New Mexico Weighs Legal Options On PFAS If EPA Retreats On RCRA Rules

New Mexico is evaluating its legal options should the incoming Trump EPA fail to regulate PFAS under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA), an action the Biden administration had promised in response to a 2021 petition from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) to list all PFAS as RCRA “hazardous waste.” “We believe we have a cause of action that the law would support, and we are evaluating how we want to exercise that cause of action,” New...

Biden EPA’s ORD Chief Fears Effects Of Returning Trump ‘Zombie’ Policies

EPA’s recently departed research chief is raising concerns about policies that a second Trump administration could reinstate, from disbanding and stalling the work of its advisory panels to halting its IRIS assessment program and other research and their effects upon the Office of Research and Development (ORD) and scientific integrity at the agency. “Some of these things are like zombies where they just keep coming back,” Chris Frey said in an exclusive interview with Inside EPA , where he pointed...

Biden EPA Agrees To Weigh Climate Risk In RCRA Rule As Trump Term Nears

The Biden EPA is agreeing with advice from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to use a proposed rule the agency is planning to issue next year to determine whether it needs to strengthen its current regulations to address climate risks in its waste permitting program, though the incoming Trump administration is likely to drop such efforts. “As part of the Permitting Updates Proposed Rule, which EPA expects to publish in 2025, EPA will assess whether revisions to its permit regulations...

Environmentalists threaten suit over Colorado drilling permit

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) is threatening to sue EPA over its failure to issue or deny an air permit for a Colorado oil and gas facility that the group says contributes to high ozone levels in Denver, after the agency granted its petition to object to the plant’s operating permit but failed to take further action. In a Nov. 4 letter to EPA, CBD says it intends to sue “over your failure to issue or deny the Clean...

EPA Sets Jan. 21 Effective Date For PBT Rule, Opening Door To Trump Freeze

EPA will publish its final rule reworking TSCA phaseout timelines and safety requirements for two “persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic” (PBT) flame retardants on Nov. 19, scheduling the changes to take effect on Jan. 21 -- meaning President-elect Donald Trump could easily halt their implementation after his Jan. 20 inauguration. The agency posted a pre-publication version of its Federal Register notice for the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) PBT rule on Nov. 18. When the notice appears in the Nov...

EPA agrees with OIG call to improve accounting for school bus awards

EPA is agreeing with a series of recommendations from its Office of Inspector General (OIG) about improving the financial accounting related to the agency’s Clean School Bus program, which is a 2021 infrastructure law program aimed at replacing older buses with lower-emitting models. The OIG in an audit released Nov. 18 flagged two “material weaknesses” related to the school bus program, which could spur “serious concerns regarding the accuracy and reliability” of EPA’s recording of $800 million from the program...

North Carolina Panel Backs Surface Water PFAS Source Reduction Plan

A North Carolina regulatory oversight panel is backing a plan that would require industry to reduce industrial PFAS discharges to wastewater treatment plants and surface water as an intermediate solution to addressing PFAS in surface water as the panel continues to debate proposed PFAS surface water quality standards. Over 3 to 5 years, the PFAS Minimization Initiative, as presented by North Carolina’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), would target major and minor industrial direct dischargers to surface water, as well...

Trump EPA Likely To Seek Broad Rollbacks On TSCA But Faces Hurdles

Industry attorneys say the incoming Trump EPA will likely try to reverse a host of the Biden administration’s TSCA actions including chemical-specific rules and risk evaluations as well as overall policies for implementing the law, but could struggle to overcome legal barriers to quick rollbacks as well as a potential wave of court challenges to its efforts. “One thing Trump found out he can’t do -- he found this out in his first administration -- you can’t just take regulations...

Court Pauses Suit Over EPA Smelter Rule, Clearing Path For Trump Decision

A federal appellate court has paused litigation over EPA’s rule that tightened air toxics limits for copper smelters as the agency weighs competing petitions from industry groups and environmentalists, likely clearing the way for the incoming Trump administration to decide on any next steps. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Nov. 4 granted a joint motion by EPA and copper mining companies to hold environmentalists’ case, San Carlos Apache Tribe, et al v. EPA, et...

