EPA

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EPA's Zeldin: We're Ditching Our Research Arm

Agency is getting rid of its R&D office, starting mass layoffs of thousands overall

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency said Friday it's eliminating its main science arm and reducing agency staff by thousands. The agency's Office of Research and Development has long provided the scientific underpinnings for its mission to protect the environment and human health. The EPA, which in May said it...

EPA's Lab Animals Going Up for Adoption

Critics blame funding cuts, administration cites animal welfare concerns

(Newser) - The EPA is launching a new program allowing the adoption of some of its 20,000 lab animals as the agency faces major staffing and research cuts under the Trump administration. The plan to have staff members adopt animals including zebrafish and rats from an EPA lab in North...

139 EPA Employees Who Voiced 'Dissent' Are Put on Leave

They were accused of 'unlawfully undermining' the Trump administration's agenda

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday put on administrative leave 139 employees who signed a "declaration of dissent" against its policies, accusing them of "unlawfully undermining" the Trump administration's agenda. In a letter made public Monday, the employees wrote that the agency is no longer living up...

EPA Employees Object to Trump's Policies

Around 200 staff members sign letter listing 5 actions they consider harmful

(Newser) - Around 200 employees of the Environmental Protection Agency have signed a declaration of dissent detailing their opposition to President Trump's policies and the dangers they see in his actions. Retired employees and scientists and academics who don't work for the agency, including 20 Nobel laureates, also signed the...

EPA Rolls Back Biden-Era Limits on Forever Chemicals in Water

We'll 'work to provide common-sense flexibility in the form of additional time for compliance,' says Zeldin

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some so-called forever chemicals in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two common ones. The Biden administration set the first federal drinking water limits for PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, finding...

Trump Orders Federal Agencies to 'Sunset' Green Protections

President's executive order decries 'an energy landscape perpetually trapped in the 1970s'

(Newser) - Federal agencies like the EPA, Department of Energy, and Fish and Wildlife Service have received their mandate from the top: It's time to let go of a slew of environmental protections. On Wednesday evening, President Trump signed an executive order that directed agencies tied to energy and environmental guidance...

Kennedy Wants CDC to Reverse on Fluoride

EPA launches review of potential risks of putting fluoride in drinking water

(Newser) - Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday said he plans to tell the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation in communities nationwide. At the same time, the Environmental Protection Agency announced it is reviewing "new scientific information" on potential health risks of fluoride in...

A Liberal City Wins Fight Against EPA in Supreme Court

San Francisco challenged discharge rules and won

(Newser) - The Supreme Court on Tuesday dealt a blow to the EPA's ability to regulate water pollution, and the city that started the fight might come as a surprise: It was San Francisco, and as the local Chronicle puts it, the "case pitted a city that champions environmental policies...

EPA Chief Wants to Claw Back $20B in Grants

Clean energy advocates say attempt to rescind 'green bank' grants is illegal

(Newser) - In a major reversal, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency says he will try to rescind $20 billion in grants awarded by the Biden administration for climate and clean-energy projects. In a video posted on X , Administrator Lee Zeldin says the EPA would revoke contracts for a still-emerging...

EPA Throws Hammer Down on 2 Toxic Chemicals

Full ban announced for TCE, partial ban of dry-cleaning staple perc—both tied to various cancers

(Newser) - Bans of two toxic chemicals first proposed last year have finally come to fruition. On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency barred the use of trichloroethylene (aka TCE) and perchloroethylene, also referred to as perc—both solvents used in consumer products and industrial settings and that have been tied to various...

ProPublica: All of the US Is at Risk to Formaldehyde

Investigation finds too-high levels of the ubiquitous chemical across the country

(Newser) - Ask most people what they know about formaldehyde, and they might harken back to a high school frog dissection. A ProPublica investigation provides a far more sobering take: The outlet reports that the chemical is both pervasive—it's "virtually everywhere"—and dangerous, causing more "far more...

