ISSUE: Risk Policy Report

Lawyers See More Legal Uncertainty Amid Aggressive Push To Ease NEPA

Attorneys are expecting continued uncertainty and delays regarding National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews amidst the Trump administration’s aggressive push to streamline them, arguing that the blizzard of policy changes combined with federal agency staff cuts is heightening complications. “I wish that [executive branch NEPA reform] was being done . . . in a more, maybe, thoughtful way,” said Andrea Driggs, a partner at Holland & Hart, during an Oct. 24 event hosted by the American Bar Association (ABA). Driggs,...

EPA, Agencies Grapple With Questions Over Low PFAS Levels In Soil

EPA is wrestling with how to address low concentrations of PFAS in soil at sites wanting to further develop, as other federal departments and state regulatory agencies are starting to focus on determining background levels of the ubiquitous class of chemicals in soil. In a speech to state waste managers last week, Steven Cook, principal deputy assistant administrator for EPA’s waste office, raised questions about how regulators should deal with low concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in soil,...

Reprising Massachusetts, States May Face Standing Test In GHG Risk Suit

Upcoming litigation over EPA’s planned repeal of its greenhouse gas endangerment finding will test states’ standing to sue over climate measures, warns the head of an academic group working with states to promote strong environmental policies, potentially reprising arguments in the Supreme Court’s Massachusetts v. EPA case. In the 2007 decision in Massachusetts , which directed EPA to consider regulating GHG emissions under the Clean Air Act for the first time, the high court also concluded Massachusetts had standing...

Environmentalists Warn AI, NAMs Could Undercut TSCA Assessments

As EPA ramps up its use of artificial intelligence (AI) and new approach methods (NAMs) in TSCA reviews, environmentalists are warning that such methods could undercut protective risk evaluations and are urging the agency to rely on its children’s health office and advisors to continue to guide the use of such methods. In comments submitted to EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) earlier this year, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and other groups raised concerns about EPA’s plan...

EPA Combustor Plan Floats Eased Method For Unregulated Air Toxics

EPA is proposing new limits for previously unregulated pollutants emitted by hazardous waste combustors (HWC), but it is using a broader and less-stringent approach than in previous air toxics rule reviews, making extensive use of alternatives to traditional numeric limits such as work practice requirements and “health-based” standards. In a notice signed by Administrator Lee Zeldin on Oct. 28 ahead of its upcoming publication in the Federal Register , EPA proposes to modify the national emission standards for hazardous air...

PEER Petitions EPA To Walk Back Claims That PFOA Has Been Phased Out

Environmentalists are petitioning EPA to drop statements from its website that claim that chemical manufacturers have phased out the production of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), a legacy PFAS, arguing in a just-filed data quality petition that the compound is still being found in fluorinated plastic containers at the heart of long-running litigation. “It is the height of hypocrisy for EPA to pretend these chemicals are no longer being manufactured when they are permeating our chain of commerce,” said Kyla Bennett, science...

EPW Backs OECA, OCSPP Picks On Party Lines; Bills Win Broader Support

The Senate environment committee is advancing on party lines President Trump’s nominees to lead EPA’s enforcement and chemicals offices while approving on a bipartisan basis a suite of bills, including measures that would authorize a new Western mine-cleanup office, reauthorize diesel emissions reduction grants and address plastic pollution. During an Oct. 29 business meeting, Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) lawmakers voted 10-9 along party lines to confirm both Jeffrey Hall and Douglas Troutman to lead EPA’s Office of Enforcement...

OCSPP Integrates 170 ORD Scientists In ‘Final’ Reorganization, Deklava Says

EPA’s reorganization of the chemicals office has gone “final,” a top official says, resulting in the integration of more than 170 scientists from the research office who are expected to bolster the office’s efforts to clear a backlog of TSCA new chemical reviews as well as other Trump administration priorities for the office. The Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention’s (OCSPP) “reorganization was final on Sunday [Oct. 19]. I’m pretty excited about that,” Lynn Dekleva, deputy assistant administrator of...

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...

Former Officials Doubt EPA Can Preserve Preemption Without GHG Finding

Two former Biden administration officials are asserting that courts will not allow EPA to simultaneously argue it lacks a legal basis to regulate greenhouse gases, but that the Clean Air Act would still preempt both common law climate suits and state vehicle emissions programs. The critiques underscore a debate over whether EPA’s high-stakes push to undo its GHG endangerment finding and related vehicle GHG rules could open new paths to advancing climate nuisance claims and state vehicle emissions limits --...

Key Senate EPW Members Hint At Priorities For Bipartisan TSCA Talks

The chair and ranking member of the Senate environment committee’s chemicals panel are signaling a desire to work together to address concerns about consumer exposure to PFAS and other harmful chemicals in any TSCA reform push, though prospects for any legislation remain dim given partisan differences and other concerns. During the Oct. 23 hearing before the environment committee’s Subcommittee on Chemical Safety, Waste Management, Environmental Justice, and Regulatory Oversight, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR), the ranking member, asked Tracey Woodruff, a...

PFAS Face Uncertain Prospects In EPA Plan To Prioritize AI Chemical Reviews

Despite the Trump EPA’s announcement that it would prioritize TSCA reviews for new chemicals related to artificial intelligence (AI) and data center projects, questions remain about whether more PFAS, particularly fluoropolymers that are often used in semiconductor production, would benefit from the new prioritization. “What we don’t know is what new chemicals there are,” Lenny Siegel, a member of CHIPS Communities United, a coalition of unions, environmentalists and community groups seeking a responsible and equitable semiconductor industry, told Inside PFAS...

Industry Continues Push For CFATS Reauthorization, Citing Security Gaps

Chemical industry groups are continuing their push to revive the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standard (CFATS) program two years after its expiration, citing concerns over security gaps that undermine the industry’s operational integrity and ability to remain secure from the threat of terror attacks. Eric Byer, president and CEO of the Alliance for Chemical Distribution (ACD), told Inside EPA that while “no progress has been made” on getting the program reauthorized, the group is trying to “keep the noise there...

Newsom Veto Triggers Debate Over How To Regulate Products With PFAS

Industry and environmental groups are at odds over how to regulate PFAS in products after California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) vetoed a bill banning the chemicals from cookware and several other product categories, with industry arguing the state’s green chemistry program should lead the way while environmentalists strongly disagree. “Let’s be clear: the Department of Toxic Substances Control [DTSC] first needs to execute the risk-categorization process that has been in statute since 2008 instead of creating further uncertainty with one-off...

Absent Federal Policy, Key Democrat Sees Ongoing State PFAS Patchwork

Despite significant industry concerns, the state patchwork of regulations tackling PFAS contamination from consumer products is “going to be the defining feature of PFAS regulation over the next decade,” a key House Democrat says, especially given slim prospects for a unified federal approach from EPA or Congress. “I understand that industry gets heartburn about a patchwork of state policies,” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) said during an Oct. 22 event, “Chemistry Solutions Forum,” in Washington, D.C., hosted by the U.S. Chamber...

Waterkeeper Seeks FOIA Records On EPA’s SDWA PFAS Rule Changes

Environmentalists are questioning EPA’s transparency in its decision to delay and partially rescind landmark drinking water limits for several PFAS, filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking a range of records related to its planned rule changes, including a stalled risk assessment that may undercut agency efforts to ease the limits. Waterkeeper Alliance Oct. 21 filed a FOIA request with EPA asking for records from Jan. 20 to the present related to the agency’s drinking water rule for...

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...

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...

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