Former CARB Chief Nichols Urges Board To Adopt Staff’s LCFS Overhaul

Mary Nichols, the former long-time chief of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), is urging the current board to adopt sweeping amendments to the state’s controversial low-carbon fuel standard (LCFS) being proposed by board staff and reject multiple alternative proposals by key stakeholder groups. “The future of California’s climate leadership -- and the durability of climate policy in this world at all -- is on the line. CARB should adopt amendments to the Low Carbon Fuel Standard and continue leading...

Anti-Plastic Groups Ask EPA To Oppose PVC Water Lines Amid TSCA Review

Environmentalists and public-health groups seeking tight controls on plastic chemicals are urging EPA to “weigh in” against polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes as replacements for lead drinking water lines ahead of an expected years-long TSCA risk evaluation of vinyl chloride, a key component in the material that the advocates say can leach into water supplies. But the leader of one such group says agency officials appear reluctant to step into that debate, leaving citizen and industry groups on both sides to...

Anti-Plastic Groups Ask EPA To Oppose PVC Water Lines Amid TSCA Review

Environmentalists and public-health groups seeking tight controls on plastic chemicals are urging EPA to “weigh in” against polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes as replacements for lead drinking water lines ahead of an expected years-long TSCA risk evaluation of vinyl chloride, a key component in the material that the advocates say can leach into water supplies. But the leader of one such group says agency officials appear reluctant to step into that debate, leaving citizen and industry groups on both sides to...

Clean Air Report - 11/07/2024

Tue, 2024-11-05 13:48

Facing Pressure, DOD Schedules Meeting On PFAS Prioritization Policy

Responding to pressure from environmental and community groups, the Defense Department (DOD) is hosting a public listening session Nov. 19 on its controversial policy to prioritize implementation of EPA’s drinking water standards for PFAS that focuses on private-well cleanup actions where levels are three times higher than EPA’s limits. The listening session will offer “opportunities for community members to listen, provide written questions about the policy in advance, or provide verbal comments during this session,” DOD says in its Nov...

DOJ Urges Entry Of Contested Allocation Deal At Massive Superfund Site

The Justice Department (DOJ) and settling defendants at the massive Diamond Alkali Superfund site are urging a federal judge to enter a consent decree that resolves a small portion of what is expected to be one of the costliest such cleanups ever, amid concerns from some liable parties that the proposed division of responsibility is “arbitrary.” DOJ filed an Oct. 30 letter urging the federal judge in New Jersey to reject Nokia of America Corporation’s request for an in-person case...

D.C. Circuit Grapples With Post-Chevron Interpretation In Loper Bright Review

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit had tough questions for both sides in high-profile arguments Nov. 4 as the panel reconsiders its original ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo , the case the Supreme Court used to overrule Chevron deference earlier this year. While a split panel originally sided with the government, citing Chevron , it is now weighing whether the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has legal authority...

Delay by Trump team could slow transition planning

GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump has yet to sign a memorandum of understanding with the Biden White House and the General Services Administration (GSA) on planning for a presidential transition, which could bog down the transition process at EPA and other agencies if he wins the Nov. 5 election, according to a press report. A Nov. 4 report from Government Executive says federal agencies from across the government have met Nov. 1 statutory deadline to prepare briefing materials for...

Clean Transport Advocates Cite Concern Over ‘Excess’ Truck NOx Emissions

New analysis from a group advocating for tougher transportation emissions rules is raising concern about real-world nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions from some existing diesel pickups -- particularly certain models built by Ford Motor Co. -- and urging EPA to investigate the “excess” emissions that could exceed those from the Volkswagen “dieselgate” scandal. The Oct. 31 analysis updates a prior study by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) of real-world truck emissions. ICCT Heavy Duty Program Director Ray Minjares acknowledges...

Anti-Fluoride Group Says TSCA Suit Not ‘Ideological’ After Kennedy’s Praise

The head of one of the groups that won a landmark court decision requiring EPA to regulate drinking water fluoridation under TSCA says the path forward for the case “isn’t an ideological issue” despite Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying a second Trump administration would urge local authorities to cease the practice. “This is a safe drinking water issue,” Stuart Cooper, executive director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN), told Inside TSCA in a Nov. 4 interview. “So this is...

