Advisers Question EPA Plan To Expand Use Of Pesticide Safety Factors

Members of a federal advisory committee are echoing industry concerns that EPA is overstepping its bounds with its new attempts to mitigate risks to agricultural workers and their children, who could be exposed to higher levels of chemicals used on non-food crops that may not be regulated under the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA). EPA's Tina Levine, of the agency's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) Health Effects Division, discussed the policy and revised risk assessment methods during a meeting of...

Activists Say New Study On Chemical Exposures Could Drive TSCA Reform

Environmentalists are touting a new study finding exposure to multiple chemicals in almost all pregnant women surveyed -- including exposure to a number of long-banned substances -- to bolster their calls for comprehensive reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), though the effort faces an uncertain future. "These findings should be a call to action for Congress and the Administration," Andy Igrejas, director of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition, said in a Jan. 14 statement. "We've known for...

Agencies Grapple With Tox21 Questions In Framing Obesity Research Plan

Correction Appended Federal agencies, including EPA, are struggling with how and whether to use new cellular-based, predictive toxicology methods in their efforts to design a research program intended to explore the impacts of environmental contaminants on the country's increasing population of those that are obese, have diabetes, or related metabolic disorders. During a Jan. 11-13 workshop held in Raleigh, NC, to launch a push by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) to further research on the effects of...

Inhofe Urges GOP Oversight On EPA's Precedent-Setting Fluoride Proposal

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) is warning top EPA officials that he intends to conduct oversight -- and will press House Republicans to do the same -- on EPA's precedent-setting proposal to pull longstanding food safety limits for a fluoride pesticide, a move Inhofe and others say could have significant negative economic implications and do little to reduce harmful fluoride exposure. EPA's recent proposal to revoke all tolerances, or allowable pesticide residues, for the fumigant sulfuryl fluoride in the wake of...

New IRIS Chief Sees Need For EPA To Use Novel Tests In Risk Studies

Vincent Cogliano, the new director of EPA's Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS), says the agency will have to begin adopting and learning how to incorporate novel toxicological testing methods such as in vitro and computational testing in its risk assessments or it will "run out" of traditional animal data for use in assessments. "If we're going to be able to evaluate chemicals, we need to use the new data," Cogliano said during a panel discussion at the Health and Environmental...

Study Sees Broader Health Benefits Of Mercury Cuts, Bolstering EPA Efforts

A just-released paper could provide new backing for EPA efforts to reduce exposures to mercury, finding evidence linking mercury exposures with heart attacks, which the paper indicates could be an even greater benefit from mercury regulations than the well-documented neurological benefits of reduced exposure to the toxic metal. But agency sources caution that pending scientific uncertainties with the study raise questions about whether officials will be able to cite the study to justify strict new rules the agency is crafting...

Key Lobbyists Bullish On Congress Overturning EPA GHG Authority

Prominent industry lobbyists are voicing optimism that Congress will vote to delay EPA regulations on greenhouse gases (GHGs) for at least two years, and that lawmakers will be able to include such a provision in legislation that would be difficult for President Obama to veto, such as a spending bill or a broader clean energy package. The optimism comes as Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) says he will introduce legislation this month to permanently overturn EPA and other agencies GHG authority...

After Silva's Exit, EPA Turns To Former Activist As Acting Water Office Chief

Peter Silva, who has led EPA's water office since the start of the Obama administration, is resigning from the agency, leaving it to his deputy, former EPA enforcement official and environmental activist Nancy Stoner, to lead the office in an acting capacity as it crafts a host of major rulemakings. While an agency spokesman did not know when or whether the administration would nominate a permanent replacement for Silva, federal hiring law could keep Stoner in the slot through most...

Questions Loom For Federal Facilities Subject To New Stormwater Fee Law

Questions loom for federal facilities that are subject to a new law requiring them to pay local fees to clean up their stormwater, including whether the government must pay retroactive fees, how to determine if the fees are fairly assessed, and whether the funds for the fees must be secured through a special appropriations process, lawmakers and officials say. The new measure, which was signed into law Jan. 4, requires federal facilities to pay stormwater management fees that local governments...

Activists Urged To Look To Mandatory Programs For Environmental Funding

A program aide for a Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) recently urged activists to look to mandatory funding programs, such as the Farm Bill and the Highway Trust Fund, to seek environmental funding in the 112th Congress at a time where spending could be greatly contracted. Those are the only two mandatory spending programs in the federal government "of any significance," Mike Burke said at a Jan. 11 meeting of the Choose Clean Water Conference -- a meeting of environmentalist groups...

