The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it would uphold drinking water standards for two harmful “forever chemicals,” present in the tap water of millions of Americans. But it said it would delay deadlines to meet those standards and roll back limits on four other related chemicals. Known as forever chemicals because of their virtually indestructible nature, PFAS are a …
Read More »Tag Archives: Lee M
Trump Administration Unveils E.P.A. Overhaul With Shift to Approving New Chemicals
The Environmental Protection Agency said on Friday that it would disperse scientists from its independent research office to other divisions where they among other things will be tasked with approving the use of new chemicals. Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the changes to the E.P.A. in a video, saying the agency was “shifting its scientific expertise” to focus on issues he …
Read More »E.P.A. Says It Will Tackle ‘Forever Chemicals.’ Details Are Sparse.
The Trump administration announced a flurry of measures to target PFAS contamination, but it stayed mum on whether it intends to uphold a Biden-era rule requiring utilities to remove the “forever chemicals” from the tap water of hundreds of millions of Americans. “I have long been concerned about PFAS and the efforts to help states and communities dealing with legacy …
Read More »For Trump, PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Straws Are a Crisis. In Water, Maybe Less So.
The 36-page official national strategy document bears the presidential seal and involves 10 agencies from across the federal government. It isn’t the government’s policy on tariffs or border security. It’s President Trump’s master plan to eradicate paper straws and bring back plastic. “My Administration is committed,” the document declares, to “ridding us of the pulpy, soggy mess that torments too …
Read More »Chemical Industry Asks Trump for Exemption From Pollution Limits
Two chemical industry groups are asking President Trump for a complete exemption to free their factories from new limits on hazardous air pollution. Under a new rule finalized by the Biden administration last year, chemical plants would soon be required to monitor and reduce emissions of toxic pollutants, like ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing ingredient used in antifreeze and plastics. Now …
Read More »E.P.A. Offers a Way to Avoid Clean-Air Rules: Send an Email
Last year, the Biden administration required coal- and oil-burning power plants to greatly reduce emissions of toxic chemicals including mercury, which can harm babies’ brains and cause heart disease in adults. Now, the Trump administration is offering companies an extraordinary out: Send an email, and they might be given permission by President Trump to bypass the new restrictions, as well …
Read More »E.P.A. Investigations of Severe Pollution Look Increasingly at Risk
A refinery in New Mexico that the federal government has accused of some of the worst air pollution in the country. A chemical plant in Louisiana being investigated for leaking gas from storage tanks. Idaho ranchers accused of polluting wetlands. Under President Biden, the Environmental Protection Agency took a tough approach on environmental enforcement by investigating companies for pollution, hazardous …
Read More »Science Data May Soon Vanish From Government Websites.
Amid the torrent of executive orders signed by President Trump were directives that affect the language on government web pages and the public’s access to government data touching on climate change, the environment, energy and public health. In the past two months, hundreds of terabytes of digital resources analyzing data have been taken off government websites, and more are feared …
Read More »E.P.A. cancels $20 billion in climate grants
The Environmental Protection Agency said that it was canceling $20 billion in grants for climate and clean energy programs that have been frozen for weeks, a move that was labeled illegal by nonprofit groups that were supposed to receive the funds. The money has been caught in an escalating controversy involving the E.P.A., the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of …
Read More »Trump’s E.P.A. to Rewrite Rules Aimed at Averting Chemical Disasters
The Trump administration has moved to rewrite rules designed to prevent disasters at thousands of chemical facilities across the country. The Environmental Protection Agency filed a motion in federal court on Thursday pulling back the safety regulations, introduced last year under former president Joe Biden. The rules, which took effect in May, require sites that handle hazardous chemicals to adopt …
Read More »