New Mexico Weighs Legal Options On PFAS If EPA Retreats On RCRA Rules

New Mexico is evaluating its legal options should the incoming Trump EPA fail to regulate PFAS under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA), an action the Biden administration had promised in response to a 2021 petition from New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) to list all PFAS as RCRA “hazardous waste.” “We believe we have a cause of action that the law would support, and we are evaluating how we want to exercise that cause of action,” New...

Trump’s DOE Pick Highlights Oil Influence In Energy, Environment Agenda

President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of Chris Wright, the head of oilfield services firm Liberty Energy, to lead the Energy Department (DOE) next year is underscoring what is likely to be the heavy influence of oil and gas interests in shaping the incoming Trump administration’s energy and environment agenda. Wright’s nomination, which Trump announced Nov. 16 on social media , is the last of three major energy and environment Cabinet picks, alongside former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) to head EPA and...

GOP Scrutiny Of EPA’s EJ Grants Raises Advocates’ Fears Of Clawback

House Republicans are closely scrutinizing EPA’s distribution of environmental justice (EJ) grants provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), raising concerns among EJ advocates that the incoming Trump administration and GOP-controlled Congress will seek to halt further distributions and possibly claw back already-distributed funds. “In terms of what I anticipate, the obvious answer is that they are coming after the EJ grants,” says one EJ advocate. Driving such concerns is a Nov. 4 staff report , “Exposing the Green Group...

Risk Policy Report - 11/19/2024

Mon, 2024-11-18 12:39

Inside TSCA - 11/18/2024

Mon, 2024-11-18 12:26

Former Officials Assess Trump Transition, Senators Weigh SDWA’s Future

Former officials and other observers are continuing to assess what the second Trump administration will mean for federal environmental and climate policies. The Senate environment committee is holding a hearing to celebrate the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) at 50 and to weigh its future. Trump Transition Nancy Beck, a controversial former Trump EPA and White House chemicals official now at Hunton, Andrews Kurth, will address a Nov. 21 webinar hosted by the Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA),...

Analysts Talk Trump Transition, Conservative Policy; COP29 Concludes

Policymakers and other observers are continuing to assess what to expect for climate and energy policies during the transition to the incoming Trump administration, along with conservatives’ climate priorities, and increasing data center-driven power demand. The D.C. Circuit hears an appliance energy efficiency case. Meanwhile, negotiators are hoping to wrap up work at this year’s international climate conference in Azerbaijan, including efforts to set a new international climate finance goal. Trump Transition Vinson and Elkins lawyers will discuss their “...

Beck Previews Trump TSCA Priorities; UCS Plans ‘Science Advocacy’

Former Trump EPA and White House chemicals official Nancy Beck will headline a Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates (SOCMA) event on the incoming Trump administration’s policies in a host of areas including chemical safety. The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has scheduled a webinar seeking to bolster “science-based advocacy” in the coming term. Trump Transition Beck will speak to SOCMA members during a Nov. 21 webinar on President-elect Donald Trump’s selection of former Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) as his...

Trump’s Selection Of RFK For HHS Secretary Drives Controversy At EPA

Controversy over President-elect Donald Trump’s Nov. 14 decision to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health & Human Services (HHS) secretary could spill into EPA policy as he is calling for banning pesticides and removing fluoride from drinking water -- two issues over which EPA has regulatory control. Kennedy’s expected nomination is already drawing stiff criticisms from both environmentalists and industry groups, who fear his skepticism of vaccines and other controversial stances will undercut federal regulatory science. In addition, food,...

Industry Attorneys See GOP Trifecta Boosting Push For TSCA Amendments

With Republicans now confirmed to control both chambers of Congress and the White House next year, industry attorneys say prospects for “much-needed” revisions to TSCA are brightening -- especially given the need to reauthorize the law’s user fee program before it is due to expire at the end of fiscal year 2026. Any fee bill could open the door for Congress to also revisit broader questions around the meaning and proper implementation of key provisions in the reformed Toxic Substances...

Industry Attorneys See GOP Trifecta Boosting Push For TSCA Amendments

With Republicans now confirmed to control both chambers of Congress and the White House next year, industry attorneys say prospects for “much-needed” revisions to TSCA are brightening -- especially given the need to reauthorize the law’s user fee program before it is due to expire at the end of fiscal year 2026. Any fee bill could open the door for Congress to also revisit broader questions around the meaning and proper implementation of key provisions in the reformed Toxic Substances...

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