ISSUE: Environmental Policy Alert

EPA’s Climate Endangerment Repeal Stokes Key Questions For Industry

EPA’s controversial proposal to repeal the Obama-era climate change endangerment finding, underlying most of the federal government’s greenhouse gas controls, has presented key questions for industry groups who are generally expected to benefit from the Trump administration’s overall deregulatory push. For instance, electric utilities and automakers argue the repeal could create legal and regulatory uncertainties that would thwart future industry investments, even while not directly opposing Trump’s rollbacks. At the same time, environmentalists argue EPA failed to fully account for...

White House Clears Proposal Expected To Ease PFAS Reporting Burdens

The White House has completed its interagency review of EPA’s proposed rule that is expected to scale back reporting on PFAS-containing products, potentially easing the burden on manufacturers by introducing exemptions for certain uses that would decrease overall reporting costs. The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) cleared the proposed rule, “Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) Data Reporting and Recordkeeping under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); Revision to Regulation,” on Oct. 24, after it was submitted Aug...

Some EPA Regulatory Staff Continue Work Amid Broad Furlough Uncertainty

As the government shutdown nears its 5th week, some EPA regulatory staff, including in the air, waste and chemicals offices, are continuing to work on the Trump administration’s policy priorities, Superfund cleanups and other matters even as the agency furloughs scores of staffers amid uncertainty over how long funding will remain. Lynn Dekleva, deputy assistant administrator in the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), told reporters following an event at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Oct. 22 that...

Amid ‘Profound’ EPA Enforcement Decline, States May Pick Up Some Slack

As EPA enforcement actions crater amid dramatic staff losses and deregulatory priorities, former officials and other experts say states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) might seek to pick up some of the slack, though resource challenges could ultimately limit their ability to fully replace the lost federal effort. “In the near term, it’s really all about the states,” said Biden EPA enforcement chief David Uhlmann, during an Oct. 23 session of the American Bar Association’s (ABA) environment section fall conference in...

Local Officials Resist U.S. Push To Stay MDL Review Of CERCLA Claims

Local governments and the state of New Mexico are resisting Justice Department (DOJ) efforts to stay consideration of Superfund cost claims against the federal government for remediating PFAS from firefighting foam in multidistrict litigation (MDL), testing plaintiffs’ ability to rely on the Superfund law in pursuing timely cleanups. In an Oct. 23 brief filed in the MDL, nearly two dozen plaintiffs with claims for cost recovery or contribution under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act (CERCLA) oppose the...

Environmentalists Seek Rehearing Of ‘Affirmative Defense’ Permit Ruling

Environmental groups are asking the full D.C. Circuit to rehear a panel ruling that upheld the lawfulness of “affirmative defenses” in Title V air operating permits when it vacated a Biden-era rule barring such defenses from civil liability for excess emissions during plant malfunctions. In an Oct. 20 petition for rehearing en banc , groups including Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and Environmental Integrity Project say that the panel’s Sept. 5 decision in SSM Litigation Group v....

OIRA Seeks To Speed Deregulatory Actions, Citing ‘Good-Cause’ Waivers

The White House regulatory review office is seeking to speed and streamline deregulatory actions, directing EPA and other agencies to repeal “facially unlawful” regulations without notice and comment under the “good cause” exemption and skip certain consultations with state and local officials, tribes and others when issuing such actions. Jeffrey Clark, acting administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA), issued an Oct. 21 memorandum seeking to “offer guidance to the agencies as how to bolster, streamline, and...

EPA Tweaks Final ‘Good Samaritan’ Guide But Eyes Case-By-Case Reviews

EPA’s final guidance addressing permittees’ financial assurance requirements under its Good Samaritan mine cleanup program seeks to address some concerns raised by industry groups regarding certain definitions, clarifying the definition of “low risk” projects and broadening certain financial assurance considerations. But on some issues, such as determining whether a project is “low risk” and thus eligible for the law’s liability protections, the agency said it would rely on case-by-case determinations. EPA on Oct. 22 issued its final guidance on financial...

Capito Projects Optimism For NEPA Permitting Deal, But Maybe Next Year

Senate environment committee Chairwoman Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) is urging optimism on prospects for a deal with Democrats to speed permitting for energy and other projects while tempering expectations that final passage is still possible this year, suggesting highway legislation could be a vehicle for permitting reforms next year. Capito’s appraisal came during Oct. 23 remarks where she also amplified her prior calls for permit streamlining legislation to benefit all types of energy projects -- a point she made just...

Environmentalists Sue Over Trump Waiver For Chemical Plants’ Air Toxics

Environmentalists are suing President Trump and EPA over presidential waivers from Biden-era air toxics standards for dozens of major chemical plants, claiming the exemptions exceed presidential authorities and violate the Clean Air Act, as EPA works to reconsider and likely walk back the regulations. In their lawsuit filed Oct. 22 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, 10 environmental groups led by Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Services (TEJAS) challenge Trump’s proclamation “purporting to exempt 50 chemical manufacturing...

