[Source: The Washington Post] The head of the Environmental Protection Agency upended the agency’s key advisory groups on Tuesday, announcing plans to jettison scientists who have received EPA grants. The move sets in motion a fundamental shift, one that could change the scientific and technical advice that historically has guided the agency as it crafts Read More…
Tag: EPA
Angry that Scott Pruitt pulls agents off of environmental investigations for his security detail?
[Source: Washington Examiner] Scott Pruitt is under fire, this time for trying to stay safe. Because the EPA chief requires 24/7 security, according to a new Washington Post report, the agency has pulled agents from environmental investigations to serve on his security detail. There is an obvious solution to this staffing problem. End the demonization Read More…
EPA workforce shrinking to Reagan-era levels: agency official
[Source: Reuters] The workforce at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is on course to fall to its lowest level since Ronald Reagan was president, an agency official said on Tuesday. In June, the EPA unveiled a buyout program that would contribute to the biggest cuts of any federal agency in President Donald Trump’s 2018 budget Read More…
California sues EPA over access to Pruitt records
[Source: San Francisco Chronicle] California’s attorney general went to court Friday seeking conflict-of-interest rules from President Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency, whose chief spent years suing to overturn the environmental rules he is now charged with enforcing. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt’s “ability to serve as an impartial decision-maker merits close examination, especially now that he has Read More…
Congress takes aim at the Clean Air Act, putting the limits of California’s power to the test
[Source: Los Angeles Times] California is confronting the limits of its power to save federal environmental protections as Congress and the Trump administration take aim at a landmark law the state has relied on for decades to clean the air of noxious smog. A push by Republicans to roll back parts of the Clean Air Read More…
House passes bill delaying Obama-era EPA ozone rules
[Source: Law360] The House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a measure to delay new U. S. Environmental Protection Agency rules on baseline ozone standards, as President Donald Trump’s administration looks to give states the flexibility to set their own rules. The Ozone Standards Implementation Act of 2017, passed on a largely party line 229-199 vote, Read More…
D.C. federal appeals court blocks EPA’s effort to suspend Obama-era methane pollution rule
[Source: POWERSOURCE–The Washington Post and The New York Times contributed] A federal appeals court in Washington ruled Monday that the head of the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped his authority in trying to delay implementation of a new rule requiring oil and gas companies to monitor and reduce methane leaks. In a split decision — the Read More…
Southern California’s smog clean-up future is far from clear
[Source: Orange County Register] Southern California has once again won the distinction of having the worst summer smog in the nation but earned praised for its long-term efforts to improve air quality. Such were results of this year’s American Lung Association State of the Air report, a national air pollution analysis. The good news was Read More…
How California became the first environmental battleground
[Source: Orange County Register] Earth Day is April 22, so we look at California’s role as an environmental leader and how the state ranks. The first fight The beginning of the national grass-roots environmental movement goes back to a fight by John Muir and the Sierra Club that failed to prevent the construction of the Read More…