Environmental Health

"EPA has hired another political appointee in its air regulatory office who has a long history of suing the agency."

"The level of alarm is already high in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, as the Pacific island nation struggles with rising sea levels and the after-effects of decades of U.S. nuclear testing on its atolls."

"Authorities on Thursday lifted a second evacuation order in a week for thousands of people in a Texas city as U.S. safety officials began examining what caused the latest in a series of chemical plant fires in the state."

"Lawmakers have reached a deal on federal cleanup standards for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in an annual defense authorization, sources told E&E News."

"EPA's internal watchdog today delivered a scathing rebuke of former EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt's proposal to exempt high-emissions trucks from Clean Air Act requirements."

"Trappers can keep using sodium cyanide bombs to kill coyotes and other livestock predators, the Trump administration said Thursday, rejecting calls for a ban despite repeated instances of the devices also poisoning other wildlife, pets and people."

"Most U.S. states have cut funding and staffing at their environmental agencies over the past decade, according to a study by a green advocacy group, raising questions about the Trump administration’s policy to shift more enforcement of federal environmental laws to states."

"The widely used solvent methylene chloride poses an even greater chance of hurting people and the environment than the EPA found in an analysis that determined most uses of the chemical are too risky, environmental, health, and labor groups said Dec. 3."

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Tuesday released its newest definition for ambient air in a move critics say will ease burdens on polluting industries. On its surface, the guidance deals less directly with air quality than it does with fencing."

"EPA is poised to leave its national soot standards unchanged after a fractured advisory panel yesterday formally opted to recommend the status quo. While career EPA staff had tentatively concluded that the annual exposure benchmark is too weak to prevent thousands of premature deaths, a majority on the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee found otherwise."