House Lawmakers Raise Concerns About Bipartisan TSCA Bill Prospects

Two members of a key House panel -- one Democrat, one Republican -- are raising concerns about a closing window to revise TSCA, noting that the shutdown and a toxic partisan relationship are creating more challenges to the effort, even as the Democrat says a bipartisan approach would provide the most enduring solution. Reps. Gary Palmer (R-AL), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s environment subpanel, and Jake Auchincloss (D-MA), a subcommittee member, made their remarks at the U.S...

D.C. Circuit Remands Seven County EIS Over Environmentalists’ Objections

The D.C. Circuit has remanded the environmental impact statement (EIS) at the heart of the recent Supreme Court decision narrowing the scope of National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews, allowing the Trump administration to approve the project and marking another loss for environmentalists who had asked the court to retain its prior vacatur. In an Oct. 17 per curium judgment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit remanded to the Surface Transportation Board (STB) the EIS for...

EPA Eases Superfund, RCRA Lead Screening Levels, Seeking Quick Cleanups

EPA is easing recommended screening levels established in Biden-era guidance for cleaning up lead-contaminated soil at Superfund sites and Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) corrective action facilities, arguing the move will streamline the process for investigating and cleaning up such contaminated sites. John Busterud, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Land and Emergency Management (OLEM), sent an Oct. 16 directive to EPA regional administrators that updates and lowers the screening levels in a 2024 guide in an effort to...

New York Lawmakers Press Hochul To Revive 401 Pipeline Fight With Trump

Ten New York Democrats are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) to renew a Clean Water Act (CWA) section 401 certification fight over a natural gas pipeline with the Trump administration, a move that could provide new fodder for EPA efforts to narrow the scope of states’ 401 authority, though Hochul may be poised to make a different deal over the pipeline. The delegation sent her an Oct. 15 letter that notes that the state has thrice declined to certify that...

Key House Democrat Presses Zeldin On Delayed PFNA Risk Assessment

A key House Democratic appropriator is pressing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to release a delayed risk assessment for perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), a long-chain PFAS linked to developmental harms, questioning its delay this spring at the same time Zeldin moved to rescind drinking water limits for PFNA and other PFAS. “The delay in issuing the PFNA report coincided with EPA’s decision, in May of this year, to rescind some PFAS Safe Drinking Water Act regulations, one of which happens to be...

EPA Guide Seeks To Bar States From Curbing ‘Prescribed Fires’ In SIPs

EPA has issued new guidance that seeks to bar states from including in their air quality state implementation plans (SIPs) any measures that would impede “strategic” use of prescribed fires, a measure that seeks to quickly boost prescribed burning as a related overhaul of the agency’s “exceptional events” policy stalls. The new policy, spelled out in an Oct.16 guidance signed by EPA air office chief Aaron Szabo, is generally in line with a Trump administration push backed by Western states...

EPA Signals Intent To ‘RIF’ 20-30 Waste Office Staff Amid Broader Firings

The Trump administration is moving forward on its threats to initiate firings of employees at EPA and other agencies during the ongoing government shutdown, sending notices that it intends to issue reduction in force (RIF) notices to between 20 and 30 EPA employees in its waste office, sources say. In an Oct 10 court filing , the Trump administration said EPA “issued a general ‘intent to RIF’ notice to approximately 20-30 employees on October 10, 2025, notifying them that they...

Court Lets Stand EPA’s Interim Rule Pausing Steel Sector’s Air Toxics Limits

The D.C. Circuit is letting stand EPA’s interim final rule (IFR) extending air toxics compliance deadlines for the steel industry, rejecting environmentalists’ request to vacate or stay the measure in a possible sign of how it will adjudicate similar IFRs for oil and gas and aerosol coatings sectors that also turn on a “good cause” procedural waiver. In a brief per curiam order issued Oct. 10 in Clean Air Council, et al. v. EPA , Judges Patricia Millett, Nina...

OW’s Publication Pause At Odds With EPA Clearance Policy, Staffers Say

EPA’s Office of Water (OW) is pulling back peer-reviewed staff research ahead of publication in scientific journals in order to undergo an unprecedented level of political review that is at odds with the agency’s clearance policy, current and former staff say though an EPA spokesperson says the agency is not barring staff from publishing. EPA staff say they were ordered late last month to pull back any research that has not been published, even if it was already approved internally,...

POTWs Fear New Jersey PFAS Deals Curb Recoveries, Undercut Authorities

Wastewater and other local agencies are raising concerns over New Jersey’s landmark proposed PFAS cleanup settlements with major chemical manufacturers, urging state regulators to reconsider the deals’ broad liability waiver that they say prevents them from recouping adequate funds and undercuts their pre-treatment and other enforcement powers. “Simply stated, the proposed [judicial consent orders (JCO)] would grant 3M an essentially unquantifiable amount of PFAS liability protection[] without demanding nearly enough money in return to address the water contamination caused by...

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