Activists Push To Expand Slate Of Senate Democrats Defending EPA Rules

Environmentalists are looking to expand the roster of Senate Democrats willing to defend EPA rules against House Republicans' attempts to block agency regulations, hoping to expand the list of EPA supporters beyond liberal coastal state senators to include Democrats seen as moderate on the environment. Broadening the slate of Democratic senators who will defend rules could help give some shape to Senate Democrats' as-yet-undefined strategy for countering an oncoming GOP onslaught against EPA regulations, sources say. Winning the support of...

GOP Sharpens Three-Pronged Legislative Strategy To Overturn EPA Rules

The new House Republican majority in the 112th Congress is crafting a three-pronged strategy to challenge what it sees as costly EPA regulations, planning a series of Congressional Review Act (CRA) votes to undo rules, proposed spending cuts to prevent the implementation of regulations, and aggressive oversight to highlight rules' costs, sources say. Rep. John Carter (R-TX), secretary of the House GOP Conference, will lead efforts to move CRA resolutions that require a majority vote in both chambers to disapprove...

Hill Pushback May Spur Obama Focus On Executive Orders For EPA Goals

Opposition to new EPA rules from Republicans in the divided 112th Congress is likely to make it difficult to advance new environmental legislation, so the Obama administration may increasingly use executive orders (E.O.) and other presidential authority to advance key EPA goals, sources say. Other key activist sources have indicated that executive-level action to advance clean energy issues is expected in the face of opposition and increased scrutiny from the Republican-led House. Activists and other groups that favor stronger environmental...

DOJ Plans To Seek Voluntary Environmental Justice Actions In Settlements

The top environmental attorney at the Department of Justice (DOJ) is reaching out to the business community to seek collaborative approaches to achieve environmental justice goals through voluntary settlement agreements and other enforcement actions, as well as encouraging firms to take proactive steps to reduce pollution impacts on low-income and minority communities. "Going forward, corporate America needs to be part of the conversation on environmental justice. . . And I plan to convene a corporate roundtable on environmental justice in...

EPA Adopts Early Measures To Address Environmental Justice In Decisions

EPA officials are poised to unveil a plan for how to implement their environmental justice agenda and are already taking early steps to implement it, including readying an internal work group to review the cumulative impacts of EPA permitting on disadvantaged communities and requiring states to consider equity issues when they implement federal programs. Members of EPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC) suggested both steps during a conference call with agency officials late last year. At a Jan. 12...

Industry Request Prompts California To Strengthen Chromium 6 Water Limit

California's Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) has released for public review a hexavalent chromium (Cr6) drinking water public health goal (PHG) even more stringent than its first-in-the-country 2009 standard, following an independent review performed at the request of industry, which argued the previous draft PHG was too stringent. Industries and some drinking water agencies strongly opposed the original draft PHG and are likely to raise even more concerns about the more stringent, updated standard. EPA, meanwhile, has indicated it is also...

California Proposes Stricter Drinking Water Goal For Perchlorate

California's health hazard office is proposing a tighter new drinking water public health goal (PHG) for the controversial rocket fuel ingredient perchlorate, of 1 part per billion (ppb), stricter than the state's existing standard of 6 ppb, which could lead to stricter cleanup standards at contaminated sites. The Golden State's Jan. 7 announcement came a day after Senate Environment & Public Works Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) announced that she intends to keep pushing for a federal drinking water standard...

Industry Bid For Strict Chromium 6 Review Could Stymie EPA Water Rule

The chemical industry is urging EPA to seek strict expert peer review of its recently released assessment of the risks that the metal hexavalent chromium (Cr6) poses when ingested, due to the assessment's highly influential nature, suggesting the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) or the agency's Science Advisory Board (SAB) conduct the review. EPA's draft assessment of Cr6, has been controversial since its release last September because it suggests for the first time that Cr6 is a human carcinogen when...

State Water Suit Highlights Need For Strict EPA Coal Ash Rules, Activists Say

Maryland's recent vow to expand a Clean Water Act (CWA) suit against a major power company over the company's coal ash disposal operations highlights the need for EPA to issue rules designating the ash as "hazardous" subject to strict regulation under the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA), environmentalists say. Environmentalists say that without strict "hazardous" waste management requirements, states will be unable to prevent water contamination. "You have all these sites in Maryland and across the country, where the...

Panel Backs Stricter EPA Oil Spill Response, Rejects Call For New Powers

President Obama's oil spill panel is urging EPA strengthen its spill response protocols dealing with cleanup activities, human health protections and spill response plans, but the panel stopped short of backing a larger role for the agency in approving drilling operations or environmental reviews as some had suggested during the recent Gulf spill Instead, those responsibilities would remain primarily with the Department of the Interior (DOI), while the commission recommends a larger role for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration...

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