Waste

From brownfields to Superfund sites, and from coal waste rules to handling hazardous waste, this section tracks EPA's efforts to tackle a wide-ranging waste agenda.

Topic Subtitle
From brownfields to Superfund sites, and from coal waste rules to handling hazardous waste, this section tracks EPA's efforts to tackle a wide-ranging waste agenda.

In State Precedent, EPA Plans To Approve North Dakota CCR Permit Program

EPA is proposing to approve North Dakota’s application to run its own coal combustion residuals (CCR) permitting program that would operate in lieu of federal coal ash rules, the first such proposal from the Trump administration that could set a precedent for other states that may seek similar approvals. EPA issued a prepublication version of its proposed approval May 12, which would allow the state to manage coal ash disposal in surface impoundments and landfills as opposed to the federal...

EPW to hold hearing on OLEM, Army Corps nominees

The Senate environment committee is holding a hearing on key Trump administration nominees, including John Busterud, who has been nominated to serve as assistant administrator for EPA’s waste office, and Adam Telle, who has been nominated to serve as assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, which oversees dredge-and-fill permits. The Environment and Public Works Committee (EPW) is holding a May 14 hearing on Busterud, Telle and Sean McMaster, who President Donald Trump has nominated to lead the Federal...

Air Force, New Mexico Say PFAS Case Should Proceed Despite New Law

The Air Force and the New Mexico are each urging the 10th Circuit to continue hearing a case deciding whether state or federal courts should hear the service’s challenge of a state waste permit covering PFAS, despite a recently adopted state law to list discarded PFAS-containing firefighting foam as “hazardous waste.” While the Air Force’s appeal deals with the procedural issue of which venue should hear the permit challenge, the state points out that the new law strengthens the New...

House GOP Weighs Brownfields Cuts As Democrats Fear Cleanup Delays

Some congressional Republicans appear skeptical of maintaining funding levels for EPA’s traditionally bipartisan brownfields program, as Democrats warn that President Donald Trump’s proposed 55 percent cuts to the agency will hamstring the program’s efforts to clean and redevelop contaminated areas. “In November, the American people spoke loud and clear,” Rep. Mike Collins (R-GA), chair of the House transportation committee’s Water Resources and Environment subcommittee, told a May 7 hearing on the brownfields law, which expires this year. “First of all,...

Brownfields Redevelopers Push Congress For PFAS Liability Exemption

Brownfield redevelopers are urging Congress to pass a PFAS liability carveout in cases where parties have voluntarily entered into a state-level brownfield cleanup agreement, a request that could expand any Superfund liability exemptions related to PFAS that key lawmakers and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin are seeking. During a May 7 hearing before the House transportation committee’s water resources and environment subcommittee, one brownfields redeveloper argued that such an exemption would lead to greater private investment in contaminated sites amid cuts...

California Senate Committee Advances Katie Butler’s DTSC Appointment

The California Senate Rules Committee has unanimously advanced acting state toxics department chief Katie Butler’s appointment to officially head the agency that oversees the state’s green chemistry program as well as hazardous waste management and contaminated site cleanups. The committee voted April 30 following Butler’s confirmation hearing, and the full Senate is expected soon to give its approval to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D) appointment of Butler to be director of the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). During her confirmation...

Trump EPA May Retain Biden-Era CERCLA PFAS Rule, Legal Experts Say

The Trump EPA may retain the Biden-era rule designating the two most studied PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances,” legal experts say, given Administrator Lee Zeldin’s support for maintaining a “polluter pays” model, his plans to work with Congress on targeted liability carveouts for “passive receivers” and the history of the issue. “[R]eading the tea leaves, you can see that the administration is committed to continuing to regulate PFAS, and there's no sign from [Zeldin’s recent] press release that EPA is...

Trump EPA Taps Appointees To Lead OLEM, Streamline Superfund Process

EPA has named several new political officials to key positions in the agency’s waste office, including a new senior advisor to streamline the Superfund cleanup process as well as a new political appointee from Florida’s environment department, who will replace the office’s long-time career deputy upon his retirement from the agency. They will join John Busterud, who led EPA Region 9 during the first Trump administration and has now been nominated by President Donald Trump to serve as assistant administrator...

Trump Orders EPA To Update Policies To Speed Pharmaceutical Production

President Donald Trump is directing EPA to update its policies governing inspections and approvals of new and expanded domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, while also handing the agency a new lead role in overseeing their environmental reviews, part of an effort to streamline permitting and approvals for such facilities. In a May 5 executive order (EO), Trump also directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to determine the potential need for a new nationwide Clean Water Act (CWA) permit for such...

