EPA Archives

Apr 24, 2019

EPA Administrator Promises to Listen to Scientists

In an eight-page letter to the EPA’s Science Advisory Board (Board), EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler provided assurances to the Board that the EPA would continue to share information with the expert advisors in a timely fashion and be more transparent on key regulatory science issues by holding more rapid and frequent briefings. The Board is a panel of nearly four dozen outside researchers and experts who review the technical information used by the EPA to set policy and draft regulations. The assurance letter from Wheeler was in response to complaints from the Board that the agency was ignoring its own… Read more

Apr 3, 2019

EPA Risk Management Plan Rule Update

After losing a case in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on its attempt to delay the effective date of the Obama-era final rule strengthening EPA’s Risk Management Plan (RMP) facility accident prevention program, EPA issued a proposed rule last Fall largely scrapping the Obama-era rule’s requirements. However, EPA has not yet issued a final rule, yet it was compelled to comply with the mandate of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that invalidated its attempted delay of the Obama-era rule’s effective date. As a result, in December, EPA published a final rule in the Federal Register that the January… Read more

Mar 27, 2019

EPA Citation to Chemours Shows Enforcement Push Under TSCA

Last month, EPA issued notices of violation (NOVs) to Chemours, which manufactures per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), among other chemicals, for alleged violations of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) at two of its facilities located in Fayetteville, NC and Parkersburg, WV. The two NOVs, relatively rare under TSCA, may indicate an intent by EPA to step up enforcement under TSCA. The NOVs allege that Chemours failed to comply with a TSCA significant new use rule (SNUR) requiring GenX compounds (a form of PFAS) to be manufactured in an enclosed process; and failed to properly control effluent and emissions during… Read more

Mar 13, 2019

California Moves to Block U.S. EPA Air Pollution Standards for Auto Emissions

California Pollution Standards: Low Emission Zone

Representatives for the California Air Resources Board have stated that they will take all legal measures necessary to block the Trump administration’s efforts to freeze fuel economy limits at nationwide 2020 levels. Under the Clean Air Act (“Act”), California has special authority to enact stricter pollution standards for motor vehicles than the nationwide standards set by the federal government. Under the same provisions of the Act, other states may adopt the more stringent California standards if they find them to be more protective of public health. Under the Trump administration, the EPA sought to impose more lenient emission requirements in… Read more

Feb 27, 2019

New Rules on Lead Drinking Water Standards Delayed

The US EPA announced on February 25, that new drinking water regulations aimed at eliminating lead in water supplies have been returned to the US EPA’s staffers for revision. The announcement marks the eighth time that the EPA’s self-imposed deadline for revising the water quality standards has been delayed. Attempts to revise the standard began during the Obama administration, but it faced the major obstacle of how to require utilities to replace their lead pipes without imposing a massive unfunded mandate on these utilities. The EPA estimates that the cost to replace the public water supply pipes could cost between… Read more

Feb 13, 2019

Public Hearing Scheduled for Trump’s Water Rule Proposal

Trump's Water Rule Proposal - Contaminated Pond

The U.S. EPA announced on February 6 plans to hold public hearings in Kansas City on February 27 and 28 to discuss the Trump administration’s attempt to clarify which waters and wetlands receive protections under the Clean Water Act (“CWA”). The water rule proposal is an attempt to rewrite the Obama administration’s Clean Water Rule which the Trump administration believes is overreaching in scope. The proposed rule (RIN:2040-AF75), still protects rivers and lakes, but not isolated ponds and wetlands. Protection of intermittent streams, would be based on a complicated formula and based on average flow in a typical year. For… Read more

Jan 30, 2019

Federal Shutdown Delays EPA Rule Rewrites

The recent federal government shutdown has delayed the EPA’s rewrites of Obama-Era rules, such as carbon standards for existing power plants, which may jeopardize the Trump administration’s ability to defend the rewrites in court before the 2020 presidential election. Andrew Wheeler, the agency’s acting chief told senators during his January 16th confirmation hearing that the federal shutdown paused work on the Trump’s administrations initiatives to rewrite or rollback Obama-Era climate, air, and water regulations. The EPA was in the process of reviewing comments on several major proposals, including its power plan rule and plans to weaken federal fuel economy limits… Read more

Nov 28, 2018

California Moves to Tighten Truck Exhaust Standards Ahead of EPA

On November 13, the EPA announced that it will reopen existing federal standards for smog-forming pollution limits for heavy trucks. California, which has some of the worst smog in the country, has announced that it cannot wait for the federal rulemaking process and is proceeding with setting its own, potentially more stringent standards. California is completing its testing of heavy duty truck engines that have the potential to emit far fewer nitrogen oxides (NOx) – an ozone precursor – than those currently in use. If successful, the new engines’ technology could become the new standard for truck engines in the… Read more

Nov 14, 2018

Solid Waste Incineration Units / Emission Guidelines

On November 13, the U.S. EPA submitted a notice of a continuing information collection request regarding emission guidelines for existing solid waste incineration units. The information request affects existing facilities and new solid waste incineration units – including very small municipal waste combustion units and institutional waste incineration units. The request is seeking information regarding initial notifications, performance tests, and periodic reports by the owners and operators of the affected facilities. The EPA is also seeking additional information on the maintenance of records and the occurrence and duration of any start-up, shutdown, or malfunction in the operation of an affected… Read more

Oct 31, 2018

Additional Stormwater Regulation on the Horizon in California—and Elsewhere?

After a ruling by Judge Stephen V. Wilson of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles Waterkeeper, et al v. Pruitt, et al, case number 2:17-cv-03454 (August 9, 2018), additional permitting requirements for stormwater discharges may be on the horizon in California and elsewhere. Judge Wilson’s ruling requires that where EPA has determined that stormwater discharges are contributing to water quality impairment in a watershed, it must “either (1) require NPDES permits for the discharges or (2) enforce [the Clean Water Act’s} total proscription of discharges of pollutants” without a permit. The Los Angeles… Read more