AMID ACTIVIST CRITICISM, PALIN WINS PRAISE FOR CALMING STATE-EPA ISSUES

GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain's (R-AZ) pick of Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) as his running mate is prompting criticisms from major environmental groups, but the Alaska governor is winning praise from some EPA and state officials who say the governor has calmed a rocky relationship with the agency's regional office that oversees The Last Frontier. Palin took office Dec. 4, 2006, and prior to becoming governor she served two terms on the Wasilla, AK, City Council and two terms...

Energy Bill Delay

House Democratic leaders have delayed action on their pending energy bill in the wake of a report from the Interior Department's Inspector General (IG) that found officials at the Minerals Management Service accepted illegal gifts from oil companies and engaged in other unlawful and unethical conduct. While the bill was scheduled for release Sept. 10, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) says she will now announce the bill's schedule Sept. 11. While the bill appears headed for an eventual floor vote,...

Cleanup . . . In The Family

The Defense Department (DOD) and EPA are trying to keep Senate Democrats out of a high-level dispute DOD is waging with EPA over enforcement cleanup orders the regulator issued at several contaminated military sites. In recent correspondence , DOD rebuffed efforts by several Senate Democrats to enter the fray, denying the lawmakers information on a dispute it says is internal to the executive branch. In addition, EPA has refused to brief some Senate Democratic staff on the matter, due to...

Children's Health: A GAO Report Card

Is EPA's children's health program adequately protecting children's health? That's the question that will be considered at next week's Senate environment committee's oversight hearing, where the Government Accountability Office (GAO) will present initial findings on the program. GAO is “scheduled to present our initial observations” to the committee Sept. 16, according to a GAO spokeswoman. Committee chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) requested the GAO report last September after EPA's Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) wrote...

Chamber(Pot) For EPA's ANPR?

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has launched an aggressive campaign to urge members of Congress to pass legislation that would block EPA's recently issued advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) to regulate greenhouse gases (GHGs) under the Clean Air Act. The business group argues that EPA adoption of GHG controls would strangle the economy with regulatory red tape. The campaign against the ANPR is being mounted as Congress returns from its summer recess and enters the final stretch of its...

EPA Updates Of Offshore Air Rules Could Limit OCS Drilling Pollution

EPA has recently issued updates to Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) air regulations in response to requests by key coastal states to make the OCS rules consistent with strict, land-based emissions limits already in place. Environmentalists say the effort, though routine, might help the states -- which include California, New York, New Jersey and Florida -- to limit OCS pollution as it appears the House is likely to agree to open some of the OCS to oil and gas drilling without...

States Seek Over $9 Billion For Clean Water Projects In Stimulus Bill

State water officials have outlined hundreds of clean water infrastructure projects in 25 states totaling more than $9.1 billion, which they hope Congress will authorize in a second economic stimulus bill House leaders could begin moving as early as next week. Prior to last month's annual meeting of the Association of State & Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators (ASIWPCA), state officials estimated there were about $5.5 billion of water infrastructure projects that could be started within three to six months...

Lacking CAIR Rules, EPA Asks States To Reinstate NOx Trading Program

EPA is asking states that were subject to the now-vacated clean air interstate rule (CAIR) to reinstate their nitrogen oxide (NOx) budget trading programs so that the summertime ozone reduction program known as the NOx SIP call, which was to have been replaced by CAIR, can be in place for the 2009 ozone season. "EPA is taking steps to be ready for its role in administering the [NOx Budget Program (NBP)] if continuation of the program in 2009 is necessary,"...

Fearing GOP Criticism, Pelosi Rejects Activists' Bid To Limit Drilling Bill's Impacts

Fearing political criticism from Republicans, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has rejected a comprehensive proposal from environmental groups aimed at limiting the environmental impacts of any new drilling that would be authorized under the closely-watched energy bill the House is expected to vote on later this week, sources say. A House source that supports environmentalists' efforts say some Democratic lawmakers will seek to include some of the rejected provisions -- especially language prohibiting drilling near protected areas -- in the...

Industry Fears Budget Limits May Stymie EPA Chemical Testing Promises

Industry officials fear EPA may lack the resources to complete the thousands of new chemical risk characterizations President Bush committed to complete by 2012, a concern underscored by the agency's short-term delay in finalizing proposed toxics-program reforms that are needed to implement Bush's commitment. In one sign of the agency's budget constraints, one industry source says EPA officials have not reviewed some industry-proposed chemical testing plans for the existing high production volume (HPV) testing program, which is intended to provide...

Letter To Lawmakers

Chamber Pamphlet

New Jersey Blasts ANPR In Early Comments


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Industry Fears Budget Limits May Stymie EPA Chemical Testing Promises

Industry officials fear EPA may lack the resources to complete the thousands of new chemical risk characterizations President Bush committed to complete by 2012, a concern underscored by the agency's short-term delay in finalizing proposed toxics-program reforms that are needed to implement Bush's commitment. In one sign of the agency's budget constraints, one industry source says EPA officials have not reviewed some industry-proposed chemical testing plans for the existing high production volume (HPV) testing program, which is intended to provide...

EPA Reconsiders Study On BPA Risk After Toxics Program's Findings

EPA is reconsidering whether agency staff will perform a risk assessment of the controversial plastic ingredient bisphenol-A (BPA), following last week's finding by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) that the chemical poses "some risk" to children. Agency reconsideration of its BPA assessment could undermine efforts by public health advocates who are hoping the NTP assessment could help them push EPA to develop an assessment that would have greater regulatory impact than the NTP study, though activists are citing the NTP...

EPA Science Advisors Suggest Risk-Based Metrics For Pollution Prevention Programs

EPA's science advisors are urging the agency to move toward more risk-based metrics for measuring the success of its pollution prevention (P2) programs as the agency seeks to improve the methodology it uses to measure performance for evaluation by the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Science Advisory Board's Environmental Engineering Committee offered advice to EPA's P2 Program on how to better measure and report its effectiveness to OMB at a Sept. 3 meeting in Washington, D.C...

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, which 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 report, which...

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...

Activists Say California Toxics Bills Won't Spur Federal Reform

Public health advocates are applauding the California legislature's passage of the "Green Chemistry" bills for "taking a great step away" from single chemical reform, but some say the initiative won't immediately shift the burden of proof from regulators like California's EPA to industry as activists consider necessary for comprehensive chemical management reform in the United States. Many environmentalists want to see comprehensive overhaul of the Toxic Substances Control Act, the 30-year-old law that regulates industrial chemicals in the U.S. Some...

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...

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