Air Force Seeks To Reverse Precedent Subjecting RCRA Permits To NEPA

The Air Force is asking the 9th Circuit to reconsider a divided panel decision that reinstated environmentalists’ suit seeking to require the service to review its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) permit request for open burn/open detonation (OB/OD) of waste explosives under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). In an April 30 petition for panel rehearing or rehearing en banc in Prutehi Litekyan: Save Ritidian v. U.S. Department of the Air Force , the Air Force argued that...

D.C. Circuit Grants EPA Extended Stay To Weigh CERCLA PFAS Rule

EPA has won an additional 30 days to decide how to proceed in pending industry litigation challenging the Biden EPA rule designating two PFAS as Superfund “hazardous substances,” as officials prepare to engage with Congress on creating a liability framework that upholds the “polluter pays” model while providing protections to “passive receivers.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit April 30 granted EPA’s April 25 unopposed motion seeking an additional 30 days to the current stay...

Trump EPA’s PFAS Plan Offers Few Details But Hints At Some Rollbacks

The Trump EPA’s just-released multi-media plan to address PFAS provides few details of what regulatory and other actions officials will eventually take, but environmentalists and others say they expect the agency to delay and roll back some of what the Biden administration crafted while also dropping some key items. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin is “planning to re-do everything the Biden people did, which automatically means he’s going to delay for years . . . any kind of regulation,” says Betsy...

Trump EPA PFAS Plan Largely Continues Biden-Era Regulatory Priorities

The Trump EPA has unveiled a plan to address PFAS contamination that maintains many priorities from the Biden administration -- a noted difference from the agency’s approach to other environmental issues -- although the Trump plan appears to mark a shift in emphasis, especially on some waste and reporting issues. “I have long been concerned about PFAS and the efforts to help states and communities dealing with legacy contamination in their backyards,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin says in an April...

As EPA Weighs Options, Utilities Seek To Extend SDWA Rules’ Deadlines

As EPA weighs options for easing compliance with Biden-era drinking water rules, utilities are pressing the agency to propose new rules that slow the compliance timeline for the lead and copper and PFAS rules while the agency rethinks the rules and decides on next steps given their high costs that utilities say would have to be passed on to households. In an April 23 letter , the American Water Works Association (AWWA), which represents thousands of water utilities nationwide, urges...

EPA Seeks More Time To Weigh CERCLA PFAS Rule Ahead Of New Strategy

EPA is asking the D.C. Circuit for an additional 30 days before deciding on how to proceed in pending litigation challenging the Biden-era rule designating two PFAS as “hazardous substances” under the Superfund law, a move that will give officials more time to complete the agency’s upcoming multi-media strategy to address the chemicals. In an April 25 unopposed motion , EPA told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that agency leadership needs more time to...

Observers Cheer Superfund Reform Push But Warn Of PFAS, Liability Issues

Industry attorneys, former EPA officials and state environmental leaders are cheering the Senate environment committee’s push to overhaul Superfund implementation and expedite the initial cleanup process, but warn that the reform effort could run into problems surrounding PFAS cleanups, liability changes and community pushback. A former top EPA official from Trump’s first term said the Senate reform push is “heartening to see,” noting the bipartisan reputations of Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), the committee’s chairman and...

As EPA Readies PFAS Plan, Zeldin Urged To Keep SDWA, CERCLA Rules

As EPA prepares to issue a new, multi-media plan addressing PFAS, dozens of environmental groups are urging Administrator Lee Zeldin to retain the agency’s landmark drinking water and Superfund rules as a bulwark for protecting communities from PFAS contamination. In an April 23 letter , 78 grassroots and national environmental groups urge Zeldin to “maintain and defend . . . life-saving” Biden-era rules setting strict levels for six per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water and designating the two...

EPA shutters RMP chemical safety database

EPA has quietly closed public access to a Biden-era database of chemical plants that present safety risks to fenceline communities, agreeing with industry claims that the information presented national security risks even as environmental groups say the move will endanger communities. An April 18 update to the Risk Management Program (RMP) information website now says that the public can view RMP information via federal reading rooms in most states, the Vulnerable Zone Indicator System and Freedom of Information Act requests...

GAO Flags Policy Options To Combat Generative AI’s Environment Risks

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is identifying policy options that federal agencies, Congress and state and local governments can take to enhance the benefits of and help combat the environmental effects of generative artificial intelligence (AI), as the Trump administration is expanding a push to build out AI infrastructure. GAO in an April 22 report offers a technology assessment on generative AI that examines the technology’s environmental and societal effects, while also identifying policy options to mitigate such effects. The...

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