Latest News from Inside EPA

In an unexpected blow to the Obama administration's climate agenda, a divided Supreme Court late Feb. 9 halted implementation of EPA's existing power plant greenhouse gas rule until court challenges are resolved, a significant victory for the rule's opponents, who charge that the move signals that the high court will ultimately overturn the rule.

EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) has rejected EPA's position that injection of hydrocarbon materials such as chemical by-products into iron blast furnaces subjects them to Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) “waste” regulations, setting a potential precedent for future RCRA enforcement against such injections.

EPA has finalized its cleanup plan for the communities of Libby and Troy, MT, near the former vermiculite mine that became a Superfund site due to toxic asbestos, concluding that no changes to the ongoing cleanup are needed.

President Obama's proposal to boost EPA's budget by roughly $130 million to $8.27 billion in fiscal year 2017 by offsetting spending increases with a $411 million cut to the agency's clean water state revolving fund (SRF) is prompting push-back from a top Republican senator who says the fund is vital to address water disasters like those in Flint, MI.

EPA's Inspector General (IG) is launching a review of the agency's distribution of Superfund resources to determine whether it supports the current workload among EPA's regional divisions, and also is starting a separate review of the agency's antimicrobial testing program to evaluate potential options for improving the program.

EPA is extending the deadline for public input on its proposed changes to its implementing rule for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from Feb. 12 to March 12 in response to advocates' calls for more time to comment.

The Supreme Court has set oral argument for March 30 in a pending case testing whether property owners can sue over determinations by EPA or the Army Corps of Engineers that certain waters are “jurisdictional” under the Clean Water Act (CWA) even before regulators take enforcement or permitting action based on their findings.

State agriculture departments are threatening to terminate programs for certifying pesticide applicators if EPA does not significantly revise its proposed rule increasing training required for certification, with states and industry arguing many changes are costly and unnecessary, though advocates are backing the rule and seeking stronger requirements.

The United States and other members of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have reached a landmark agreement on first-time global standards regulating greenhouse gas emissions from new and in-production aircraft, though advocates say the standards fall short of achieving necessary emissions reductions from the sector.

EPA's Environmental Appeals Board (EAB) has postponed oral argument in a Clean Water Act (CWA) permit challenge that could restrict permit writers' discretion to “translate” states' water quality standards into discharge limits, setting a new argument date of Feb. 18.

Environmentalists are urging senators to oppose legislation aimed at overhauling EPA’s coal ash disposal rule due to concerns it would scrap the “critical and long-awaited safeguards” for ash facilities established in the rule, and the push-back might dampen efforts by the bill's proponents to secure more Democratic support for the measure.

Members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights at a Feb. 5 hearing on EPA’s coal ash disposal rule appeared sympathetic to criticisms of the regulation from environmentalists and citizens, including attacks on EPA's designation of ash as a solid rather than hazardous waste and its potential adverse impacts on equity communities.

EPA is reiterating its opposition to power industry groups' motion to keep in abeyance some lawsuits over various provisions in the agency's revised utility maximum achievable control technology (MACT) air toxics rule, saying the request is based on waiting for a final MACT cost review that is “irrelevant” to the delayed litigation.

Federal district judges in Virginia and North Carolina have blocked electric utilities' push for a quick appellate ruling on whether the Clean Water Act (CWA) governs contaminants from coal ash disposal sites move through groundwater to protected surface waters, holding that there are no special circumstances that would justify the step.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit in a new ruling is reiterating its earlier finding that EPA's Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) can satisfy some emissions control requirements in states' plans for complying with the agency's regional haze program, even as the D.C. Circuit grapples with an EPA rule on the issue.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is urging the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division, to stay a suit over the EPA and Army Corps of Engineers' joint Clean Water Act (CWA) jurisdiction rule pending a decision by an appellate court on whether it is the correct venue for suits over the policy.

Members of EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) are rejecting draft EPA findings that claim stronger evidence for adverse health effects from sulfur dioxide (SO2) air pollution, calling into question the agency's broader "framework" for classifying the strength of such data in its reviews of ambient air standards.

Environmentalists and renewable groups are clashing over how the extension of wind and solar tax credits will impact EPA's early incentive program for its existing power plant greenhouse gas (GHG) rule, with environmentalists detailing arguments that the agency's incentives will not spur additional renewable growth beyond business as usual, ultimately weakening the rule.

EPA's Risk Assessment Forum (RAF) -- created to develop agency-wide consensus on major risk assessment issues -- has released long-awaited draft exposure guidelines for public review, the first document the RAF has unveiled in nearly a year and marking the second year that the forum has failed to finalize any guidance.

The Flint, MI, drinking water crisis is spurring new dialogue between water industry groups and lawmakers about water utilities' longstanding fiscal and policy priorities such as affordability, the value of water and funds to repair aging water infrastructure systems -- issues that are likely to be a major part of the debate over EPA's imminent fiscal year 2017 budget proposal, water industry sources say.