Anti-Fluoride Group Says TSCA Suit Not ‘Ideological’ After Kennedy’s Praise

The head of one of the groups that won a landmark court decision requiring EPA to regulate drinking water fluoridation under TSCA says the path forward for the case “isn’t an ideological issue” despite Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying a second Trump administration would urge local authorities to cease the practice. “This is a safe drinking water issue,” Stuart Cooper, executive director of the Fluoride Action Network (FAN), told Inside TSCA in a Nov. 4 interview. “So this is...

Environmentalists Press SCAQMD To Speed Indirect Source Rule For Ports

Environmental and environmental justice (EJ) groups are pressing South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) officials to expedite development of an indirect source rule (ISR) to reduce truck and other vehicle pollution at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, claiming the schedule for the rule continues to be pushed back. “I reject that we have to choose between a strong economy and clean air,” Chris Chavez, deputy policy director of the Coalition for Clean Air, told the SCAQMD’s...

Newsom Issues Executive Order Aiming To Reduce High Power, Gas Bills

Less than a week before the Nov. 5 election, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is issuing an executive order (EO) directing officials to take steps aiming to lower ratepayers’ high electricity and natural gas bills, including by considering new bill credits, boosting a current “climate” credit, and potentially scaling back certain ratepayer-funded programs. “We’re taking action to address rising electricity costs and save consumers money on their bills. California is proving that we can address affordability concerns as we continue...

Final PBT Rule Shows EPA Aiming To Mitigate Potential Legal Challenges

EPA’s newly finalized TSCA rule reworking Trump-era limits on two “persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic” (PBT) chemicals appears tailored to either avert litigation over the changes or narrow the impact of any adverse court ruling on the new policy’s wide range of deadline changes and risk-management mandates. The final Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) rule , which EPA quietly signed and posted online Oct. 31, extends deadlines to phase out the flame retardants decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) and phenol, isopropylated phosphate (3:1),...

MDL Judge Orders ‘Systematic’ Discovery On PFAS Product Identification

The judge overseeing PFAS multidistrict litigation (MDL) is ordering the parties to develop a plan for focused discovery on the extent to which PFAS contamination from aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) can be tied to specific products, an issue that could help determine whether defendants face liability for a wide variety of claims. “The time for a systematic investigation of product identification at sites contaminated with AFFF has now arrived,” Judge Richard Gergel of the U.S. District Court for the District...

Metal Pipe Association Joins Push Against PVC Replacements For LSLs

A trade group representing metal pipe manufacturers is joining environmentalists in urging municipalities to replace the estimated nine million lead service lines (LSLs) being targeted for removal under EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Improvements (LCRI) with metal rather than PVC pipes, just as the agency begins to implement the rule after its publication. Informed Water Choices, sponsored by the Ductile Iron Pipe Research Association (DIPRA), has recently commissioned paid articles in newspapers across the country urging local officials and water...

EPA Rule Extending TSCA Reporting Deadline For PFAS Takes Effect

EPA’s direct final rule to extend by eight months the deadline for companies to begin submitting one-time PFAS reporting data under TSCA became effective Nov. 4, after the agency did not receive any adverse comments opposing the extension, according to EPA. “EPA did not receive any adverse comments, and the new reporting deadlines will be in effect as of Nov. 4,” an agency spokesperson told Inside PFAS Policy . Under a 2023 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulation, companies were...

DOE Urges 5th Circuit To Reverse Decision Blocking LNG Approval Pause

The Energy Department (DOE) is urging the 5th Circuit to vacate a district court’s decision halting the department’s pause in approving additional liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, while Biden officials continue to weigh the effects of additional exports on the climate and the economy. DOE is making several procedural arguments for why the appellate court should block the lower court’s injunction halting the LNG permitting pause, which the department began in January. “The district court lacked jurisdiction over Plaintiffs’ abstract...

House Republicans Renew WOTUS Concerns, Citing Delayed Permits, AJDs

House Republicans are renewing their concerns that EPA is not implementing its amended “waters of the United States” (WOTUS) rule in accordance with the Supreme Court’s Sackett decision, pointing to additional uncertainty from delays in processing permit applications and approved jurisdictional determinations (AJDs). Their concerns, spelled out in an Oct. 31 letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Michael Connor, echo charges from GOP state and industry groups. They are arguing...

Risk Policy Report - 11/05/2024

Mon, 2024-11-04 13:03

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