DOJ ASKS SUPREME COURT TO CLARIFY WATER ACT JURISDICTION TESTS

The Department of Justice (DOJ) for the first time is asking the Supreme Court to clarify how lower courts should interpret the high court's fractured 2006 Rapanos ruling, citing a clear split among circuit courts and alleging significant challenges to Clean Water Act (CWA) enforcement, especially in criminal cases, due to a key appellate ruling. The request marks a major change in position for DOJ, which has opposed seven previous attempts by industry and individuals seeking high court review of...

BOXER SEEKS 11TH HOUR DEAL TO RETAIN EPA, STATE ROLE OVER BALLAST

Staff for Senate environment committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) is floating draft legislative language allowing EPA and states to retain their stringent Clean Water Act (CWA) authority over commercial ships' ballast discharges while granting the Coast Guard enforcement rights over ballast water treatment, according to a source familiar with the document. The new environment committee "discussion bill" is a response to language floated by staff on the Senate commerce committee last month, which environmentalists have criticized for eliminating EPA and...

EPA GRAPPLES WITH RISK-BASED APPROACH FOR ADDRESSING BIOSOLIDS

EPA is seeking to determine whether it can move forward with a new, risk-based approach for addressing biosolids, an approach favored by the wastewater industry which is seeking to move away from the agency's current technology-based standards. The agency is "trying to evaluate if there is enough critical mass to use [risk-based standards] for rulemaking," according to an EPA source, who says models for determining risks posed by pathogens in the solids raise questions about how to develop rules. Agency...

OFFICIALS URGE STATES TO USE EPA DATA IN INFRASTRUCTURE STIMULUS PUSH

PROVIDENCE, RI -- State and EPA officials are urging state water regulators to look to EPA data as a way to provide information to Congress about ready-to-go infrastructure projects that could be included in a second stimulus package focused on drinking water and wastewater infrastructure funding. House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has long been considering a second stimulus package, with the majority leader telling a Regional Plan Association meeting April 18, "with the economy slowing down and job losses...

ACTIVISTS SEEK STRICT PESTICIDE STANDARDS THROUGH DISABILITY LISTING

Environmentalists are urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to list chemical sensitivity (CS) as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), claiming that EPA's existing pesticide standards are insufficient to protect sensitive people from chemicals used in public spaces. Beyond Pesticides sent an Aug. 18 letter to DOJ on behalf of a broad environmental and public health coalition saying that listing CS as a standard disability is vital because EPA does not consider CS in its risk assessments...

CALIFORNIA TOXICS BILLS FALL SHORT OF ACTIVISTS' GOALS FOR TSCA REFORM

Public health advocates are applauding the California legislature's passage of legislation reforming the state's toxics control program for "taking a great step away" from chemical-by-chemical reform, but some say the initiative won't immediately shift the burden of proof from regulators to industry as activists consider necessary for comprehensive federal chemical management reform. Many environmentalists want to see a comprehensive overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the 30-year-old law that regulates industrial chemicals. Some have touted S. 3040, a bill...

CALIFORNIA ACTIVISTS LOSE BID TO STRENGTHEN EPA PACT ON PFOA CHEMICALS

Environmentalists appear to have lost their effort to win a California ban on allegedly harmful alternatives to the controversial chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from food cartons, a move that activists had hoped would have put pressure on EPA to strengthen a landmark enforcement agreement targeting the chemicals. The California Senate late last month gave final approval to a scaled back bill banning PFOA after lawmakers dropped contentious provisions targeting alternatives, such as C-6. Industry groups are now lobbying California Gov...

INDUSTRY PLANS TO LOBBY EPA, CANDIDATES TO CONTINUE CHAMP PROGRAM

A chemical industry trade group is launching a lobbying push for the final 100 days of the Bush administration to pressure EPA to complete and implement stalled reforms for the agency's chemical management program, known as the Chemical Assessment and Management Program (CHAMP), so that it will survive into the next administration. Officials from the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA), a trade group that works with companies producing smaller batches of specialty chemicals, are meeting with EPA officials to...

APPELLATE RULING REQUIRES STRICT ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEWS FOR GM CROPS

A federal appellate court ruling could force EPA and other agencies to conduct stricter reviews of the environmental impact of genetically modified (GM) crops, a move that could hamper GM planting at a time when industry and other officials are pointing to the technology as a way to bolster world food supply. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled Sept. 2 to uphold a lower court ruling barring all domestic planting of a GM alfalfa seed engineered...

CRS FINDS 'LIMITED' EPA SUCCESS GATHERING DATA ON NEW CHEMICAL RISKS

EPA is having "limited success" gathering information about the risks new chemicals may present to people and the environment using existing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) authorities, according to a recently updated Congressional Research Service (CRS) report that comes amid a growing push to amend the toxics law. The July 18 report outlines advances in toxicology methods and new knowledge about health effects that TSCA "does not account for," including hormone-disrupting effects. "The available evidence indicates that EPA has had...

