA’s Justification for Rule to Block Interstate Pollution
Supreme Court
Supreme Court Looks at EPA’s Justification for Rule to Block Interstate Pollution
2024-02-21 22:01:54
by Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday on whether to keep the Environmental Protection Agency’s good neighbor rule that requires states to clean up their industrial pollution that could be carried by wind into neighboring states. Indiana, Ohio and... Read More

Environmentalists Sue EPA for Data on Health Risks of Forever Chemicals
Litigation
Environmentalists Sue EPA for Data on Health Risks of Forever Chemicals
2024-02-16 19:15:50
by Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON — Environmentalists sued the Environmental Protection Agency this week in federal court in Washington, D.C., seeking information about health risks from forever chemicals in fluorinated plastic containers. The two groups that sued accuse the EPA of withholding information about... Read More

EPA Awards Nearly $1B in Clean School Bus Program Grants
Climate
EPA Awards Nearly $1B in Clean School Bus Program Grants
2024-01-08 19:18:05
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced that it will award nearly $1 billion to 67 applicants as a result of its very first clean school bus program grant competition. The agency said the awards will enable the... Read More

Appeals Court Rejects Bid for Stay of ‘Good Neighbor’ Pollution Plan
Environment
Appeals Court Rejects Bid for Stay of ‘Good Neighbor’ Pollution Plan
2023-09-25 19:38:05
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Monday rejected an attempt by the state of Utah to block the Environmental Protection Agency from enforcing a plan to protect downwind states from smog that blows from... Read More

Farmers, Renewable Fuel Producers Press EPA on Emissions Standards
Transportation
Farmers, Renewable Fuel Producers Press EPA on Emissions Standards
2023-07-10 16:02:57
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — Seven national associations, representing everyone from farmers to retailers to renewable fuel producers, are urging the Environmental Protection Agency to adopt a “market-oriented, technology-neutral” approach to setting the next round of tailpipe emissions standards. In April, the EPA... Read More

EPA Challenged in Congress Over Its Climate Change Proposals
Congress
EPA Challenged in Congress Over Its Climate Change Proposals
2023-06-21 19:04:18
by Tom Ramstack

WASHINGTON — Some members of Congress predicted Wednesday the Environmental Protection Agency is headed into a losing battle over what they described as the agency’s overreach with proposed clean air regulations. A House Oversight and Accountability subcommittee held a hearing... Read More

EPA Lifts High-Ethanol Gasoline Ban for Summer
Regulation
EPA Lifts High-Ethanol Gasoline Ban for Summer
2023-05-01 14:19:04
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday waived its summer ban on sales of higher-ethanol gasoline blends, making this the second year in a row that gas stations across the country will be able to sell gasoline blended with... Read More

EPA Proposes Rules to Ensure Timely Electric Vehicle Transition
Climate
EPA Proposes Rules to Ensure Timely Electric Vehicle Transition
2023-04-12 17:07:09
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed new vehicle pollution limits intended to ensure that at least two-thirds of new cars and a quarter of new heavy trucks sold in the United States by 2032 are all-electric. The... Read More

EPA, Justice Dept. Seek Civil Penalties In East Palestine Wreck
Environment
EPA, Justice Dept. Seek Civil Penalties In East Palestine Wreck
2023-03-31 15:51:06
by Dan McCue

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency, in coordination with the U.S. Justice Department, is seeking potentially millions of dollars in civil fines from the Norfolk Southern Railway Co. in connection to the Feb. 3 derailment of a train carrying hazardous... Read More

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

1 2
Straight From The Well
scroll top