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With the goal of expediting resolution of objections to permits issued by the EPA under major environmental statutes, the Agency is proposing amendments to regulations governing its Environmental Appeals Board (EAB). Among the seven proposed revisions, the most significant would strengthen the role of the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program. Other parts of the proposal […]
The Trump administration is relying heavily on its environmental authority to try to reverse the declining role of coal in energy generation. Under both the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the Clean Water Act (CWA), the Agency has the power to regulate how much the coal-fired electricity sector must do and how much […]
Even the most militant environmentalist would have difficulty making the case that U.S. industry has not shrunk its carbon footprint and continues to do so. A recent hearing of the Senate Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety was filled with reliable facts and figures that demonstrate businesses in multiple sectors are acting individually and […]
Partial deletions from Superfund sites on the federal National Priorities List (NPL) have become a significant component of the EPA’s goal of accelerating cleanups of contaminated properties and shortening the path to redevelopment and safe, productive reuse. The EPA has reported that there have been 14 partial deletions from the NPL so far this year. […]
Following discussions with agricultural establishments and State Lead Agencies (SLA), the EPA is proposing amendments to the Application Exclusion Zone (AEZ) requirements of the Agency’s Worker Protection Standard ((WPS), 40 CFR part 170). According to the Agency, the “modest” amendments will improve enforceability for SLAs and reduce regulatory burdens for farmers.
Seventeen states, the District of Columbia, and seven of the nation’s top environmental groups petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to review the legality of the Trump EPA’s decision to withdraw the Obama EPA’s January 2017 determination that the Agency’s 2012 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for model year (MY) 2022–2025 […]
Under an EPA proposal, a populous industrial sector the Agency calls the Organic Liquids Distribution (OLD) source category would be subject to new Clean Air Act (CAA) amendments pertaining to storage tanks, transfer operations, equipment leaks, and flares.
In its denial of a petition from New York State, the EPA continues to disagree with downwind states that argue that sources in upwind states should be forced to eliminate air pollution the downwind states allege contribute significantly to their inability to meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for ozone.
Less than 2 weeks after the White House said it would reallocate billions of gallons (gal) of ethanol waived under the small refinery exemption (SRE) allowed under by federal Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the EPA announced an approach that farmers and ethanol manufacturers say fails to satisfy that assurance.
In its proposed amendments to the federal Lead and Copper Rule (LCR), the EPA estimates that, nationwide, there are between 6.3 million and 9.3 million homes that receive drinking water through lead service lines (LSLs). (Uncertainty about the actual number of LSLs underlies the proposed requirement that public water systems (PWSs) inventory the LSLs in […]