EPA AWARDS RECORD GRANT TO STUDY HEALTH RISKS OF NANOMATERIALS

Amid activists' calls for Congress to mandate a massive funding boost into the study of the potential health risks of nanomaterials, EPA has awarded a $2 million grant -- its largest ever for nano research -- for a project to analyze the effects of metal oxides on the human brain, which could also assist the agency in future risk assessments. EPA Aug. 20 announced the grant for the University of Kentucky to study how the size and shape of the...

ACTIVISTS SPLIT OVER SUPPORT OF GHG OFFSETS FOR PLANT CLOSURES

Environmental groups are split over whether to support voluntary but enforceable agreements with industry to offset increases in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from proposed coal-fired power plants by closing older, higher-emitting plants. The growing split comes as the utility industry is increasingly agreeing to offset GHG increases from new coal-fired plants in order to reduce activist and public opposition to the new facilities. Shutting down older plants that emit greater amounts of GHGs also provides industry an alternative method for...

AGENCY SPURS DEVELOPMENT OF LOCAL, LONG-TERM CLIMATE CHANGE MODELS

EPA is seeking to spur development of long-term models that can predict how climate change could affect local air quality in order to aid air quality planners in accounting for such changes, according to a recently announced $5 million research grant competition. The research will fill a gap in existing climate change models, says a source with EPA's National Center for Environmental Research (NCER), which is managing the grant competition. "In general, the current modeling tools used in air quality...

EPA FINDS LARGE GAPS IN RESEARCH ON CLIMATE'S EFFECT ON ALLERGENS

EPA has identified large research gaps in how global warming may affect allergic diseases and is offering almost $2 million in grants to study the subject, following the release of an agency review of scientific literature on links between climate change and levels of airborne substances like pollen, mold and indoor allergens. Sources involved in the peer review of the agency document say that the review highlights the "limited data" available about the connection between disease, climate change and the...

NRC PANEL POISED TO STUDY ENERGY'S ENVIRONMENTAL COSTS-BENEFITS

A high-profile National Research Council (NRC) panel is poised to begin deliberations on a study long-sought by Senate Democrats on the environmental and other costs and benefits of energy, a study that is expected to be highly influential in determining future energy policy in the areas of environment, public health and security. The panel, "Health, Environmental, and Other External Costs and Benefits of Energy Production and Consumption," is scheduled to hold its first public meeting Sept. 11. The panel's final...

EPA CHANGES FAIL TO PLACATE INDUSTRY OPPOSITION TO CBM SURVEY

The oil and gas industry is continuing to voice opposition to a planned EPA study that could lead to technology-based effluent standards for regulating "produced water" from coalbed methane (CBM) extraction operations -- even though the agency recently scaled back the survey in response to industry concerns -- saying EPA has failed to explain why a study is necessary. The study and possible subsequent regulations are unfeasible and unnecessary because environmental impacts vary widely by region and are better regulated...

ENGINE PRODUCERS SEEK EPA HELP TO LIMIT ETHANOL TORT SUITS

Engine manufacturers are urging EPA to scale up its enforcement and educational campaigns to reduce unlawful sales of fuel blends with high levels of ethanol as a way to reduce potential industry liability from the growing number of class action suits stemming from engine damage due to the fuels' use. While no class action suit has yet targeted the engine manufacturers, "If someone's tractor malfunctions because there was too much ethanol in the tank, the trial attorneys may target the...

HURRICANE GUSTAV TESTS EPA'S DISASTER RESPONSE AMID GAO CONCERNS

Hurricane Gustav is posing a key test for the adequacy of EPA's disaster response strategy, just days after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report that finds the agency has yet to implement several recommendations to improve its strategy following its criticized response to Hurricane Katrina. Environmentalists and other critics of EPA's disaster response planning say they will closely watch how the federal government reacts to Gustav and other storms that are expected to follow the hurricane. Three years...

CHEMICAL SAFETY BOARD EYES NEW RISK THRESHOLD FOR ACCIDENT INQUIRIES

The Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) says it will adopt a new risk-based threshold to determine when it should investigate chemical plant accidents, which CSB is proposing to defend against criticism from congressional investigators that it is "investigating far fewer accidents than is required by law." The board -- an independent federal agency charged under the Clean Air Act with investigating the root causes of accidental chemical releases that result in a fatality, serious injury or substantial property...

PENNSYLVANIA DEMOCRATS SEEN VYING FOR OBAMA EPA, ENERGY POSTS

Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell (D) and former state environment secretary Kathleen McGinty are said to be vying for key cabinet posts if Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) wins the White House this fall. McGinty is said to be eyeing the slot of EPA administrator while Rendell is making overtures to be energy secretary, observers say. In particular, Rendell is fueling speculation with recent remarks including an Aug. 26 speech to the Democratic National Convention (DNC) that focused entirely on promoting alternative...

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