Infrastructure

"The EPA doesn’t seem to have a firm grip on a $162 million pot of money meant for water infrastructure grants, the agency’s inspector general said in a Tuesday memo to department officials.

The findings are the latest in a string of reports from the Environmental Protection Agency’s inspector general raising red flags about how the agency is doling out its grant money.

The EPA’s drinking water division admitted it “encountered challenges” in trying to provide a list of grants issued under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, according to the memo."

"Opponents of offshore wind energy projects in New Jersey are gathering force legally and politically as they seek to snuff out the nascent industry."

"As the federal government starts negotiations on long-term plans for the overtapped Colorado River, leaders of tribes are pushing for more involvement in the talks, saying they want to be at the table in high-level discussions among the seven states that rely on the river."

"Residents in Maine are about to be bombarded with a multimillion-dollar public relations campaign aimed at saving the state’s two dominant electric utilities from being voted out of existence in November."

"A new regulation will formalize a roughly 80% cut in project fees for wind and solar energy developments on federal lands under a proposal by the Biden administration on Thursday as part of a strategy to boost renewable energy to fight climate change."

"A U.S.-based rare earth supply chain could boost clean energy and electric vehicles — and military weapons."

"In a church on Chicago's West Side near where he grew up, Marques Jones Jr. is hoping to earn more money and help his family by learning how to install and maintain the solar panels he now sees everywhere he goes."

"As it negotiates water rights with tribes, Arizona goes to unique lengths to extract concessions that limit tribes’ opportunities for growth and economic development, according to a ProPublica and High Country News investigation."

"San Francisco is at the forefront of a movement to recycle wastewater from commercial buildings, homes, and neighborhoods and use it for toilets and landscaping. This decentralized approach, proponents say, will drive down demand in an era of increasing water scarcity."