Tag: EPA

Coal Ash Impoundment Closures

A leaked EPA list reveals more than 160 unlined coal ash ponds across the United States are under investigation for closure. Coal combustion residuals (CCR), or coal ash, which is a byproduct of power plants that burn coal, contain contaminants like arsenic, cadmium, and mercury. According to EPA estimates, more than 140 million tons of […]

Advancing Environmental Justice

The Biden administration continues to take actions to advance its goals to elevate environmental justice (EJ) and address past injustices by enforcing pollution laws to create equity for overburdened communities. The latest action is the release of “EPA Legal Tools to Advance Environmental Justice (EJ Legal Tools), dated May 26, 2022, by the EPA Office […]

First PFAS Test Order Issued By EPA

On June 6, 2022, the EPA issued the first Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) test orders to the Chemours Company, DuPont De Nemours Inc., National Foam Inc., and Johnson Controls Inc. The orders require the companies to conduct and submit testing on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). In October 2021, the Agency announced its PFAS […]

EPA Announces Water Reuse Interagency Working Group

The EPA recently announced the formation of a Water Reuse Interagency Working Group that is charged with creating and managing actions, tools, and resources to advance the reuse of water across the United States. The group was established under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. “Water is an essential resource that we must protect, especially in the […]

Proposed Rule Puts States Back in Power Under the CWA Permitting Process

In following President Joseph Biden Jr.’s Executive Order (EO) 13990 on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis, on June 2, 2022, the EPA announced a proposed rule to update the regulatory requirements under the Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 401 Certification Rule. The proposed rule will strengthen […]

EPA Says Proposed SIPs Aren’t Neighborly Enough

On May 24, 2022, the EPA published proposed state implementation plan (SIP) disapproval notices for air quality plans submitted by California, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming. In each case, the Agency cited that the state failed to adequately address compliance with the 2015 8-hour ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). If the proposed disapprovals are […]

The Return of SEPs

Early in March 2022, the EPA and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the return of the use of Supplemental Environmental Projects (SEP) as part of the available resources that can be utilized in enforcement actions. “An SEP is an enforcement tool that EPA used for more than 30 years until the previous administration brought […]

Proposed Amendments for CBI Claims Under TSCA

The EPA published a proposed rule on May 12, 2022, for new and amended requirements to tighten regulations regarding how confidential business information (CBI) claims are submitted, assessed, reviewed, and treated by the Agency under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). “The proposed rule includes new and amended requirements that, if finalized, would increase transparency, […]

PVC Under Scrutiny as Hazardous Waste

As a result of a legal agreement reached on May 3, 2022, with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), the EPA has nine months to analyze the toxic impact of polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC, also commonly referred to as vinyl, is widely used for many functions, and there are currently 7 billion pounds of the […]

Growing Support for Biden to Declare Climate Emergency

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), representing 7,500 of the EPA’s 14,300 employees, “signaling its dissatisfaction with the White House’s level of action on climate,” will ask the Biden administration to declare a climate emergency, reports Bloomberg Law. “The request represents a marker for the [AFGE] Council 238 when it sits down with the […]