ISSUE: Superfund Report

Lawmakers Urge DOD To Revert To Faster 2024 PFAS Cleanup Schedule

Dozens of House lawmakers are urging Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to discard an updated timetable that would delay PFAS cleanups at 140 sites and instead commit to a faster schedule as reflected in a 2024 plan, while questioning the top Pentagon official on the reason behind the slowdown and the lack of transparency over the changes. In an Oct. 22 letter to Hegseth, 36 House members also press DOD to speed cleanups at sites where investigations should have already taken...

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...

Free-Market Group Urges Permanent Approval Of Mine Cleanup Law

A free-market group is urging Congress to make permanent the 2024 law that created a limited EPA pilot program to remediate abandoned hardrock mine sites, touting the law’s early implementation as a global model for other mine sites, while praising its liability protections and allowances for recovery of critical minerals from mine waste. ConservAmerica, which advocates for free-market environmental solutions, issued an Oct. 14 white paper that urges Congress to permanently authorize the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines...

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...

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...

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...

EPA Said To Issue Furlough Notices To Regions, Half Of Headquarters Staff

EPA has sent furlough notices affecting several regional offices and half of headquarters employees as the ongoing government shutdown enters its fourth week, sources tell Inside EPA , a move that could signal a much broader slowdown in agency activities compared to the government shutdown’s initial few weeks. Affected employees may be furloughed up to a month or until the shutdown ends, according to a furlough notice reviewed by Inside EPA . The agency has been using “carryover” funds to...

Trump’s Anti-Union Orders Complicate Efforts To Halt Shutdown Firings

The Trump administration’s attempts to sideline federal unions and terminate bargaining contracts threaten to complicate unions’ efforts to stop the administration’s shutdown-related firings, with EPA adopting an apparently ambivalent stance toward the scope of a court order blocking the firings while maintaining that it is complying. After a federal judge blocked the administration’s mass firings via an Oct. 15 temporary restraining order (TRO), EPA and other agencies have cited the administration’s efforts to strip unions of their bargaining rights, particularly...

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...

After Court Order, EPA Vows To Pause Plans To RIF Waste, Chemicals Offices

EPA is pledging to pause planned shutdown-related reductions in force (RIFs) in its waste and chemicals offices for the duration of a court order that found such plans to be illegal, according to a new court filing from the Trump administration. In an Oct. 17 declaration , Krysti Wells, EPA’s acting Chief Human Capital Officer, said the agency “is complying” with a federal district court’s temporary restraining order (TRO) and “will not proceed with any RIFs prohibited by the TRO...

IPI Seeks To Bolster PFAS Research, Fearing Studies Underestimate Effects

A progressive think tank is urging federal and state policymakers to pursue research into both non-legacy PFAS compounds as well as exposure pathways other than drinking water, raising concerns that existing studies underestimate the significant economic and other impacts from the chemicals and prohibit a class-based approach to regulations. “By addressing these research gaps, policymakers will be better equipped to conduct robust cost-benefit analyses, leading to more informed and effective regulations that minimize the economic and societal burden of PFAS...

Groups Applaud Newsom Veto Of Bill Creating New Metal-Shredding Rules

Environmental and equity groups are applauding Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) veto of a bill to establish a new toxics department regulatory structure to govern hazardous waste management at metal-shredding facilities and end litigation over the facilities, which they argued would have weakened existing health and environmental protections. “Metal shredders keep trying to sidestep hazardous waste laws so they can keep polluting our communities,” said Karen Chen, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), in an Oct. 13 press...

RIF Targets Recycling Office That Enjoys Broad Bipartisan, Industry Support

The recycling division within EPA’s waste office that the Trump administration has targeted for reductions in force (RIFs) during the government shutdown is a primarily non-regulatory group with broad support among the waste industry and both parties in Congress, a former longtime official tells Inside EPA . “It doesn’t matter whether it’s Republicans or Democrats that are running the show at the time -- before their term is up, they all come to appreciate this program and what it brings,”...

High Court Again Rejects Georgia-Pacific’s Bid To Review CERCLA Liability

The Supreme Court has rejected a petition from Georgia-Pacific (GP) seeking review of long-running appellate litigation that held the paper and packaging giant liable for future Superfund response costs at the Kalamazoo River Superfund site, marking the second time the high court has rejected GP’s review petition for aspects of this case. In an Oct. 14 order, the high court denied GP’s September petition for writ of certiorari , seeking review of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the...

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...

Senate Clears Defense Bill Echoing House Plan For Faster PFAS Cleanups

The Senate has approved its fiscal year 2026 defense policy bill with language that echoes House provisions for expediting PFAS cleanups at military sites, but lawmakers face a conference debate on Senate language that lifts a ban on Defense Department (DOD) procurement of certain items containing PFAS and repeals a temporary incineration ban for the chemicals. The Senate Oct. 9 approved S. 2296, the FY26 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), in a 77-20 vote after the bill had been stalled...

EPA Begins Furloughing Some Employees As Funds Appear To Dwindle

EPA has begun to furlough some staff amid the ongoing government shutdown, likely signaling that “carryover” funds from left-over appropriations and other sources that the administration was using to keep employees paid and working have begun to run thin. A regional union source tells Inside EPA Oct. 9 that Regions 2, 6 and 9, as well as the Office of Air and Radiation, have furloughed an unknown number of staff. Region 5 is also expected to begin furloughing employees...

NASEM Report Urges EPA To Finalize, Update Cumulative Impact Framework

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) is urging EPA to update and finalize a Biden-era interim framework on how to assess cumulative pollution and other impacts, though the agency says it has “paused” work on the issue. NASEM’s ad hoc committee on the issue released its Oct. 9 report titled “State of the Science and the Future of Cumulative Impact Assessment,” which provides recommendations on the state of the science surrounding cumulative impacts...

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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