EPA to Set Deadline for Replacing Nation's Lead Pipes

Biden is expected to announce new 10-year EPA rule during stop in Wisconsin on Tuesday

(Newser) - A decade after the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, raised alarms about the continuing dangers of lead in tap water, President Biden is setting a 10-year deadline for cities across the nation to replace their lead pipes, finalizing an aggressive approach aimed at ensuring that drinking water is safe for...

In 40-Year First, EPA Issues Emergency Suspension

Say goodbye to DCPA, a herbicide found to pose 'serious risks' to unborn babies

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency has issued its first emergency suspension in more than four decades to ban a common weedkiller that poses "serious risks" to unborn babies. Tuesday's action applies to dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate or DCPA, sold under brand name Dacthal, which is used on grasses, artificial turf, and...

SCOTUS Puts Brakes on EPA's 'Good Neighbor' Pollution Plan

5-4 ruling goes against Biden administration, blue states' attempt to rein in upwind air pollution

(Newser) - The Supreme Court is putting the Environmental Protection Agency's air pollution-fighting "good neighbor" plan on hold while legal challenges continue, the conservative-led court's latest blow to federal regulations. The justices in a 5-4 vote on Thursday rejected arguments by the Biden administration and Democratic-controlled states that the...

Railroad, Government Reach a Figure on Ohio Derailment

Cleanup, claims, and safety upgrades to cost Norfolk Southern $500M

(Newser) - Norfolk Southern has reached an agreement with the federal government to pay more than $310 million to settle claims and cover costs stemming from the derailment last year of a freight train carrying hazardous materials in Ohio. The railroad also will spend $200 million on safety upgrades, Politico reports. In...

EPA Aims to Relax Limits on Common Pesticide
EPA Aims to Relax
Limits on Common Pesticide
LONGFORM
Apr 28, 2024 3:15 PM CDT

EPA Aims to Relax Limits on Common Pesticide

ProPublica reports on how critics say the agency is working too closely with chemical industry

(Newser) - "It's exactly what we recommended against." That's the view of Veena Singla, a member of a scientific advisory panel tapped by the EPA, on the agency's plan to loosen restrictions on a pesticide called acephate. Sharon Lerner of ProPublica digs into the issue and how...

EPA Puts Companies on the Hook for PFAS Cleanup

Rule change could cost companies that release toxic substances billions

(Newser) - The Environmental Protection Agency has announced a change that will shift the burden for cleaning up two "forever chemicals" from government to the companies responsible for the pollution. The rule designates the manmade compounds as hazardous substances under the Superfund law, the New York Times reports. The Biden administration'...

Big Trucks Face Strict Emissions Rules by 2032

New EPA guidelines are designed to boost electric sales

(Newser) - The EPA on Friday set strict emissions standards for heavy-duty trucks, buses, and other large vehicles, an action designed to boost sales of electric vehicles and clean up some of the nation's largest sources of planet-warming greenhouse gases, per the AP .
  • The new rules, which take effect for model
...

EPA Issues Strongest-Ever Car Pollution Standards
New EPA Rules Will Change
the 'Menu' for Car Buyers
THE RUNDOWN
Mar 20, 2024 2:30 PM CDT

New EPA Rules Will Change the 'Menu' for Car Buyers

But some restrictions have been loosened from last year's proposal

(Newser) - The Biden administration has finalized Environmental Protection Agency rules that usher in the "strongest-ever pollution standards for cars," according to the agency. The rules, described by the Washington Post as Biden's "most far-reaching climate regulation yet," require steep emissions cuts that will speed up the...

129K Kids in Chicago Exposed to Lead in Water
68% of Kids
in Chicago
Exposed to
Lead in Water
NEW STUDY
Mar 19, 2024 7:33 AM CDT

68% of Kids in Chicago Exposed to Lead in Water

That's 129K children under 6, researchers say

(Newser) - More than two-thirds of kids aged 5 or younger in Chicago are exposed to lead in drinking water, which can mean many harmful consequences, according to a new study. The Guardian previously analyzed 24,000 city water tests, finding water from a third of homes contained lead above 5 parts...

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