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Last month, the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA) announced fiscal year (FY) 2022 enforcement and compliance accomplishments, which included an increase in inspections of more than 78% over FY 2021, particularly in overburdened environmental justice communities. “Taken together, OECA’s criminal, civil, and administrative enforcement cases reduced, treated or eliminated pollutants by 95 […]
After a year of uncertainty, on December 15, 2022, the EPA published a final rule amending the All Appropriate Inquiries (AAI) Rule to reference ASTM International’s E1527-21, “Standard Practice for Environmental Site Assessments: Phase I Environmental Site Assessment Process,” and allow for its use to satisfy the requirements for conducting AAIs under the Comprehensive Environmental […]
Both the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the EPA have recently issued proposed rules aimed at reduced methane emissions from both new and existing oil and gas production sources. BLM The BLM’s proposed rule aimed at curbing flared, vented, or leaked methane waste on federal and tribal lands is similar to a 2016 Obama […]
More than 130 air monitoring projects in 37 states will receive $53.4 million in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the American Rescue Plan (ARP). Of the funding, $20 million is provided by the ARP, with the rest coming from the IRA. The additional funding from the IRA allowed the EPA to deploy, […]
The EPA finalized its rule adding 12 chemicals to the list of chemicals subject to Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reporting, which provides important information about how these chemicals are being managed by facilities in a given community. “Available data show these chemicals have moderately high to high human health toxicity and/or are highly toxic to […]
The EPA recently announced major improvements in Clean Water Act (CWA) permit compliance over the last five years. In 2018, the Agency and 47 states agreed to work collaboratively toward achieving the target goal of reducing significant noncompliance among facilities permitted under the CWA by 50% over five years. The EPA announcement celebrates the achievement […]
The EPA in November released a notice to modify and supplement its proposed revisions to the Fees for the Administration of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Rule. The proposed fee increases are substantial. The TSCA Fees Rule was first promulgated in 2018. The 2016 Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety for the 21stCentury Act directs […]
The EPA recently unveiled its “Strategy to Reduce Lead Exposures and Disparities in U.S. Communities” to advance its objectives to protect the public from lead, with a renewed focus upon high-risk communities. The Agency announced the strategy during National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week in Omaha, Nebraska, which was once home to a large lead smelter […]
Due to “recent scientific advances,” the EPA has proposed a new approach to estimating the social cost of greenhouse gases (SC GHGs). SC GHGs are the estimated social harms from each incremental ton of GHG emissions released into the atmosphere. The proposal came packaged as part of a proposed rule to cut methane and other […]
More than 30 advocacy groups have filed suit against the EPA in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to force the Agency to issue a response to a legal petition urging the strengthening of Clean Water Act (CWA) regulations governing waste from factory farms. The groups, led by Food & Water Watch, filed a legal […]